Is, Was, Is
Tim Ross | December 18, 2022
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Transcription
Tim Ross: Hi.
Audience: Hi.
Tim Ross: I love you.
Audience: Love you too.
Tim Ross: So good to see you. Oh my goodness, you can't put a video of my wife up here and expect me to be okay. I love you so much, and I thank you for staying with me through the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows, the goods and the bads. I know I'm crazy.
[laughter]
Quite frankly, you are too, to stay with me.
[laughter]
I'm grateful that we're crazy in love together. This is my last sermon as lead pastor of Embassy City. Before we lay hands on Timothy Rivers and pass the baton to him, I will, in the words of my best friend Corey Miller, be bright, be brief, and be gone.
[laughter]
I would, that you would turn to with me to the last book in the New Testament, the book of Revelation chapter number one. The Apostle John writes these words, "This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place." He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, who faithfully reported everything he saw.
This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says for the time is near. This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia.
Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was and who is still to come from the seventh fold spirit before his throne and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things. The first to rise from the dead and the ruler of all the kings of the world, all glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. He has made us a kingdom of priests for God, His father. All glory and power to him forever and ever. Amen.
Audience: Amen.
Tim Ross: Look, He comes with the clouds of heaven and everyone will see Him. Even those who pierced Him and all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes, amen. I am. If he stopped right there, it'd have been enough. I am the Alpha and the Omega.
The beginning and the end says the Lord. "I am the one who is, who always was and who is still to come. The almighty one." The last sermon that I am going to preach as the lead pastor of this church is simply three words. Is, was, is. Is, was, is. Say it with me. Is, was, is. Again, a little bit louder. Is--
Congregation: Was, is.
Tim Ross: One more time real loud is,
Congregation: [crosstalk] Is, was, is.
Tim Ross: [laughs] Bow your heads. Let's pray, shall we? Thank you Holy Spirit. Amen.
Congregation: Amen.
Tim Ross: I thought about the many ways that I could close out leading a church for seven years and what I could preach as the period exclamation mark, comma, semicolon, whatever punctuation could fit. As I wrestled with what to preach, I spent hours searching the Scriptures just to see if anything would spark. After hours of futility, I was reminded gently by the Holy Spirit that I have always been a burdened preacher. That is to say that I cannot rummage through Scripture and find a passage that sounds good to preach.
Congregation: That's right.
Tim Ross: I have never been a preacher that could just rummage through Scripture and just go, "You know what? That sounds good. Let me preach it." If God doesn't give me a burden, I cannot preach. After hours of futility, I threw up my hands and resolved that, "Lord, you're either going to give me something to preach or I guess I'm not preaching."
Congregation: That's good.
Tim Ross: As soon as I resigned myself to the fact that he has to give me a word, as faithful as he has been the last seven years, he gave me a word. It wasn't about being finished. It wasn't about my life being poured out as a sacrifice. I'm 47.
[laughter]
It wasn't to retreat to the words of Paul writing to Timothy, which would've been apropos, a Timothy to another Timothy saying, "I have finished my course. I've ran my race. Now there is therefore a crown laid up for me and I'm ready to be poured out as a drink offering."
No, fam.
[laughter]
I'm not dead yet. Don't plan on dying no time soon. If I was going to leave you with some final words, they wouldn't be words for me. If I was going to leave you with final words, I want you to be reminded of why every church exists and what every church should be about. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Congregation: That's right.
Tim Ross: It simply is God loving us so much that he would send his son into the earth to die for every single person off of a maybe. I said I'd be brief, but if I were to pontificate upon that mere statement alone, it'd be a 17-week revival that Jesus would come and die for you and I, off of a maybe. A perhaps. A just in case. "Hopefully they would understand how extravagant my love is, and that would be enough for them to give their lives to me. I don't know if they're going to do it or not, but I'm going down there."
Congregation: Yes. God. Yes sir. Thank you.
Tim Ross: It's not a decision he made unwillingly. Scripture says, before the foundations of the world, Christ was crucified for us. It culminates in Scripture with a declaration from God later, a declaration from Jesus. The words in red that I am the Alpha and the Omega. The Greek Alphabet starting with Alpha ending with Omega. If He were American he would start with A and end with Z.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the beginning, not a beginning. I am the beginning and I am the end." Not an end. The end. Oh, that's something we can rest in right there. That God is the God of our beginnings no matter where we start, he is with us. He is the God of our beginnings and he is the God of our endings.
We can rejoice like Zechariah intends us to. "Despise not the day of small beginnings. For God loves to see the work begin." Why? He is the beginning, so he loves a beginning when He is the beginning and He can appreciate and end because He is the end. This is the reminder today that Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, bookends all of time. He is at the beginning of time and at the end of time at the same time.
Congregation: Yes sir.
Tim Ross: If it's one thing that I'll never take for granted is being able to talk the talk of an awesome God. When you know the power of the God that you serve, it makes you walk differently. It makes you talk differently. Your stride is a little bit different. Your cadence is a little bit different. Your tone is different. When you know that you serve a God who is simultaneously at the beginning and the end. Of every season of my life, he is at the beginning and the end. No matter what I go through, he is at the beginning of it and the end of it, no matter what I start, he is there no matter what I finish, he is there. He is both God, the beginning and God, the end.
Congregation: Yes, thank you.
Tim Ross: If he was simply a bookend that would leave us with a frightening middle.
Congregation: Jesus.
Tim Ross: If he was simply at the beginning and at the end, that means we must meander through the middle of the start and the finish, perhaps hoping merely by faith that he would give us enough power to make it to the other side. I love God because he's so intentional when he speaks. That he would say in this verse, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, and the one who is the one who was and the one who is to come." Wooh. Thank you, God. I got a little scared there because I know you're Alpha and I know you're Omega. I know you're the beginning and the one who's at the end. I know you are the one who was and the one who is to come, but did you just remove all doubt? That we don't have to worry about our middle?
Congregation: Jesus.
Tim Ross: By saying I am the one who is. Which means not only was I before you, not only am I after you, I am with you right now. I am the one who is. Not only was he with me, not only will he be with me, he is with me right now. No matter what situation I step into, he is with me right now.
I don't have to worry about how it starts or how it finishes and I don't have to worry about the middle because he is with me here too.
Do I have at least 25 witnesses that know that he is with me right now? That there is no way I could have got through this season if he wasn't present with me right now? 2022 might have brought some challenges, but had it not been for God, I would've already been dead. He has been with me right now.
He was with this church in 2015. He will be with this church in 2023. He is with this church right now. It's not that he is just Alpha and Omega. He is B through Y. I don't know who that was for right there, but it's good to know that I got A and Z covered, but I'm glad you got B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y.
Why do I need a savior? Because I need somebody for every single letter in my life. On the agonizing days, on the bemoaning days, on the confusing days, on the disturbing days, on my exciting days, on my frustrating days, on my good God, what is going on days, on my holiest of days, on my interesting of days, on my completely juxtaposed days, on my can-He-even-work-this-out-Be-kind-to-me days. On my am I living in a moment that I will never get out days, on my money is funny days. On my no I do not want to worship you days. On my best opposition days. On the most puzzling of these days, He is there. What letter am I on? On the days that I feel like I'm doing a quiz.
On the days where I know that his royalty is the only thing that can save me from my ratchetness. On the days that I forget that I'm sanctified. On the days that I have to remember that he has to temper me and I have to have some self-control. What letter am I on? On the days I don't understand and the days that are completely wild. Is that the one after?
Congregation: V.
Tim Ross: Oh, V. On the days that I know I need a victory. On the days that are completely wild. I know everybody waiting for X.
On the days that are extreme. I got that from Pastor Tim without an E. Okay? I cheated a little bit. I'm emotional. On the days that I need to be reminded, no disrespect to America, I promise you, no disrespect, but my king's name is Yeshua. He is a Jewish man from the Middle East who came from the progeny of Abram. A promise was given through a man who had faith passed down through generations, Isaac and Jacob, to David, to us.
I need you to know that there is nothing that is going to keep this church from being all that God called it to be, because we have Alpha, Omega and the God that's in the middle of it. [applause]
Time does not afford me to even begin to tell, you how much you have meant to me as a congregation. I suppose only when we get to eternity, and after he has wiped every tear from my eye. If I still remember you in this way, we'll have the rest of eternity to talk about how meaningful me being your pastor has been. How much I've grown, how much you've taught me, the ways I've been stretched, the ways I've failed, the ways I've succeeded. I couldn't have done it without you, and we couldn't have done it without God.
Is, was, is, the church has endured for the last 2000 years, not because of great preachers and not because of great pastors, apostles, and prophets. The church has endured for 2000 years because he is, he was and he is, the future of Embassy City is so bright that I need sunglasses.
I know that what he does in this next season is going to completely eclipse, not in a competitive way, but in a progressive way, what God did in these first seven years. At this time, I'm going to ask, God's man, His successor to His church to stand and come because it is time.
[laughter]
Janese, would you come stand with him? Juliette, would you come? Jeff, would you also come as well? Pastor Jeff Klingenberg from Highridge Church. [applause]
Pastor Jeff is the man that I met with at Cheesecake Factory [laughs] to ask permission to speak with Tim, because this was his pastor. I was simply a mentor and I had no permission discussing anything with Tim, without getting permission from him.
Jeff Klingenberg: High honor, brother.
Tim Ross: I thank you for hearing God and releasing such a gift from your house to be a gift for this house. We love you [applause] and we appreciate you. We love you and we appreciate you. I would ask that we would all stand at this time. The laying on of hands is significant in scripture because it is the indication that we see most often, that signifies blessing, power, authority, and the transferring thereof. While the act itself is not some emotional, demonstrative thing, it is absolutely significant, for there is no pastor that should be pastoring who has not had hands laid on them.
It is an illegal operation and a complete counterfeit for any pastor to be pastoring and you can't trace him and his ministry back to the hands that were laid on him.
Congregant: Very good.
Congregant: Good.
Tim Ross: Not only should we look for it in the natural, heaven looks for it in the spiritual, and so does hell. If hell finds a man that does not have hands that have been laid, that pastor gets hell. [chuckles] When you find a man who has had hands that have been laid, that pastor receives heaven. If you would stretch your hands while I lay my hands, we get to set in God's man, our pastor for the future of Embassy City Church, Timothy Rivers.
Back in October, I laid hands on your shoulders. That was because I was bestowing some authority to you as we went through this transition period. Now I'm laying hands on your head because I am releasing all authority that God has given me to you. It is a one-way transfer. I cannot take it back. I cannot grab it back. I will never fight for it back, and I'm doing it publicly so that if anything in me creeps up that is not like God, this whole church can beat me up.
[laughter]
As I lay my hands on you, I thank God that before the foundations of the world, he chose you for this season. That before he said, "Let there be light," He had you and Janese on his mind. He had this church on his mind and He knew that in 2023, he would need a voice to preach, to speak, to lead, to exhort, to correct, to love and He chose you. Before I knew it, before Jeff knew it, before you knew it, he chose you. Never let there be a doubt in your mind that you were chosen by God. Never let there be a day that you stand on this platform and not know that you are already loved. God is already pleased and he already affirms your gift.
You are not trying to be the pastor of this church. You are the pastor of this church. [applause] God, thank you for, choosing Timothy. Thank you for anointing Timothy. Thank you for appointing Timothy, now thank you for partnering with Timothy. God, you are my Omega today, and you are his Alpha today. Be with him as you were with me. Let all glory be to God and no credit come to us, in Jesus name. Amen. [applause]
In a relay race, we would have to look to the Jamaicans for excellence. Shout out to Juliette. The Americans have messed it up so many years, so embarrassing. All you need to do is just put-- just, if you just put your hand out right, you can get the baton. Something so simple can be really jacked up. We can literally ruin something that is supposed to be simple when we take our focus off what it is that we're supposed to be doing. I've seen people fumble the baton, drop the baton, actually pass the baton too late and get disqualified.
There's literally a transfer zone where both sprinters occupy the same space. One is decreasing in speed while the other is increasing in speed. Over the last three months, I have been decreasing for you to increase. Today, I'm decreased [laughs] for you to be increased. I thought about what would be my charge to you. Three things, very, very simple. You've heard it before, but I want to say it publicly. Love God above anything. Love Janese, and your children above this church and love this church above the world. Stick.
[applause]
Tim Rivers: I love you. I love you. Man. What do you say? I had all these words and I thought I was going to be able to keep it together, but I guess not.
I love this baton because you know, when Tim and I first talked, this was in April, we talked about this transition. Hypothetically, we talked about timelines and what would this look like, but the thing we both agreed on that we were certainly going to do, no matter if it was going to be this year or next year or five years from now, we agreed that there will be a relay, a transfer zone where both of us would run together. That's why this is so significant because for the last three months we've ran together, and it's interesting, I was telling Tim this yesterday, I started looking up relay races and like the significance of the transfer zone, and so just because I got curious, I was like, "What's the distance that the transfer zone is when the runner is passing the baton and the receiver's getting it?" It happens to be 30 meters, which is 90 feet. From October to the end of December, we didn't make this up. We're not that smart, but every step of the way, God's been in it. For the last 90 days we've run together and it's been a sweet run these last 90 days, because for the last seven years, Juliette, Tim, you've run an amazing race.
[applause]
Janese and I get to run this leg and then and transfer it to somebody else.
Juliette: Not yet.
Tim Rivers: Yes, yes. Not anytime soon. Before Tim preached his message today, I was like, "God, what do you want me to say to this amazing church?" The scripture that came to mind was, "Let us therefore run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising its shame and sat down at the right hand of God."
I believe that as we start this next leg of the race, we're still going to look to the one who was, who is, and who is we're going to run this race looking to Jesus, because I know that God has great things in store for you and I, and we get to run this together, so I just want to say that as for me and Janese and our family, we are so honored. We're so excited to serve you. We're going to pray for you. We're going to believe God for you, and together we're going to see God do everything He has always intended to do with our church, and somebody say amen.
Congregation: Amen.
Tim Rivers: Can we give God some glory in the place?
[applause]
Thank you so much for all those who have already prayed for us. This transition couldn't have happened without you. For all those that are still here, for all those that have kept us in mind, who've prayed for us, who've encouraged us, you don't know how much that has meant to us as we've made this transition.
We're about to close out the service, but remember next week we will not have in-person service. You can join us online at 9:00 AM and watch an amazing service, and then the week after January 1st. Sunday 2023. You better come in here ready, because I got a word for you. Don't stay up too late on December 31st. Get to the house because God's going to do something special. Somebody say amen.
Congregation: Amen.
Tim Rivers: Alter team, would you come up here? If you need prayer for anything, make sure you don't leave out of here until you get some prayer. Hug somebody, love somebody. Worship team is going to worship us out. God bless you.
