All In | Sunday, March 23, 2025

Amen. Thank you, Anthony and team. Good morning, Cross Connection. Welcome. I am so glad you guys are here.

Before you are seated, would you take out your Bible this morning? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one. We are in the New Testament book of Luke, so turn to about the last third of your Bible and look for Matthew, Mark, Luke. Luke chapter 3 is where we find ourselves this morning, beginning at verse 1.

There it is written, "Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Itaria, the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abene. While Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for remission of sins."

God, I pray as we stand here this morning, gathered together, we believe in Your presence. You promised that wherever two or more are gathered in Your name, there You are in the midst of them. So we trust that You are here by Your Spirit. You are present in Your Word, which is living and powerful.

I pray that by Your Word and by Your Spirit, You would continue the work in me and my brothers and sisters here. That the work of transformation, transforming our minds, would take place. As that transformation occurs, what the Bible calls sanctification, I ask that You would transform our lives so that the way we live would be different. It would be an expression of Your goodness and Your will.

God, do a work in us. Cause us to be a light of Your grace and Your truth in our generation, in this place, in this time. For we ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." You may be seated.

We have here in the text that I just read, over this passage, in many Bibles, the heading is "The Ministry of John the Baptist." There is an awful lot that could be said about the ministry of John the Baptist. When I think about John the Baptist, I think about a character that, in some respects,

Does not seem real. He's a fascinating individual. One of the interesting things is that even those historians and scholars who are skeptical about some of the things found in the Bible, specifically the miraculous events, agree that John the Baptist was a real person. Despite being such a captivating character, the reason they acknowledge his existence is that his name, his life, and some details about his ministry appear in all four Gospels. There is agreement in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John about this individual named John, whom we identify as John the Baptist. He was the real deal.

In some respects, when you think about John, he was like the most interesting man of his time, except for the fact that he lived at the same time as Jesus. Therefore, he would have to take a close second to that. He is quite a character as you find him in the texts. It's amazing what Jesus says about John the Baptist, as recorded in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 11. Jesus states, "Of those born of women," which includes all of us, "there is not one risen greater than John." What an awesome statement! If the Messiah says he is the greatest you will find, that's a pretty fascinating character for sure.

In addition to realizing how interesting John is, I think about an individual who was fully committed to the purpose, the mission, and the calling that God had set for him. This mission and purpose were placed upon him by God before he was even conceived. It is my conviction that this reality is true for you, just as it was true for John. God has a purpose and a plan for each and every one of us before we are conceived. Paul the Apostle alludes to this in the book of Galatians when he says, "I was called forth from my mother's womb to preach the gospel to Gentiles." That's exactly what he did. Jeremiah the prophet also speaks to this in Jeremiah chapter...

God says, "Before I formed you, I called you and ordained you to be a prophet to the nations." And that's what Jeremiah was. This guy, John the Baptist, was called by God and commissioned to a task before he was ever conceived. Throughout his life, we discover that he is fully committed to this. In one way, we could say he is all in.

I listen to a lot of different podcasts throughout the week. I get most of the news and opinion ideas from podcasts. One of my favorites is a podcast that comes out every Friday called All In. If you have heard that term before, it's a poker term, but it's not a poker podcast. I'm not really good at poker. My friend Tommy, who is sitting right here, likes poker. Sometimes he'll invite me and some of our friends over to his house to play poker. I know he does that when he wants some money because Tommy would tell you he's not great at poker, but I am not even good at poker. It's almost like I should just give him my money before we go to his house to play poker because I'm just going to lose.

That's beside the point; it has nothing to do with the Bible. Although it's not a poker podcast, the guys on this podcast do play poker. They are four friends and tech investors, and a lot of times they risk a lot. They put everything in, all in. When I think of John the Baptist, I think of someone who was totally invested, all in, in every possible way.

This morning, we are going to see a little bit about John and his ministry. We'll see more next week because I know it will surprise you. We're not going to get very far in Luke chapter 3 today, so there is more to come with John next week. At the end of our time, hopefully, I will have enough time to ask you to kind of make a bet, to maybe put a little bit on the line. Maybe not all in, but something on the line.

Several weeks ago, when we began the Gospel of Luke, we started with the angelic announcement from God. He sent an angel we assume to be Gabriel because that's the angel that later went to Mary. This angel comes to the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias, who was a priest, while he is in the temple and tells him that his wife, even though they are old and she is barren, is going to have a child. They are to call his name John. Now, when we come back to John in Luke chapter 3, it's fascinating to consider that 30 years have passed.

Thirty years have passed. If this were a movie, it would show up at the bottom of the screen: "30 years later." I talked a little bit about this last week. There isn't a lot of detail about what happened during those thirty years, but that's a long period of time between the announcement and John's birth, as well as the events in John chapter 1, leading us to the story of John here in Luke chapter 3.

It is interesting how Luke introduces this section. He starts with what scholars refer to as temporal markers, meaning markers of time. He provides some journalistic highlights about the setting in which the events of Luke chapter 3 take place. I keep saying "John" because I'm talking about John the Baptist, but it can be confusing. The Gospel of John is not the same as John the Baptist; there are different Johns, and there are several others in the first century as well.

In Luke chapter 3, he gives us details that set the time for the events in the story. Some of the names mentioned are ones you may have heard in history. We are told it was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. This gives us a pinpoint mark on the timeline of when these events are occurring. Tiberius became Caesar in Rome in September of AD 14. Adding fifteen years puts us in 29 AD.

Many historians believe that Jesus's birth was probably around 4 or 3 BC. We count backwards from there and then start counting forwards in AD. The Gospels tell us that Jesus is somewhere in his 30s, about 30 years old. So, while we often think of him as simply 30, he is actually in his early 30s, and John the Baptist is just six months older than him.

Furthermore, as I mentioned, Luke employs a journalistic style. He tells us in Luke chapter 1 and also in Acts chapter 1, which he also wrote, that he interviewed eyewitnesses to construct a detailed account of the life and ministry of Jesus. He notes that Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea.

You might be familiar with this even if you're not well-versed in much of the Bible, because Pontius Pilate is going to become important in the story later on. He became governor of Judea around 26 AD and served in that role for about a decade, until 36 AD. This places us somewhere in the early part of his tenure as governor, specifically around 29 AD.

Furthermore, we are told that Herod was the tetrarch, which means ruler, in Galilee. His brother Philip was the tetrarch in Iturea, which is north of Galilee. The Herods are names we recognize in history; they served as rulers and leaders over this region, which corresponds to what we know today as modern-day Israel in the north. However, the entire region was under the rule of Herod, who was serving as king in Israel.

What is remarkable is that Herod and his family were not even Jewish. Herod was an Idumean, a Greek translation of the word Edomite. If you know anything about the Bible, you understand that Edomites are not Jewish. This creates an interesting situation.

The details that Luke provides may seem trivial and unnecessary, prompting the question of why he includes all this information. However, it clues us into some very important things to keep in mind. First, it reminds us that what we have here is not just a story; it is history. These events actually happened, and the names—Tiberius, Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod—point us to a fixed point in time.

Interestingly, the Bible sometimes mentions individuals and places that archaeologists have not yet been able to validate through archaeological history. This has led to questions about the validity of the Bible, particularly regarding Pontius Pilate. For many years, historians debated whether the Bible was accurate and whether Pilate ever served as governor of Judea. Then, about 40 years ago, they uncovered a stone with the inscription of Pontius Pilate, which you can actually go and see in history. This discovery validates the Bible, and Israel as a whole is rich with historical significance.

Like one giant archaeological dig, everything you find there is old. We have a challenge with that because we live in a country that doesn't really have a good concept of old. Now, I know some of you might think, "Well, actually, I look in the mirror every morning, so I have a concept of old." That's not what I'm talking about.

When I was a kid, about nine years old, we moved to England and lived just outside of London in a town called Epine. On the high street, the main street, was St. John's Church. We went to that church when we first got there, and that church building was older than our nation. Some of the people there were founding members. We don't have a good gauge on old here, but in Israel, you find these things through archaeology that point back thousands of years, and it validates the Bible, just like the inscription for Pilate.

The very first thing that these little details, which could be easily passed over as trivial and unnecessary, remind us of is that this is history. The second thing this reveals to us is that John the Baptist shows up and begins to do the work that God had ordained for him before he was born, thirty years prior. He appears at a troubling time in Israel's history. For instance, we are told in this passage that Annas and Caiaphas were high priests.

Now, like I said, that seems like a trivial little point, unnecessary, and you could easily pass over it. However, we will see more from Caiaphas and Annas later on in the story of Jesus. Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. We know that Annas was appointed to the task by a Roman official around 15 AD, and he had some troubles in the position as high priest. Eventually, he stepped back a little and installed his son-in-law Caiaphas. He was kind of like the power behind the power—there but not really there, yet really there.

What you discover when you start to read about Annas and Caiaphas and what's happening in Israel or Jerusalem in the first century, at the time they were overseeing this, is that the religious endeavor, the center and heart of Judaism, had become basically like a political endeavor. Annas and Caiaphas are mentioned alongside Herod, Pilate, and Tiberius—politicians. For all intents and purposes, what once...

The connection to heaven at the temple in Jerusalem had become little more than a political power play. There was a lot of political intrigue and infighting. The ruling body of Judaism in Jerusalem was called the Sanhedrin, which consisted of 70 high leaders or rabbis in Israel who gathered to make decisions for the religious heartbeat of the nation. This was a factious and divided group of politicians from different religious groups or sects, such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Less known were groups like the Essenes, the Herodians, and the Zealots.

The Zealots are particularly interesting. They were known in Israel as those from whom came a group called the Sicarii, which were the dagger men. This group consisted of religious assassins who would covertly eliminate anyone who did not adhere to their way of doing things in Jerusalem. These are the dynamics at play in Israel during this time.

All these details that Luke provides are easy to overlook, but I am focusing on them because, first, Luke mentions them, and second, the politics of the time when John begins to minister and Jesus shows up are significant. If you follow the story of John the Baptist in the Gospels, it won't take long for him to kick the political hornet's nest, so to speak. He is going to encounter problems with the politics of the day.

More importantly than John stirring things up, what Luke does by highlighting these names is remind us that for the centuries leading up to the ministry of John the Baptist and the advent of Jesus, religion in Jerusalem had become little more than a political power play. I mentioned earlier that Herod was an Idumean, specifically an Edomite. This may not mean much to you, but it would have meant a great deal to the Jews of his day because he was not Jewish. The Edomites were connected to the family of Israel, and if you go all the way back to the book of Genesis, the children of Israel descend from Abraham. Abraham had Isaac, and Isaac had two sons.

One was named Esau and the other was named Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to Israel, and his descendants became the children of Israel. Esau was called Edom, an Edomite. They were related, but they were hated. The Jews and the Edomites did not get along. We wouldn't necessarily call them enemies throughout their history, but they weren't exactly friends. They didn't fully get along. Yes, there was a connection, but having an Edomite ruling the nation of Israel would be like if Prince William were selected as president. We might say, "Hey, listen. We're related," but not like that. You stay over there across the pond, right?

The Edomites lived across the river, on the east side of the Jordan River, in what we know today as the modern state of Jordan. But now, an Idumean was on the throne. Not only was an Idumean on the throne, but the high priest was also an elite, well-connected politician in this factious ruling body that was divided in Israel. At this point in time, the nation of Israel was divided, very immoral, and an irreligious hot mess. I'm sure none of you can imagine anything like that at all.

I think that among the people of Israel, the populace, there were two thoughts, two sentiments in the minds and hearts of the people when John showed up on the scene. The first thought that probably went through their minds was, "Can it get any worse?" The second was, "Is there any hope that it could get any better?" I wonder if you've ever thought those things. You look at the state of your household, which may be in disarray. You look at the state of the place where you work, or this county that we live in, or the state, or the nation, or the world, and you think, "Could it get any worse? Is there any hope that it could get any better?"

Yet we know from the biblical text, as well as from extrabiblical texts from the first century, that there was a sense among the people of Israel. There was an expectation and an anticipation that something was about to happen.

It could be bad; it could be good, but there was this sense that something was going to happen. I don't know about you, but for me, in the months and actually years after 9/11 happened—you all remember that event—I would find myself waking up many mornings kind of wondering, expecting, and anticipating that something bad was going to happen. I think that's the way things were in Jerusalem and throughout Israel at that point in time. They were occupied by Rome, they had an Edomite as king, and they had a religious ruling body that was hardly religious and mostly political. In their hearts and minds was the question: Can it get any worse? Is there any hope that it could be any better?

We read, and I love this, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. Point number one, if you're taking notes this morning: God often seems to show up at just the right time. I know that's been my experience; maybe it's yours as well. As I mentioned last week, it almost seems like He shows up a little late to the party for me most of the time because I'm like, "Come on." But He often shows up at just the right time.

I love those words: the word of God came. That phrase, or some variant of it, such as "the word of the Lord" (with "Lord" in all capital letters) in the Old Testament, shows up more than a hundred times. The word of the Lord came to Abraham. The word of the Lord came to Samuel. The word of God came to Solomon. It came to Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Zechariah—more than a hundred times in the Old Testament, we read the words "the word of God came."

Then, in the New Testament, I think it appears only twice. What happened? Over and over again, you can do the study: the word of God came throughout the Old Testament, but then God was silent for 400 years. Again, let me talk a little bit about time and things that are...

God was silent for Israel for 400 years. Throughout the Old Testament, the word of God came repeatedly. The people of Israel were expectant, believing that God could speak to them at any moment. He could communicate through a prophet, calling them back to Him, telling them to move or not to move. There was an anticipation that God could speak at any time.

However, after 400 years of silence, an angel showed up in the temple and spoke to Zacharias, thirty years before Luke chapter 3. It is not hard to understand why he was struck speechless for ten months; this had not happened for 400 years. Zacharias entered the temple to perform his duties as a priest, offering incense, when God finally showed up. The angel said, "Hey, your wife Elizabeth is going to bear a son. You are to call his name John. He will be great." According to Luke 1:15, "In the sight of the Lord, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from the womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God."

This was the word that the angel spoke to Zacharias in the temple after 400 years of silence. His son would have the spirit and would turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. This is key: he will go before the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Now, here's the amazing thing. Those words that the angel spoke to Zacharias were the last words that God had spoken to His people through a prophet 400 years before. You can fact-check me later. The last book of the Old Testament is the book of Malachi. Some people like to say "Malichi," the first Italian prophet, although he was not. In Malachi chapter 4, the last words of the Old Testament are those words that the angel shared with Zacharias before the birth of John. What is the angel doing? He is saying...

Okay, now God is on the move once again. How powerful that must have been—the last word of the Old Testament, and then silence for 400 years. Four hundred years after God stopped speaking to the people, Jerusalem, Israel, is occupied by Rome. It is ruled by an Edomite king. The temple is inhabited and run by high priests who are hirelings and factious politicians.

But the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. Notice that the word of God did not come to a priest in Jerusalem; it came to a prophet in the wilderness. What was the word? In verse four of Luke 3, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, it quotes Isaiah 40:3, saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make His path straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

Point number two: God often seems to show up where we least expect Him. He didn't show up in Jerusalem. He didn't show up in the temple. God shows up in the wilderness of Judea. What does the wilderness of Judea look like? Well, have you ever been to Anza Borrego? That's about what it looks like—almost exactly. In fact, if you were dropped in the wilderness of Judea, you might think you're in Anza Borrego; it looks very similar. I've been there many times.

So there, in the middle of nowhere, God shows up where you least expect Him, after being silent for 400 years. Four hundred years is certainly long enough to bring the people to a place of deep desire and yearning for the appearing of God. And God does show up. He shows up in an unexpected way, in an unexpected place, through an unlikely person.

Why do I say "unlikely person"? Because John was an unlikely person. He was the child of an old couple, Zacharias and Elizabeth, who were probably long dead at this point, and he did not take his...

Father's name did not follow the custom of taking his father's career in the footsteps as a priest. Now, he is in the wilderness. The description of him in Matthew's Gospel and Mark's Gospel is striking. I love the description: he wore a tunic of camel hair and had a leather belt. He ate wild locusts and honey.

Now, I am sure that the John the Baptist diet is going to be the next fad. Eating locusts and wild honey might make you skinny and a bit weird if you try it. But he wore a camel hair tunic, a leather belt, and ate wild locusts and honey.

What is this unlikely prophet doing? If you jump back a verse or two, you will see that he went into all the region around the Jordan River, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. God showed up, and God began to speak. God began to move.

What do you do when God shows up? Well, if you're wise, point number three is to not miss the opportunity to join Him. John didn't miss the opportunity to join Him. However, I must regrettably acknowledge that more than a few people miss the opportunity to join God when He shows up. Some may delay until their later years, and finally they relent, saying, "I wish I would have done this sooner."

I remember, a long time ago now, sitting in my Toyota Starlet. What a car! I recall one time when the carburetor broke, and I took it to a carburetor shop. I told the guy it was a 1981 Toyota Starlet, and he was flipping through the computer. He asked, "What's that called?" I replied, "The Starlet." Eventually, he got a book off the shelf, flipped through it, and exclaimed, "Oh, hey, awesome! They only made it one year. There was a reason."

Anyways, I remember sitting in the car with my friend Charles. Charles had this giant blonde afro, my good friend Charles. I remember we were having a conversation about serving God. We were both in Bible study.

I remember telling him, "I don't ever want to get to a point where I say, 'I wish I would have.'" A lot of people have many "I wish I wouldn't have" moments. You probably have a few of those today. However, I think almost worse than "I wish I wouldn't have" is "I wish I would have." I wish I would have served the Lord and followed when the opportunity came. John was all in.

What was the word of God that came to him? We can assume it was the word of God that he declared to other people. What word was that? He went preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. The message of John was new and different. This idea of baptism comes from the Greek word "baptizito," which means to fully immerse in water. This was relatively new for Jewish people.

They had the idea of ritual washing. In the Old Testament book of Leviticus, chapter 15, it talks about a ritual washing for someone who has been made unclean. In chapter 16 of Leviticus, it discusses a ritual washing for the high priest before he would go into the temple on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In 2 Kings 5, there's an interesting story about a Syrian general named Naaman who got leprosy. He went to the Jewish prophet Elisha and asked him, "How can I be healed of this leprosy?" Through a servant, Elisha told him, "Go dunk yourself, dip yourself seven times in the Jordan River, and you'll be clean."

Naaman got upset because he thought, "Your Jordan River is disgusting. We have better rivers in Syria. I won't go in that dirty, messy river." One of his servants suggested, "Well, you could try." He did, and he was healed. But that's about it regarding the idea of ceremonial ritualistic baptism being immersed.

Now, John shows up on the scene and says to be baptized for the remission of sins. This is new and different. He is calling people to be immersed in water. We can assume he was at the Jordan River, just like Naaman the Syrian was before, or maybe one of the small tributary streams leading to the Jordan River. People were coming to him in the wilderness of Judea, and he was saying, "Get into the river! Come on, all in! Be immersed in water for the remission of sins." John was calling the people to be immersed in water as a demonstration, not of their forgiveness, but of their...

Repentance. Repentance for the remission of sins. What does this mean? Why is John doing this? What exactly does this mean?

Well, the word "repent" is a challenging word because, in English, it has an etymology, a source, a connection to the idea of penance. The idea of penance is often associated with giving a payment. Sometimes, when people hear "penance," they think of flogging themselves because they believe they have been such bad people. They feel they must beat themselves up or deny themselves.

The English word "repentance" is connected to penance, which is not good because the Greek word and the Hebrew word, in fact, in the Old Testament, are hardly ever translated as "repent." Only a few times is it translated that way. Most of the time, it is translated as "return" or "turn." The idea is that you've been on this path, and God says to turn, to return.

You know the GPS, the God Positioning System? When you take a wrong turn, it says "recalculating," and then it tells you to turn and get back on the right path. Sometimes, I wish it would talk like a real person, saying, "Hey, idiot, you're on the wrong path." Somebody should make that.

But what is repentance? It is to turn and return. Turn from where? Well, you're on this path. Turn and return to what? To the Lord. This is what many of the prophets of the Old Testament would say: "Return to the Lord."

So, John says, "Repent. Turn for remission." What is remission? It is for pardon, for forgiveness, for the dismissal of sins. As I said, this is new. This is different. In Judaism, if you had sinned, where would you go to be forgiven? You would go to the temple in Jerusalem. You would go to a priest who would help you offer a sacrifice.

But we've already established that God hasn't been at that place in the temple in Jerusalem for a long time. It is filled with hirelings, money changers, and politicians. So, John says, "Turn to the Lord. You don't need to go to Jerusalem and offer a sacrifice at the temple before the priest. You need to turn to the Lord directly for pardon, for removal, for forgiveness of sins."

The prophet Isaiah, 600 years before John, foresaw this day coming. But now, John is in the wilderness, preaching repentance and baptism for the remission of sins. Why is John doing this?

This? Well, first and foremost, John is doing this because God told him to go do this. If God tells you to do something, you ought to do it, and he did it.

But what is the purpose of John's baptism? One of the challenges with this text is that some have read it over the years and said, "Well, baptism saves you or baptism deals with your sin." That's not what is being said here. It is the repentance and turning to God that deals with your sin. The baptism is just a demonstration that you did that. It's an external indication that you have turned from your sin and turned to the Lord. The physical act of baptism is a physical demonstration of a metaphysical act that has taken place in the heart—a repentance, a turning towards God. So, he is calling people to turn to God and demonstrate it through being all in.

More importantly, why was John baptizing? What was the purpose of this act he was performing in the wilderness, immersing people in water in a way that they had not seen before? This is not something that they knew or understood; it is different. Why is he doing this?

I suggest to you that John's baptism was primarily for revelation. The Gospel of John, again, a different John, in chapter 1, tells us why he was baptizing. You can fact-check me later; I don't have time to turn there. He says, "He who sent me to baptize," that would be God, "told me upon whom you see the spirit descending, that one is the Messiah."

Here’s the amazing thing about John's baptism: after Jesus was baptized by John and John bore witness that he saw the spirit descend upon him like a dove and remain, John stopped baptizing. If his baptism was essential, crucial, the most necessary, he wouldn't have done that. It indicates to us that he who sent me to baptize told me I am baptizing for revelation, that you might know who the Messiah is. So, the purpose of John's baptism was not salvation; it was primarily for revelation.

Revelation. Now, that's the setting of what's taking place here in this text. With all of this in mind, I want to finish today with some keys to maybe make some application for us sitting here today.

You see, things in John's day were bleak. The text sets the stage. The Romans ruled Israel and much of the world with a heavy hand and an iron fist. An Edomite, a descendant of Esau, was the king and ruled the land of Israel. The priests had stooped down to mere political scheming, conniving, and plotting. The prophets had been silent for 400 years, and the people of the nation were in despair and darkness.

But God always seems to show up at just the right time, often in ways we don't exactly expect. When He shows up, the right response is to not miss the opportunity and join Him as a partner in that.

Why do I bring all of this up this morning? Well, first, I see it in the text; it's here in the Scriptures. But perhaps more importantly than seeing it in the text, I think that we, living here in 2025, are at the end of a long, bleak winter of silence. I believe God is on the move.

Have any of you ever read C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"? Some of you are nodding. In "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which is allegorically related to the Bible, it starts out with Narnia being always winter and never Christmas. Then something begins to happen. Aslan is on the move. Aslan, represented as a lion in Narnia, is the image, the picture of Jesus. Aslan is on the move, and then something begins to happen to the White Witch's rule of terror in her perpetual winter. What happens? Father Christmas shows up.

This is actually interesting. J.R.R. Tolkien, you might know that name from "The Lord of the Rings." He and C.S. Lewis were friends, and he had a problem with C.S. Lewis injecting Father Christmas into a fictional story like this. He said, "You can't bring something from our world into that world. That's wrong." They had a conflict over this. It seems foolish, but that was the thing. Father Christmas shows up, and after he arrives, what happens? The snow begins to melt because the land is on the move; the perpetual winter has been broken.

I think we're seeing something like that right now. I believe God is on the move. God shows up at those times when you think, "Can it get any worse? Is there any hope that it could get any better?" I think there are many people in our nation, in the church today, who have been asking that question for a while. I certainly have been asking that question for a while.

I had the blessing this last week to attend a senior pastor and wives conference out in the desert. This was the first time my wife and I have gone to something like this in 17 years as senior pastors because there just haven't been many of these events. My friend, Pastor Rob Salvado, who pastors a church in Vista, put this conference together and invited me to come out. A number of my friends were there, including my friend David Guzik, who gave a message on "God is on the Move."

He asked me beforehand, "What are you seeing that indicates to you?" He also asked my friend Chuck, "What do you guys see that indicates to you that it seems like God is on the move?" We've been having this conversation for a while. My friend Chuck said, "God's doing something on the college campuses in America." I agreed with him.

I shared with David that one of the things I'm seeing is that those who were previously atheistic and skeptical are now, for the first time, kind of wondering if there might be truth in this Christianity thing. I've seen, as I shared with David, that there have been a number of people who were formerly steadfastly against the moral standards of the Bible and the teachings of the Bible, and all of a sudden they're saying, "Maybe there's something to that."

I don't want to miss the opportunity when the Lord is on the move. It's the right time to partner with Him and to be at least partly in, hopefully more than partly, maybe all in. I was talking with my wife about this while we were out in the desert, and she said, "You know, I think maybe you should share some of this with the church."

I'm going to take more time than I would. I hope you don't mind me sharing some of this with you because I think it's important. God is on the move.

Twenty years ago, I had the privilege of serving at a Bible school in Germany, and that's where I met my friend David Guzik. I remember we were in a teaching one time, and he said, "I'm convinced that the only hope for Europe in this next generation is a move of God. It will either be Christianity and a move of God or Islam." About a year later, I read a book called While Europe Slept. It's not a Christian book at all. In fact, it was written by a man named Bruce Bawer, who left America. He lived in Tennessee and didn't like the bigoted Christians there. So, he and his partner moved to the Netherlands to get away from the bigoted Christians who called him a sinner.

In the Netherlands, specifically in Amsterdam, he found that he and his partner lived on a street filled with radical Muslims who didn't just want to call him a sinner but wanted to beat him up or kill him. He wrote this book, stating that while Europe slept, secularism increased, Christianity declined, and radical Islam moved in to take over. He highlighted that back in 2005, when this book was released, there was a shirt being worn by Islamic youth in Copenhagen that said, "2030, and then we take over." That's not too far away now.

A few years ago, another author named Douglas Murray in England wrote a book called The Strange Death of Europe. He highlights that in the last several generations in Europe, secularism has increased, Christianity has declined, and Islam has moved in to take over. It has been said for a long time that America is about twenty years behind Europe, sometimes a little bit more. But you have all watched, as I have, as secularism has increased and Christianity has declined. We may not be as far along as Europe, but you don't need to look far to see where things are going.

There is only one hope for our nation and for the world: it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's not better politics or better politicians. I think that both of those are a byproduct of salvation. There is only one hope: it is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pew Research, one of the major research firms in our nation, came out with a report just a few weeks ago on their most recent study of religion in America. For the first time in a quarter century, they observed a leveling off of the decline of Christianity in America and the first positive increase in 20 years. Let me tell you, God is on the move. The question is, are we just standing on the sidelines, or are we recognizing that God wants us to be engaged? Maybe a little bet, a side bet, or maybe all in to be engaged.

Now, I'm not worried that the church is not going to survive. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." That's not what I'm worried about. However, we can't assume that things, as they have been in generations in the West, will continue to be so if Western people depart from the truths and tenets of Christianity. The message of the gospel is the only hope for this world.

Jesus speaks about two very important kinds of life: abundant life, which seems to be more here, and eternal life, which is in His future kingdom. His message is the only way to life, and He calls us to partner with Him in that work. So, I'm asking you to engage. As I look out here, as I did in the first service, I know that there are many of you that I've known for a long time. You might say, "I did that in the past." Yes, but are you doing that today?

Some of you have never been invited to be a part of the work. Even the work that we call you to be a part of may seem like it's not a very big deal. However, when we're faithful in little things, God begins to move us into bigger things. Sometimes the little thing that He calls us to be involved in is something like being an usher, a greeter, or a life group leader. It may seem small to us, but it's that first step where you say, "Okay, I'm going to push in a little bit and see if maybe God might want me to do something." I can guarantee you He does.

But we need your help. I think you've noticed we live in a place that has a high rate of secularization. Within 10 miles of this building, as I've shared many times before, are a million people. Research done about 15 years ago now...

Pretty old statistics indicate that only 9.3% of the people in this area are in any way affected by the Christian church. This means that more than 90% of the people living here do not know or have not heard the gospel. What does that mean? It means we're not doing our job. God wants us to be engaged in that work. He wants us to reach more people, not just so that we can have a bigger church, but so that the kingdom of God can increase. We might see His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

I would ask you to pray. I think we have an open window. It's interesting; the great Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer, in 1981, released a book called "The Christian Manifesto." Chapter 6 is titled "An Open Window." He stated that the church has an open window. At the beginning of the 1980s, some of you may remember that there was an open window for the gospel. I believe we have another small open window for the gospel now, and would to God that we would see Him move.

Here's the amazing thing: I don't always understand it, but He chose to use us to be a part of that. I think He could do it better. We often think we could do it better. This is part of the reason why I believe God waited until the very end of creation to make man; He knew that if He made us at the beginning, we would be saying, "No, I wouldn't do it that way." So, He waited until the end. But He still wants us to engage and be a part of it.

I would ask you to pray because God wants you to be involved, and I need your help. We need your help. Almost every week, we say, "We need your help for life groups. We need your help for children's ministry. We need your help for all these different things that we're doing." It seems like only one person shows up. My wife said, "I think there needs to be a family meeting." In my house, I know what that means. When my wife says there needs to be a family meeting, heads are going to roll. Now, I'm not going to do that, but I am going to say that God is calling you to be involved. He wants us to reach this place that sometimes we can look at and think is so far gone. It's not.

I love when I travel to other places and they hear that I pastor a church in California. They always ask the same thing: "Are there any Christians in California?" I respond, "Come on! I'm in Kentucky. There's not even 5 million people in Kentucky. There are more Christians in California than there are people in Kentucky." We are here contending.

Earnestly for the faith, it would be to God that He would move in our day. Amen. Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Anthony, I'm going to close, buddy.

Father God, I thank You for Your Word. I pray, God, that You would help us to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil, making the most of every opportunity. God, help us. Help us as Your people, as Your church, for such a time as this here in this place to be a light to those who are in darkness.

We pray that You would move miraculously and powerfully by the hosts of heaven against those spiritual hosts of wickedness here in this area. There are strongholds in San Diego County of the enemy. Would You help us to see that and to recognize that there is a spiritual battle going on here and to engage in that battle?

God, help us not to sit idly by because I want to hear You say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." So, God, open our eyes to see the ways in which You might be calling us to engage. And Lord, give us the faith to be all in and not seated on the sidelines. Even if that makes us fearful, even if that disrupts or causes issues, Lord, help us to be fully committed.

And now, may the Lord bless and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.