He Will RadicallyTransform Your Life

[0:00] Luke chapter 20. If you're visiting with us, if you look in that chair in front of you, you'll find a black Bible there.

[0:12] Go to the back of that black Bible and look for page 65. Page 65. Luke chapter 20.

[0:25] We're going to start in verse 41. We'll go to the end of chapter 20 through 47 and then we'll pick up the first four verses of chapter 21. So 20, verse 41, through the end of the chapter 20 and then we'll hit the first four verses of chapter 21 today as well.

[0:47] So again, page 65. 65 in that black Bible. I'm going to read the text this morning and then we'll dive into God's Word. And he said to them, how is it that they say the Christ is David's son?

[1:09] For David himself says in the book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. David therefore calls him Lord.

[1:21] And how is he his son? Verse 45. And while all the people were listening, he said to the disciples, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love respectful greetings in the marketplaces and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets.

[1:41] Who devour those houses and for appearance's sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation. Chapter 21.

[1:51] And he looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw a certain poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And he said, truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all.

[2:06] For they all out of their surplus put into the offering. But she, out of her poverty, put in all she had to live on. I was an associate professor at Syracuse University, says Rosaria Champagne Butterfield.

[2:30] Recently tenored in the English department, also holding a joint teaching appointment in the Center of Women's Studies. I was in a lesbian relationship with a woman who was primarily an animal activist and a nature lover and also an adjunct professor at a neighboring university.

[2:49] Together we owned homes, cohabitating both in life and in the university's domestic partnership policy. My historical field in English studies was 19th century literature and culture, she says.

[3:02] My historical interests in 19th century literature were grounded in the philosophical and political worldviews of Freud, Karl Marx, and Charles Darwin. My primary field was critical theory, also known as postmodernism.

[3:18] My specialty was queer theory, a postmodern form of gay and lesbian studies. In doing research and writing for her second book, a study of the rise of the religious rights in America, she began to read the Bible.

[3:41] She says, I tried to toss the Bible and all of its teachings in the trash. I really tried. But I kept reading it. Reading it not just for pleasure, but reading it because I was engaged in a research program, trying to refute the religious right from a lesbian feminist perspective.

[3:58] After my second or third, maybe fourth, passed through the entire Bible, something started to happen. The Bible got to be bigger inside me than I.

[4:11] And it absolutely overflowed into my world. I really fought against it. And then one Sunday morning, no different from any other Sunday morning, I rose from the bed of my lesbian lover and an hour later, I sat at a church pew.

[4:27] I went there very conspicuous to the fact that I didn't fit in, but I really had to confront this God. And she did. And she became a Christian.

[4:40] And she wrote a book called Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, An English Professor's Journey into the Christian Faith. Come follow Jesus and you will find forgiveness of your sins.

[4:57] And what you'll see in the text this morning is this. Hello? Hello? Tyler?

[5:13] Not there. Andrew? Jordan? Great. Thank you. He will radically transform your life.

[5:27] Thank you, Jordan. He will radically transform your life. Here is just the tidbits of Rosaria Champagne Butterfield's life.

[5:40] God totally, radically, 180 degree turn, changed her life. And this is what we'll see in our text today, that Jesus will radically transform your life.

[5:53] Here was Jesus' counterattack upon the religious leaders. First, he made them question who they really believed to be Messiah. Second, he warned his disciples about these leaders who drew attention to themselves and took advantage of weak, helpless widows.

[6:11] And third, he used the poor widow to show that she truly was devoted to God as opposed to these pietistic looking religious leaders. If one were to follow Jesus, this is what your life should look like.

[6:27] And this is the irony, a widow not scribes love God by giving her life. So what we'll see today is solid orthodoxy and pure orthopraxy.

[6:40] Orthodoxy means right thinking. Orthopraxy means right living. Solid right thinking and pure right living. One must profess the right things which leads to living the right way.

[6:56] Not in the selfish pride or in a hypocritical life, but true, godly, selfless living. And also valuing the right things.

[7:07] What we believe comes out in life and in our values. What you truly believe about God, life, the Bible, Jesus, will come out in how you live and will come out in what you value.

[7:24] What's most important to you, what's most important to me. It was obvious with these leaders. They were off biblically. They suffered from pride.

[7:36] They did not give sacrificially, but only had the appearance of godliness. They were two-faced hypocrites with a form of piety taking advantage of others.

[7:47] But as followers of Christ, the more we know, the more responsible we are for what we know. So sin, by experience, Christians, is greater because we have had longer experiences of grace.

[8:02] We may offend a weaker brother or sister leading them astray. We should know better. It's a call to us Christians as well, not just to someone who does not know Christ.

[8:14] It's for all of us. So may we not disgracefully use Scripture and live disgraceful lives, but may we know God's Word and truly know the living Word, Jesus Christ.

[8:30] Knowing Him will transform how we live our lives and what we value most in this life, what is most important to us. Today, we will see three aspects of your life that radically transform.

[8:50] There will be three aspects in your life that will radically transform. what you believe, how you live, what you value. True thinking, true living, true sacrifice.

[9:07] What you believe, that will transform. How you live, that will transform. What you value, that will transform. Everything transforms when you follow Jesus.

[9:20] He will bring forgiveness and transform your life and how you think and how you live and what's most important to you.

[9:32] Three aspects that radically transform when you become His follower. First, number one, what you believe, true thinking. What you believe, true thinking.

[9:44] Verse 41, He said to them, how is it that they say that Christ is David's son? Or, why did they say? Or, with what right do they say? There was a teaching by the scribes and other religious leaders that Messiah would be David's son.

[10:02] And rightly so, it was rooted in the Old Testament. The promise was that of a regal deliverer for God's people. And that time, it was a big political idea because first century Judaism was dominated by the idea that Messiah would be a regal political ruler like one of the sons of David.

[10:26] They read the word with their political glasses. Not for what it is. They had this big idea that this Messiah would come. We've spoken about this before.

[10:37] Messiah would come and he would get rid of those nasty, gruesome, despicable, stinky Romans. And Israel would rule the world.

[10:49] Hooray! Ah, but they were reading the Bible with their political lenses, their political glasses. We could do the same thing.

[11:02] We read God's word through our own lenses, don't we? Maybe it's an economic lens. God will bring you financial well-being. Maybe it's the racial lens.

[11:17] It's all about ethnic equality. Maybe it's the earth lens. Save the planets. Maybe it's the feminist lens.

[11:28] There's total female equality in all and every way. Maybe it's the same-sex lens. An active homosexual lifestyle. That's not sinful. People like to read the word through their own lenses instead of just reading it for what it is.

[11:48] What lenses do you have the tendency to use? Comfort? Safety? Abuse? Selfishness? Sex? Money? Pleasure? We tend to rationalize our sin, don't we?

[12:03] So back to our text, Jesus says, how do they save David's sons? For David, verse 42, he himself, he says in the book of Psalms, the Lord said to my Lord, I said to my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

[12:17] David, Jesus is quoting Psalm 110, verse 1, wrote that Yahweh said to my, David's, Lord. Now, as the son of Jesse, David was the recipient of the Davidic covenant to Samuel, verse chapter 7.

[12:36] So when he says, my Lord, he must mean David's Lord. He's my Lord. So either Messiah is not David's son, it's just some idea, or this Messiah is going to be more than just the son.

[12:50] See, this psalm, it's a royal psalm, which describes the king of Israel who was a warrior, priest, and who represents God on earth.

[13:04] To sit at the right hand expresses exercising protection, power, and authority. Plus, it's God's close presence through which come his blessings. So in this psalm, David recognized the authority of this figure.

[13:21] He called him Lord. He says that this one rules since he sits at the right hand and his rule will remain until all the enemies are removed.

[13:31] As it says, it's going to make your enemies a footstool for your feet. So all that to say, David bows to this king's or this Messiah's authority.

[13:48] So since this one is a regal figure, obviously a prophecy about Messiah, how is it that David can call a son my Lord? You're not going to find me calling my sons my Lord.

[14:00] My Lord Michael, will you please play a piano for us? Yes, Father. Please, kiss my finger. Then I will. Not going to happen. Then. Don't get any ideas.

[14:12] And in this patriarchal society in the first century, a son was under his father. So this king, this Messiah, being David's Lord, transcends David.

[14:26] He has authority that's greater than David. Wait a second. How can the great, awesome King David give this kind of submission to his descendant, to his son?

[14:39] Who's greater than David? For an Israeli. I mean, David's David. I mean, it's like, it's like Arnold Schwarzenegger type guy, you know, for muscle building and everything.

[14:54] It's David. No one's greater than David. Messiah has the title Lord and his authority was recognized by David. So then Jesus says, David therefore calls him Lord.

[15:06] How is he his son? In what sense is the Messiah David's son? Again, the father was to have authority over the son. Here, it's reversed.

[15:17] Why? Because here you see a glorious Christ, a glorious Messiah, the Lord. What does this tell us?

[15:30] This tells us that one must have the right biblical understanding of who Jesus is. Who is he? the eternal son of God, a son of David thus legally, in line to the throne of David, the true king of Israel.

[15:48] He is the Lord, the creator of the universe. King and Lord is Jesus. That's who he is. See, when you come to Jesus, your belief about him is going to transform, is going to radically change.

[16:04] He's not just a good teacher. He's not just a good man. He's not a guy just like Buddha. He's not just like Krishna. He is God, the Lord.

[16:18] That's who he is. That changes. He was fully God or fully man having two natures. One was divine, the other was human, but one person.

[16:30] He was not a God or Satan's brother as Mormons teach, but the one and only eternal Son of God being co-equal with God the Father.

[16:42] And then there's God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, the triune God, three persons, one essence. And this Jesus, he solidified his lordship by dying for sinners, being brought back to life and ascending back into heaven at the Father's right hand.

[17:03] God has made him both Lord and Christ, says Peter in Acts chapter 2. He said that to the nation of Israel and they were pierced with the heart and they said, what should we do?

[17:14] And Peter says, repent! Repent and believe in Jesus. That's what you do. See, that's what transforms. When you see God and Jesus really is, he transforms what you believe about him.

[17:30] So you will bow your knee and you will repent and put your trust in Jesus alone. That's the gospel. This is vital for you to have eternal life, to have salvation, for you not to face God's judgments.

[17:46] This is important. God should judge sinners. He will judge everyone because we are rebellious. But, God sent Jesus, fully God, fully man, living, dying as a substitute, resurrecting.

[18:03] Repent and trust in him alone. This is vital. Are you hearing not a follower of Jesus? That's for you to hear.

[18:15] Repent and trust in Jesus. May your belief in him change, be transformed. Christian, do you cling to Christ?

[18:27] Do you cling to who he is? you cling to who he is, the Lord and Christ of your life. Belief is vital. Belief is vital to right living.

[18:40] Because without this belief, without this solid belief of who Jesus is, being both Lord and Christ, you will only be a moral person.

[18:50] you will only have moralism. It must track itself back to what you believe about Jesus, and that belief must infiltrate, must affect, must infect the way you live your life.

[19:07] If it doesn't, then you're just a moral person. And I'm only preaching morality. And moral people go to hell every day. one who truly knows, one who truly knows the Lord Jesus Christ will have a transformed life.

[19:27] Empowering one to live how he wants you to live, and valuing what he wants you to value. See, this is the beginning part. This is why we're starting here, is what you believe.

[19:40] Because what you believe about Jesus will affect and infect the way you live and what you value. And if you value this, or you value that, or you live your life like this, you live your life like that, then it'll work itself back to what you believe about God and Jesus, salvation and the Bible and truth.

[19:57] It will. When you come to Jesus, your belief about him will be transformed. What you believe, you'll have true thinking.

[20:09] Two seconds. How you live. Another aspect that will transform when you come and follow Jesus, how you live, or true living.

[20:23] You truly live a pure, holy life. Verse 45 through 47. Jesus gives a final confrontation that brought him to this point, warning his disciples, the people were listening.

[20:41] Other people were listening, maybe that would get him in trouble. Warned his disciples about these arrogant prideful leaders. Beware, verse 46, of the scribes who like, and continues on, which we'll get to in just a moment.

[20:59] Beware of these guys, Jesus says. Don't imitate their love for popularity, their love to be the center of attention, of popular idolization.

[21:10] American idol was already around. It was called Israeli idol. And it had a picture of the Pharisee. Like that.

[21:23] Don't respect or seek after these things like they do. They were wannabe rock stars. And this is how he describes them. One, two, three, four, five, six different ways.

[21:39] Who like to walk around the wrong roads, fancy, expensive wardrobes. All these places, stores from New York, they were everywhere at that time.

[21:52] They love respectful greetings in the market places. They love attention at formal greetings in the marketplace. For people to say, oh, Rabbi, that's right, that's me. But don't call me that, but please, you can kiss my finger.

[22:04] But no, they love that. They love those greetings, the people giving them that attention. And two seats in the synagogues, honor places in the synagogues, the first seats near the ark, what they would do, they would face the congregation, and their backs would be against the chest that held the Torah.

[22:26] Oh, look, he's touching the Torah. They love that. They love people to say, oh, ah, ooh. He says also, places of honor at banquets, the end of verse 46.

[22:43] Desire the first seat to the dinner. Those types of seats would be right next to the host. So the host would talk to them and they would, yeah, I got the in on this guy. They loved that.

[22:57] 47, who devoured widows' houses. The poor treatment of the needy, they took from the group that was most in need. We're going to get to that in a moment. How did they do that with these widows?

[23:11] Probably some different ways. Quite possible they mismanaged the property of these widows who dedicated themselves to the service of the temple. They were mismanaging the property. Maybe they took advantage of widows' hospitality.

[23:27] Maybe they took homes as a pledge. The debts could not be repaid. Maybe they took fees for legal advice. I'll do a long prayer for you.

[23:39] You got twenty bucks? Whatever they did, they took advantage of them. They left them devastated.

[23:53] Just an FYI, it's not to say that all rich, those who are rich or leaders are bad guys. Jesus isn't saying that. Even though many people are told that they are, people automatically think the rich people or those in leadership take advantage of others.

[24:08] It's not necessarily the case, yet they do have more of the potential, though, don't they? And then last, he says in verse 47, for appearances sake, offer long prayers.

[24:22] Hypocritical long prayers. The word there in the Greek means to put forward to hide the true state of things. They put something forward to hide their true state.

[24:37] The appearance of godliness and piety. Oh, I'm so holy, but they're really totally hypocritical. Basically, they cheated people who were truly in need, making an empty show of religion, but were really faking the whole thing.

[24:57] See, we're not called to this. We're called to be different. We're called to love our neighbors, to be sensitive to the needs of those who are helpless, to walk in integrity in our relationship with God. And as Christians, we should be known to live in this way, not the way they did, because of what Jesus has done in us.

[25:14] He's transformed us. He's changed us. We're new people. We should be known like this, not like those leaders. us. And look at what Jesus says at the end of verse 47.

[25:30] These will receive greater condemnation, greater judgment, greater condemnation upon them. Pretending to be pious, and being truly dishonest, it will bring greater judgment on anyone, especially those in leadership.

[25:57] God hates it when those in a leadership position, a leadership role, take advantage of those in need. He hates that.

[26:09] And, rightly so, for any of us who know more than others, who've been Christians longer, who've known Christ longer, there's a greater accountability we have.

[26:21] Praise God as Christians we're not condemned. Yes, we praise the Lord, but we will be held accountable, especially those who know more, and those in leadership. If we know more, and we're not living out the way we should be, shame on us, Jesus is saying.

[26:40] We will face more accountability. Praise the Lord that He does not judge us. Praise the Lord He does not condemn us, but may we be people, who live out the gospel.

[26:53] We've been in God's church for a long time. The Old Testament consistently called the leadership of Israel to defend the weak and the helpless, to not take advantage, to not extort them.

[27:09] So Jesus says, these are not worthy examples to follow. They should be known as those who genuinely care and serve others. And that should be us.

[27:20] We should be known for compassion and care, generous with our giving instead of being selfish, reaching out to others. We should be known as this, because Jesus transforms the way we think about Him, Jesus transforms the way we live our lives, and Jesus transforms what we value, true sacrifice, true sacrifice.

[27:43] Jesus transforms you, He will transform what you believe, He will transform how you live, He will transform what you value, what's most important to you, true thinking, true living, true sacrifice.

[28:02] It's a shame that they stopped the chapter here because it should continue on. So right after this, Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, in the temple, there were 13 trumpet shaped receptacles in the temple.

[28:19] There were 13 shaped receptacles placed there, probably by the court of women, or in the court of women. They were able to collect free will offerings to be used for temple worship.

[28:34] So Jesus was watching them put their gifts in there. The idea was that the rich guy was did you see me bring this bag of gold coins? Somebody help me put this in.

[28:45] Wow, that's a lot, isn't it, Joe? Yeah, I know. Everybody want to top that? That's the idea of what's happening. Jesus was watching what people were doing.

[29:01] Do you see that? Don't skip over that because that's creepy. Jesus was watching. The Son of God was watching people give their gift.

[29:16] He's watching us too. When we give our money, our time, our resources, what does Jesus say about the way you give your time? You give your money.

[29:28] He's watching you. That's creepy, isn't it? Well, then the hero rides in verse two, a certain poor widow putting in two small copper coins in contrast to the rich people.

[29:52] Widows were almost always, almost always poor because they had no means of income. There's no such thing as social security. They were most likely the poorest of the poor.

[30:05] If you remember earlier on in the Gospel of Luke, that's why it was so devastating for this widow that her younger son had died. Why? He was the only one who was going to be the means of support for her.

[30:18] That's why Jesus had compassion upon her. This was a big deal. Widows had nothing, nothing. And they couldn't just go to work. And what did she do?

[30:33] She threw in two leptas. They were small copper coins. The smallest currency of the day. The value was about one-eighth of a penny.

[30:48] Or one-one-hundredth of a denarius. A denarius was a day's wage. So one-one-hundredth of a day's wage.

[31:00] Hey, you work for ten minutes? Yeah, here's a leptop. All right. Thank you, I guess. A tiny, dinky gift indeed to give.

[31:12] Very small value. Verse three. Jesus said, Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all, for they all out of their surplus put into the offering.

[31:28] But she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on. Jesus pointed out her generosity as opposed to all those rich dudes. In spite of how little she gave.

[31:42] In terms of real, true cost, she gave the most because, notice, for, verse four, they all gave out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, she gave, they gave their gifts out of their excess.

[31:57] their gift cost very little to them. Contrast the widow, not out of her abundance, but out of her poverty, she gave from her life, all her life.

[32:14] She had no abundance to give from, but she gave sacrificially for someone to give all they have is real, true sacrifice. There was no excess.

[32:26] What excess would she have? She's a poor widow. She didn't say, you know what, I'm going to keep one left in, you know, my pocket just in case to be safe, so I have a cushion.

[32:40] There was no cushion. Maybe I might need that money sometime later this month. She didn't do that. Not at all.

[32:53] Now, Jesus wasn't putting down the other's gifts, necessarily. But he noted the widow's great gift despite its small size. The size of gift does not delineate sacrifice, necessarily.

[33:08] It's not about the number of coins, but the nature of the heart. Little gifts can be the greatest gifts. it's not by accident that this comes after Jesus' warning about the religious leaders.

[33:28] It's not by accident Jesus does this. It's not by accident Luke shows us this. The widow's heart was very different from their hearts. You know what the irony is in all this?

[33:40] I love to watch how Luke just paints irony for us. It's everywhere in his gospel. And here the irony, a commoner was better in touch with God than a religious leader.

[33:56] Do you see that? This commoner, this no name, what's the word? Outcast. Was better in touch with God and relationship with him and valuing what he valued most than a religious leader who knew the law, who has long lived and who went to banquets.

[34:23] She was more in touch than him. Giving. You know, in terms of giving, charity, giving to charity, the U.S.

[34:38] population was ranked 13th. 62% of Americans reported having made a financial donation in the previous month. This is back in January, based upon stats in 2013.

[34:55] You know who was number one and number two in the rankings? Number two was the United Kingdom. You know who number one was? Myanmar, former Burma.

[35:09] They were number one in their giving to charity. as a matter of fact, people in both Thailand, Thailand was number fifth, was fifth on the list, 70%, and then Indonesia, they were 12th on the list at 63%.

[35:26] These people were more likely than Americans to give money to charity. Is that pathetic or what? And I don't even know what the stats are for us as Southern Baptists, how we're giving to the International Mission Board and stuff.

[35:41] I don't know that. I don't know the stats. I found this online, philanthropy.com. As we give, what are some principles that we can grasp from this short passage here, from these four verses?

[35:59] I got some for you from our Kent Hughes and his commentary on Luke. I'll give you a couple of them, three as a matter of fact. Number one, in our giving, posture of our hearts makes all the difference.

[36:13] I mean, you're giving this thing, come on, whatever. Where's your heart in this? You want to just enjoy giving that?

[36:26] Number two, giving that pleases God is giving that costs us. Maybe you can't do that trip.

[36:36] Maybe you can't buy those clothes. Maybe you can't do this entertainment thing. Maybe you can't do this, you can't do that. You know what? I'm going to sacrifice that and do this.

[36:48] Yes, you must sacrifice even in-and-out burger. Wow, that hurts. Number three, God does great things with tiny offerings.

[37:02] It's not about the large gifts. I just gave $5,000. $5,000. It's what the sacrificial attitude. The sacrificial attitude type gifts.

[37:14] I like those commercials, you know, it says blah, blah, blah, blah, $10, blah, blah, blah, $200, blah, blah, blah, blah, $2,000, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, priceless. So, you come to the widow, here's this guy giving his $200, here's this guy giving his $2,000, here's this guy giving his $200,000, here's this widow putting in two leptin coins, priceless.

[37:47] You know, did you get these principles? You're writing those down. I'll just wait a moment. We're giving the posture of our hearts makes all the difference. Giving that pleases God is giving that costs us.

[38:01] And three, God does great things with tiny offerings. Again, these are from our Kent Hughes and his commentary. This is not mine. I'm going to point this out to you.

[38:12] God doesn't want our money. As a matter of fact, God doesn't need your money. He wants our hearts. But we can't give ourselves apart from our money because how we spend our money reveals what should be in our hearts.

[38:25] There's a catch, isn't there? Jesus will sit and watch us give today, tomorrow, next Sunday, next Wednesday, three weeks from now, on Friday.

[38:41] what does he see in us? What does he see in you? What do you value most?

[38:54] Do we give willingly, voluntarily, sacrificially, and cheerfully? Or do we give reluctantly, grudgingly, out of excess, and resentfully? here he goes again, bringing up stuff in our wallets.

[39:11] Why does he keep bringing it? I'm not bringing it up, Jesus is. I wash my hands of this. It's what do we value, what's important to us.

[39:21] And remember, it takes us back to what we believe. If we believe who Jesus is, that he's died and risen from the dead, that I am saved, that I have been changed, I'm transformed, and he changes my life, I just want to live for his glory, and I just want to value what he values and give what he gives.

[39:42] See how that works itself back to what you really believe about God, Jesus, the truth, the Bible. Look, God doesn't count, God weighs the heart.

[39:59] It's not about the amount, about your heart. He wants you. Jesus is God's promised Messiah.

[40:11] So do you know Jesus? Do you believe the right things about Jesus? Does he know you? And if you do, it affects and infects the way we live, living for his glory.

[40:27] And what we value giving sacrificially, because what we believe comes out in the way we live our lives and what is important to us. It all works its way back to I cling to Christ and who he is and what he's done, so my life will affect that and show that and display that and I will value what he values.

[40:46] I will just give sacrificially. Just give, give, give. That's what I'm about. Because of Christ. end with this.

[41:02] It's a post that Nick Rowan wrote on desiring God in January of earlier this year. He says this, few concepts are more foreign to our culture than waiting.

[41:18] Now you can take a picture of a check with your phone and deposit it instantly into your bank account without even leaving your lazy boy. Is that weird or what?

[41:31] Instant, he says, it seems, has become the new relatively quick. Then he says this, this has been highlighted in my own life as I have wrestled with the issue of change in regard to my same sex attraction.

[41:54] He says, when I began going to counseling several years ago, I thought that if I followed the set of prescribed steps, then my attractions would switch from males to females.

[42:05] However, after seven months of hard work, I began to become disillusioned and depressed because that didn't happen. Why wasn't change happening like I thought it would?

[42:16] then one day it hit me. I realized that heterosexuality is not my ultimate goal. Holiness is.

[42:30] And my holiness is not ultimately contingent on the reversal of my attractions. Once this became clear, I began to view change differently. me. Listen then.

[42:43] What happens when I dethrone heterosexuality as my ultimate goal and replace it with holiness? And then listen to this. What happens when I cling to Jesus, trust the promises in his word, and fight the fight of faith by his spirit?

[43:02] I change. It starts here. what you believe, which will infect how you live, which will infect what you value, and you will give.

[43:18] Jesus radically transforms our lives when we follow him. Take a few moments and think and ponder and pray what we've seen in God's word.

[43:30] Have a few moments of silence for you to reflect upon God's word of what we've seen here in the gospel of Luke. And after you've had a few moments of silence to reflect and ponder, we'll have our time of giving, we'll sing our last two songs having our closing prayer.

[43:48] So take some time to sit and think what we've seen in God's word. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[44:00] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.

[44:37] Thank you.

[45:07] Thank you.

[45:37] Thank you.

[46:07] Thank you. Let's stand together.

[46:19] Thank you.