Weary World Rejoices - Pt 4 - Audio
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Well, welcome. We're continuing our series, "Weergie World Rejoices." And today, we're talking about hope for skeptics. Skeptics can be a lot of different things. There's people who define themselves as skeptics. They're the ones who don't believe there's a God. They don't, you know, assign to any religion, belief system. We're not talking necessarily about those people today, but if you're one of them and you're here, this is for you. And instead, we're talking about people who respond when God starts to shake things up with a like, "How can I be sure that this is you, God?" It's especially appropriate given, I sent an email this week letting you know that our longtime worship pastor, Doug, 15, 20 years of being at this church, is going to be seeking something different. And that definitely came, like, "Oh, man, okay, that's a little scary." Not only because, you know, he's an incredible musician and just has a huge passion for worship and loves Jesus, but also because we've been friends for a really long time. And Doug was a brides man in our wedding, meaning that he was on Aaron's side. And our girls love each other and are really great friends. So it's like hearing that, you're like, "Ah, okay. God, are you in this? Are you a part of what's happening right now?" If so, could you show me? Could you show me that you are? That's one way to respond. That's the natural way, if I'm just being honest. That's my way of responding to most everything that God does. It's like my first instinct is to be like, "How do I know if this is really God at work? How can I be sure, God, that you are actually doing what you said and you're drawing everything into good for those who love you and who are called according to your purpose? How do I know that's real?" There's another way that people respond, though. There's another way that you can respond. We're going to talk about both and we're going to talk about how to turn this one, this natural instinct. How do I know if you're part of this God? I have no idea how this is going to work out, but God, I know that you're in it and I can't wait to see what's next. So if you're going to take notes, I would say the first thing to ask yourself is this question, are you a how or a wow kind of person? And it's not right or wrong, by the way. It's not wrong to be a how can I be sure type person. That's just natural. It's human instinct. That's not a sin when you're like, "Ah, I don't understand. I'm confused and I'm scared a little bit. How is this going to pan out?" It's not wrong, but there is a better way. There is a way that's filled with greater joy and that is the wow way. That is, wow, this makes zero sense, but God, you're bigger than me. And I guess I would like to understand what you're up to. But wow. And to do that, we're going to look, because this is the Christmas story, by the way. This is exactly the story of Jesus coming into the world. Like the initial response to people when they find out that Jesus is coming into the world and they're like, "Ah, what? How is this? How can I be, how can I be sure that this is the real deal?" And yet the right response, the response that we're supposed to be engendering in our hearts is, "Wow. This is not something I expected. Maybe sometimes something I really don't like." But wow. So if you want to turn your Bibles to Luke 1, this is the story of Zechariah. And Zechariah, we're going to find out here starting in verse 5, "During the rule of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was the descendant of Aaron. They were both righteous before God, blameless in their observance of all the Lord's commandments and regulations. Zechariah is not a bad guy. He's the best kinder guy. As we've talked about, when we talk about righteousness, that word, "De'kai'asune" in Greek, what that means is not like that you don't break the rules, otherwise Luke wouldn't have gone on to say he doesn't break the rules. He wouldn't have needed to because he already said they're righteous. No, it doesn't mean that and doesn't break the rules. What righteousness means is I do right by the people I owe loyalty to, that I owe my allegiance to. In this case, God. Zechariah
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Coast Bible Church, PastorTom Bennett, San Juan Capistrano, CA, www.coastbible.org