April 16, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're glad you've joined
us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heizeig exists to
connect to you to God's never changing truth in ever
changing times through verse by verse teaching of His Word.
That's why we make messages like this one today available
to you and others on air and online. Before we
kick off today's teaching, we want to let you know
(00:22):
that you can stay in the know about what's happening
at connect with Skip Heightzig when you sign up for
email updates. When you do, you'll also receive Skip's weekly
devotional email to inspire you with God's Word each week.
So sign up today at connect withiskip dot com. That's
connect with Skip dot com. Now let's get into today's
(00:43):
teaching from pastor Skip Heightzig.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I want you to consider the two most important words
in our vocabulary. Now, if you were to ask different people,
they would tell you different things. Harvard Business Journal. The
two most important words in the human language are recognition
and praise. Recognition and praise, And this is what they said.
(01:11):
When people do a good job, they want to be
told they did a good job. They want recognition and praise.
One psychologist says the most important two words in the
English language are the words act now, Act now, because,
according to this psychologist, too many people dream and think
(01:33):
and plan but never take any concrete steps to do
anything about it. Many people will tell you, including marketing firms,
the two most important words in our language are the
words thank you. To show appreciation to another human being
is so important. I love what one freelance writer said.
(01:55):
Here's a writer who gets checks if he gets published.
He said, the two most important, the two most beautiful
words I've ever seen in English are on an envelope
that says check and closed. But let me tell you
about two important words that can change your life. They
(02:15):
can change bad news into good news. These two words
can be placed into any situation and alter any outcome.
They are the words but God, but God. Each word
has only three letters. Each word is very simple to say,
(02:37):
only one syllable per word. But when you put those
two words together, they form a very powerful truth. In fact,
there may not be two more hopeful words than these
two words, but God, because they point us to the
great Interruptor, the one who can powerfully and graciously interrupt
(03:02):
our life with his plans and change our lives forever?
Did you know? That phrase but God appears in the
Bible forty five times and every time it appears, what
comes after those words is radical change. Situations are changed radically.
(03:24):
According to Martin Lloyd Jones, a great Bible commentator, he said,
these two words in and of themselves contain the whole
of the Gospel of Christ. Why because no matter who
you are, no matter what you've done, no matter how
you've lived, no matter what mistakes you may have made,
(03:46):
no matter what failures you have been involved in, no
matter what addictions you may find yourself in, there can
be a butt God moment that radically changes who you
were and who you are now. The first word, if
you consider the phrase but God, the first word butt
(04:07):
is conjunction. In English, that's a that's a type of speech,
and a conjunction is simply a word that connects two
phrases together. The word but means on the contrary, we
use it to make a difference or contrast what we
previously said. For example, he stumbled, but he didn't fall,
(04:32):
or this is expensive, but that isn't, or you're pretty
and I'm not, thank you. But when you add the
word God to that little word. But when you add
the word God to that little conjunction, now anything is possible.
(04:56):
Anything is possible with God. The Bible says, no things
shall be impossible. I have a little paper clip with
me on my Bible. And what if I were to
tell you that I could trade this little paper clip,
you can't even see it. I venture. What if I
could tell you I could trade this little paper clip
(05:16):
for a house. You'd say, well, that's impossible, But did
you know what happened? You can google it. I would say,
don't do it right now. But there was a in
two thousand and five a young Canadian named Kyle McDonald.
He had a dead end job. He wasn't making much money,
but he decided to go on a little adventure and
(05:39):
trade up, trade up. So he got a paper clip
and managed to trade the paper clip for a pen
that you write with a little fish shaped pen. Then
he took the pen and he traded that for a doorknob.
Then he took the doorknob and he traded that for
a Coleman stove, a can stove. Then he took the
(06:01):
Coleman stove and traded that for a Honda generator. Then
he took the Honda generator and traded it up for
a keg of beer and a Budweiser sign. I don't
know if you trade it up or down. Then he
traded the keg of beer and Budweiser sign for a snowmobile,
and one year later and fourteen trades later, he then
(06:25):
exchanged an acting part in a movie for a two
story farmhouse. It all started with a paper clip. Now
that's not impossible, that's just resourceful. That's just very, very creative.
But I want to talk to you today about a
real impossibility, something that most people think could never happen,
(06:48):
and that's a resurrection. That's what we're here, celebrating the
resurrection of Jesus from the dead. You know, the resurrection
of Christ is the ultimate but god moment in history.
If God can do that, then God can do anything.
In Acts, chapter thirteen, Paul the Apostle is preaching at
(07:09):
a synagogue two thousand years ago, and he gives a
long message. It's the first and full complete message that
Paul ever preached recorded in the Bible. And in verse
twenty six, as he speaks to the crowd, he says,
men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and
those among you who fear God. To you, the word
(07:32):
of this salvation has been sent for those who dwell
in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know him,
Nor even the voices of the prophets, which are read
every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though
they found no cause for death in him, they asked
(07:53):
Pilot that he should be put to death. Now, when
they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they
took him down from the tree, and they laid him
in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead.
That's the great interruption, one single verse. But God raised
(08:16):
him from the dead. He was seen for many days
by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem,
who are his witnesses to the people. And we declare
to you glad tidings that promise which was made to
the fathers. Jesus died. But God, you see, difficulty must
(08:42):
always be measured by the capacity of the agent doing
the work. Once again, difficulty must always be measured by
the capacity of the agent doing the work. There lies
a dead corpse. You show up, You're not going to
be able to help. But God can because for him
(09:06):
it's not difficult. He's the agent doing the work. Now,
what I want to share with you today are let's
call them four truths for Easter Sunday. Four truths for
Easter Sunday. First of all, God has a message for you.
That's right, He has a message for each one of us.
(09:27):
Paul here when he preaches his sermon in the synagogue,
he says, men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham,
that is in the Jewish community, and those among you
who fear God, non Jews, Gentiles who are very interested.
He says to you, the word of this salvation has
(09:47):
been sent. In other words, a message of salvation. God
has a message for you. Did you know that God
has spoken throughout all of history generally speaking, he spoke.
He spoke through creation. Psalm nineteen says, the heavens declare
the glory of God. When you see a beautiful sunriser sunset,
(10:12):
when you see something in nature that should grab your attention,
that is God reminding you of his glory. The heavens
declare the glory of God. God has spoken generally, but
then God has also spoken specifically. He sent prophets, spokespeople
to proclaim his messages. The writer of Hebrews put it
(10:33):
this way. Long ago, God spoke many times and in
many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. You know
what that means. That means the God, the Creator, is
interested in his creation. He's so interested in his creation.
He doesn't want to just leave them alone floundering. He
(10:53):
wants to communicate to them. He has something to say
to them.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
You're listening to connect with Skift Heitzig before we return
to Skip's teaching. The question of God's existence has serious implications,
from his presence and participation in our lives, to the
reality of life after death, to the basis for human morality.
And In his book Is God Reel Lee Strobel, former
atheist and legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, weaves together
(11:20):
the latest evidence from a range of brilliant scientific and
philosophical minds to answer the most consequential question of all time.
This resource will equip you to address your own doubts
and respond to others questions about God with confidence. We'll
send you a copy of Is God Real, along with
two messages. Strobel preached on this topic at Calvary Church
(11:42):
as thanks for your gift of fifty dollars or more
to reach more people with God's love through connect with
Skip heizig go to connect with Skip dot com slash offer,
or call eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight
and request your copy when you give. Now, let's get
back to Skip for more of today's teaching.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
No, we have a problem. As human beings. We are
inside a natural box and the walls of that box
are time and space. We can't crawl out of that box.
We're sort of stuck outside our box of humanity is
the supernatural realm. We all know it's true, All of
(12:24):
us born suspect that there's something beyond us. But someone
comes along and says, I got to get outside this box.
We got to get into the supernatural world. And every
time somebody comes along and makes an attempt to get
out of this natural box and make contact with the
(12:44):
supernatural world, a religion is born. That's what religion is,
man's attempt to reach God. It's man's attempt to escape
the natural and get to the supernatural. Here's the problem.
We can't do it. We cannot transcend our own existence.
We can't reach outside the box. Someone outside the box
(13:09):
must reach into our box. And that's what God did,
and he did it in many ways. He spoke in
many ways. He spoke in a burning bush to Moses.
He spoke in a lightning storm at Mount Sinai. He
spoke in a still small voice to the prophet Elijah.
(13:30):
He sent prophets to his people. He spoke truth through
those prophets, truth, his values, his desires, his longings for
those people. Why did God speak? Why did God send
his messages? Because God loves people. God loves the creation
(13:52):
he created. He did not want people living on this
earth without purpose, without meaning. He wanted to to have hope.
Even when people messed up. God spoke. Listen carefully, especially
when people messed up. God spoke, especially when they messed up.
(14:15):
Your life. You may feel is a mess. Today you
say my life is a mess. I say, God has
a message that will speak to your mess. God wants
to speak to you. He has a message for you,
and here it is in a nutshell. He cares for you.
He loves you, He loves you passionately. He has a
(14:36):
message of love for you. There was a mother who
went to a doctor. She had three children, and the
doctor asked her a question, sort of off the cuff.
The doctor said, Hey, of your three children, which do
you love the most? Well, that caught her off guard.
She didn't expect that question. She goes, what do you mean,
which one of my children do I love most? I
love them all the same. And the said, well, it's
(15:01):
psychologically impossible to extend the same kind of a love
to three different humans. He said, that's impossible. She started
crying when he said that. She said, you're right, You're right.
When one is sick, I love that one more. When
(15:22):
one is in pain, I love that one more. When
one is doing something bad, I love that one more.
But apart from that, I love all three exactly the same.
Saint Augustine said, God loves each of us as if
there was only one of us to love. God has
that message for you today. He has spoken, Paul said,
(15:44):
his word of salvation throughout history? Has God been speaking
to you lately? Has he been trying to get your attention?
Now he doesn't have to do that dramatically. He say, well,
I don't think God's getting my attention. I haven't had
him speak audibly to me. I haven't had a dream
in the middle of the night, or a vision that
(16:05):
doesn't matter. Something deep in your heart. God may be
trying to get at and you've been feeling that. You've
been sensing that he's been knocking at the door of
your heart saying, I want you to make room for me.
Maybe it's through a friend. Maybe a friend invited you today,
invited you to church. You're thinking, why should I get
up early and go to a stadium and sit outside?
(16:28):
But God could be trying to get a hold of
you and speaking directly to you. You're not here by accident, friend,
You're here by appointment. So God has a message for us.
Here's the second truth. Not only does God have a
message for us, God sent a messenger to us, Paul continues,
(16:50):
for those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because
they did not know him, nor even the voices of
the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them
in condemning him. Now, notice what Paul just did. Paul
just moved from speaking about an it to speaking about
(17:11):
a hymn. He says, God has had a message for
people for years, and they crucified him the messenger, so
he goes from a message to a messenger. And here's why.
God's ultimate message to humanity is not a sermon. It's
(17:32):
not a prophecy. It's not a set of instructions or
a law. It's a person. God's ultimate message to humanity
is in the person of Jesus Christ. All those messages
in the Old Testament, all those prophets that spoke were
all pointing forward to a messenger the Jews called Messiah.
(17:54):
We call him Jesus. Messiah means somebody specifically prepared and
select God to save the world, including you. So God
spoke through the ages, but his final message before judgment
is his hand of love extended to people, saying I
(18:14):
love you. Here's my son, my messenger. I'm sending to
you to pay for your sins. The writer of Hebrews,
I just quoted him. I didn't finish the verse, though.
It says long ago God spoke at many times and
in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. But
now in these final days, he has spoken to us
(18:37):
through his son. If you think about it, the Old
Testament was God's story. It unfolded very gradually and progressively.
Genesis gives some truth. Exodus gives more truth, the prophets
give more truth, the Psalms give a few more, and
it just progressed a little bit more completely. But it
(19:00):
was never totally completed. We never really get the whole
picture until we open the pages of the New Testament.
Then suddenly it's all clear. That's why Jesus said, do
not think that I have come to destroy the prophets.
I didn't come to destroy them. I came to complete them,
to fulfill them. The picture is now complete. All those
(19:25):
messages in the Old Testament were still a bit fuzzy
until the messenger showed up. Then it's like, ah, I
see it clearly. Listen to how John introduces Jesus in
the beginning, was the Word, that's God's message. And the
word was with God, and the word was God, and
(19:48):
the Word became flesh, and he dwelled among us. So
go back to that box analogy. Mankind is trapped in
a natural box with walls of time in space. We
cannot get out of our box. We can't reach out
and connect with the supernatural. So God's plan was to
send his son to crawl inside the box, get in
(20:11):
the box. For God to become a man and come
to our earth and show us all the truths of God.
This is the difference between Christianity and every other world religion.
Many people say it doesn't matter what religion you belong to,
(20:32):
as long as you're sincere. That's wrong. It does matter.
It makes all the difference. Religion is man's attempt to
reach and discover God. Christianity is God bursting into our world,
crawling inside our box. When Jesus came, he showed people
(20:53):
what God is like. One of his disciples, Philip said, Jesus,
show us the Father, and that's enough. Yeah, I guess
it would be. Jesus said Philip. If you've seen me,
you have seen the Father. If you see Jesus, you
see God. You see the Father. When I was a kid,
(21:16):
I remember looking up at my mom and she was
so huge, tall, massive. Now here's the truth. She was
five feet tall. That's how I told she was. She
was a very little, thin lady, five feet. I'm six',
Five and WHEN i grew, up it's, like, REALLY i
(21:37):
used to think you, were like really a. Giant but you,
know from a kid's, perspective somebody five feet that's pretty.
TALL i have grandkids are sitting right up here in the.
FRONT i can see, Them seth And. Katie yesterday we
were playing out here on this, field just getting ready
OUR i was actually we were watching everybody else get
ready for this, event and we were playing out. Here
(21:59):
and so you, know WHENEVER i flex my arms AND
i come at them Like i'm going to get them the.
Coward but WHEN i get down to their, level something.
Changes Now i'm, Approachable Now i'm, Gettable i'm, Wrestlable i'm,
jumpable and they'll tackle me to the. Ground why Because
(22:20):
i've come down to their. Level and when you come
down to their, level the relationship. Changes and When god
came down to our, level the relationship. Changes he showed
us What god is. Like For god so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten, son that whoever
believes in him would not perish but have everlasting. Life
(22:44):
So god has a message for, you and the message
for you Is his messenger for, you and that Is Jesus.
Christ christianity is not a. Creed christianity is not a.
Ritual christianity is not an. Institution christianity Is christ. Personally he, Said,
(23:06):
Well i've received the rituals Of. Christianity have you Received christ?
Personally So god has a message for. Us god sent
a messenger to. Us here's the third. Truth god knows
the mischief in. Us, yeah we have a. Problem god
knows the mischief in, Us paul. Said and though they
(23:29):
found no cause for death in, him they Asked pilot
that he should be put to. Death and when they
fulfilled what was written concerning, him they took him down
from the, tree that is the, cross and they laid
him in a. Tomb this messenger From, god This messiah was,
Innocent he lived a perfect. Life the very people he
(23:51):
was sent, to, however executed, him condemned him as a.
Criminal people didn't want to Hear god's, message and people
didn't want to Have god's, messenger so they killed. Him john,
said he came into his own his own received. Him
not that, is his own, people his own. Nation jesus
(24:13):
came to his own. World jesus came to his own.
Land jesus came to his own. City jesus came to
his own. Temple The jews had waited for The messiah for.
Centuries he shows. Up john, said we beheld his glory
as of the only begotten of The. Father but the
(24:33):
crowd shouted crucify. Him they executed him and put him
in a.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Tomb we're glad you joined us. Today before you, go
remember that when you give fifty dollars or more to
help reach more people with the gospel through connect with Skip,
heitzig we'll send You lee S troubles Book Is God
real and two of his sermons on the same topic
preached At Calvary church to help you answer life's most
consequential questions About god's. Existence to request your copy of these,
(25:03):
resources call eight hundred ninety two two eighteen eighty. Eight
that's eight hundred ninety two two eighteen eighty, eight or
visit connect With skip dot com slash donate for more From.
Skip be sure to check out the many resources available
at connectwiskip dot com slash. Store come back next time
for more verse by verse teaching Of God's Word here
(25:25):
unconnect with Skip, Heidzig Make, Next.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
May Connects chassong Makes.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Next connect with Skip heidzig is a presentation of connection
communications connecting you To god's never changing truth in ever changing.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Times
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're glad you've joined
us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heizeig exists to
connect to you to God's never changing truth in ever
changing times through verse by verse teaching of His Word.
That's why we make messages like this one today available
to you and others on air and online. Before we
kick off today's teaching, we want to let you know
(00:22):
that you can stay in the know about what's happening
at connect with Skip Heightzig when you sign up for
email updates. When you do, you'll also receive Skip's weekly
devotional email to inspire you with God's Word each week.
So sign up today at connect withiskip dot com. That's
connect with Skip dot com. Now let's get into today's
(00:43):
teaching from pastor Skip Heightzig.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I want you to consider the two most important words
in our vocabulary. Now, if you were to ask different people,
they would tell you different things. Harvard Business Journal. The
two most important words in the human language are recognition
and praise. Recognition and praise, And this is what they said.
(01:11):
When people do a good job, they want to be
told they did a good job. They want recognition and praise.
One psychologist says the most important two words in the
English language are the words act now, Act now, because,
according to this psychologist, too many people dream and think
(01:33):
and plan but never take any concrete steps to do
anything about it. Many people will tell you, including marketing firms,
the two most important words in our language are the
words thank you. To show appreciation to another human being
is so important. I love what one freelance writer said.
(01:55):
Here's a writer who gets checks if he gets published.
He said, the two most important, the two most beautiful
words I've ever seen in English are on an envelope
that says check and closed. But let me tell you
about two important words that can change your life. They
(02:15):
can change bad news into good news. These two words
can be placed into any situation and alter any outcome.
They are the words but God, but God. Each word
has only three letters. Each word is very simple to say,
(02:37):
only one syllable per word. But when you put those
two words together, they form a very powerful truth. In fact,
there may not be two more hopeful words than these
two words, but God, because they point us to the
great Interruptor, the one who can powerfully and graciously interrupt
(03:02):
our life with his plans and change our lives forever?
Did you know? That phrase but God appears in the
Bible forty five times and every time it appears, what
comes after those words is radical change. Situations are changed radically.
(03:24):
According to Martin Lloyd Jones, a great Bible commentator, he said,
these two words in and of themselves contain the whole
of the Gospel of Christ. Why because no matter who
you are, no matter what you've done, no matter how
you've lived, no matter what mistakes you may have made,
(03:46):
no matter what failures you have been involved in, no
matter what addictions you may find yourself in, there can
be a butt God moment that radically changes who you
were and who you are now. The first word, if
you consider the phrase but God, the first word butt
(04:07):
is conjunction. In English, that's a that's a type of speech,
and a conjunction is simply a word that connects two
phrases together. The word but means on the contrary, we
use it to make a difference or contrast what we
previously said. For example, he stumbled, but he didn't fall,
(04:32):
or this is expensive, but that isn't, or you're pretty
and I'm not, thank you. But when you add the
word God to that little word. But when you add
the word God to that little conjunction, now anything is possible.
(04:56):
Anything is possible with God. The Bible says, no things
shall be impossible. I have a little paper clip with
me on my Bible. And what if I were to
tell you that I could trade this little paper clip,
you can't even see it. I venture. What if I
could tell you I could trade this little paper clip
(05:16):
for a house. You'd say, well, that's impossible, But did
you know what happened? You can google it. I would say,
don't do it right now. But there was a in
two thousand and five a young Canadian named Kyle McDonald.
He had a dead end job. He wasn't making much money,
but he decided to go on a little adventure and
(05:39):
trade up, trade up. So he got a paper clip
and managed to trade the paper clip for a pen
that you write with a little fish shaped pen. Then
he took the pen and he traded that for a doorknob.
Then he took the doorknob and he traded that for
a Coleman stove, a can stove. Then he took the
(06:01):
Coleman stove and traded that for a Honda generator. Then
he took the Honda generator and traded it up for
a keg of beer and a Budweiser sign. I don't
know if you trade it up or down. Then he
traded the keg of beer and Budweiser sign for a snowmobile,
and one year later and fourteen trades later, he then
(06:25):
exchanged an acting part in a movie for a two
story farmhouse. It all started with a paper clip. Now
that's not impossible, that's just resourceful. That's just very, very creative.
But I want to talk to you today about a
real impossibility, something that most people think could never happen,
(06:48):
and that's a resurrection. That's what we're here, celebrating the
resurrection of Jesus from the dead. You know, the resurrection
of Christ is the ultimate but god moment in history.
If God can do that, then God can do anything.
In Acts, chapter thirteen, Paul the Apostle is preaching at
(07:09):
a synagogue two thousand years ago, and he gives a
long message. It's the first and full complete message that
Paul ever preached recorded in the Bible. And in verse
twenty six, as he speaks to the crowd, he says,
men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and
those among you who fear God. To you, the word
(07:32):
of this salvation has been sent for those who dwell
in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know him,
Nor even the voices of the prophets, which are read
every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though
they found no cause for death in him, they asked
(07:53):
Pilot that he should be put to death. Now, when
they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they
took him down from the tree, and they laid him
in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead.
That's the great interruption, one single verse. But God raised
(08:16):
him from the dead. He was seen for many days
by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem,
who are his witnesses to the people. And we declare
to you glad tidings that promise which was made to
the fathers. Jesus died. But God, you see, difficulty must
(08:42):
always be measured by the capacity of the agent doing
the work. Once again, difficulty must always be measured by
the capacity of the agent doing the work. There lies
a dead corpse. You show up, You're not going to
be able to help. But God can because for him
(09:06):
it's not difficult. He's the agent doing the work. Now,
what I want to share with you today are let's
call them four truths for Easter Sunday. Four truths for
Easter Sunday. First of all, God has a message for you.
That's right, He has a message for each one of us.
(09:27):
Paul here when he preaches his sermon in the synagogue,
he says, men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham,
that is in the Jewish community, and those among you
who fear God, non Jews, Gentiles who are very interested.
He says to you, the word of this salvation has
(09:47):
been sent. In other words, a message of salvation. God
has a message for you. Did you know that God
has spoken throughout all of history generally speaking, he spoke.
He spoke through creation. Psalm nineteen says, the heavens declare
the glory of God. When you see a beautiful sunriser sunset,
(10:12):
when you see something in nature that should grab your attention,
that is God reminding you of his glory. The heavens
declare the glory of God. God has spoken generally, but
then God has also spoken specifically. He sent prophets, spokespeople
to proclaim his messages. The writer of Hebrews put it
(10:33):
this way. Long ago, God spoke many times and in
many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. You know
what that means. That means the God, the Creator, is
interested in his creation. He's so interested in his creation.
He doesn't want to just leave them alone floundering. He
(10:53):
wants to communicate to them. He has something to say
to them.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
You're listening to connect with Skift Heitzig before we return
to Skip's teaching. The question of God's existence has serious implications,
from his presence and participation in our lives, to the
reality of life after death, to the basis for human morality.
And In his book Is God Reel Lee Strobel, former
atheist and legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, weaves together
(11:20):
the latest evidence from a range of brilliant scientific and
philosophical minds to answer the most consequential question of all time.
This resource will equip you to address your own doubts
and respond to others questions about God with confidence. We'll
send you a copy of Is God Real, along with
two messages. Strobel preached on this topic at Calvary Church
(11:42):
as thanks for your gift of fifty dollars or more
to reach more people with God's love through connect with
Skip heizig go to connect with Skip dot com slash offer,
or call eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight
and request your copy when you give. Now, let's get
back to Skip for more of today's teaching.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
No, we have a problem. As human beings. We are
inside a natural box and the walls of that box
are time and space. We can't crawl out of that box.
We're sort of stuck outside our box of humanity is
the supernatural realm. We all know it's true, All of
(12:24):
us born suspect that there's something beyond us. But someone
comes along and says, I got to get outside this box.
We got to get into the supernatural world. And every
time somebody comes along and makes an attempt to get
out of this natural box and make contact with the
(12:44):
supernatural world, a religion is born. That's what religion is,
man's attempt to reach God. It's man's attempt to escape
the natural and get to the supernatural. Here's the problem.
We can't do it. We cannot transcend our own existence.
We can't reach outside the box. Someone outside the box
(13:09):
must reach into our box. And that's what God did,
and he did it in many ways. He spoke in
many ways. He spoke in a burning bush to Moses.
He spoke in a lightning storm at Mount Sinai. He
spoke in a still small voice to the prophet Elijah.
(13:30):
He sent prophets to his people. He spoke truth through
those prophets, truth, his values, his desires, his longings for
those people. Why did God speak? Why did God send
his messages? Because God loves people. God loves the creation
(13:52):
he created. He did not want people living on this
earth without purpose, without meaning. He wanted to to have hope.
Even when people messed up. God spoke. Listen carefully, especially
when people messed up. God spoke, especially when they messed up.
(14:15):
Your life. You may feel is a mess. Today you
say my life is a mess. I say, God has
a message that will speak to your mess. God wants
to speak to you. He has a message for you,
and here it is in a nutshell. He cares for you.
He loves you, He loves you passionately. He has a
(14:36):
message of love for you. There was a mother who
went to a doctor. She had three children, and the
doctor asked her a question, sort of off the cuff.
The doctor said, Hey, of your three children, which do
you love the most? Well, that caught her off guard.
She didn't expect that question. She goes, what do you mean,
which one of my children do I love most? I
love them all the same. And the said, well, it's
(15:01):
psychologically impossible to extend the same kind of a love
to three different humans. He said, that's impossible. She started
crying when he said that. She said, you're right, You're right.
When one is sick, I love that one more. When
(15:22):
one is in pain, I love that one more. When
one is doing something bad, I love that one more.
But apart from that, I love all three exactly the same.
Saint Augustine said, God loves each of us as if
there was only one of us to love. God has
that message for you today. He has spoken, Paul said,
(15:44):
his word of salvation throughout history? Has God been speaking
to you lately? Has he been trying to get your attention?
Now he doesn't have to do that dramatically. He say, well,
I don't think God's getting my attention. I haven't had
him speak audibly to me. I haven't had a dream
in the middle of the night, or a vision that
(16:05):
doesn't matter. Something deep in your heart. God may be
trying to get at and you've been feeling that. You've
been sensing that he's been knocking at the door of
your heart saying, I want you to make room for me.
Maybe it's through a friend. Maybe a friend invited you today,
invited you to church. You're thinking, why should I get
up early and go to a stadium and sit outside?
(16:28):
But God could be trying to get a hold of
you and speaking directly to you. You're not here by accident, friend,
You're here by appointment. So God has a message for us.
Here's the second truth. Not only does God have a
message for us, God sent a messenger to us, Paul continues,
(16:50):
for those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because
they did not know him, nor even the voices of
the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them
in condemning him. Now, notice what Paul just did. Paul
just moved from speaking about an it to speaking about
(17:11):
a hymn. He says, God has had a message for
people for years, and they crucified him the messenger, so
he goes from a message to a messenger. And here's why.
God's ultimate message to humanity is not a sermon. It's
(17:32):
not a prophecy. It's not a set of instructions or
a law. It's a person. God's ultimate message to humanity
is in the person of Jesus Christ. All those messages
in the Old Testament, all those prophets that spoke were
all pointing forward to a messenger the Jews called Messiah.
(17:54):
We call him Jesus. Messiah means somebody specifically prepared and
select God to save the world, including you. So God
spoke through the ages, but his final message before judgment
is his hand of love extended to people, saying I
(18:14):
love you. Here's my son, my messenger. I'm sending to
you to pay for your sins. The writer of Hebrews,
I just quoted him. I didn't finish the verse, though.
It says long ago God spoke at many times and
in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. But
now in these final days, he has spoken to us
(18:37):
through his son. If you think about it, the Old
Testament was God's story. It unfolded very gradually and progressively.
Genesis gives some truth. Exodus gives more truth, the prophets
give more truth, the Psalms give a few more, and
it just progressed a little bit more completely. But it
(19:00):
was never totally completed. We never really get the whole
picture until we open the pages of the New Testament.
Then suddenly it's all clear. That's why Jesus said, do
not think that I have come to destroy the prophets.
I didn't come to destroy them. I came to complete them,
to fulfill them. The picture is now complete. All those
(19:25):
messages in the Old Testament were still a bit fuzzy
until the messenger showed up. Then it's like, ah, I
see it clearly. Listen to how John introduces Jesus in
the beginning, was the Word, that's God's message. And the
word was with God, and the word was God, and
(19:48):
the Word became flesh, and he dwelled among us. So
go back to that box analogy. Mankind is trapped in
a natural box with walls of time in space. We
cannot get out of our box. We can't reach out
and connect with the supernatural. So God's plan was to
send his son to crawl inside the box, get in
(20:11):
the box. For God to become a man and come
to our earth and show us all the truths of God.
This is the difference between Christianity and every other world religion.
Many people say it doesn't matter what religion you belong to,
(20:32):
as long as you're sincere. That's wrong. It does matter.
It makes all the difference. Religion is man's attempt to
reach and discover God. Christianity is God bursting into our world,
crawling inside our box. When Jesus came, he showed people
(20:53):
what God is like. One of his disciples, Philip said, Jesus,
show us the Father, and that's enough. Yeah, I guess
it would be. Jesus said Philip. If you've seen me,
you have seen the Father. If you see Jesus, you
see God. You see the Father. When I was a kid,
(21:16):
I remember looking up at my mom and she was
so huge, tall, massive. Now here's the truth. She was
five feet tall. That's how I told she was. She
was a very little, thin lady, five feet. I'm six',
Five and WHEN i grew, up it's, like, REALLY i
(21:37):
used to think you, were like really a. Giant but you,
know from a kid's, perspective somebody five feet that's pretty.
TALL i have grandkids are sitting right up here in the.
FRONT i can see, Them seth And. Katie yesterday we
were playing out here on this, field just getting ready
OUR i was actually we were watching everybody else get
ready for this, event and we were playing out. Here
(21:59):
and so you, know WHENEVER i flex my arms AND
i come at them Like i'm going to get them the.
Coward but WHEN i get down to their, level something.
Changes Now i'm, Approachable Now i'm, Gettable i'm, Wrestlable i'm,
jumpable and they'll tackle me to the. Ground why Because
(22:20):
i've come down to their. Level and when you come
down to their, level the relationship. Changes and When god
came down to our, level the relationship. Changes he showed
us What god is. Like For god so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten, son that whoever
believes in him would not perish but have everlasting. Life
(22:44):
So god has a message for, you and the message
for you Is his messenger for, you and that Is Jesus.
Christ christianity is not a. Creed christianity is not a.
Ritual christianity is not an. Institution christianity Is christ. Personally he, Said,
(23:06):
Well i've received the rituals Of. Christianity have you Received christ?
Personally So god has a message for. Us god sent
a messenger to. Us here's the third. Truth god knows
the mischief in. Us, yeah we have a. Problem god
knows the mischief in, Us paul. Said and though they
(23:29):
found no cause for death in, him they Asked pilot
that he should be put to. Death and when they
fulfilled what was written concerning, him they took him down
from the, tree that is the, cross and they laid
him in a. Tomb this messenger From, god This messiah was,
Innocent he lived a perfect. Life the very people he
(23:51):
was sent, to, however executed, him condemned him as a.
Criminal people didn't want to Hear god's, message and people
didn't want to Have god's, messenger so they killed. Him john,
said he came into his own his own received. Him
not that, is his own, people his own. Nation jesus
(24:13):
came to his own. World jesus came to his own.
Land jesus came to his own. City jesus came to
his own. Temple The jews had waited for The messiah for.
Centuries he shows. Up john, said we beheld his glory
as of the only begotten of The. Father but the
(24:33):
crowd shouted crucify. Him they executed him and put him
in a.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Tomb we're glad you joined us. Today before you, go
remember that when you give fifty dollars or more to
help reach more people with the gospel through connect with Skip,
heitzig we'll send You lee S troubles Book Is God
real and two of his sermons on the same topic
preached At Calvary church to help you answer life's most
consequential questions About god's. Existence to request your copy of these,
(25:03):
resources call eight hundred ninety two two eighteen eighty. Eight
that's eight hundred ninety two two eighteen eighty, eight or
visit connect With skip dot com slash donate for more From.
Skip be sure to check out the many resources available
at connectwiskip dot com slash. Store come back next time
for more verse by verse teaching Of God's Word here
(25:25):
unconnect with Skip, Heidzig Make, Next.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
May Connects chassong Makes.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Next connect with Skip heidzig is a presentation of connection
communications connecting you To god's never changing truth in ever changing.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Times
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