The Idol of Kairos: Why Human Effort Cannot Save

• Time Management and Stewardship [00:26:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies time as the most precious resource and contrasts cultural views with God's view, emphasizing that how we handle time determines our future peace or anxiety.
• Kairos vs. Chronos [00:34:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between chronological time (chronos) and significant, appointed moments (kairos), arguing that Jesus calls believers to shift their focus from mere sequence to spiritual significance.
• Aging and Mortality [00:27:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses personal anecdotes about gray hairs, wrinkles, and children growing up to illustrate the accelerating nature of time and the urgency of living purposefully.
• Kairos vs. Chronos Time [00:36:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between mechanical, punctual time (chronos) and significant, turning-point moments (kairos), arguing that God is concerned with the latter.
• Human Time Blindness [00:36:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses personal anecdotes and a 'group test' to illustrate that humans lack a true understanding of time and are often impatient or 'time blind.'
• Divine Sovereignty Over Time [00:41:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that God exists outside of time, sees all history simultaneously, and is the only qualified planner of timing, contrasting this with human anxiety.
• Patience as Trust [00:48:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines biblical patience not merely as waiting, but as actively trusting God for tomorrow and surrendering control of timing to Him.
• Patience and Trust [00:48:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines biblical patience not as passive waiting, but as active trust in God's control over the future, contrasting it with fear and impatience.
• Provision and Manna [00:48:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > Uses the Old Testament story of Israel gathering manna to illustrate God's desire for daily dependence rather than hoarding or controlling the future.
• Prayer and Daily Bread [00:50:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > Analyzes the Lord's Prayer to show that Jesus instructs believers to pray for 'today's bread,' not tomorrow's, highlighting a focus on the present.
• Presence vs. Distraction [00:52:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > Discusses the difficulty of being present in a world of constant digital distractions and defines presence as being fully with those around you.
• The Speed of God [00:55:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > Introduces theologian Kosuki Koyama's concept that God's speed is the 'speed of love' (walking speed), contrasting it with modern technological speed.
• Parenting and Sacred Moments [00:57:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > Illustrates the cost of missing present moments with children, using personal anecdotes about the fleeting nature of childhood and the regret of distraction.
• Parenting and Presence [00:58:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about realizing the value of time with young children and choosing to be fully present rather than distracted by future tasks.
• Financial Planning vs. Experiences [01:00:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > References the book 'Die With Zero' to argue against excessive saving, advocating instead for spending money on experiences and memories with loved ones while physically able.
• Redeeming Time [01:02:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Cites Ephesians 5 to urge the congregation to 'redeem the time' because the days are evil, framing this as a spiritual discipline against anxiety.
• Repentance and Faith [01:03:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > Calls listeners to repent and believe the good news, offering a prayer for those new to faith to give their lives to Jesus and seek baptism.
• Hope in Crisis [01:05:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > Addresses those in crisis by referencing Revelation 21, reminding them that if they are not experiencing God's renewal, they are in the 'middle' of the story, not the end.

• Sermon Illustration [00:25:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about eating late-night wings and beer, noting that his 'future self' at 2 a.m. was not thankful for the decision, illustrating the conflict between present desires and future well-being.
• Sermon Illustration [00:27:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor reflects on the rapid passage of time by recalling personal milestones: meeting his wife Sarah, their first trip to South Africa, their wedding, the birth of his three children, and baptizing his sons, noting that these events feel like yesterday but were years ago.
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes visiting a fourth-century B.C. water clock in Athens that used water flow and a float to tell time, comparing its mechanism to a modern toilet to illustrate the concept of chronological time (chronos).
• Sermon Illustration [00:35:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the mechanics of an ancient Athenian water clock and modern toilets to illustrate mechanical time, then contrasts this with the biblical concept of kairos.
• Sermon Illustration [00:36:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares personal stories of his own 'time blindness,' including being late for school drop-offs and his parents' observations of his poor sense of time.
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor conducts a humorous 'group test' on time, starting with simple definitions (year, day, hour) and ending with the complex scientific definition of a second (cesium atom radiation cycles) to show that humans think they know time but don't.
• Sermon Illustration [00:47:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts his personal struggle with impatience using the example of microwaving coffee, where he constantly presses the 'add 30 seconds' button and cancels early because he is tired of waiting.
• Sermon Illustration [00:47:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his morning coffee routine, specifically his impatience with microwaves and his habit of canceling the cycle early to avoid waiting, using this as a metaphor for human impatience.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a specific weekend when his wife was away, and he prayed to live that day as if he were 80 years old looking back, resulting in him being fully present with his children without worrying about work or future tasks.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a weekend where his wife went on retreat, leaving him alone with their young children. He prayed to live that day as if he were 80 years old wishing for one more day with them, resulting in him being fully present and enjoying simple activities like reading books and going on walks.
• Sermon Illustration [01:00:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes reading 'Die With Zero' by Bill Perkins, which argues that people misalign their peak financial time with their peak relational time, and advocates for spending money now to make memories rather than dying with a full bank account.
• Sermon Illustration [01:05:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references Revelation 21, calling Jesus 'The End' (Alpha and Omega), to illustrate that God is making all things new and that those in crisis are in the middle of God's plan, not the end.

• Pastoral Charge [00:46:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to pray a specific prayer of surrender regarding God's timing.
• Pastoral Charge [00:51:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > Focus prayer life on the present day and redeeming current time rather than planning for tomorrow.
• Pastoral Charge [00:53:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > Actively practice being fully present in the current moment.
• Pastoral Charge [01:04:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > Attend baptism info sessions and get baptized.

[00:00:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:17] Question for you. What if at the end of your life, there wasn't a highlight reel, but instead you got a receipt?
[00:00:23] Because that's basically what a calendar is. It's a receipt for how we spend our time on earth, or what has our time and our attention, and ultimately, how we spend our time shapes who we become.
[00:00:35] Hey, welcome to Crossroads. My name is Andy, and I'm so glad that you're with us.
[00:00:40] If you're new, hey, thanks for joining us. If you've been around, hey, great to have you back.
[00:00:44] We're actually in a series now called Future You, talking about how the decisions that you make today shape who you become tomorrow.
[00:00:51] There's no shame or guilt if you happen to blow a bunch of time watching, I don't know, magnet fishing videos or oddly satisfying pressure washing videos on the internet.
[00:00:58] No, this isn't a time management hack.
[00:01:01] This is about maximizing our time with God.
[00:01:04] We're going to do that by connecting with God through music right now.

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:01:09] Hey, if you're here for the first time, why don't you stand up, introduce yourself.
[00:01:13] Just kidding. Just kidding.
[00:01:14] We're not going to make you do that.
[00:01:16] If you're here for the first time, great.
[00:01:18] You came on a great weekend.
[00:01:19] I'm glad you're here.
[00:01:21] And you know, normally we start this thing with some big energy, fast energy, which is great.
[00:01:27] I love that.
[00:01:28] But sometimes you got to change it up, right?
[00:01:30] Like maybe you came in from chaos and you were rushing to get your kids into kids club or maybe you jumping online, you're just scrambling to get everything in line for you to be here
[00:01:40] with us.
[00:01:41] And so maybe you just need an on-ramp a little bit this morning, a time to just breathe.
[00:01:47] And so that's how we're going to start.
[00:01:49] The quickest way to connection with God is just a simple thank you.
[00:01:53] You could say right now, thank you, God, for getting me here today.
[00:01:56] Thank you, God, that a friend drove me here.
[00:01:58] Thank you, God, for the car that got me here.
[00:02:00] Thank you, God, for the friend who invited me here.
[00:02:03] Thank you for a cup of coffee in my hand.
[00:02:06] So that's how we're going to start together, a simple thank you to God.
[00:02:09] Why don't we stand together?
[00:02:10] take a breath together let's enter in to saying thank you to him we use music as a way to connect with him and if you're not ready to connect with him then great enjoy the music right now
[00:02:24] listen to what we believe and what we know to be true I woke up this morning and my cup is overflowing you have blessed me and I know it so I owe you my praise
[00:02:46] You're the author of my story When I thought that it was over But your mercy kept me going So I owe you my praise We say it together Oh Lord, you deserve Oh Lord, you deserve all my praise
[00:03:11] Oh Lord, you deserve Only you deserve all my pain But your grace is still sufficient I finally found a way to respond to him But the other six days of the week where I'm not hearing the names of God said over and over again
[00:12:28] By a room full of people who are a lot like me And who have differences in me I'm separated from being conformed back and my mind being renewed back to who he is and what's true
[00:12:40] that's why we come together and we sing those names of god and i just want to highlight one we said he's the alpha and the omega it's like a and z of the greek alpha it's saying he's the
[00:12:54] beginning and the end and that's not an idea of ours that we put in that song or a new idea that's his idea that's his name for himself comes right from the mouth of jesus in revelation 21 it's the
[00:13:07] last book of the bible it's almost on the last page of the bible when jesus says this behold i am making all things new for i am the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end jesus is the
[00:13:26] end hear that today jesus is the end which means if what you woke up stressed about this morning Or if what's on your shoulders today, what you're facing does not look like the peace of Jesus, the justice of Jesus, the victory of Jesus, then it's not the end.
[00:13:51] He's the end.
[00:13:55] So I'm tempted, much like you, every day to judge things in front of me by my own logic and by these two eyes that seem to be getting older and worse every day.
[00:14:05] you know i'm tempted to lean on my own logic but this next song we're going to sing says would you show me what it means to lean into the logic of heaven the logic of heaven says he's king
[00:14:19] and if what i'm walking through right now doesn't look like him and take heart have hope he's not done working yet. I see barren ground, you see gardens. I see wasted years, you see promise.
[00:14:54] I see scattered pieces, you see what could be. I see falling short, you see worth. I see not enough vision, it's too far up my sleeve. Oh, I need to renew our mind today. We didn't just show up by
[00:19:07] accidents more is is often a dangerous prayer honest vulnerable prayer to say i want to lean on the logic of heaven but there is a gap between my daily action or my daily doubt that reality
[00:19:28] today would you draw us close to you to close that gap would you show us who you really are and how good you are and how much you love us to bring us closer to who you are so we can be closer
[00:19:40] to who we were made to be.
[00:19:42] I pray all this because of you, Jesus.
[00:19:45] Amen.
[00:19:47] And it's great to be together today.
[00:19:49] Glad you're in the room.
[00:19:50] Glad you're joining us online too.
[00:19:52] Hey, if you're in the room right now, why don't you turn to somebody you're with, just say, hey, glad to be here with you.
[00:19:57] And we can have a seat.

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:20:15] We don't just talk about loving our city.
[00:20:17] We pick up a shovel.
[00:20:18] When one person starts digging, it matters.
[00:20:21] But when thousands of us step in across our communities at the same time, this is what it looks like when the church moves.
[00:20:29] Not inside a building, out here.
[00:20:31] Thousands of hands, 283 projects, one weekend.
[00:20:37] Work that actually changes something.
[00:20:39] When we move at the same time, you can see it.
[00:20:43] Cities look different.
[00:20:44] People feel it.
[00:20:45] This is the power of many.
[00:20:48] We're a church that goes.
[00:20:49] So let's go.
[00:20:51] Find your project at crossroads.net.

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:20:57] Yes, Go Day is coming up Saturday, May 16th.
[00:21:00] And this is just one of those moments where it becomes really clear that church isn't a place that we go to or something that we watch online. No, church is who we are. We don't just want to talk about loving our cities. We want to
[00:21:12] show up. We want to roll up our sleeves. We paint, clean, organize, landscape, pack supplies, serve families, support local partners, and just meet needs in every way that we can. And no, you do not
[00:21:22] need to have special skills. This isn't like a special gathering of all the licensed electricians and professional drywallers and those people you know who use the word miter correctly.
[00:21:32] No, that's you.
[00:21:33] Hey, praise God, we've got places for you.
[00:21:34] But for the rest of us, hey, we can carry something, wipe something, pull weeds, smile at another human, follow basic instructions with minor supervision.
[00:21:44] It's great.
[00:21:45] This is a chance for us to serve.
[00:21:46] And Goat is a great opportunity for families to tell our kids we follow Jesus by serving others.
[00:21:53] It's another thing for us to, for them to see us do it, not just say us, hear us talk about.
[00:21:59] No, kids are also weirdly good at serving.
[00:22:02] You give a kid a trash grabber and a trash bag and they suddenly become like a little tiny Leslie Knope on a mission.
[00:22:08] If you live near a site, hey, you'll meet at your site for a kickoff event that Saturday morning.
[00:22:12] If you're part of our Crossroads Anywhere community doing projects all over the globe, you're gonna head straight to serving in your local neighborhood.
[00:22:19] So don't just like the idea of Go Day, pick a project and sign up.
[00:22:23] Go to crossroads.net, find a project that works for you, for your schedule, for your part of town or your part of the world. And man, again, if you're part of our Anywhere community, you can still actually host a project in your hometown. We will help
[00:22:35] make it happen. Now, things like Go Day, they don't just happen on accident. They happen because regular people like you and me choose to live generously. All the things that we love around here, Go Day, Kids Club, students, groups, recovery, prison ministry, online stuff, care,
[00:22:51] All of it happens not because there's some secret billionaire, Jeff Bezos, funding it all.
[00:22:57] No, I wish that's how it worked, but it's not.
[00:22:59] It happens because normal people who call Crossroads home give.
[00:23:03] And when money comes in here, we put it to work.
[00:23:06] We immediately deploy it towards people, ministry, and meeting real needs.
[00:23:11] And the reality is Jesus talked about money a lot more than any other topic.
[00:23:15] And he affirmed the tide, not because God needs our money, but because God knows that money has a way of shaping our trust, our priorities, and our lives.
[00:23:23] So if Crossroads is your home and you give, thank you, seriously, your generosity is changing lives around the globe. And if Crossroads is your home and you've never taken that step, this is an invitation, not a guilt trip. Ask God what maybe a next step of obedience and trust could look like
[00:23:39] for you. You can give online at crossroads.net slash give. And we know money isn't simple for everyone right now. Some of you are not asking, should I try tithing? You're saying, God, how am I going to make the Friday? We have incredible opportunities, online cohorts called
[00:23:52] 21 days to better money and freed up to help you experience more of God's freedom around your finances. Now we're going to jump in with Kyle as we lean into how our time shapes who we are right

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:24:02] now. I'm going to be a bubble master. It's my passion to be, to be singing on a stage. I'll Probably by Jupiter.
[00:24:19] I want to be a teacher.
[00:24:21] A fireman.
[00:24:22] A vet.
[00:24:24] I could be the firewoman vet.
[00:24:26] Oh, wow.
[00:24:27] I am going to be a spaceship engineer.
[00:24:30] Nice.

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:24:33] Time goes fast.

[00:24:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:24:34] How did I ever get to be this age?

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:24:36] It's like you go to sleep and you're 25 and you wake up and you're 70.
[00:24:41] When I was thinking about being 55 years old and thinking I was going to be old and decrepit, and the next thing I knew I was 60.

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:24:46] My babies are now 71 and 67.

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:24:51] I want to make that guy's voice my Alexa's voice.
[00:24:58] That's what I want to do.
[00:25:00] Wouldn't that be amazing?

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:25:02] Incredible.
[00:25:03] Hey, my name is Kyle.
[00:25:04] So glad you're with us today, joining us on a great weekend.
[00:25:08] In part because you got a little extra elbow room because couples camp is happening right now.
[00:25:12] Got a thousand couples who are at our base camp property and their marriage is built into.
[00:25:17] So glad for them.
[00:25:18] And in here today and online today, though, you're joining us for a series we're in called Future You.
[00:25:26] And the premise of this series is very, very simple.
[00:25:28] It's basically do today what tomorrow you, the future you, will be thankful for.
[00:25:33] Very simple to understand, very easy to say, but very difficult to actually do.
[00:25:40] Why?
[00:25:41] Because in addition to future you, there's a right now you.
[00:25:44] There's a right now me, and they are not friends most of the time.
[00:25:48] Just twice in the last month, I thought it was a good idea.
[00:25:52] Right now, me thought it was a great idea to have late night wings and beer.
[00:25:56] And future me at 2 a.m. was not thankful for that decision when I woke up and had to make a run to the bathroom, right?
[00:26:03] That's what we do.
[00:26:06] Easy to say, but difficult to do.
[00:26:09] Difficult to do.
[00:26:10] Now, today, though, in this series, we're talking about the thing that I think has the potential to make future you more thankful than anything else in your life.
[00:26:17] and that is how you handle the most precious resource that you have. Not money, but time.
[00:26:25] Time. You know, God's view on time and his instructions on how to handle it are entirely countercultural, especially in the day and age that we live in. But if you and I can understand how to view time the way that God views time, how to handle it the way that he wants us to handle it,
[00:26:42] perhaps nothing has the potential to give us a more peaceful and impactful life than understanding time. On the other hand, if we fail to understand God's view of time, we fail to handle it in the way that he wants us to handle it, nothing has the potential to rack up
[00:26:56] this compounding interest almost, this debt of anxiety and worry that one day future you will have to deal with. Will. And I've been thinking a lot about time lately in my life.
[00:27:10] It seems like every time I look in the mirror, I notice more gray hairs in my beard.
[00:27:16] Every time I turn a little too fast to the side screen and I catch a glimpse of myself, I see more wrinkles at the corners of my eyes.
[00:27:24] It's this thing where time is just going faster and faster and faster.
[00:27:30] It feels like yesterday when I met Sarah for the first time and we went on our first date.
[00:27:38] It feels like yesterday when we took a trip on the first ever go trip to South Africa together and built into the community there.
[00:27:46] It feels like yesterday that we got married, that we walked down the aisle, that we said I do in front of our friends and our family.
[00:27:56] It feels like yesterday when my first child was born and three babies and three and a half years and diapers and bedtime and cutting every bite of food.
[00:28:06] That feels like yesterday.
[00:28:10] It feels like yesterday when I was baptizing both of my boys at Crossroads Florence, six and eight years old, giving their lives to Jesus.
[00:28:18] Feels like yesterday, but all of that was years and years and years ago.
[00:28:25] They're growing up fast.
[00:28:29] You know, you only get so many summers with your kids.
[00:28:31] Well, I've only got three more left with my oldest until he moves out of the house.
[00:28:37] When I was younger, older, wiser people told me that this would happen, that there'd be a time in my life when time started to speed up, when it became like water, impossible to hold in my hands.
[00:28:46] No matter how tightly I gripped it, it would just slip through my fingers and be gone, be gone.
[00:28:54] I don't know how much time I have left.
[00:28:56] I just know that it won't last forever, which has me asking these questions.
[00:29:01] How am I spending my time?
[00:29:04] Am I making the most of my time?
[00:29:07] At the end of my days, will I be thankful for whatever I do with the rest of the time that I have left?
[00:29:13] Am I wasting time?
[00:29:16] Am I rushing through time?
[00:29:18] And more than anything, is there any way to slow time down?
[00:29:23] Because I know that by tonight, another day will be gone.

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:30:01] We have today, and we know that by tonight, another day will be gone.

[00:32:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:32:38] God, you've given us this time.
[00:32:41] and our ask is that you'd help us see the time you've given us with your eyes and you direct us to spend it according to your ways, God.
[00:32:50] For the blessing of your kingdom and the blessing that we know returns on us when we follow you.
[00:32:54] Give us the courage to see and to follow.
[00:32:57] Amen.
[00:32:59] How about that?
[00:32:59] Smashing pumpkins in church.
[00:33:01] Wow.
[00:33:02] Every 90s kid is like, that was a time capsule gift to me.
[00:33:06] I'm amazing.
[00:33:07] So glad for that.
[00:33:08] So glad.
[00:33:09] Talk about time today.
[00:33:10] like we've been saying, time, it is the most precious and the most fickle resource that we have. The only time that any of us know we're ever going to have again is the time we have right now
[00:33:21] in this moment. Tomorrow's not guaranteed. Nothing is. And the question is, how are we going to spend our time? And we only get one shot, by the way. You get one shot at spending the time that you
[00:33:31] have today, and by tomorrow, that time is gone. There's no refunds. There's no exchanges. There's no cash back programs. It's just spent. None of us knows how much time we have. No one can buy
[00:33:44] more time. None of us feel like we have enough. And one day all of us will run out. How is that for depressing? Welcome to church. But we got to start there with this thing about time that we
[00:33:55] don't like to say out loud and we like to think about. One day it will run out and we will have none, no more left. What do we do with our time? We know it's not a coincidence that God actually
[00:34:04] has a lot to say about time. You might be surprised if you were to read through the Bible just how much of Scripture is about the time that we have and how we spend it. In fact, the very
[00:34:15] first sentence of the very first recorded teaching that we have from Jesus is not, love your neighbor as yourself. The very first sentence of the very first recorded teaching of Jesus is not, here's how to pray. The very first sentence of the very first recorded teaching of Jesus says this, Mark
[00:34:33] 115. The time has come, he said. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. The time has come. What kind of time is Jesus talking about? He's like, hey guys, time
[00:34:48] has come. It is lunchtime. It is noon. Let's go. Is that what he's, no, that's not what he's talking about. In the Greek language, Koine Greek, that's common Greek that the New Testament was originally
[00:34:58] written in. There are two words for time. One is chronos. It's where we get the word chronology, as in sequence time. And it's how you and I tend to think about time. It's the answer to the
[00:35:08] question, what time is it? We might think in the back in the day, they didn't have our watches and our phones and all the clocks that we have around. So they didn't really have this time. That would
[00:35:18] be untrue. The ancient people are very, very similar to us in ways I don't know that we always appreciate. They had time. Mark 15 tells us that Jesus died at 3 p.m., the ninth hour of the day.
[00:35:29] They were very aware of chronological time. When I was in Athens filming for our run journey that we just completed, I walked past this water clock in the middle of the town square. This crazy water
[00:35:40] clock. This thing was built in the fourth century B.C. to tell time in ancient Athens. It worked by controlling a flow of water into a tank. The water level would rise. A float would sit on top of that
[00:35:51] and it would move an indicator on a dial.
[00:35:54] When it got to the top, the whole thing would drain.
[00:35:57] That's basically how your toilet works, by the way, today.
[00:36:00] Same technology.
[00:36:02] Now, that kind of time is not the time that God's most concerned about in the Bible.
[00:36:06] It's not punctuality.
[00:36:07] That's not what he's talking about.
[00:36:08] Instead, God is concerned about a different kind of time and worried about us flushing it down the toilet.
[00:36:14] It's a time called kairos, and it's the word used here when Jesus says, the time has come. He says the kairos has come. And kairos means a significant moment, a turning point, or a changing of times. And so don't miss this. The very first sentence of the very first
[00:36:34] recorded teaching of Jesus is an invitation for you and I to change our watches, to adjust our clocks from our time to his time. What would that mean and what would that look like?
[00:36:49] And by default, all of us, we operate according to our own sense of time, which is a very big problem for me because my sense of time is terrible.
[00:36:57] Absolutely abysmally awful. Awful.
[00:37:01] My parents are actually in town and they're at this service.
[00:37:03] They could tell you all kinds of stories of me being late for things that I had no idea what time it is.
[00:37:08] Still to this day, I never know what time it is.
[00:37:10] When I take my kids to school in the morning, every morning, we're supposed to get in the car at 7 a.m.
[00:37:14] I am always the last one there and I'm shocked.
[00:37:17] what time oh my gosh what time is it Sarah will tell me she'll be like you know Kyle we need to leave in five minutes and in my brain I go great I probably have time for like a workout uh maybe
[00:37:25] a shower okay maybe do some yard work build a table I think I know I have no concept of time I have legitimate time blindness and I know there's my time blind friends in here you're like
[00:37:35] I feel you Kyle that's great and all you punctual people are judging me because you're like we're awesome at time is it too bad for you you suck at it we're great at time okay listen no you're not
[00:37:46] You're not as good at time as you think you are. None of us are, in fact. I'll prove it to you.
[00:37:52] Let's take a little group test on time. I want you to give the answers. Say them out loud. Sites, say them out loud with me. Ready? What is a year? 365 days. Awesome. Great job. Okay. What is a day?
[00:38:10] 24 hours. You guys are doing so good. I'm so proud of you. Okay. What is an hour? 60 minutes. Oh my gosh, maybe you're going to ace this test. What's a minute? 60 seconds. Perfect. We're almost there.
[00:38:24] What's a second? 9,192,631,770 cycles of the radiation that corresponds to transit. It's all saved together. We know this. Between the two electron spin energy levels of the ground state of the C-137 cesium atom. Yes! We really fell off a cliff there, guys. We were doing, we're doing
[00:38:46] great, and then no one knew what a second is. Why do I bring this up? To make a point. We don't know as much about time as we think we do. We think that we're experts on time. God, I know what should be
[00:38:57] happening right now in my life. I know what should be going on. I know what should happen next. I can see all the sequence. I can map it out in my brain. We think we're experts, but we don't know the first
[00:39:06] thing about time. By the way, that's actually what a second is. Some of you are still confused. You're Like, what did we just read?
[00:39:12] Literal definition of a second.
[00:39:14] I know, it's crazy.
[00:39:15] It's crazy.
[00:39:17] See, we're not as good as we think.
[00:39:18] And in fact, when it comes to time, you and I have two big issues that are holding us back from the peaceful and impactful life that God wants for us.
[00:39:28] Number one is that we're impatient about tomorrow.
[00:39:32] Whatever it is, we think it should be happening in our own timing right now, today, and tomorrow.
[00:39:37] And if not tomorrow, then the day after that.
[00:39:39] we have this picture. And the damaging effect of being impatient about tomorrow is that we live today with this constant state of anxiety and worry and fear and frustration about our lives and about what's not happening and about what might happen next. And it's hurting us greatly.
[00:39:58] Two, second big issue that's holding us back. We're not present today. We're often thinking about the things that are not here and not now. The effect of all that anxiety, all that worry, all that fear about the future is that we miss the moments today, the moments that are the most
[00:40:13] significant, the kairos moments, the turning point moments, which aren't the ones people put signs on and mail invitations for. It's not the graduation parties. We're there for those, but it's the significant moments with the people who are most important to us, the moments when our kids want
[00:40:28] to talk to us, but we're too busy. We're checking texts. We're checking emails. We're thinking about the thing that's next. We're not present, and it's killing us. It's killing us. And Jesus gives this invitation. He says, the time has come. Change. Change. That's the word repent. Repent and believe
[00:40:49] the good news about the timing that God has for your life. That's the invitation. Well, how would you do that? How would you adjust your clock to live on God's time? Three steps. Number one, believe
[00:41:00] that timing is the Father's business, not yours. I told you the first ever teaching about Jesus was about time. So was the last one. If you go to the book of Acts, which was written by Luke, four
[00:41:12] authorized biographies of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, same Luke. He wrote the book of Acts, and he records the very last words of Jesus before he goes up to heaven. Here it is in the
[00:41:24] message translation. Acts 1.6. When they were together for the last time, they asked, Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time? He told them, you don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit.
[00:41:45] And when the Holy Spirit's come on you, you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world. These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up
[00:41:59] and disappeared in a cloud. His last words. You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. Now, I think that would have got a lot more claps and
[00:42:10] amens and applauses if he had said, you know what you'll get? Timing. You'll get to be in control.
[00:42:16] You won't get the Holy Spirit. We all been like, we understand. That's fine. We'll take timing.
[00:42:20] That sounds way better. Way better. That's not what he said. Why? Why? Well, because we're not the ones who are qualified to plan time. He is. He has a holistically unique and different relationship to time than you and I have. We're caught inside of time. We can remember our past,
[00:42:38] and oftentimes we're held back by our past. We have trouble being present in the moment, and we have no idea what's going to happen in the future, even if we think we know what should
[00:42:46] happen in the future. We have none. But God sits outside of time. Time is literally a dimension that He created and is not bound by. Here's how 2 Peter 3.8 describes His relationship with time.
[00:43:01] It says, do not forget this one thing, dear friends. With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. It's a picture of God sitting outside of time. That means when
[00:43:12] when God views all of history, all of cosmic history, all of your life history, He sits outside and He can see the beginning to the end and beyond.
[00:43:25] And so He decides that He is most qualified to be the planner of time.
[00:43:30] He's the planner.
[00:43:32] He says this over and over and over again in Scripture.
[00:43:36] But I think oftentimes you and I, we miss it.
[00:43:38] And because we miss it, we live with this anxiety we don't need to have.
[00:43:41] says this in Ephesians 1 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time you know that God has a plan
[00:43:56] you know that God has a plan for the right time and not just by the way the big universal scale stuff not just a plan for the right time of like you know when should Jesus be born he's got that
[00:44:07] plan. He nailed that timing. Not just that, but for your individual life. Some of us are in here, we're newer to faith, or maybe we've been in faith for a while, and we have this constant question
[00:44:18] of like, how close of attention does God pay to me? You know, like, is God aware of what's going on in my life? Is He aware of the stress that I have? Is He aware of the anxiety that I have? Is
[00:44:31] he aware of what I've been waiting on that's not here yet? Is he aware? And the answer is loud and clear, yes, yes. In fact, the scripture says that he's aware of every word that's on your tongue
[00:44:44] before you speak it. He's aware of every hair on your head. Psalm 139 says, your eyes saw me when I was formless, all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them
[00:45:01] began. Friends, when it comes to your life, God is not haphazardly going about the business of the plan for your life. God is not shooting from the hip and hoping it works out. God has never
[00:45:14] once a single time been caught off guard by something in your life. God has never once been late. God has never once been early. God has only and only ever will be exactly, precisely on time.
[00:45:30] It doesn't feel that way to us because what we're most concerned about is our own comfort.
[00:45:34] God's not most concerned about that. God's concerned about your character developing, and He's willing to let you and I be uncomfortable for a while longer if it takes that. Why? Because he's patient with us. He's patient. 2 Peter 3, 9 says, the Lord is not slow in keeping his promises
[00:45:52] as some have understand slowness. Instead, he's patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. God is patient with us. If he seems slow, friend, he's not slow.
[00:46:08] He's being patient with you. It's convicting to me when I think about timing and praying on timing.
[00:46:14] I spend more time asking God to adjust his plan to my plan when it comes to timing.
[00:46:19] God, if you can make this happen now, it's taking too long, that'd be great.
[00:46:23] I spend way more time doing that than I do surrendering to his plan, saying, God, I trust you.
[00:46:28] This isn't what I would have picked, but I just know that you're the better planner because you said outside time.
[00:46:33] And I don't know the first thing about it.
[00:46:36] If that's convicting to you, a simple prayer, a way you can apply that is you can just say, God, I believe that timing is your business, not mine, and I trust you. I trust your plan.
[00:46:47] Step number two, how to live on God's time, is patiently trust God for tomorrow. Patiently.
[00:46:54] This, again, is hard for me because I am bad at patience. Very bad at patience. I don't know what time it is, and I'm bad at patience. Every morning, I make coffee, and I fill up my little coffee mug,
[00:47:05] and I go to the couch and I have my quiet time.
[00:47:07] I pray and I read scripture.
[00:47:09] And every morning before I finish the coffee, the coffee gets cold.
[00:47:13] There's a moment I sip it.
[00:47:14] I'm like, oh, cold coffee, terrible.
[00:47:16] So I get up, I go to the microwave, I put it in the microwave and I press the one glorious button.
[00:47:22] I don't know why microwave has any other buttons.
[00:47:24] Add 30 seconds.
[00:47:27] Oh, whoever invented that button, you are a genius, Nobel Prize.
[00:47:30] Let's give you, let's celebrate you.
[00:47:33] If that button didn't exist, I'd have to press three, zero, start.
[00:47:37] That's triple the buttons.
[00:47:39] So much more time.
[00:47:41] So I press my add 30 seconds.
[00:47:43] And then what do I do?
[00:47:44] Then I wait.
[00:47:45] So you take down 17, 16, 15.
[00:47:48] And about four seconds, I press cancel, pull my coffee out.
[00:47:51] Why?
[00:47:52] Because I'm tired of waiting.
[00:47:54] That's why.
[00:47:55] I'm impatient.
[00:47:57] In a baseline, all of us have this natural impatience in us that we have to push through if we want to see and handle time the way that God wants us to in the way that will bless us the most.
[00:48:09] There's lots of different definitions for patience, but I think biblical patience, very simply, biblical patience is trusting God for tomorrow.
[00:48:20] Not just tomorrow, tomorrow, but every single tomorrow that it might have after that.
[00:48:24] It's the opposite of fear.
[00:48:26] It's faith, trusting Him with the future that He alone controls.
[00:48:33] This is a massive point in the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament.
[00:48:37] If you go back into the Old Testament, one of the biggest stories there is the story of the Exodus when the nation of Israel leaves slavery in Egypt and they go out into the desert and they follow God to the promised land
[00:48:47] and they get out there and they're all hungry.
[00:48:49] They don't have any food.
[00:48:50] As they're complaining to God, we don't have any food.
[00:48:52] And God's like, great, I got it.
[00:48:54] I will give you this thing called manna.
[00:48:56] Manna is miracle bread.
[00:48:58] He's like, what I'm not going to do is give you like a semi-truck delivery for a month worth of manna.
[00:49:03] That might make sense to you, but I'm not gonna do that.
[00:49:06] Instead, every day it will rain bread and every day I want you to go out and pick up just enough for a day.
[00:49:13] Here's his instructions in Exodus 16, four.
[00:49:15] The Lord said to Moses, behold, I'm about to rain bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
[00:49:28] And the test here is, will you collect just enough for a day?
[00:49:31] not more for tomorrow not thinking ahead not not just maybe you know i might be hungry and i wake up in the morning but put a little bit next to my bed and and have that just don't do that that's
[00:49:42] the test will you trust me that tomorrow there will be more bread and the people hear this and they're like we will not and they gather extra here's what it says exodus 16 19 moses said to
[00:49:55] them let no one leave any of it over till the morning but they did not listen to moses some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. God's like, it rots. You can't
[00:50:08] keep it. Why would he do that? Why would he do that? Wouldn't it be easier for God if he's like, you know, hey, just once a month, I got to remember to put bread on the ground. That's awesome for me.
[00:50:18] Once a month, the people, they just know they got a whole day gathering bread, and they don't have to think about it. They just know that they have bread tomorrow, and next week they would just
[00:50:25] know that. And what God's doing here, he's saying, you know, I don't want you to trust tomorrow because you have it in control, because you've got what you need in your storehouses.
[00:50:36] No, I want you to trust tomorrow because it's in my hands.
[00:50:40] It's in my hand.
[00:50:42] This is the same lesson that Jesus gives us in the New Testament when he teaches the Lord's Prayer, how to pray.
[00:50:48] This is Matthew 6, 9.
[00:50:50] This then is how you should pray, says Jesus.
[00:50:51] Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
[00:50:54] Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:50:57] give us today our daily bread. Daily bread. You know, if you go through all the teachings of Jesus, everything he ever says, you will not find a single time where Jesus ever says, also pray for
[00:51:16] tomorrow's bread. Never says that. In fact, he never instructs us to pray about tomorrow, ever.
[00:51:23] But most of my prayer life is about tomorrow.
[00:51:27] What's gonna happen next and what the kids need and what I need.
[00:51:31] That's most of my time and energy and it's not, not, not what God instructs us to pray about.
[00:51:37] What about you?
[00:51:38] When you pray, when you talk to God, are you focused on today and making the most of the time he gave you today and redeeming the time today?
[00:51:48] Or are you giving him your plans and hot tips and what he should be doing in your life tomorrow?
[00:51:53] Jesus doesn't say pray for tomorrow's bread. He says pray for today. Today give us the bread. See, God's goal is that we patiently wait on him for tomorrow and not worry about it at all. Later on
[00:52:07] in that same chapter in Matthew 6, Jesus says, can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day
[00:52:19] has enough trouble of its own. He goes, don't worry about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Step three for how to live on God's time is to practice presence today. What does it mean
[00:52:32] to be present? Well, to be present is the lost art of being where I am with who's there with me.
[00:52:41] That's it. And this is a really hard thing to do in our world because we have all these devices and all these things that are constantly pulling our attention away.
[00:52:49] We have this thing in our pocket that's always buzzing.
[00:52:52] There's a work email, there's a text message from a friend, there's a notification from the news headline.
[00:52:56] If I don't read the news, man, the world's gonna fall apart.
[00:52:59] I'm not gonna know what to do.
[00:53:00] No, no.
[00:53:03] God says be present today.
[00:53:05] Practice presence today.
[00:53:08] I think if Jesus were to show up in bodily form and spend a day with you walking around, I think the thing that would stick out to you the most actually wouldn't be all the sick people
[00:53:20] that he healed along the way, though he'd probably do that.
[00:53:23] It wouldn't be the time he walks on water when you get to the edge of the river and you're like, Jesus, can we just take a little stroll out?
[00:53:28] He's like, all right, fine, let's go.
[00:53:29] Let's walk out.
[00:53:30] It wouldn't be that.
[00:53:32] I think the thing that would stick out the most about the son of God is how incredibly present he would be with you.
[00:53:40] How the entire day it was like, no one else existed but you.
[00:53:43] There was no other concern in his brain as if the billions of other humans, of the cosmos, none of that existed.
[00:53:49] None of it needed his attention.
[00:53:51] All of it was on you.
[00:53:55] You know, one of the prophetic names for the Messiah that they were waiting on, Jesus they're waiting on, is the name Emmanuel.
[00:54:02] Emmanuel means God with us.
[00:54:06] God present his attention on us.
[00:54:11] And he wants us to have that same thing.
[00:54:13] the perfect presence. I actually think that's why he came in a timing he did, which he says is the right timing. Galatians 4.4, when the time set had fully come, God sent his son. Scripture is very
[00:54:28] clear. This timing of God, not an accident, not an accident, but kind of strange if you think about it. You know, why come 2,000 years ago? Why not come in the year 2026? Think of all the advantages
[00:54:39] that speed gives right now.
[00:54:41] When he's walking on the water, Peter could have been in the boat just live streaming on his iPhone.
[00:54:47] Look at this, everybody.
[00:54:48] Woo, here's Jesus.
[00:54:49] Let's do a little selfie moment.
[00:54:51] When he's doing miracles, that could have been going out on TikTok.
[00:54:54] Those things would have gone viral and gone crazy.
[00:54:56] Why?
[00:54:57] Why not do it now?
[00:54:59] I think the answer is because the speed of now is not the speed of God.
[00:55:03] The speed back then was the speed of God.
[00:55:06] There's a Japanese theologian who's done a lot of thinking and writing about this, Kosuki Koyama.
[00:55:12] And Koyama says that Jesus came when he came because that's when the speed of humanity matched God's speed.
[00:55:20] We have that term, you know, God's speed.
[00:55:21] God's speed to you, God's speed.
[00:55:23] And what we generally mean is like, go fast and don't die.
[00:55:25] That's what God's speed means.
[00:55:28] But Koyama says that's not God's speed.
[00:55:30] God's speed is the speed of humanity at the time when Jesus came and lived that speed.
[00:55:37] And that speed was three miles per hour because that's the speed of walking.
[00:55:44] In fact, if you look at the teachings of Jesus, a lot of them, most of them are when he's walking from place to place, talking to the people that he's with.
[00:55:53] That's how fast humanity went, three miles an hour.
[00:55:57] Koyama wrote a book called Three Mile an Hour God.
[00:56:00] And in it, he said this, God walks slowly because he is love.
[00:56:06] If he's not, love would have gone much faster.
[00:56:10] Love has its speed.
[00:56:12] It's an inner speed.
[00:56:14] It's a spiritual speed.
[00:56:16] It's a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed.
[00:56:20] It is slow, yet it is Lord over all other speeds since it's the speed of love.
[00:56:29] That's what it means to be present, to slow down to the speed of love, to stop thinking about tomorrow, to stop worrying about what comes next, to stop living in the future moment and what's gonna happen after this thing is over
[00:56:43] and instead to be present where you are.
[00:56:45] See, being present performs a miracle.
[00:56:48] Being present slows down time if you do it.
[00:56:54] If you don't, the cost is high.
[00:56:56] The cost is high.
[00:56:57] Most of us, we don't slow down time.
[00:56:59] We have a trouble being present.
[00:57:00] And because of that, we miss these sacred and these fleeting moments with the people who matter most in our lives. When you, as a parent, you get about 18 summers with your kid in your house. You get
[00:57:13] about 18 of them. For me, most of those summers are gone. I got three left with Ben, four with Eli, six with Gracie. That's it. I read this depressing stat that I want to share with you right now,
[00:57:26] if you'd like it. It said, by the time your kid turns 18, you'll have spent 90% of the total time you're going to spend with them ever. 90% gone, only 10% remains. It's sobering. See, but the
[00:57:43] thing is, most of us are so distracted that we miss these really important, really sacred, really meaningful Kairos-type moments that we're meant to be present for. We miss things like the last time our kid asked us to read them a bedtime story. We miss things like the last time
[00:58:02] they ask us to play with them. The last time they want to snuggle on the couch. Instead, we just notice one day that it stopped. And we go, when did that happen? And how on earth did I miss it?
[00:58:14] How did I miss it? You know, years ago, when my kids were small, an older, wiser person, they told me, you know, Kyle, one day, I know this is hard to believe, but one day you'll give anything to
[00:58:24] relive one of these days when your kids are small. And I was like, you're crazy. You are not. Right now. All I'm doing is changing diapers and cutting every bite of food and putting their clothes on
[00:58:34] them. And then the clothes come off. I'm like, where did you put your clothes? You know, I give anything to have one more these days. And then Sarah went away for a weekend retreat. She got a
[00:58:44] hotel and I had the kids all by myself on a weekend. And I was like, oh no, this is going to be hard. And I woke up Saturday morning and I remembered this idea that one day I'll wish I'll
[00:58:55] give anything to come back and have one more day when they were small. And so in my prayer time, I said, God, I want to live today as if it's that day.
[00:59:04] And so all day long, I just imagined that I was actually 80 years old.
[00:59:09] And that morning I woke up and I asked God to send me back in time and give me one more day with my kids.
[00:59:14] And that day was that day.
[00:59:16] And I lived the whole day with them, present with them.
[00:59:20] I wasn't thinking about what was going to happen next.
[00:59:23] I wasn't worried about my work calendar.
[00:59:25] I wasn't thinking about the house projects I had to get done.
[00:59:27] I was just with them.
[00:59:30] When they wanted to read another book, I was like, awesome, let's read another book.
[00:59:33] When they wanted to go on a walk outside, awesome, let's go on a walk outside.
[00:59:36] When they wanted to stay up past bedtime, awesome, let's stay up past bedtime.
[00:59:39] It was one of the best days I've ever had with them because it was one of the days where I was actually fully, totally present with the people who matter most in my life.
[00:59:51] I was with them.
[00:59:53] We want that to continue in our lives.
[00:59:55] And a few years ago, Sarah and I, we read this book.
[00:59:58] And when I say I read this book, what I mean is my friend read this book and told me about it, which is the best way to read books.
[01:00:07] Matt Welty read this book. It's called Die With Zero, and it's actually a financial planning book from an expert on finances. And what's fascinating about this book is this guy actually says, you know what you should do? Spend your money now. Not be irresponsible for the future. Like,
[01:00:21] take care of things, you know, set yourself up. But he said the problem with most people is that they save all of this money that they're never going to use. They die with a full bank
[01:00:30] account, that means nothing. They can't invest it in the people who matter most. He said, you basically misalign the peak of the time you have the people who matter most with your peak financial time. And eventually there's a point in your life where you're physically unable, and no matter how
[01:00:46] much money you have, you couldn't buy time with these people because they have busy lives. They're doing all of their stuff. And so he said, instead, spend money now before it's too late. Making memories, being present with the people who matter most. And so, Sarah and I, this is going back three
[01:01:01] or four years, we made a spreadsheet of the year, our age, and our kids' age, and we just mapped out all the experiences that we ever talked about wanting to do with them. Because, you know, you
[01:01:11] have these conversations like, oh man, it'd be awesome to go hike the Grand Canyon. That would be amazing. Well, we put it on the calendar, and we decided to spend against it. Will it mean we
[01:01:20] have less later on? Yes. Yes, it will. But I promise you, I promise you later on, I will not trade that memory and that moment and that connection for all the gold in the entire world. Be present now.
[01:01:36] Be present now. This guy in the book, Bill Perkins, he said this. He said, we all have at least the potential to make more money in the future and can never go back and recapture time that is now
[01:01:47] gone. So it makes no sense to let opportunities pass us by for fear of squandering our money.
[01:01:53] Squandering our lives should be a much greater worry. Your biggest fear ought to be wasting your life and time, not am I going to have X number of dollars when I'm 80. Again, it doesn't mean
[01:02:07] be irresponsible. It just means capturing the moment. There's a sense, you know, if that feels irresponsible. Well, you worship the God who says, don't worry about tomorrow. Trust me for tomorrow.
[01:02:18] Instead, spend today on the things that matter most. Listen, I'm telling you, it is possible.
[01:02:24] It is possible to do time God's way. It's possible to break the cycle of anxiety in your life.
[01:02:29] It's possibly present with the people who matter most to you. If, if, if we will redeem the time that we have. The apostle Paul, who we followed in the run journey, put it this way in Ephesians 5.
[01:02:41] He says, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.
[01:02:53] Redeem the time.
[01:02:54] Friend, I don't know where you are in your life.
[01:02:56] Maybe some of the things I've been saying, you're just guilt and regrets are piling up in your heart.
[01:03:01] Maybe you're just like, man, I wish I had taken advantage of the time and now I'm just feeling horrible.
[01:03:06] Guess what?
[01:03:07] It's not too late.
[01:03:10] God says you have today and you can redeem today.
[01:03:14] You can redeem it.
[01:03:15] Jesus says the time has come.
[01:03:17] The kingdom of God has come near.
[01:03:19] Repent and believe the good news.
[01:03:22] Believe the good news.
[01:03:24] See, God's view of time is not bad news.
[01:03:25] It's not meant to make us feel guilty and awful and all things.
[01:03:28] It's meant to be a promise that you don't have to live the way your neighbors live.
[01:03:32] You don't have to have the guilt and anxiety and all the things that sit on them.
[01:03:36] You don't have to have that.
[01:03:37] you can have the peace that passes understanding.
[01:03:40] You can have a life of total impact.
[01:03:43] Maybe you're in a place where you're newer to faith or you're just coming around church.
[01:03:47] I would just encourage you, if you haven't given your life to Jesus, your time to him, you can do that right now.
[01:03:53] You can just say, Jesus, I give you my entire life.
[01:03:58] I give you my past and ask you to cover it in forgiveness.
[01:04:03] I give you today and ask you to redeem it.
[01:04:06] and I give you my future.
[01:04:09] If you pray that prayer or any like that, I highly encourage you to get baptized.
[01:04:13] We're actually doing baptisms next weekend.
[01:04:15] There's info sessions after every service at every site.
[01:04:18] You can go check out what that means and see if that might be right for you.
[01:04:22] Highly encourage you to do that.
[01:04:24] And I want to make one last point.
[01:04:25] I know there are people every weekend at Crossroads who come in here, and some of us are in a spot where our life feels calm and feels good, and we can absorb teachings like this,
[01:04:33] and we can apply them.
[01:04:34] And others of us are in the spot where our life is just in crisis.
[01:04:37] Our life is in a moment where we go, man, Kyle, that's nice, all those things about time, but I'm just dying here.
[01:04:44] Things are just terrible here.
[01:04:46] And if that's you, I just wanna call your attention back to a verse that you might've heard read at the very beginning of today's service.
[01:04:54] It's actually one of my favorites in the entire Bible because it gives my favorite name for Jesus in the entire Bible.
[01:05:00] If you go through it, there are about 198 different names and titles for Jesus.
[01:05:03] There's awesome ones like Lamb of God and King of Kings and Prince of Peace.
[01:05:08] And I love all those names, but they're not my favorite.
[01:05:11] My favorite is the name The End.
[01:05:15] This is what it says in Revelation 21.
[01:05:18] Then the one seated on the throne said, look, I'm making everything new.
[01:05:23] He also said, write, because these words are faithful and true.
[01:05:28] Then he said to me, it is done.
[01:05:30] I am the alpha and the omega I am the beginning and I am the end friend I don't know what's going on in your life but if it doesn't look like Jesus standing up on his throne
[01:05:43] saying I'm making everything new all of the problems all the pain all the stuff going on I'm making all of it brand new squeaky clean and shiny if it's not that great news you're not at the end
[01:05:56] you're somewhere in the middle and God's not done his time and his plan that he says, he promises, I know every day. I wrote them out in my book.
[01:06:07] I know every word on your tongue. I know every hair on your head. His plan is not done until you reach the end, until you reach the end. Before you run out, close your eyes. I want to give you
[01:06:18] a moment just to spend a bit of time reflecting in prayer with God, just about 30 seconds or so before you run out. If we don't do this with the things that we hear and hear, it's worthless to
[01:06:28] here, and we want to change in our lives. We want change in our hearts. So would you just pause?
[01:06:33] If there was something in you today that maybe felt a poke or some level of conviction around being patient or trusting God with tomorrow, just have a quick conversation with God. You could say to Him, God, I trust you with tomorrow. I trust your plan. Maybe there was something in you that
[01:06:52] was convicted around the idea of being present with the people who matter most to you. Well, friend, you got today. You do have today and it's not too late. Maybe there's someone God wants you
[01:07:03] to be fully present with today. Maybe they're sitting next to you. Maybe you're going to go home and see them. Maybe later on today you're going to see them. Or maybe they're just a phone
[01:07:12] call away. Right now you can just commit to God. Say, God, I'm going to be fully present with that person today. Today. Father, thank you for the perspective that you have on time. Thank you for
[01:07:29] being the master of time. Thank you for planning out my life. I just say you are the best one to do it. You can map out every one of my days. And I trust you that your plan is not only the right
[01:07:41] plan, it's the best plan. And it's the plan that one day future me will be thankful that you did in my life. Give us the courage to believe and the faith to follow you. Amen.

[01:07:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:07:55] All we have is today.
[01:07:58] Hey, don't leave today with just a thought.
[01:08:00] Leave it with a next step.
[01:08:03] I want to give you two potential things that could be your next step to make the most of today that future you is going to be super thankful for.
[01:08:09] First, baptisms.
[01:08:11] Kyle talked about baptisms happening May 2nd and 3rd.
[01:08:13] This is one of the clearest ways that we just say, I belong to Jesus.
[01:08:17] It's public.
[01:08:17] It's powerful.
[01:08:18] And maybe it's your next step.
[01:08:19] Maybe you've been following Jesus quietly for a long time.
[01:08:21] Maybe something new is stirring in you.
[01:08:23] It's not a trophy for perfect Christians.
[01:08:25] It is a starting line for people saying, Jesus, I'm yours.
[01:08:28] You can just text next to 301-301 or sign up at crossroads.net slash baptisms.
[01:08:32] I'm actually headed first thing tomorrow morning, 4.30 a.m. to Bolivia to help baptize 15 people on our Crossroads Anywhere community.
[01:08:39] So excited about that.
[01:08:40] We want you to join them.
[01:08:41] Secondly, right now, as I speak, there are hundreds and hundreds of couples who are getting baptized at Couples Camp.
[01:08:48] It's gonna be amazing, amazing, amazing.
[01:08:50] We'd love for you to experience that same thing.
[01:08:53] And man, it may be, maybe the best thing you can do if you're married to invest in future you is investing in your marriage.
[01:09:00] We've got actually an upcoming marriage cohort, 21 days to build a marriage.
[01:09:03] You'll love that my wife and I actually, my wife, Rachel, and I will be hosting.
[01:09:07] We'd love for you to join us.
[01:09:09] It's something you do as a community and follow along at your own pace with your busy schedule.
[01:09:14] All the details at crossroads.net slash cohorts.
[01:09:17] Hey, thank you so much for joining us today to help build the future you of all that God intends.
[01:09:23] Thanks so much. We'll see you next week.