Good evening. Good evening.
In one of my pockets, I have no card.
They're all in order. It's the first good start.
So I just returned. From this weekend of some camping and canoeing with few other brothers and their children from the chapel here.
So if you're thinking it's an annual thing, this is the first year that we attended, but I think we decided this was the third year.
It was a really, really good time. We had a lot of fun, a lot of good conversations, just getting to know each other more, bonding.
We brought back the same number of children we left with. That's generally considered positive. We think.
So nobody, nobody was too badly injured. We had a little bit of rain last night, but we had a lot of fun.
The good news is I don't see at the moment anyone else here that was on that trip because we were talking about.
A lot of different spiritual things and it turns out that one of the topsy conversations was like 80% of my message for tonight.
So I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I got to practice a little bit and There was a short discussion about ex-communication, but I think they were joking.
They didn't all pack up and leave when they had the opportunity and leave me on the island.
So I guess that's a positive thing. So I'll assume what I said wasn't.
Terribly offensive to anyone. What I want to talk tonight about is free will or choices.
And if I were to give a title to my message, I would say the title would be that our choices matter.
And. Before I really get to the message, I wanna give a little bit of background. About.
Just a couple of general things. To sort of put the. Actual message in context. And as I was preparing, I realized I probably actually have more things that I wanted to share to set the context.
And the actual message itself. But I'm still gonna go with the message itself. Even though I'm gonna probably spend more time kind of setting the context.
And the reason that I chose this topic tonight, really has to do with, the teaching of Sunday school.
Here at the chapel and in the very last regular Sunday school program of this year. The the kids and I were talking about we had read through some of the passages in the book of Revelation because we had finished the the studies that we had planned and we had a couple more weeks and we you know asked the boys what are you interested in?
They all of course were interested in revelation. So we pick some of the, end of the chapter, the book of revelation, things that are a little bit more.
Understandable less. Confusing to be honest. And one of the questions that, that was asked, I really had to kind of think about how, how do I answer this question?
And the question, what it really comes down to was we were talking about the tree of life.
And, you know, we went back to Genesis and we read the passage where we first see the Tree of Life come into the scriptures.
And it's after the fall and God says, let's. You know, we can't have Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Life.
So we need to remove the tree. And take away their ability to eat from it as they've eaten from the tree of the knowledge of getting evil.
And, one of the students raised their hand and said, If God knew that we were going to eat, that Adam even going to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Or that they could eat from the tree of life and he didn't want them to. Why didn't he just not put it there?
Why did he not remove those things so that Adam and Eve never had the option? Of eating from those trees.
And the. Whole point I think of the message what I'd like to share is The reason that God didn't do that is because he's not looking for robots to do.
What exactly he wants them to do. He's looking for people to choose to worship him.
And he gives us that free will. So we were chatting this weekend and you know we were talking about creation.
When you're out in nature it's really easy to think about how wonderful creation is and all the things that that God created and how We can look at this creation and come to a conclusion that there must be A plan, there must be a God that created it.
There must be a reason why we're all here. Where as other people will look at that and say this is just one giant, you know, unhappy accident.
And it's interesting to see how we choose to view our surroundings. Will have an impact on our lives.
And that is ultimately the end point of my message. I'm not done yet, but that's the end point is the choices that we make affect not only our lives but the lives of everyone around us.
And God has given us this gift of free will. We were talking and I sort of said maybe a little bit sarcastically, maybe thinking a little bit truthfully if I look at myself.
That maybe the only mistake God made was giving us free will. Because we are where we are today.
Good or bad because of that free will. So before we get to that, and we'll come back to that.
The first thing that I want to sort of outline is As I'm going to explain sort of my view on the choices that we make in our lives.
How we can consider all of the potential that we have how we can consider all of the things that may happen to us whether those are good experiences or bad experiences.
I wanna give a little bit of background. So when I say some things that maybe sound strange.
You'll understand the context that I say them to myself. So the first thing that I want to talk about is actually predestination.
Maybe a touchy subject. I think my view on predestination is very simple. I believe that we We live under the the responsibility, the blessings, the the rulership of a god that predestines everyone.
Every person that lives is predestined for heaven. I think their scripture to support that will read some in, in a minute.
But I look at The scriptures, primarily the New Testament, the Old Testament written, before, of course, Christ comes to this earth and dies on the cross to save us from our sins.
But I believe that God's intention is that every person has a personal relationship with him. Whether that happens or not isn't up to God.
Whether that happens or not is up to us, as people to make that choice. That choice is always there.
It's always available to us, but we have to choose it. To some extent that's the beauty of the relationship the nature of the relationship it's also something of the curse because if we let our sin nature get in the way, if we let our, life get in the way, our friends, our family, the choices that we make.
We may end up not making that. The commitment to that relationship or the choice of that relationship. But I'd also like to say a couple of things.
To support that and one is I think it's very clear. Throughout the scriptures that God has a plan.
If we look back in the in the garden, his plan is not where we sit today, his perfect plan.
Adam and Eve, I don't believe God ever intended them to sin. God certainly doesn't.
Put sin in our way that's not what he does that is what our adversary what Satan does But God didn't create Adam and Eve.
Knowing that they would sin. I believe he created and I'm Adam and Eve knowing that he would give them the choice to whether or not they would they would send.
But he didn't create them knowing that that was the end outcome. However, when it happened.
He immediately set a plan in place. To redeem all of humanity through his son, Jesus Christ, and his death on the cross.
So God has a big picture plan. So big picture, there's a plan. We may not know exactly what that plan is, but we can certainly see what the end result of it is in the book of Revelation.
We know what happens if you wanna know the future, whenever that future occurs, read the book of Revelation.
It's clear what will happen at the end of time. God will be victorious, but ultimately over sin, will be bound.
We will those of us that have chosen. A life, following Christ will live for eternity in his presence.
I can't think of a better place to be as we were out in the wilderness.
We were kind of looking around saying Isn't this fantastic? And then the next logical question to me is.
What's the new heaven and the new earth gonna be like? It's going to be better than this one.
I don't know what that means, but it's certainly going to be better than this one.
And sitting out there on the river this weekend with, a few other guys, you know, it was like, this is perfect.
We're all here relaxing. We're enjoying. The fellowship, the conversations, the river.
Not so much the little jumpy bugs that were all over the place. But we had a really good time and then we were just thinking.
How much better is it going to be when we finally get to see Jesus and we get to have that experience of living for eternity in his presence.
But in addition to this big plan that God has that we know the end result of. I'd like to encourage all of us to know that God has a plan for each of us.
For all of us. God has a plan for your life. He has a plan for my life.
He has a plan for the lives of my children, my wife, of my brothers, my sister. There's a plan for all of us.
So sometimes maybe we think. God doesn't care about me. He's letting me go through these particular trials.
He's put these terrible things in my way. And I just like to encourage you that.
God has a plan for all of us. If we don't know what that plan is, I'll admit, I don't know, a lot of times what God's plan for me is.
Sometimes I think his plan is just pay attention. Pay attention to the opportunities that are presented to you. And that's again, to the point of my message is those choices.
We have choices. I don't think all of us are gonna be like Moses seeing a burning bush and God speaking to say, I want you to go do this.
That's not. Not the way it is anymore. But that doesn't mean God isn't going to put opportunities for us to.
To submit to his will and to follow the path that he has laid out for us. One of my, personal opinions about joy.
Is that when we experience true joy in our lives, it's most likely. When our path is aligned with what it is that God wants us to be doing.
I can't think of anything that would be more fulfilling. Then to be walking the perfect path that my creator, the God of the universe, has set before me.
I don't think I walk that path very often. But I can see moments in my life when it felt like.
Everything's aligning just right. And I think this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now.
These are the right choices. And for that period of time, you know, I'm on the right path and I think that's when.
Our lives feel like they really have meaning and purpose.
So to go back to predestination, so God has a plan for all of us, that plan for everybody.
Doesn't matter who you are. My belief is that plan is for you to acknowledge he's the creator of the universe to accept the sacrifice of his son to admit that you're a sinner and ask for forgiveness of those sins and to spend eternity with him in heaven.
I think it's clear to me when we look at versus that. Describe sin and salvation.
I didn't check what was on the wall behind me.
Okay, no verses that I can just point to. But I think it's very clear that when we talk about sin and salvation, the words that are used in the scriptures are all encompassing.
They leave nobody out. For all have seen. That's everybody. It's not just for these people to send or for those people to send for all.
But at the same time, when we look at salvation, those words are also all encompassing.
So I like to read a couple of verses. Bear with me as I'm gonna flip around a little bit.
First thing I want to look at is a couple of passages or a couple verses in Romans, then a couple versus an Ephesians.
Then we're gonna move back to the Gospels. And again, the purpose of this is to give sort of the background, to support my opinion.
That everyone is predestined. For an eternity with Christ, whether they get there or not is up to them.
Is, is up to them to make that choice. It's up to us to choose that for ourselves.
And then I also want to, you know, provide some examples of how I believe that salvation is universal.
Anyone that chooses it, it's there for everyone. So when I say predestined and I believe when Paul says predestined, he means exactly the same thing that anybody.
Everybody is predestined. Not everyone's gonna make it to the end. In the right place but everyone has the option to do that.
So I'd like to turn quickly to Romans chapter 8. While I'm doing that, I'm going to say nobody gave me a timeframe here.
So I think we're all good to about 9. If anyone needs to leave before, just, you know, raise your hand.
I'll see we can get a hall pass. I'm somewhat joking.
80'clock is? Alright. So Romans eights, Roman chapter 8 versus 29 and 30 again looking at this concept of predestined or predestination Romans 8 29 and 30
For whom he for new, he also predestined to to be conformed to the image of his son.
That he might for he might be the first born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he called, whom he called, these he also justified and whom he justify these, he also glorified.
So there's this. You know. Statement that we are predestined.
Again, my, opinion, my interpretation of that is that, all are predestined. So next, stop on the, predestination, outline is Ephesians.
So Ephesians chapter one. And I'd like to read verse 5 in verse 11.
Having pre destined us to the adoption. As sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to his good to the good pleasure of his will.
So the praise of his glory by his grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved.
So this is what is, available to us that are predestined. And again, we're, I'm gonna support this with some.
Passages about salvation itself, cause of course that's the ultimate. action that we have to take that, admission of SIN.
And the acceptance of God's free gift. Through the sacrifice of his son. So skipping forward to verse 11.
In him we have. In him also we have obtained inheritance being predestined. According to the purpose of him who works all things according to the council of his will.
So again, these are where we see predestined, discussed. So we know what it is that waits for us and now I'd like to go back.
These I think are maybe in, possibly in chronological order if I got my note cards written down correctly.
But talking about the all inclusive aspect of salvation. So first is Matthew chapter 7.
And I promise I'm not gonna flip. Too much more after this. Matthew chapter 7 and verse 8.
So again, looking at this aspect of sin and salvation being universal, we know we're all but also my, you know, sort of my, point here and reading the next handful of verses is that Salvation is available to everyone.
It's not closed only to a select group of people. So, Matthew chapter 7 and verse 8.
For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be open.
So again, we see a few words there that imply this salvation is available to anyone. There's no, particular background that you have to have.
You don't have to, live a perfect life. You don't have to do good works.
And these are all things that we should strive to do. We should strive to live a good life, but that itself doesn't preclude anyone or grant anyone salvation.
So next is Luke chapter 11, and verse 10. And now I'm really wishing that I had bookmarked all these passages.
In my electronic Bible here instead of having to flip to them.
For everyone who asked receives and he seeks fines and him who knocks, it will be opened.
Next one, Matthew. So again, chronological order. Sorry. So we're gonna go backwards to Matthew chapter 16 and verse 24.
Matthew, 16 and 24.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whomever desires to save his life, will lose it, but whomever loses his life for my sake will find it.
So again, these all encompassing words. Anyone, whoever. This same same text is also in Luke chapter 9 verse 23 so I'm gonna skip to John 6 51.
And then, I've got a few more passages here, but maybe I'll.
Move on to my next point after reading quite a few here.
John 6 51.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I She'll give for the life of the world.
So again, anyone, anyone, is is all inclusive. So that's. Really kind of the point behind the rest of what I'd like to talk about.
And I've got 4 more note cards. To go through is that Sin we understand.
I don't think There's any disagreement that SIN is universal. For all have sin and fall short of the glory of God.
But I also, again, my belief is that salvation is also universal. It's there for anyone who is willing.
To set themselves aside and follow Jesus.
We have this free will that God granted to us as part of his creation. So we get to choose.
Whether or not we accept that free gift that Christ has put out, for us. We get to determine for ourselves whether or not we believe the scriptures to be true.
I think if you look at the evidence, this was something else that we discussed over this weekend. If we if we look at the evidence.
Certainly my belief is that there's more evidence to prove that creation is, is why this is all exist.
Than there is to prove otherwise. Certainly other people will look at that evidence and decide differently. That's a choice that we all get to make.
It's the free will that God granted to us.
And in trying to think of how to answer this question that was raised in Sunday school. About why did God leave that tree.
The knowledge of good and evil. Why did he leave it there? If he knew Adam and Eve, we're going to eat from it eventually.
And, this is really to me. Not necessarily what happened. I don't believe again I said earlier that God put sin in any of our past.
God's intention for us. Is to have all of the things that he set aside for us to have a relationship with him.
To know him to reside with eternity in him. When he created Adam and Eve his desire was to have a relationship with them before the fall God walk with them daily in the garden and that's what he wants for all of us.
What gets in the way is sin, which entered through Adam and Eve and the choice that they made.
And because of that now we all have the opportunity. That doesn't necessarily mean positive thing.
We all have the opportunity to make that choice for ourselves. I'm sure we all know people who are it would appear from looking at their lives and their actions.
They're choosing to turn their back on the things that we believe. We are choosing to turn and face God and accept that.
The promise that he has of Forgive forgiveness of our sins and eternity with him.
God's will is going to be a accomplished. I don't think there's any question about that.
So as I said, God has a big picture. That plan will be accomplished, I think, regardless of what Alex does or what any of us do.
We are not going to prevent God's plan. From being accomplished. And I think there's, if we look at some examples in the Old Testament we can see that God's will was accomplished even though the people that he used to accomplish is over flawed and maybe always didn't do the right thing.
But his will was accomplished then and what we can see in the scriptures. His will will be accomplished in the future.
How much we get to interact with that is really up to us. There's no perfect people that exist but that doesn't mean we can't be used by God we can't make the right choices to put ourselves on the path that he's laid out for us.
And to work, according to his will. So I would like to look at some examples.
One we've already talked about the first one I probably don't need to turn to it.
Is Adam and Eve. So the first people ever create, I don't know that what this says about humanity, you know, if I look sort of a pessimistic view.
The first people that were created that came to this world Adam and Eve they didn't do so hot their kids, you know, maybe not so hot either.
What does that say about us as the human race. I think it says that we need God.
We need Jesus. We're flawed. And have become more flawed as time has progressed.
Adam and Eve being the closest to perfect humans that existed. They made the choice that brought in into the world.
Eve took of the fruit, gave it to Adam, and at that moment. Their eyes were open.
We talked a little bit this weekend about what did that mean? You know, I don't know in our terminology today, we'd probably consider them maybe be a little bit naive.
Not understanding good and evil. I don't really actually even know what it means when the Bible says they didn't understand good and evil.
Does that mean they didn't know anything bad? I don't know. It was a perfect creation, right?
Perfect world created by God. He certainly didn't create Adam and Eve with any flaws. The world was likely perfect at that time until soon entered and everything changed.
Go off on a small tangent, you know, for as a engineer. And look someone who thinks, you know, somewhat scientifically on occasion.
Maybe too much I look at when Adam and Eve took of that fruit and their eyes were open and sent enter the world, the first thing they did was commit sin.
They went to hide from God. So, you know, they send and then they try to hide it, you know, another send immediately on top of that.
And, then there was maybe a little bit of lying that occurred immediately after that. So you and not a great start for the human race at that point.
But there was the change that occurred there. I don't know that we'll ever understand. If we look at all the things that are now against us, we see the things that God puts against Adam as a result of his choice for sin.
All those things were not against Adam before that. So the ground wasn't, you know, full of labor to get fruit food.
Probably didn't have to worry about. Mosquitoes or whatever the jumping bugs were that were in our way this weekend on the campsite.
Probably never got sunburn i'm sure Adam probably died with a full head of hair i don't know all these things that change when sin entered the world because this perfect creation that God had put in place was then corrupted by the choice of Adam and E.
And then the next thing IA couple verses I want to read about Noah. So we all know the story of Noah, right?
But if we think about The time from Adam and Eve when there was the fall in the garden. To the time of NOAA.
And you look at the genealogies. I did this a couple of years ago for the Sunday School kids.
We looked at the genealogies. Think about How many people separated from Adam was Noah. And I think the answer is like 2 or 3.
So there's 2 or 3 people that there's a gap where they were not alive at the same time that no, so no, would have been alive at the same time as Adam.
And you know, we were talking about this weekend, how was this story passed down? And my first thought was, well, I think obviously it wasn't.
Because we know when we look at what, Genesis 7, 7, Genesis 6 says about the world at the time of NOAA is that every man's heart is dedicated to evil except for Noah and his family.
How do you get from people that walked in the garden? With with God. To everyone's heart is fully focused on evil except for one.
Group of people. And only having maybe like one generation or 2 generations separated in the middle. And the answer is, unfortunately, free will, right?
All of those people that existed in that time have the choice. As to what they were gonna do with their lives and we see God, you know, sort of.
Looking at his creation and saying, wow. Everyone has gone their own way, turned away from what I wanted for them.
And we need to, you know, essentially destroy the world other than that he sees, Noah.
So I like to read a few, verses from Genesis 6 and 7. So Genesis chapter 6 verse 13.
I am gonna showcase some good choices and some bad choices just in case you're wondering. It's not all bad.
We are still here. So, Genesis 6 verse 13. And God said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
So God is judging this creation. Again, not a lot of separation. You know, it's like somebody's great grandpa would have had to have told their their son who would have told their son who could have talked to Noah.
And there might even be one extra, loop I put in there. But could have also then talk to everybody else.
And I can't imagine that Adam and E didn't share some of what it was like in the garden before the fall.
With their kids and maybe they with the grandkids they had a lot of grandkids Adam live for 923 years so I don't know a generation is 20 years, that's a lot of kids.
So you would assume that they knew what happened and they would pass that down. But then we get to this point and from the choices that everyone made, God is now looking at creation and saying, what was good?
And if you're looking at the I mean the number of chapters that we've read through at this point in the Bible are not chronological.
Timeline that we can say this was. So long but we're only on chapter 6. Chapter one starts with creation chapter 6 is This is a mess and we have to destroy everyone in the world.
Not, great choices that led to that. So if I skip forward to verse 22.
Noah makes the choice thus Noah did according to all that God had commanded him. So he did and I didn't read through the things that God tells no to do because I assume we know those.
People were probably looking at Noah like you're crazy. You're building a boat. It's never even rained.
I don't know if that means they had the word rain and their vocabulary. Because at this point it never had rained.
He's building a boat, you know, on land. And it takes them a hundred plus years to build this boat.
And I can only imagine what he was seeing and hearing from the people around him like you're just fooled.
You're crazy. Why are you doing this? Well, because God told me to, who's this God that you're talking about.
You know, these people, all of the people around it, if we, if we look at that situation, all the world is dedicated to evil.
Except for Noah and his family. And, but he still makes that choice to follow God's command and build the arc.
You could have said no. I don't know what would have happened if he said, no, we wouldn't be here right now, I don't think.
Talking about it if he had said no. But he didn't. He chooses to Step out in faith to follow what God has asked him to do.
And by that action now. The rest of us get to be here because God doesn't destroy the entire earth.
He saves Noah and his family. Because they choose to follow him. So chapter 7, Genesis 7 and 7.
So no one has sons and his wife and his son's wives went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.
And we know he takes the animals with him. We know what happens to the rest of that story. Humanity gets a fresh start because Noah shows to follow God.
I'm gonna pick up my paste a little bit here and maybe just describe the next few and rather than flipping to all the passages.
If I could pick one person in the Bible, that's human, fully human. Where we don't really see any bad choices.
It would be Joseph. Right, so if you read through Joseph's life. We don't read anything where he, I'm not saying that Joseph was perfect.
I'm not saying Joseph never made mistakes. But what we see about Joseph is that for his whole life that we know about.
He followed God. He didn't question God. He accepted that there was some plan for his life.
And it seems, in my opinion, he is always willing to accept whatever situation he was in. So that God could ultimately be glorified and the story that I wanted to, to read through, which I'll skip for the sake of time is the story when he's a servant in Podifer's house.
And Potter for his wife has desire for Joseph. And certainly the opportunity. For Joseph to choose.
Is there and we know that he doesn't in fact he he tells her no and no and no and it seems like from reading the scripture that it's a continual thing.
She's constantly coming to him, constantly badgering him. And at 1 point grabs onto him when no one is around and tries to make the decision for him and he runs with his his coat, his cloak still there.
And he flees the temptation. He makes the right choice there. But I'm assuming he knew that that choice was going to have repercussions.
And the repercussion is, Podifer's wife goes out, tells a bunch of lies to everybody and Joseph ends up in prison.
Now Joseph could have looked at that and said, I'm never gonna make that kind of choice again.
I'm gonna do, you know, whatever feels right to me at the time. I'm not going to make the right choice.
But he doesn't. He's in prison and if he hadn't made that choice, if he had a flee from that situation.
That he's not in prison when the dreams need to be interpreted and he interprets the dreams and because those dreams are interpreted, then he's put in a position of authority and he's given.
All the things that he's given, which ultimately then lead to the nation of Israel having all of these.
All of these things he saves his family he saves the whole region from famine and he follows God for his whole life.
You know, never looking back. At least is what it seems to me, always making the right choice.
And his choices then allow him to interact with different people. That he then he would have interacted with had he chose differently he could have certainly have said when he's interpreting those dreams.
Yeah, it's all me. I am the guy who knows what these dreams mean, but he doesn't.
He points that glory back to God. Again, making the right choice. I look at Samson.
Samson to me is a very interesting case study. A couple of months ago I shared and the morning service about Jonah.
And how I couldn't wrap my head around why Jonah thought he could run away from God knowing who God was that he was going to be able to run away from God and get out of the task God ask them to do.
Sometimes I kinda wish like maybe God would still be that way. When he tells me to do something, I start to say like, now, maybe that's not for me, that he's like, no, big fish.
Really bad situation you're not gonna wanna do anything until you go shower and get back on the path that I set out for you.
Unfortunately, God doesn't speak to us that clearly anymore. I think that's that's a bad thing for us.
But Sampson. Neil and I were talking about some other examples of people who did some of things in Sampson is to me an interesting one.
He knew Samson knew who he was. He was a Nazarite from his birth.
He knew what that meant. But he still sort of spend his whole life doing his own thing. I want Philistine women.
I wanna do this. I wanna do that. God had put him there and raised him up as a judge.
To free the nation of Israel. From, from that captivity, but from having the finger of the Philistines on them.
And. From what we read in the scriptures and certainly there has to be more to the story of Samson because I think he was a judge for 20 years.
And we know stories that certainly don't cover, 20 years worth of stuff that he did.
But it looks to me if I look at Sampson that he really only did things because he wanted to.
And occasionally what he wanted to do and what God wanted him to do aligned and he was like, all right, you know, this works out for me.
You don't really see him seeking after what it is that God is set for him. You see him kind of doing his own thing and then, you know, I get to carry the gate here.
I get to, you know, slay a bunch of Philistines here. And then at the end of his life, you know, maybe is the only time he really acknowledges that.
Again this is my opinion he really acknowledges that there was a plan for him and he says let me just have this one last thing Give me my strength back.
But if you look at his whole life, he really sought after the things that were desirable to him.
And when that led, for him to do some things that I think were along the path that God wanted.
That, worked out well for him. But God's plan was still accomplished, even though Sampson didn't follow to me if I look at, I contrast Joseph and Sampson.
You can see 2 totally different views on how to live your life. One following after the will of God seeking the will of God, making the right choices, one sort of doing his own thing.
And you just utilizing what God had given him. When it was convenient for him. I could be totally off on that.
You know, these are the stories that we read about Sampson, but if you look at all the things that he did, it was always associated with someone wrong in him.
And then him wanting vengeance for that personal slight or personal attack. And then always looking for things that maybe we're not what god desired for him very the first passage i was gonna read was about him kind of demanding that his parents go get him this Philistine wife.
Because he desired he wanted it i it's her i want her she's a fill senior his parents saying well Isn't there anyone from among your own people?
Oh no, I wanna be over here. And we know that God didn't want the nation of Israel.
In most cases, there's, some exceptions that mixing with with other nations. So we see Sampson is making some some bad choices but God's will still being accomplished.
The next one I want to talk about was Israel, the nation of Israel when they choose when they, when they sort of demand actually that they have a king so they can be like everyone else.
And that one to me is another situation like Jonah, you know. They're actually told directly by God while through the prophet, but by God directly, if you choose to have a king, these are all the bad things that are going to happen.
He's gonna take your land, take your money, and take your sons off the war. He's going to put you under his thumb.
And guess what? Those are all the things that happen, when they sort of rejected God's advice and not having a and decided they wanted to be like everyone else and set a king before them.
That turned out pretty poorly in my opinion for the nation of Israel, for a long period of time.
The line of kings we we talked about the good kings and the bad kings. Bad kings outweigh the good kings.
So that choice was pretty much they got exactly what they asked for. God told him, maybe do this.
These are the all the bad things that are going to happen. And they decided to choose and at 1 point I, you know, I sort of pictured God kind of throwing up his hands and going like, you know what?
Okay. You know, I told you. You don't wanna listen to me, go do your own thing.
He didn't leave them. He didn't forsake them, but he certainly turned them over to their own choice.
And that, didn't turn out well for them. I don't think in my opinion and probably in the opinion of a lot of people that lived at that time.
Or through those times where they had a king.
The next one, next patches I do want to read. So this is from the New Testament and then I'm really gonna have to speed it up here.
Unfortunately, I forgot my note cards on my trip. Didn't practice my message at all after I wrote.
Wrote my notes down. But we're looking at Acts chapter 9. So X chapter 9.
Act chapter 9 versus 10 through 18.
Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. I'm really not sure I wrote down the right passage here.
Oh, okay, yes, I'm sorry. It is the right passage. What I need to talk about before this was how we got to the situation.
So we know, he makes a choice. Early in his life, he's actually present at the stoning of, Stephen, holding the coats or watching over the coats.
And after that he kind of takes off persecuting the church. He believes at the time that he's doing the right thing.
We know that he meets. On the road to Damascus, he meets Christ.
He's blinded. He's spoken to. He's given some instructions. And, then, here's, you know, following the instructions.
Now there was a certain disciple, at Damascus named Anna and to him the Lord said in a vision.
Ananias and he said, here I am Lord. So the Lord said to him, arise and go to the street.
Called straight and inquire the house of Judas of the one called Saul of Tarsus.
For behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his site.
And Anna and Ias answered, Lord, I've heard from many about this man. How much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.
And where he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord said it him go for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles kings and children of Israel.
For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my namesake. And An Ice went his way and entered the house and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road has came and sent me.
Send me to you that you may receive your site and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales.
And he received a site at once and arose and was baptized. So there's 2 people here in this story that both had a choice.
Andanias, I think his choice was probably more difficult if I'm judging the difficulty of choices here.
Because he had to go to someone who was an enemy. And he had to go to that enemy.
And release the blindness that was in him knowing who this person was. I think he had a choice, certainly, to say I'm not gonna do that.
I don't think Saul deserves this. Gift that he's going to now receive and getting his site back.
I know this man is evil. But he does what God asked him to do. Saul certainly could have made different choices.
This way, he would chose not to follow the visions. He could have chosen not to acknowledge. Christ.
He could have chosen after he got his site back to lead a different life than the one he chose. Had he and Anna and I not made the choice that they made.
We wouldn't be reading this passage today. We wouldn't have all of the other things that were written by Paul.
That have you know helped to explain the gospel to so many people across thousands of years a couple of 1,000 years.
None of that would have happened in exactly the way it did. Again, I still think God's big picture plan is accomplished.
But how each one of us fits into it is based on the choices that we make. So both of these guys had a choice.
They both made the right choice. The last choice I want to mention, I won't read the passage again just for the sake of time.
Is when we read about Christ being in the garden, the night before he's crucified. It's very clear to me that he had a choice.
He prays, let this cup pass from me if it can. If there's another way. I think he knows full well what's going to happen in those next hours of his life.
I'm assuming he's not looking forward to that as none of us would. To go through even the physical torture that he endured but not even being able to understand the spiritual nature of that and the separation from God as he felt the sins of Everyone?
I don't think we'll ever understand what that was like. But he chose.
He chose to submit. He chose to stay on that cross for me. For you. And because of that choice, we have the ability to accept that sacrifice and to Enter into eternity.
In a perfect new heaven, any worth. That we that we didn't deserve. That we don't deserve that we can never deserve.
So to go back to, like I said, I'm gonna talk more about kind of the background of my message than what I want my message to be, which is.
Our choices matter. And it's not just the choice to accept salvation. It's the choices that we make in how we live our lives in.
What we say to our friends, what we say to our colleagues. And I'm not talking even just moral choices.
You know what clothing we choose to wear those that can affect the world around us and a story that I've told a couple of times I told the kids in the Sunday school class when you were talking about this, why did God?
Not just take the tree away. A few years ago we were on a vacation. And we wanted to go out to dinner because I had to have a buffalo burger and we found a place that had buffalo burgers.
And you know, I'm getting dressed to go. We've been in a car all day and we're gonna walk over to the restaurant.
And I put on a shirt I had a couple of shirts to choose from and I, you know, this is not a moral choice.
I chose to put on a shirt that I had picked up at the creation museum. And we go out to dinner and we're eating our one pound buffalo burgers.
Seth and I each had one. He finished it so did I. The waitress was impressed to say the least.
I felt like they should have took his picture and put it on the wall, cause I think he was like 6.
Maybe 7? It was so big I had to take all the toppings off, otherwise you couldn't even bite it because the burger was like this tall.
But anyway, that's not my story. So we're sitting there at dinner. And you know, I could kinda hear the table, you know, next to us kind of talking and.
At 1 point, Seth and I had to get up. And they looked at my shirt and they said, Is it worth going?
So we had a short conversation. Not a long conversation, short conversation about why I felt it would be really fantastic for them.
To not only go and see the creation museum, but also the arc encounter. For me personally, I think the arc encounter is, is better.
Both are good. But if I was gonna get to choose one, I'm gonna choose the arc encounter.
I just didn't have that shirt on. But I encourage them to go. I don't know if they went or not.
I really don't. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Maybe they went and they had a terrible experience.
Maybe they went and it was fantastic and it led to something good in their lives. But what I do know is if I hadn't worn that shirt, I never would have that conversation.
And that's not a moral choice of what shirt I'm wearing. You know, I wasn't gonna show up in like a death metal band shirt or something, it would have been like a national park shirt or creation museum shirt.
We, see the national parks everywhere I go, I get a hat and shirt. So, but this choice that I made again, not a right choice or a wrong choice, just a choice.
Had a had an impact in the sense that now I got to have a conversation with someone about something that's not innately spiritual, but could be.
Because I encourage them to go somewhere where the Word of God would be available for them to consume if that was their desire.
I'm not trying to pat myself on the back. It's just an example and how I picture this how I look at it when we look again at this big picture, I'm just a spec on a spec on a spec and a spec in God's plan.
There's a whole lot of other specs floating around, that are all trying to, you know, make it in this world.
Some of us are choosing. The things of God. Some of us are choosing to come here. Some of us chose to go on this trip.
The rest of you chose wrong that we went on this weekend. Man, only, sorry, it's a voice club thing.
But I look at it and this is why. This is why I wanted a projector. I look at life.
And choices and relationships. As if it's a giant. Atlas or roadmap.
Plugged in so easily the first time. Turn on. Wait for the white and press computer.
So in case you've never seen a roadmap. It looks like the age of the crowd.
Tonight is probably all seen roadmaps. My kids have probably never seen a roadmap.
I was actually gonna bring in Atlas, but the only Atlas that I have is an Atlas of the United Kingdom.
Because I lived there in 2,003 really before like GPS was the thing. And I had to know how to get around so I bought an atlas of the United Kingdom.
This is what an Atlas looks like. This is an Alice of just the United States Highways. But how I think about life and eternity and choices and free will.
Is let me give you a little bit of. Maybe ground rules. Let's say. I'm on a journey.
And I'm born in Miami, Florida. That's my journey. Some of you may be born in other places less cool.
I'm born in Miami, Florida. This perfect plan that God has laid out before me leads me on this Atlas all the way up to the top left corner of the map.
Into Washington where I die at the ripe old age of a hundred 3. And I've had a fantastic life.
That's God's perfect plan for me at every intersection. I make the right choice. I take the right turn, take the right exit on the highway, avoid all the construction zones.
And I choose that perfect life. No, I can't do that because I'm a flawed man full of sin.
But God has that path for me. Unfortunately I take wrong turns. I choose directions that I wanna go.
And so maybe I end up in. I don't know, Kansas City. And I die at the age of 27.
If I look at all of these. Intersections, I can look at them in a bunch of different ways.
They can be choices that I make. They can be intersections of people that are on their path based on the choices that they've made that either do or don't intersect my life based on the collection of choices that they've made and that I've made.
I made a whole lot of choices in my life up to this point that led me right here tonight. If I made a few different choices, maybe I wouldn't be right here tonight.
When we were out on the river, maybe we chose to stay a little bit longer and I didn't make it here tonight.
You know, that's a possibility. And then I don't know what happens. Someone else unfortunately walks up here and says, I'm gonna give a message I didn't have any time to prepare for and they're mad at me.
That could be a possible outcome. But what I'd like to encourage you at is there's no, I believe firmly, there's no choice that we make.
That leads us away from an intersection with God. So at any point, God is there prepared at that exit at that intersection waiting for us to turn the right direction.
And I'm talking about in the context of salvation. So there's no point at which it gets too late in my in my journey left to right, right?
Right to left on this map as you're looking at it. There's no point at which it becomes impossible for me to be saved.
There's no point at which God writes me off. There's certainly maybe points where I wrote him off or people that we know have written God off, but God never writes off any person.
His desire is for each one of us. To have a personal relationship with him. And to accept the sacrifice of his son.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent him. If it's not good enough or worth all of us, it's not worth Christ.
That's my personal opinion.
When we look at again this map, I can look at these things as, you know, I said choices that I make, I can look at it as intersections, interactions with people.
I come to a four-way stop. And I have a choice. I can continue going straight. I can go left, I can go right.
And those choices might be I'm driving home from work and there's someone standing at the highway exit with a sign that says, I need help.
Do I stop and help him? I can make that choice.
If I do, it could change my, it changes. I mean, it could change. It changes my life and it changes that person's life.
It's How big of a change? I don't know, but it changes that person's life.
It changes my life. And so what I'd like to leave is some words of encouragement is that Even if we've made bad choices, I made bad choices.
Probably even made some bad choices today. Not maybe within the last hour. I don't know. You let me know when I'm done.
But it At any point, we can choose to move back into the path that God has for us if we can find it.
And if we can't find it, it's not because God hasn't put it there.
It's because maybe we're not listening. Maybe we're choosing. Us our will over God's will and I'm certainly Not gonna raise myself above having done that for the vast majority of my life.
In choosing the things that I want rather than the things I didn't. And like I said, there's been some very clear moments in my life.
Where I can say, I know I'm on the right path. Those moments in the span of my 46 years here on this earth.
Are pretty few and far between. And that's on me. It's not on gone. Because I'm the one who's making the choices.
I'm the one who's choosing not to have this interaction, not to provide these words of encouragement or to make this choice to provide these words and encouragement.
And we're all here on this journey and there's a huge in. A number of years ago I had this really old school GPS that every time you said I want to go somewhere, it would start with the list of possible routes and like whittle it down.
So at 1 point I said I'm gonna drive from Kenosha to the Keys, Key L of Florida.
I was like, 27 million possible routes that I could take. And at the end it bubbles it down and says this is the route you should take and that's how I look at this path God has this one path doesn't have to be the same as I make choices that path has gotta move with me I hope I don't want to be left behind.
I don't think I was gonna leave us behind. But that, 2720, whatever 1 million options across my life exist and how I choose.
The path that I take the things that I say the things that I do the places that I go the people I talk to and then the opposite of that all the things I don't do, all the things that I don't say that I don't do that where I don't go.
All of those can have an impact. Not just my life, but on the lives of those around me.
And I would encourage all of us to look for those opportunities. Where we can make the choices that will put us down a path where we can say I know this is what God wants me to do to not We used to sing this song in Sunday school, right?
Quench not the spirit. Not to quench that and I quench so much in my life.
But to, encourage us all not to do that, to choose what we know to be right.
Because it matters. It matters for us. It matters for other people. And like I said, I think there's times in our lives where God puts people in our path and our job, our the expectation is that we will come alongside those people and potentially lead them to Christ or leave them out of a crisis or provide them with encouragement that they needed.
Whether we do that or not, that person isn't lost. I'm not saying you have to like look for every opportunity.
If you miss it, you've condemn that person to an eternity outside of heaven. Because I think everyone is redeemable at any point in their lives and there's other people that if we miss it there's other people that God's putting there to pick up that.
That choice that we missed. But I would encourage all of us to think about those things. As we go through life and to focus on while we know it to be right.
It's certainly much easier if you're spending time in the scriptures. To feel that closeness with God to understand that will for your life and certainly in my life that's been my experience the more I spend away from the scriptures the more I spend away from meeting with others of like precious faith.
The easier it is. To go off and. Take a detour. And there's been certainly moments in my life where I've suddenly looked up and said, How did I get here?
And it's never like a big, you know. Like I got off a big highway and started going east when I wanted to be going west.
It's always a collection of little things. I didn't do this. I didn't do that.
I made this bad choice. And all of a sudden you're miles away from where you wanted to be.
But God's always right there. Waiting for you to wake up, recognize it, and get back.
To what it is you should be doing. And I just like to encourage us all that our choices matter.
They matter here on this world, they matter in eternity. And, that's it.
I'd encourage us all to try and stay on that roadmap, 110 years, you know, as long as your knees are good.
My back's not so great. Maybe I only want 95, but.
All of those options and opportunities, the things that we choose. Moral or not moral, they all can affect the trajectory of our lives and the lives of those around us.
And on that note. I think it's time to finish. I like to close in a word of prayer.
Lord, we thank you. That we have the opportunity to come together. To study your word to focus on the sacrifices of your son.
We thank you that you created. All that we can see around us. We're thankful that you willing to remove the judgment that we all deserve that you place your son in that in that seat for us that you put our sin on him.
We thank you that you've given us the free will to choose. To accept that gift and based on that gift alone.
We become worthy to enter into your presence. I asked that you would encourage all of us to focus on the things that you have prepared for us to make your will clear in our lives, help us to make the right choices, the good decisions.
So that we can bring others to that same acknowledgement that we are nothing more than unworthy. And we need the salvation offered by the sacrifice of your son.
And this is you'd encourage us all as we, go out into this world. That is against us and against you and help us to be the light that shines in the darkness.
Bringing those, into your phone. We ask all these things in your name. Amen.