Peter Roselle: Hope is the Anchor to Steady Our Restless Souls (Hebrews 6:19)

00:05 - I quoted it earlier. It’s Hebrews 6:18.

00:07 - It says it’s impossible for God to lie. Isn’t that good? Isn’t that a good truth? As a result, we who come to God for refuge might be encouraged to seize the hope that is set before us.

00:21 - And that’s an important thing to do right now in this inflammatory environment that we’re in.

00:26 - And watch what you’re saying and watch what you say on Facebook.

00:28 - That stuff lasts up there forever, okay. We get a lot of comments on our social media and I read them all.

00:35 - And it’s not because I’m trying to be a control freak.

00:38 - It helps me understand how people think. And some of them I delete and some of them I put up and that’s I feel part of the obligation of doing this.

00:47 - And it’s been really an eye-opener, lots of compliments.

00:50 - We get lots of people thanking us for what we’re putting up there.

00:53 - Because with all the garbage that’s out on Facebook and YouTube, there’s also great anointed messages that are being shared out there and it’s really helpful.

01:01 - So there’s a hope that’s been set before us, and here the writer of Hebrews which I believe is Paul.

01:06 - I know there’s arguments against that, but whatever, you decide.

01:09 - He says we “might be encouraged to seize that hope. ” I love that word, seize it.

01:14 - You’re seizing the hope that’s set before us.

01:16 - “It’s real and true, an anchor to steady our restless souls. ” Common problem right now, a lot of restless souls and that’s not God, (laughs) right? He’s peace, he speaks peace to storms.

01:34 - Not saying you should feel condemned if you’re feeling that restlessness.

01:38 - I’m saying there’s hope for us and we have to seize it.

01:42 - That’s an action word that he’s given us here, seize that hope for our restless soul.

01:46 - “A hope that leads us back behind the curtain to where God is as the high priest did in the days when reconciliation flowed from sacrifices in the temple. ” I know that’s a mouthful, but you understand.

01:59 - The writer of Hebrews is comparing the New Testament priesthood that we have in Jesus with the Old Testament priesthood that had to keep bringing more and more sacrifices and it was never enough.

02:10 - But we have a new priesthood now. Jesus is in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Levi.

02:16 - Another day’s teaching, right? But that’s what I believe Paul was saying.

02:21 - He went ahead on our behalf and he’s entered for us and he’s become a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

02:29 - So when you bring a need to God you don’t have to do it by coming to a priest.

02:34 - You are a priest and a king in the New Testament dispensation.

02:39 - Whether you choose to operate in that fully is up to you.

02:44 - And you can say well, I’m really busy. Okay, you know, I get it.

02:48 - I’m busy too, but you could either be too busy to pray or too busy not to pray. (laughs) I’m choosing the second one because if you’re that busy and you’re not praying you’re gonna make a whole lot of mistakes and that’s really important now. And I have to be honest, I’m glad they didn’t have social media when I was in high school ‘cause there would be some really bad things up on the internet about me.

03:15 - (congregation laughing) So I’m grateful that the Lord spared me from that.

03:22 - I’m not getting into the details on that one.

03:24 - Thank you, you’re right. But let’s just think about what our obligation is, right, because we have to answer to the Lord someday for how we behave and all the decisions that we make.

03:36 - And I’ve said it many times. Trish and I, I believe he’s going to say to us how did you take care of my kids which would be you and our children? The people that you said you wanted to lead an organization and they came and they were trusting in you, how did you take care of them? Because this is what he said to Peter on the beach.

03:54 - That’s how I picture it anyway, wherever the fishermen were.

03:58 - And he said, “Peter, do you love me?” Do you remember what he said? “Feed my sheep.

04:03 - Take care of my lambs. “ One way or another it was the same answer three different times, right.

04:07 - And I know he denied the Lord three times and there’s a connection there, but what about that though? “Peter, do you love me? Take care of my Christian people.

04:16 - Take care of the believers. Take care of the flock, the body of Christ.

04:19 - They need to be whole. They need people that they can rely on the character that they’re not stealing the money from the church fund or having an affair with the secretary or you know, you can name many ways that people have fallen.

04:34 - And that’s partly why this is a difficult job, because you’re trying to represent Jesus as a minister and you can’t live up completely to that, right.

04:42 - But people don’t mind that as long as they sense you’re trying.

04:45 - If you’re a man or a woman after God’s own heart, being perfect couldn’t be the answer because nobody is.

04:52 - But we can be seeking after his heart. We could be like David, a man or a woman after God’s own heart.

04:58 - And when that happens, you have a big impact.

05:02 - People won’t criticize you for not being perfect but they can criticize you for not trying, especially as a leader.

05:10 - So Paul is saying, “I’m getting the picture that when you meet together, Corinthians,” 1 Corinthians 11:17, “that when you meet together it brings out your worst side instead of your best. ” (laughs) That’s The Message Bible.

05:24 - The Message kind of cuts right to the heart, okay.

05:27 - And this shouldn’t be, right? Like, wait a minute.

05:29 - When you get together it’s bringing out the worst in you.

05:31 - There’s factions, there’s competing. You’re being disrespectful to the poor.

05:36 - You’re not letting some of the people eat. You’re getting drunk.

05:38 - You remember this, right? Now that’s a lot like America.

05:42 - Corinth was a lot like America. There’s a whole wide range of things that happen in the name of God in a church that you might argue really.

05:50 - But listen, until you start a church from scratch and do it try not to be too harsh on the people in the ministry.

05:57 - It’s a hard job, right Kathy? (laughs) But that’s okay.

06:01 - We’re going to get the reward when we get to heaven (laughs) and here too.

06:06 - So he says, “I get this report of your divisiveness, competing and criticizing each other.

06:10 - I’m reluctant to believe it but there it is.

06:12 - The best that can be said for it is that the testing process will bring truth into the open and confirm it. “ Now, how does this apply to today, right, right now? It does apply because you might be sorry about some of the things you said on Facebook.

06:26 - You might feel like you need to go to apologize some people.

06:30 - That’s okay, that’s what the Lord would expect us to do.

06:33 - Say you know what? I was caught up in the heat of the moment and I’m sorry.

06:36 - That’s not who I want to be. Will you accept my apology? And if somebody else says that to you, say yes, I accept your apology.

06:45 - Let them know that you do forgive them. And don’t say but (laughs), all right? That’s a good rule.

06:54 - That doesn’t come, that’s not a good place to put that word.

06:58 - I accept it. I forgive you. Let’s pray.

07:03 - Not so easy, is it? And then he says in 1 Corinthians 15, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does corruption inherit incorruption. ” That’s a verse that the Lord’s been bringing up to me this week because we have to admit, this was a really tough week, wasn’t it? Wednesday, really tough.

07:25 - What happened in D. C. , really tough. And I know we could look at fake news and all but I would even say again, if I ever have the chance to meet President Trump, I don’t know if I will or not, I said that was probably not your best day on Wednesday when you gave that speech.

07:42 - I’m not even going by the fake news at all.

07:44 - And look, it’s not my job to criticize him.

07:45 - I’m just saying there were some of the things that you could hear him say if it was taken through the wrong lens it could have been taken the wrong way.

07:52 - Now the next day, Thursday, he did, he gave another speech that only took three minutes and it was very important that he did that, I feel, okay.

08:02 - Now you can say you’re never coming back to church over that one.

08:05 - I don’t know, I’m just telling you personally I feel like we have to count on the rule of law in America, all right.

08:12 - Said I’m in the investment business. I’m curious, how many of you have a 401(k) plan on your job? A lot of hands going up.

08:19 - Have you ever had to go to a meeting sponsored by the company where somebody was in there explaining the investment choices that you have in a 401(k)? Is that easy to understand for most people? Most people, you’re all shaking your head.

08:31 - I’m the guy that was given those meetings, all right.

08:34 - Like that was part of my job, is to be that guy in the front of the room.

08:39 - And why it’s so confusing is we weren’t taught about it well, and the thing that’s most confusing is the amount of risk that’s involved because the return part is a little easier.

08:51 - It can be measured. The risk is really hard to measure.

08:53 - Why am I talking about that? Well first of all, I live in that world.

08:57 - And why the Lord brought it up to me this week is that part of when people would ask me which is safer, we would say well, if you invest in big companies in the United States, that’s probably the lowest risk kind of stock you can buy.

09:12 - Why? The rule of law. And I would use the example of the Bush-Gore election as a rule of law example that we had an election, nothing, no bigger decision ever than the President, and it went all the way up to the Supreme Court.

09:31 - The Supreme Court ruled. There were no riots in the streets.

09:35 - In that case, the Democrats said, “Okay, we lost.

09:39 - Time to move on. Let’s work harder.

09:42 - Let’s learn from what happened and let’s move on. “ Now look, again, I’m not comparing it.

09:46 - We’re in a very different world right now. That was in early 2000s, right? There was no 10-month lockdown for the coronavirus.

09:55 - There was no Twitter. There’s no Facebook.

10:01 - There’s no YouTube. There was no, oh man, I can’t even name them all.

10:06 - They’re good for some things but really bad for others, okay, because now there’s something else.

10:12 - As a portfolio manager, that’s my job now, it’s called confirmation bias.

10:17 - And again, I’m not trying to get technical.

10:18 - I’m just saying these are understood about humanity.

10:21 - Our behavior’s not so unpredictable, and confirmation bias is believing what you already want to believe and being selective about which part you want to take.

10:32 - And if you watch the documentary “Social Dilemma,” I’m hearing some heads nodding.

10:38 - How could you hear a head nod? Because they’re going, yeah. (laughs) You will find out the bottom line of that is you are the product that’s being sold, not the products that are being sold.

10:52 - What does that mean? Well, I was telling Dave Couris at the beginning, he likes to hunt.

10:57 - Well, YouTube and Google and Facebook know that he likes to hunt.

11:02 - Why, because he goes on hunting websites and he looks for products and he dreams about bows and arrows, I don’t know.

11:10 - (congregation laughing) There’s evidence of what he likes.

11:13 - So he’s the product that’s being sold to the different manufacturers of those products.

11:19 - But here’s another really scary part of “Social Dilemma,” is that I’m going to just use a random example, climate change, all right.

11:29 - That’s a very, I want to say hot topic, but that’s so lame.

11:32 - I know it’s a hot topic, but that’s like a lame way to say it.

11:36 - But there’s plenty of people that don’t believe it at all and then there’s plenty of people that do believe it, right? Fair enough? I’m not weighing in on whether you should or shouldn’t.

11:44 - But if I do believe that it’s true and I type in what is climate change I’m going to be sent by Google in their algorithms to back up the position that I already believe.

11:58 - And if I don’t believe in it over here and I type in what is climate change, it’s going to say hoax.

12:05 - We think we’re getting the first thing that would come up but it’s not.

12:11 - Yeah, wow, how come we never knew that? ‘Cause there’s something called confirmation bias.

12:19 - We select what we already want to hear and as human beings, we fill in a story.

12:25 - If we don’t know what happened, we’re wired to just do this, to fill it in, to jump to conclusions. (laughs) This is a no-jumping zone. (laughs) Wait till you talk to the other person and say this is the story I’m hearing in my brain.

12:44 - Tell me why it’s wrong. This is how I’m filling in the blanks here.

12:48 - Tell me why I’m wrong. It’s a good one, isn’t it? That’s, Brene Brown.

12:52 - She’s a psychologist and an author. I don’t want to jump to the wrong conclusion. .