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Job 15-21

October 18, 2026 77:17 Cross Church El Mirage
Service Handout
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Transcript

· you

· you

· you

· you

· you

· you

· you

· you

· welcome to Cross Church my name is Tyler and I service campus pastor right here at

· Cross Church El Mirage and I want to welcome you to service today before we

· get started I want to make you aware of a couple of ways that you can connect

· with us today the first if you have a phone with you you can send a text

· message with the word Cross Church no space to the number 940-00 or if

· you'd like to use the cards that are in the seat back in front of you we've got

· three cards that will direct you and wait the first is new card if you're new

· to Cross Church over the last few weeks we would love to connect with you

· take some time to fill out that card during our service today and drop it

· one of the black boxes and then we'll follow up with you this week with

· some more information the next card is the next card take some time to

· use that card if you're interested in taking some next steps in your

· things like baptism joining a group or even serving and then lastly and I

· believe most importantly is the prayer card and I want to guarantee you that

· if you take time today to fill out that prayer card all of those come to me

· and I get to pray for each of them individually so if you've got things

· big or small going on in your life please feel free to share those with

· us we'd be happy to pray over them as we get prepared for some God

· honoring worship I want to encourage you to go into service today with an

· expectant spirit we know that God will do big things in our midst and so I

· want to encourage you to enter this time with an expectant spirit now let's

· get prepared for some God honoring worship

· to our feet and so glad you are here

· let's pray with our hearts

· have freedom because of him

· take a sound I'm shaking off the heaviness

· I'm shaking off the heaviness

· I'm dancing out of my regrets

· I'm throwing caution to the wind

· no I am not ashamed to face like this

· some say it's foolishness

· but I say it's worth the risk

· I can't forget what Jesus did

· no I am not ashamed to face like this

· where all those chains have once held me

· I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free

· my sin is gone, I can't end me

· I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free

· look at what the Lord has done

· I'm never going back to the way I was

· I'll sing, I'll dance, yes I'll give

· I'm free, I'm free, I'm God, I'm free

· oh

· I've got a friend, I've got a friend

· I've got another friend

· no one loves as good as this

· and I don't care what anyone says

· I'll never be ashamed to face like this

· where all those chains have once held me

· I'm free, I'm free, I'm free

· my sin is gone, I can't end me

· I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free

· look at what the Lord has done

· I'm never going back to the way I was

· I'll sing, I'll dance, yes I'll give

· I'm free, I'm free, I'm God, I'm free

· you took the cross and you broke your body

· you shed your blood like a syndicate

· my dad is pain and my record is

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· you took the cross and you broke your body

· you shed your blood like a syndicate

· my dad is pain and my record is

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· you took the cross and you broke your body

· you shed your blood like a syndicate

· my dad is pain and my record is

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· where all those chains have once held me

· I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free

· my sin is born out there

· I'm free, I'm free, I'm free

· look at what the Lord has done

· I'm never going back to the way I was

· I'll sing, I'll dance, yes I'll give

· I'm free, I'm free, I'm God, I'm free

· you took the cross and you broke your body

· you shed your blood like a syndicate

· my dad is pain and my record is

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· you took the cross and you broke your body

· you shed your blood like a syndicate

· my dad is pain and my record is

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· I couldn't do it so you did it for

· look at what the Lord has done

· I'm never going back to the way I was

· Thank you.

· I'm never going back to the way I love him once more.

· Look at what the Lord has done.

· I'm never going back to the way I love him once more.

· Yeah, let's give him some praise.

· And we are free because of him.

· We are free because he has sent his son, his one and only

· son, to die for our sins.

· There is nothing that our God can't do.

· He's the God of miracles.

· Just one word.

· Just one word.

· You calm the storm that surrounds me.

· Just one word.

· The darkness has to retreat.

· Just one touch.

· I feel the presence of God.

· Just one touch.

· My eyes will open to see.

· My heart will open to hear.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· There's not a mountain that he can't move.

· No praise and name that makes a way.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· Just one word.

· You hear what's broken inside.

· Just one word.

· And you will find what you need.

· Just one touch.

· I feel the prayer again.

· Just one touch.

· My eyes will open to see.

· My heart will open to hear.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· There's not a mountain that he can't move.

· No praise and name that makes a way.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· There's not a mountain that he can't move.

· No praise and name that makes a way.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· I will believe.

· Let's sing.

· I will believe for greater things.

· There's no power like the power of Jesus.

· Let faith arise.

· Let all agree.

· There's no power like the power of Jesus.

· Let faith arise.

· I will believe for greater things.

· There's no power like the power of Jesus.

· Let faith arise.

· Let all agree.

· There's no power like the power of Jesus.

· I will believe for greater things.

· There's no power like the power of Jesus.

· Let faith arise.

· Let all agree.

· There's no power like his power.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· There's not a mountain that he can't move.

· No praise and name that makes a way.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· There's not a place that he can't move.

· There's no way that he can't move.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· Whoa, whoa, whoa.

· Whoa, whoa, whoa.

· Whoa, whoa, whoa.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· Whoa, whoa, whoa.

· Whoa, whoa, whoa.

· Whoa, whoa, whoa.

· There's nothing that our God can't do.

· Amen.

· You got to grab a seat.

· As you do so, we're going to step into a time of prayer here.

· We'll focus our time together in on Psalm 147 today.

· There's three separate sort of ideas or concepts that are mentioned in the first six verses here of Psalm 147

· that will guide our time together today.

· I'll just read all six verses as we prepare to pray.

· Psalm 147 begins over verse one by saying this.

· Hallelujah.

· How good it is to sing to our God.

· For praise is pleasant and lovely.

· The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem.

· He gathers Israel's exiled people.

· He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

· He counts the number of the stars and he gives names to all of them.

· Our Lord is great, vast in power.

· His understanding is infinite.

· The Lord helps the oppressed but brings the wicked to the ground.

· As we step into an intentional time of prayer here, we're going to focus in on just that first verse.

· It says this.

· Hallelujah.

· How good it is to sing to our God.

· For praise is pleasant and lovely.

· Two things I want you to consider as we step into this time of prayer.

· Number one is I want to encourage you to think through some of the different things

· that you have or experienced, had happened, whatever the case may be,

· that you can praise God for.

· And second, I want you to think through maybe things that might come to name

· names of God, characteristics of God, attributes of God that we can praise him for.

· So let's start as we think about this first verse

· simply thanking God for who he is and what he's done in our life.

· Let's pray through that now.

· Let's pray.

· The second thing that we see in this passage is a reminder from verses two and three.

· The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem.

· He gathers Israel's exiled people.

· He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

· One of the realities of a gathering like this is that as we gather collectively,

· there's undoubtedly plenty of us that are carrying broken hearts

· that are walking into a room like this with wounds.

· Whether it's things we can see or heavy burdens that we carry internally,

· the reminder is that we have a God who rebuilds Jerusalem,

· gathers exiled people, heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

· That gives us hope today.

· As a matter of fact, what we'll see in Job 15 through 21

· is that there is hope to be found even in the midst of dark, dark seasons.

· In this second prayer prompt, here's what I want to encourage you to focus in on.

· As we look at these verses, we're reminded that God can heal us and change us.

· Let's ask specifically that God would heal and change our hearts

· first before we step into this next prayer prompt.

· Let's ask now God to heal our hearts.

· Let's ask now God to heal our hearts.

· Last thing that we see in terms of prayer is found in verses four through six.

· He that is God counts the numbers of the stars and gives names to all of them.

· Just take a pause here to remind you that the God of the heavens

· who is plentiful in His love for us,

· who has placed the stars in the sky,

· knows the exact number of them and has named them,

· also cares about you.

· So when it comes to this opportunity for prayer, this last one,

· I just want to remind you that the God that we serve is big,

· He is capable, He is powerful,

· and He cares for us.

· What we find at the end of verses four through six

· is this reminder that the Lord helps the oppressed

· and brings the wicked to the ground.

· What I want to encourage you on is simply an invitation to join me in prayer

· that God would move powerfully in our city.

· We know that in a room like this and all across the West Valley

· there are plenty of people that would say they are oppressed.

· And so we're going to pray for them,

· but we're also going to pray that God would bring the wicked to their knees

· for the sake of His glory,

· that the kingdom would advance all across the West Valley.

· So let's pray through that now.

· God, we come before you.

· And God, as a church here on the corner of Peoria and El Mirage,

· we simply ask that you would move powerfully in the West Valley.

· God, that as we have family members and friends and neighbors

· and coworkers and all kinds of people that we come across daily,

· God, we know that there are plenty of people

· that are brokenhearted, that are oppressed

· or that are wicked and falling to the ground,

· and God, we ultimately ask that you would move powerfully

· in each of those situations.

· God, today we pray in the West Valley

· and here in this room that you would be glorified in our midst

· and that you would move powerfully.

· We pray all this in your name. Amen.

· Let's stand as we continue in worship.

· It's beauty in our tears

· And you meet us in the morning

· With a love that casts our fear

· You are working in our waiting

· You sanctify us

· When beyond our understanding

· You're teaching us to trust

· Your plans are still a prospect

· You have not forgotten us

· You're with us in the fire and the flood

· You're faithful forever

· Perfect in love

· You are sovereign over us

· You are our witness

· You are wisdom on our imagine

· You could understand your ways

· Riding high above the heavens

· Put you down in endless grace

· You're the lifter of the wind

· Compassionate and kind

· You surround the new home for me

· And your promises are my delight

· Your plans are still a prospect

· You have not forgotten us

· You're with us in the fire and the flood

· You're faithful forever

· Perfect in love

· You are sovereign over us

· You are sovereign

· You're faithful for us

· Even when the enemy is free

· You turn it for our good

· You turn it for our good

· For your glory

· Even in the valley of the fall

· You're working for our good

· You're working for our good

· For your glory

· Even when the enemy is free

· You turn it for our good

· You turn it for our good

· For your glory

· Even in the valley of the fall

· You're working for our good

· You're working for our good

· For your glory

· Your plans are still a prospect

· You have not forgotten us

· You're with us in the fire and the flood

· You're faithful forever

· Perfect in love

· You are sovereign over us

· Your plans are still a prospect

· You have not forgotten us

· You're with us in the fire and the flood

· You're faithful forever

· Perfect in love

· You are sovereign over us

· Your plans are still a prospect

· You're with us in the fire and the flood

· You're faithful forever

· Perfect in love

· You are sovereign over us

· The next card is the new next in prayer card.

· If this is your first, second, third time here at cross Church we would love you to fill out that new card.

· We would love to get to know you, connect with you, we won't spam you

· Just want to reach out and say hello and welcome you

· And the next card is for those who call cross Church home

· I've been coming here a little while and you feel God is stirring your heart for something next

· Maybe that's serving, baptism, giving, whatever that is

· We want to connect with you and make sure we help you in the next step that God has for you

· And then our last card is the prayer card.

· We would love every single person to fill that out.

· We are a praying church who believe in the power of prayer

· and we wanna know how we can pray for you in that.

· Any of those three cards you can throw in the black boxes

· on your way out as you go out.

· Today, happening Pizza with the Pastor,

· happening at 1145 right after this service.

· We wanna make sure we have enough pizza for you,

· so please make sure if you can quickly register

· or just let us know.

· That's happening in the B building over there.

· And so if you've never been to one before,

· it's an opportunity to connect with us,

· ask Pastor Tyler questions,

· hear about the mission and vision of Cross Church as well.

· So we'd love to have you there.

· And the next weekend,

· we have our We Care Weekend happening

· on the 23rd and the 24th.

· On Friday night, we're gonna be at Bill Juntry Park,

· inviting people to church,

· passing out information about Cross Church

· and just connecting with our neighbors there.

· So we'd love for you to be a part of that.

· And then on Saturday morning,

· we are blessing the Dice Art High School

· by doing like an extreme home makeover

· on their teacher lounge.

· We wanna bless them with that.

· And we've heard a lot of people say,

· hey, we wanna help out with that.

· We need to know that you wanna help out with that.

· So please make sure you register for that

· so we can organize it.

· And the more people we get there,

· the more opportunity we can bless them.

· So you can go to crosschurchcares.com slash events

· and register for that.

· And then also next Sunday, quick kids thing.

· Kids are gonna be dressing up, wearing costumes.

· So feel free to have your kiddos dress up

· and wear costumes, obviously, that are fun.

· So go ahead.

· And if you're adult, you can do that too, whatever.

· We're not gonna judge you too hard.

· And then the SPs is happening November 1st.

· That is our annual volunteer event

· where we just honor our volunteers

· and for the work that they do giving back to the Lord.

· So please make sure you register for that.

· If you volunteer in any capacity

· or if you're just starting to volunteer,

· we would love for you to be there.

· So that's happening five to seven.

· There's childcare, there's food.

· Make sure you register for that as well.

· And then Fall Fest happening on November 8th.

· We're gonna have a train ride.

· We're gonna have photo op.

· And oh yeah, we are giving out Super Bowl tickets.

· Oh wait, hold on, I misread that.

· We're giving out Super Bowls of candy.

· So yeah, sorry about that.

· So I can't read well.

· But make sure you're there.

· We're gonna have fun.

· Make sure you invite friends, neighbors,

· all that fun stuff.

· It's just an opportunity.

· Take a kickoff fall.

· Now that it's getting a little cooler outside.

· Thank you for all you do.

· Thank you for your generosity in giving and serving.

· We wanna give you some prompts behind me

· for the next 30 seconds.

· Free to give back.

· That's what the Lord has given you

· to continue to make Jesus known.

· Well, welcome to Cross Search.

· We're so glad that you've joined us today.

· If we haven't gotten a chance to connect yet,

· my name is Tyler,

· a service pastor here at Cross Search El Mirage.

· And we're so glad that you joined us today.

· If we haven't gotten a chance to connect,

· I'll be outside after the service

· and would love to connect with you there,

· talk through maybe some next steps

· and ways that we might be able to connect as well.

· Well, hey, if you got a Bible today,

· we are gonna use it.

· We're gonna start in Job chapter 15.

· As you make your way there,

· I'm gonna catch you up to speed.

· If you're joining us maybe for the first time

· or the first time in a while,

· here's the reality.

· As we look at Job chapter 15,

· we're in this series through the book of Job.

· And if I was gonna make it as simple as possible,

· I would tell you that the book of Job,

· at least thus far,

· is the opposite of sunshine and rainbows.

· That's the best way for me to describe it to you.

· It's been dark and difficult and dreary

· is the best way for us to put it.

· Now, you'd ask me,

· how do we get to Job chapter 15?

· Well, it starts in Job chapter one

· when we have God and Satan,

· who are talking together.

· And here's the interaction that we find

· in Job chapter one.

· God gives Satan permission to tempt Job.

· However, the only restriction given

· is that Satan can't take Job's life.

· He has to spare Job his life.

· However, everything else is on the table.

· And that's exactly what we see happen

· beginning in Job one,

· is that Satan takes everything from Job.

· And so Job begins this process of grief and sorrow

· and all of the things that you would expect naturally.

· And it's in Job chapter two where his friends come,

· they comfort him,

· they sit with him for seven days and nights

· without saying a word,

· they just comfort him quickly.

· And then from there,

· what we find is that Job's friends

· start to have interactions with him.

· We go through each of the friend's

· individual interactions.

· We ended last week with what we would call

· the harshest friend.

· But what we find is that most of those first

· interactions have been very caring.

· And then we find ourselves today

· beginning in chapter 15 and things kind of take a turn.

· The scene turns, the mood shifts.

· And so here's what we're gonna do today.

· We're gonna look at Job beginning in chapter 15

· all the way through chapter 21 quickly.

· And what we're going to see is what this scene

· that we find here,

· the second round of speeches offers us.

· And so if you'll read with me,

· starting in Job chapter 15,

· read just a few verses to set the mood

· for our time together today.

· Job chapter 15 says this.

· Then Eliphaz the Timonite replied,

· does a wise man answer with empty counsel

· or fill himself with the hot east wind?

· Should he argue with useless talk

· or with words that serve no good purpose?

· But you even undermine the fear of God

· and hinder meditation before him.

· So it would suffice to say that Eliphaz,

· as he starts his second conversation,

· the second series of speeches with Job,

· gets really honest and Job does the same

· beginning in chapter 16.

· Here's what he says in verse two.

· The Job answered, I have heard many things like these.

· You are all miserable comforters.

· So it would suffice to say

· that where things were friendly to start,

· they have shifted and changed in Job 15 and 16

· and that the second round of speeches

· offers us a distinct mood or moment.

· So as we look at today's text,

· there's going to be three things specifically

· that we see this scene offer us.

· The first is this scene offers us

· a shift in the friendship.

· I don't know if you guys have ever had this moment

· or this chance where a friendship has changed.

· Longer ago than I care to admit

· when I graduated high school,

· I had people in my life tell me,

· you will never see most of these people ever again.

· And you know what, it's true.

· People that I thought I was gonna be friends with

· for the rest of my life,

· neither of us have picked up the phone, contacted each,

· we've just never talked to each other.

· And it's this interesting reminder

· that sometimes there's a shift in the friendship.

· Some people that I've been friends with my entire life,

· it's taken an entire life to build

· and later you have inside jokes

· and you have connection, all of these things.

· But sometimes it takes time to build

· and there's in different friendships,

· this shift that takes place.

· In this conversation that we're looking at here,

· here's what we see.

· Job and his friends change.

· They change.

· Where what we find is care dominated

· the first three rounds of the speeches

· or the first three speeches.

· It's a very caring environment.

· Even the harshest friend is still relatively caring.

· It's a very care dominated conversation

· to start the first round of interactions.

· And what we see highlighted here

· in the second series of speeches

· is that the shift in the friendship

· reveals that tension is building.

· Tension is building.

· Whereas previously the friends would say,

· I'm sorry, that's happening to you.

· Have you considered this angle?

· Have you thought of this?

· They now begin to push directly back against Job

· saying, no, this is wrong.

· And it's in this that we find

· what real friendships are made of.

· Here's the litmus test for you

· and a friend's relationship.

· You need the type of friends that Job has,

· but you also need the type of friends

· that will tell you when you got

· a piece of spinach in your teeth, all right?

· I don't know if anybody is like this.

· Anybody, when you see somebody sitting across from you,

· they got something in their teeth,

· do you call them out?

· Anybody?

· Anybody else, you just let them ride.

· You're like, I'm not gonna deserve the piece.

· All right, no peacemakers in the room.

· They won't, all right, that's fair, that's fair.

· Here's the deal.

· We see a litmus test in that of friendship,

· but here in Job 15 and 16,

· what we find is that these interactions

· are getting more and more tense.

· Job's friends are telling him the truth.

· As a matter of fact, to Job chapter 16 verse three,

· he says this, is there no end to your empty words?

· What provokes you that you continue testifying?

· As a matter of fact, Job and his friends

· are getting almost adversarial at this point.

· And this tone shift or this change

· is reflected in the content that they're sharing.

· You see Job's friends go from just saying,

· that's things that's happening to you,

· to no, here's some actual things wrong with you.

· Eliphaz actually says this here.

· He says you undermine the fear of God.

· They are giving him actual deep theological complaints

· about what his actions are,

· and it changes their conversation.

· As you looked out scripture,

· you see multiple ways where this has happened historically.

· If you look back at a guy named King David,

· there was a woman in his life named Bathsheba,

· and he committed a grave sin with her,

· and not only did he commit one grave sin,

· but he compounded that,

· trying to get out of the first sin

· by committing more sin.

· So he just compounded it.

· And it's in 2 Samuel chapter 12,

· where God sends someone to tell David the truth.

· His name's Nathan, and in 2 Samuel 12,

· Nathan tells David this little interaction.

· He says, I'm gonna tell you a little story.

· He tells him the story at the end.

· David says, wow, that's terrible that that happened.

· That guy should get in big trouble.

· And Nathan says, and that guy is you.

· You are the guy in the story.

· And it's in this moment,

· where David looks back at Nathan,

· and he says this phrase verbatim.

· He says, I have sinned against God.

· You see, if I were to give you anything

· out of this first, second series of speeches,

· this first couple interactions,

· it's this, that while there's a shift in the friendship,

· one of the things that we notice

· is that in our friendships,

· we need people that are willing to call us out.

· We need some friends that are willing to tell us

· when we're doing something dumb.

· Furthermore, when we're doing things

· that undermine the fear of God.

· We need a few friends willing to tell us the truth.

· And that's what Nathan did for David.

· He told David the truth.

· As a matter of fact, he was a prophet.

· He did it on behalf of God in order,

· not just for David to be called out,

· but for David's relationship with God to grow through it.

· I was looking back throughout history,

· and one of the guys who's pretty famous

· throughout history for his friendships is Abraham Lincoln.

· You guys remember Abraham Lincoln?

· Tall, black hat?

· Well, he's known for a few things.

· Number one, he's known for being honest.

· He never told a lie, I guess,

· which I feel like is a lie,

· but that's a different conversation.

· You have Abraham Lincoln.

· Now, here's what Abraham Lincoln did

· that was very unique in his day and age.

· When he was elected president, he set up his cabinet.

· Now, fast forward to 2026, when presidents are elected,

· their first move is usually to fill their cabinet

· with all their friends and people

· that think like them and vote like them.

· Now, here's what Abraham Lincoln did that was different.

· When he was elected president, he filled his cabinet

· with people that thought differently than him.

· Now, some of us would look back and say,

· that's not a recipe for success

· because you'll just, you'll be adversarial.

· There's no way you'll get things done.

· However, here's what happened

· during Abraham Lincoln's presidency.

· It was those interactions where the people

· that thought differently than he did challenged him,

· and he began to grow a friendship with them.

· And it was in that friendship

· where those people changed Abraham Lincoln's framework.

· It changed the way that he viewed his presidency,

· the choices that he made,

· and what it did is it made for a stronger country.

· What I wanna encourage you on today

· is that a shift in the friendship

· may also lead to the second thing

· that we see in this text.

· It's a shift in the framework, a shift in the framework.

· Job says this, he says,

· is there no end to your empty words.

· But he says this in chapter 16, verse four.

· If you were in my place, I could also talk like you.

· I could string words together against you

· and shake my head at you.

· Instead, I would encourage you with my mouth,

· and the consolation from my lips would bring relief.

· You see, Job is shaped

· by the conversations he's having.

· His framework, the way in which he's viewing

· his suffering is shaped by the conversation

· that he's having.

· And I would tell you this today

· as we walk through this interaction of Job

· in the second series of speeches.

· It's this, how we see suffering shapes how we endure it.

· Let me explain that a little further.

· As you look back at the first round of conversations

· that Job has with his friends,

· one of the things that his friends

· constantly bring up is this.

· Well, Job, you're suffering

· and God has done these things to you

· and it must be as a result of your sin.

· Which means this, if we were gonna simplify this idea,

· you earned the struggle you're facing.

· Now I will tell you this,

· if your framework of life is that you today

· are facing suffering because you earned it

· by your bad choices,

· then the only logical conclusion should be

· that on your own you must make better choices

· to fix it yourself.

· However, that's not what we see laid out in scripture.

· The second thing we find is that

· as we view suffering in our lives personally,

· we can see that we maybe earned it

· and have a view of that.

· But the second thing that we can see

· as Job does is we can see suffering

· as something that just happens to us.

· Something that's just happening to us.

· And what is Job's reaction as he views suffering

· as something just happening to him?

· He just sulks.

· As a matter of fact,

· if I were gonna give you common language,

· I would say that Job for the first 12 chapters here

· of these speeches is throwing himself

· a personal pity party,

· complete with balloons and a sign.

· And he's throwing this pity party

· and that's his framework.

· As a matter of fact, you'll read this in his language.

· He would say, I wish that I wasn't even born.

· It'll continue because he'll say even things

· like he wishes that he could go down to Sheol.

· What he'll say here is this sort of interaction

· where in chapter 17, he would even say it this way.

· Chapter 17 verse 15, where then is my hope?

· Who can see any hope for me?

· Will it go down to the gates of Sheol

· or will we descend together to the dust?

· You see Job is facing suffering

· and his view is that there is no hope.

· Everything is miserable.

· As a matter of fact, in these conversations,

· one of the threads that Job brings in

· is it seems like destruction comes to both the righteous

· and the unrighteous just the same.

· So he says, what's even the point?

· He says, is there any hope?

· Do you see any hope for me?

· He begins to use this interesting language

· which might be worth highlighting.

· In chapter 17 verse 16, he says the gates of Sheol

· which is an Old Testament understanding

· essentially to say death or the end.

· He's saying basically this.

· Can we just fast forward to the end of life?

· There's no hope.

· Can we just go to the end

· or will we descend together into the dust?

· Job is so over it.

· But one of the things that we find

· who we talked about often

· is that our faith should be deeply rooted

· so that what's happening around us

· doesn't shape the faith that's in us.

· Our faith isn't dependent on what's going on around us.

· Our faith should be rooted in our framework.

· I think of Joseph in the Old Testament,

· a guy who just to take his entire story

· and put it into one sentence

· faced high highs and low lows.

· There were ups and downs and ups and downs

· and that's just the story of his life.

· Ups, downs, high highs, low lows.

· And it's through all of that

· that he maintains a faith that's consistent.

· My encouragement or reminder to you today is this.

· Is that as we view suffering,

· we should view suffering or difficulty

· as something that God is using to shape us

· in order that we grow through the suffering.

· It's easy just to view the suffering as the suffering

· and to say I just need to grit my teeth

· and tough it out.

· However, the question we should be asking

· is what is God doing in us during this season?

· What is God trying to teach us in this season?

· Now you and I have a benefit.

· We have a blessing, all right?

· We are not in the middle smack dab

· of Job and his interactions.

· We have the lenses of 2026.

· So we get to look at the end of the story

· and here's what we see at the end of Job's story.

· At the end of Job's story we see

· that God is going to double

· and just blow away Job's expectations.

· He's going to bless him richly.

· But Job's in the middle of the fight

· and he can't see it through the fog of war.

· He doesn't know what's coming at the end

· and all he sees is death and destruction and despair.

· He loses sight of the framework.

· So what I encourage you on today

· is the question to ask in the middle

· of your suffering is this.

· What is God doing in this

· or through me in this season?

· We should always be asking the question

· of what God is shaping in us

· instead of wondering mostly what is happening to us.

· The second thing or the third thing, excuse me,

· that we'll see as we look through this text

· is a very important one.

· There's a shift in the faith here.

· There's a shift in Job's faith.

· In Job's interaction, it's been all death,

· darkness, despair, difficulty, trouble, all bad.

· It's all darkness, he says.

· But what we find is he has a little moment here

· where his faith is growing.

· As we look at it, lots of bad,

· but there's a hint of good.

· It reminds me of a story that happens

· in Mark chapter nine.

· You see, Jesus is having this interaction.

· And he's healing a man's son.

· And just to catch you up,

· in Mark chapter nine, verse 23,

· Jesus said to him, if you can,

· that's where the man has asked him,

· Jesus, if you can, would you heal my son?

· In verse 23, Jesus said to him,

· if you can, question mark,

· everything is possible for the one who believes.

· And in Mark 924, we have this interaction

· that I think is so helpful for us today.

· Mark 924, immediately the father of the boy cried out,

· I do believe, help my unbelief.

· Now this phrase in and of itself is complicated at best.

· I do believe, help my unbelief.

· If you're just simple and logical like me,

· you would say, if you believe,

· there should be no unbelief, amen?

· Like, no, those two things don't go together.

· However, the truth of our faith is this.

· When we believe in Jesus,

· it doesn't mean that everything is perfect, easy,

· 90 degree angles, everything's nice, perfect, and simple.

· There are some moments where we are wrestling in our flesh

· against who God wants us to be and who we want to be

· versus who we actually are.

· As a matter of fact, we'd see it in scripture

· where Paul would say, the things I want to do,

· I do not do.

· And the things I do not do, I want to do.

· It's this wrestling that Paul describes

· that we see here in Mark chapter 9,

· where the man says, I do believe, help my unbelief.

· He's saying, I still have some of this struggle in me.

· And Job is a man who's not going to sin,

· but who is going to wrestle.

· He is going to, as a matter of fact,

· as his friends would say,

· would challenge his belief in God.

· But here's what we find.

· In Job 19, 25, there's this phrase.

· But I know that my Redeemer lives.

· And at the end, he will stand on the dust.

· So check this out.

· All of Job's interactions in the second series of speeches,

· life is bad, you guys are terrible friends,

· I don't like this, this is not good.

· But I know that my Redeemer lives.

· And at the end, he will stand on the dust.

· And then he picks back up,

· ending so far as in the end of chapter 21,

· he says, so how could you offer me such futile comfort?

· Your answers are deceptive.

· He is saying, in the middle of this speech

· about all the difficult things,

· and he's going back and forth,

· he has this one little moment where he pops out and he says,

· but I know that my Redeemer lives.

· And at the end, he will stand on the dust.

· What it reminds us of is the reality

· that we may well find times in our personal lives

· where there's little moments that shape our faith.

· It's this little moment here in Job 19, 25

· where we see hope sprout, where there's nothing else.

· As a matter of fact, he would even say,

· where then is my hope?

· Who can see any hope for me?

· But then he demonstrates hope just a chapter later.

· It's this wrestling in his faith

· that you and I can so easily connect with.

· If it were easy to be a Christian,

· we wouldn't need to gather on Sundays.

· We could just wake up,

· decide to be the perfect Christians and go forward.

· However, we constantly wrestle.

· As a matter of fact, Job would say this in verse 22,

· why do you persecute me as God does?

· Will you never get enough of my flesh?

· He's still wrestling.

· But then in verse 25,

· but I know that my Redeemer lives.

· And at the end, he will stand on the dust.

· The hope for you and I today

· is the same thing that Job learned.

· It's that even when the odds are stacked against us,

· even when there is destruction and ashes and rubble

· and dust, as he would say,

· our Redeemer still lives.

· And it's this little moment of clarity

· that pops up as vital in Job's story.

· So really, it begins to offer us, I think, a question.

· And the question is centered around

· some other interactions that we see in Scripture.

· As we think about little moments

· that have shaped our faith,

· I go back to looking at other places in Scripture

· where little moments, even short moments,

· have shaped individual's faith.

· As you think about Job here,

· it's just a one-sentence blip of faith

· that pops up on the radar.

· But here's what we also see.

· When Jesus is on the cross,

· surrounded by two sinners,

· it's one sinner on the cross

· that has a moment of clarity, a moment of faith,

· and it's Jesus that then turns to him and says,

· today you will be with me in paradise.

· It's a moment of clarity, a moment of faith

· that can change everything.

· Job demonstrates it here.

· The man on the cross has demonstrated it.

· We see it all throughout Scripture.

· And so what I wanna remind you of today

· is this key question.

· Where are the moments of clarity for you?

· And what do they reveal?

· Where are the moments of clarity for you

· and what do they reveal?

· Let's sit back and think about our lives for a moment.

· What are the moments of clarity?

· Well, think about your life and mine.

· There are plenty of seasons

· where as we look back on the history of our lives,

· we identify with Job.

· Maybe not to this extent.

· But as we look back, we may find that there are seasons

· where it seems like all of the pieces don't fit.

· That it's all rubble, it's all darkness,

· it's all struggle.

· However, these moments of clarity

· are little moments where we're reminded,

· it's not that bad.

· God's still in control.

· It's this reminder that Job has a blip on the radar,

· but something that really reveals

· the thread of his faith

· that is carried throughout everything.

· I think of wildfires.

· And here in Arizona, we're familiar,

· all too familiar with wildfires.

· Here's one of the things that's incredible to see,

· you've probably seen this,

· is the tragedy that happens when wildfires go through.

· Everything gets burned.

· But one of the things that happens post wildfire

· is there's oftentimes growth that happens

· pretty quickly after these wildfires.

· And you'll see little pieces of green

· that sprout up in the remnants of the fire.

· The ashes, if you will,

· these pieces of green begin to,

· after a short season, pop up.

· And it's a reminder in these moments of clarity

· that you and I also spiritually

· can have moments of clarity as well.

· Moments where even in the middle of the destruction

· and the ashes of life,

· where as Job would put it,

· the dust, we still can hold onto our faith.

· So the question is,

· where are the moments of clarity for you

· and what do they reveal?

· For us, the moments of clarity are the moments,

· sometimes short moments,

· where we step in and realize our Redeemer lives.

· I would encourage you today to cultivate moments

· where you are reminded that your Redeemer lives.

· Some of us need more reminders than others.

· We need reminders that our Redeemer lives.

· That's why I'll always encourage you

· to read your Bible.

· It's helpful for you

· because it cultivates these moments of clarity

· where we can be reminded of the truth

· that's found in Scripture,

· the truth that Job found here,

· that his Redeemer lives.

· And these moments reveal the faith

· that will get us through the difficult times.

· You see, Job didn't do this all on his own.

· His friends, even the friends he was adversarial with,

· are pushing him in his faith.

· They're helping him to grow in his faith.

· And what it reveals is that God is often shaping us

· and growing things in us

· even when we don't see the results.

· Coincidentally enough,

· I've been doing research about how bones heal.

· If you know, you know, it's a thing.

· Particularly, bones in the hand, how they heal.

· And I've learned, thanks to AI,

· all of the processes by which doctors go in

· and figure out how they're going to set up

· the healing process

· or how they're gonna walk through this process.

· And here's the thing that I've learned

· about bones in the hand and the way they heal.

· The first week is typically just assessment phase

· where the bones are just, you know,

· you take pictures via x-ray,

· you kind of figure out where things are.

· And then what happens is from week one through three,

· which is the season I find myself in,

· is the season where the entry is kind of put on pause.

· And it's this observation period

· where nothing externally is really happening.

· Everything's sort of covered up and we wait.

· We're not doing anything,

· except drinking lots of milk

· because apparently calcium.

· But it's in this process

· where it seems like you're just waiting.

· Nothing's happening.

· That gets you from week one until week three.

· And here's what happens between week three and four.

· Doctors go in and take an x-ray

· and here's what they're able to show.

· It's weeks two, three, and into four

· where the healing process begins.

· While sometimes there's nothing visible,

· the circumstances don't seem good.

· It doesn't seem like it's just instantly fixed.

· There's things happening internally

· that are shaping those bones,

· that are healing those bones.

· Our bodies naturally begin to send in the nutrients

· needed to help the body repair the bone.

· And it's the fact that there's things growing

· even when we don't see it

· that remind us that even in these moments of clarity,

· as we face difficult situations,

· as Job's friends look at him, they don't see faith.

· As a matter of fact, his friend would say

· in chapter 17, LFS, or 15, excuse me,

· you undermine the fear of God.

· There's no faith in you.

· You're not doing this thing.

· But it's in chapter 19, 25

· that we see Job's faith pop up,

· even if for just a moment.

· I wanna encourage you today

· that a moment of faith, even a quick moment,

· can change everything.

· Let me pray for you today.

· God, we come before you.

· And God, as we look at the story of Job

· in this second series of speeches,

· God, our prayer today is that you would help us

· to understand what moments of clarity

· we're facing in our daily lives.

· Moments where in honesty and vulnerability,

· we can step into faith like Job does

· even when the odds don't seem in our favor,

· even when the results don't seem

· like they're going to work out for us,

· even when it seems like the relationship

· isn't gonna work out.

· God, we know that at the end of the day,

· you are our Redeemer, and our Redeemer lives.

· And so God, today our prayer is collectively

· that as we seek you in the difficulty,

· in the moments of life,

· you would help us to live in light

· of these moments of clarity

· that we're reminded our Redeemer lives.

· And then ultimately, God, those moments of clarity

· would shape our future.

· That you'd help us to be strengthened

· to be able to face tomorrow

· knowing that our Redeemer lives.

· That the same truth that Job found here

· would also be the truth that we cling to today,

· and that it would be the thing that sustains us

· in the seasons we find ourselves in.

· God, we pray all this in your name.

· Amen.

· Let's stand as we continue in worship.

· I am an instrument of exaltation

· And I was born to lift your name above all myths

· You hear the melody of all creation

· But there's a song of praise that only I can bring

· Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· You are the infinite God of the angels

· Yet you chose to make my heart to dwell in your name

· You healed my brokenness, showed me your glory

· So why are songs of praise not even angels?

· Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· The Lamb of God, anointed one

· Who lies in peace, pleased to come

· Seated on the throne of love

· Holy, holy

· The righteous one who shed his blood

· You proved to us the Father's love

· Jesus Christ, he lives in love

· Holy, holy

· The Lamb of God, anointed one

· Who lies in peace, pleased to come

· Seated on the throne of love

· Holy, holy

· The righteous one who shed his blood

· You proved to us the Father's love

· Jesus Christ, he lives in love

· Holy, holy

· The Lamb of God, anointed one

· Who lies in peace, pleased to come

· Seated on the throne of love

· Holy, holy

· The righteous one who shed his blood

· You proved to us the Father's love

· Jesus Christ, he lives in love

· Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy?

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· There is no one, only you, Jesus

· Thank you for watching!

· Thank you for watching!

· Thank you for watching!

· Thank you for watching!

· Thank you for watching!

· Thank you for watching!

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Part of Series

Job

Job

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