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What a time of worship.
As we've come this morning, really at the feet of the cross, as we've come to behold our At least there should be. The reality of knowing Christ, seeing Him for who He is, really should lead us to what we have just done, and that is worship.
Several months ago, I was driving home from Illinois with my family, and we were about the Lafayette area. We were coming from Illinois down to southern Ohio, and we were making our way, and there was major construction there right there in Lafayette. And of course, my GPS is telling me to get off. It kind of foresees the impending construction issues, and it encouraged me to get off. I said, get off. Hey, I'll be fine. I can handle a little bit of a delay. No problem. So I passed the exit, and you kind of think, well, is it just asking me to get off so I can get back on? I'm kind of short-cutting the system, kind of cutting in line. I don't want to be one of those people, and in my heart, I'm spurning all the people who are getting off and thinking, there they are. They're just cutting in line, those cheaters. And so I drive another hundred yards, and it takes me ten minutes, and I get to this little turnaround spot. You know, the one where it says, do not U-turn? And I'm thinking to myself, here's my opportunity. The crossroads, you know, this is an opportunity for me to kind shortcut the system to turn around and do what I was encouraged to do a hundred yards ago, ten minutes ago, but traffic seemed to be picking up, and I'm like, okay, I can handle this. It's okay. I'll just keep moving. A hundred yards later, ten more minutes, and I am absolutely kicking myself. What in the world was I thinking? And I noticed that they actually took the sign down, that was said, no U-turn right there, because they anticipated that people would do that, and they were actually kind of giving them permission. And so the regret, you're like, ah! And thirty minutes later, I've only gone about 200 yards. It just, this is going to take forever. This is already the middle of a trip, and I've already got four more hours to go.
I can't afford an hour delay here in Lafayette. You ever been in crossroads of life? You ever been at those points of decision in life, and you look back on those points of decision, those intersections of life, and you think, boy, I sure wish I would have made a different decision.
Or maybe you look back on those crossroads, and you say, praise you, Lord, for helping to make the right decision. Well, in our passage in John chapter 10 this morning, we come to one of those crossroads, one of those intersections of life, one of those points of decision, those points of meeting, those watershed moments of life where we are called to make a decision, what will you do with this? And here, Jesus is answering a challenge, as we will find in our passage this morning, John chapter 10, beginning in verse 22. There's a challenge that's coming from the Jews, this group of religious leaders, and they're challenging Jesus. Make it plain, Jesus. Tell us once and for all, in clear speech, who you really are. And what we'll find this morning is we'll find Jesus helping to definitively and clearly tell them, once and for all, here is who I am.
What will you do with me? We're all faced with that same crossroad today. As we're going to come and hopefully this morning look at 10 characteristics that we'll see in just these 12 verses, 10 characteristics of Christ that help us to understand definitively that He is the Messiah, that He is the one who came as not only a representative from God to fulfill the work of God, but that He is God in the flesh.
He has come to carry out the work of God on the earth. Now, some have said that less is more. And this morning, I'm going to try to go against that and say more is better.
So this could be an absolute fail, but my hope is, my prayer is that as I give you more to process, that you'll be able to just together marvel at the wonder of our God.
So what I'm going to do is we've got 18 slides this morning. And if any of you are feeling frustrated, like I can't keep up and there's too many references, what I've done is I've got a half sheet here that I can give to anybody at the end of the service so you don't get frustrated. They have all the passages and all the fill in the blanks right here, okay? So hopefully more is better, not less is more.
But we have a challenge before us this morning. In just 12 verses that are so packed with theological content, we could spend months developing any number of 10 or 11 different theological themes.
We could talk about the inerrancy of Scripture. We could talk about the depravity of man. We could talk about sanctification and regeneration and illumination and soteriology and election and foreknowledge. We could talk about eternal security. We could talk about the deity of Christ. We could talk about the oneness of God in the Trinity and the unity of the Godhead. But what we're going to try to do this morning is focus on one question. One of these themes that Jesus responds to directly because it is my conviction, and I believe Scripture bears this out, that if we come to know Jesus, then everything else will begin to come into focus. As we begin to understand and love and know our Savior, Jesus Christ, and come to enjoy the sweetness of Him, then everything else will just fall into place.
And so this morning, we're going to look at these 10 evidences, some that are definitive and some that are implied through our passage today, and we'll see that indeed Jesus is God.
And here He is, standing in their presence. Here He is, showing up in flesh and blood. Here He is, the proof that God has come to man. Here He is, theology wrapped up in humanity. Here He is, the tangible has come to make the glory of God. So this morning I'd like to look at this, and I'll begin just with reading the first few verses. We'll take this a piece at a time.
Just beginning with verses 22 to 25, and we'll begin with the fact that Jesus claims to be God because He speaks the words of God. We find that here in verses 22 to 25.
It says this, At that time, the feast of the dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was the winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around Him and said to Him, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.
Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe. Jesus speaks the words from God. That's our first point this morning. He speaks the words from God, and here it shows up, I told you and you do not believe. We might ask ourselves the questions we've been going through this study in the gospel of John. When did Jesus tell them that He was the Son of God? When did He make it very clear? When was it definitive? How did it show up in His ministry? How should they have known? And why are they now asking this question at this time? Notice here in verse 22 it says, It was at the time of the feast of dedication. Now we have transitioned now, and there's been two months that have occurred between verses 21 and 22. The feast of the tabernacles was kind of the context, the setting for chapters 7 through 10 up to verse 21, and now two months have transpired. And look at this, the conversation continues. Jesus is picking up this theme again, as we'll see, about the shepherd and the sheep. But now, as He's dealing with being a shepherd and speaking directly to the fact that He is the shepherd and talking about His relationship with the Father. The feast of dedication would have been not a mosaic feast, not a feast that was spelled out in the book of the law, but it was a feast that happened during the intertestament period, the time between the Old and the New Testament.
What had happened in about 165 BC was Antiochus, I think his name Antiochus Epiphanes, who was a ruler, thought that he would impose his Hellenistic ideas on the empire and on the world. And so he comes marching into Israel, and he seeks to stamp out anything Jewish, anything distinctively Jewish, or that had any overtones of the law, anything that wasn't distinctly Hellenistic. And so he marched into the temple, and in order to desecrate the temple, he offered a pig as a sacrifice on the temple. Not only a forbidden animal, but a forbidden person performing these ceremonial duties, leaving the temple utterly worthless in terms of being able to be useful in any way in worship of God.
He also set up his own gods in the temple, which was a desecration to the temple, keeping any of the Jews from being able to worship there. He also made sure that anyone who was reading a copy of the Old Testament was punished, and that any copy that he found was destroyed. It was his intention to make sure that anything that would resemble worship to anything but his God was stamped out. But in 165 BC, a man by the name of Judas Maccabees led a revolt and was able to retake Jerusalem on the 25th of Kislev in 164 BC, liberating the temple, rededicating it, making it sanctified again, so that worship could begin to take place. And so we have the Feast of Dedication, the Festival of Lights, or today is known as Hanukkah, that has continued to be celebrated by the Jewish people. This celebration of rekindling the worship that was happening in Jerusalem, restoring what was broken and allowing the people to worship
God once again. And so you can imagine that during this season of time, during this festival, there was a heightened awareness of the Messiah who would come, who would set the world straight, who would right all of the wrongs, who would reestablish the nation of Israel, who would liberate them from any oppression, who would restore the nation, not only to its previous glory nationally, but its previous glory in terms of religion and worship of God. And so here they come. We find not only the Feast of Dedication, we find that Jesus is in the temple. He's in the temple walking in a place known as the colonnade of Solomon. This would have been a portico, a location that was supported by pillars and kind of had this awning so that people could be protected from the elements. And Jesus is there, and the Jews gather, and they challenge him with this statement. If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Let us know.
Stop speaking in figurative language. Make it clear to us who you really are. Now, of course, their intention wasn't to have information. Their intention wasn't really to know the facts so they could respond to those facts.
They wanted an excuse to hang him. They wanted a reason to put him to death. They wanted something definitive so they could say, this one is blaspheming. And there they stood at the intersection of fact and faith, and they are rejecting the very one who will lead them into worship. The very one who will lead them into relationship with God the Father. Throughout Jesus' ministry, his words were distinctive. And certainly we don't have time to go through all the passages, but I'm going to put a few of them up here for you, not only in the Gospel of John, but also in the Gospel of Luke. I had the privilege of preaching through Luke when I was at Tabernacle, and so a lot of these verses are fresh and familiar to me. So I wanted to give you some correlation between the synoptic Gospels and also the Gospel of John to help you see that Jesus spoke with the words of God. They were distinctive. They were separate. They stood apart from the words of the other religious leaders. They carried authority. There was depth and insight, understanding into the Scripture. He spoke with his own authority and not with the authority of those who had come before. But there was grace in his words. There was wisdom in his words. There was boldness that cut to the heart and got to the matter that was at stake. His words alone, through his words alone, Jesus demonstrated that he was from God. In John chapter 4 verse 42, those who had come from this Samaritan village and had heard the words of this woman who Jesus had encountered, they say this, they said to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe. For we have heard for ourselves and we know that this indeed is the Savior of the world.
We have heard him for ourselves and it is distinctive and we know that he is the Savior of the world. In John chapter 6 verse 68, Simon Peter answers the Lord and says, Lord, you alone have the words of life.
The words from God. In John chapter 7 verses 14 to 16 it says, Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught and the Jews marveled at his words.
John 7 40 and 41, Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, truly this is the prophet. And a quick study through the gospel of Luke will help you to see the same things.
That when Jesus teaches, there was distinctiveness. People marveled. They recognized his authority. Not only authority to teach from the scriptures, but authority to speak and to declare victory and power over the demons.
There was power in his words. So that in Luke chapter 5, early in Jesus' ministry, it says, As the multitude pressed about him, why?
To hear his words. There was something about the words of Christ that set themselves apart from the world. And as Jesus calls these group of Jews to just recall and remember his words, he calls them to the point of intersection.
The intersection of fact and faith and to consider, Who am I? What will you do with Jesus? He proves he is God because he speaks the words of God.
But notice moving on in verse 25, he says, I told you and you do not believe, The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me.
He not only speaks the words of God, but he does the works of God. He performs the works that God has given him to perform. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness of me, he says.
Jesus' life in ministry was punctuated by working, was punctuated by miracles. It was the exclamation point that said, You are who you say you are.
You are from God. And anyone who would have observed and seen and witnessed these miracles should have come to the point of saying, Truly, this is the Son of God.
Look at what he has done. They prove unquestionably. They prove with definitive evidence, substance that helps to set him apart as one who is from God.
Miracles that spanned the gamut. Miracles that demonstrated power over demons, power over disease, power over death, power over blindness, power to restore limbs, power to make clean, power to create the bread and the fish and the feeding of the 5,000, power over nature to gather the fish and to walk on water, power to calm the wind and the waves.
There was power in miracles and evidence that he is God. And Jesus calls the attention of these Jews and says, Look at my works.
They're the difference maker. They provide the substance. Just look at them. And through John's gospel, we see the same. We see in John 2, verse 11, this, the first of his signs in Cana, where he turned the water into wine.
And he says, He manifested his glory, and because of it, his disciples believed. When Jesus did his works, people were saved. People were converted.
Faith came. It was the intersection of fact and faith as they saw the evidence of Christ showing up in his working and manifesting that he was from God.
In chapter 2, verse 23, it says, Now when he was in Jerusalem, at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. And then jumping over to chapter 4, I love what Nicodemus says.
He says, actually chapter 3, This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God.
Why? For no one can do the signs that you do unless God is with him. There is evidence. We are a society of evidence.
We are a society that demands proof. Jesus was about evidence. Fact and faith meet at the intersection of Jesus Christ and he demands a response.
What will you do with me? What will you do with the evidence that I am from God? Jesus moves on in his argument.
In verse 26, he says, he says, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.
You do not believe because you are not part of my flock. Jesus possesses the knowledge of God. Jesus shows up on the scene and understands and perceives and knows the heart of men.
He is looking at these Jews. He is understanding the skepticism. He sees their heart. He knows their end.
But he is still here answering their question. You do not believe because you are not my sheep. I know your heart. You would like to conceal your true identity, but I know who you really are.
I know you fully. And I know why you are asking me this question. Not so that you can be drawn into worship, but you are asking me this question because you want a reason to indict me.
This is another clear evidence of his deity. His ability to perceive, his ability to know the knowledge of God that was coming through the ministry of Christ. From start to finish, we see it showing up in the Gospel of John.
In John 1, 47-49, Jesus is encountering Nathanael. And in his announcement to Nathanael, in his welcome to Nathanael, he says this, Behold, an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.
How did Jesus know that? Well, he knew because he knew Nathanael. Nathanael is enamored by this and he's just, How did you know who I was?
And Jesus says, I saw you when you were standing by that fig tree over there. And Nathanael says, Because of the knowledge of God, he says, You truly are the Messiah.
And Jesus is like, Yes, Nathanael, but you're going to see greater things than this. There is better things to witness than even this.
Just hold on to your seat, Nathanael. We've got a ride in store. I'm going to show you that I am the person that you have just stated me to be.
In John chapter 2, 22 to 24, 23 to 24, it says, Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he did.
But, Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men. In chapter 4, verse 39, the woman at the well and the moment for her in understanding the person of Christ and who he really was, this is summed up in this statement as she is going back and telling the people in her village.
She says, He told me all that I ever did and many more believed because of his word. And as we run through the gospel of Luke, we see the same kinds of things.
We see that Jesus is perceiving the thoughts of those who he is teaching to. We see that Jesus knows exactly what they're thinking in Luke chapter 6. We see that a Pharisee is having a conversation in his own mind and Jesus picks up on that and responds to it.
And on three occasions, Jesus tells his disciples definitively and clearly and specifically what will happen on the cross. He knew the who.
He knew the what. He knew the when. He knew the how. But he also knew the resurrection was coming. Jesus had the knowledge of God.
That should also have been enough. Who can do this but God? God. And what amazes me is not only the evidence of divinity showing up in the knowledge, this divine knowledge that is coming through in Jesus Christ, but what I am so amazed at is the divine love that comes through.
Because, let me tell you, when I know what people are going to do, when I know what people have done, it changes, or at least tries to change everything about my posture with those people.
And yet, Jesus went to their homes. Jesus raised their kids from the dead. Jesus healed their diseases. He speaks the truth to them. He loves them.
He goes to their house and eats dinner with them. He knows it's all a setup, but he does it because of divine love. He is one who has divine knowledge.
But in that divine knowledge, there's also divine love. Oh, the wonder of our God and Jesus helping them to see, I possess divine knowledge.
What will you do at the intersection of fact and faith? What will you do with Jesus? Jesus moves on in his argument. He helps him to understand that there is more to be said.
He says here in verse 27, he says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. In this little phrase, I see that he exercises the authority of God.
My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Jesus alone has the right to command your obedience. We saw that in previous weeks.
We saw that he alone has the authority from God. He alone can demand my obedience. He has exclusive rights as Messiah over my life. He alone is the good shepherd.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus again establishes that he has the sole authority to lead God's people. And we see his authority show up in the book of the gospel of John and also in the gospels themselves, the synoptic gospels.
We see his authority established. And this certainly cannot be a comprehensive study. But here are some ideas, here are some ways that Jesus shows up in his authority.
He shows up as an authority over the law in John chapter 1 verse 17. It says, for the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Jesus is greater than the law. There is only one greater than the law. And the law was something that was cherished and loved and revered and almost worshipped by the people of the Jews.
And Jesus shows up to say, I am greater than the law. Of course, he didn't come to abolish the law as we find in Matthew chapter 5 17.
Don't think that I came to destroy the law but I came to fulfill it. And then on the Sermon on the Mount we find that Jesus is authority of the law over the law is coming front and center where on at least five occasions Jesus says, you have heard it said but I say to you I am the authority listen to me I am the authority over the law.
we also see that he is the authority over the temple and Jesus comes into Jerusalem at the very onset of his ministry in John chapter 2 verses 13 to 15 Jesus goes up to Jerusalem and what does he do?
He cleans the place out this is to be a house of prayer but you have made it a den of thieves Jesus exerts his authority over the temple and cleans house cross he does it at the beginning of his ministry he does it at the end of his ministry in the final week leading up to the cross to establish I am the one who has authority over the temple he has authority over the temple and also authority over sin he shows this authority by forgiving sin in John chapter 1 verse 29 it says John the Baptist says behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and in John chapter 5 verse 14 Jesus finds this one he has just healed in the temple and he tells him and commands him go and sin no more and throughout the gospel of Luke I think where this really comes front and center is in
Luke chapter 5 where Jesus heals the paralytic and he tells that paralyzed man he says your sins are forgiven and then it says that the Jews grumble in their hearts who is such a one as can forgive sins only God can forgive sins and Jesus capitalizing on that moment says yes I am he I will forgive sins and I will heal this man and you will see that I have authority on earth to forgive sins and to heal I am God authority over sin that's me he has authority over Moses John speaks more of Moses than any other gospel because John wants his readers to understand that Jesus is better than this great leader Moses John chapter 5 verses 46 and 47 Jesus says if you believed in Moses you would believe in me for he wrote about me but if you do not believe in his writings how will you believe in my words of course
Jesus also has authority over Abraham John's gospel addresses Abraham 11 times to help us understand time and time again Jesus has the authority that comes from God alone Jesus is God and so these Jews standing at the intersection of fact and faith are coming to the point of decision what will you do with Jesus but Jesus isn't done he continues to move in verse 28 we find him here we find that in verse 28 it says I give them eternal life and they will never perish I give them eternal life and they will never perish he is the one who gives life from God only God can give life and
Jesus as God gives life to his sheep we saw that in the weeks in the past and so we need to continue to move but we looked at the life giving shepherd that all those who are imposters all they can do those thieves and robbers they only come to kill to steal and destroy but God has come to give life and to give it abundantly he is not only the author of physical life we find through the book of Genesis we find in the book of Colossians that all things came through him also at the beginning of this gospel in John chapter 1 verse 3 all things were made through him without him was not anything made that was made in him was life and the life was the light of men he's not only the author of physical life but he's the author of spiritual life physical and spiritual life are given through
Jesus Christ establishing him as God so here again the Jews are standing at the intersection of fact and faith what will they do with Jesus he has shown up as one who speaks the word he has shown up as one who does the works of God he has the knowledge of God he has the authority of God he gives the life of God what else could they ask for Jesus moves on he says I give them life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand Jesus wields the power of God no one shall pluck them out of my hand I am the all powerful one no power in heaven or earth can overcome my power I have the power of God I am!
and throughout his ministry he wielded that divine power power over nature power over demons power over sickness power over human authorities and perhaps the the the what do I say the story that I like the best is right there at the garden of Gethsemane this power over human authority and they show up in force they show up with swords and they show up with torches and they show up with numbers and they say where's Jesus and Jesus says I am he and what happens they fall flat because of the power of God flowing through Jesus Christ helping us to understand definitively categorically that he is who he claimed to be he is Messiah he is
God moving to verse 29 it continues to build on itself it says my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand and in this statement Jesus is identifying himself with the father and says essentially he is equal with God my father who has given them to me is greater than all and I am equal with him it comes front and center in John chapter 5 verse 16 and 17 Jesus has done a miracle in the temple on the Sabbath day and the Jews again are grumbling it says for this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because he had done these things on the!
big deal! Well not to the Jews therefore it says the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath but also said that God was his father making himself equal with God by aligning himself relationally to God the father saying he has come from heaven is to say that he is God now we in our day and age we see snapshots of time but in the Middle Eastern culture they saw the end picture they understood that a son would inherit his father's legacy they understood that a son would rise to his father's position would obtain the father's inheritance would exercise the father's authority was possessed and had the father's genetic code they understood that a son was a carbon copy of the father and so
Jesus in associating himself with the father in heaven was suggesting and saying I am of the father I am God so for Christ to claim that he was from above was to say definitively I am just like him and of course they stood at the intersection of fact and faith there they were looking at Jesus there they were seeing the evidence but what would they do with Jesus moving to verse 30 Jesus continues his arguments and says I and the father are one I and the father are one he is one with God the oneness of God is a profound mystery we could spend weeks trying to unravel the mystery of the trinity and I am not even going to attempt that but what
I want to do this morning is I want you to understand that oneness has some dimension to it oneness we find throughout the gospel of John we find that Jesus is one with the father in so many ways we find that he is one in purpose one in doctrine and message one in quality and essence one in authority one in fellowship one in glory and just on this last one one in glory in John chapter 1 verse 14 it says the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his what church his glory where did that glory come from John expounds on it he says the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth God does not share glory with anyone but
Jesus shows up in glory and without shame in the prayer to the father in John chapter 17 Jesus says and now oh father glorify me together with yourself with the glory with which I had before the world began Jesus was not ashamed to ask for the glory that belonged to him it was a glory that he shared with the father to state I am God I am one with the father in all of these ways God is one and he will not share that glory with others so Jesus is helping to show that he is one who is God in verse 31 we see the mercy of God it's kind of disguised in Jesus response here the Jews in verse 31 pick up stones again to stone him and
Jesus answers them I have shown you many good works from the father for which of them are you going to stone me Jesus who has the authority from the father could have squashed those rebels on the spot and yet how does he respond he responds in mercy he responds in grace look look at look at this he's calling their attention to what they're doing and trying to lead them to faith what are you doing how could you move this far consider your actions consider me who I am and they reject his confession they are about to kill him in about three or four months from this time they put him on the cross the gospels are full of examples of the compassionate heart of
Christ time and time again we find that he has compassion on the multitudes he has compassion for those who are hurting and the whole tenor of Jesus his ministry the trajectory is set for us in Luke chapter 4 18 and 19 it says this the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he has sent me to heal the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives recovery of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord that is a heart of a God of mercy and mercy only comes from God Jesus in demonstrating this mercy to this group helps them to see that he is God who he claims to be and finally finally in this last verse verse 33 we find that
Jesus fulfills the promises of God Jesus fulfills the promises of God says the Jews answered him it is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy because you being a man make yourself God Jesus came in humanity he shows up on the scene to fulfill the promise to David to be the heir the son who would come and establish the throne forever!
Jesus comes in humanity to be the great high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses Jesus came and showed up to fulfill all of the Old Testament promises of the Messiah who would come who would bring deliverance and not just deliverance nationally but most importantly deliverance spiritually through faith in Jesus Christ so this morning we all stand just like those Jews at the intersection of fact and faith and we are posed with this question this morning what will you do with Jesus what will I do with Jesus and there is only one appropriate response one appropriate response that we see very well in the person of Thomas at the very end Jesus has risen from the dead
Jesus has shown up to the disciples except Thomas wasn't there and Thomas remember what he says he says unless I put my fingers in his hands unless I put my fist in his side I won't believe and eight days later Jesus shows up he shows up and mercifully offers himself to Thomas and says Thomas I'll give you all the evidence you need put your fingers in my hands put your fist in my side and see see that I am the one who I say I am and remember what Thomas does Thomas overcome with the emotion overcome with reality and the evidence of God having come to that intersection point of fact and faith culminating in the person of
Christ he says my Lord and my God it's a place of worship the only appropriate response when we come to the point of understanding who Jesus is is worship what will you do with Jesus and as the praise team comes I want to just offer this challenge for us this week my challenge for us this week is to make this come home in a tangible way maybe it would show up in writing a love letter to God or for guys out there maybe it would show up in writing a Father's Day card to your Heavenly Father a way for you to express in black and white God I love you and I praise you for who you are and because of seeing you show up in your word and because of what you've done for me
I just want to catalog this I want to write this down for posterity let me tell you when I've done that it's so amazing to pull those out and to be reminded of who God is so I'd encourage you this week to write a love letter to God let me close this in prayer and then we'll sing some songs Lord we praise you for who you are we praise you that you although challenged by this rabble group of Jews were willing in mercy to answer their questions not for them necessarily but for us to show us to show us who you were to help us to see definitively that you are God so we praise you and we give our hearts and lives to you and we thank you for all that you've accomplished for us we pray these things in Jesus name amen and we've and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we and we by