Oh, so good. Uh, really do encourage you to consider sponsorship, um, and Todd's going to talk about a specific project, uh, that we're helping with next week. So please make sure to check it out, pray it, and consider it. Um, and, uh, looking forward to seeing everyone, God willing, uh, Friday night. Pray for good weather for us at Santa Santa Plaza, that we'd be able to have lots of people come hear the message of Jesus.
We don't know if we'll ever be able to do this again. We'll see if what they think— we told them pretty clearly we're going to talk about Jesus and they were like, okay, we'll see. But we're just praying the Lord uses this. So this is a great thing to invite a friend to as well. If you've got somebody from your work or your neighborhood or your family that may be like hesitant about coming to a church, man, it is super non-threatening to just say, hey, meet me down in the plaza.
I'll buy you a cup of coffee. My church is doing a concert down there and it's a great way to build that relationship. As well. So, in turning our attention to God's Word, we have been in 1 Corinthians, and we have been specifically in a session or a section of 1 Corinthians talking about contentment related to our relationship status. And so I want to invite my friend Krista to come share with us about what the Lord has done in her life in that area.
So please welcome her, guys, as she comes to share.
Thanks, friend.
Good morning.
Okay, so let's start with this. Please raise your hand if you have ever been single during the holidays. Keep your hand up if it's the worst time of year to be single. I agree. Spoiler alert: we're about to talk about contentment.
That said, here we go. I am 36, never married, no kids, and single as a Pringle. When I look back at my life, I think I can describe in a few words the summation of my feelings: "Well, that didn't go as planned." I live a life that I absolutely did not want in any way, and I'm not going to lie to you guys, it is comical to me that I've never been happier. I have a dog I wouldn't have chosen, I started a business I didn't want to start, And I never got the house, husband, or the kids. And guess what?
I've never been happier. Guys, I didn't know it was possible to be this content while being single.
I'm terrified of public speaking, by the way, and I prayed a lot for this week for God to remove me and my fear from the equation so he could use me as a vessel to speak life into anybody who is unhappy or hurting this morning, right now.
These are the holidays. Singleness is anything but cute during the holidays, but this year it's not difficult for me like it used to be because this year I'm content with being single. And there's something I see more clearly now in a different way than just a few years ago, and I want to share it with anyone else who needs to hear it. Number 1: You are not alone. You are not alone, my friend.
And number 2, the grass is not greener on the other side. It is greener where you water it.
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Krista Snow. My parents are Dick and Liz, and I was basically born in this church. I was dedicated on this stage, baptized right back there.
Um, I grew up in this church for the first 20-odd years of my life, and the reason that I have not met some of you is because I left this church for the better part of 10 years. Till a few years ago when God called me back. To explain why I'm back, I need to explain why I left. So let me back up a little. Okay, first of all, my life was not supposed to be complicated.
I didn't have lofty aspirations. In fact, I felt like I was a simple one. Just wanted to find my person, be a mom, have a family. I wanted to follow in my parents' footsteps. And as I neared my mid-20s, suddenly everyone paired off over a couple of years, kind of like dominoes, for any of you guys who remember that song.
Slew of weddings. I questioned God, pleading and begging. I compared myself to everyone that I wasn't, and I began to build a subconscious bitterness toward God and the church thing that I had dedicated my life to, only to be disappointed when my desire for marriage was never fulfilled. I didn't understand why. I thought I had done everything right.
I only wanted love, but I never got it. So my church attendance began to dwindle around my mid-20s, little by little, as I distanced myself from the life I didn't feel good enough for. And then my career took off, and I charged up the success ladder. It was great for a while. I had a great career, successful reputation, built a name for myself, and I was respected.
I was smiling on the outside, but inside, my heart ached. And then it all fell apart. 4 years ago, my life blew up, and I watched all of the things that I had clung to for validation be taken away one by one. My work, my car, my financial freedom, my boyfriend. When my life fell apart, I lost every single thing I had begun to build value in instead of building my life to honor God and his commands.
It was the worst time of my life, and one night in the darkness and turmoil, I cried out to God, and in that moment, God wrapped his arms around me in a way that I could feel, where I knew he loved me and he was real. And I knew that without a doubt for the first time in my entire life.
I changed. I knew at that moment I had to try one more time to do it God's way, with an open mind and heart. I changed in a lot of ways, and one of them was to stop complaining and start being thankful instead. I started to look at everything I do have instead of everything I don't, and I learned over and over how gratitude overcomes discontent. There is only room for one, and as one grows larger, the other diminishes.
Gratitude changed everything for me, guys. When I forced myself to be grateful to God for the things I didn't want, I began to realize just how beautiful those things could be.
I lost my place.
Um, I wouldn't change my story for anything, and let me tell you, to be able to say that right now Friends, just truly shows the power of the sovereign God we serve.
6 · Krista articulates the principle that obedience precedes understanding—that God calls us to faithfulness without requiring comprehension first
We hold on to the things we want so badly because it's terrifying to let go of the possibility that the life we dream, imagine, and want might not happen. But when I began to look at God's goodness and grace in my life, and when I practiced gratitude, I began to see those things as gifts from God instead of seeing them as a thorn in my side. Practicing contentment is a choice. Obedience to God is a choice, and friends, obedience unlocks understanding.
God calls us to be obedient without understanding it. He calls us to be faithful, and when we are obedient to what he's asked of us, we're able to look back at a lot of things and understand why. But the obedience has to happen first before we can look back and see the why behind the what. We keep asking God why, but are you willing to put aside everything you want and truly ask God what he wants for your life.
7 · Krista contrasts feelings—which arise from trauma and sin—with truth about our identity in Christ
For me, change didn't happen overnight. It didn't even happen at all sometimes. But little by little, I changed and I sought God more and more. And one day in 2022, God healed me in a powerful way, and I will never be the same again. It was the day I finally, finally realized I am enough. I am content and I am happy for the first time in an all-new way.
And God wants you to live in such a way that you are satisfied. And content in him alone. Here's the truth, friends. We are loved, we are enough, we are forgiven, we are redeemed, and we are children of the one true King. We are sons and daughters of the Most High God of the universe, and we get to spend eternity with him.
We can focus on eternity, or we can focus on our feelings. The problem is that feelings don't align with God. Feelings don't align with truth. Feelings are what comes out of our hurt childhood trauma and our sinful human nature. But what is most important is truth.
It may not be okay, but we will be okay. Because when everything else changes, God does it. We have hope. We have unconditional love. We have the promise of eternity.
8 · Krista challenges the congregation to move from personal contentment to missional living, arguing that wholehearted devotion to Christ makes believers dangerous to the kingdom of darkness
Let's do kingdom work and start a revolution of winning souls for Jesus. It starts with us in our own hearts and in the way that we conduct ourselves in our lives. Satan doesn't care about the lukewarm. They aren't a threat to him. I don't want to be lukewarm.
I want to be a threat to evil, and I want to live in such a way that the ones around me know exactly what I live for and who I serve. Do you?
9 · Krista concludes her testimony with the core claim undergirding everything she has said: that Jesus is superior to any earthly circumstance, relationship status, or fulfilled dream
I'll close with this reminder: Jesus is always better.
Great job. Thanks, Fred. Thanks.
Amen.
10 · The pastor transitions from Krista's testimony to the biblical text, framing the sermon's central question: how does eternal perspective transform present contentment? He establishes that kingdom values are inverted from worldly values
Well, let's, in light of that, open our Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 7 as we continue to learn about contentment, especially in relationships, is often rooted in realities and truths that are so different from the world around us and what it values. And when we begin to live in a way that seems upside down to the world but is really right side up in the kingdom, it transforms our perspective. And so let's see what the Lord has next for us in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 as we answer this one big question today: How does living forever, how does eternity change contentment here and now?
11 · The pastor reads 1 Corinthians 7:25-31, establishing the biblical foundation for the sermon
We're going to begin reading chapter 7, verse 25. This is God's Word. Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free.
Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles.
I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and let those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. This is God's word.
12 · The pastor prays for spiritual receptivity and for God's Word to correct the congregation's perspective, framing the sermon as an act of divine reorientation rather than mere information transfer
Lord, I pray you give us ears to hear and give us eyes to see. May we have our perspective turned right side up with the word of God this morning. Amen.
13 · The pastor uses his IKEA furniture shopping experience as an extended analogy for how temporal limitations and transfer constraints should shape present decisions
Well, I remember buying my first set of furniture. I did not know how to do that. I did not know what to buy, but I was in Maryland. I was at this giant, if you've ever been to another big city, this IKEA megastore, which is this like, I don't even know, it's like Swedish furniture Disneyland is the best way I could describe it. And they sell cheap stuff. They sell nice stuff, but they also sell really, really cheap stuff. It is the savior of many a college student around the country.
And so I walked into this IKEA, with a certain amount of money. And I carefully had to decide like, okay, I don't have— and I had no furniture. I had like zero furniture. I had all my childhood furniture back at my parents' house. And so I got nothing, had to find something to sleep on, some kind of thing to put my clothes in, some kind of table to put things on.
I didn't even have like an extension cord. I owned literally nothing. And so we walked through, got some stuff, and then And here's what I walked out with. I walked out with like a $5 end table, which it was, I understood later why it was $5. Its leg fell off all the time.
I held it together with tape. I walked out with a bed, like one of those like weird couch bed contraption things that transforms. And the comfort level of the bed was as if you took prison bars Flip them on like face down and put a blanket over them. That's what the mattress felt like. And a few other things like, you know, and here's the reality as I was walking out.
I remember thinking, having this dilemma, I really would like to buy a nicer bed. I'd really like to buy a nicer end table. I really like to buy all these things. And yet what I walked, what I drove back to where I was staying with was all of this vintage furniture very cheap temporary stuff because of one, well actually two realities that changed everything I bought. Reality number one was I was only gonna live in Maryland, I was supposed to only live there for 3 months, ended up being like 7 or 8 months, but I was only supposed to live there 3 months, so any furniture I'm buying is 3-month furniture because number two, the only things I'm bringing home with me are whatever I can fit into or on top of my beloved 2007 Pontiac Vibe.
And if you've never had the privilege of seeing or riding in a 2007 Pontiac Vibe, let me just tell you, it is a wonderful experience, but it is not, it's not known for space. And so, here's the reality. I bought a bunch of things, and as I bought each thing, here's the test I went through. Do I really wanna spend money on something that I'm gonna use for 3 months, and can I fit it into my car at the end of the internship? That really changed a lot of what I bought.
14 · The pastor articulates the sermon's main thesis by connecting the IKEA metaphor to Paul's principle: because life is short and eternity is long, we must evaluate all of life (relationships, possessions, emotions, decisions) through the lens of what transfers into eternity
And that simple calculus, meaning does this last and is it worth it now, is the calculus the text is offering us for how to navigate relationships and life. Because what Paul is going to do in this section of Scripture is he's first gonna counsel a group of engaged couples who are coming to him as a pastor. They've written as part of the Corinthian letter. They want specific advice for them. But Paul is gonna respond with some pastoral advice, but more than that, a principle, a principle that the way we make relational decisions and life decisions should be shaped by the fact that life is short, eternity is long, and that changes everything.
Okay? Life is short, eternity is long, that changes your relationships, that changes what you buy, that changes the way you mourn and rejoice, that changes the way you think about the world around you. Everything in life gets changed with that simple calculus. In a sense, if you could say it this way, that Paul is charging us to remember not everything is gonna fit into the 2007 Pontiac Vibe at the end of our lives, right? Only a few things, where only a few things in life will transfer into eternity.
And what you have now is only going to be there for a second. So live accordingly.
15 · The pastor previews the sermon's structure: two main sections (pastoral advice for some, biblical principle for all) followed by applications
All right, so two sections today, and then a few brief applications. The first section is this: pastoral advice for some. Pastoral advice for some.
16 · The pastor expounds the historical and cultural context behind the Corinthians' question to Paul, explaining ancient betrothal practices and the two opposing camps (Stoic-influenced ascetics and Genesis-citing marriage advocates)
People, verses 25 through 28. Now, it's likely that the church has written to Paul and asked for his advice on the issue of whether they should be married. Now, in the ancient world, betrothal worked a little bit different from engagement. It was very difficult to break a betrothal. It was almost like a marriage that had not been fulfilled yet.
And so they write to Paul because some of the things Paul references, there are a number of interesting, difficult circumstances around the time period they lived through, and they wanted to know what Paul thought they should do. Now, some of them were probably influenced by Stoic philosophy, which meant, like, just ignore all earthly, fleshly concerns, and instead, just think about spiritual things, meaning you should never get married, and Paul's not married, and he's gonna agree with us. Now, other people were probably influenced by the world around them, which meant marriage was extremely important for this time period. And notice this, it wasn't looked at as the avenue of personal fulfillment it is in the 21st century America. It was looked at as your social safety, your standing, your economic life, your family life, your legacy was all wrapped up in getting married.
And so they would probably go back to like Genesis 1 and 2, and where God says, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." And so they were thinking, well, Paul's a Bible scholar. Of course he's going to agree with us. And here are the two things that Paul was facing. This group said, it's always better in every circumstance to be single and be spiritual. And this other group said, no, no, no, it's always better in every circumstance to be married.
Which is it, Paul?
17 · The pastor establishes through scholarly citation that Paul's counsel in verses 25-28 is pastoral advice rather than binding command
And so that's where he wades into with pastoral counsel. Now, it's important to notice that these verses, 25 to 28, and the subsequent verses that we're going to cover next week, were very pastoral, very specific advice to a specific situation. Andy Naselli, who is a scholar, in his commentary on 1 Corinthians, writes this: Paul again clarifies that Jesus did not directly address this issue during his earthly ministry. But unlike in verse 12, in verses 25 through 40, Paul shares his reasoned opinion and does not command the Corinthians what to do.
The situation is a wisdom issue in which Christians may choose different options. Gordon Fee agrees and says, "What is said is so clearly a full qualification that it renders the imperatives," meaning the commands of verse 27, "to be strictly advice." So, here's what you have to understand: Paul is counseling a specific group of people in a specific situation, but even in that advice he is making clear that neither option is sin and either could be wise in their particular situation.
18 · The pastor explains the 'present distress' mentioned in verse 26, providing historical context about the likely grain famine in AD 51, social unrest, and the rise of Nero's persecution
Now, a lot of this though is also shaped by what Paul references in the text as the present distress. Verse 26 says, "I think that in view of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is. So another way that could be phrased in your translation could be impending distress. Again, Andy Naselli helps us understand the context. The present distress refers to a crisis, a state of distress or trouble, most likely resulting from a grain famine in AD 51 that caused a food shortage in Greece that may have lasted up to 5 years. The crisis probably included social unrest, i.e., riots, and economic uncertainty, i.e., panicked buying.
And so he, Nicelli, is saying, listen, but part of— we don't know exactly what the present distress is, but his language makes it clear that there is some kind of upheaval going on around them in this particular church. And a background to that is also the rise of the Emperor Nero, which, as you know, was no friend to Christians. And Christian persecution from Nero ended up spreading most cleanly and clearly to Roman colonies like Corinth. Okay, so all that is swirling around.
19 · The pastor summarizes Paul's specific counsel to the Corinthian engaged couples: given the present crisis, remaining unmarried may be wiser for now, but marriage remains a legitimate choice
And so these couples come and Paul sits down with them and he goes, okay, listen, listen, I'm gonna be clear, neither choice is bad, but if I had to counsel you, I probably would counsel you that you, you stay engaged and not get married yet, or maybe not get engaged at this moment because of the upheaval going on in the world around you and the difficulties it will create to be a newly married couple right now. And it will also practically limit certain ways of you serving the Lord through this season, right? But he's clear, neither is a bad choice.
20 · The pastor extracts the transferable principle from Paul's specific counsel: both singleness and marriage are gifts from God, and wisdom is needed to discern which is appropriate in each season
So, well, if you're single, you're going, okay, well, that doesn't help me. I'm not living in the first century in the middle of a grain crisis. Right? I— like, so what am I supposed to do here? Well, I think the principle applies. The principle is this: Paul is clear that both singleness and marriage are a gift, and clear that you need wisdom in deciding in each season of life which is right. Okay? That's the clear principle.
And I think it's so important and so helpful because you will receive pressure to either go back to the stoic group that says, "Singleness is the only way," or the first-century family group that's like, "No, marriage is the only way." And Paul says neither are the only way of serving the Lord. Neither are the only gift.
21 · Through scholarly quotation, the pastor identifies the cultural shift from marriage-idolatry (traditional) to singleness-idolatry (modern)
Stephen Um, in his commentary on this text, says this: "Although traditional cultures elevate marriage at the expense of singleness," which is true, "modern cultures are beginning to do the opposite." Singleness is becoming not a sign of social failure but a social success, a mark of liberation from the traditional paradigms of living. But Paul refuses to go to either extreme. He recognizes that it is legitimate to be single, but that it's legitimate to be married too.
22 · The pastor addresses traditional family pressure on singles (especially in Hispanic culture around the holidays) and applies Paul's principle that marriage is not the only gift or the thing that makes a person matter
Now, if you are single today, especially in El Paso, Man, I think you're going to face challenges and temptations on both sides. I think if you have a family, especially that's conservative or traditional, it can make you feel at times like marriage is the only legitimate state of life.
Right? Around the holidays, if you— listen, I've talked to a number of single friends that they're like, "Yeah, around the holidays you start getting a lot of hints from your parents about where their grandchildren are." Like, "Mijo, why haven't you settled down by now?" Like, how many more Christmases am I going to spend without grandchildren, right? You're going to— this happened to me— that your tías will begin to bring up old girls that they've seen you with like 20 years ago. Like, what happened to Crystal? Like, tía, that was middle school.
Like, oh, but you and Crystal were such a good match. You should call her. You should see her on the Facebook. You know, you should find her. And maybe you— yeah, I've talked to people that are like, yeah, that's my life.
I just know going in Christmas Day, one of the things that's going to be Oh, it's so good to see you, mijo. Where are my grandchildren? Like, that's just your life. And here's where this text helps, okay? It helps because Paul reminds us that from God's perspective, chapter 7, verse 6 is— chapter 7 is true.
I wish that all were as myself am, but each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. Meaning, Marriage is not the only gift. Marriage is not the thing that will complete your life. Marriage is a gift and can be a good gift, but we have to be careful not to put marriage in a place that God has not placed it. It's not the be-all, it's not the end-all, it doesn't mean you finally matter.
Friend, you matter to the Lord right now. He sent his Son for you. To be free of perhaps that unbiblical pressure.
23 · The pastor addresses modern cultural pressure that idolizes singleness as ultimate freedom and self-expression
But on the other side, our progressive and modern culture will often hold out singleness as the sort of be-all, end-all as well, that freedom and self-expression are the ultimate status symbol sometimes in America. The freedom to date and dump people with impunity, the freedom to always You're gonna have the next relationship, always have that spark, spark after spark. And then when it begins to fade, you just go find someone else. The freedom to not be tied down, to move to this city or go on that trip, to on a whim decide you wanna go to Patagonia and hike down there, right? That in many ways is the modern ideal, the pinnacle.
But here's what I want you to hear. Singleness and that freedom of self-restraint, Expression is not the ultimate goal of your life. It is not the thing that will complete you. It is not the thing that means that you matter, that as soon as— listen, this is real— as soon as you get tied down to a wife and kids, all of a sudden who you are just dies, right? And we even joke about this at times, like, yeah, you know, back when I was alive, before I was married, before I had all these kids to tie me down, I could do what I wanted to do, right? But the reality is that's wrong.
Paul says that is a gift as well. If you're married, if you have kids, that is a gift from the Lord and a good one. And if you as a single, if the Lord gives that gift to you, man, embrace it and receive it as a gift, not as the gift, because the gift is only Christ. The gift is eternity with him.
24 · The pastor applies the Corinthians' example of seeking Paul's counsel to modern singles: when facing wisdom decisions between good options, seek guidance from godly, seasoned Christians
So you begin to see either as a gift. Now, uh, the other, I think, application for singles here is simply this: that, that to decide between good things— most decisions in life aren't deciding between, like, oh, should I rob a bank or go to church? That's just not most of the time the decisions you're making. Often they're, here's a good thing, here's also a good thing, what should I choose? And when that happens Follow the example of the Corinthians.
Ask Paul, ask a Paul in your life, right? A godly seasoned Christian, "What do you think I should do?" And let me just bring this in love as a pastor. I just have a growing concern for Christian singles in particular, that the way that relationships often happen in this modern world, the person dating is the only person who really knows the ins and outs of that relationship. Right? And they only reveal pieces of what's going on to those around them.
And there's no one around that you can go to for godly counsel. There's no one that you've brought into the relationship and gone, "Hey, man, here's what I'm trying to sort through. I could do this or I could do that. Should I go visit him? Should I go visit her?
Should I not? What do you think is wiser?" Man, you want that. You want a seasoned old Christian giving you good advice. So follow their example.
25 · The pastor signals the major structural shift from specific pastoral counsel (verses 25-28) to universal principle (verses 29-31)
All right, well, that's specific counsel for a specific group. Now, I'm going to— we're going to broaden this, and Paul will broaden it to all of us in part 2, a biblical principle for all. So this is a biblical principle for everyone.
26 · The pastor identifies the transition in Paul's argument from situational advice to universal principle
Now, verse 29 sums it up: "This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short." Now, notice he goes real clearly from the impending distress of the famine or whatever was going on to a much broader principle of the appointed time has grown very short. Now, this is wrapped up, he concludes in verse 31, "Let those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it, for the present form of this world is passing away." So you have two realities. The time is short and the world around you is passing away. And when you grasp those things, it changes everything.
27 · Through a progression of illustrations (his 4-year-old's time perception, his older kids' tolerance, his own adult impatience, his Nana's end-of-life perspective), the pastor demonstrates how our sense of time's passage changes with age and proximity to death
Now, here's the reality. Time is a funny, funny thing. We always feel like things take forever. And as you grow in life, though, you start to— your tolerance for how long things take just increase. Like, so my son Anson, who's 4, his level of tolerance is about 1 day. It's literally 24 hours.
If we tell him, "We're not gonna do that today, but we'll do it tomorrow," he's like, Okay, okay. Like, we can't go to the park today, buddy, but we can go tomorrow. He kind of looks like, okay, all right, sure, yeah, I'll deal. And he will remember the next day, by the way. Like, I've passed the age where I'm hoping he'll forget.
Now he'll remember. Dad, remember yesterday when you told me we would go to the park today? Like, yep.
But if you tell him next week we're going to the park, He just gives you this look like, "What am I supposed to do with that? Next week? Next century? It all is the same to me, Father. It's happening today or tomorrow, right?" Now, my older kids, their level of tolerance is about a week.
Okay? So if it's like, "We're not going to go to your friend's house this week, but we will go next week," the response is like a reluctant, "Okay. Okay. All right. I mean, I'll wait a week.
That's fine." You know? But if you tell them, oh, listen, we're gonna be very busy this month, we'll get together with them next month, they're looking at you like, what? What? You know, 30 days from now, my interests will all have changed. I don't even know if I'll have these same Pokémon cards in 30 days.
I might not even have the same video game. I wanna go to his house to trade Pokémon cards and play video games now.
Right, and that's the reality. And I'm looking down at my kids and I'm like, these kids. These kids these days. But listen, listen, I do the same thing just on an adult scale, right? I'm like planning out a vaca— and I realize as an adult you have to plan like trips out like a year out or whatever.
And I'm like, what? So I'm like, okay, eventually I'm gonna make these plans so that I will have a vacation next year. Next year? I need the vacation now, right? And whatever your tolerance is, and I still remember, it just increases as you go, and I still remember, My dear Nana, at the end of her life, as kind of she realized her life is very much winding down, and she was my mom's mom.
She's a precious lady. And I just remember her looking out into the distance once and saying, "It all goes by so quick, mijo. It all goes by so quick." And you just realize, man, okay, I do not live in that reality very much. But if I did, it would change everything.
28 · The pastor expounds 'the present form of this world is passing away' to mean not just material possessions but the entire cultural value system—the 'should haves' and 'everyone else has' that drive so much of modern anxiety and pursuit
Because you realize so many of the things that impress themselves on you as— everything in our modern culture, especially in America, is now, now, live in the now, always the now, never think about tomorrow, never think about yesterday, just now, live in the now, buy now, go now. And you back up and you realize, wait a minute, all of these things when viewed through that snap of my life, some of these things matter a whole lot more and some of them matter a whole lot less. Like, in this phrase in verse 31, "The present form of this world is passing away," that "present form" is not like a metaphysical comment. It means that the culture and the values of the world are going to pass away, meaning everything that you value right now, everything you praise right now, everything that seems so important, to you right now is gonna pass away. All the economic realities will pass away. The governments will pass away.
Our bank accounts will pass away, some sooner than others. Our possessions will pass away, some sooner than others. All of these things that we live in the reality of, they will pass away. And it's not just the stuff, it's the mindset, the values, the realities, the things that you're like, oh, I should have this because everyone else does. I should do this because everyone else does.
I should be concerned that I don't have it because everyone else does. All of those things, so many of them, will pass away.
29 · The Confederate currency illustration provides a historical analogy for how worldly values collapse when the system backing them falls
I mean, I was reading a while back about what happened. I don't know if you read into this a whole lot, but I was reading about Confederate currency at the end of the Civil War, just because that's a light Saturday's reading for me. I just enjoy Like, what was going on with the Confederate currency at the end of the Civil War?
But I will tell you, I'm here to tell you that here's what's predictably happened to the Confederate currency at the end of the Civil War. It plummeted in value the worse the war was going for the South, right? So by the end of the Civil War, you had these Confederate dollars that were printed, and people were like offering, like, sure, you want 1,000 Confederate dollars for $5 American? I'll take it. Or people that thought, no, no, I think we're going to pull this one out.
Sure, of course, I bet we will. Here, I'll trade you. I'll make that trade for you. Right? I'll give you my Confederate dollars.
And eventually, predictably, they lost the war and it was worthless. It was monopoly money. There are stories of people using it to stoke their fire at the end of the war. Right? And the reality is there's so much in life that is no more than Confederate currency when viewed from the perspective of eternity.
All of the things that we're so wrapped up in, at the end of the day, man, it's worthless.
30 · The pastor returns to the opening IKEA metaphor to make the sermon's central claim: most of what we value won't transfer into eternity, but kingdom work (God's glory, the church, evangelism, discipleship, care) not only transfers but gains value
And to go back to the metaphor from the very beginning of the message, so much will not fit in the back of the 2007 Pontiac Vibe. When we go from here to there, very few things will be carried over. Things like seeking the glory of God, seeking the kingdom of God, building the church, reaching the lost, discipling others, caring for others. Those things do matter, and they matter only more viewed from the perspective of eternity.
But so much matters far less, doesn't it? And so, let me encourage you to live— this passage calls us to live like this is True. Life is short, eternity is long.
31 · The pastor expounds 'appointed time' to establish God's sovereignty over history—time is not random but directed toward divine purposes
And notice, last observation here is that phrase, "The appointed time has grown very short." That phrase, "appointed time," reminds us that the world that we're living in, the time, the story we're living in is not random. The appointed time is appointed because God himself has appointed it, meaning that he is writing history. He is writing history toward a conclusion. And there is an appointed time for Christ to come. There's an appointed time for the church to advance.
And there is an appointed time for Christ to return. And that reality then reshapes everything we give our money, time, and attention to right now, doesn't it? Because there's only a few things backed by a promise like this, that Jesus will build it and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And that's the church. There's only a few things like marriage, giving ourselves to a union where we display Christ and the church, that we will live the shadow of it now, but see the reality of it one day in heaven.
But doing it now matters so much because it points forward to that eternal reality. Being good parents matters now because it points to the reality of God our Father, right? There are things that become brighter and clearer the closer we live toward eternity.
32 · The pastor signals the shift from principle to application, previewing that Paul will apply the eternal perspective to specific life domains
And so Paul then applies that to a series of common life areas. And so let's turn our attention in our last couple minutes to how does Paul then apply this? How does this change the way you live?
33 · The pastor expounds Paul's statement 'let those who have wives live as though they had none' by correcting potential misuse (neglecting spousal duty) and explaining the true meaning: the worldly concerns surrounding marriage (legacy, social standing, personal fulfillment) are passing away
Well, the first area it changes is marriage, where it says, "Let—" What's the phrasing there? "Let those who have wives live as though they had none." Now, I'm telling you right now, gentlemen, it is not going to work to use that during football season when your wife is like, "Honey, I really need your help," and you're like, "Honey, let those who have wives live as though they had none." I'm just being biblical here. I've got to finish the third quarter. It's not going to work. That's not what Paul means. And, in fact, it seems a little harsh.
"Let those who have wives live as though they have none." But here's Paul's point, the way that the world thinks about marriage is passing away. Remember that in the first century, so much of life was wrapped up in marriage and family because it was your family legacy. It was having enough heirs. It was securing your place in society. It was all of the worldly concerns that go along with marriage.
And Paul is saying those cultural worldly concerns do not matter. In fact, the most important thing in your life is not making your spouse as happy as they possibly can be. The most important thing in life is not them making you as happy as you possibly can be. The most important thing in life is only seen when we remember the reality that life is short and eternity is long. And marriage is a beautiful gift, as Paul says repeatedly.
But it is only a shadow that points forward to the greater reality of Christ and his people reunited for eternity, right? That is what Paul is after. He's the same guy that wrote Ephesians 5 about the beauty of marriage. But in this context, what he's saying is that beautiful gift of marriage, which we wanna prize and celebrate, it is not ultimate. What marriage points to is ultimate.
34 · The pastor applies eternal perspective to marriage, arguing that far from diminishing spousal love, it actually enhances it by prioritizing the spouse's Christlikeness over comfort
And here's the reality. When you remember this, when you live the reality that life is short and eternity is long, it actually makes you a better spouse than not believing it. Meaning, if all you care about is that marriage relationship now, when creating every evening Hallmark magic romantic moments, Right? If that's your whole focus, you're never going to help your spouse grow because you're never going to bring up anything that's like, "Hey, honey, I love you, but I love Jesus more, so I'm going to point this out to you." Right? If you're just trying to create Hallmark moments, nobody in a Hallmark movie is like, "I'm so glad I found you, but I do need to bring up the matter of the way you relate to your parents with dishonor and disrespect." Right?
And they're under the mistletoe and they're like, "What was that?" "Yeah, the way you treat your parents, it really—" "I don't think honors Christ. And I think that, you know, that maybe—" And you're like, all of a sudden they're like, "What? We're here in the snowy woods under the mistletoe and you're bringing up my parents?" Right? And you're never going to do that unless you realize, "Man, I love this person and they're going to live in eternity with Christ and I want to help them look like Jesus." But when they bring something up to you, you're not going to be like, "How dare you? How dare you bring this up?" You're going to be like, "Awesome." I'm gonna meet Jesus soon.
I'd like to know about this and work on it before that. Okay? That makes you a far better spouse, right? Even the way you spend money. Look, you could spend, as a married couple, all of your money only on each other, creating and buying the most magical moments, going on the most magical trips, and that be your whole focus.
Or you can say, man, let's use some of our resources to celebrate our marriage And build it, but let's use some of our resources to serve the world and build the kingdom. Right? Right? That changes the way you think about these things.
35 · The pastor previews next week's topic (dating) with a brief application: eternal perspective transforms what you look for in a potential spouse
All right. Second area, if you're married, that's one. Second is dating. We're going to talk much more about this next week, but let me just say this. This text, if you get it, if you get that life is short and eternity is long, it really changes what you're looking for in your dating list. Right?
Everybody has a de facto dating list of things they're looking for, hoping for, anything from, I want them to be tall, I want them to— I want them to not be tall. I want them to be funny. I want them to not be too funny. You know, I want them to be handsome, but not, like, too handsome. I want them to have a good job, but not work all the time.
I want them to be magical and love Christmas, but not be, like, one of those weird Christmas people with, like, the village, the, like, the $500 tiny village. If you have that village, it's okay.
Everybody has a list, right? But the reality is this: if life is short and eternity is long, it really changes the list. 'Cause you realize, however that person looks today, they're going to be old. Sorry. And guess what?
So will you. You're like, "I don't want to be married to an old lady." Well, you'll be an old man. So, like, that changes the reality of what you're looking for, doesn't it? Man, I want to marry somebody that I can go through the trials of life with. I want to go through somebody that I can mourn with and rejoice with and move with and battle depression with and build the church with.
And advance the gospel with. Like, that's what I want.
36 · The pastor expounds Paul's statement about mourning and rejoicing by distinguishing Christian grief (precious thing lost for a time) from worldly grief (most precious thing lost forever)
All right, third, joy and sorrow. Now, this again may seem Paul's harshest statement where he says, "Those who mourn as though they were not mourning." Now, Paul is not saying that you shouldn't mourn. He agrees that you should mourn, weep when others weep. Jesus wept at the grave of his friend with his family. But there is a— hear me when I say this— there is a major difference between who those who mourn as if they've lost the most precious thing in their life forever, and those who mourn as if they've lost a precious thing in their life for a time.
Do you feel the difference between those? One is, "This is the most important thing to me and I've lost it." The other grief is, "I've lost a very important thing to me." This grief is, "I've lost it forever." And this grief is, "I've lost it for a time." Right? And it doesn't mean that those people do not mourn, but it allows you to, in a sense, be able to at some point dry your eyes and take up the work of the kingdom, longing for eternity.
But similarly, it sobers us with moments of joy. Like, the best things in life it provides a little bit of a gut check for, because, for example, having a child is a wonderful gift. But your life purpose does not switch at that moment to make them as happy as they possibly can be at every waking moment.
Your life purpose is to introduce, to care for them and introduce them to Jesus that they might walk alongside you in following him. Similarly, if you finally get to retirement, man, brother, sister, we rejoice with you, but scripturally retirement is not meant to be a never-ending victory lap. But rather a time for rejoicing in what God has done and a time of service for others, as long as the Lord allows.
37 · The pastor applies Paul's words on possessions to the Christmas season, using his kids' predictable disappointment with toys and his own consumer dissatisfaction (TV envy) to illustrate the insatiability of materialism
All right, last one, possessions. I'll do this one just because it's relevant in December. "Let those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods." Right? What you buy and what you give your money and attention to is shaped by the fact that life is short, and eternity is long. And here's my prediction for my house by the end of the year. My kids could not be more hyped for Christmas Day, but by December 31st, the most precious object that they proclaim on December 25th will be lost and/or broken by December 31st. That is the reality.
It is inevitable that by the end of the year some child will ask, "When is the next time we're getting presents?" That will happen. And as I look down at my kids and I'm like, "You, you little guys, you don't understand life at all." Here's the reality. I do the exact same thing. Because I'm looking at my TV that I was like, I was excited when we got it. It was upscaled 4K, you know, whatever that means.
And turned out it's not real 4K, but it's kind of like 4K. And then now I'm seeing that the the TVs at Sam's or Costco, and I'm like, "Oh, oh, those are televisions." I am watching this little black and white doohickey over here. Where, like, it, how am I, am I expected to experience the Dallas Cowboys season with essentially what is a 1950s television? I mean, I could barely make out the picture. I mean, is that Dak Prescott?
I don't know. You know? And yet, the reality is, once I buy inevitably another television, it will only be a series of years before I begin to wonder, "When can I get a new one? When am I going to get a new computer? When am I going to get a new car?
When am I going to get a new house? When am I going to get a new addition? I don't like these bath towels. These towels are scratchy," right? Or whatever it is.
And here's the reality: everything in America is oriented toward the next. Purchase.
But Christians are to be oriented toward eternity. And the reality is this: that thing that you buy that seems— and it may give you a spark of joy, and awesome, I hope you get some nice gifts on Christmas. I'm not being the Grinch, like, "Don't you give any Christmas presents!" I'm not saying that. What I am saying is it governs us. It reins in the rampant consumerism we find ourselves in, in our hearts.
When we remember not everything is going to fit in the back of the 2007 Pontiac Vibe.
38 · The pastor concludes the application section with a final iteration of the sermon's main claim: most of what we value now will prove worthless long before we die, so we should live now in light of that future reality
And long before that, long before we take that car ride from this life into the next, so much of what we thought was valuable will be invaluable, will be lost, will be broken, will be forgotten.
So let's live accordingly.
39 · The pastor returns to his Maryland internship to introduce a closing illustration about sleeping on a laundry room floor under miserable conditions
Let me end with this. The futon I slept in that I bought at IKEA was actually not the worst place I have ever slept. The worst place I have ever slept was on the floor of a laundry room at my friend's house in Maryland. I needed a place to crash, and there was a group of single guys that lived in this house together, and they all said, "Sure, yeah, yeah, sure, sure, go ahead, come on in." But when I arrived, I discovered that, oh, the extra bed— they only had one extra bed— that bed was taken by a temporary guest for the month, but they did have a couch.
It was pretty comfortable. Unfortunately, that couch was also taken by another friend that they'd forgotten was coming into town that weekend, leaving my options: A, the laundry floor, or B, the floor of the laundry room, right? They're the same option. You're like, "What are they?" No, they're the same. That was what I could do.
Now, it smelled weird in the laundry room. This is a group of single men not known for their standards of hygiene. And this was the place that they put their dirty clothes. You can imagine the smell was not Christmas magic. It was not great.
They gave me a sleeping bag. The sleeping bag had some kind of hair in it, some kind of animal hair that I did not understand what it was. Was it a dog? Was it a cat? Was it a raccoon?
Nobody knows. That's what I had. So I'm sleeping. On the floor of a laundry room, one of the guys comes and says, "Hey, you don't mind if I do a quick load, do you?" I'm like, "Okay, you know what, sure, that's fine," you know?
40 · The pastor resolves the laundry room illustration: he endured misery because he was pursuing Jen, his future wife
But my situation was transformed, my mindset was transformed by the reality that I was there to see this girl I was dating named Jen. And I would've taken any place, right? I would've slept in my rental car or borrowed car if I had to, because there was some, I was falling in love with this girl. And so putting up with what I put up with for 2 nights, it was a long 2 nights, but the 2 nights was worth it, especially because, hey, spoiler alert, it worked out.
And those 2 nights were worth by far the last 15 years of being married to this girl, right? And that reality, of like, okay, this is for now, but I hope that what I'm doing now is going to pay off forever. That is the Christian life, brothers and sisters. It is judiciously deciding, okay, okay, there may be some times in my life that the Lord is calling me to sleep on the floor of a laundry room or to sleep on a janky old— janky bed from IKEA, but it is worth it 100,000% because of where he's taken me, because of what's going to matter in eternity. And some of the sacrifices, the things I give up in life, man, I'm not going to miss them in eternity.
And some of the good gifts I hold right now, well, they're going to be only more glorious in eternity if I've given myself to the right things. And the things that I consider so important, that the world considers so important, they might all blow away by the time I get to eternity.
41 · The pastor concludes with a gospel appeal to unbelievers, using the sermon's eternal perspective to confront them with the urgency of their condition (life is short, eternity is long, judgment is coming)
Life is short, eternity is long, so live accordingly. And let me just end with just a plea. If you do not know Jesus, man, this text is for you. It's not an accident that you're here today. Because the reality is this: you and your life are a blink of an eye. I mean, just think about the last decade. What were you doing 10 years ago, right? That's what the next 10 years are going to be like— boom, boom— and it's just going to be like this.
And then done. So the reality is this: if you're so consumed with what's happening here, what's happening now, what's happening next year, brother, sister, let me ask you this. What about the next 100 years? When you stand before the Lord, what are you going to do? What are you going to say in that moment?
And here's the good news. The good news of Christmas is this. The good news of Christmas is not that God sent down a document where he's like, "Hey, listen, I need everyone to do 100,000 good deeds, and that way when they get to the pearly gates, I'll let them in." "but if you don't hit the quota, I can't help you." That's not what the Lord did. No, what he did instead was send his Son to live as a human being, both God, both man, to live the perfect life you and I couldn't live, to die the death he did not deserve but that we did, to rise to new life so that he could open a way for those of us who are messed up, who invest in the wrong things, who do the wrong things, who spend decades doing the wrong things, to be made right with God if we've trusted in Jesus Christ. Christ.
And you today can go from fearing that day of death to cheering it on, because it only brings you to Jesus. Won't you believe in Christ today?
42 · The pastor closes with a prayer that applies the sermon's message: that the congregation would grab hold of eternal things, view all of life through the lens of eternity, and that single people in particular would see their singleness as a good gift from a good giver rather than a leftover
And let's stand and let's pray together.
Lord, I pray for all of us, Lord, that in the midst of this season, Lord, we would remember what truly matters. Lord, so much of our life goes by so quickly, so much of our life will pass away. I pray that you'd help us to grab hold of the things that won't pass away. I pray that we would carry with us through our lives those things that matter most. Lord, may we view our relationships through that lens, the joys and sorrows in life through that lens, and, and the purchases even we make, the investments of money we make through that lens.
And Lord, I specifically pray for brothers and sisters here today who are single. Lord, so grateful for the encouragement Krista gave from her own life today. And, Lord, we want to pray for them and pray over them. Lord, I pray specifically that they would hear your counsel from your Word, that wherever they are is a gift. Lord, it is a gift from the hand of a good giver.
It is not the gift that was left over. It's not the gift that you were out of the good ones and so they got that one. Lord, it is a gift that is good. And it is accompanied by you. It's accompanied by your presence.
Lord, you so desire their good that you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, that we celebrate this month. Your gifts are so good that you sent the gift of your Son to live their life they couldn't live, to die the death they deserve so that they might have a future and a hope eternally with you. And so, Lord, I pray that they would see that same giver has given them the life circumstances in front of them right now. And Lord, I pray, I pray that some of the things that the world goes after that they don't have, Lord, they would see it's really not worth going after anyway. And some of the things that they're holding on to in their life that the rest of the world thinks is strange, Lord, those things of investing in friendship and family and in eternity and the kingdom and the church, and the gospel, Lord, those things that seem small right now are going to be beautiful when viewed through the lens of eternity.
So I pray you'd bring them encouragement as we sing. Amen.