This morning you received just a glimpse of what happened in Mexico.
Brant's testimony and Jessica's testimony point to something great
that's going on. And unfortunately for you (in the congregation),
there is no way you can get it by listening here. But you can get a
glimpse and some of what you guys (the youth) saw this week - you
guys saw amazing things. Some of you saw poverty. Some of you for the
first time really saw poverty. And some of you saw our wealth. Some
of you saw the joy that's in people that have so little. It's
amazing. And some of you saw God at work; whether it was in the work
that you were doing, in the lives of your friends, or in the people
that live down there. And it's amazing to see what God can do. And
some of you probably can't say quite what you saw, but you know you
saw something different.
And that's what we saw down there. There was something
different, and that difference is tied right in with what Brant was
saying, how he came home and all of a sudden he couldn't figure out
how to hang out with his old friends who didn't know God, because
that difference is a real Christian community.
Now we had the opportunity for a week to live in a real community
that really recognizes Christ. And that's a chance that not many
people get. Or maybe better yet, that's a chance not many people
take. Because what we did down there, you could probably go with a
group that was going to do a good thing, but there would be something
missing.
After talking to a lot of students who went for the first time, they
said, "You know, there was just something different. There was
just something different." And that something different is the
presence of God among us.
You know it's different than just doing something good, because
imagine how many of you who are students, or who were students,
think, "Ah, let's see, Spring Break! Let's pay a pretty good
chunk of money and go down to Tijuana. Let's see, then we can sleep
on cement floors, and we can get up early and dig, and pour cement,
and then go back and sleep on different cement, and then -- "
You know, this is not a vacation. It's not like, "Hey,
this sounds like -- ooh -- beach and palm trees!" I mean, that's
not the Mexico we went to. But for some reason, it's a
life-changing experience, and somehow God works, and you wouldn't
want to miss it.
I tell you what. I have been to Mexico on mission trips ten times
now, which is amazing, and all ten were so different and stand out so
clearly because it's not an experience to go to have a good
experience, you know? "Oh, this would be a good
experience. You really should do this, at least once in your
life." But what we were doing was going down to serve God, and
it's amazing what he can do when we open up our lives to him.
And now you're probably thinking, "Yeah, sure. I can see
that. And Brant's testimony and Jessica's testimony, they really
point to that, and it's nice that you guys had the chance to do
that." But now most of us have to go back and work, or y'all
have to go back and go to school. So now what? Right? Now what? We're
back to normal life, and we just have to go back, right? That's
wrong. Because my challenge to you guys - and my challenge to all of
you - is that you can have that kind of community here. Living in a
community and living with people is not something that you just do
when you're on retreat sometimes, but you can do that here.
This text in Hebrews is great because it gives us five things we can
do. It gives us five exhortations, which is a fun word to say. If
this was youth group I'd make you all say, "Exhortations."
See? You want to try it? Ready? That means, stuff that you should do.
Okay? See, this is fun! Okay.
The first one is this. It's in Verse 22. It says: "Let us draw
near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith."
Okay? What this is saying is, because of what Jesus did on Good
Friday and Easter, because he died for our sins, conquered death, and
rose again, we can have confidence when we approach God. He opened up
that door. He made that possible. And that's not something that you
can just do when you're on a retreat and it feels good and you've
been singing cool songs and whatnot, but you can do that anytime you
want. So the first thing we can do is approach God with confidence. What
a great thing!
The second one in Verse 23 says this: "Let us hold unswervingly
to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." What
Brant and Jessica were talking about, what we've been singing about,
what we experienced -- we saw God in a new way. And God revealed
himself in a new way, and that brings hope. And we can hold onto that hope.
And we can hold onto that hope not because we built a good house. We
built pretty good houses with high school students who have picked up
a hammer once or twice, you know? And we can't hold onto that hope
because we're just really good people, because if any of you are
going to be honest, you can say, "You know what? I don't quite
match up to what I need to be." And we don't hold onto that hope
because we've got the right job, we go to the right school, we get
the right grades. We can hold onto that hope because He who promised
is faithful. We can hold onto that hope because of what Jesus did,
and His promise that He'll keep. Easy enough. That's why we can hold
onto that hope, so that we can draw close to God, and we can hold
onto the hope that Jesus has given us.
The third one is Verse 24, and it says this: "And let us
consider how we may spur one another on to love and good deeds."
Now, this is both really hard and really easy in Mexico, because if
any of you have done much physical labor in the hot sun, especially
when you're not used to doing it, you know how irritated you get.
"Just drive the nail! I don't care if there's a knot. Get it
done! We need to get this wall done." I mean, that is so easy.
And I can't tell you how many times I was like, "You're doing a
good job." Oh, my gosh. It is a trying time to go down and try
to build a house. I don't build houses. I sit at a desk and try to
put together lessons that are going to entertain high school
students. It's a lot different. But He says, "Let us spur one
another on."
This is neat because I did a little research on this one. The
verb they're using for spurring in the Greek is basically incite,
like incite a riot, but on the good side. Not like, "Hey, you
know, you really should be doing good stuff." But when a riot is
incited, it's like all of a sudden people lose control, and they have
to be a part of that riot, or they have to be a part of whatever
they're doing. So let's incite each other to love and good works. I
just love that. A loving riot!
So let's incite each other to love and good works. That's part of
what we were doing in Mexico. A couple of the days, one of the teams
would be cleaned up and ready to go home first, and instead of just
going home and taking a bucket shower -- (ha! About a gallon of
water; pour it over your head; you're clean, right)? -- instead of
heading home to do that, they'd head over to the other sites.
"Hey, can we help you guys get to where you need to be and help
you clean up?" I mean, you guys got a taste of what inciting
love and good works is like. You can do that here. All right!
The fourth one is Verse 25: "Let us not give up meeting together
as some are in the habit of doing." This was speaking to a
specific issue in the church that this letter was written to, but
it's a problem today too. And I know that I've done this, and I'm
pretty sure you guys have done this, and I'm willing to bet the rest
of you have done this. When things aren't going so well, and you're
kind-of stressed out, you just don't feel "churchy." When
you just don't feel churchy, sometimes you just want to stay home.
You just want to go hide and hibernate. But he's saying, "No.
Don't give up meeting together. Continue to come together and to
worship God and to build a community," like Brant was saying.
I had lunch at Clayton Valley High School on Thursday, and it was so
neat because I walked up and sat down with a couple of students. And
the neat thing was, people who didn't know I was coming, they were
just coming to sit with their friends from church. They wanted to be
meeting together, and they wanted to be with people who acknowledged
that God is real. More importantly, they wanted to be with
people who couldn't deny that God is real. "Let us not give up
meeting together."
The fifth one is also Verse 25: "Let us encourage one another,
and all the more as you see the day approaching." And this
is good news, because it reminds us that when we meet together, it's
a good thing. We're supposed to encourage each other. We're not
meeting with each other to say, "Hey, you know, you're really
messing up," or, "Hey, you know, boy, it would be really
neat if I had cooler friends, but I'll hang out with you guys."
But that's not what it is. It's saying, "Let us encourage one
another as we meet."
And as I take a step back from all of this, and I think, "Wow.
Let's approach God with confidence. Let us hold unswervingly to the
hope that we profess. Let us spur each other on. Let us incite each
other to love and good works. Let's keep meeting together.
Let's encourage one another." You know those aren't
impossible things. Those are things you can do today. But when we put
all five of those together, it kind-of makes you want to smile and
say, "Wow. That sounds pretty good."
Down in Mexico we saw something different: 22 high school students,
13 adults, five high schools, two colleges, 11 careers. That's an
unlikely group of people. But there was something different that
brought us together so that we could do something big, and it wasn't
because we were able, but it was because the one who promised is
faithful.
So take the time this week. Read over this verse. Remember it's five
things you can do, and they're all good, and they're not that hard.
You can do that at church. You can do that at school. You can do that
at work. Surround yourself with people who love God and can encourage
you and spur you on to love and good works. And then like Jessica said,
"Get excited! Sit back and wait and see what God's going to do
next, because he'll do big things."
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