Pt. 2 – Controlled Craziness. The world is full of craziness. But, what we need to realize is that we are one of the crazy ones. We have this wrong headed idea that we are one of the good ones. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are all sinners, saved by grace. The best witness we can give in a world that is evil is our own confession. You say “What?” US, confess? Yes. Martin Luther said we are great sinners and we have a great savior. So, what does that mean and how do we do it? Where is God in all of this?

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Pt. 1 – Expected Craziness. In our culture, it feels like the asylum is being run by the patients. Things being said that just make no sense. And no one to say, “That’s crazy, that’s just wrong.” But it is not a new problem. It’s been around for ages. When you look at our culture it’s hard to decide if what I don’t like is really bad, or if it’s just because I’m just set in my ways. But, there IS evil in our world, and there is craziness. Where does it come from and what do we do?

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Have you ever thought about what we believe? I mean, what we believe can be really weird. We belive that God entered time and space, what hungry, he blew his nose like we do. We belive that he was hungry, tired, lonely and even afraid. We believe he died. And after he died, he rose from the dead. Even more, he is coming back for us? Who made this stuff up? If you don’t have something in your faith that you can’t explian, then maybe you’re worshipping an idol.

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When Jesus looked out over Jerusalem and wept for the city, He wept for us too. That’s reflected in the cross. The cross reflects a lot of things, but it reflects the tears of Jesus too. When Jesus shows mercy, it’s with tears. When we show mercy without tears, it means nothing. It’s called virtue signaling. Love takes you to a place where tears flow down your cheeks as you look at the people you love who are lost. Tears say a lot.

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The church is no place for laughter… or it is? What is the clearest sign of Jesus presence? Laughter! Too often we miss laughter. You can counterfit any of the marks of being a Christian but you can’t counterfit real Laughter!

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Love God and Sin Boldly! Seriously! This is from Martin Luther, who was frustrated with a legalistic colleague. Luther said to him “Why don’t you go out and sin so you have something to confess.” Well, we are all sinners. We all experience radical and pervasive depravity – we just don’t admit it. By not admitting it, we give the world the idea that Christianity is about being good, but it’s not! Peter, who Jesus told “when you have returned to me, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus know that Peter would deny Him – three times! But he also knew that forgiveness was Peters. Jesus’s forgiveness is ours too.

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The Gift of Assurance. Life is full of difficulties. People don’t like us. The Christian life is more than just theology. It is being loved by Jesus. It’s remembering He is the good shepherd. It’s knowing He is looking after us and will protect us. He died for us to bring us into His fold. It’s learning to lean on Him and know that you are safe. You can rest in Him.

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The Gift of Laughter. Religion will make you weird. We all have our demons, our issues, guilt, pain. But we also have grace. The love and forgiveness of Jesus. For those of us who have experienced God’s grace, we also experience the laughter of the redeemed. Where Jesus is there is also laughter. Steve says “Laughter is the flag that flies over Joy!”

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The Gift of Tears. You know what we miss sometimes in the Christian faith? We miss the tears. We miss the pathos. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Lament, tears, is everywhere in the Bible. But, there is also the laughter. Both are gifts from God.

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The Gift of Truth. The Bible is full of teaching about triumph and tragedy. Joy and Tears, laughter and lament. Steve recounts that he has been a pastor for many, many years. During that time he has been to many, many funerals and the odd thing, all of those funerals had laughter. Why, during times of lament was there laughter? In 1 Corinthians 2:6-13, Paul says that God, through His Spirit reveals His truth to us. That we might understand what God has given to us.

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