Good morning, Watermark.
Got all sorts of Lantern Festival flyers up here
staring at me on the podium.
It's a good reminder.
Happy New Year.
We hope to see you at this Lantern Festival celebration.
It's going to be a great time, like Chris was saying.
Today we're continuing our study of Deuteronomy.
We've been looking at the book of Deuteronomy
so far this solar year.
And we've been seeing a couple themes
that run throughout the book of Deuteronomy.
One of these themes is that God shapes his people
through his word.
And we've seen God speaking to his people again and again
through Moses, giving them his law
and shaping them into the people
that he wants them to be through his word.
And the second theme that we've seen
is that the people that God is shaping,
he's shaping the Israelites into a people who love him
and love others.
And that the laws and the commandments that he gives them
are given for the sake of shaping them
into this unique people that love God and love others.
And so today we're going to continue this study of Deuteronomy.
We're going to look at blessings
in the theme of the Lunar New Year.
And we're going to see that God chose his people
apart from anything in them meriting his love.
But the proper response to this selection of God
is obedience.
That God chooses his people apart from anything in them
that merits his love.
But his people's proper response is obedience.
And we're going to have three steps on this journey.
First, we're going to see our effort.
Second, we're going to see God's choice.
And third, we're going to see our proper response.
That's our effort, God's choice, our proper response.
First, our effort.
We as humans have a tendency to try to gain control
through our actions.
And today's passage starts out with this reminder from Moses.
He says in verse 7,
It was not because you were more in number than any other people
that the Lord set his love on you and chose you.
For you were the fewest of all peoples.
He starts out by telling the Israelites,
God didn't choose you because of anything that you did.
In my life, I have a tendency to feel like
I need to do things to earn God's favor.
I need to be obedient so that God will look at me
and be like,
Hmm, that Eric Scott, he's a good guy.
I need to be the smartest so that God will think,
Yeah, I made a good choice picking him for my team.
I need to be the most successful at my work
so that God will be proud of me.
And what we see in this verse
is that God did not select me
because of any of these things about me.
There's nothing about me
that earns God's approval or God's favor.
God steps in.
He tells the Israelites,
There's nothing about you that merited my love.
In fact, you weren't the biggest.
You weren't the strongest.
You didn't have an army that could beat other nations.
You were slaves.
Before I could do anything with you,
I had to actually go in and rescue you
so that you could be free
because there was nothing in you
that set you apart
to make you worthy of my love.
And this desire that Israel probably had
to merit God's love,
I'm guessing they had a little bit of this desire,
which is why Moses reminds them
there was nothing about you
that merited God's love.
They had this desire.
I have this desire.
I think it's pretty commonly universal,
this desire to merit God's love,
to do enough good things,
maybe if it's not even for meriting God's love,
for at least being in control of the future.
You know, I was doing some research
on the history of the New Year traditions in China.
And I found this story online.
There are several variations of it,
but they all sort of come back
with several of the same common elements
of how a lot of the celebration
of the New Year in China started out.
And it starts with the story
of a small village in China.
And every year on New Year's Eve,
this monster called Nian
would come and attack the village
and eat the villagers.
And the villagers were living constantly
in fear of the monster.
And one year, someone had the brilliant idea,
hey, what if instead of staying
to be eaten by the monster,
we ran away this year?
Don't know why they didn't think of that earlier,
but they said, let's run to the mountains
so that when the monster comes,
he won't eat us.
And everyone in the village said,
yes, that sounds smart.
So the whole village is getting ready to leave,
but this one older lady in the village said,
you know what?
I'm old.
I'm tired.
My husband and my sons
have already been eaten by this monster.
I have no one left to live for.
I have nothing left to live for.
I'm too tired to make the journey.
I'm just going to stay here.
And when the monster comes,
he comes.
So the whole village leaves the old lady behind,
caring for their elders, you know.
They head off to the mountains,
and she is alone in the village.
And as the sun begins to set,
dusk is coming,
and she hears a knocking on the doors of the village.
And the knocking is getting closer,
and closer,
and finally,
it comes to her house,
and she opens the door,
and there's an old man standing there.
And he says,
I'm a traveler.
I've come to your village.
I'm looking for a place to stay.
And she says,
well,
you know,
everyone ran away,
but you can stay with me.
So he comes in,
and they start talking,
and he,
she tells him the story of why everyone in the village has run away.
And he says,
well,
you know what?
I happen to know how to deal with this monster.
We need to get to work now.
So he tells the lady,
you need to find everything red in your house.
Put it in all the doors and windows,
because the monster is afraid of the color red.
And when he comes,
and he sees the color red,
it will scare him off.
Next step,
take a mirror,
and put it by the front door.
Because when the monster comes,
and he looks in the mirror,
he will see his reflection,
and be terrified,
and run away.
Third,
the monster is afraid of fire.
So hang a lantern outside your house.
Maybe that's part of where the Lantern Festival came from.
I didn't research that far.
Sorry.
Fourth,
take a bunch of dried bamboo,
and put it in the open area,
in the courtyard,
in the middle of your house.
And when you hear the monster coming close,
light the bamboo on fire.
Because dried bamboo makes a crackling noise.
And the crackling noise,
sort of like firecrackers,
will scare away this monster,
and he won't attack your house.
So the woman follows all of these instructions,
because it's much simpler to do this
than to run to the mountains.
And the monster comes,
and the monster sees the red,
and sees itself in the mirror,
and sees the fire,
and hears the crackling,
and gets scared,
and runs away.
The next day,
all the villagers come back,
and they see the lady alive,
and they're like,
how did you survive?
She tells them the story of the old man
who came and gave her instructions
to fight off the monster.
And the village decided that the old man
must have been sent from the gods,
and he told her these instructions
as a reward for her hospitality.
And it struck me
that all of these celebrations
that go with the Chinese New Year celebration,
whether it's the color red,
the lanterns,
the firecrackers,
all of them come with this desire
to control our future
and stay alive for another year
so that the monster doesn't eat us.
And I know,
most of us don't celebrate these things
and do these traditions today
for this reason,
but a reason that they originated
is this desire
to have control over the future.
And you know,
in America,
we do things to try to control the future too.
When our favorite sports team is playing,
we have lucky seats on the couch.
We have to be in the exact spot
wearing our lucky shirt
because if we are not,
our team will not win.
And if it's late in the game
and we need our team to score,
we take our hat
and we flip it inside out
and stick it at a weird angle on our head
because us wearing our hat
in a weird way
on our couch
thousands of miles away from the game
affects the way
that our team plays
on the field.
It's ridiculous, right?
But then there are things that we do
to try to control our future
that aren't quite so ridiculous.
Some things we do
to try to control our future
that are actually
good, wise things to do.
Like,
go get a university education
so that we can get the best jobs.
Like,
going to networking events
so that we can meet people
and give them our business card.
I'm sorry,
two hands in Hong Kong.
So that we can know people
so that we can get jobs.
And these are good things.
But,
when we begin to rely on them
more than we rely on God
for our future,
what we're doing
is we're grasping,
we're trying to take control
of our future,
trying to do things
that merit our success.
And if we can't rest
because we need to be
at all of the networking events
and we can't trust God
to provide for us,
there's probably a problem
in our perspective,
in our balance.
And this tendency
to try to control the future,
I think for me at least,
probably for several of us,
often has a tendency
to flow over
into our relationship with God.
We try to do things
to get God on our side
so that he will do good things
for us
and help us in the future.
And Moses is telling the Israelites
at the start of our passage today,
that doesn't work.
God doesn't do good things for you
because you've been successful
at doing good things for him.
God didn't choose you
because you were great.
And I think this is a message
that we need to hear
and understand today.
It's not our efforts
and success
that make God love us.
There's nothing in us
that is just lovable.
It's something else
that leads God to love us.
So how do we get to be accepted by God?
Point number two,
God's choice.
God loves us
because he chooses to love us.
It's that simple.
God loves us
because he chooses to love us.
In verse eight,
Moses says,
it is because the Lord loves you
and is keeping the oath
that he swore to your fathers
that the Lord has brought you out
with a mighty hand
and redeemed you
from the house of slavery
from the hand of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt.
God didn't choose
the Israelites as his people
because they were bigger,
stronger, better.
Again, like we said,
they were slaves.
They had nothing to offer
in and of themselves.
He chose them
simply because
he wanted them
to be his people.
That's it.
And it works
the same way
with us today.
If you're a Christian here today,
it's not because
you have done something fantastic,
but because God
wanted to love you.
And this is
a scary
but liberating truth.
Scary
because there is nothing
that I can do
or accomplish
to make God
love me more
or owe me anything.
But liberating
because there is nothing
that I have to do
to merit
God's love
for me.
He gives it to me
freely
because
he wants to.
And that sets me free
from having to constantly
strive
and do better
and try harder.
I can relax.
It's liberating.
And when God
looks at us
and chooses us
as his people,
look at the change
that that makes
in our relationship
with him.
In verse 6,
Moses refers to Israel
as God's
treasured possession.
This word
treasured possession
is a very special term.
It's used
to refer to
a king
who has
everything.
But there's
one thing
out of everything
he has
that is especially
precious to him.
one thing
that even though
he has everything,
this is
the most important.
This is
the most
precious to him.
Maybe you could
picture it like,
do you guys know
the story of the
Trojan War?
You've got
Menelaus,
the king of Sparta,
and he has this
wife, Helen,
and his wife
gets kidnapped
by Paris
and taken
to the far-off
city of Troy.
Now Menelaus,
he's a king,
he's a wealthy man,
he could have
his pick of the ladies.
All he has to do
is go down to the streets
and be like you.
You look like a good choice.
Come be my new wife
and keep on living
his life.
But he doesn't
because his wife
is precious to him.
And so even though
he has everything
and he's comfortable
in Sparta,
he sets off
a thousand ships
to go and
rescue his bride.
because she
is precious
to him.
And the Bible
says
that Christians,
that the church,
are precious
to Jesus.
In the New Testament,
1 Peter 2,
verse 9,
says,
But you,
talking to the church,
are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
a people for
his own possession,
that you may proclaim
the excellencies
of him who called you
out of darkness
into his marvelous light.
That God has taken us
and made us
his own special,
treasured possession.
That God looks at you
and he values you.
You.
You know,
the thing about a treasure
is you can tell
how much someone
treasures something
but what they're willing
to give up
to get it.
If you take something
from someone
and they're like,
oh, whatever,
they didn't actually
treasure that.
Even if it's worth
is millions of dollars,
if they don't care
when you take it,
they don't actually
treasure it.
But if they say,
I'm willing to give you
a huge treasure
in exchange
for this one thing
to get it back,
they value it.
And the Bible tells us
that God was so passionate
about creating
a people for himself
that he was willing
to give up
his only son
to do it.
If you're a parent in here,
I want you to just
think for a moment.
In your head,
make a list
of the things
that you would
sacrifice your son
or daughter to get.
If you're not a parent,
you can still imagine
that scenario.
Make a mental list
of the things
that you would sacrifice
your son or daughter
to get.
I think some people
are sort of looking at me
like,
Eric, you're sick.
Why would I sacrifice
my son or daughter
for anything, right?
That's probably
a good response.
I'm hoping no one
has a long list.
If you do,
Sylvie runs our
care ministry.
You might want to
get her contact info.
But on a more serious note,
if you were here
and you said,
there is literally
no scenario
in which I would sacrifice
my son or daughter
for anything,
consider this.
God sacrificed
his only son
for you.
God literally
loves you
more than you love
anything or anyone.
If you had a list,
but it was just like
one or two short items,
think about
what made the list.
Maybe it's a person
that you really love
or a person
that you think
is worthy.
Consider this.
God sacrificed
his only son
for us
when we
were his
rebellious
enemies.
There was nothing
good in us.
There was nothing
worthy in us
that would make
God say,
these people
are worth it.
He looked at us
and he loved us
because he loved us
and he
treasured us
so much
that he was
willing to
sacrifice
his only son
to rescue us
and make us
a people
for his own
possession.
If we truly
grasp
that
this week,
understand
the depth
to which God
loves us,
how will that
transform the way
that we respond
to him this week?
And if you're
here today
and you're
not a Christian,
the Bible
says that God
wants you
to become
a part of his
people,
that he has
sent his son,
that he has
sacrificed his
only son's
life to pay
the penalty
for your
rebellion
against him.
And he offers
you the chance
today
to become
a part
of his
people,
to be a part
of his
treasured
possession.
And it
doesn't take
you doing
these heroic
feats,
it simply
takes you
believing,
trusting in
him,
and asking
him to
forgive you
for your
rebellion
against him
and to
make you
part of
his
people.
And being
loved by
God in this
way,
being part
of his
people,
is the
greatest
blessing
possible
this
Lunar
New
Year
season.
So we've
seen that
our efforts
accomplish
nothing,
but God
loves us
because he
loves us.
But because
God loves
us,
that should
lead to
a change.
That should
lead to
us having
a proper
response.
Which brings
us to
point three,
our proper
response is
careful
obedience.
If you
look down
in the
passage to
verse 11,
Moses says,
you shall
therefore be
careful to
do the
commandment
and the
statutes and
the rules
that I
command you
today.
Now this
may seem
like a
weird idea.
You're not
saved by
anything that
you do,
so go do
something.
I don't know,
it just feels
weird to me.
But the
thing about
this is our
obedience shows
where our
trust lies.
if you
have a
little kid
and they
want to
touch the
hot stove
and you
as a
parent say
don't touch
the hot
stove and
the kid
listens and
doesn't touch
the hot
stove,
it shows
that they
trust you.
If they
reach out
and they're
like,
ah,
they didn't
trust you
and how do
you know
they didn't
trust you
because they
didn't obey?
You told
them this is
for your
good,
this is
because I
love you
that I'm
telling you
this and
their
disobedience
shows that
they don't
trust what
you're saying
and in the
same way
with God
he says
I'm giving
you these
commandments
for your
good because
I love
you.
Your
obedience
doesn't earn
my love
for you
but your
obedience
reveals the
fact that
you trust
me.
If you
look at
verses 9
and 10
it sort
of almost
seems to
point towards
this idea
that God
is judging
us based
on our
actions
but if
you look
closer at
the verses
you'll see
that behind
these actions
is not
just trust
but also
this idea
of love
and hate.
God says
if you
love me
you will
trust me
which will
lead to
obedience.
If you
hate me
you will
not trust
me
which will
lead to
disobedience.
Our
actions
on the
outside
show
what is
in our
heart
on the
inside.
Just as
God's love
for Israel
showed itself
in him
rescuing
them from
slavery in
Egypt
and God's
love for
us
showed
itself
in
rescuing
us
from
our
slavery
to
sin
through
the
death
of
Jesus
on
the
cross.
Our
love
for God
or our
love for
other
people
will
always
show
itself
in
action.
Our
obedience
doesn't
merit
salvation
but it
shows
the
world
that
our
hearts
have
truly
been
transformed.
You
can think
of it
this
way.
This
past
week
millions
maybe
even
hundreds
of
millions
of
sons
and
daughters
around
the
country
of
China
went
home
to
visit
their
families
for
the
holidays.
If you
think about
the groups
of people
that went
home
you can
split them
into
basically
two
groups.
There's
one
group
who
does
not
love
their
families.
They
don't
care
about
spending
time
with
them
but
they
know
that
if
they
don't
show
up
at
home
for
this
celebration
they
will
be
shamed
and
looked
down
upon
by
their
family
and
their
village.
There's
another
group
that
loves
their
parents
and
is
excited
to
go
home
because
they
get
to
spend
time
with
their
family
and
time
with
their
family
is
precious
to
them.
They
both
go
through
the
same
set
of
actions.
They
book
their
tickets
on
a
plane
or
train.
They
travel.
They
take
time
off
from
work.
They
get
there
to
be
with
their
family
but
once
they're
with
their
family
their
hearts
are
going
to
be
revealed
through
their
actions.
The
ones
who
don't
care
about
being
with
their
family
and
are
just
there
to
avoid
shame
will
do
the
bare
minimum
necessary.
They'll
show up
at the
meals
but
you
know
what
they're
going
to
do
when
they're
at
the
meals?
They're
going
to
sit
at
the
table
and
be
like
the
ones
who
love
their
family
are
going
to
go
and
they're
going
to
prioritize
their
family
they're
going
to
engage
in
conversations
they're
going
to
hear
about
what's
happening
in
people's
lives
because
they
care.
On
the
one
hand
you
have
a
group
of
people
who's
trying
to
earn
acceptance
through
their
obedience
and
on
the
other
hand
you
have
a
group
of
people
who
know
at
the
depth
of
their
being
that
they
are
already
accepted
and
that
makes
them
want
to
do
these
actions
God's
saying
if
you're
going
through
the
motions
to
try
and
get
me
to
love
you
it's
not
going
to
work
I
can
see
your
heart
I
know
that
your
action
is
not
motivated
by
love
but
if
you
understand
that
I
have
already
loved
you
that
I
have
accepted
you
that
you
are
already
my
people
that
is
good
that
is
what
I
want
and
so
we
look
at
this
and
we
say
okay
but
what
does
that
look
like
in
real
life
Moses
says
in
verse
11
you
shall
therefore
be
careful
to
do
the
commandment
and
the
statutes
and
the
rules
that
I
command
you
today
why
be
careful
couldn't
you
just
say
like
obey
and
that's
enough
I
think
that
he
says
to
be
careful
with
obedience
because
we
are
careful
with
things
that
are
important
to
us
if
you're
doing
a
science
experiment
you
do
it
carefully
because
you
don't
want
to
spill
acid
on
yourself
or
to
get
wrong
results
if
you're
entering
a
bank
transfer
you
do
it
carefully
because
you
don't
want
to
send
the
money
to
the
wrong
place
or
send
the
wrong
amount
the
money
we
do
things
carefully
when
we
care
about
them
and
why
do
we
do
it
carefully
one
because
we
understand
the
consequences
of
doing
it
wrong
and
two
we
care
about
the
results
this is
why
I'll
do
even
dumb
mundane
things
carefully
like
with
my
laundry
I'll
use
some
level
of
care
because
I
don't
want
my
white
clothes
turning
pink
I
understand
the
consequences
of
mixing
my
laundry
wrong
in the
washing
machine
and
I
care
about
the
results
so
I'll
do
it
carefully
and
Moses
says
that
we
should
obey
God
carefully
I
could
be
wrong
but
I
think
for
a
lot
of
us
we've
never
thought
about
this
idea
of
being
careful
to
obey
God
we
sort
of
assume
that
when
stuff
comes
up
I'll
just
deal
with
it
I'll
try
to
obey
but
we
take
so
many
other
things
in life
carefully
how
much
more
important
is
obedience
to
God
than
my
laundry
and
what
is it
that
keeps
us
from
being
careful
to
obey
God
I
think
it's
the
same
two
things
that
make
us
careful
with
anything
else
only
the
reverse
of
them
we
don't
understand
the
consequences
of
doing
it
improperly
and
we
don't
care
about
the
results
I
think
for
a lot
of
Christians
it's
easy
to
believe
that
salvation
is
this
good
benefit
and
blessing
that
comes
from
God
and
then
his
rules
are
just
sort
of
like
this
baggage
that
comes
along
with
the
deal
we
think
God
is
really
good
for
saving
us
and
rescuing
us
but
then
we
have
to
deal
with
this
other
side
of
him
the
rules
we
think
we
want
these
blessings
and
God
gives
us
these
rules
to
keep
us
from
getting
these
blessings
so
we
act
out
and
disobey
because
we
want
blessings
that
we
think
God
is
withholding
from
us
but
according
to the
Bible
God's
rules
are not
negative
baggage
that
comes
with
an
otherwise
good
deal
in
following
him
no
God's
rules
are
actually
part
of
the
benefit
of
following
him
think
about
it
the
God
who
made
the
world
the
God
who
knows
how
the
world
works
best
the
God
who
loves
us
enough
that
he
is
willing
to
sacrifice
his
only
son
to
rescue
us
and
save
us
and
wants
to
give
us
the
best
life
possible
in
this
world
gives
us
rules
for
the
sake
of
living
the
best
way
possible
in
the
world
the
problem
isn't
that
God's
rules
are
bad
and
withholding
from
me
the
problem
is
that
I
have
a
messed
up
perspective
and
I
don't
see
the
rules
as
the
good
gifts
that
they
are
here's
what
I
mean
I
go
to
a
store
I
see
something
that
I
really
like
and
it's
really
nice
I
think
God
says
I
can't
steal
but
I
really
want
this
right
now
and
it
would
be
so
simple
to
just
take
it
and
put
it
in
my
pocket
and
walk
out
of
here
but
God's
command
not to
steal
is a
good
gift
given
for
my
blessing
because
God
knows
that
life
in
a
world
where
no
one
has
any
respect
for
other
people's
personal
property
sucks
God
wants
me
to
be
able
to
enjoy
the
benefits
of
enjoying
the
things
that
I
have
earned
through
my
hard
work
and
if
we
live
in
a
world
where
everyone
just
takes
whatever
they
want
from
everyone
else
I
can't
do
that
and
even
though
God's
rules
may
feel
restricting
in the
short
term
right
now
in
the
long
term
they
benefit
me
and
help
me
to
live
the
best
life
possible
his
rules
commandments
are
a
positive
gift
from
him
they're
a
good
gift
that
he
gives
to
help
us
to
live
the
best
way
possible
they're
part
of
his
blessing
to
us
and
that's
why
it's
important
to be
careful
to
obey
because
God
gives
us
his
rules
for
our
good
and
for
our
benefit
so
what
does
it
look
like
to
be
careful
to
obey
well
when
we're
careful
to
do
things
we
usually
plan
them
out
in
advance
so
one
thing
we
can
do
is
think
through
in
the
coming
week
what
are
the
ways
that
I
will
be
tempted
in
a
way
that
will
actually
make
me
feel
like
oh
maybe
I
should
give
in
to
this
temptation
is
it
possible
for
us
to
plan
ahead
now
so
that
either
if
there's
a
situation
where
we
know
we
will
be
tempted
but
we
don't
need
to
be
in
that
situation
we
can
avoid
being
in
the
tempting
situation
or
is
it
possible
for
us
to
work
on
thinking
through
our
response
now
so
that
when
the
moment
comes
we
don't
need
to
make
up
a
response
in
the
spot
because
when
I
don't
know
about
you
but
for
me
when
temptation
comes
if
I've
thought
it
through
and
I
know
how
I
should
respond
in
advance
it's
much
easier
to
respond
properly
so
planning
in
advance
of
how
we're
going
to
obey
God
how
we're
going
to
resist
temptation
when
it
comes
up
this
week
is
an
important
step
of
being
careful
to
obey
think
about
it
when
it
comes
to
planning
for
retirement
so
many
of
us
plan
for
every
conceivable
thing
that
could
go
wrong
how
much
more
important
is
our
obedience
to
God
than
our
retirement
account
if
it's
true
what
the
Bible
says
that
our
relationship
with
God
impacts
eternity
billions
and billions
of years
in the
future
shouldn't
we put
at least
the same
amount
of effort
into
preparing
for that
that we
do
for
planning
the last
20
years
of our
lives
here
on
earth
a
second
step
that
can
help
us
be
careful
to
obey
is
finding
people
who
can
hold
us
accountable
you know
when I'm
entering
in
a
bank
transfer
if
she's
around
I'll
ask
Justine
to
help
me
out
and
I'll
type
in
the
number
and
then
I'll
hand
her
the
number
and
have
her
read
it
out
to
me
so
that
I
can
look
at
it
on
the
screen
and
make
sure
the
numbers
match
because
I
don't
want
to
get
the
number
wrong
because
it's
important
to
me
and
having
a
second
person
can
help
me
get
it
right
a
second
person
who
can
see
look
at
what
I'm
doing
and
tell
me
if
they
see
something
that
looks
wrong
to
them
and
in
the
same
way
we
often
have
blind
spots
in
our
lives
to
where
we
are
disobeying
God
and
having
a
second
person
who
can
come
in
who
can
look
at
situations
that
we're
in
and
give
a
second
perspective
can
be
hugely
helpful
in
pointing
us
in
the
right
direction
of
obedience
so
giving
people
permission
to
get
to
know
you
on
a
deep
level
to
ask
difficult
maybe
even
sometimes
awkward
questions
is a
huge
step
in
being
careful
to
obey
and
not
just
saying
this
at
the
start
and
shutting
them
up
whenever
they
actually
start
to
call
you
out
on
stuff
but
listening
to
what
they
say
considering
how
you
need
to
change
in
response
to
God
because
Moses
tells
us
in
this
passage
obedience
to
God
is
important
if
we
want
to
follow
him
and
respond
properly
to
the
love
that
he
has
shown
to
us
it
takes
a
certain
level
of
maybe
we
even
say
effort
on
our
part
someone
once
said
God
is
not
opposed
to
effort
he
is
opposed
to
earning
it's
not
effort
for
the
sake
of
trying
to
make
him
love
us
but
it's
effort
to
give
the
right
response
for
the
love
that
he's
already
shown
us
so
as
you
think
about
it
where
are
the
areas
in
your
life
this
coming
week
that
you
need
to
be
careful
in
your
obedience
to
God
the
reality
is
that
if
you're
here
today
and
you're
a
Christian
you
have
been
chosen
by
God
not
because
of
anything
good
in
you
but
simply
because
he
loves
you
the
proper
response
to this
love
from
God
is
our
careful
obedience
again
if
you're
here
today
and
you're
not
a
Christian
God
wants
to
make
you
a
part
of
his
family
a
part
of
his
people
today
this
relationship
with
God
is
the
greatest
blessing
available
today
or
any
day
so
what
we're
going
to
do
is
we're
going
to
have
the
band
come
back
up
on
stage
and
we're
going
to
close
in
prayer
but
then
after
we
pray
the
band
is
just
going
to
play
instrumentally
for
a
minute
and
I
want
you
to
take
a
minute
to
think
to
yourself
what
is
the
one
thing
from
today's
sermon
that
I
need
to
take
away
and
remember
this
week
maybe
even
write
it
down
on
a
piece
of
paper
so
you
can
have
it
to
remember
later
on
and
then
when
service
finishes
find
someone
and
share
that
with
them
because
the
act
of
telling
it
to
someone
else
helps
us
remember
it
and
helps
us
be
more
likely
to
remember
it
and
do
it
throughout
this
week
so
let's
pray
and
then
we'll
reflect
father
we
thank
you
for
your
great
love
for
us
we
thank
you
for
the
new
year
and
this
new
chance
to
reflect
on
the
ways
that
you
have
blessed
us
even
when
we
were
so
undeserving
we
pray
that
we
would
with
careful
obedience
not
for
the
sake
of
trying
to
make
you
love
us
but
for
the
sake
of
showing
our
love
for
you
I
pray
that
we
would
be
people
who
love
you
and
love
others
that
are
shaped
by
your
word
a
people
who
know
you
people
who
trust
you
and
a
people
whose
love
for
you
and
trust
for
you
is
shown
in
our
actions
towards
one
another
and
towards
the
world
around
us
God
we
thank
you
that
you're
good
we
thank
you
that
you
love
us
so
extravagantly
and
immensely
in
Jesus
name
amen