Victory

This is Pastor Carter Conlin, and welcome to my kitchen, where I get to tell you again today why I'm not afraid of the days that we're living in, or neither am I afraid of the days ahead of us, because there's a glorious, glorious moment coming into your life and into mine. And let me read it to you a little bit about it. It's going to look like this, what is described in the Bible in Revelation chapter 7. John says these words, After these things I looked, and behold, a great number, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, people, tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and unto the Lamb. Verse 13 says, Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? Now today, I am sitting here with you, and I'm wearing a football jersey that was given to me by Mark Gastineau, a famous defensive end from the New York Jets, who has won all kinds of awards and kept all kinds of records, and who sang and is intending on singing in our choir at times for a church, a gloriously converted man. He gave me this jersey, and he told me, he said, Now don't call it a sweater. He said, It's a jersey. In hockey it's called a sweater, in football it's a jersey. So I'm wearing Mark's jersey right now. He wrote on the front of the jersey, According to Luke 15.4, you've got to find me, and you've got to keep me in the flock. So I'm going to be, I'm looking for you, Mark, and I love you, and I thank God for you, and I look forward to having you back in the church as you're getting through your bout with cancer. And God's going to give you an even better voice in the choir in the future to do what he's called you to do. But years ago, Mark, several years ago, Mark got an award for all the hard work he had done. He had established records, he had trained, he had fought hard, he had done a lot of good for his sport. And he got an award for what he had done. And so in the middle of a game, in the middle of the stadium, in the middle of a game, where the Jets play, he got to go in the center of the stadium, and he was honored by thousands and thousands of people, and on national television as well, and he got a ring called the Ring of Honor, and he was inducted into the Jets Hall of Fame. And I got to be there with him as well as part of his new family in God. It was an amazing experience. And so today I'm wearing the jersey, and I got to experience the victory of somebody who did all the work for me. And that's what it's like living for Christ and in Christ. He fought the devil, he beat darkness, he died on a cross, he rose from the dead, and he covered my sin. And one day I get to stand in heaven and shout hallelujah with all the created beings entering in too and covered by the victory of another. So thank you, Mark, for reminding me of who I am in Christ and the great celebration that's one day going to happen in heaven for all of us. I'm not afraid of the future. The future is going to be absolutely glorious. Thank God. See you again when we come back for devotions from my kitchen.