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Introduction: We Have All We Need

We have come now to the end of the book of Hebrews. There’s a particular sentiment on display in the last few verses in the benediction. It reminds me of something. Have you ever been working on a task and in the middle of it you realize you don’t have everything you need for the task?

Like you’re working on some home project and you decide that you’re going to randomly tear down a wall. You decide at 11pm because you’re bored, you decide you’re tearing down this wall. Your mind’s going crazy. You decide you gotta do something crazy. The Home Depot’s closed. You can’t go get the thing you need.

Or you’re maybe you’re in the middle of cooking a meal. You’re in the middle of the meal and you’ve prepared, and then you realize, I don’t have the thing I need. I don’t have the paprika or the cumin or whatever it is. You’re realize that I’m out of that.

The writer of Hebrews is in essence going to remind us that in the Christian life, when we are walking through this life and doing that which God has called us to do, that will never happen. We will never have a moment when we are in the middle of a task and we say to ourselves, I don’t have the thing I need. The writer of Hebrews is saying, God has ensured that that’s never going to take place.

This morning, I want to give a thorough recap of the book of Hebrews. We’re going to remind ourselves of what we have seen over the last several months. Then, after the recap, we’re going to look at the last few words. It’s a prayer. It’s a benediction.

The writer of Hebrews said, I’ve taught you a bunch of stuff. Now let me offer a brief prayer to God on your behalf. But remember, the Spirit of God is writing this through the writer of Hebrews. So it’s the Spirit of God praying a prayer that God the Father will hear and God the Father will listen to what the Spirit of God has lifted up.

So this prayer that’s being offered by the writer of Hebrews on your behalf is guaranteed to come to fruition. It’s a prayer that will definitely be answered by God on our behalf, designed to encourage us.

So we will do a recap of Hebrews. We’ll look at the last few verses and then, my hope is for you to hear God’s word and be encouraged that God is continually shepherding you through whatever season of life you’re in. Ensuring that you are equipped for what God has for you.

There will never be a moment in your life where God has called you to a task where you won’t quite have that thing you need. The writer of Hebrews has prayed that we would be equipped and God will answer that prayer. So let’s pray one more time and we’ll do a quick recap before we get to Hebrews 13.

Lord, we thank you. As we recap Hebrews and look at the last few verses, may we be encouraged by these words. Help us understand them. May they shape how we view you, how we live our lives. May that be true for all of us. In Christ’s name. Amen.

 

Recap of Hebrews: Jesus Is Better

The writer of Hebrews has given us one central theme. Jesus is better. That’s it. That’s his point. The writer of Hebrews is writing this letter. It’s actually a sermon that’s been transcribed and is being sent to a local group of believers. He has caught wind of the fact that there are people in this church that have abandoned the faith.

These are mostly Hellenistic Jews. They are ethnic Jews by nature, but they’re Greek speaking. They’ve embraced a lot of Greek culture, they’ve become Christians. They’re living somewhere in southern Italy, and they are a part of the Christian faith. Some of them begin to abandon the Christian faith and they go back to Judaism. The writer of Hebrews is catching wind of this, and so he preaches this sermon and he writes it down and he sends it to them.

He wants them to know that whatever you go to, if you abandon Jesus to go to something else, that thing is less than Jesus. Whatever you compare Jesus to, Jesus is better than that. Look unto Jesus. Keep believing in Jesus. The entire sentiment, the heart behind this entire letter is to give them reasons to believe that Jesus is better so that they will not be tempted to stop believing in Jesus.

In the opening two chapters, he starts by highlighting who Jesus is. He starts by reminding us that Jesus is the one that was in glory, who then stepped off his throne of glory and became a human being. He did what needed to be done to make purification of sin. We see in Hebrews chapter one, We are sinful. We need to be purified. We could not purify ourselves.

So Jesus came to do that which needed to be done so that our sins could be purified. Talk about inconveniencing yourself. The God of the universe became a human baby, dependent on a teenage mother, subjecting himself to all the pains and ills of this world. He dies a brutal death on a cross where the wrath of God is placed on him so that all who would believe on him, his death would count for them.

So if you believe on him, the wrath of God that should be for you has been placed on him. The wrath of God that was for me was placed on him. Then he raises from the dead and he triumphantly goes right back into heaven. God the Father, as we see in Hebrews chapter one, says, come sit at my right hand.

The writer of Hebrews is saying, you guys think angels are great. He never said to any of the angels, come sit at my right hand. The only person God has ever said that to is his son Jesus. Because Jesus is better.

The main point of the early section of Hebrews chapter one is that Jesus is better. As we go through Hebrews chapter one, into chapter two, he begins to tell us, there are a lot of great humans that have lived, but there’s no human that has ever done what Jesus did. No human was capable of doing what Jesus accomplished. He tells us that Jesus became lower than the angels for a little while.

Back in October, I used this illustration of a pyramid. If you can imagine a pyramid, it’s got multiple levels. You have God at the top, the Trinity, God the father, Spirit, and you’ve got the angels. They’re the second level of authority. Then the third level of authority, the pecking order, is humans.

Then fourth is the beast. That’s what we see throughout the course of the New Testament.
Jesus is the top and we are below the angels. Jesus then comes down that pyramid, becomes a human being, goes to the third pecking order. God became subject lower than the angels for a period of time, became one of us, so that he could then rescue us and bring us up.

The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 2 that we are below the angels. But there’s a process that we are going through where one day we will actually go above the angels. We are currently third in the pecking order, but we’re on the way up because Jesus identified with us.

No human’s ever been able to do that. Jesus is better. He’s the greatest human to have ever lived. Then as we go through from chapters 3 to 9, he’s making one major point over and over again. He’s using multiple illustrations and examples from the Old Testament to make the point. He’s using all of these people that these Jewish people would have revered.

He’s says, remember Moses, he was great, but Jesus was better. Moses led you into a wilderness and nothing more. Jesus is going to lead you into the presence of God forever.
Jesus is better than Moses. Jesus is better than Abraham. Abraham’s great. Father of many nations. He started the first covenant that we see and it’s been unfolding ever since on our behalf.

But Jesus establishes a newer covenant, a better covenant, and accomplishes way more on our behalf than Abraham could ever have accomplished. Jesus is better than Abraham. He travels into chapter 4 and 5 and he begins to tell us that Jesus is better than the Old Testament priest. The Old Testament priests, they did a lot of stuff for the Old Testament saints, but Jesus is better than them because he offers a better sacrifice. They offered bulls and goats as we see in Hebrews 9, but Jesus offered himself.

Jesus is better. Jesus establishes and mediates a better covenant than what the Old Testament priests could establish and mediate. They established a covenant that allowed one person one day a year to enter in the presence of God. Jesus establishes a covenant that all of God’s people can enter in the presence of God forever.

He’s way better. The writer of Hebrews says, remember. Remember the Old Testament priest. Jesus is not even like them. He’s actually like Melchizedek. No beginning and no end. He’s not like those priests. Jesus is way better. He’s way better and establishes a way better covenant.

If you abandon Jesus, whatever you go to is less than Jesus. So don’t do that. Stick with Jesus. Look to Jesus. Consider Jesus. Pay extra attention about the things you’ve learned about Jesus. Keep trusting in Jesus. Don’t stop believing in Jesus. That’s the first 9 chapters of Hebrews.

 

Themes of Hebrews

As you travel through these chapters, there’s some themes that pop up. One of the themes that pops up is the fact that those who love God genuinely will want to obey God. If you disobey God, you’re not going to heaven, not because you’ve lost your salvation, but because you actually never were saved genuinely in the first place. That is what we looked at in Hebrews chapter 6.

So if you hear God commanding you to do things and inside of you, you don’t want to obey, it’s because you’re not genuinely headed toward heaven. You’re actually on trajectory to hell. That should scare us a bit. In Hebrews 5, verse 9, he says

“Jesus became the source of eternal salvation for those who obey.”

As we travel through the chapters, we don’t see that the expectation is perfection. In fact, it’s very clear the writer of Hebrews expects that we will still sin. But is there a trajectory in your life toward obedience? That’s the question. Are you living your life in such a way where you want to obey God, where there seems to be a sense of growth? I’m obeying more today than I did a year ago, and I’m growing in my desire to obey. If that is you, then that means you’re one of his. That desire comes from God.

But if you don’t really want to obey, if you hear the commands of God in Scripture and your inclination is to resist that diagnosis, that is a problem. Maybe you come to church, maybe you claim to be a Christian, maybe you do Christian stuff, but at the end of the day, if your heart doesn’t desire to obey him, something is wrong with your heart. He implores us, repent. Ask God for forgiveness.

In Hebrews 10:26 and 27, he tells us, for anyone who deliberately disobeys God, if you are someone who continues to deliberately disobey God over and over and over again, if we sin deliberately, there remains only a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire.

But there’s time. You can repent today. You can say, God forgive me. That’s the first 10 chapters of Hebrews. Then he moves into chapter 11, and he begins to give us examples of people who believed in God. He’s saying, emulate these people, do what they did.

He goes through a list of all these people through the Old Testament that had faith in God. They were not perfect. They sinned. They made big mistakes, which is very comforting for us.
The expectation is not to be perfect. See these people, they blew it. They did a lot of bad, dumb things over and over and over again, but they are still good examples for us to follow. They believed in the Messiah. They didn’t know his name would be Jesus because they lived before Jesus lived, but they believed that God would send the Messiah.

They looked forward and they trusted God would send the Messiah and they believed in the Messiah to come, and that’s why they were forgiven of their sin. Likewise, we look to the Messiah and we are forgiven of our sin. We addressed this in a sermon a couple months ago. How are the Old Testament saints saved? The same way you are saved, by looking unto the Messiah.

They looked forward to the Messiah and their sins were forgiven. We look back to what the Messiah has already done and our sins are forgiven. But it’s the same covenant, it’s the same truth, it’s the same reality, the same grace. The writer of Hebrews is saying, look at Hebrews 11. There’s some examples for us to follow there.

 

Exhortations from Hebrews

Then he moves into chapter 12 and 13, which we’ve been looking at the last few weeks. This is the Uber practical section of Hebrews. He begins to give us some very specific practical commands and instructions. There were other exhortations throughout the book of Hebrews. There are moments while he’s teaching us that he gives us quick thoughts and exhortations.

In Hebrews chapter 2, he told us to pay close attention to the things we’ve been taught about Jesus. In Hebrews 4, he tells us that whenever you’re being challenged by God’s instruction, do not harden your heart. That’s an exhortation he gives us. Later, in Hebrews 4, he tells us to trust and obey the word of God because it is living and active. At the end of Hebrews 4, he tells us to draw near to God.

In Hebrews chapter 6, he tells us to leave the elementary doctrines of Christ, stop doing the basics, move on to the advanced, deeper doctrines, study them and allow them to transform you. He tells us in Hebrews chapter 10 to consider how to stir one another up in love. The word stir there is the same word for agitate.

Imagine, like a washing machine. We’re a bunch of people in a washing machine. The idea is turn the washing machine on, stir each other up aggressively, cause one another to do good things. There’s a very proactive, intentional nature to this that we as Christians are to intentionally provoke one another to go do good stuff, agitate one another.

Then later in chapter 10, he says don’t stop gathering with other Christians. Which is particularly interesting for our culture in Central Florida. In Orlando, where we live, is the most de-churched metro region in the United States. We lead the nation in people who used to go to church. Many of them have disobeyed this command.

So throughout the first 10, 11 chapters, there are some exhortations here. But we get to chapter 12 and 13. That’s where he really gives us some significant exhortations. The first 11 chapters is mostly theology, truth, understanding of reality. Now that we know this is true, how do we live in light of that? That’s what chapters 12 and 13 have mostly been.

He starts at the beginning of chapter 12 by telling us to get rid of sin. That’s good. That’s a good exhortation. If there’s any sin in your life, get rid of it. Then he tells us to get rid of hindrances. There are some things in your life that are not necessarily sinful, but they’re a hindrance. Get rid of those things too.

Then as you go through chapter 12, he talks about the Lord’s discipline in our life. He says, the Lord’s going to discipline you if you are disobedient, but you are genuinely one of his. The Lord’s going to bring pain into your life to get you to focus and pay attention. He’s going to straighten you up. He tells us in Hebrews 12:5:

“Do not regard lightly the Lord’s discipline.”

Take it seriously. Recognize the Lord is disciplining right now. I have to take that seriously. I have to repent. I have to beg him for his mercy. I have to get rid of the sin to get rid of the injuries when he’s disciplining me. I better not take it lightly at the end.

Toward the end of that chapter, he begins to talk about Esau and says, don’t be like Esau. Esau who cried over missing out on the blessing. But he didn’t cry about the ugliness of his own sin. He was sad that he missed out on God’s blessing, but he wasn’t sad that he was disrespectful and blasphemed God that led him to leave his lose his blessing. We should not just be sad that we miss out on the blessings of God. We should be sad about the sin in our life which causes us to miss out on blessings.

He says, don’t be like Esau. He begins to use this imagery that’s similar to what we see in the Old Testament. Remember the Israelites, they were rescued from slavery, they came out into the wilderness, they wandered around for a while, and then as they were headed to the Promised Land, they disobeyed God and they hardened their hearts. So they never entered into the Promised Land.

He’s saying some people who are a part of the church are kind of like that. There are some people, they’ve walked away from a life of really big sins, overt obvious sins. They’ve been a part of the people of God. They go to church, they do Christian stuff, but they never quite deal with their heart, so they never actually enter into the Promised land. He’s saying, Christians, remember Israel. Remember when that happened to them.

That’s an imagery of us as Christians. We have come now to the edge of Mount Zion, the presence of God, where we experience his love and joy forever and ever and ever. The New Jerusalem is like we’re on the precipice of entering in. If you’re a part of the church, make sure you’ve dealt with your heart, that you’ve genuinely repented of your sin, that so that you go into the Promised Land. You don’t get stuck in the wilderness like the Israelites did.

Then we go into chapter 13, and he gives us the quick hits. He gives us these six quick hits. He doesn’t unpack them thoroughly. He just says, here are six things to remember. Worship God in a manner that is acceptable to God. Be kind and generous. Avoid sexual immorality. Be content with what you have. Don’t fall in love with money. Avoid strange teachings and obey and submit to your church leaders and your pastors.

And that’s the book of Hebrews that we’ve covered over the last eight months.

 

The God of Peace

Then we come to the last section of Hebrews 13. It would be easy to read through this section of Hebrews and to think, there’s a lot of stuff for us to do. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do all this stuff he just told us to do. There are a lot of commands, a lot of exhortations really quickly. There’s a lot of stuff for us to deal with.

In fact, it could be a tad bit overwhelming. The sermons, they feel much more encouraging as earlier in Hebrews. But as you go along, they feel a little less encouraging and a little more jab. I don’t know if you have felt that. I have felt it in my sermon study. The writer, he’s pushing us. He was just telling us how much Jesus loves us and how great Jesus is and how much Jesus has for us. But as we continue to read the letter, he just keeps punching.

He knows it would be possible for them to go, we know that Jesus is better, but, you’ve just given us a lot of commands, and I don’t know that we can stick with it. He says, now listen, I’m going to pray for you. This is what he prays in Hebrews 13, verse 20. He says:

“Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

He says, this is my prayer for you. Because I know I’ve just given you a lot. I’ve given you an array of exhortations and things to do and things to consider, things to implement, things to get rid of, things to lean into. I’ve given you a lot. But here’s the thing. I’m praying that the God of Peace would do something in you.

And because it’s a little convoluted, he begins to describe the God of Peace before he gets to what he’s praying. So it’s a little bit convoluted. But if you look at verse 21, here’s the prayer he is praying to the God of Peace in verse 21, that he may equip you with everything good that you may do his will.

I am praying that as you are going through this process, that it is not you figuring out how to do it. It is not you with your human ingenuity and ability to white knuckle it and just bootstrap it and figure it out. This is not you. Go do it of your own accord, of your own strength. No. Go do these things and the God of Peace will equip you as you endeavor to do these things.

Just in case you forgot who the God of Peace is, I know I’ve just given you 13 chapters about who the God of Peace is and all that he has done. That he is better, but let me get just a couple quick tidbits about who the God of Peace is. Remember, look at verse 20. He’s describing the God of peace. That God is the one who:

“Brought our Lord Jesus back from the dead.”

The one who brought Jesus back from the dead. That’s the one at work in you, equipping you. In Romans, chapter 8, verse 11, the apostle Paul says:

“That the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.”

The spirit that brought Jesus back from the dead is at work in you. If he could bring Jesus back from the dead. I think he can equip you to do that which he’s called you to do. It’s not just some ordinary spirit at work in your heart and life. It’s not just some random taboo thing. It’s not some spell. It’s not some magic Harry Potter wand. No, it’s the God of the universe who brought Jesus back from the dead.

He is at work in you. He will equip you to do that which he has called you to do. So if God has told you to do it, he will help you do it. I hope that’s a comfort to you this morning, believers. But he will help you.

 

Jesus: The Great Shepherd of the Sheep

He also reminds them here who Jesus is. God brought Jesus back from the dead and Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep. One of my favorite passages in First Peter 5, the apostle Peter is talking to pastors, saying, hey, you’re an under shepherd. Love the flock, take care of them, but just remember who the real shepherd is.

It’s actually not on you, Kenny, to fix people. You’re not even capable of doing that. It’s not on you to equip them and make sure they’re ready. Do the best you can. But just remember this. There’s a greater shepherd than you. I didn’t step off the throne of heaven. I didn’t make purification of sin. There’s lots of things in the world better than me.

Jesus, the great shepherd, he is better and he will guide you. He will help you. He will equip you. Psalm 23. Very well known psalm, famous psalm for good reason. Just like Jesus is the shepherd. This is David writing on behalf of the shepherd. He’s describing the shepherd. This is what Jesus does for his people:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the path of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

You’re in the middle of a battle. There’s enemies all around you. He says, come on, let’s have a meal. The God of peace. You got a lot of stuff going on in your life. Come on, let’s sit. Let’s have some barbecue. Verse 6. He says:

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Jesus will shepherd you. God rescues us. He does that which is needed for our sins to be forgiven. But he doesn’t just leave us. Jesus, I’m going to be with you. I’m going to shepherd you. It’s not just, I forgave you of your sin. Now go figure out how to live for me. No, he says, I forgave you. I did what needs to be done for your sins to be wiped clean. I’m going to be with you every step of the way.

When you face enemies, when your life is chaotic, I’m going to prepare a table for you. Jesus will ensure that we will be able to do what he has called us to do. Praise be to God. Yet not I but Christ through me. When we are in heaven, we will still sing in heaven, we will still be singing those words. It will still remain on my lips, yet not I but Christ in me. Still my lips shall repeat, yet not I but through Christ in me.

It will never be you. It’s never been about you. It will never be about you. It’s always been about Jesus. It will always be all about Jesus because he is better keep believing in him.

 

How Does Jesus Equip Us?

Last thought for this morning. This inspires or provokes a question. That is, how does Jesus equip us? He promised he’s going to equip us. How does he do this? Well, he’s just coming off of the heels of Hebrews 11, where he’s talking about these people that God did great work through. What we see over and over again is a pattern that God takes these people through situations where they learn some sort of lesson. Then many years later, the lesson they learn in a previous season of life becomes very applicable.

So the pattern we see throughout the Old Testament and highlighted in Hebrews 11 is that God takes us through moments and through seasons in which we learn something. But we don’t realize we’re learning it. Then years later, we are equipped to handle a task because we went through a previous season. This is God’s pattern.

There are other ways and other things in which God’s ways equips us. But it seems to be God’s primary means of equipping us. He takes us through some season, usually it’s hard. We learn some lessons and then later on in life we’re able to apply those lessons.

But in the midst of the difficulty, we don’t realize that we’re learning a lesson. It feels useless. And we go, why God? We’re angry and we’re frustrated, and that makes sense. God is kind to us in those moments. He doesn’t get angry at us when we lash out. He’s still kind and tender toward us. But many years later, 10, 20, 30, 50 years later, we look back and go, oh, that’s what God was doing. In the last chapter of the book of Job, Job says this.

“Now my eyes have seen what the Lord has done.”

He’s going through this incredible hell for years. At the end of his life, he looks back and goes, oh, that’s what you were doing. I didn’t realize it. We see this with Joseph. Joseph goes through 23 years of incredible difficulty. Being abandoned, betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, accused, wrongfully thrown into prison, forgotten. Many years later, he rises to the second most powerful position in the world.

He says in Genesis 50, this is why God did it, so that many would be saved. God had me go through all of this so I would be equipped to save people in this moment. We see this with King David over and over again. We see this with Esther. Esther goes through this moment in life and she walks into the king’s chambers and she’s able to save God’s people because of what she had experienced.

God takes us through these moments that are difficult, but we don’t realize that in this season, he is preparing us for the next. You have no idea what you’re gonna face in 10 years or 20 years or 30 years. But God knows. God is supernaturally organizing the days of your life, preparing you. Not merely for the days on this side of eternity. God is also doing work in you on this side of eternity, preparing you and equipping you to enjoy that which he has for you on that side of eternity.

 

I Don’t Want To Be A Casual Christian

I want to share a story that seems a little charismatic. It can seem a little bit spooky. We want to be very careful to not build our theology on our experiences. It’s a terrible way to build your theology. We should build up what we believe to be true solely on Scripture. So I’m a little hesitant to share this story, but I do think it highlights what I’m teaching this morning. So I’m going to share it with some caution, but I think it’ll become obvious what I mean by it.

I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, and I came to faith in Christ at age 14. I got involved at a church. I remember one night after our youth group Wednesday night, most of the teenagers had left, and I would volunteer to stick around. I was vacuuming our youth room at our church building, and our youth pastor, Rob Peters, came in and says, ‘Kenny, that’s a ministry, brother.’ I didn’t understand what he meant, I’m 14. I just became a Christian. I don’t know what the word ministry means.

He’s says, ministry is when you serve, you’re ministering to the other Christians. You’re serving them and helping them by vacuuming. So God’s going to reward you for that, brother. I said, oh, that’s pretty cool. I’m going to keep vacuuming. I want the reward. So, I’m vacuuming and Rob is talking and he’s putting some stuff away. Then, Rob starts singing this song I had never heard.

I was a new believer. I literally had been a Christian just a few months. He’s singing this song, and it goes like this. “I don’t wanna be, I don’t wanna be a casual Christian. I don’t wanna live I don’t wanna live a lukewarm life. I want to light up the night with an everlasting light. I don’t want to live a casual Christian life.”

He’s singing this, and I said, what? I kind of like the lyrics of that song. He taught me the lyrics and we sang. He’s like, it’s a group named DeGarmo and Key. They were popular back in the 80s. It’s kind of a cheesy Christian song. He would sing it regularly. So I picked up on it, I started singing it, and I sang that song pretty much every day well into my 30s. I still sing it regularly.

It became a mantra of my life. Lord, I don’t want to be a casual Christian. I don’t want to live a lukewarm life. I want to light up the night with an everlasting light. I don’t want to live a casual Christian life. I sang that song regularly. Rob would sing it. But here’s the thing. I had actually never heard the song. I had never heard the recorded version of it. For years and years. I had only heard Rob sing it.

Fast forward to 2009, 13 years later. I was 27 years old by this point. I was working in real estate. I was also working for a Christian nonprofit organization out of Texas, where I helped lead short term mission trips. I worked from Philly and I would travel, leading spring breaks, summer, Christmas. I would lead high school students on short term mission trips. I did this for several years, and it was a great experience.

Once a year, there were about 80 adults around North America that did what I did for the organization, where we worked for them remotely, from afar, prepping for trips and then leading trips. Since we lived all over North America, they would fly us into Texas once a year. It was called PD Summit. Project Directors.

So all the Project Directors from around the world would come in every February for a couple days. It would be Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. For training, encouragement, camaraderie. You know, it was a really great time. It was kind of like a family reunion every year.

I did this for seven years, PD Summit. These are some of my best friends in the world. We’re all project directors, people who served in this role all across the country. Teachers, pastors, business guys. I built friendships with all these people. Some of my best friends in the world are people who were project directors across the United States. How I ended up in Orlando was there was a project director working at Mosaic, and he recruited me to come to Florida in 2013.

So we go to PD summit. In the months leading up to PD summit in 2009, I had gone through a really difficult season. Some of the most difficult, most dark moments in my life. I wouldn’t quite say it was a depression I was in, but pretty close. One of the darkest moments of my entire life. I was incredibly discouraged.

One of the sentiments in my life is, I was working in real estate, and I really sensed the call to vocational ministry, but I wasn’t sure how to do that. There were some obstacles and some opposition in my life that were really some painful things. I was feeling really discouraged. I was feeling like I was useless in the kingdom of God. I have nothing to offer people. There’s nothing in me that I could ever share with anyone of any value.

I went to PD Summit. I’m hanging out with friends, and we did this game Olympics that week. This was a very elaborate thing they would do. It was over the top. They broke us up into 80 or 90 adults, into eight or nine teams. Every day in between the training sessions, we would do games, and your team would get points.

There was going to be a big prize at the end of the weekend for the team that had the most points. There were different things that happened throughout Thursday, Friday, Saturday. and different members of my team had each done something to garner points. By Friday night, I had not done anything to offer my team anything.

So as silly as it is, it reinforced what the emotion I was already feeling, this dark moment I was in. Having a real difficulty with some things and feeling like I’m useless. Here I am again, and I’m like, this is stupid that I shouldn’t be upset about this, but, my feelings are hurt that I’m useless. But yet again. I have nothing to offer anyone ever. I should just end my life.

As absurd as that sounds, or over the top, that was it. That was the emotion, the sentiment I was feeling. We get to Saturday night and talking to my friends, and some of the guys were kind of jokingly teasing me, ah, Kenny’s done nothing. You struck out in kickball. They didn’t know what I was wrestling with. I was keeping it to myself and pretending to be happy, you know, jovial Kenny.

Saturday night comes and I’m feeling pretty weighty. The last night was trivia night and we’re going through trivia. Our team is in second place of the nine teams going into trivia. We’re doing okay and everyone on the team is contributing. The last question, guys, it’s God’s providence, I’m telling you.

The last question was, give us the name and artist of this song. For the first time in 13 years, I heard Casual Christian by DeGarmo and Key. I had never heard the recorded version before that moment. I had only heard Rob’s singing version of it in my head. For the first time in my life I heard it and I said to my team, this is Casual Christian by DeGarmo and Key.

NO, Who’s that? No, guys, I’m telling you, I have sang this song almost every day of my life for the last 13 years. This is Casual Christian by DeGarmo and Key. They were pushing back. Every cheesy Christian 80s/90s band was being thrown out. I said to my team, I am telling you, this is Casual Christian by DeGarmo and key.

One of the guys, Adam, was like, Kenny’s pretty confident, so, all right, we’re gonna lose. You haven’t come through for us for the last three days, but maybe you will. Of the nine teams, only two teams got it right. The second team that got it right was behind us. So we propelled into first place and we won.

It was great. It was so silly. A bunch of 20/30 year olds elated that we won this silly game Olympics. It was the dumbest thing in the world. Then two of the guys, Adam and another guy, they actually lifted me up like on their shoulder. Everyone was chanting, Kenny, Kenny, Kenny. I mean, it was this elaborate moment.

It was so ridiculous. People are cheering, they’re like, how did you know that? My youth pastor used to sing it. That night we were leaving, I was walking down a hallway. Something broke me. The heaviness that I had felt for months at that point. I can only describe it as being supernatural. It broke and something lifted. And I was different.

I was a different person. I don’t say this often, I say this very rarely because I think it’s weird when Christians overuse this, but I really do believe the spirit of God spoke to me that night in a profound way. Kenny, I have been preparing you for things long before you realize.

We were getting on a bus to go back to our lodging, and Adam says to me, it was like you were born for this. They had no idea. I shared with Adam many years later. We were in Vegas on vacation a couple years ago later, me, Adam and a group of friends, and I shared with him, that night, God did something in me that I can’t describe. From that moment on, I have never doubted that God will equip me for all that he has for me.

 

Closing: God Cares For You

Now, that situation is not why I believe it. I believe it because the Bible tells me. But God used that moment to help me believe what the Bible says. I remember that night. There were bible verses that I had memorized that were coming to my mind, that for the first time I believed in a way that I hadn’t believed before. Jeremiah 1:5 came to mind. He says:

“I have known you from the time you were in the womb. I formed you.”

1 Corinthians 2:9, The apostle Paul says that :

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived the things that God has planned for those who love love him.”

I had known that verse, but I believed it differently. Your mind hasn’t even conceived the things that God has planned for you in this life and in the next. 2 Corinthians 4:17, when Paul says that the sufferings of this world are building for us, preparing for us, a weight of glory that cannot be compared to anything else.

That the things you suffer in this world is creating something, this weight of glory that you will experience forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. You can’t even compare it to anything on this world. There’s no good thing on this side of eternity that could compare to the thing that God is preparing for you.

The thing that God is using to prepare that thing for you is the suffering of this age. I all of a sudden believe that in a way I hadn’t believed it before. Then 1 Peter 5:7, when he says:

“Cast your cares on him because he cares for you.”

Church, He cares for you. I want you to know that. You can come to him with your cares. He cares for you. He has good things planned for you. Surely good will follow you all the days of your life. He cares for you. He sees you. He knows you. He is equipping you in ways you can’t even imagine. He’s taking you through difficulties and you’re learning lessons and garnering wisdom that you will then be able to apply in a future season of life, or more importantly, when you enter into glory.

You will look back and say, that’s what he was doing. He’s even better than I thought. What a moment it will be when we step into glory and we see he was even better than we thought. The writer of Hebrews is saying, we don’t want you to miss out on that moment. So don’t stop believing in Jesus.

Christians, Jesus will help you. He will equip you. He will strengthen you. He will be with you, shepherding you. He is better than anything or any person you could ever imagine. So don’t stop believing in Jesus.