Go a little deeper
Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick introduces the need for hope and welcomes a couple from Ukraine to share personal testimony. He connects testimony with Revelation 12 and later asks the church to support people in Ukraine through prayer, giving, and possible housing.
Teaching from Luke 15, Pastor Keith follows the younger son's return and the father's compassionate welcome. He emphasizes grace rather than trying to earn a place in God's family. Turning to Luke 1, he presents Mary's response to the angel as trust in God's power despite uncertainty and risk. Romans 8 and Romans 12 frame hope as trusting God while waiting, rather than relying on favorable circumstances.
The service closes with invitations to believe in Jesus and be baptized, prayer for those responding, and worship during baptisms. Pastor Keith ends by reading Romans 15:13 and praying for the church.
Take this with you
Hope is for the stuck places
Applying Romans 8:24-25, Pastor Keith distinguishes hope from blessings already enjoyed. He teaches that hope involves trusting God for what is not yet visible, including when circumstances are difficult.
Testimony carries weight
Referring to Revelation 12:11, Pastor Keith explains testimony as telling of Jesus' power. He connects it with Christ's completed work in overcoming the enemy.
The father in Luke 15 runs to welcome his son
The sermon reads the younger son as someone who comes to himself in a low place, humbles himself, and confesses, while the father represents God, who is moved with compassion and so eager to receive his son that he runs. The pastor stressed that the welcome is not earned and that the celebration is surprising.
Believing God's word comes with risk
In Luke 1, Mary asks how the promised birth can happen and hears that it depends on the Holy Spirit's power. Pastor Keith interprets her acceptance as hope resting on God's ability, despite the risk her response could involve.
Hope changes how we wait
Applying Romans 12:12 and Romans 8, Pastor Keith describes hope as trust in God before the answer is visible. He urges listeners to keep turning to God in prayer and choose joy through hardship, without treating God's timing as their own.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
we're in this series during this Christmas season looking at undeniable hope it's the gift that each and every one of us need now when do you need hope you need hope when you're helpless when you're hurting when you're in a dark place and there doesn't seem to be any light when you're in despair when you're in a place of uncertainty if you've ever been in a place where you don't want to be and you don't know how to get out of that place that's when you need hope hope is the very thing every single one of us will need at some point in our lives doesn't matter how young you are or how old you are we all need undeniable hope you are a son and a daughter not
all of us are mothers and fathers but every single one of us are sons and daughters and the gift that God wants to give his children his sons and his daughters is undeniable hope few years ago there was a family that was just driving through our parking lot on a Sunday they were heading to Goodwill and as they were driving through the parking lot they looked up and they saw a sign that said Journey Church and they thought well that looks interesting a church in a strip mall and they were looking for a cross but instead they saw this really weird symbol right above it and they thought should we try this or not they were Believers in Jesus and they stepped into the doors and immediately they sense the Holy Spirit at this church and they've been a part of this church family now for over two years praise be to God I want to invite this couple up
right now rouson and Victoria that's the family I'm talking about they came all the way to the United States from Ukraine to be with us and I want to share some of their story with you so that you can see that God can bring hope anywhere at any time so this is Victoria and rouson these are my good friends you guys come over here and join me uh rouson and Victoria came all the way to the United States by the way of Ukraine and I want them to share some of their story today so that you can hear what God is doing through real people from Ukraine but more than that I'm going to give you an invitation today that you can bring hope to those
in Ukraine it's undeniable the war Ukraine has made an impact in the world you can't watch the news today without a small segment being a part of the war in Ukraine so I would like you guys to share a part of your story maybe tell us the day that you guys decided to leave uh because it's not something you planned for years uh it was something that you guys decided to do tell us about that day you guys and and by the way uh Victoria is going to be doing the Translating for rouson his English is getting better and better by the day uh but he's also uh he's a pastor and he's got the gift of prophetic and so just to keep it natural he may be speaking Russian uh or Ukrainian and uh then Victoria will translate which one is it going to be
Russian or Russian so uh go ahead and you guys share that day good morning good morning okay so you can speak for our Russian speaking friends R good morning church all right praise God so tell us about that day yeah as you said we didn't didn't plan it and um our friends family of uh they moved earlier from the city and they wanted us to do the same but uh ran was praying a lot because this is situation you don't know which day is right and um he said that we will not go with them and we stayed and we made this
decision um it was even not the day it was during the night when our city was occupied and Russians started shelling on the nuclear power plant and we woke up in the middle of the night and we just it came that it's impossible to stay anymore in this city and um we decided that we have to um take our kids and leave it because it's not um safe anymore and um was praying and felt that he needs to invite two more families our friends we did it and uh we left our city the next morning early wow with two more families just packed everything up got in the car so whatever you could fit
in the car and how big's your family we have three kids so five of us so five people in a car and whatever you could fit in and as as you left could you tell us about that Journey because I know just hearing their story was one not only of Faith but of Miracles how God provided for you on that Journey tell of an occasion where where really you needed Faith you needed to rely on God on that Journey out uh when I was I was thinking about telling you this today God um told me uh uh you remember when Prophet was uh praying when it was um a war between Israel and I forgot what was that AR Army but God uh he was praying and God told him um please uh he to he felt that he needs to tell um please God open
their eyes so that they could see Elisha to tell his servants open eyes so that he can see there much more PE uh not people Angels who who go with them and God told me that it was our situation we couldn't see Angels but we felt God's presence during our way and wow um did you guys catch that that there is more than you can see that God sends angels that you can't see and you need the faith to see what you can't see all right and so what God did with Elisha he did with them as they were leaving Ukraine God was with them the whole time praise be to God and um we felt it um especially when we came to the Russians
post and they said that they will not let us go through them and uh um I just saw uh I I was sitting with holding baby she was our youngest only 10 month old I could only pray and see how Russians took my husband and they went somewhere and um he said my husband that you know uh we have families we have kids we have to survive we can't go back as you say we have to continue our way and they said no you have to go back and they took him to their main place yes and they called to their bus and he said they can't go it was fight and it's not save just tell them to go
back wow and my husband said no we will won't do this we have to save our kids and um that bus said who's this crazy man who's talking like this and then he asked where are they from and uh ran said we from where the nuclear power plant is and he said oh really okay if you are from this city just let them go and we continued our way and it was um also God's mercy because uh they told us it was very good Russian man and he was talking to Ruslan all the time and he said you know you're lucky that you met met us because we are good Russians
but if you would go to another place uh another Russian they would kill you because they don't let any any people just go through the city where they are and God made so that it was like mistake but not when we turned on the not uh that side to another city we had to go through anti tank um bridge and we were under the shell and but God just saved us and he did this way with us he's faithful praise be to God so can you imagine Having the courage to confront your enemy and say no we are going through you're going to let my family through and could you imagine Victoria watching her husband not knowing what's
going to happen imagine the the prayer I I I think of Nehemiah praying a quick prayer before he asked the king you know that for resources these are just prayers of Faith you guys clearly made it out even though there was gunfire even though they didn't know where they were going or how they would get here you guys made it to bend and now that you're here you're not playing in my mind you're not playing it safe you guys have real Faith these are some of my favorite people on the planet because they don't just have faith they put it into action wherever they go and whenever I get together with rouson and Victoria they bring me testimonies and what do I mean by testimonies Miracles Miracles upon Miracles upon Miracles because we have a miracle working God so wherever they go they just bring the
holy spirit with them they invite the Lord with them wherever they go they might be at lunch uh rouson might be at work he's praying for his boss for his co-workers uh he's praying for people wherever so I've just asked them today would you guys like to hear a testimony come on somebody uh the Bible says in Revelation 12 we've overcome the enemy that is the devil through the BL blood of the lamb and the word of Our Testimony what that means is the finished work of Jesus and then we have to testify to the power of Jesus so how about we hear a testimony today where have you guys seen God Work recently in your lives it's amazing because I was praying
yesterday about what I can uh share with you today lot testimonies in our lives and around our lives I was praying and a lot of testimonies came on my mind and I went to sleep and God showed me a dream and when I woke up this morning I already knew what I will share and um I told this to Victoria it's really amazing when when God answers what you need to say and I'm sure that God has a
plan it's not going to be just a story about what he has [Music] done because uh there is a word in uh The Book of Revelation that um testimony of Jesus is a prophetic word amen that's why uh everything what I will tell you about you can accept like holy spirit speaks to your heart because Jesus wants to heal everyone amen it's written in the Bible that the healing is the bread of the children yes and the first story
is it's a little funny but it it also teaches us you remember that I have not very good English and uh in the mornings at my job [Music] place I saw that uh one man from my work has um Rush on his hands and I didn't like that man because he was listening very hard
music and I was thinking even that probably he's Satanist and he was wearing t-shirt pictures had not very good tattoos when I saw his hands I just said oh God I don't want to pray for him and I left from that place and during this day I met him twice after I met him second time I said Okay God I will come and pray for him and you will be responsible for any results if they if he will beat me or
tell me to go somewhere I will do this so I meet him met him in the narrow place and I asked him uh can I uh ask you to pray about you and I said um you know I saw that you have problems with your hands and he said this is ezema and it can be healed and I told him you know I believe in God and there is no any sick sickness that he can't [Music] heal as we were standing in the narrow Place some people were standing and wait while we were talking and automatically
they were like um Witnesses of what we were and I asked him can I pray for you so and I asked also if I can put my hand on [Music] him so he agreed and I prayed and he started to thank just to give um to tell me thank you like a child was amazing because I was waiting for another [Music] reaction and God has touched my heart I went outside um and started to
cry and I started just to um ask God to forgive me that I didn't want to come and pray for him before but God has shown me how much he loves him and during the day I met him a couple more times each time he was telling me thank [Music] you as we could meet with him only once a week in a week I met him again and I asked him to show me his hands and um he has to work all the time
in the uh latex gloves because of this it was worse for his hands and he took his gloves off and he said oh thank you very much for your prayer look at my hands there there was a half less rush and this moment I just went and uh to pray and thank Lord he told and go God told me go back and make a picture I didn't feel comfortable if I can do this but I decided to do because God told me
I asked him to make this picture and I just told him that I need this so that we could see what was before and after agreed to do this and probably in a week or two um later I uh again met him and and ask him to show his hands again and when he did it time his hands will absolutely clear praise God and I have pictures wow God told me to this is one of many many testimonies
and I share this with you because as rousan said you can do this you can pray at your workplace you can have the courage you can take your faith and put it into practice and I thank God so much uh for these testimonies that this is the beginning of greater things that are still to come now I want to give you guys an opportunity today to to see that you can be a part of bringing hope to Ukraine God's pressed upon my heart recently that there is no Ukrainian Church and there's no American Church there's no African church or Indian Church there's one Church there's the Church of Jesus and we will be held accountable in our lives Church what are we doing we have brothers and sisters in Ukraine right now tens of thousands of lives are being
lost civilians their homes are being bombed their apartment buildings are being bombed churches are being bombed schools are being bombed these are real people you could watch the news and move on or you could be moved by God to say Lord in my lifetime I will do something with this and I'm petitioning you Journey Church to do something with your life so they have friends right now that are still in Ukraine we're going to show a picture and then could you please introduce us to this family Victoria um these are their close friends who are still in Ukraine uh tell us who we're looking at here yeah this is a family of our very close friends um they live at the moment um in their uh City small City close to ke but they went uh out
from the main city of our region zapia um and this city now is like a border between occupied and not occupied territory and it's under the Shon all the day uh all the days yeah getting shot at bombs every day yeah uh this is family um stas uh and Nadia or her name in English is hope hope yeah uh they have three kids two boys and one little girl and uh the story of this little girl is just one moment I will tell you um she was born in the end of July this year and she was born at the moment well when it was no electricity and no water in the hospital and they had another name for her but after they uh went through this situation they gave you her
name Faith praise be to God so her name's hope what's his name his name stas stas so stas and hope get out your phones and put this in your notes right now you can take a picture if you'd like we are going to pray for this family not just today but when the Holy Spirit puts this family on your heart what are you going to do you're going to intercede and pray these are real people these aren't just distant people that you'll never see because we're praying that they make it to Bend Oregon come on somebody uh and so it's going to start with prayer the second thing is going to take some finances we're going to help them with some Airline tickets to get here when their P paperwork gets
approved and we as a church are going to help and then my final plea to you is if you have housing when they come maybe you have a guest house you have an apartment available or you have a home that's available for one month 3 months 6 months N9 month a year if you have that available let the church know you can email us this will be a start of a conversation because they're not coming yet but because of your prayer they're coming do you believe that so if you can you can email us at contact Journey and.com if you have housing available and you could help but I'm going to give you an opportunity moment and tell you how you could help financially with them but we are believing this family is going to come to bend soon maybe as early as January or February but it's going to be because of you so I would like you guys to engage and participate in this when they have drones going over
their house or planes go over their house they don't know if this is the day they're going to be bombed uh so we're praying that they're going to come here uh she plays the drums he plays the bass so we will grow our worship team if you will pray and get them here all right so let's get them here uh uh praise God uh let's show one more family I want you to participate in uh this is Pastor Alexi and his family if we go to the next uh picture um uh tell us who this family is yeah uh this is a family of Servants of God and they are in Ukraine and they serve people there they're not going to move yet but they serve there uh this is Pastor Alexi his
wife Daria and uh their's two sons praise be to God so Pastor Alexi is a pastor of the source of Life church I want you to put that in your phone as well we're going to be praying for our brothers and sisters at source of Life Church we're also going to pray for pastor Alex uh a different Pastor Alex not in Uganda but in Ukraine uh now let me just tell you Pastor Lexi has been petitioning God and asking the church to help he's in a region that has at least a few hundred thousand people over this region could you imagine being a pastor at a time when the Russians are knocking out the electrical grid right now they're in the middle of winter and it's going to not only get it's going to not only it's not going to get better it's going to get colder without electricity
these homes run by gas so they can't run their gas heat to get heat in the homes I'm I'm not talking about the convenience of uh internet I'm talking about real life could you imagine having no electricity so you can't run your gas you can't run life so here's what Pastor Alexis is asking from the church for $4,000 you can get these battery generators to power an entire home so that they can run their gas and they can have electricity to a home it's not dependent on an outside grid I I'm asking you as a church could we be generous and get as many as we can uh to Pastor Alexi to the people within his church so here's how this is going to work if you go to our giving link you might be able to tap the seatbacks in front of you or you can just go to our
website and go to the giving there's going to be a drop down that says Ukraine a drop down that says Ukraine you can give $5 $50 500 5,000 50,000 whatever amount you give to Ukraine we're going to give to this family and the family you saw before and this is how we're going to provide hope in a tangible way we're going to pray for them and we're going to help financially you can just pray but why don't we step out in faith and do even more why don't we say God what's mine is yours and I want to help your church these are our brothers and sisters would you guys get behind this these are our brothers and sisters these are friends of rouson and Victoria so if they're friends of theirs they're friends of ours we're trusting that God's going to work mightily this is no time for us to sit sit on our hands and not do something this is time for us to say if
we have undeniable hope we're going to give undeniable hope and we're going to see God work in a mighty way so you guys come forward now uh I've asked rousan to pray for us today just to finish our time so how about we just join in prayer for what God's doing through the church so just write where you are would you pray with us father we thank you for everything for every testimony for each day of our life you have an answer in love for every our need and we just cover all these needs with your love and we believe that you keep everything
in your head and there is your guidance in every for every heart we bless right now in our prayers Ukraine we pray and and bless United States let your gospel just spread let it be more test tonies of the healing and uh the Salvation that you do and I'm praying right now please touch everyone with your power healing power everyone who needs
healing and because you paid so much so that we could be healed we bless your church church thank you Lord amen amen come on can you give rouson and Victoria a huge hand thank you guys love you so I want to remind you that two calls to action for undeniable hope is first to pray and second is to give uh pray and then give and so next week I'll give an update if uh we have some Ukrainian giving coming in I'll let you know how much it is if it's not enough yell you and we'll uh we'll I keep going so um I I'm going to be forthright so that
we can just be family here today uh I got the flu a few weeks ago and the flu kicked my butt uh and I've been coughing for a few weeks so if I cough it's because uh I'm getting well I'm no longer contagious but it's just that lingering effect of the Lord keeping me humble and uh I will just say this you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone and so if you don't take uh your health for granted you don't realize how good it is to be able to breathe without coughing or to be able to have energy and life and so it is when it comes to hope so it is when it comes to Grace so it is when it comes to Mercy as we understand that the Christmas season
points us to the person of who Jesus Christ and if you don't understand understand what Jesus has done for you you take it for granted there's an occasion where Jesus tells really my favorite story in all of the Bible in Luke chapter 15 he's being criticized by religious people for hanging out with Sinners uh the Bible tells us in Luke 15:1 that the religious people are grumbling they're murmuring it this is what I would call a religious spirit it's demonic it laces it's self with religion but deep down inside it's not the heart of God and the religious spirit sneaks into the church and if you're not careful it'll even sneak into your own heart and rouson shared that religious spirit it's when you judge
somebody else and you've come to a conclusion that's not the same conclusion of Jesus and with the help of the Holy Spirit God shifts that in your heart and you see who you are more clearly so you can see other people more clearly and that is potential hope is not where you are hope is where God's going to take you to be and so Jesus tells these three stories the first is of a Shepherd willing to leave the 99 to go after the lost that's the heart of God he goes after the lost and when he finds the Lost he carries you on his shoulders some of you don't even know this God's been carrying you on his shoulders bringing you back to the place that he wants you to be you're on a journey right now he's doing the heavy lifting let him do it the second story is of a woman who lost a coin she's got nine others she could just be satisfied and move on with her
life but Jesus tells a story of the value that you have in God's eyes he goes to the Dark Places he goes to the dirty places God actually celebrates when you see the value and the worth of your life you're Made In His Image God doesn't give up on you when you're lost then finally he comes to a third Story the most powerful of the three stories it say of a father with two lost sons and in each of these stories you've got to immerse yourself in the story and see who you are and I want to tell you of one particular son Luke 15 verse 11-16 if you would go with me Luke 15: 11-16 Jesus is speaking it's a fictional story to share the heart of God and we're told and he said Jesus said there was a man who had two sons the younger of them said to the
father father give me the share of property that is coming to me and he divided his property between them not many days later verse 13 tells us the younger son gathered all he had took a journey into a far country and there he squandered his property in Reckless living and when he had spent everything a severe famine arose in that country and he began to be in need so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into the fields to feed pigs and he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate and no
one no one gave him anything here's a brother who needs some hope here's someone who's lost absolutely everything he's thinking thoughts he never thought he would think before he's at a low he didn't know he could get to he's at a place he does not want to be this is a guy that each of us can relate to at one point or another this is a guy that thought he had it all figured out this is a guy that wanted to determine his own life he didn't need his dad making his decisions he asked for his inheritance early because he
didn't want to wait until he was older he decided to go to a place where no one knew who he was no one can go back and tell his daddy what he was doing we read later in the story what he did with this money he partied with prostitutes with drinks you can imagine him at the bar buying everybody drinks just so he could look good and feel good until all of a sudden he has nothing left what happens when he has nothing left a famine hits how many know when it rains a por that's when you really start questioning God wait a second things aren't just bad they've gone from bad to worse I've got no family I've got no finances I've got no friends and he finds himself Jesus
uses the most extreme example in the Jewish ancient culture of the day he finds himself with the pigs an unclean animal in fact he's so hungry he wishes he could just eat some of that pig slop this is a place of Despair I don't know where you find yourself today but at some point you've got to see yourself in the lens of this story that you are this son at some season of your life you're going to realize you're going to try to do things on your own apart from God at some point you're going to realize your depravity that you actually don't have anything without the help of your father at some point you're going to see that this world is nothing but pig slop and you've got to long for something
more we just sang this earlier you are Made for More You're Made In God's image he loves you he's got a purpose and a plan for you the one thing we all have in common not just here but with our brothers and sisters around the world is You're Made In God's image you have value you might think that you're overlooked by God you might wonder what God's doing in your life but I'm here to tell you you God made you he loves you and he's got a purpose and a plan for your life now Jesus continues this in the story and he tells us the Crux of the story is in verse 17 but when he in the filth of where he is he's lost his clothes he's lost his friends he's lost his finances when he came to himself now we don't know if this was years or if it
was decades for some of you it takes a little longer than others when he came to himself he might have been in his 40s or 50s he might have been in his teens we don't know exactly what his age is but there's a there's a point in this story where he no longer is looking for pity from other people he's going to do something about it there comes a point when you actually have to be the loudest preacher in your own life you can no longer blame your parents you can no longer blame your friends you can no longer blame the economy or the government you got to come to yourself and recognize I've got to do something about where I am now you can stay where you are you can have your own pity party you want to stay in darkness and despair the devil would love to leave you there
or you can come to yourself and say I'm no longer going to stay in this place I'm no longer going to stay in this head space I'm no longer going to stay in this place physically emotionally and most importantly spiritually when he came to himself who knows how old he was he was probably your age but when he came to himself he said how many of my father's hired servants have more somebody shout more more now this story is to share with us the heart of God we have a god of abundance he never runs out of Mercy he never runs out of Grace he never runs out of money and says well I don't know what I'm going to do next it's all his he's a god of abundance and when you start to recognize I might not be in the place I want to be but my
heavenly father has more than enough for me if I could just be a servant in my father's house that's more than what I have right now my father has more than enough but I perish here with Hunger I he says in verse 18 will arise I'll go to my father and I'll say to him father I have sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son treat me as one of your hired servants this story teaches us that this man who had Pride fell so hard he had to Humble himself the Bible says that that the proud will fall pride comes before the fall if you don't think you're going to fall the
Lord would just love to teach you a lesson when you end up so low all you could do is humble yourself and the Bible says that he takes the humble and he lifts them up he exalts The Humble here we have a brother just like you who's so humble he says in his heart I need to confess my sin he confesses I've done wrong if you don't acknowledge you've done wrong you can't be forgiven for that wrong the Bible says if you would just confess your sin he is faithful and just not only to forgive you of your sins but to cleanse you from all unrighteousness which means that God doesn't hold your sin against you God's not going to keep coming back and remind
you of all the wrongs that you've done the devil's going to try to remind you but you got to remind the devil I'm forgiven I'm washed clean you can't keep bringing that back up because Jesus died to forgive me of my sin so I'm no longer who I used to be you might remember it but God doesn't remember it he's forgiven you and so this man he humbles himself he confesses that he sined and he's determined I'm not going to stay with the pigs I'd rather be a servant in my father's house I don't think I could be a son but maybe my dad will let me be a slave in this house some of you are still thinking that way this is where we start to barter with God and it's really bad theology theology just means the study of God and some of us come up with our own conclusion of who God is but
it's not based upon on who God says he is in the Bible and the Bible doesn't say that you get to barter with God and that you're just going to be a servant you're just going to be a slave you you got to earn the love of God you've got to earn back a position that's not what the Bible says that's bad theology when you sin you don't have to earn God's love when you sin you don't have to to try to earn that right to to find a place in the household of God again too many of us have this type of barter mentality with God it's really like a Santa Claus savior where we say you know what God I will serve you as a servant if you just give me and fill in the blank what to give me is if if I could just not stay in this place I'll go ahead and serve you the rest of my days come on don't leave me hanging how
many of you ever done that with God before God if you would just do this I'll do this and we really have a servant mentality we don't have a son mentality we don't have a kingdom mentality we think I'm such a wretch in God's eyes there's no way God's going to give me the best but if I could just have the rest it'll be okay and that's that's not the undeniable hope that we read about in the Bible because from the beginning of Genesis to the end uh to Revelation all 66 books it's peppered with this hope that is not based upon you it's not based on what you can do it has absolutely nothing to do with how good you are but who God is God is compl completely good God is completely holy God is completely perfect and what Jesus
did is he stepped out of heaven and the Creator became one of the created holy man holy God he did what needed to be done not so that you could try to earn it back but so that you would receive the free gift of Grace God's favor come on somebody God is not a god of Despair he's not a god of Doubt but rather he wants you to have the undeniable hope hope of the heart of the father we read about here look at Luke 15:20 come on you can celebrate that praise be to God that somebody gets it today Luke 15:20 he arose and he came to his father some of you need to have the courage to come to your father I celebrate that last week there were some brave souls that stood up and said I
want to be saved and you know what God says when you're willing to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus as Lord the Bible says you're saved that's it you don't have to have all the answers you don't have to have it all figured out the Bible never says go clean up your life first then come to God the Bible says go fix everything and then come to God that's not what the Bible says go ahead and rise up even in your stink uh go ahead and rise up even in your sin the Bible says in Luke 15:20 he arose and he came to his father and while he was still a long way off his father saw him and he came and he wiggled his finger and shamed him and condemned him and said what in the world are you doing back here I'm just kidding I came up with my own
story some of us when we think about life we begin to rle plate in our minds what's going to happen and some of us have come up with our own Narrative of what God's going to do oh yeah we role play I'll pray this God you're going to do this but I just want to say this you're not a really good God so so quit role playing in your mind what God's going to do because what God actually does is absolutely surprising yeah it he comes and he remember he's prepared this speech I'm just going to be a servant I'm just going to be a servant father forgive me please don't kill me I deserve death but I father forgive me but while he was still a long way of his father saw him and felt compassion that word in the Greek is spagna it's having pity and then move to
action I'm not just going to see something bad I'm going to do something about it and the father ran and embraced him and kissed him Hallelujah the father in this story represents the heart of God and Jesus completely surprises his listeners in the ancient days anyone that's older a father particularly of grown children would never run unless you're being chased by a lion for him to raise up his robe and show the world his his legs it it would have been undignified to run I want you to know that God is willing to be
undignified just simply to display his heart when he comes to his son he Embraces him with Grace he lavishly loves him with kisses he's unashamed he doesn't care what the world thinks that's how God sees you he loves you so much that if you would allow yourself to be embraced by Grace he's going to love you despite where you've been despite what you've done despite what you look like you smell like or anything else God just sees you and he loves you that's the heart of our Heavenly Father and Jesus tells this story not so that we would stay the same but that we would who he is remember he tells his
story because he's being criticized for the unorthodoxy of how he's living his life he's hanging out with Sinners and he's not becoming like them they're becoming like him and when God looks at you he loves you despite all the places you've been despite all the things you've done he loves you at your worst and he's moved to action to do something about that and that's why during this Christmas season we say we have un deniable hope that even in the darkest days I say light is still coming that's hope even if I'm hurting now I know healing is coming that's hope even in my despair I'm not going to stay here I come to myself and say my God does not leave us
where we are he's coming I have hope Paul when he wrote to the Christians in Roman 12:2 he he makes this statement this is one of those memorable scriptures that you you ought to tattoo on your heart so that the right time you can preach to yourself here's what he says Romans 12:12 it's easy to memorize Romans 12:12 rejoice in Hope be patient in Tribulation be constant in prayer rejoice in Hope be patient in Tribulation be constant in prayer that word Rejoice simply means to choose Joy I choose Joy Paul said to the Philippians rejoice
in the lord always I'll say it again Rejoice I I Will Rejoice I'm going to choose Joy now what kind of Joy I'm going to choose joy in hope so if I don't have it yet I still have joy because I believe God's going to do it in the NIV it puts it this way be joyful in Hope be Joy joyful in Hope be patient in Affliction faithful in prayer I think in many instances many of us treat God like Santa Claus like he's the Santa Claus savior I have a need I Ask Of God he deposits it like a Christmas gift I open it like a child I
enjoy it and I really don't come back to the Santa Claus savior until I have another need anybody ever prayed like that and then what begins to happen is we're let down when the Santa Claus savior doesn't give you what you've asked for but what Paul's saying here is if I'm in a tribulation and an Affliction I'm going to be patient because my God's Not Santa Claus my God is Almighty LL Yong which means he's the most high God he's Creator he's Eternal he has no beginning no end so if he hasn't given me what I've asked for he must know what's better than I know because how many of us know that if we're like the spoiled brat son that said give me my inheritance that if God gives us what we ask for sometimes we're not better for
it we think we'd be better oh Lord let me win the lottery I'll give you back some tell me you haven't prayed that prayer come on somebody but do you know statistically speaking people that win the lottery go broke and they're not better for it they get bitter because all their family and friends want now is not friendship not Fellowship not intimacy give me some of that money listen if God gave you everything he wouldn't be a good God so you ought to rejoice in hope if I don't have it yet I'll be patient in my tribulation and God I'm not going to give up on you when I don't get what I want because too many of us give up on God when we don't get what we want but the Bible tells us be constant in prayer
be consistent in prayer Pray continually be faithful in prayer so if you're going through some tribulations right now this is the opportunity to grow in your intimacy of your relationship with God I'm going to Rejoice I'm going to choose Joy because my hope is not in my circumstances My Hope Is In Jesus Christ and if I look at the life of Jesus it looked like it was done on Friday it looked like it was dark on Saturday but I don't stay in Despair and darkness my hope is in the resurrection and the life my hope is what he did on the third day he rose from the grave he proves to us he defeated death he defeated the devil but he's going to do it on his timing not my timing so what each of us need
today is to recognize you've got a God that's for you Romans 8:31 says if God is for us who could be against us it might look bad right now the devil might be bringing his angels against you but I want you to know there's got to be a shift in your heart that the Lord of hosts the angels armies are are greater than anything the enemy is going to bring against you hope says that where I am is not the end of my story hope says that my God can and he will hope says that I'm going to trust in him I'm not going to turn to the things of this world when Mary the mother of Jesus was visited by an Angel it it was a tremendous story because she's told that she will give birth to the savior of the world the she'll give birth to the Messiah the
hamashiach the the the anointed one will come from her it's what every Jewish young woman would have wanted and she's visited by Gabriel she's told this would happen and Mary said Luke 1:34 Mary said to the angel how will this be since I'm a virgin she's not yet been fully married and consummated that marriage and the angel answered her this is so important that you understand the Christmas story The Angel answered the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will over Shadow you therefore the child to be born will be called holy meaning set apart the Son of God here's what God's saying to Mary this has nothing to do with you it will be the power of the most high God this is called anointing
it will be the holy spirit that will do it and if you can do everything in your life you're not letting God be God the Holy Spirit Will Empower you in your life to do what you could never do on your own but rather that which only God can do we're told in Luke 137 Mary's told for nothing will be impossible with God now if we take a time out in the story The Skeptics typically would say something like this this is impossible you can't have a baby without a male that will provide the sperm so the and exactly the Bible says nothing will be impossible with God impossible is not in God's vocabulary in fact what looks impossible for us is easy with God he's God so we either believe in the Virgin birth and we have hope that my God can do anything or we've come up with our
own faith story and we've denied the scriptures but if I Take God at his word nothing will be impossible with God I become like Mary in verse 38 Mary said behold I'm a servant of the Lord let it be to me according to your word and the angel departed from her here's what she's saying I have hope it's not based on me I have hope it's not based on what I could do I have hope it's not based upon my husband I have hope it's not based upon anyone this world if God said it either I believe it or I don't and Mary was chosen because she believed it now just consider this for a moment believing in This Promise of God would put her in a place of danger as an
unwed young woman in the Middle East at this time she could be put to death for being pregnant and not married and she's simply saying yes to whatever God has has planned she's saying yes if you said it I believe it she didn't say yes because it was easy she didn't say yes because she had it figured out she said yes because God said it and if he said it I could believe it let me turn to Romans 8 for a moment 8 verse 24 and 25 Paul puts it this way and consider your life for a moment because you've got to remember what hope is and what it is not Paul says in Romans 8:4 for in this hope we were saved what hope the hope that God came to this earth died on a cross for your sins was buried and rose from
the grave in this hope we were saved now hope that is seen is not hope now let me explain this for a moment hope that is seen is not hope if you have enough money to pay your bills that's not hope it might be a blessing but it's not hope if your health is strong right now and you're trusting in your health that's not hope that's a blessing of good health if everything's going okay right now that's not hope hope is you don't have what God Alone can provide for you do you see the difference there's a there's one thing about a blessing but there's a whole another thing trusting God that he's going to give you what you don't have yet hope that is seen is not hope that's your finances that's your relationships that's your health for who
hopes for what he sees but if we hope for what we do not see we wait for for it with patience we believe that God's going to do it I like how Bishop Jake puts this you don't know what God is making while you're aching come on somebody meaning this if you're in pain right now God hasn't given up on you he has a purpose and a plan and you still hope in him despite what you feel right now and so we come back to this story of the son The Father loves him lavishly Embraces him with Grace and then he says this in verse 23 and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate this is the heart of my God he loves barbecue he loves brisket he he he
loves the best part listen you don't go get the fattened calf for any occasion you would do it when you had an honored guest in the house he says let's celebrate look at verse 24 for my son was dead and is alive again he was lost and is found and they began to celebrate someone shout celebrate celebrate too many of us have the wrong view of God we have a god of Celebration you see some of us think that heaven's going to be boring no it's going to be a celebration for eternity it's going to be better than you can imagine and God gives us a glimpse of what happens when you come home this is spiritually speaking when you confess your sin when you say Lord I just want what you have for me he doesn't call you a servant he calls you a son he gives you a new robe he puts he puts shoes on
your feet he puts a ring on your finger What God Says is you're not a slave you're a son you're not a servant you're a daughter you see what God sees in you is what you can't even see in yourself God says if you see your identity in me you're not orphaned you've been adopted into the family of God and if you're adopted in the family of God he doesn't see you as an adopted child you are child of God you have something to celebrate so when we sing at church if you know who you used to be you will celebrate for who you are right now if you know what you've been forgiven of you will celebrate what God's done in your life you are a born again again Blood Bought forgiven child of God I'm no longer a sinner I'm a saint in God's
eyes I'm no longer unclean I'm righteous in his eyes if I don't have it right now my God can give it to me because it's all his I can't have financial problems I can't have health problems my hope is in him so if I don't have it yet I keep coming back rouson taught us you better pray even if you don't like that person that's the teachings of Jesus you love your enemies you pray for those who persecute you and when you do God changes your heart and they're going to get healed and if they're not completely healed you keep coming back to God you keep coming back to God you keep coming back to God even if you don't see it you believe in the undeniable hope of Jesus Christ I want to just conclude with one last story and then if you've never been baptized today's your day right now
today's your day it was many years ago the journey church youth group went to a water park I've told this story so many times because it's left an imprint on my soul and my two older kids they were old enough to be in the youth group so they got to go to the water park my youngest was eight and so she didn't get to go so being the pastor there's privileges so we decided to go as a whole family with the youth group and we brought our youngest child and at the end of the day the youth group was getting ready to move on to their next activity and all the youth group kids got together but my youngest daughter was unaccounted for and so we asked the two older kids to help us go find her they went into the girl's locker room called out her name Elana she wasn't in the locker room we looked in the wave pool she wasn't in
the wave pool we began to look in the the lines for the water slides she wasn't in lines for the water slides so at some point I started to get fear in my heart you you know that shift where you've watched too many date lines uh she's just this cute little eight-year-old girl I'm convinced that somebody with a van pulled up with a puppy and some candy and said get in little girl and I I literally went to the worst places in my mind someone's taking her they're doing something horrible to her all these things and if it's not the DAT line narrative I started to role play she's at the bottom of a pool so I went to a worker at behind the counter I kid you not the dialogue is you need to help me find my daughter she's missing he gave me the coldest answer he said I'm sorry sir we can't help you we're already looking for
several other missing kids I began to argue with them realizing my argument's not going anywhere so now I'm frantic and I'm also angry and so we as a whole family we split up and we're calling her name Eliana I'm fully clothed going up the stairs on these slides looking for my daughter Elana we're looking everywhere and then finally my older kids they found her and they brought her over to my wife and I and I get down on my knees and I I look her in the eyes and I raise my voice and I said where were you we've been looking for you and she looked at me with her big blue eyes and they swell up with tears and she says I was just in line for the lie and I realized that she didn't deserve me raising my voice it was my fear that did
that and so I embraced her with my arms and I simply told her sweetie you've not done anything wrong CU in her eyes dad is yelling at her and I just told her I love you I love you because she didn't even know she was lost but in my eyes she needed to be with me to be to be found to not be dead because in my narrative she was dead so my prayers I was a little more grateful for my little girl that night because she was not dead she was not lost she was mine she was with me and God imprinted in my heart just the the heart of a Heavenly Father
towards the Lost he sees you he loves you even if you don't know you're lost even if no one else in the world cares listen this church does not exist to be another church in this city we want the Lost found we want the dead to come alive in Jesus we're not here to tell other Christians from other churches to come join us in a holy huddle this is not the Frozen chosen I have been saved by Jesus Christ and I want every person that's never been saved to realize that if God did it for me he could do it for you it doesn't matter where you came from or where you've [Applause] been so there's two people I want to just speak to for a moment the first one is if you've never given your life to Jesus today is your
day just to say yes you don't have to get your life right first you just simply have to say yes and you're beginning a great journey of faith and if that's you we want to celebrate with you today the second person I want to speak to is if you've never been baptized there's a baptism tank right here that recognizes what Jesus has done for us the word baptism comes from the Greek word baptis it means to immerse in water so when you go under the water it's a symbol of death when you come up out of the water it's a symbol of resurrection and life that's what baptism is Jesus himself got baptized and then he commission us that if you believe in him you get baptized our heart for as a church is To Go Make Disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit one God and three persons the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit if you've not been baptized and
you have believed in Jesus this is your next step now do you get baptized to be saved no you get baptized because you're saved do you need to keep getting baptized over and over no you need to get baptized when you've chosen to follow Jesus this is your allegiance to him this is the day that you look at you laid a steak in the ground and said I will obey you father I will go where you want me to go I'll be who you want me to be that's what baptism is it's an allegiance with the Lord now some of you were baptized as infants in a faith tradition where your parents dedicated you we don't do do that here at Journey Church we we dedicate children unto the Lord but we don't baptize them because we don't see that example in scriptures the Bible teaches us that you get baptized once you've made a decision to follow Jesus so today I want to just challenge you if you've believed in
Jesus and you've not been baptized today's your day quit living in Disobedience start honoring your father but first I just want to ask if if you're here today and you've never believed in Jesus you're saying yes ask me I want to be forgiven I want to receive Grace I want to receive the gift of eternal life if I asked you would you just raise your hand high and so I could see you so I could see that you making that decision praise God yes amen praise be to God praise God yes come on yes anybody else right where you are just nice and high I want to see who's making that decision you're saying yes that's me I I want to I want to receive forgiveness I want to be set free from my past I want to have the hope of a future anybody else see that that courage and that
boldness that that each of you had in raising your hands that's what it's going to take to keep following Jesus not everyone will celebrate with you we didn't get to the point of the story but there's a second brother who's actually quite upset about the celebration of the first brother he's quite upset because he doesn't see why he deserves to have a party he sned and dad you're going to celebrate so my encouragement to those of you who raised your hands today is not everyone's going to celebrate that you're born again Christian but you're in good company because those of us who know who we are and where we've come from we celebrate with you today thank you Jesus thank you Lord why don't you pray with me where you are and I'm just going to pray for those who made that decision today Lord
we love you and thank you for your love for us for those that said yes through their hands raised more importantly it's their hearts in a posture of surrender to you to a god that loves us and forgives us today we thank you for your grace your mercy your goodness we thank you for the gift of eternal life that we do not have to fear death but in you Jesus Christ to be absent from the bodies to be present with the Lord so we long and look forward to being with you forever today we celebrate what we're about to do we celebrate that baptism is just a reminder of what you did for us Jesus that thank you for your death thank you for your Resurrection we give you the glory for every changed life we say God Empower us and equip us with your Holy Spirit to do the good works that you've prepared in
advance for us to do let us be empowered to walk by faith let us be empowered to lay hands on the sick let us be empowered to be your hands and feet Jesus we love you in Jesus name amen you've probably already seen but there's some that have already moved over towards this baptism tank if that's you today maybe you weren't even prepared we want to say that's okay if you want to come to church dry and leave wet that's a great picture of hope my friends uh if you want to get baptized would you just make your way over right now we've got some pastors that will greet you it's only going to take a few minutes but we want to celebrate what God has done you come on over and and we'll simply ask you one question have you believed in Jesus Christ if you can say yes to that answer or if if you can say yes to that question that answer answer
is the reason you get baptized so if that's you come on forward and we want to celebrate for those of you who are observing can we celebrate when they come up out of the water it represents New Life in Jesus [Music] EX in the heavens as your glory FS you alone deserve Our Praise you're the name above
exed now in the heavens as glor FS this you long deserve Our Praise you're the name above all we ex now in the heavens as your glory fills this place you Al deserve Our Praise you're the name above all names be exed now in the heavens as your glory FS this place you alone deserve Our Praise you're the name above [Music]
exed in the heavens as GLS long deserve Our Praise you're the name above all names be exed now in the heavens as Glory FS this place you alone deserve Our Praise you're the name of of Nam be exalted now in the heavens as your glory fills this place you alone deserve Our Praise you're the name above all names be exalted now in the heavens as your glory
fills this place you alone deserve Our Praise you're the name above all and Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name Worthy is your name
Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name Worthy is your name Worthy is your name [Music] so be exed now in the heavens as your glory fills this place you alone deserve Our Praise you're the name above all name we exalted now in the heavens as your glory fills this place you alone deserve Our
Praise you're the name above [Music] all and I will build my love upon your love it is is a firm foundation and I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be
Shen and I will build my life oh on your love he it is a firm foundation and I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be Shen and I will build my life upon your love it is the Firm
Foundation and I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be Shen and holy there is no one like you there is none me beside you open up my eyes in Wonder and show me who you are and fill me with your heart and Le me in your love to
those around me and hold there is no one like you there is n beside you open up my eyes in Wonder and show me who you are and fill me with your heart and Le me in your love to those around [Music]
[Music] I'll build my life upon your love [Music] I'll build my life upon your [Music] love upon your love oh thank you for your love [Music] oh thank you for your [Music]
love oh thank you for your love Jesus oh thank you for [Music] your I will build my life up on your it is a full foundation and I will put my trust in you and I will not be
[Music] Shen come on this is Church everybody this is what it's all about praise be to God if you would stand to your feet I going to read this scripture over you Romans 15:13 May the god of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in Hope Lord I pray this word would come alive in our hearts you the god of Hope would allow hope to abound in us we celebrate you and we thank you today for so many lives that decided not only to say yes but to walk in obedience God would you protect those
that said yes would you protect them against the enemy we plead your blood Jesus over their lives and we say father would you multiply the work that you've begun God would you do exceedingly and abundantly more than all we can imagine you get the glory for this today in the name of Jesus Amen and amen amen
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Where Hope Meets Helplessness
Pastor Keith names helplessness, hurt, despair, and uncertainty as places where hope is needed. He later applies Romans 8:24-25 to distinguish hope in God from favorable circumstances or blessings already received.
Romans 8:24-25
- How does Pastor Keith distinguish a blessing already received from hope?
- How does that distinction relate to the difficult circumstances he names at the start of the message?
Testimony: Telling What God Has Done
Pastor Keith refers to Revelation 12:11 and explains testimony as telling of Jesus' power. He connects believers' testimony with the completed work of Jesus in overcoming the enemy.
Revelation 12:11
- How does Pastor Keith connect testimony with the completed work of Jesus in Revelation 12?
The Homecoming in Luke 15
The sermon tells the younger son's story in Luke 15: the inheritance, reckless living, the famine, the pigs, and the moment he comes to himself. The pastor emphasized the father's willingness to be undignified by running, his embrace, and the celebration that follows, and critiqued the idea of merely becoming a servant instead of receiving grace.
Luke 15:1-2 · Luke 15:11-24
- Which part of the younger son's story is easiest for you to recognize in yourself?
- The father runs, which the pastor says was undignified for the culture. What does that picture say about God's posture toward people who return?
- The sermon warns against a 'servant' or 'barter' mentality. What does that temptation look like in your own thinking?
Mary, the Impossible, and Unseen Hope
Pastor Keith discusses Mary's questions and acceptance in Luke 1, emphasizing her trust in God's power. He applies Romans 8:24-25 to trusting God for what is not yet visible and Romans 12:12 to continuing in hope, prayer, and perseverance.
Luke 1:34 · Luke 1:37 · Luke 1:38 · Romans 8:24-25 · Romans 12:12
- Mary said yes even though it wasn't safe. Where might saying yes to God feel costly right now?
- The sermon says hope is for what you don't see yet, while health or money are blessings. How does that distinction challenge you?
- How does Pastor Keith connect hope with continuing to pray through difficulty?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
How does Pastor Keith interpret the father's response in Luke 15?+
Pastor Keith presents the father's compassionate welcome in Luke 15:20 as a picture of God's heart toward those who return. He explains that running would have cost the father dignity in that setting, and sees the father's embrace as grace rather than a demand that the son first earn his place.
Why does the sermon say hope is not the same as a blessing?+
Applying Romans 8:24-25, Pastor Keith distinguishes trusting God for what is still unseen from enjoying favorable circumstances already present. He uses paid bills and good health as examples of blessings, then encourages patient trust in God even when those circumstances are absent.
What did Mary's response say about belief and risk?+
In Luke 1, Mary questions how the promised birth can happen and is told it will depend on God's power. Pastor Keith presents her acceptance as trust in God's word rather than her own ability. He emphasizes that her response could put her at risk, so belief here is not presented as an easy or predictable course.
