577 episodes

http://www.relentless-love.org

The Sanctuary Downtown / Relentless Love Peter Hiett

    • Religion & Spirituality
    • 5.0 • 38 Ratings

http://www.relentless-love.org

    Calm and Quiet Your Soul

    Calm and Quiet Your Soul

    Walk On (and Just Remember I Love You)

    Walk On (and Just Remember I Love You)

    Recipe for Joy (Sorrow in the Van)

    Recipe for Joy (Sorrow in the Van)

    Seventy-three years ago, the fate of the world hung in the balance; everything depended on the success or failure of an imminent invasion. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Forces, was to make the call.

    Early on the morning of June 6, 1944, paratroopers began dropping behind enemy lines. In a few more hours, thousands of young men would begin storming the beaches of Normandy, France. About 10,000 would die that day, and by evening the world would know whether or not it had all been in vain.

    I wonder how Eisenhower spent the night of the fifth. Watching, waiting? Did he sweat blood? Did he pray in a garden? Imagine if he called you and said, "Would you come watch and wait with me?" Would that be an honor? If you were Eisenhower, whom would you call?

    Jesus called on Peter.

    In a few hours, Jesus would be nailed to a tree, and He would descend into the depths of the earth, the depths of every evil decision made by the children of Adam — your pain, your isolation, your sin, your sorrow. In the garden of Gethsemane, He prayed, "Father, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will but thy will, be done." Just before He made this choice on our behalf, He turned to Peter, and said, "My soul is filled with sorrow, even unto death. Would you stay awake with me, watch, and wait, with me? And pray that you would not enter into temptation."

    Three times, Jesus asked this of Peter.
    Three times, Peter fell asleep.
    Three times, Peter denied Jesus before the dawn.
    Three times the resurrected Christ asked Peter, "Do you love me?"

    We ask, "Where is God when we suffer?"
    Perhaps we should ask, "Where are we when God suffers?"

    1 Peter 4:12: About 30 years later, Peter writes, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial [purosis: burning] when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings..."

    Let's be honest. We all find the fiery trial . . . surprising.

    We tend to think that life is a test in order that God can find out what we will do.
    But life is a test in order that we might find out what God has done and is always doing.
    Peter just told us: Your faith is tested like good is tested—by fire.
    Fire perishes, but faith does not: It is an "imperishable seed."

    We seem to think that we save ourselves from God with our faith.
    But Peter seems to think God saves us from ourselves with his Faithfulness.

    Faith is born at the foot of a cross, after a great test, trial, and temptation which our Lord passes and never fails, although it hurts like "hell"; for there, He bears the pain of our unfaithfulness and gives us His faithfulness. He is our righteousness. Our good free will, the decision called Love.

    It's all according to plan. And we find that to be rather surprising.

    "Do not be surprised... but rejoice insofar as you share in Christ's sufferings." That's surprising. We think that Christ suffered so that we don't have to; Peter thinks that Christ suffered that we might suffer with him. " Rejoice insofar as you share..." That's surprising.

    1 Peter 4:17: "It is time for judgment to begin with the household of God." That's surprising. "And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome [telos] for those who refuse to believe the gospel of God?" What should be the punishment for not believing? Not believing?

    1 Peter 4:18: "If the righteous is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" What became of "the chief of sinners"? He was saved with some difficulty. Peter was saved with some difficulty. Judas must've been saved with even more difficulty, for after Jesus called him "friend," he descended to the dead that "judged in the flesh the way men are, they might live in the spirit the way God does (as Peter just told us)." That surprises us.

    1 Peter 4:19: "Therefore let those who suffer, while doing good, entrust their souls to a faithful Creator." That's especially surprising, for we thought

    Repent: The Kingdom is the Van

    Repent: The Kingdom is the Van

    1 Peter 4:7, "The End (Telos) of all things is at hand."

    In the past three messages, we've seen that “the End” is a day (the seventh day), that is a kingdom, that is a boat, that is a tabernacle, that is a temple, that is a person, that is the Way, that is like a van that is "at hand," parked in the garden of your soul.

    Jesus said, "I am the End... the Beginning... and the Way."

    For the past three weeks, we've been talking about my family's journey to the Magic Kingdom (Disney World) in our minivan, and how, on the way from Denver to Orlando, I surprised my children in Junction City, Kansas, only to discover that my children did not want to get back in the van, for they had set their hopes on the bowling alley and the park in Junction City. And how I finally said, "Just get in the van," and grudgingly they did, and how God "whispered to my soul, “Peter, now you know what it's like for me, being your Daddy." And then I (child of God) also got in the Van.

    This space and time (the sixth day) is like Junction City. In Junction City, the Father's will becomes our will, even if it's only the size of a mustard seed at the time.

    In a garden, at a junction, Jesus prayed, "nevertheless, not my will but thy will." "Not my will" must be Adam's will. And "thy will" must be God's will. So, who is willing to not will their own will, but God's will? It must be the God Man, the Eschatos Adam, the Father in his Van, Divinity in human flesh and blood, come to get us in Junction City. We are justified (made right) by the "Faith of Christ." "If there is Faith in us, Christ is in us (See, Eph. 3:17)" wrote Augustine. We're saved by Grace through faith, and travel by faith in Grace. Faith is Trust, and Grace is Relentless Love.

    Faith in Love (and Our Father is Love) is what makes the Magic Kingdom “magic.” This Kingdom starts in the van and actually is the van — it's the Body of Christ.

    Well, imagine if I had gotten the kids in the van, turned around and said (call this "Proclamation A"), "Look. I'm going to the Magic Kingdom, and the two of you that love me most and that love each other best, I'll take with me into the Kingdom when we arrive. But the other two, who don't love me most and don't love each other best, I'll sell for medical testing in Florida, and I'll never ever see you again." Would any of them love each other and trust me at all, or only pretend that they did?

    But imagine if I had gotten the kids in the van, turned around, and said (call this "Proclamation B"), "Look. I'm taking you all to the Magic Kingdom . . . even if it kills me. But none of us can arrive until all of us arrive, because you all are my Magic Kingdom." Would that have been different?

    If I had issued Proclamation A, and my children believed me (for they didn't know me),
    #1. They would’ve thought: There is not one end but two equal opposite ends (that aren't "ends")—endless bliss and endless torment.
    #2. They each would've thought: The "end" is dependent on my own judgments, my choices, my will.
    #3. Commanded to love me or else, they would try to love me but secretly despise me, and least of all trust me — for I had commanded love and threatened to not love.
    #4. Commanded to love each other or else, they might pretend to love each other. But in the name of Love, they would compete (try to be first by making the other last); they would divide (So even if they acted just the same, each would be utterly alone.); and everything would die.

    It's the way of the world; it's the "lust of the flesh”; it sounds like "religion," doesn't it?

    We think, "No father would say such things," and yet we — the institutional church — do say that “Our Father in heaven” says such things. We didn’t always say such things, but once we became part of Rome, we did. And we began to compete, and divide, and become whitewashed tombs and the walking dead.

    Now imagine if I had turned around and issued Proclamation B: “Look. I’m taking you all to t

    Enter the Garden

    Enter the Garden

    Kingdom in the Van

    Kingdom in the Van

    This week's message is the second half of last week's message; so, if you haven't read my summary of last week's message, please read it right now — and then, read this.



    At the start of this message, I shared the home movie that I shared in the last message. You see, I videotaped the whole thing — or I should say, "part of the whole thing." I had the camera running when I began the pre-arranged dialogue with the pastor in Junction City as we sat on the steps of the house I grew up in across from the park. I wanted to capture the moment on film — the magic moment, when my kids would be overwhelmed with joy and cry out, “We’re going to the Magic Kingdom! We’re going to Disney World! I love you, Daddy!” But . . . they did not.

    Susan asked, “Don’t you want to go to Disneyworld?”
    John said, "I'll think about it."
    Elizabeth said, "I'd rather stay here."

    We put the mouse ears on their heads. We danced around singing. But they did not dance or sing. They whined, "But what about Junction City?"

    At that point I shut off the camera and said, "Get in the van."
    Coleman pumped his little fists and said, "Shoot, I wanted to go to the park."
    Becky whined, "I don't want to get in the van."
    And I said, "Just get in the van." And as I was walking around the back of the van, I think our Father in Heaven said something to me.

    I absolutely love that video. I could watch it a million times. And yet, it hurts a bit every time, for I think, "Those moments are all in the past." It probably hurts folks in our worship service now, for they think, "Nice family. But couldn't we watch something else; it's not my family; I can't live your life and you can't live my life."

    I absolutely love that video. And yet, at the time, I hated it — that's why I shut off the video camera; it wasn't matching my expectations.

    We had a wonderful time in Disney World, but it did get old, and we got grumpy. It's surprising, but my kids never seemed interested in going back. However, they still love to reminisce about our time in the van. Faith, Hope, and Love grow on the journey. Faith, Hope, and Love are what make the Magic Kingdom “magic.” My kids, now 29, 32, 34, and 35, miss the Magic Kingdom in the van. It seems that the entire Journey, “The Kingdom was at hand.”

    In 1 Peter 3:18-4:6, Peter reminds us of several journeys (Noah in an Ark journeying to a new world, Israel with the Ark journeying to a new age, and Jesus who is the Ark journeying from Hades to Heaven).

    In 1 Peter 4:7, he writes, "The End of all things is at hand....”

    Some people think that chronological time just goes on forever without end, in which case everything will get infinitely old and boring. Some people think that if the end is the beginning, then time must move in a circle, in which case everything will get infinitely repetitive and boring. Jesus said, “I am the Beginning and the End” (Rev. 22:13) and "I am the Way” (John 14:6), in which case, the line (time without end), that turned into a circle (time with one end and beginning), now collapses into a singularity (all of time in one point).

    In the 20th century, scientists said, "This is weird, but it appears that everything that's anything came from a singularity (We call it "the Big Bang.") And, even weirder, there's something like it in every person that determines the state of matter which we thought was everything that's anything (We call it "the observer.") I suspect that the Bible calls those things “God” and “the breath of God.”

    "Modern Christians" have stopped believing the Bible because of 19th century science, and because of religious people who say "But . . . Hell; there is no End to all things, for some things have to be tortured forever without End (without Jesus)."

    But what if we believed Scripture?

    "Time does not exist apart from eternity's embrace," writes Karl Barth. "Eternity embraces time on all sides, preceding, accompanying, and fulfilling it. To say that God is e

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
38 Ratings

38 Ratings

Tzoltzor ,

Revelation

I’m listening to the series on Revelation. Simply delightful. So good. What a wonderful and mysterious King we have. Thank you, Pastor Peter, for these sermons.

So thankful!! ,

Awesome happy

Love the messages i have heard but won't download want to listen when I have no wi fi
apple ipad

Ryan & Amanda Caldwell ,

Life changing

Seriously

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