Comfort

So I’m going to trade places though with her sister Megan and Megan feel free to just share some heartfelt words and whatever you’d like to share with Lily. Yep, so sorry. Lillian you are the most loving genuine person that I know and I think that today you’re ready for this next step because we are called to love one another and you already have such a talent for it and I am not only honored to be up here with you today but I am really excited for this path in your life and all of the blessings that are coming your way like your future is so bright. Okay, so I got some questions for you Lily. Have you accepted Jesus as your savior and your lord?

Yes. And is it your desire to follow him all the days of your life? Yes. And just feel free to share one thing about your life that has changed since coming to know Jesus. I’m focusing more on what he wants from my life instead of what I want from my life.

Alright that concludes our baptisms and happy Mother’s Day. Ridiculous strength you’re seeing right now. Oh my gosh. It used to be easy. Hey, that’s everything I imagine it would be.

That is just the coolest thing and I’m really glad my shirts dry today for a change. It’s really quite remarkable. I, you know the Mac fees, all of you that had somebody baptized, would you just stand up right now? I just want to honor you and call attention to something. Yeah, stand up.

Would you? Is that cool? And this thought hit me as we were watching all that and it was just so genuine, so real and true. You know I can’t, it just filled my heart and I’m not a mom. You know I’m, but I’m a dad and I know what it feels like to see something happen that’s real and true and eternally important that you can’t make happen as a parent.

And so I look at parents and even families that, alas was a big sister, baptizing her little sister. I don’t know if you caught that. But what a cool thing for all of us to sort of take in and realize that God’s working in the lives of certainly young people, young ladies in our youth ministry, young guys though too and also I want you to know this too. These waters are not limited to people under say 20. They really aren’t.

They’re, they’re for people I, I thought of a story in the book of Acts while I was watching this while we were all taking this in this morning and it’s about a man that was in Jerusalem and there was quite a stir at that time because Jesus was there and he’s on his way back to the west and slightly south to Gaza, modern day Gaza. So, so called Gaza strip. You’ve heard that in the news. This man’s on his way back there and he’s in Ethiopia and then he’s, he’s heading back to Egypt. That’s the way back.

But he’s pulled over to the side of the road in his chariot and he’s just like, he probably had that squinting kind of, I’m not sure I get it look on his face and the Holy Spirit sent somebody that direction and he, and he stopped because the Holy Spirit said stop this guy has some questions. Go ahead and answer them. So Philip talks to him about it and says, hey, what you got going here? He goes, man, I don’t know man. My mind’s just kind of blown.

I came from Jerusalem and I was reading these words in Isaiah 53 and it talks about that he’s like a sheep led to the slaughter and talks about, is this the Messiah? And Philip says, yeah, let me tell you some more and he just explains to him. And then at the moment that ended, it’s very quick conversation. The moment it ended, the man says to Philip, any restraint, any reason I have, I can’t get baptized and he goes, no, hey, there’s some water right there. Let’s do it.

And they walk down to a river and he baptized it. Is that cool? And so I guess what I’m saying is the qualifications are very simple. Do you know Jesus? Is he the Lord and savior of your life?

And are you, are you taking a stand? Are you saying I’m all in? And I think all of these that we heard are saying that and certainly the invitation is open to all of us. I always have memories of baptisms of my father, baptizing people. He’s a pastor in the second row here today and he would, he would always end a baptism service by saying, we have done as the Lord has commanded and yet there is room for more.

And maybe that’s true of you today. If you’ve never been baptized, maybe you don’t know Jesus. So that’s the starting point and I would invite you to just keep listening and asking questions ’cause the Bible will very clearly answer those questions and help you come to the conclusion they came to. So we will fill this tank every Sunday if that’s in, I hope this doesn’t tip over, it feels a little loose today. But anyway, I just want to tell you that and let me also say, Megan, happy Mother’s Day.

I know this is your first Mother’s Day and it was, you were waiting for an Eliza. Yeah, it’s just touched my heart. So from K having five generations as a great, great grandmother to a brand new mom, I’m just very distracted in a good way to look out and see Megan and Eliza. So, yeah, yeah, that’s cool stuff. (audience applauding) I don’t know if it’s bright enough in here, we had a bulb go out.

So I’m gonna ask the lights come out a little bit stronger so people can kind of dial in a little bit here to our time in the word this morning. I was talking about young people deciding something that can’t be forced. You wouldn’t want to force it ’cause it’ll eventually sort of burn out. It won’t last. And that is they’ve decided to follow Jesus.

87 times Jesus said that simple two word command. Did you know that? Follow me, follow me. Started with Peter. And his brother, Andrew, just down the shore of Galilee, he ran into another two fishermen brothers, James and his brother, John.

And each time he said, hey, follow me, follow me. James and John’s case, he said, and I will make you fishers of men. I know you’re fishermen, but I’m gonna change it up for you. And I’ve got plans to use you. At the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus came back to Peter who had kind of gone off the rails and really screwed up.

He messed up big and he was kicking himself all over the place. And Jesus with an arm around him says, hey, Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? And then he finally finished that little exchange that’s recorded for us in John 21 with this.

Follow me, follow me. And I tell that with great freedom in my heart because you don’t have to have a degree to follow somebody, do you? You don’t have to have all the answers. You just have to hear Jesus say, call you by name and say, hey, Steve, he did that in my life, follow me. And so I encourage you to do that.

I think that if our world needs God and that’s what that video moms, that’s what it was saying to you, our world needs God. If that’s true and it is, then so do our kids. In fact, they have a front row seat really to a picture that’s provided for them of who God is. And in most cases involves a mom and a dad. And it’s today that we want to focus sort of ISO the mom for a minute and say that you’re being watched, you know that, but it’s really cool that you’re not a perfect person and if you’re still trying to be a perfect picture, let me try to encourage you to take the baggage off ’cause that’s not gonna happen in this life.

Not for dads, and I’ll mention this again next month, but not for moms either. You’re just a picture of somebody imperfect trying to follow Jesus saying, you know, I want to walk with you Jesus. And so moms are a big deal in the way God delivers Truth to children about who he is. It’s sort of filtered through a mom oftentimes and certainly a dad. I saw a funny cartoon this week that underscores what I think every family knows really about the importance of moms.

You know that don’t you? Well, it was a Saturday evening post cartoon which dates it a few years back but Norman Walkwell kind of paintings and stuff. It showed a five or I think a six year old boy and he’s talking on the phone. Different looking phone that had a cord in those days. But he’s talking on the phone to someone and he’s reporting, “Yeah, mom is in the hospital.

The twins and Roxy and Billy and Sally and the dog and me and dad were all home alone.” That’s really good. Through the eyes of a five or six year old mom’s gone and we’re in trouble. We’re all we’re home alone baby you know and and it is your big deal. Today we’re going to reach into actually a playbook that moms most moms I know it’s it’s something you do pretty well and I don’t know I think you had to learn it too but you seem come on in everybody and here comes the baptism class of 2019 right here.

Nice going. Some of them look a scoash relief relief their families were teasing. Let’s see how long will we leave them underwater here. Okay good. So something moms do well and here’s the word I’m thinking of.

They comfort. Moms are good comforters. I want you to write down a definition. Two word definition for comfort okay and if mom needs a day off hand your note page to your husband or a child near you and let them take notes for you okay. Is that a deal?

So here’s the two word definition of comfort. Something moms do well that we as God’s people are called to do well. It’s not just limited to something moms do. It’s something God wants his community to be about and the word I’m thinking of is comfort and the two word definition is to to me it means to strengthen greatly. Did you know that?

To comfort is to strengthen greatly it means when someone is experiencing pain or distress some of your moms right now automatically are thinking of your children when they’re experiencing sorrow or broken-heartedness in some form. Comfort has the effect of infusing them. They’re hurting heart with you’ll get through this I promise kind of hope. When you speak some form of that mom you’re strengthening greatly a troubled and quivering child aren’t you and you see it happen. When you deliver that kind of thing you see them okay okay.

They fight back to tears and they say I can go on I can take the next step. Most moms right now can recall moments like that where you strengthen greatly your child with a tender touch or or maybe they were out of town you couldn’t touch them but your words could could be spoken in a tender way that strengthened your son greatly. That went deeply in places in your daughter’s heart and the effect you could hear it in their voice is that it strengthen them greatly. So comfort is a great word and I want to think a few more minutes about it. It’s an idea frequently actually described in the Bible and it may surprise you if you’re new to the Bible but it’s actually a word that God uses to describe something that in fact is embedded in who God is.

I heard Pastor Michael say I see this in your character as he was describing different people being baptized today. I see a softness and a gentleness. I heard that and it stood out to me. Well if you and I were looking at Jesus and sort of taking our notes from him you would say correctly you seem to be a good comforter. You’ve got this down and you would be correct.

It’s embedded in who he is and I think it needs to become embedded in who we are as his people. Not just for mom but for all of us. So I want to show you something that I bumped into this week as I was searching around thinking what scripture and it just happened to find my way to a conversation that happened in an upstairs room. The last night Jesus was with his disciples. Some have referred to it as the upper room discourse and all that is is form and form and form, form and form and form and form and form and form and form and form and form and form.

And it’s one of the, boy you need to study that prayer to figure out what’s on Jesus’ heart because how many of you show me your hand pray things that are on your heart? That was Jesus doing it that night, okay? So John 17, check it out. So that night in that upper room Jesus is saying what you and I could correctly describe as sort of his final wish. When somebody’s about to leave this life and they’re still able to respond, that is they’re still able to converse.

Generally they capture, they sort of in a summary fashion say this really matters honey and they might say it to a wife or a husband or to a child, please don’t forget this. Don’t let this slip away. Jesus was doing that that whole night in that upper room. So we come to John, if you haven’t turned there already, I’ve given you plenty of hints, that’s what I’m gonna talk on. John 15, okay, so the meal began in John 13 and they’re sitting down to this Passover meal which is a really big meal.

It’s the Seder meal, it lasts for hours. But John describing that says very early in John 13, Jesus got up as the meal was underway. So the meal is started and people are enjoying moments along and then they look up and there’s the host. The main attraction he’s standing up and he proceeds to walk over leaving the food behind and he kneels down and he has a wash basin and begins one by one washing the feet of his disciples. That will change the mood in the room and they’re like wow this is big and that’s all caught in chapter 13.

So halfway through this upper room evening, John chapter 15, we come to something that I’m just gonna give it this label. It’s really serious and it’s really scary. It kind of changed the whole mood of the meal together. John chapter 15 is something Jesus said and is recorded for us after dinner. So Jesus tells his disciples and here’s what made him kind of swallow hard, that there’s gonna be trouble ahead.

He tells him this and says it this way, hard stuff is about to happen. Now look on with me and let’s read it. I am the true vine he says in verse one of John chapter 15. I am the true vine and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.

While every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. I’m already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Now let me pause for a second and introduce to you a word we’re now about to read 10 times in a row. That many times, okay? All in this short little conversation.

Jesus uses this word remain in me and it begins in verse four, the first of 10 uses of that word. Now why is that important? Would you write this down? He’s saying stay connected. Stay close.

Remain in me. Some of your versions say abide in me. It’s that sense of let’s keep close. Now let’s read. Remain in me as I also remain in you.

No branch can bear fruit of itself. It must remain in the vine. Stay close. Stay connected. Neither can you bear fruit unless you Stay close.

Stay connected in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, we remain close and connected. You will bear much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing.

If you do not remain in me, you’re like a branches thrown away and withers and such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain, stay close to me and connected. And my word remains in you. Ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. See how the tone changes?

This is to my father’s glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be people that belong to me, my disciples. As the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. Stay close and connected to my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love just as I have kept my father’s commands and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. So hard stuff is about to happen. And because of that, I see storm clouds gathering. Jesus is saying here. So gather up close and stay connected to me.

Because given what lies ahead, you will need that. There’s a second thing he points to. A little bit later in this same section. It has to do with the guys gathered around this table. By now, by the way, there’s only 11 of them.

Judas has left, planting his betrayal. So he says to the 11, “In addition to staying close and connected to me, because hard stuff’s about to happen, you’ve got to do something with each other.” And that’s the expression love one another. There’s 12 and he picks up on that. My commandment is this, love each other as I’ve loved you.

Greater love has no one than this than one lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I’ve called you friends for everything that I learned from my father I’ve made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, that your fruit would remain, that whatever you ask of the father in my love, name he will give it to you.

This is my command and he summarized it again in verse 17 that you love one another. That sounds good stuff, right? So far, I like what I’m hearing. Hard stuff’s gonna come, so stay close to me and let’s stay connected. And the guys around this room, let’s love each other.

And then like, I’m imagining at this moment there’s a little relief on their hearts and maybe a smile of okay on their face. And then like an earthquake that happens suddenly, Jesus predicts the worst form of hard. He defines what he said earlier. It’s gonna get hard. Look at verse 18.

Right after saying this is my command, love each other. He says, if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. So you’re gonna be hated. It’s not a nice dinner conversation. You’re gonna leave this room and the bonds that keep us close and connected will be strained.

And frankly, your love for one another will be tested. And the world out there, where’s their opinion when it comes to you, you will be hated. He’s not finished. Look down at verse 20. “Hate oftentimes spills over into things like,” you see verse 20, “if they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”

So they’re not just gonna kind of growl and show their teeth and exhibit a disdain for you, a dislike for you. They’re gonna take it out on you. They’re gonna hate you and they’re gonna persecute you. And then they’re gonna take action against you. And he gets more specific.

If you’ll skip over to chapter two and verse 16, they will actually kick you out of church. It’s not church and in that day it really wasn’t church yet. It was a synagogue. You will be rejected as the idea here. And in fact, what’s worse, still in verse two, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God himself.

That’s a list of hearts. And hated, persecuted, kicked out, and killed. I got a word for that suffer. You’re gonna suffer. And I see why comfort is the theme today.

‘Cause even in this day, Jesus is saying you’re as close as we could be. But when I leave, something’s gonna happen. In fact, they’re gonna suffer and guess what? So will we. His followers today.

And I wish I could say that’s the end of it, but it gets worse. While all of this is going down, it’ll be hard. You will be hated. You’ll be persecuted. You will be kicked out and killed.

In the midst of all of that, Jesus then adds, I’m not gonna be here with you. What? If you’re hearing this up to this point, you’re like, well, at least we get to walk through the fire together, right? Jesus? Come on, give me more to go on.

And he would say, and he did say, no, actually, I’m going away. And the, say what moment came when he said, and it’s a good thing. Then I’m going away. And if you’re seeing the look of confusion on my face, it probably circled around the faces in that room still that night. What?

A good thing? Would you look down at verse four? Here’s how it goes. I told you this, that when their time comes, you will remember that I warned you about these people that will hate you and kick you out and kill you. They’re gonna try to kill you.

I tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, but now I’m going to him who sent me. None of you asked me, where are you going? Rather, you’re filled with grief because I’ve said these things. But very truly, I tell you it’s for your good that I’m going away. Y’all, just take that in.

That’s not how I feel at that moment. That’s why I sat here and thought again, good, that does not, that’s not how I define good. I don’t want to go through that stuff, the stuff of hard, but I definitely don’t want to go through it alone. I don’t know anybody, that’s sadistic, that’s weird. And that’s how they felt.

That’s a good thing. I mean, what’s good about trials and troubles and persecution and going through them alone? Finish verse seven and you’ll see I interrupted in mid-sentence. Unless I go away, which is good, notice the advocate will not come, but if I go, I will send him to you. That was A man right there, right?

Do you see advocate in your text again? It’s capital A. He’s talking about someone that would come as he goes. I am leaving and it’s a good thing because it’s a gooder thing, pardon my grammar, that he comes and he will come to you and Jesus is now promising the Holy Spirit’s presence and going through hard. All right, now we’re into the takeaway this morning.

The Greek term for advocate is paracletos. It means to come alongside and render aid, okay? To provide comfort. Remember the definition of comfort? Strengthened greatly.

The Holy Spirit’s role when hard comes in our lives is for him to come alongside paracletos and be this advocate. Some versions call him the helper. Maybe you have one of those versions this morning. It’s a good thing I’m going away because I’m going to send a helper who will be with you in hard. With you in hard.

Some of them say he’s the intercessor. He will actually come alongside and intercede for you. I love this one. Some translations translate this word paracletos as counselor. Why?

Because you’re going to be scratching your head saying it doesn’t make sense what I’m going through. I’m a Jesus lover. These people that got baptized today, every one of them says I’m all in for Jesus and that will be tested in their lives. Hard will happen. And it’s gonna be confusing.

Lord, why does this happen to me? How can this be? And they’re gonna need counsel. And then my favorite one, and it’s the King James translation of this word, is comforter. The word that we’re talking about.

Well, I wanna fast forward and summarize some things. From this night, from this very night, it really happened. What he said happened. He left. And Acts chapter one tells us that the disciples were standing there and he was gone.

And the very next chapter, Acts chapter two says, the comforter came. And the comforter stayed. And the comforter is still there. And it’s still here. How does this match up with our reality today?

I’ve given you a big history lesson. In order to show you, I need you to turn to one other passage. So leave this now behind. And I want you to go to 1 Corinthians chapter one, which you just turned there. It’s just a couple of books later in the New Testament, if you’re kind of new looking around.

And I want you to see how comforter is supposed to look in community and in homes today. So from its beginning back then, in the person of the Holy Spirit, how does it look today in communities and homes? Second Corinthians chapter one is, of course, authored by the human author of the Apostle Paul. And there’s a special application for community, which is what we are, the body of Christ, and for homes. You’re gonna count and it surprised me.

Maybe it’ll surprise you as well. The same word that we just read in John 16, verse seven, the advocate or the helper would come. The comforter would come. The Apostle Paul uses that same word 10 times in about four verses. Look at verse three.

Praise me to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all first word, first time he uses it, comfort. Who comforts us in all our troubles. So that we can comfort those in any trouble. Will you look at me for a minute? He comforts me in all of my troubles.

Do you see those two words? So that the purpose for which he comforts me, it’s a purpose clause in Greek means so that I can go horizontal with what I just was given. He gave me comfort when hard happened in my life. And it’s not just to lick my wounds good, I made it. It’s so that I can look around me and say, wait a minute, I want to do the same in others so that I can comfort others in any trouble with the comfort that we ourselves have received from God.

For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, and we just read that. So also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we’re distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we’re comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you a patient endurance of the same suffering we suffer. Our hope for you is firm because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, one last use of the word, so also you share in our comfort.

The Holy Spirit comforts us. And we are given the assignment to comfort one another, to extend his comfort. He comes alongside us, to strengthen us greatly so that we can come alongside each other and strengthen one another greatly. It’s how it’s meant to work. It’s not a reservoir for comfort.

I don’t go through tough stuff and it’s mine and mine alone. It’s for God to bandage me up, stop the bleeding in me, and then turn and look at you and do that every week. You can do that every week. It’s not a room full of takers. It’s a room full of receivers of comfort and givers of comfort.

Amen? Isn’t that cool? That’s how this thing works in community. And I dare say the best place for you to see it displayed is in family as well. Moms, I have a special thought that hit me this morning, in preparation for this morning.

I knew it was Mother’s Day and I thought, wait a minute, promise not to blush. I’ve got a name for you, Mom, this morning. Because I was thinking of all this and I thought, okay, wait a minute. What does this make moms in a home context when a child’s hurting or a grandchild’s hurting? A little baby child or a grown up child doesn’t matter.

What does this make a mom? And if comfort comes from God and is supposed to be extended to others, that makes moms, Holy Spirit, helpers. Amen? So you are the Holy Spirit’s helper when it comes to showing comfort to your people. So all those ways, all those ways that we read about earlier, the different uses of the words, you come alongside your people and you render, you render aid.

That’s what it means, paracleta. So you’re their advocate, Mom, at home. You get your child, his job back, not once, but twice after being fired. My brother didn’t last long in jobs, y’all. You thought that was mean, just kidding.

Mom was my advocate. She came in there and went, I know, I know he’s a terrible child, but he deserves another child. Twice she did that. She was my advocate. Thanks, Mom.

You stand, Mom. You stand with your children and you shoulder their load. That means you’re the helper. It’s just what you do. You don’t need me to tell you this.

You just need me to tell you it came from God. You’re on assignment. A third of their example is counselor. You provide a child that’s confused by life. Girls, confused by boys.

You’re the person that comes in councils or the favorite is the word that we’ve emphasized this morning, comforter. You strengthen your people greatly, Mom, ’cause you’re there for them to comfort, to strengthen them greatly. When I was first out of the home, I went to Los Angeles and went to a place I didn’t know anybody, really, for the most part, and I was lonely. I was still pretty attached to home. So I called home, and it was before cell phone, so I had to wait and call when it was cheap late at night, and MCICard, you remember all those days.

So I called home, and Mom answered much to my relief, and I said, Mom, I just hear in her voice, I quiver and quake. Steve, are you okay? No, no, I’m not really, are you bleeding? She’s walking through a list of triage, oh, no, no, it’s not bad. I just miss you, Mom, just miss you.

She’s like, oh, you poor thing. (audience laughing) I never was in favor of you going there in the first place. Come home, come home. So somewhere, and I devised this as what I tell you next happened, I think my dad was across the room and said, time, stop. And next thing I know, he’s on the other line, and he goes, Steve, what’s going on?

I’m like, well, I’m just struggling a little bit, dad. And he says, Nancy, give us a minute, would you just give us a quick minute? And then he says, hey, what’s going on, pal, what’s happening? I thought, man, he’s gonna be okay, too. I’m there, that’s not good.

He goes, hey, Steve, I got just quick thought for you. Suck it up, you big baby. Our world needs to see God in community and in home, and we strengthen each other greatly with words of comfort that were badly lacking in my dad that night. (audience laughing) But beautifully delivered by my mom. (audience laughing) We’re gonna shorten the end here.

We’re gonna have one more song, so if we can reset on one more song. I wanna encourage you, if you’re just part of this community, be a comforter. Be one that just strengthens people greatly. Do it today, and then come back next week and do it again. Just keep doing what you’re doing.

You know how to do it. Let’s pray. Thank you, Jesus, for the incredible story that you’ve captured for us of a night that was unparalleled. It had to be just a night that lived on in infamy. Where you said terrible, hard things are gonna happen and you’re gonna go away, but then you said the Holy Spirit’s gonna come and it’s actually a great thing.

He has come and he’s the comforter. And he strengthens us greatly and constantly. And he does so for the purpose of us extending that comfort. For moms being your helper, Holy Spirit, to be the delivery system in their homes. To little children all the way up.

But also it’s the same plan you had for this family, your family, the church. We come here hurt, facing hard times, and you comfort us so that we can extend that comfort. Come alongside and render aid and strengthen greatly people that hurt. So I pray that even today we’re inspired by this vision. Moms at homes and all of us in this body.

Because we are part of community. It’s what we’re made for. So receive our blessing today, God, in the words we’re about to sing to you. Fruits of lips giving praise to you, you said, in your word. Cause us to not just sing, but to truly express our love for you and song.

And our gifts to you as we give to you the weekly fruit of your bounty in our lives. For your glory, Jesus, we pray all this. Amen. Amen. Let it soar.

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 5,933 words.