When What You Waited For Disappoints: Finding True Satisfaction in Christ

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:10:08] Back Creek Church. Hey, please stand and sing with us as we bring praise to the Lord. You may be seated.
[00:16:04] the life of our church that I'd love for you to know about, so I'd refer you to the app and also to the back of your bulletin for that information. I want to highlight that life groups are ongoing,
[00:16:16] that at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, we have three adult life groups, a women's group, and two other co-ed groups that are meeting for adults. Also, our students are meeting in grow groups, and our kids are meeting at Kids Connect. It's a great opportunity to grow in relationship
[00:16:32] with God and with each other. And so I want to commend to that. There are also life groups that meet at various times throughout the week and the month. And so find out where you can be a part of
[00:16:44] a life group because it's essential that we grow in relationship with the Lord to grow spiritually and also to grow in relationship with each other to grow relationally. So to do that, we believe that life groups are crucial. I also want to get our student ministry lead, Adam, to come tell you
[00:17:02] about something upcoming for our student ministry. Good morning. I remember to unplug myself this time

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:17:11] so I didn't pull the hood drum set with me. That was nice. All right. Well, number one, high school middle school retreat is coming. High school retreat is this weekend. So high schoolers, if you
[00:17:19] haven't signed up yet, this is your last chance to do it. If you have a friend who's coming, make sure you get them to sign up too. The middle schoolers, get on that. I know there's a lot of
[00:17:27] you planning to come and so far not all of you have signed up so make sure you get that done uh thank you all of you who have volunteered to help chaperone we have staffed all those positions
[00:17:36] and so really grateful for our church serving in those places thank you thank you so much for giving up your weekends i love this it's my job i know uh for many of you it's a big extra
[00:17:48] commitment to be with our students for a weekend although it's not really that bad because we got some really great kids here they're the best uh second thing is the spring plant sale fundraiser is coming. Huge thank you to Gary Bauckham and Bauckham's Nursery for donating plants.
[00:18:03] Every plant that we sell in this fundraiser is 100% profit because of Bauckham's generosity.
[00:18:10] I know he hates that we do this and he's a really humble guy, but I'm so grateful for his support of our students. We appreciate him immensely. You're going to start hearing announcements and promotions
[00:18:19] in the coming weeks about how to participate in the plant sale fundraiser. We will have a QR code order form just like we did in the fall so you can get your plants ordered. That will all be
[00:18:29] available very soon. What I wanted to come and highlight today is that next Tuesday, so not in two days, but next week Tuesday on March 10th, any students that are available, we're going to be
[00:18:40] canvassing some local neighborhoods with flyers promoting the plant sale to the community. I know a lot of Cabarrus County kids are on spring break that week and if you're in Mecklenburg County and can't make that Tuesday, we'll have another opportunity at the end of the month and I'm
[00:18:53] tell you about more but next tuesday uh 10 a.m to 12 30 p.m we're gonna whoever comes we're gonna canvas the neighborhoods if you come we're gonna give you 15 towards the cost of your camp as a
[00:19:04] way of saying thank you for participating and helping us out with that so please come and help us the more flyers we get out uh the more people come uh we will also provide lunch for you that
[00:19:13] day as well thank you all so much for supporting our kids appreciate you all immensely thank you

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:19:22] Adam. One of our longtime elders, David Threat, is also the moderator of our presbytery. So the regional body that makes up the ministers and the elders from Charlotte over to Western North Carolina, he's serving as our moderator right now. And also he serves with me on our
[00:19:40] church extension committee, which is mainly about church planting and revitalization. So he's going to come now and I believe attempt, even with a weak voice, to give us a mission report.

[00:19:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:19:51] Good morning. I want to talk to you about something that I'm passionate about. The Church Extension Committee not only works with the Mission Churches, but we support Josh and his RUF work at Queens. That is part of our committee's task.
[00:20:08] I want to give you some information on church plants in our denomination. I did a little research on ONA's Outreach North America's website. Right now we have 15 new church plants in America.
[00:20:21] there are three in north carolina one in massachusetts one in south carolina one in georgia one in arkansas one actually in california and seven in florida florida presbytery does a great job of doing church plants so i want to talk about the two that
[00:20:44] are in western north carolina which they are in first presbytery and the first one is the newest one of our church plants and it is in Hickory, North Carolina. It is led by the mission developer, his name is Trip Costell. Trip went off as a minister and
[00:21:01] served in other areas but he always had in his heart he wanted to go back home and plant a church there. So he went back to Hickory, he and his wife moved back and they started a Bible study on Sunday evenings and they outgrew their home
[00:21:19] pretty quickly so now they are a an official mission church and doing very well one of the blessings that we've seen in both of the mission churches in North Carolina in the West is when they approached a person about renting their
[00:21:38] facility both have said no charge so Hickory is not having to pay and now I want to talk about Fletcher Presbyterian in Fletcher, North Carolina, and I'll give you a little bit more about that because I serve on their session as a provisional elder. Mission
[00:21:57] developer is Zach Cuthon, and he does an outstanding job leading that church. They started last year one Sunday in January, and then they met another time on February, and then in March, so they met
[00:22:13] three times the first quarter of the year and the entire time the church family was saying we want to meet every Sunday so they had to find a place that would be available every Sunday so
[00:22:26] they meet in the Fletcher elementary school when Zach contacted the principal he said my wife and my daughter need to get back in church so he has really supported their work and they are paying
[00:22:42] no rent i've served on many provisional sessions before and one of the most difficult things for a church that has 30 or 40 members is to pay rent it basically handcuffs you not being able to
[00:22:55] do anything so the lord's just really blessing the work of the denomination so our session several years ago said at a retreat down the road we at back creek would like to plant a church that's
[00:23:10] I'm not sure when that will be, but let me tell you a little bit about how that works.
[00:23:16] One of the things that we are blessed here, we come in every Sunday, the pews are in place, everything's ready, we just need to turn on and get everything going.
[00:23:27] In a mission church, it's a lot different.
[00:23:30] Every time they go into the cafeteria at Fletcher, they have to get chairs and set them up, and at the end they have to put them back down.
[00:23:38] The minister found them a closet that they could use so that they can put their musicals things in, and that's really a blessing.
[00:23:47] But the Fletcher congregation is what you call a daughter church.
[00:23:53] Zach Kuthen was on staff at Reformation ARP, which is in Hendersonville, right near Bon Clarkin, not Back Creek.
[00:24:01] and he let the church people know in the congregation that he was putting together a core group that would move out and plant a church so the group drew to about 35 people and they committed to a couple years well the first Sunday that we had Marilee and I were there
[00:24:24] and every one of them joined the church that day it was a special day they also had a young couple that had a new infant baby the husband had been churched and he was baptized but his wife was not
[00:24:39] so that day she was baptized and then their baby was baptized so really special day in the life of a church so that daughter group moved out and many times when I've seen these daughter church
[00:24:52] plants the people say we'll go and commit for a couple of years and they end up staying because that becomes their church home so anyway um the grim family has been there in worship josh has
[00:25:05] preached for him and then the bryant family has been there and i don't see chad and heather today maybe they're actually worshiping at fletcher today but are they cindy thank you but um i asked
[00:25:17] chad after his first visit to fletcher i said tell me about your visit and he said the people were so nice and so friendly so that's something to commend to mission church but we just
[00:25:29] down the road we will be doing that and if you're ever in the mountains at von clarkin up in the anywhere up in there on a sunday morning go by and worship with them they would love to have you
[00:25:41] and it just means a lot to a mission church for other arps to come in and just encourage them so

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:25:49] thank you very much thank you david so a portion of our of our giving goes to our presbytery which goes to church planting, as well as to our denomination that also goes to church planting
[00:26:06] through Outreach North America. In addition to that, we've also chosen to partner with Fletcher and we're supporting Zach Huthon as he continues to work in that mission church to get it to a place of organization. So we are also committed to a vision of, if the Lord wills, growing to a
[00:26:26] place spiritually, relationally, and missionally, that we would also be able to participate in multiplying the church through church planting. So please be in prayer for that process and that vision as we move through the next almost decade. Our call to worship this morning is from Romans 11.
[00:26:48] Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid for from him and through him
[00:27:06] and to him are all things to him be glory forever amen let's go to the Lord together in prayer oh lord our god this is who you are the one who has indescribable riches of wisdom and knowledge
[00:27:25] the infinite and the eternal one the one who is completely unknowable by us and yet you have made yourself known to us you have revealed yourself in creation in beautiful and powerful ways you've revealed yourself in history as you have worked to bring about the redemption of all
[00:27:49] things including us you have revealed yourself to us in scripture where you speak to us your will for our lives and for our salvation and you have spoken to us by your son the lord jesus christ
[00:28:05] our savior and our lord who lived and died and rose again so that we might be reconciled to you our god father son and holy spirit so that we might live with you eternally so that you might
[00:28:18] wipe away every tear from our eyes and so that you might transform us as we live in the world right now as your people and so lord as we gather on this day that you have set aside
[00:28:29] as a gift to us that we might worship you that we might be in your presence with your people for your praise so that we might receive grace from you in the means that you have appointed
[00:28:40] and so that we might rest in you we ask that lord you would once again meet with us that you would once again feed us that you would once again move in us so that we might worship you as we ought
[00:28:55] and that you might send us out into the world as those who belong to you, refreshed and renewed in the hope of the gospel that we might tell those who do not yet know you.
[00:29:06] We love you, Lord.
[00:29:07] And we eagerly and expectantly wait for you to do what only you can.
[00:29:13] And we pray these things in Jesus' name.
[00:29:15] Amen.
[00:29:16] Let's stand together and worship the Lord in song.

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:29:17] Blessed be your name in the land that is plentiful Where your streams of abundance flow Blessed be your name Not found in the desert blaze Blessed be your name I sing you up to praise
[00:30:26] The nest closes in Still I will sing Blessed be the name Blessed be when the sun Blessed be your name what is this name that we bless who is this god that we worship we're gonna confess who he is

[00:33:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:33:53] and what he has done through the nicene creed this ancient creed that christians in all times and places since the fourth century have confessed together christians what do you believe we believe in one god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth of all things visible and invisible
[00:34:16] and in one lord jesus christ the only son of god begotten from the father before all ages god from god light from light true god from true god begotten not made of the same essence as the
[00:34:32] father through him all things were made for us and for our salvation he came down from heaven he became incarnate by the holy spirit and the virgin mary and was made human he was crucified
[00:34:48] for us under pontius pilate he suffered and was buried the third day he rose again according to the scriptures he ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead.
[00:35:06] His kingdom will never end.
[00:35:09] And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.
[00:35:13] He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified.
[00:35:21] He spoke through the prophets.
[00:35:23] We believe in one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.
[00:35:27] we affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins we look forward to the resurrection of the dead and to life in the world to come amen amen i want to invite one of our elders nathan holbrook to
[00:35:41] come and lead us in a prayer of intercession good morning church let's pray heavenly father

[00:36:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:36:02] you are one god in three persons father son holy spirit jesus you came to earth to make a way for us to have an eternal relationship with you, and you have sent your spirit to live within us and
[00:36:16] guide us through our lives. Please help us to remember that because of what you have done for us, our primary identity is you. Before anything else, we belong to you, and for those of us who
[00:36:29] have a relationship with you, we relate to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
[00:36:35] God, please help this fact bring unity in your church and let your people form deep connections with one another as we continually point our brothers and sisters to you. God, we long for the day of Christ's return where our faith will become sight and we will be with you for all
[00:36:53] eternity. Please come, Lord Jesus. In the meantime, we lift up all the prayer requests, both made public and those kept private. We lift up Sandy's brother, Johnny, Patrick's parents, Clarence and Rose, Bill's nephew Austin, and sister Deborah, Jason's cousin Jen, Becky, the Mitchell family,
[00:37:15] and the Thompson family, who are all facing overwhelming health issues. Please sustain them, draw them to you, give them your peace, and be with those who are supporting and providing care for each of them. God, we also have a number of members who are unable to come worship with us.
[00:37:32] we pray that you would bring comfort to jim jan hazelene sylvia barbara and marianne please draw each of them close to you and let their focus be on jesus lord thank you for our students and the
[00:37:48] opportunity you have given our high school and middle schoolers to attend their upcoming retreats we pray this time would be a time of growth for each student who attends and that you would work in their hearts. For those who may not yet know you, please use this as a time where you save them
[00:38:04] by bringing them into relationship with you. God, please be with our kids. Lord, we are so thankful for all the children in this church, and we pray that their time in kids ministry would be full of
[00:38:16] Jesus. Please build your foundation in their hearts, and in your timing, bring them to yourself so that they may know you and confess that you are Lord. God, thank you for all the provisions you have given Back Creek Church over 200 years.
[00:38:32] As we give this morning, please help us to do so with cheerful hearts, knowing that all we have comes from you and already belongs to you.
[00:38:41] Please use this offering to grow your kingdom.
[00:38:45] We love you, Lord.
[00:38:46] In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:38:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:38:47] Jesus, boss of Calvary, he declares his work is finished.
[00:39:30] He has spoken this hope to me Though the sun had ceased its shining Though the wolves had tried It was finished Jesus paid Once had the son who died to save us

[00:41:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:41:10] Rose that we would be free indeed Please stand. Sing along.

[00:41:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:41:24] If you're a child, second grade and younger,

[00:43:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:43:44] you're welcome to stay with us for the message.
[00:43:46] But if you and your parents agree, you can be excused through this door over here for kids' worship.
[00:43:55] And we'll look forward to you coming back as we're responding to God's Word in song.
[00:44:10] We're in Genesis chapter 29.
[00:44:13] Genesis 29, 1 through 30.
[00:44:19] So far in our narrative, which is now focused on Jacob, Jacob has tricked his brother Esau into selling him his birthright for a bowl of stew he's deceived his elderly blind father into giving him the blessing that was intended for the firstborn
[00:44:39] Esau and not Jacob he's forced into exile because of his actions and his decisions and every step of the way we've seen that jacob is wrestling with god instead of resting in god's character and trusting in god's promises and on his 500 mile journey from
[00:45:03] beersheba to padan aram near haran when he had gone about 70 miles as we saw last week the lord gave him this vision of a stairway to heaven and god spoke audibly to him the same promises that
[00:45:19] god had given to his grandfather abraham even then jacob is still wrestling he's trying to to bargain with the lord and trying to buy the lord's favor well the text now leaps forward almost 400 miles on this arduous journey and Jacob is drawing near his destination close to
[00:45:43] Haran where the text picks up. So if you're able please stand in honor of God's word. We're going to read Genesis 29 1 through 30. Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people
[00:45:59] of the east. As he looked he saw a well in the field and behold three flocks of sheep lying beside it for out of that well the flocks were watered the stone on the well's mouth was large
[00:46:11] and when all the flocks were gathered there the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well
[00:46:20] Jacob said to them my brothers where do you come from they said we are from Haran he said to them do you know Laban the son of Nahor they said we know him he said to them is it well with him
[00:46:35] they said it is well and see rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep and he said behold it is still high day it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together water the sheep and go
[00:46:47] pasture them but they said we cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well then we water the sheep while he was still speaking with them
[00:46:58] rachel came with her father's sheep for she was a shepherdess now as soon as jacob saw rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother. Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's
[00:47:14] brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman and that he was Rebekah's son. And she ran and told her father. As soon as Laban heard the
[00:47:26] news about Jacob, his sister's son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him into his house. Jacob told Laban all these things and Laban said to him, surely you are my
[00:47:37] bone and my flesh. And he stayed with him a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, because you are my kinsmen, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be? Now Laban had
[00:47:49] two daughters. The name of the older was Leah and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah's eyes were weak but rachel was beautiful in form and appearance jacob loved rachel and he said i will
[00:48:02] serve you seven years for your younger daughter rachel laban said it is better that i give her to you than i should give her to any other man stay with me so jacob served seven years for
[00:48:13] rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her then jacob said to Laban, give me my wife that I may go into her for my time is completed. So Laban gathered
[00:48:25] together all the people of the place and made a feast. But in the evening, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob and he went into her. Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his
[00:48:36] daughter Leah to be her servant. And in the morning, behold, it was Leah. And Jacob said to Laban, what is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you
[00:48:47] deceived me. Laban said, it is not so done in our country to give the younger before the firstborn.
[00:48:53] Complete the week of this one and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years. Jacob did so and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel
[00:49:04] to be his wife. Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.
[00:49:10] So Jacob went into Rachel also and he loved Rachel more than Leah and served Laban for another seven years grass withers and the flowers fall but the word of our lord endures forever let's thank him for it oh lord our god we do thank you for your word we thank you that it is true
[00:49:25] and trustworthy that these are historical accounts of our fathers and mothers in the faith and lord we thank you that as much as we love them and are grateful for them and can look up
[00:49:38] to them in many ways we see very clearly that they are flawed and that they're just as in need of a hero, just as in need of a rescuer, just as in need of a Savior as we are. And Lord Jesus,
[00:49:50] we praise your name that you are that Savior. So speak now to your people. Feed us by your word and by sacrament, we ask in your name. Amen. You may be seated. All right, you've been
[00:50:05] thinking about it and you've been wrestling with it for a long time. You have typed and deleted and retyped you've saved it as a draft and come back to it several times crafting this email maybe
[00:50:24] it has been to a supervisor or a manager or your big boss or maybe it's a company that wants to hire you maybe it is a customer or a client students maybe it's that professor or teacher
[00:50:38] or a classmate who's not holding their end of the bargain on the group projects but maybe this is email has taken a lot of mental and emotional work to get past the the fear and the self-doubt
[00:50:54] to say what needs to be said so finally you you feel ready you take a deep breath and you hit send and the email goes and then nothing and you check your email more than you
[00:51:14] ordinarily would for like a whole day and nothing and then it's two days and three days and then it's a week and you haven't heard anything and so you go back and read the email to make sure
[00:51:25] that you didn't say something that could have been taken the wrong way you draft some follow-ups but you don't send them you save them in that uh outbox you start to think about what this lack
[00:51:38] of response could mean and what the outcomes might be and of course your imagination goes wild with the worst case scenarios this situation and we've all been in this situation or maybe one like it this situation exposes two areas that can and often do produce anxiety and frustration
[00:52:01] and honestly wrestling not only with the situation at hand but genuinely wrestling with god and these two areas are working and waiting somebody say amen we've been pretty hard on jacob in this series and rightly so but actually in this account we see him working and waiting pretty well at
[00:52:29] least better than we typically do jacob has gone a long way on foot he knows he must be close and he sees a field with a well in the middle and tons of sheep all around here is where the shepherds
[00:52:45] water the sheep and it's a process that took some work moving this huge stone from the mouth of the well he approaches these guys who were standing around and he asked where they're from haran oh sweet do you know my uncle yeah we know him are things going well with him yeah we do
[00:53:03] things are going great and look there's his daughter rachel she's a shepherdess and she's coming with his sheep and jacob looks up and sees rachel and his jaw drops she's beautiful and here she is just shiny and her hair is blowing in the wind and he's like wow so
[00:53:28] jacob immediately gets to work right he moves the huge stone off of the well all by himself so he can water the sheep it's like when you're in middle school and you're like it's not cold
[00:53:40] outside i'm not wearing a jacket so the girls can you know see how tough you are so he does that and and then after the sheep have been watered and he's considering that he is now at the end of this
[00:53:55] 500 mile journey and he's found his people he's found his family and he's found this girl he is overwhelmed with the joy and he impulsively kisses rachel and then he weeps i hope she likes
[00:54:13] a sensitive kind of guy and he tells her that they're related now i know that this feels weird and icky to us right now and even when God is going to give the law several centuries later
[00:54:28] he's actually going to condemn sexual relationships and marriage among close relatives but at this particular time in history things were very different and the only options that you had if you were going to be with and among and to promote your people and your faith was usually
[00:54:47] extended family and it is weird and icky and unlawful now but it was what it was then and rachel seeing this response from jacob runs and tells her dad who's come to visit and laban gives
[00:55:06] jacob an incredibly warm welcome you are my bone my flesh and my bone you know it's like when you're first onboarding at the new job and it feels like oh this is going to be great and in
[00:55:23] fact that is what laban is doing he's making jacob feel like it's going to be great and he's even ready to negotiate a compensation package what shall your wages be and jacob demonstrates his strong worth work ethic and his willingness to wait when he says my wages can be marrying rachel
[00:55:44] and i'll work for you seven years to get it now we're going to see that in laban jacob has found someone a lot like himself it's notable that laban doesn't just say yeah that's a great idea instead
[00:56:01] he says well it's probably better to give her to you than these bozos but jacob gets to working and waiting and i want to talk about these two things and how working and waiting can lead us
[00:56:13] to wrestle with god the first working really quickly i want to review our theology of work okay a work is good work is good i know that that feels counterintuitive but it is true that work is good in the original perfect creations the first humans were called by god
[00:56:39] to do what to work to cultivate and to grow the garden of eden things were not in any way bad so work was not bad it was good it was fulfilling it was beautiful it was part of god's design for
[00:56:56] us wherein we reflect god's creativity and we use the gifts and the attributes and the abilities that he has given to us, and we do so for his glory. So work, even now, is inherently meaningful
[00:57:12] because work is from God, and work is for God. Work is good. Second, oh wait, I said A. B.
[00:57:26] I'm like Buzz on Home Alone. A, two, D. B. Work is a way to serve others. Work is a way to serve others or again in perfect original creation adam and eve were told with this command to work
[00:57:44] and to cultivate and to grow the garden they were also given the command to be fruitful and multiply so the implication is the work that they were doing of cultivating and growing was not only
[00:57:55] for god but also for future generations of humans who would be blessed through their work and so So work is from God and work is for God and work is a means by which we serve other people.
[00:58:09] So work is doubly good.
[00:58:14] But see, work is profoundly affected by sin.
[00:58:23] Work is profoundly affected by sin.
[00:58:26] When the Lord pronounces the curse, when he pronounces the just consequences for Adam and Eve and with them all humanity turning away from God and going our own way, trying to be our own lords,
[00:58:45] part of that curse was that work, which up to that point had only been completely and only fulfilling, is now going to be frustrating and difficult.
[00:58:59] God says, Cursed is the ground because of you.
[00:59:04] In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
[00:59:07] Thorns and thistles, it shall produce for you by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread and we say yep that's the work i recognize because sin profoundly affects work it can be the effort that we give
[00:59:26] that does not produce equal results can be faithfulness that does not equal rewards it can be that growth in our work can be so incremental that you can't even see it it can that promotions go to the wrong people while the right people get overlooked credit is given to
[00:59:49] those who don't deserve it while those who do deserve it get criticized instead success in working can inflate our sense of pride while failure can lead us to shame and despair performing can determine our self-worth we have to work under those who are incompetent or they are unethical
[01:00:17] or they are incompatible with our values work can consume our lives with endless demands and no rest leading us to exhaustion and overload and burnout work can displace our most important priorities leading us to neglect god or our families or the church or
[01:00:39] our friends work can and will disappoint us both in the moment and when we stand at the end of a long career of working in whatever vocation it is paid or unpaid and we say well what have i really
[01:00:54] accomplished i am sure that there were some days probably around year four where jacob was out in the fields with the stinky sheep and thinking i'm doing all this for what again and it was
[01:01:11] frustrating and it was disappointing but then he would see rachel maybe she was coming to water the sheep maybe it was at the dinner table that night and then he would think oh yeah the waiting is worth it this is super romantic in the text so jacob served seven years for rachel
[01:01:36] they seem to him but a few days because of the love that he had for her okay but waiting even a few days for something that we really want is also pretty frustrating so let's talk about
[01:01:55] waiting waiting what why is waiting even when like jacob we feel like it's going to be worth it why is waiting so hard for us well waiting makes us feel powerless because waiting comes after
[01:02:17] we've done everything that we can and now we just have to sit here with no actions to take no decisions to make and no control to have it makes us feel powerless and that's frustrating
[01:02:30] waiting makes makes us feel like we're wasting time as we're waiting our biological clocks are ticking our career windows are closing our relational seasons are ending and what can we do about it nothing we just have to wait waiting can bring discouragement we can grow weary in
[01:02:54] doing good when we see no return and we can get cynical about the outcomes waiting this is a big waiting can aggravate our jealousy of others when we see others get what we have longed for the
[01:03:13] spouse the kids the career the promotion the income the vacation can feed our envy and there are so many more reasons why waiting is so hard for us but the really big one is this waiting
[01:03:39] Waiting can lead us to make an idol, a little g God, out of the thing that we're waiting for.
[01:03:48] Waiting can lead us to make an idol out of the very thing that we're waiting for. And that's what happens with Jacob. Rachel is his idol. Rachel is what he worships. She's the thing he
[01:04:01] thinks is going to satisfy him completely. She is all he has been working and waiting for. And what happens well he gets her he marries her he finally gets to i mean the text is honest about
[01:04:18] this he finally gets to do the thing that he really wanted to do which is to sleep with her she is his right when he wakes up behold it was leah laban tricked him jacob got
[01:04:39] Jacob. And when Jacob challenged the unfairness of all this working and all this waiting for this result, Laban sent a flaming arrow right through his heart when he says, it is not so done in our
[01:04:57] country to give the younger before the firstborn. The way Laban had just deceived Jacob was a direct and perfect reversal of the way jacob had deceived his father and stolen from his older brother so jacob humbled by this reality by this awareness by this conviction he signs up for more working
[01:05:28] and more waiting because he still believes that working hard and waiting enough will give him the one things that the one thing that he thinks will ultimately satisfy him and fulfill him spoiler alert it won't as disappointing as it was to find that it was leah in the tent and not rachel by the
[01:05:54] way how did that happen well let's just say it was a mixture of darkness deceit and wine even after Jacob gets Rachel, he finds out it's still Leah. All the working and waiting in the world,
[01:06:14] all the working and waiting in the world will not get him the ultimate fulfillment that he is pursuing and longing for. Rachel cannot fill the void. Why? Because she's Leah too. But here's our takeaway. God calls us and he commends us in scripture to both working and waiting. We are to
[01:06:42] work at whatever our hands find to do with all of our might. Work is good. Work is meaningful. And God commands and commends that we work. Also, God commands and commends that we wait. Patience
[01:07:01] is a fruit of the indwelling holy spirit and we are to wait on the lord with patience but we need to understand that working and waiting and anything and everything that we expect to get
[01:07:22] from them and even that we do get from them will never provide the ultimate fulfillment and satisfaction that we are longing for and looking for those can only be found in god not in our
[01:07:37] rachel's all of our rachel's are ultimately going to be leah's now i'm just using this as a picture right so god is actually going to value leah and we're going to see that next week where jacob does
[01:07:50] not value leah god does but i just i just mean to say that jacob was profoundly disappointed by all he had worked and waited for because at the end of the day it was leah but when he got rachel guess
[01:08:02] what that was disappointing and frustrating too and we're going to see that next week as well satisfaction and fulfillment ultimately are only found in god and that's why jacob wasn't finding it because he was looking for it in rachel and i would just ask like all the things that you're
[01:08:25] working and waiting for are you making the thing that you're working and waiting for something less than the god who made you and who calls you to work and to wait for him and i do want to be
[01:08:38] clear that while god commands and commends us to work and wait at some level at a completely different and much more essential and crucial level god does not ask us to work or wait we can have him right here right now because god himself has come himself and offered himself to
[01:09:02] us now we have an advantage that jacob could not possibly have dreamed of in our working in our waiting it has to be completely transformed and completely different from his because what he had only in promise we have in a person god the son came into the world so that we might know god
[01:09:30] so that we might be reconciled to god so that we might see the unseeable that we might know the unknowable so that we might know the infinite and unbreakable love of the god who made us
[01:09:46] and god the son comes not as a blinding light and a powerful voice declaring comes as one of us fully god and fully and truly human to do for us what we could not do
[01:10:10] for ourselves to live the life that we were incapable of living to die the death that we deserve the wages of sin is temporal and eternal death and jesus paid both prices for our sins and
[01:10:24] the third day he rose again from the dead and victory over sin and over satan and over death why did he do this because he did all the work so that we could be reconciled to god
[01:10:38] and so there's no work to be done there's only rest for those who turn away from themselves from their efforts or from their rebellion and to christ who has done all of the work and you
[01:10:53] don't have to wait to do this you don't have to wait to know god you don't have to wait to have your sins forgiven you don't have to wait to know for a fact that you will live and have joy forever
[01:11:05] you don't have to wait the bible says today is the day of god's favor today is the day of salvation therefore be reconciled to god and it's this simple if you have never come to know the lord
[01:11:19] All you must do right now is recognize I, like Jacob, like his dad Isaac, like his dad Abraham, like my dad Tommy, like his dad Buell, I'm a sinner.
[01:11:40] I have violated God's commands.
[01:11:45] I have gone my own way.
[01:11:46] I have rebelled against him.
[01:11:47] I have earned every ounce of his eternal condemnation.
[01:11:51] And if I'm going to have any hope, I need a Savior.
[01:12:05] Look away from myself, from my heritage, from my work, and look to Christ alone.
[01:12:17] The Bible says anyone who receives and rests in Jesus Christ will be saved.
[01:12:27] Now listen, if you're here today and you've known Christ, you've walked with the Lord for a long time, I want you to know that a part of the blessing and benefit of the Lord Jesus Christ doing all the work for us is that from the point that we come to know him on, he infuses all of our working and all of our waiting with meaning.
[01:12:50] If we will submit to him our working and our waiting and make him the end of our working and our waiting rather than Rachel.
[01:13:00] this table reminds us that Christ has done the work for us that we could never have done for ourselves this table reminds us that Christ gave his body that his blood was shed that he endured
[01:13:24] the justice of God for our failures so that we might have salvation it also is a foretaste Jesus said to his disciples when he instituted this supper I will not eat this bread or drink
[01:13:43] of this cup again until I do so with you in my kingdom this is a call to wait with eager anticipation for the day when God himself meets us in our working and our waiting
[01:14:02] with the ultimate satisfaction that we have always longed for.
[01:14:09] And so, if you belong to Christ, if you have received and rested in Him, this table is for you.
[01:14:15] This table proclaims to you His death, anticipating His return.
[01:14:21] So come, feast, receive, and be blessed.
[01:14:30] Now, if you're here today and you don't yet know Christ, if you haven't made that publicly known by a public declaration that you believe we'd ask you to to let these elements pass you by and we do so because the bible tells us that those who eat and
[01:14:48] drink of this supper apart from faith in christ or in open rebellion against god eat and drink condemnation on themselves our desire for you is salvation not condemnation and so we would urge you once again to not take the supper, but please to take the Savior. Let's pray together and ask
[01:15:07] for the Lord's blessing on our time together around his table. Lord Jesus, we thank you that here we have a sacrament, a means of grace, a cup that we bless that is a participation in your
[01:15:23] blood, bread that we break that is a participation in your body. Here we have a declaration of our continuing need for you and our continuing faith in you. Here, Lord, we receive nourishment of that
[01:15:41] faith. Please, Lord, help us to partake in faith that we might be nourished and strengthened in our faith. Take these common elements, bread and juice, and set them aside to a holy purpose that, Lord Jesus, we might truly and
[01:15:58] spiritually be feeding on you. Lord, bless this time around your table for your name's sake and for the blessing of your people. And we ask these things in your name. Amen.
[01:16:12] Again, this is not Back Creek Church's table. It's not a Presbyterian table. This is the Lord's table.
[01:16:17] So if you belong to Christ and have made that publicly known, you're welcome here.
[01:16:23] On the night that he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread.
[01:16:27] And when he had given thanks, as we have just done in his name he broke it and he gave it to his disciples and said this is my body given for you do this in remembrance of me in the same manner after the supper the lord jesus took the cup
[01:20:55] he said this cup is the new covenant in my blood shed for many for the remission of sins do this in remembrance of me the apostle paul tells us that as often as we eat this bread and drink this

[01:21:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:21:07] cup we proclaim the lord's death until he comes not that we loved god that he loved us and gave

[01:24:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:24:53] his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God, the blood of Christ for you. Drink of it. Let's give thanks
[01:25:15] to the Lord together. Lord Jesus, you are the all-satisfying treasure. We praise you and we thank you. We honor you and we adore you for your life given for us, for your resurrection from the dead for your present rule and reign of the father's right hand where you never stop
[01:25:43] interceding for us for your rule and reign in our hearts by the holy spirit for your transforming power in our lives by that same spirit and lord we ask now as we have remembered reflected on and
[01:26:03] rehearsed the hope of the gospel in prayer and in song word heard and preached and in this sacrament Lord, we ask that you would refresh and renew us in the hope of the gospel as we move into a new week, as we seek to glorify your name in our working and in our waiting.
[01:26:27] We pray these things in the name of our Savior, you, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
[01:26:34] Let's stand together in responding to a word and sacrament in song.

[01:26:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:26:36] I define all these men longing for the day that God makes all the wrong things right

[01:31:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:31:18] and he makes all the sad things come untrue.