Chapel - Pastor Kareem Faeron

Pastor Kareem Faeron was born and raised in Scarborough Ontario and has a wealth of experience working in leadership roles in both church and non-church settings. In the fall of 2022, Pastor Kareem and his wife launched a new church in Ajax Ontario called Limitless Church.

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Tyndale University presents a series of recorded chapel services from Tyndale's very own faculty and guest speakers.

What an absolute honour it is to be here. Yeah, I was a former student here at Tyndale. Not too long ago, I got to meet who was a Dean at the time, one of the Deans of Barry Smith, we were in a French class together. And I don't know if you guys know Dean, but Barry sorry, but he is a little bit of a prankster. And it was good to be in his class, you would have thought that the the dean of the of the school would be the, you know, the polite one and not give any problems, but I'm just putting him on blast here. He's one of the most rowdy students that I have ever had the privilege of being with, but that was very, if you don't know, go greet him. And I'm sure he has some stories that he can tell you. But enough of that, I want to get into the Word of God. You guys ready for the Word of God this morning? Are you guys ready for the Word of God this morning? We are going to be in the Gospel of Mark. In chapter 14, we're going to be at verses 27 to 42. You can turn there and your Bibles and here's what I'm going to ask, can we actually stand as we read God's word?

Here's what I want us to understand. When we read God's word in this moment, it's like God speaking to us. And I was a youth pastor for many years, and one time I went and visited a former youth who was in the army. And we were sitting at a bench while we were sitting at a bench, somebody walked by. And when he walked by, that youth of mine had to stand up and give him attention. I'm saying to say, this is why I want us to stand in this moment. We want to give God full attention as he speaks to us. In this moment, again, we're going to be Mark chapter 14, verses 27 to 42. Here's what it says. Here's what he says. And Jesus said to them, you will all fall away. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I'm raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. And Peter said to him, even though they all fall away, I will not. And Jesus said to him, Truly I tell you this very night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. But he said emphatically, if I must die with you, I will not deny you. They all said the same and they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples sit here while I pray. And he took with him Peter, and James and John. And he began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful even to death. Remain here and watch. And going a little farther he fell on the ground and pray that if it was possible, that the hour might pass from him. But then he said Abba Father, all things are possible for you remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. And he came and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. And again, he went away and prayed saying the same words. And again, he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were very heavy. And they did not know what to answer him. And he came to the third time and he said to them, are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough. The Hour has come the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of Sinners Rise, let us be going see my betrayer is that had. Father we thank You for Your Word. We thank You, Lord, that it indeed is still alive. That indeed it still has power, power to convict power to correct and power to align us into your will and your way for our lives. And so Lord in this time, would you allow your words to speak in and through me this morning I pray in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. So as Keisha mentioned, my wife and I, we've been together we're going to be going into our 17 year anniversary. Yes, I know I look it that I could have a wife of 17 years, but we have we have been married for 17 years. Now we got married pretty much right out of high school and we've been together ever since. With that we now have four kids. Okay, so we have a 17 year old, nine year old, a three year old and a one year old. Now here's the thing about my kids. It's very interesting. And I'm very blessed. This is a thing, my kids they love to like fight over who loves daddy the most, who will do the most for daddy. I'm like, like, all my kids are the biggest like my daughter's, you know, Daddy's girls, and even my son was one. It's crazy how much he loves me. On a side note, my wife is so jealous of me that this is the case that our kids love us more. And it's the truth. They love me more. And I know she may be watching online. You know what's true babe, they love me for more. That's just the way it is. Just like the song just said, it's just the way it is. But in that they're always wanting to do like stuff for me to kind of prove their love for Me. And they don't have to do it. I'm not asking them to do but they do it. And they always want to do these things where it's like, whatever you want that I got you. And I know, the thing about that is, be careful what you ask for, because I'm going to put you to the test. Sometimes I'm going to ask you to do some things. But so here's what will happen sometimes is I will ask my daughter's, I'll look at a room that messy or something that needs to be done around the house. And I'll go to them. And they will say to me, and sometimes I've been like I'll look at like the most dirtiest room just to see how much they really want to show me they love me. And I know this is interesting. This is something I do. It's a thing, I do it to show them as much as you say you do everything. For me, there's some things I know there is limitations. And I bring this up because a couple of times I've asked him to do things that they weren't able to do it. And it's okay that they weren't able to do but I knew that they weren't able to get they weren't going to be able to do it. And it's okay. It doesn't mean that I love them any less. It doesn't mean that I'm not willing to go to like the ends of the earth for them. It's just the reality of what it is. And in the story that we just read, we have a similar situation with Jesus. We have him with the disciples. And to them at that point, they're saying I will never fall away. I will never fall away. But Jesus actually says to them, you will all fall away everybody say all, you will all fall away for his rent, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I'm raised up, I will go before you in Galilee, and Peter said to him, even though they all will fall away, I will not fall away. And Jesus says to him truly I tell you this very night before the rooster crows, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times but he said emphatically, if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And they all said the same. And so they're there and they're all saying they will never fall away. They'll always do what is called and asked of them. The reality is is we're all going to fall short, will never meet that mark. It's the very reason why Jesus had to come. None of us, none of us are perfect. None of us will actually be able to obtain all the things that the law says we're supposed to follow. And it's so great. Honestly, it's so great that we have this loving Father, this everlasting God that recognizes that we all will fall short. And he comes dies in the worst of ways for me and for you. Sometimes we forget that fact. And just because of that I want you to turn to your neighbour in this moment say neighbour, turn to your neighbour say neighbour, we're going to talk to each other say neighbour, oh neighbour, you will fall short.

Now, turn to your other neighbour, other neighbour look at another neighbour around you and say neighbour Oh neighbour. I'm sorry, you were my second choice. But you will fall short.

Now it's interesting if we look at this story that Jesus in that moment he knew that they were going to fall short. But if you look at verse 28, he highlights something, knowing this, he still makes this comment at verse 20. But after I'm raised up, I will go before you to Galilee, meaning even knowing that Peter is going to deny him that they were all going to fall short. He then makes mention of the fact that even after all of that and they might not even fully understood it at that time. That even after that, I'm still gonna go before you in Galilee. What he's talking about is after his Death and resurrection, he's gonna be with them in Galilee. And so this is the thing that we got to understand in the midst of when we fall short, here's what the enemy would love to do is when we fall short, he's going to try to get in your head. And he's going to try to discourage you. And he's going to try to keep you down. But we got to understand that we have a God that never leaves us nor forsake us. Amen. That no matter what we do, he's still always going to be there. So with that being said, if you don't remember anything else this morning, here's what I want you to remember. No matter what, trust in Jesus. Everybody say, no matter what, trust in Jesus, when we mess up, when we fall short, he's still always going to be there with you. He's not going to leave you, he's not going to forsake you. But like I said, the enemy is going to want to come through. And he's going to do all sorts of interesting things. But we got to remember the truth of Romans chapter eight, where it says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of Life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin, and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do but by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us walk not according to our flesh, but according to our spirit. again, in those times, our flesh is going to want to tell us to live a certain way. But in the midst of that, let's not follow the flesh, we have to depend on the spirit and recognize we are not no longer those who can't be condemned because of the love of Jesus Christ. So I say it again, no matter what, trust in Jesus, no matter what trust in Jesus. Now, continuing on with the story, we have in verses 35, he says, going a little farther, he fell on the ground, and he prayed, this is Jesus. He says, if it were possible, that the hour might pass from him, and he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup for me yet, not what I will. But what you will.

Sometimes we're gonna pray things. And the things that we pray, they're good things. But they're not in line with God's will. And in the midst, when that happens, we got to be at a place where we trust God, no matter what

Jesus is, in this moment, he's in the garden of gethsemane. He knows what He's about to do. He's getting ready to be tortured, to be ridiculed, and to die in the worst of ways. And in that moment, Jesus, the human side of him comes out and he says, Please, Father, take this cup from me. But then he says, but not what I will but what you will Lord. He takes his cup and I'm so glad that he did.

He takes his cup and the whole time he's thinking about me. He's thinking about you. He's saying I want to be back into relationship with my creation. In that moment, he says I'm going to trust farther beyond myself. And again, I'm so glad that he did that. He allowed himself then to be arrested. Now again, picture this, the creator of the universe, being arrested, he could have just totally switched things up and not allowed himself to go through what he went through. But he did It again thinking about me thinking about you. He takes his cup, he gets arrested. And while he's arrested, he's getting carried or brought to be tried. Just getting punched at spat at again, thinking about me thinking about you. He goes before, and he literally could have said, No, I'm not what they say I am. And he could have been good. But no, he takes his cup. He holds his cup. He literally goes through, I'm just gonna fast forward and imagine this. He's on a post

somebody because he's been sentenced and scorched, who's literally whipping his back over and over and over again. But the whip wasn't like a regular whip. It was a whip that literally, it had led and glass and all the shards that the whole point was to make them suffer that every time and sometimes we don't even fully fathom what it was like that every time they're hitting him. They had to have someone that was extremely skilled, that it was literally latch onto his back. And then he would pull it back 40 times going through this thinking of me thinking of you. And sometimes we lose the awe, not recognizing what it is that the creator of the universe did for me did for you. Spat at, punched, at they literally mocked him and put a crown of thorns in his head, piercing his head and blood coming down from the top of his head.

He's holding his cup. remember, he got scores, and they put his robe on him.

And just before they put them on the post to be able to be crucified, they rip it off of him. Have you ever had a BandAid that was on for a while. And then you rip that off. And that little pain that you have Imagine your entire back, ripping a robe off your back again thinking about me thinking about you. And then they give him the cross to carry. And they carry it roughly two football fields. This is not no light cross he's carrying it with everybody looking at him. And the embarrassment that would come with that again, he holds his cup. And then he gets on the cross, they lay him down. And I'm just reminding I know you guys know the story. But I don't know if sometimes we just forget the magnitude of what has taken place the stretch his arm and they shove a big nail through one hand and here's the part of that sometimes we don't fully understand as they stretch his next arm as far as it could go and then again, very skilled individuals they would then as this is bolted in they would stretch the arm even further beyond what was actually humanly possible. And in that moment, all that were there would actually hear the person's ribs start breaking. Again he held this cup thinking about me thinking about you shove the even bigger nail through his legs, thinking about me thinking about you and then every breath once they lifted him up every breath that he took it was a struggle and that was the point they would have them struggle until they would end up dying he held his cup thinking about me thinking about you

he trusted beyond himself in that moment. He was like not my will but yours. So the question that I have for you guys this morning is this

you guys are here you're students. Some just visiting visiting sorry are visiting. And I know life happens. And there's things that we desire. But then maybe the Lord might say something different. We may even pray things that sound great in the eyes of man, sound great, even by those closest to us. But if it's not in line with God's will, if it's not in line with God's will, that is not the place you want to be, it doesn't matter what it looks like, you want to be in line with God's will. And so the question I have for you guys is, are you willing to hold your cup? No matter what you go through, no matter the circumstances, situation, no matter how tough things get. Are you willing to hold your cup? The Lord may send you places that nobody wants to go, but the Lord wants you there. Are you going to go? Some of you are in school right now. And you're going in a certain direction. And the Lord may say, I want you to go in a different direction. In that moment, are you going to be willing to say not My will, Lord, but you are not my will. But yours. And here's the thing about that. And the reason why this is so important. I want to stress this and make sure you guys get this in this movie that were a part of, of life, from the beginning of time. And so when the Lord comes back, I want you guys to understand this, you are not the main character in this movie. We're support were the supporting cast trying to accomplish his will which is greater and beyond ourselves. So you need to be willing to trust God and trust God, no matter what. His ways are higher than your ways His ways are better than your ways. You may be here and things have been easy, but there might come a time where things are gonna get difficult and in the difficult time. Are you willing to trust God, no matter what? turn to a neighbor and ask them are you willing to trust God?

Lord we are so grateful for what we have in you.

We know there's times where it's easy to say that we're going to live for you and follow you when things are easy the same way it was in that moment with Peter and the disciples to say yeah, no matter what, I will never fall away.

Well, life happens. And when life happens, are we going to be like Peter, and

sell out? and not be willing to let people know Yeah, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. Are we going to continue to trust you no matter what. Lord, there's some here and maybe they're at a crossroads. And

there's something that their flesh is saying, There's something that spirit is saying, I pray God that they would yield to the Spirit. I'd say in this moment in this time, not my will. But yours.

God, we're so grateful that you were willing to do that for us. And that you held your cup for us. So we can have life to the fullest. So Lord, in response to what it is that the creator of the universe was willing to do for us, us as mere humans, can we get in line with your will? And can we just trust you, you'll never leave us nor forsake us. I'm not promising that it's always going to be rainbows and Skittles. But what we can be assured of is that you will be there with us, giving us everything that we need. And so we thank You, Lord, for that we give you praise for that we give you glory we give you honor. And we pray all of this in your mighty name Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen.