← Victory Church: Paul Daugherty
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- [00:00]
John
Foreign. We also want to give a shout out to the youth in the room.
- [00:12]
Arvin
What's up? We, oh, so glad you're here.
- [00:15]
John
We're glad you're here. If we're boring, we're sorry.
- [00:19]
Arvin
Sorry, God.
- [00:20]
John
Sorry, God, for being boring for these teenagers.
- [00:22]
Arvin
Can you imagine God in heaven being like, dang, they're boring, man.
- [00:28]
John
So we went, we want to invite you to take notes because note takers are. Yeah, come on. So if you're bored, take notes. That was one thing my mom and dad always forced me to do. They're like, john, take notes. And it, it turned into pictures. But I still counts. It still counts. But then they evolved into notes. And now I love taking notes and, you know, that's part of what it is. Well, my name is John and like.
- [00:53]
Arvin
We said, my name is Arvin.
- [00:55]
John
And we get to serve here at Victory and we write the productions happily and with pleasure. Yes, yes. We're really. And we just absolutely love it. We love our pastors, Pastor Paul and Ashley. Let's give it up for our pastors, our leaders.
- [01:13]
Arvin
Thankful for them.
- [01:14]
John
Yes, right. And it's actually, you know, Jill Stafford, her story that was just on the story of Victory. We would not have these productions if it wasn't for Pastor Paul and Pastor Ashley's vision to reach people while using the arts. And I've always told Pastor Paul's my brother and Ashley's my sister in law. And I've told them, I've said, hey, if you ever feel like there comes a day where we no longer do them, you know, then we will no longer do them. But they, what they've said to me is like, as long as God is still in it, we're still doing it. And so anyways, that's something that I just am so grateful for and we're really excited about. But anyways, so let's get into the word. You guys excited? And I also want to give you guys a massive props for being here on Thanksgiving. The night before, the night before Thanksgiving, growing up Thanksgiving, me and my family would go, this is a memory. This has not. This is not spiritual at all. So don't lean in, don't take notes on this. But we would go to Texarkana, Arkansas, and, and we loved it. But the one thing that we always remember is there was like a few things. We're like, whatever you do, don't drink anything from the fridge. Don't drink the milk. My grandpa, who had dentures, would drink from the milk and whatever he would eat. Happy Thanksgiving.
- [02:37]
Arvin
Grateful in all things.
- [02:38]
John
And it was. No, literally, you could have a whole meal if you just poured it in a cup. Guys, come on. Hey, hey. Be mature, okay? Be mature. Okay? Let's read the Bible. Okay, Open up your bibles to Romans 15:13.
- [03:02]
Arvin
Okay?
- [03:03]
John
Romans 15:13. I pray that God, the source of. Y' all gotta help me, okay? This is gonna be a long 30 minutes. I need you guys to help me whenever I'm. I want y' all to read with me. That way. We're in this together, okay? I pray that God, the source of, will fill you with. Because why you trust in him. Then you will with confident through the. You guys, you. Everything that's underlined in your Bible, that's what you should underline, because that's what we're going to hit on tonight. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for your word. I thank you, Jesus, that it is alive and that it is speaking to us. And we thank you that every person in this room and those watching online, that they hear your voice louder than theirs, louder than ours, and they learn to obey and hear your voice and what you're speaking to them through your scripture. And everybody said, amen. Amen. Well, sometimes God's power doesn't look super flashy and impressive. Sometimes God's power looks like hope. The supernatural power of hope. And, you know, we're getting ready for this Christmas production, and a little sneak peek is there's a guy who leads worship here named Dom DeMaio. How many of you guys know him? He's awesome. Yes.
- [04:29]
Arvin
We love Dom.
- [04:30]
John
So we get to write the songs together. And one of the songs for this upcoming that only those who've been in rehearsals know it, there's a song, and it's the title of the sermon tonight. It is Hope is a Window. Come on. That's deep. Cause if you really think about it, that's deep. Okay, so anyways, but. And it's the whole thing of. And I'm. And it's one of my favorite songs. It's coming from a character in the Christmas Story that is. It is. It could very well look like they're out of hope. And as we know, some of the saddest times in America is around holiday seasons. I don't know what it is, but it's like depression goes up, stress, anxiety. You know, there are those of you who have people that you're going to go see on Thanksgiving. You're like, that causes me stress and anxiety. You know what I mean? And so it's just easier for Me not to be around my family or, you know, I want to encourage. I remember I went through one of the lowest times in my life, and it was a. There was a certain Thanksgiving where all of my family were gone. And this sounds strange because I live in Tulsa, but they were. Everyone was busy. And I remember being at the midweek service that Wednesday night before and being like, what am I going to do tomorrow? And I came to Victory Does a Thanksgiving Day meal, which we're doing it tomorrow, and it's for anyone to come, if you're watching online or if you want to invite someone to it that doesn't have a place to go. And I remember going to it, and that was my Thanksgiving. My family wasn't around at the time, and my kids were busy, and I remember.
- [06:20]
Arvin
Thanks.
- [06:21]
John
Thankfulness. There was a whole new meaning to it after that because I'd grown up always being around family at Thanksgiving, and it was such a. I felt so lonely, and I was really feeling sorry for myself. And at that, there was people there serving, and they go, what are you doing today? And I was like, nothing. I was trying to hide it, you know, And I was like, well, you know, I'm serving here, and da, da, da. And they're like, are you hanging out with anyone? And afterwards, they invited me to their home, and we had Puerto Rican food for Thanksgiving. And it was like, one of my most memorable experiences because I felt so low. And in that moment, just someone obeying God's voice, it genuinely changed my perspective on Thanksgiving. But anyways. But that's what hope is. Hope is a window, and it can be opened, but in many people's lives, it's shut down.
- [07:16]
Arvin
Now, I don't know about you, but sometimes when I hear words like hope, these like, fluffy, sweet kind of passive words. Does anyone else feel that way when you first hear the word hope? I can imagine there's probably. From all you wonderful believers in here, there's probably 600 crocheted pillows between all of us that just say something sweet and fluffy about hope. I grew up with pillows all over our Christian household that had hope written. But the reality is this. There are things in scripture that the fact that we mention them over and over and over again, we kind of get familiar. So I'm gonna read one to you, and it's one of the most famous scriptures. You're gonna recognize it immediately. It's in 1st Corinthians 13:13. You hear it at every wedding. Let me read it to you. Now, these three things remain. Faith, hope, and Love. But the greatest of these is love. I love that. I hear it at every wedding. But how many of you know that as fluffy and sweet and precious as those words are faith, hope and love? We have em all over. If you go walk down Hobby Lobby or Mardell, they all the posters and they're in every kitchen. But to have it for real is not sweet and cute and fluffy. It's just messy. When was the last time you woke up and went through half your day and halfway through you went, I just organically feel so much hope. Especially nowadays when every single device and piece of media is shouting at you 30 million reasons why you should not have it. I have friends who have actually been to offended.
- [08:44]
John
Wait, hold on. Offended in 2025?
- [08:47]
Arvin
I know it's a. It's the spirit of the age Offended, saying, how is it like you are absent minded, that you would have hope, that you're optimistic about the future, that you think your best days are right in front of you? Thankfully, that's not the case here with you all, but that is what's going on. So if we were to zoom in in the scripture one more time, there's a word in there that I think is actually the most important word that we don't really talk about. I'm gonna read it to you again. These three things remain, everyone say remain, faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I love faith, hope and love a lot. But how many of you know, if you have it a part of the time, it doesn't really work. Can you imagine a parent telling a child, I have faith in you sometimes I have hope for you. Most days I love you kind of. These things don't work unless they're perpetual. So if you look, look at the same verse in the Aramaic and it says this, these three things endure hope. Where it has created a connotation of like being passive. The aggressive, active, messy, difficult. 2025 word for this is actually endurance. These three things endure faith, hope and love. In real life, hope looks like endurance. If hope is a window into the future God has for you, endurance is the door. It is in fact the biggest difference between every mature believer you know, and people who have been reading the Same scripture for 25, 30, 45, 50 years and they have still not matured in their faith. Endurance.
- [10:29]
John
I think that when it comes to endurance, it is something that there is man made endurance and then there's God made endurance. That comes from the Holy Spirit in 2nd Thessalonians 3. 5 2nd Thessalonians 3, 5. It says, May the Lord bring you into an ever deeper understanding. And this is what I believe is someone who just got saved. Anyone who maybe you just started reading your Bible or maybe some of you, you've read the Bible 500, you've read or a few times. Like there are people in here that are different in their different walks, you know, with God. But the thing that we can always continue to mature in is an ever deeper understanding of God's love, the endurance that comes from him. So endurance can marinate, you know, Pastor Sharon My mom, she would make sweet tea at, you know, really almost all the time. And really. And she, she had a little tea with her sugar, you know what I mean? But okay, only a few people got that. But the way my mom and I always knew this, my mom would say the tea gets sweeter when it sits, you know what I'm saying? When it kind of soaks in there and then after a few days you hit that and you're like, wow, yowzers, am I gonna get diabetes from a sip? You know what I mean? But what that meant was it just became richer as it sat. It's an ever and deeper understanding. Whenever we have a, whenever we are able to sit in the presence of God and sit, sit with God's word, we can increase an ever deeper understanding of God's love and the endurance that comes from him. The difference between endurance that comes from God and man made endurance is man made endurance is really just willpower. How many, how many has ever tried? Like, what is that called? What's the fasting that people do?
- [12:33]
Arvin
Fasting.
- [12:36]
John
Fasting. Has anyone tried to do intermittent fasting? And really it's just like not eating breakfast. You're like, yeah, I'm fast, I do. And it's like really? You just forgot to. Yeah, I'm like, that's. You're not really. Anyways, but, but like have you ever been like, no, I'm going to fast. And you're just trying to white knuckle it through. And then someone walks by with like a turkey leg and you're like, okay, well I made it this far. You know what I mean? It's willpower. And it man made endurance eventually expires. And man made endurance does not produce hope, it produces burnout. Have you ever heard someone, maybe if you're a teenager in the room, you maybe have heard, you know, whether it be a parent or maybe even you have said, I just feel burned out. Burnout is. And I'm not going to get into the Deep meaning of it. But burnout is. Whatever it is, is. There is an endurance from God that can help you sustain through that and remain. You know, I think we. We do the race for victory here and the last race for victory. I had been training so hard. I was like, I am going to do better every single year. How many guys have done the race for victory? Okay, two people.
- [13:56]
Arvin
Congrats.
- [13:57]
John
We're in the right room. Okay. They need to get. Talk about endurance. You registered? Come on. That's.
- [14:03]
Arvin
Hey, I drove the race for victory.
- [14:07]
John
He drove it.
- [14:08]
Arvin
I've driven it every year.
- [14:09]
John
Okay, well, hopefully this fail story will make you feel better. I love that. She just goes, I registered. That's awesome. Okay. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna train really hard. And then, like, three weeks out, I was doing intervals where it's like, you sprint and then you go slower. For me, I'm. I'm slower, and my sprint looks like a jog for most people. But I really jacked up, like, the Achilles tendon and the calf so much to where I could barely walk. And I was like, it's okay. I. I've come this far. The race is in, like, eight days. I'm just going to go to. And, you know, this doctor was telling me to do all this stuff, like cryotherapy and then Aleve and all that in Icy Hot. So he's doing all the things. And he was like. And he. And I said, hey, it hasn't been hurting. And he goes, have you ran? I go, it's only been three days. And I go, I truthfully believe that. I. Dude, I have it up here. I got it up here, and I can do it this Saturday. And he goes, really, if you rest, like, you will feel much better. Like, you know, there's another, you know, half marathon in a few weeks. Do that one. And I go, no, I'm going to do it. And when I get here, Coach jc, Who's a guy that serves here at Victory, he is doing. He's like, DJing and, like, getting everyone hyped up. And I parked the car, and he's like, pastor John, and he's like, come over here. And they played a song, and I did a dance. And he was like, pray for everyone. And I prayed this hardcore prayer. And then he was like, ready, set, go. And I took off. Half mile in, I was like, oh, oh, oh. I felt something pull, and I was in so much pain that I started calling people. And then as race for Victory, people were going by. They're like, are you okay? I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. And I tried to just white knuckle it, to basically just grind, strive through it. I was in so much pain. I called an Uber, and I did. I did. I called an Uber. And I was like. And I was like, oh, yeah. And then he goes. He was like, where are you? And I was like, I'm on Riverside. And the guy drove up on the grass to get me because I couldn't move. The guy's name was blessed. And I was like, blessed be the name. That's a true story. I'm not proud of it, but it is true. And then I got in it, and I saw Race for Victory. People, they were running by and they were like, hey. And I was like, oh, I kind of hid in the car. But isn't that like, life? Whenever we drop out of the race, we're embarrassed. We drop out of the race and we get embarrassed, and we're like, oh, I don't want people at church to see me because I dropped out of the race. And it's understandable to drop out of the race of life. Whether it is, I've been going strong, I haven't had a drink. I've been sober. You know, I haven't. You know, I haven't been gambling or I haven't looked at porn or whatever it is. And you're doing it, and you're trying to strive, and you're trying to do it on your own. But there also is a supernatural power that is available. And then, you know, trying to do it on your own, you get disappointed, discouraged. And then when you drop out, that's where shame sets in. And that's where the devil says, stay down. Look at you. You dropped out of the race. Look at you. You fell back into that habit. Look. That's where you belong. That's really who you are. And so that is a temptation for the opposite. But what I want to encourage you in is that all of that is the trials and the tests and the tribulations, they're pushing you back into leaning on the Holy Spirit. Romans 5, 3, 5. It says this. Rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they can help us develop what. And endurance develops. And character strengthens our confident of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. Here's the thing. Trials develop endurance. Endurance develops character, and character develops hope.
- [18:41]
Arvin
It's wild that that scripture's in Romans 5 but it's almost verbatim also in James 1. Let me read it to you here. When troubles come your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So. So let it grow. For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.
- [19:04]
John
And the great thing about that scripture is I want you guys to circle endurance, fully developed, which means all of us are at different level. Have you guys ever seen, like, a battery on your phone where it's like, I'm at 53%? Or someone's like, hey, can I. Can I charge my phone? And you're like, what percentage are you on? I'm on 13%. Okay. You need the charger more than me. Have you guys ever had those conversations? Think about that. But with your endurance, think about that. Your personal life, you look on your phone and you're like, okay, what percentage am I on for it to be fully charged? Is. There is. There is a fully developed endurance that is available, but this is the cra. This is the unique thing, is that it comes through troubles. You're like, that's the thing. I'm praying away. Why is that the thing that charges my phone. Why is that? The thing that charges me up is, well, that's just how life works. But then the Holy Spirit is the X factor. Endurance from God produces character and readiness. Man made endurance produces compromise. I'll say it again. Endurance from God produces character and readiness. Man made endurance produces compromise. An example is, okay, we're talking about the race for victory. How many of you guys have worked out really hard, and you go. You drive by Brahms. Yeah. And you're just like, yeah, shoot, I deserve it.
- [20:33]
Arvin
Yeah, absolutely.
- [20:34]
John
You know what I'm saying? You have to be honest. Everyone has had a shoot, I deserve it moment. Like, you're just like, well, I. I mean, I did drive on a road trip, and driving burns, like, 900 calories. You're lying to yourself about calories being burned. You're just like, I did get out of my car. That's five calories. I walked to the gas pump. Three calories, eight. And then you're looking on the menu, and it says, a quarter pounder, 1200 calories. And you're like, yeah, why not? Yeah, with a cappuccino, chunky chocolate, extra large shake. But that's what. Sometimes that. And on the serious side, sometimes, whenever we're doing really good, you're like, I haven't missed church in so long. And you're Like, I can miss. And here's the thing, I'm not. That was probably a bad example, but what I'm saying is, is like sometimes we justify sin or we justify bad habits because, well, I read my Bible, you know what I mean? So I could do this. Or, man, I've been really good lately, so I can. And that is man made endurance. That's your. Like everything is built off of you. We ain't that strong. I'm not that strong. You know, and this is what it says is like. And this is where we dive into the story of Abraham. Okay, Abraham is a character in the Bible, father of many nations. But before he was a father of many nations, he had some man made endurance compromises. Even though he heard from God, you know, he heard from God. And there are some things. And this is, and this is probably why Proverbs 13:12, it says, Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Have you ever been hoping for something for so long? Whether it is someone to, if you're a teenager in here, someone to ask you out or to make the team or to finally bench press £200 or whatever it is, Everyone has their. I have this hope and it took longer than you thought and it was harder than you thought, right? That makes you sick. Hope deferred means hope that just takes. It just takes too long to get there. I really wanted to buy this house and it just took too long and someone else bought it. I really wanted this car, but now I'm in a financial situation where I can't get the car. I really wanted to get married, but now I'm at the age where it just doesn't make sense to get married or whatever it is. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, and sick hearts make bad decisions. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, and sick hearts make bad decisions. So tonight it's really kind of like a heart checkup of okay, God, I'm going to release my timeline to yours.
- [23:47]
Arvin
What John's describing is a concept we love to introduce to you called secret deadlines. This is when you have God given vision on your timeline. I wanted to be married by this age. I wanted to do this by this time. There's societal norms and it's like, oh, I haven't, I haven't done that yet. I need to get that done. I need to be, I need to make this much money by this point in life. I need to do that before I have kids or I need to have kids before I Do this, or I need to do that before. And we have them. But these are one of the most vulnerable times where we're the most susceptible to losing heart. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. When you have a secret deadline, sometimes you don't. It's secret to you. All of a sudden, you're like, I'm looking at all the people around me, like, just elevating and doing all this wonderful stuff and getting all these wonderful opportunities. And he got married, and she got married. I can't believe it. But she got married. Oh, my gosh. How did she get married before I got married? Talking to anybody in here, and you find out you had a deadline, even though the vision is, in fact, from God. Abraham's vision is from God. God says to him, you're gonna be the father of many nations, and you're gonna bless nations through this nation. I promise you. Look at the stars. That's how many descendants you're gonna have. He, at this point, has no kids. So he starts to trust God, believe God like we all do. And then hope gets deferred.
- [25:05]
John
And that's what he says is. And like, what Arvin was saying is the secret deadlines. It picks up in Genesis 16, 3, 4. And this is a story after Abram had been living in Canaan for 10 years. So this is after God told Abram after he had been. So God spoke to him. How many years had passed?
- [25:28]
Arvin
10.
- [25:28]
John
How many years?
- [25:29]
Arvin
10.
- [25:30]
John
Has anyone in this room waited 10 years for something? Okay, good, good, good, good, good. You're in good company. Okay, here's the thing. Moses waited 40 years in the desert. Jesus waited 30 years to start ministry. If you're waiting, you're in good company. There ain't. There ain't no Bible character that did not have a story of endurance. Think about every Bible character, every Bible character, everything in the Bible that if you're a believer and you base your life on that book, look at all the people in there and go, yep, every single one had to endure. And it's not just from them. Some of them, they endured, and they made the wrong decisions. And then God had to kind of fix the situation. Well, it says this. After Abram had been living in Canaan for 10 years, Sarai, his wife, took her Egyptian slave, Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar and she conceived. So Sarah was like, hey, God said this, but it's been 10 years. I thank God forgot. So hook up with this girl. And Abram's like, okay, then I'll take one for the team. Yeah. I mean, that's not funny, guys. But in that moment it was like, oh, that's secret deadlines. That's hope deferred makes the heart sick. And sick hearts make bad choices. That's what it is. Has anyone wanted something so bad and financially you have gotten really close to it and you go, I'm going to put it on a card. Yeah. And you go, even though I don't have the money for it yet, I wanted it so bad and this is the closest I've been to it, so I'm gonna put it on the card. And then debt begins to rise up. And you know, it's one of those things that, that is something very practical to us because it's like, oh, but we wanted it. And what it is, is it's saying, God, I trust not just your word, but your timeline. Which, that's tough. Trusting God's timeline, that's tough because it's like, well, when are you gonna do it? Okay, so 10 years. Abram and Sarai had a secret deadline. The 10 year mark. This is one thing that I've realized is God's favor. It says in, I think in Proverbs, God's favor rests, which means favor is not forced. It rests. I'm gonna say that again. Favor is not forced. It rests. If you're in Bible school and God told you that you're going to plant a church, doesn't mean you're gonna do it when you're 22. But some people go, well, God said, yeah, but if it's from God, he's gonna do it when you force it, you're like, I don't understand. The church folded and it closed. And we worked so hard. Yeah, I know it's quiet in here, but I'm just being honest. Like, I'm being honest that. And here's the thing. I have made that mistake so many times. This is a low key. Again, another story. This is a sidebar. It's not spiritual, but I remember talking to my dad. And I would talk to my Paul, would talk to my dad about like dreams of the future and all these amazing things. And I'd be like, dad, we don't have an upstairs. And he'd go, yeah, we live in a one story house. And I'd be like. And I would see Home Alone. And I was like, everyone who's cool has a two story house. And they have plastic hangers. We have wire hangers. So weird. But that's what the how? How? I thought, how many of you guys got wire hangers? Okay, maybe that I, I, I mean I still got them, I love them. I, but every time I went to someone's house that I thought was cool, I was like, they got a two story house and they got plastic hangers. That's such a weird thing to get hung up on. But that was where my mind was. And I was like, one day I was like, God, I pray for plastic hangers. And yeah, I have no idea. That was where my faith was at 13. Then I remember talking to my dad and my dad was like, well John, right now we don't have the finances for it. And I was like, I've been up to the attic. It's, we have so much room in the attic. And he was like, let's pray for it. And I, and I, and we prayed for it. I remember it was during the summer and we were, and it was at night, we were walking in the neighborhood and then, and then I went home and I drew out an upstairs. As a 13 year old, I drew out an upstairs and I was like, and this is where we're going to put the ping pong table and blah blah, blah. And, and a year went by and I was like, I was like, what's this faith stuff, Dad? I was like, you said God would answer my prayers. And he was like, when it's time, it'll happen. So I took matters into my own hand. Sorry, I spit. I put matters into my own hands. I got like Sheetrock, which I thought was stable. And I started, I would crawl up to the attic and start laying things down and laying boards down. And then I would bring up like Christmas lights. And I found one of these portable like TV combo VCRs up there and I would like bring snacks. And I was like, I'm going to start building this second floor on my own. And I also bought some plastic hangers. I was like, I'm big balling now, you know what I'm saying? Well, then some guy came to, there was a, oh yeah, there was something wrong with the electrical outlets upstairs. And so my mom had someone come and check on it and it was me. Like I had put things on top of wires and messed things up. And the guy who was working up there, he thought it was floor and stepped through and went through our ceiling. And I was like, mom, that guy. I was like, I was like, I'm telling my mom. And then she was like, what? Why did you do that? And he goes, someone has like Crackers and Christmas lights and plastic hangers up here. And I was like, I don't know, that's Paul, You know what I'm saying? But it's the thing of like sitting in. And there he was and he went through his. It was just his legs sticking through the roof in, in the garage at my mom and dad's house and, and a few years down the road we built an upstairs. It happened and it was crazy where I was like. And you know, it happened whenever it was the, the right time to happen. We were able to build onto that. But when I'm thinking about it, how many of you guys are sitting in the consequences of sin or a mess up that you justified by hope deferred, you know? Well, I was, you know, I was, I was really, I was really. I don't know how else to say this, but some people are like, well, I got married to her because, you know, it's, it's better to marry than burn with passion. And it's like, yeah, but marriage ain't all about sex, you know what I'm saying? But you're like, but, but I want to get married because I don't want to sin. And so. And I was like, you just made a life decision with someone that, you know those things of sitting in, the consequences of trying to make God's plan for your life happen in your own strength. God given endurance doesn't start until after your secret deadlines are not met. And that is when the endurance begins. Whenever you go by this time, I'm going to be at this place. And then all of a sudden, once you cross that threshold and you begin to question, that's when God's endurance begins to be produced in your life.
- [33:44]
Arvin
I'm going to read one more scripture from Colossians, chapter 1, verse 11. We also pray that you'll be strengthened with all God's glorious power, so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. I don't know about you, but I grew up hearing wonderful testimonies. My dad sees Jesus in a dream, is miraculously saved, is put in prison for being a pastor, escapes prison, we move to Tulsa. Here we are. And then I grow up in Tulsa Rusalem, and I'm constantly given the opportunities that he never had. How many of you have grown up hearing wonderful testimonies, miracles, signs, wonders if you're at victory very long, you hear plenty of them. And there's going to be plenty more, by the way. But my story was the opposite. I merely had to endure. See here's the thing. The manifestation of God's power will often look like miracles, signs and wonders. But for most people who are maturing in their Christian faith, it looks like endurance. It looks like consistency, it looks like sticking around. I love when big events happen. I love when we do the Christmas production. I love when we have. I love, love, love, love, love that. But what about a Wednesday night before Thanksgiving? Who's going to show up then? You did. It is a just as much a manifestation of God's glorious power to endure and be consistent as it is to see people healed or people saved. There's a moment in a film we both love very much called Dunkirk. Has anyone seen that movie? I don't condone the language, but it's about war. I don't condone the killing either. Anyway, anyways, it's a whole other philosophical. I get into this whole thing about World War II. Oh, there's a moment where these British troops are walking back from the battle that they've been involved in. They are in shock, they are devastated. They have seen their friends die and they're feeling all sorts of things they can't even articulate. And there's a gentleman there, he's much, much older. And then this young soldier, played by Harry Styles, he's walking in and the man says, good job, good job. I won't do a British accent because there's beautiful poetic spiritual music and this will ruin it. But he's saying, good job, good job. Well done, well done. He's handing them coats, he's handing them bread. And the young soldier looks at him, he goes, you know, all we did was survive. He's a little bit angry. He feels a little weird. Why are you. Why are you saying good job to me? All I did was survive. All I did was endure. And the man looks at him and says, that's enough. Sometimes that's enough. I don't know what kind of year you've had, but you made it through it. And tomorrow, wherever you celebrate Thanksgiving, please pause and thank God for getting you here because you did not have man made endurance. You didn't walk through the year we've all just walked through without God given endurance. Why is it that in that scripture we read at the beginning, he talks about the love of God? The most important characteristic of God. I pray that you be brought into an ever deeper understanding of God's love and the endurance that comes from him. Those two things are all of a sudden next to each other. You can have fully developed endurance. It says that in James 1. And yet you'll never fully understand it. You'll walk through things and you probably have walked through things. And you go, I don't know how I got through that. I don't have time to even right now think about the things I've walked through in the first five years of my marriage. I'll start sobbing and become a puddle on the stage. I'll have to mop me up with a little mop because God has been so faithful. The faithfulness of God made manifest in your life. Yes, it will look like a new car when it should. Yes, it will look like tuition being paid miraculously. Yes, it will look like kids coming back. I want all of that for all of you forever. But the chances are for every one time something big and huge happens, there are 150 opportunities to merely endure. And I don't know what you're dealing with tonight. Chances are in a room with this many people in it and people watching online, there is a good, good chance that some of you don't want to anymore, that it's costing you too much. That can look like suicidal ideation. But maybe it looks like the end of a marriage. Maybe it looks like the end of a job. Maybe it looks like Queen quitting in some area where God's saying, I understand. I'm not saying it's easy. Endure. May you be brought into an ever deeper understanding of God's love and the endurance that comes from him. One Last scripture, Hebrews 6 says this, verse 18. We who have fled to God for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. And this is why endurance matters. It's not just so you can hold on, so that you keep holding on. This is why this hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us, do you see it? It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary. Increased endurance is more proximity, closeness to God. And what you will see in there is on the other side of the window. That is hope. When you have endurance, you will see things no one has ever seen. You'll see second floors that don't exist. Let me give you another version of that story. Many of you are familiar with Walt Disney Disney World. You've been to Disney World, Disneyland, whatever. There's a famous story of Roy Disney, the brother of Walt. Because I don't know if you know this, but Walt actually passed away before they completed and opened Disney World in Orlando, Florida. And on the day they finally had finished everything, they were Opening Disney World. Someone looked at Roy, Walt Disney's brother, and sad. They said, you know, I really wish that Walt could have been here to see this. And Roy snapped back at them and said, what do you mean? Walt saw it first. We are sitting in it because he saw it. The chairs we're sitting in today, someone saw them decades ago. And the things that you see on the other side of the window, that is hope in your life. Someone, your kids, your grandkids will sit in them as well.
- [40:05]
John
Let's bow our heads and close our eyes right now. I want you to think about those things. If you're in here and you are, and that what Arvin was speaking, that stirred you, that maybe some things you've put on the shelf, it is stirring you to now lean into a spirit of hope that's from the Holy Spirit. If that's you tonight and you're saying God is speaking to me to bring things back off the shelf that I've put on the shelf, if that's you in this room, raise your hand. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That you've given up on if. If you're in this room. And you said, you know, this season has been difficult, and it has been. I have felt discouraged and disappointed, and I am in need of a supernatural hope right now in my life. If that's you, raise your hand. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. What I'm going to ask us to do is if we can all start stand.