We're starting a new
series of messages
that we're calling Wild Blue
Yonder, Wild Blue Yonder
and we are so excited
about it and I just
want to kind of give you a
roadmap of where we're going.
There's a statement that if
you come around the church
long enough, you're going to--
you're going to
hear us refer to.
It's one of our core
values and we impact these
in a crash course
every single week,
as people kind of are
coming onto the on
ramp of being a part
of Fresh Life Church,
but we say that
we risk the ocean.
What makes Fresh Life unique
or what makes us distinct?
Well, one of the things
that we really value
is that we risk the
ocean and it comes
from a verse in
Ecclesiastes that
is just so near to my heart.
Here's what it says.
It's Ecclesiastes 11:1.
It's Solomon speaking.
He said, cast your bread--
someone say cast your bread--
Upon the waters, for you
will find it after many days.
What does that mean
and why would I
want to find my soggy bread?
OK, so here--
here's the thing, it
sounds like a verse
about feeding ducks
and that's what I
thought it was at first,
until I did a little digging
on Solomon and what he built
and this amazing
shipping enterprise that
under him flourished
and began to thrive
and became just a powerhouse.
Israel has always been just
an agricultural phenomenon.
I mean, they're able to grow
things and still to this day,
I mean, they're able to grow
so many different things and--
in Israel, but in this period
of time, one of the things
they really began
to export was grain
and so when he says cast
your bread out on the waters,
he's talking about-- he's
talking about sending out
boats just full of
grain so that you
can trade for other
things, things
that you couldn't get otherwise.
You're sending a boat full
of grain to the far east
or to the near east and you're
able to see that eventually
lead to boats that are
returning with spices
and returning with peacocks
and monkeys and ivory
and you're like, what do you
need all those things for?
Solomon, the guy rolled
at a high level, OK.
So I'm not like making
a case for having ivory.
You're like, OK, I'm going
to get me some ivory,
and then a monkey and a peacock.
What in the world?
I just thought I'd go to
church, what's happening here?
He's here giving something
more similar to what you'd
find in the book of Proverbs.
This is like a truism.
He's basically
saying-- he's saying,
if you want to have things
coming back in from the ocean,
you got to send stuff
out onto the ocean,
but there's risk involved.
Notice there's a separation,
many days, right?
It's not like your ship goes
out and next thing, poof,
what do you need?
There's not like immediately,
Robin Williams, genie, Aladdin,
reference, poof, what do you
need, poof, what do you need?
It's not immediate.
Count many days and even
then, there's not a guarantee.
What could happen
at sea that would
cause you to not have a boat
full of monkeys and ivory
coming back?
A lot of things, right.
Have you ever heard
of the kraken?
I mean, jeez, goodness?
I mean, it's a real thing
guys, but there's also pirates
and there's also just
storms that could come up,
all sorts of things
that could wreck a ship
and you send it out
and that's a risk.
It's like starting
a business, right?
What if we start the
business and it fails?
That's a real thing.
That's the real
thing to think about.
What if I try and write a song?
What if I try and go
out for this team?
What if I try and do
this thing that I just
have a hunch I have a sneaking
suspicion is within me?
I feel like I've got that Mr.
Holland's Opus thing going on.
I got an opus in me.
And what's an opus?
I don't know it's in
there, though, man.
I got a-- I got an opus in
me and now you're thinking,
I see a way of doing things
that are-- that's different
an app that could be
developed or I have
this idea for a product and
no one's ever done it before,
but I have an idea for,
right, and Solomon is saying,
hey look, you got to cast
your bread on the waters
if you want to see
it coming back.
Nothing ventured,
nothing gained.
But the pirates, so I can't.
Well you know what?
Here's the thing,
I can guarantee you
what will happen if you don't
cast it out on the waters.
You'll have a bunch
of grain and you'll
have an opus in your
heart, all right,
and it'll be like, let
me out and you're like,
no, it's dangerous, the
kraken, right, the kraken,
but I'm not saying
if you cast it
on the water you're for
sure going to see it work.
But what I am saying is when
you open yourself up to risk,
you open yourself up
to reward and that
is why if you're
going to be part
of this church, at the core
of a Fresh Life, of this house
there is a desire to live
risking the ocean, to not find
ourselves at the
end of the story
when the buzzer sounds standing
in the shallow end of life
with all of our grain.
We want to go.
We want to try.
We're going to experiment.
We're willing to fail.
We want to risk the ocean.
No, we're going
to risk the ocean,
and that is the
story of what God's
done through Fresh
Life Church since 2007
when we opened the doors.
That's the story.
We've tried a thing and tried a
thing and we've tried a thing.
We've made mistakes and we'll
make some more mistakes,
but we're going to--
we're going to-- we're
going to die risking the ocean.
We're not going to die
just standing there,
because of the
maps that say there
might be a storm on the ocean.
We're going to--
we're going to try
and that means we're going to
go out into the Wild Blue Yonder
and we have every reason to
believe God's going to bless
what we're going to try
to do, because we've
seen him bless as we've had that
gutsy, let's step out in faith.
We don't have it all sorted out.
We don't have all the answers.
There's no guarantees.
There's no master plan.
There's no safety net.
We're just going to try.
Why, because Jesus.
Why, because Jesus.
Why, because Jesus.
What do you mean
specifically, all of him,
really, anything you ever could
read about him, that's why,
because he came and
died for our sins,
because he loved us
before we loved him,
because he hung on a cross
for me, because he gave me
a spirit, because he promised
me heaven, because he knows
my name and he's got it written
on the palms of his hand,
because he's gone for
me, because he stands
behind me, because he's
the author and the finisher
of my faith and he who began the
good works better perfect it.
So you know what, I'm
going to live trying,
let's live swinging, let's
risk the ocean, let's--
into the Wild Blue
Yonder Jesus went.
He could have stayed in heaven,
but he chose to condescend.
He chose to risk the ocean
of this watery planet,
a planet covered in seas,
a planet covered in ocean,
which in the ancient
world, ocean always
spoke of separation,
always spoke of separation.
They didn't have the ship
that God couldn't sink yet.
Terrible nickname
for a boat, right?
They didn't have
transatlantic ships.
So in that day it was-- the sea
meant you're not getting across
and the sea so often
meant death and Jesus
came to this world full
of water that separated,
because we were
separated from God
and he is that
bridge who came to us
and so our desire is to live
every last breath following
his example and risking that
ocean and so that's our desire
and that's really the
flavor of the series.
That's where we're going.
So if you're ready for
five weeks of that,
because that's--
what I just gave you,
that's what we've got.
We're going to go, we're
going to risk the ocean,
and this is going to culminate.
If you like dates, if you
like-- if you like a plan,
throw down your calendar, in
your google calendar, whatever,
December 16th and 17th is kind
of the critical mass point
of the Wild Blue Yonder series.
And what's going to
happen at the worship
experiences on that
week is we're all
going to have the
opportunity, any of us who
call Fresh Life our
home, and we say,
this is-- this is my
house, I'm planted here,
I'm a part of this, and I have
ownership in these matters,
we're going to come on
that week ready to give
an offering, a special
year end offering that's
above and beyond our regular
tithes and offerings that we
give and we're going
to do that, because we
want to see God do more.
We want to see God
expand our reach.
We want to see more
seats at the table
and we want to see God
do more inside of us.
We want to stretch our faith.
We want to all personally
go out into the ocean
of our own trusting of God
and seeing what he can do
and the character
that he'll produce
in us through the
act of generosity
that we're going to use
the word sacrifice for.
And as the weeks
go on, we'll make
sure we define our
terms so that we're not
abusing a word, like sacrifice
for a gift that should not
be called one and so that
to our heart's desire
and we're going to spend
the rest of the series
really just getting
our hearts ready
and understanding what
that's going to look like
and we're believing for
God to do great things.
And as we look to
the years prior--
if you're just coming
in on the journey now--
many of the locations--
I can count three of them--
cannot say they've been
here for previous journeys
and it's so amazing as each year
stacks up to see as we are able
to go new places and do new
things and come into new
cities.
But even at the cities
we're in, there's
many new people at
every location who
have never been here before.
And so you're kind of
right now, hopefully it's
dawning on you that a
similar thing happened
at a previous point in time,
where someone else who you may
never know outside of heaven
sacrificed so that you could
have the opportunity to be
part of this and experience
what you're
experiencing here and I
think that's pretty special that
we get to then pass that on.
There was a conversation
like this previously
and maybe it was
called let It be
that helped paved the
way for you to be here.
Maybe it was called
multiply that allowed
you to have the chance that you
have to be here that someone
else would say, I'm going to--
I'm going to sacrifice.
I'm going to sew into
someone else receiving,
and then our most
recent one we wanted
to show just a little look
back since it was so new.
This was called
blood and thunder,
so let's just look back at that.
[music playing]
Together all of us
can do what none of us
could do by ourselves.
Great Falls, Montana,
Butte, Montana,
the broadcast campus phase
two, existing campus expansion,
Wyoming.
[cheers]
[music playing]
We found Fresh Life in Great
Falls and are just so thankful.
We love the support.
We love the opportunities
that we have to serve.
And the church itself is growing
so quickly and with so many
people coming to the Lord.
My family just moved
from Texas to Butte.
We've just fallen in love
with Pastor Levi's teachings.
Even though it was
really difficult
for us to make this
move, it's amazing to see
how God is being going to use
us to reach the people of Butte.
We are so thankful for
Fresh Life Church pouring
in to our kids and we're so
excited about the new building,
the safety that it will
bring, and a new fun
place for our kids
to learn about Jesus.
When I was watching the
series Blood and Thunder
and the barrels
were being turned,
I was thinking to
myself, man, I wish
they would come to Jackson.
Then you turned the last
barrel and I was so excited.
I can't wait for
this new endeavor.
When Fresh Life
came to Portland,
it really was a signal
of hope for my future.
It brought peace in a very
frustrating time in my life.
I cannot wait to see the impact
that it's going to continue
to have on the city of Portland.
Very good.
All right, so Hebrews chapter 11
is where we're going to begin.
The title of my
message, by the way,
is The City in the Sky,
The City in the Sky,
if you take notes in church.
Hebrews 11 it says in
verse 8, by faith Abraham
obeyed when he was
called to go out
to the place, which he would
receive as an inheritance.
And he went out, not
knowing where he was going.
By faith he dwelt in
the land of promise
as in a foreign
country, dwelling
in tents with Isaac and
Jacob, the heirs with him
of the same promise,
for he waited
for the city, which
has foundations
whose builder and maker is God.
By faith Sarah herself
also receives strength
to conceive seed,
and she bore a child
when she was past the age,
because she judged him faithful
who had promised.
Therefore from one man--
that's Abraham, and
at what condition
was his equipment in--
and he was as good as dead, so--
were born as many as the
stars of the sky and multitude
innumerable as the sand,
which is by the seashore.
These all died in faith, not
having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off
they were assured of them,
embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the Earth.
For those who say such
things declare plainly
that they seek a homeland.
And truly if they had called
to mind that country from which
they had come out, they would
have had opportunity to return.
But now they desire
a better country,
that is, a heavenly country.
Therefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God,
for He has prepared
a city for them.
This New Testament telling
of an Old Testament story
takes place in Genesis
chapter 12 where
Abraham, who's been nicknamed
the father of faith,
was just living his life like
a regular old garden variety
moon worshipping idol revering
pagan living in that part
of the world in Mesopotamia
and God just spoke to his heart
and called him to
leave where he lived
and to travel in two
different increments
a 1,000 mile journey
on foot with his family
to live in what would eventually
be referred to as the promised
land and your like, what
could make somebody do that?
How would anybody be
motivated, and the answer
we read it in verse 10.
Look at it again in a
different translation,
because I think it
pops a little bit more.
It says, Abraham did
it by keeping his eye
on an unseen city with real,
eternal foundations, a city
designed and built by God.
How did he do something so--
here's a question,
how did Abraham
have the faith, the guts to
venture out into the Wild Blue
Yonder?
He did it by focusing
on the city in the sky
an invisible one though.
He can't see it and I thought,
how do I illustrate this?
Like did Abraham really
believe that there was
a city in the sky above him?
I thought, maybe it
could be possible
that you or I could be living
unaware of a city in the sky
and the truth is
that we in fact are.
If you look at the world
right now, above it,
above us, we know
this deep down,
we don't always think
about it, but there
are airplanes above
us and sometimes
we see them pass overhead.
Oh look, there's a plane.
My girls have this
weird tradition
and whenever a plane flies over,
if they notice it, they say,
goodbye watermelon
airplane and it's
just it's what they
say every time.
If we're just staring
and an airplane goes
goodbye watermelon
airplane and we
take for granted
that this is like one
of the quirks of our family
that when there are people
around us who don't know us,
they just look at us like,
that just happened, right?
Your daughter just said goodbye
to the watermelon airplane
and we have no idea
how it even started.
We remember Livia and Lenya
first thing it to each other
and it's just we continue it.
It's really vexing
when we're in a city
with a large busy airport.
So goodbye watermelon
airplane and there
are planes that fly
overhead, but did you
know that there are
not a few planes
overhead or a couple
of planes overhead,
but that on any given day
in the United States alone--
let's not even think
about the whole world--
just in the United States, there
are between 5,000 and 6,000
planes at any given
moment overhead, yeah,
5,000 and 6,000,
unless it's in the ramp
up to Thanksgiving, which
we are now, at which point
the number jumps to 9000.
So you're like, where'd
you get that, Wikipedia?
Actually the
Smithsonian website.
So you have between 6,000 and
9,000, 5,000 and 9,000 planes
at any given moment
flying over our country.
What would that look like?
It would look like
this, actually.
This is an average
day, a normal day, just
over our country, just the
coming and going of aircraft.
Some of them are going
to other countries.
You see, of course, you
can tell where the hubs are
and now you understand why
when there's a bad storm,
the ripple effects
in one city causes
congestion in another city.
You can also see
some of the areas
where there are military
installations where
there are no fly zones.
Otherwise, planes would
be flying over those areas
that there are no
planes flying over.
That's just America.
That's not even the whole world,
which he's got in his hands.
OK, now here's what I want
to really have you-- yeah,
you like that?--
Yeah, I real-- I really
want you to think
about this for a second,
this is what freaked me out
when I came across
that statistic,
is you know that the
world's spinning.
So a plane takes off
of a spinning planet
and the plane has to land
on a spinning planet too.
So when they take
off, the planet
keeps spinning and
they're flying and they--
I got to thinking
and technically,
did I land in a
different place where I--
you know what I mean?
That's freaky to think
about, just the spinning,
not to mention the flying
that we're doing around
a sun while spinning.
Every year happy birthday you.
You've made it spinning
around the sun again.
So when a plane takes off,
it's spinning and rotating
and it has to keep
track of where
on the curvature of
the Earth is going to--
6,000 at any given
moment over us.
They estimate that there
are 1 million people
in the air at any given
moment in the world.
What's that?
It's kind of like a
city in the sky, yeah,
like the size of San Francisco,
the population of San Francisco
just watching movies,
complaining that their flying
tube is 30 minutes
late as it lands
on a spinning planet
going around the sun.
I saw a guy today, honest to
God, he was losing his mind
and he was-- he was saying,
how dare that captain
say we're going to be on time.
We are not on time.
We are 20 minutes late.
That Captain said we were
going to land on time.
He said he was going to
make up time in the air.
He was fuming.
Sorry man.
Sorry that Captain
tried his best
to get you onto a different
part of the planet
and he missed it by 20 minutes.
If I was in charge,
I'd have dropped us
in the middle of the Galapagos.
I mean--
But to think of a million
people around our planet,
they're always--
there's always up--
the moment one plane
lands another go up.
About one plane every
10 seconds in America
is taking off somewhere,
city in the sky.
That's not what Abraham meant.
Abraham didn't leave
[inaudible] Chaldees
and go live as a
stranger in Israel,
because he knew
there were airplanes,
and there weren't actually.
What he was believing
for was something
we don't even get fulfillment
of in Revelation form
until the Book of Revelation,
where John actually
got to describe an event
that is still future.
It was future to Abraham.
He didn't even have
revelation about it.
He just had tucked promises
into his heart from Jesus.
John actually got to give us a
little more clarity about it,
about this city whose
builder and maker
is God, the city that's coming,
the city that God's prepared,
the city that is eventually
going to be seen and be felt.
Look at Revelation
21 verses 1-5.
Now I saw a new heaven
and a new earth,
for the first heaven and
the first earth passed away.
Oh guess what, in the new
edition, there was no sea.
Now again, no separation, so
when the world becomes new,
we don't know if that
means the land mass is all
going to be one again,
but what we do know is--
bigger picture is
no more separation
in the new heaven
and the new earth.
John wrote it from
a prison island,
so he was fired
up on that, right.
He was-- he was on
[inaudible],, OK.
So it was like an Alcatraz
of the old world, all right.
Then I, John, saw the holy city.
What kind of city is it?
I guess you could say
it's a city in the sky,
new Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband
and I heard a loud voice
from heaven saying,
behold the tabernacle
of God is with man
and he will dwell with them
and they shall be his people.
God himself will be with them
and will be their God and God
will wipe away from
their eye every tear.
There shall be no more death,
come on, no more sorrow,
no more crying.
There should be no more
pain and the former things
shall have passed away and he
who sat on the throne said,
behold, I make all things
new, and he said to me, write,
for these words are
true and faithful.
Some common misconceptions about
heaven, there's a lot of them,
and two that are really
important to remember
is your body that you die in,
you will one day live in again
and the second is that we
think of heaven as we die,
we leave this world,
and we go to heaven
and that's where
we live forever.
We're going to live
forever in heaven.
Well, that is true that when
you die you go to heaven,
but the Bible presents a picture
of heaven actually coming
back down to earth and that
at some point in the process
of Christ returning,
the same thing that
happened to Jesus'
body is going to happen
to the whole world,
the same thing that
happened Jesus' body.
It went into the
grave as a seed.
Jesus said, unless
a grain a seed dies,
it produces no fruit, but if it
dies and goes into the ground,
it can do much, it
can lead to much.
You have to kind of
cast it upon the waters,
I guess you could say, before
it comes back in many days.
So the same thing that
happened to Christ's body,
meaning it went in as a seed,
but came out as a flower,
the seed was still there,
but where's the seed?
You can't find it, because
it produced the flower.
So the same thing's going
to happen to the whole world
and to our bodies
as well, OK, which
is why we do not speak of--
if we're biblical-- about the
grave as a final resting place,
because it's a
temporary resting place.
The word cemetery comes from
the Latin word dormitory.
You don't stay in
the dorm forever.
You're there for a season.
You eat too much ramen
noodles and Mountain Dew,
and then you leave the dorms.
To go into the dorms and
you come out of the dorms.
The grave is not a
final resting place,
for we believe in the
Resurrection of the dead,
that just as Jesus
said, so we believe
there will be a physical
Resurrection of the remains.
Those lost at sea, don't worry.
Those who have been incinerated
in fires, don't worry.
The matter is neither
created, nor destroyed.
God can-- God can do everything
out of one molecule of dust.
That's what he started with,
OK, so not a problem for him
at all.
All right, so
there's going to be
a refashioning and a reforming.
So we, when we die, we leave the
body and we leave the planet.
We go to heaven, but then
when heaven comes back down
to earth, all things
are once again
lived in as they are here
now, only not in seed form
anymore, in their full
and final eternal glory
and heaven in its
final application
is a beautiful, vibrant city in
a newly created earth and God's
dwelling place
that's there, which
is where Jesus is currently.
In fact, he said that's what he
was leaving when he ascended.
John 14 verse 2 he said,
in my father's house
are many mansions.
Where?
In the city.
Where's the city?
It's a city in the sky.
Many mansions, if it were
not so, I has told you.
I've gone to prepare
a place for you.
The city once again
comes to this world
that's been totally overhauled
and restored and made vibrant
and made new and now
there's not separation
and now there's not death
and now there's not tears
and these former
things have passed away
and that is where we
live forever, back
on earth once again.
That gives dignity
to this earth.
That gives dignity to
our bodies as well.
It causes us to care about how
we treat this planet and care
about how we treat this world.
Yes it's going to be
completely overhauled,
but this is the seed.
We don't want to abuse the seed
and so that's the heart there.
So some ideas about heaven
that you need to understand,
that heaven is going to
eventually be on this planet
once again and that should
drive us as it drove Abraham.
My kind of big idea
here is that we
should fight to keep our
eye on the city in the sky
while we're here on this earth.
That should be our desire.
What are some barriers to that?
What are the barriers to
Wild Blue Yonder living?
Well I made a little
list, jot them down.
There are four of them.
Barrier number one is comfort.
I think if Abraham prioritized
comfort like many of us
prioritize comfort, he
would've stayed in Ur.
What was the journey like as
an old man with an old wife,
how was his body Again I can't
remember, as good as dead.
You ever done 1,000
mile road trip
without a car in a
body as good as dead?
That's not a great time
and the sand people.
That's Star Wars, sorry
different story, but marauders
and I mean, it would have
been difficult and treacherous
and just in every
way imaginable to be
trekking across the desert.
So if comfort would've
been a priority,
he would not have ventured
out into the unknown,
would he have?
No, he would have stay
where he was safe,
where he was comfortable, but
we've said this, we've said,
comfort zones don't
keep your life safe,
they keep your life small.
You can't do something
great while you're living
a comfortable life as well.
It takes that-- it takes that
being uncomfortable to do
something great.
So what's the remedy
for this barrier?
Well, I think the remedy
for comfort is compassion.
Don't just fight your comfort.
Try and raise your
level of compassion.
The more you care,
the more you'll risk.
The more you care, the more
you'll lay your life down.
If you love someone, you will
always lay your life down
for them.
Think about the amount
of things that you're
willing to endure if your
heart is to reach people.
I don't know that I've ever--
I've been in quite a few
firetrucks in my life.
I've gotten a peek in moments--
[inaudible]
I've never seen massage
chairs in there.
There's no massage chairs.
I'm not going to go to fight a
fire unless there's a massage
chair, said the firefighter
never, because they're
willing to endure whatever.
That's not the point.
The point's not my comfort.
The point's I'm
going to save a life.
It's no frills.
It's whatever just can
get me there the fastest.
It's how do I get
water on the fire,
how do I get the people who are
dying of smoke inhalation out
of that building, where
do the jaws of life
go, yeah, so I can
get the car open,
so the person that's
bleeding out on the roadside,
totally important.
Lazy-boy plushness, not
really the priority.
That's-- Humvee's a rugged.
Humvees gets a bloody,
utilitarian environment.
Paramedics, they're
not-- they're
not-- prioriti-- these
aren't comfortable
and that's not the point.
It's about the stretcher in
the back of the ambulance
and if we want to cure the
comfort creature, comfort
thing that creeps into
churches so often where
it's all about me and I don't
really like this and this is--
[inaudible] don't
stretch my faith here.
That, once again, will cause
walls to come to a place where
we cannot do the great
things God wants us to do.
Comfort is a barrier to
Wild Blue Yonder living
and God's calling
us to risk the ocean
and so comfort can't
be the priority.
So as we prepare these gifts
on December 16th and 17th,
let me tell you, if
you're comfortable as you
write the check,
you're doing it wrong.
If it's easy, you're
doing it wrong.
If it takes no faith,
you're doing it wrong.
We need to be at a place
where we're saying,
I'm not comfortable, but let's
get aggressive with our faith,
because God gave everything to
save us, so let's go big here.
That's the heartbeat.
You need to have
greater compassion.
If you just see your
compassion, you say,
God give me a heart for
people like you love people.
Were you comfortable
on the cross with nails
through your feet and hands?
I don't think so, but there
was compassion on the cross.
Greater love has no one in
this than a man would lay down
his life for his friends and if
we are the followers of one who
hung to die to save us
and we're his ambassadors,
I don't think
comforts the point.
Plus, this church does
not exist for you and me.
We are the church and we're
here to reach the world.
This church does
not exist for us.
We are the church and we
exist to reach the world,
so it's not about us.
So second barrier
is clarity, clarity.
Don't you think
Abraham was frustrated?
I don't know if you caught
it when you were reading it,
but there was not
a lot of clarity.
What exactly is happening here?
Let's look one more time
in case you missed it.
Verse 8, by faith
Abraham obeyed when
he was called to go out
to the place, which he
would receive his inheritance.
That's great.
And so he went out, not
knowing where he was going.
God told Abraham, I need you
to move and Abraham said,
the answer is yes.
Where are we going?
God said, I'll tell
you when you get there.
Just start walking.
I remember calling up
our billings campus
pastor Kyle
[inaudible] and saying,
what are you guys doing?
He said, I'm having tacos.
I said, that's great.
I need you to move to Portland.
Can you be there in
a couple of weeks,
and you know what him and
his wife Jessica said?
The answer's yes.
What's the question?
We want to reach people, so Kyle
and Jessica moved their family
to Portland, Oregon,
because we didn't
know we were going to be
opening up the doors to Fresh
Life in Oregon.
We thought it was
going to go one way.
We sent some ships out
on the water one way
and got redirected,
because he's God
and we need to be a
people that can be removed
and this is not my
seat on the bus.
This is not my job.
This is not my little thing,
oh, but this is how I like it
and this is my position.
I've always had that position.
We have to have the mentality
that says here we are, send me.
Whatever you need me to do.
If you want me to go here,
I'm going to go there.
You want me to go out?
I don't need clarity, I don't
need you give me a contract,
I don't need to [inaudible]--
Abraham didn't have clarity.
He just obeyed.
He just started-- well,
honey we're moving.
Where are we going?
God says he'll tell
us when we get there.
How do you pack for
a trip like that?
By faith, I guess.
Bathing suit, ski jacket,
you bring them both,
let's go, and I love that.
There was not clarity.
You know what there was?
There was connection.
That will overcome our
need-- look at it--
for clarity if we just maintain
a good connection to God.
God, tell me step 12.
Just walk with me.
God what's step 15?
Just walk with me.
What's [inaudible] the one?
Just walk with me, because
you'll know when I stop.
When my pillar of
fire stops, you stop
and when I dip, you
dip, we dip, right?
He just said, you just
stay in sync with me,
and then you'll
know when to stop,
because you'll see that my
pillar of glory has stopped
and so you'll know to stop too.
Just keep your
connection with Jesus.
You won't need so much
clarity about his will.
We're running clamouring
about God's will.
[inaudible] Just
walk with Jesus.
He'll show you
when you get there.
Well, what am I supposed
to do after college
and what am I supposed
to do after this
and who am I supposed to marry?
Just walk with Jesus and
he'll show you when you get.
There don't over think it.
Let's walk by faith.
Let's have compassion,
and then he'll
show us the script as we
get to that in real time.
What's another barrier
you could think
of that would keep us from
this Wild Blur Yonder living?
Control, needing to control
how it all plays out,
needing to control the timeline.
All right, so God says I'm going
to bless you with a blessing
you will hardly be
able to contain.
No one's going to be
blessed like you, meaning
if people curse you,
I'm going to curse them.
That's how much blessing I'm
going to put on your life.
People who raise their
hand against you,
I'm going to raise my hand
against them, bang, and stuff.
That's like a force
field scary stuff, right,
and God said, I'm
going to bless you,
I'm going to bless you
greatly, multiplying.
I'm going to multiply you as you
walk with me, and then he said,
I'm going to bless all
the people of the world
through you, all the people
of world through you.
Your spiritual
offspring are going
to be more than the
stars in the sky
or the sand grains
on the seashore
and I don't know if
you're aware of this,
but if you're a Jesus follower
listening to this message
right now, you are
a fulfillment of
that ancient biblical
prophecy that God tucked
into the heart of
Abraham on that day,
because the New
Testament says anybody
who is a believer
in God through faith
is that offspring
of Abraham and we
are his children in that way.
Isn't that an amazing thing,
that we're literally--
but Abraham didn't get
to control any of it,
because he was old and
childless and he had no control
to make it happen.
The one time him and Sarah
tried to make it happen,
they made an Ishmael and that
was not a great day, right.
OK, so the work of the flesh
is not what we're after.
We want to see the work
of the Holy Spirit, which
is why we will not persist
in something if God reveals
to us that it's not his will.
We're going to let
him have that control
and keep in charge in that way
and so it's an amazing thing
really that Abraham didn't
have that kind of control,
but you know he did have?
He did have courage
and I think we're not
going to have control
over how it all plays out.
Abraham wasn't thinking about
Utah and Oregon and Montana
and Wyoming.
We are fulfillment of it,
but he didn't have control
to see that and if
he had had control
he would have thought smaller.
He would never
have had the faith
think of the breadth of what
God actually wanted to do.
So we need courage, courage even
though we don't have control
to start any way, courage, even
though we don't have control
to go for it anyway.
And I love so much the kind
of mentality of W.H. Murray,
the Scottish explore who said,
the moment one definitely
commits oneself, then
Providence moves too,
raising in one's favor all
manner of unforeseen incidents
and meetings and
material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt
would have come his way.
Abraham wasn't in
control of this all.
He's just following , God, but
he was willing to take that
step.
He was willing to move
in the right direction.
He said, take your sign up
on top of [? mount moriah, ?]
he's willing just to go and
he saw providence kick in,
which is the hand of God,
as he was willing to go,
though he was completely
out of control
and you can't get to the Wild
Blue Yonder and be in control.
You don't go to the moon
and back and be in control.
The men on top of those
rockets who were literally
sitting on 100 foot
tall roman candles
in a lawn chair
we're not in control.
I wonder how it feels when
they finally ignite it.
You think they felt like, I
am in control of everything?
I don't-- I think they were
clenched and puckered in every
way you can get clinched and
puckered and they were out
of control, but that's why
we made it to space and back
and that's why we'll eventually
probably get to Mars.
And I'm just telling you,
there's that willingness
to be out of control and to be
in danger, but it takes courage
and I-- and I've been reading
the biographies of some
of the early pioneers
of space travel
and interviews with
their wives and courage
seems to be what
comes up, not control.
Courage and I
think for us to get
to where we're going
to-- want to go,
we're not going to feel
a whole lot of control,
but we will feel courage
if we're doing it right.
I got to thinking about
what could potentially
be another barrier and
it's clinging to the past.
What could've kept Abraham
from the Wild Blue Yonder,
leaving Mesopotamia,
no, Ur of the Chaldees.
Guys, this is where they
invented the hot tub.
And he has to go live
in tents in the desert.
Clinging to the past could have
easily crept into his life.
Interestingly enough,
I meet people a lot
and one of the questions that
comes up is where are you from
and I always tell
people where I live now
when I answer that question.
I don't ever say Colorado.
I never say Colorado and so
they always go, oh, you're
born there, and I'll go no.
I was born in Colorado,
but I'm not from Colorado.
I'm from where I'm at right now.
I'm from where I'm at
right now, because I
want to be fully
present here and I
think sometimes we can hang
on to where we were once
at one season in life
and I wonder if that
could have happened to Abraham.
Where Ur was such a part of
his life, and the hot tub
was so great.
And I'll go God, but
always talking about Ur,
and always talking
about how great
that was, and I'm
Abraham from Ur.
No, he became Abraham, the
father of those who believe,
and he lived in
the promised land.
You want an address?
Put it Abraham,
promised land, right.
I am father Abraham
and I got a funny song
that I could sing at vacation
Bible school if you want,
right.
So I'm one of them.
Listen, what I'm
trying to say is
we mustn't cling to the past.
God's done great things, but
he might do different things
in the future in our church
and how we try things
and what we are
willing to innovate
and where we're
going to step out.
We must not cling to the
past, of a past season,
of a past situation,
of a past blessing.
We can't cling to the
past and always be,
oh, oh, I wish I was here and
it was so much better then
and all the stories and
let's just be where we are.
Let's be fully present
right here, right now,
and let's be, more
than anything, marked
by where we're
ultimately heading.
So what's the cure for
clinging to the past?
Confession, jot it
down, confession.
That's going to be the cure.
In fact, that's
what the text says.
The text tells us specifically
in verse 13 and 14
that those, people Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Sarah,
all of them, they confessed
that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth.
For those who say such
things declare plainly
they seek a homeland.
They were more about
where they were headed to
than where they
currently were and they
were marked by their
insistence on focusing
on the city in the sky.
Now, as we talk
about all this, we
have to come on
this question, how
do you get to be a part
of the city in the sky?
Well, it's the same
way you get to be
a part of any one of these
planes going overhead.
Your name has to
be on the manifest.
I don't know how
many times I've been
on a plane they've stopped at
the gate [inaudible] come on
and some issue
with the manifest.
You know what they're
trying to figure out?
If the right amount
of souls are on board.
Revelation actually tells
us specifically as far
as the real city in the
sky, the ultimate city
in the sky of heaven,
that only those there
are the ones written in
the lambs book of life.
First of all, I
hope you understand
that why we're doing
what we're doing
is because we care
so much about whose
names are on the manifest.
That's why we'll
advance, that's why
we'll sacrifice, that's why
we don't care about comfort,
because we have
compassion in our hearts.
We're letting go of the past.
We're running into the future.
We're believing God has more
in front of us than behind us.
We care about whose
names are on the manifest
of the city in the sky.
I dare you to give
your life to it.
I dare you to dream that God's
going to use us to reach people
all over the world together.
Father, we pray that your
heart would grip ours,
that like Abraham, we would
see ourselves as pilgrims.
We love this planet.
We love our home here, but
it's not our ultimate home.
Our home is heaven, which
is coming back here.
So may we fight to stay
true to that noble calling
to live for the city in the sky.
I pray now for
anyone here this week
who has not given their heart
to Jesus, anyone among us who
has not opened the
door of their heart.
Listen, as we're praying with
heads bowed and eyes closed,
the most important
thing to sort out
is whether your name
is on that manifest.
You're like, well how
can I figure that out?
Simple, give your life to Jesus.
It's his book of life.
He'll put your name in there.
You trust him, you
believe in him,
and then you'll get
to heaven and find out
it was written in there
from before the foundation
of the world.
He knew you.
He knows you.
He loves you.
In this moment, there's
the chance for you
to trust Jesus as the
spirit moves in your heart.
He died for you on the cross.
He rose from the
dead for you so you
could have Resurrection
power, but you
have to put your faith in him.
You have a part to play in this.
As we're praying,
if that's you I'm
describing, I'm going
to say a simple prayer
and I want you to pray it
with me, trusting Christ,
believing in your heart,
confessing with your mouth
and he'll save you.
Say this, church
pray it with us.
Dear God, I know I'm a sinner.
I can't fix myself.
Please come into my heart.
Make me new.
I give my life to you.
Everyone still praying,
heads bowed, eyes closed.
If he prayed that prayer,
giving your heart to Jesus,
this was real for you,
this was your moment,
I'm going to count to three
and when I get to three,
I just was you to
shoot your hand up.
Every location shoot
your head up in the air,
just as a way of
releasing, a way
of just saying, this is
real, this just happened,
I'm nailing this down.
When I get to three, just raise
your hand up, every location.
One, two, three, come
on, shoot your hands up.
Shoot your hands up.
Praise God.
For those--
Thank you so much for watching
this teaching from the Wild
Blue Yonder series.
If at any time
during this message
you made the decision to
put your faith in Jesus,
congratulations.
We are so excited for you and we
would love to send you a Bible
and to receive
that, you can click
the know God button
at Freshlife.church
and fill out the form there
and we would love to get
that in the mail for you.
Now, if you prefer
a digital Bible,
you can text the
word Freshlife, all
one word with no
spaces to 99000 and we
would love to send that to you,
along with a 21 day devotional
through the Gospel of John
that pastor Levi wrote,
and if you would
like to support what
God is doing both in and
through the Fresh Life house,
there are several ways
that you can do that.
You can go by clicking the
give button on our web site,
giving via the Fresh
Life app, or you
can text the word
fresh to 45777,
and if God does used this
house to work in your life,
we'd love to hear from you.
We hear stories from
people all over the world
and it's so
incredible to see how
God is working in the
lives of people all over.
Now, if you'd like to
share your story with us,
you can click Share Your
Story button on our website
or you can email us
at Freshlife.church,
and finally, for this
Wild Blue Yonder series,
we've put together Wild Blue
Yonder giving kits for everyone
to have just to remember
to pray for this series
and pray for your
end offering and we
would love to send you one.
They come in this
Wild Blue Yonder box
and inside you'll receive
a card with vision
and just kind of direction
about this series.
You'll also receive an
envelope that comes with a card
that you can write your
year end offering on,
but it also comes with a
way for us to pray for you.
So if you want to fill this
out and send it back to us,
we would love to play
for you and finally, it
comes with a super rad remove
before flight key chain that
says Wild Blue
Yonder on one side
and risk the ocean on
the other side and this
is just a cool way to remember
to pray for this series, pray
for your year end offering,
and just believing alongside us
what God is going to do as
we launch into the Wild Blue
Yonder.
Thank you again for
watching this message.
