Father, in your word, you tell us that the Holy Spirit will lead us.
Father, you know our hearts.
You know how skilled we are at quenching the Holy Spirit and ignoring the Holy Spirit.
And so, Father, we ask that in your mercy and in your kindness,
that your Holy Spirit would move in a mighty and powerful way as we read your word and think upon it.
Father, please, in your mercy, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.
Lead us by your Holy Spirit.
And this we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, yesterday I was in a Starbucks trying to do some more work on my sermon, Get It Ready for Today.
And I had sort of a shocking experience happen to me in politically correct postmodern Canada.
in a pleasant suburb.
I'm sitting at the window looking out of the parking lot.
And an obvious, a young man, I don't know, he probably looked like he was around 20,
but he was obviously mentally handicapped.
Like, obviously mentally handicapped.
And he was quite plump.
And he gets out of the car with his mom.
And as he goes around the car, his mom's walking a bit faster.
And as he tries to go to catch up to his mom, I guess his pants were drooping way down.
So, he was sort of doing this, like, waddling type run and trying to grab his pants and pull his pants up at the same time.
And that's not the shocking thing.
You know, many of us have to pull our pants up.
It's not particularly shocking.
What was shocking is that I was sitting beside a woman and her mother, and they made fun of the man and laughed at him.
Like, it was actually really surprising.
They said, look at that retard over there.
Look how fat he is.
Look at him waddle, pull up his pants.
And they're just going back and forth.
This is in Ottawa.
It was pretty shocking.
I felt both embarrassed for the young man and angry at what this, you know, probably looked like she was, like, in her mid to late 20s.
And the mom looked like she was probably around 50.
And making fun of this, which I thought was a really, in many ways, a tender scene of this young guy, obviously mentally handicapped, rushing to catch up to his mother.
And how many 20-year-old men reach out their hand to hold their mom's hand while they go into a store?
I thought it was really touching.
But it brought derision and mockery and laughter from these two women who were beside me.
And in many ways, this story, I think, shows a lot of what goes on in our culture.
That, you know, even though there's a lot of politically correct veneer that goes on, there's still mockery and cruel judgment made about relationships.
And even though there's a veneer of politeness and we know how to keep our thoughts private to ourselves and maybe just share them with our family or our friends,
there's just this mocking spirit which is still present in many of us, if we're honest.
And, you know, this story shows both the fact that, you know, many of us would probably long to have a relationship with our parents
where we could just still be that trusting and loving with them.
And yet, at the same time, we also know that there's mocking, just this whole combination of a desire for it.
Like, that young man had a secure relationship with his mom that many of us don't have with our own mothers or with maybe our kids.
And everything about this story, the desire for security and intimacy, mocking judgments.
Anyway, I just sort of thought it's a lot of that stuff is just going on all in this brief little thing that took one minute,
one and a half minutes for the guy to walk with his mom into Mark's work warehouse.
And so the Bible actually has a lot of wisdom to say about this.
And it would be a great help for me and a great help to you if you'd open your Bibles to Romans chapter 8.
And Romans chapter 8, verse 14, and if you're a guest here,
one of the things that we do in Church of the Messiah is we want God's Word to form us as a congregation.
And so we preach through books of the Bible, and we're going through Romans, the book of Romans.
We started back in September, took a break over Christmas, and we're back in it.
And today we're up to Romans 8, 14.
And it would be a great help if you follow along.
Let's read the first few verses.
And, you know, it's in the middle of a big section, so it's going to be a bit surprising.
But it's really, really a precious thing that addresses our desire for security and attachment and belonging
in a world where cruel judgments are made and where we often make even cruel judgments about ourselves.
And here's how it goes.
Romans 8, 14 and following.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
I'm going to explain in a moment why I didn't say sons and daughters and why I didn't say child of God
and why the version of the Bible that I'm using says sons of God.
It's not being sexist and hateful of women.
I'll explain it later on.
I'll start reading again.
Verse 14.
This next verse is a verse that many people have memorized.
And it's often on cups and cards.
And it's for good reasons.
It's a very, very beautiful and powerful verse.
And it goes like this.
Verse 18.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Now, I know the passage goes to 25, but we just want to pause here for a second because, you know, that verse 14 is sort of a bit of an odd text for all who are led by the Spirit of God or sons of God.
It's an odd text in the sense that I've heard talks given on this, and they're very, very good talks.
But the problem is that they're wrong.
It's actually not what the Bible text is actually describing.
One of the things that my poor children have suffered under all their life is that on our holidays, we go to church.
And just after I—as I was preparing for ordination, I noticed that a lot of ministers when they were on holiday didn't go to church.
And I didn't want my kids to come away with the impression that Dad only went to church when he was up front.
And if Dad couldn't be up front, the center of attention, then, like, why bother going?
I wanted my kids to have a sense that I went to church because I was a Christian, not because I wanted to be up front.
So we would go to—we go to church on our holidays, you know, these beautiful August days.
And I don't know, I'm not trying to make any of you feel guilty, but you're all not going to church, and we trudge off to church.
We don't trudge.
We go.
I mean, maybe sometimes we trudge.
Anyway, I have to be honest, right, up front?
But so, anyway, so one of the things is I—so often after the service, my wife or my kids ask me what I thought of the service or what I thought of the sermon.
And I have to always—I try to be very, very careful about this.
One of the things I try to do, and I ask you to do this for me, especially as I'm going through the Book of Romans,
and as I shared in many other weeks, I find the Book of Romans unbelievably stretching,
and I never feel as if I'm going to actually be able to get us into the text in the way that it deserves.
It's just very stretching.
And so one of the things I do when I'm away on holidays and I'm listening to somebody preach is I pray for them.
And in fact, the worse the sermon is, the more I pray.
Not so I can stop listening, but just because I—you know, I know what it's like to be up front trying to do your very best
and maybe not doing a very good job with your very best.
So I pray.
Anyway, there's this one Sunday that I'm—it's sort of irrelevant.
We went to this church.
We're going home, and my wife asked me what I thought of the sermon.
And in that particular Sunday, I had very definite thoughts.
And I try to be polite, and I—you know, it's only my wife and my kids.
I said, well, he said a lot of really, really, really helpful Christian things.
Unfortunately, the text said the exact opposite of everything that he said in the sermon.
That if you just actually read the very next verses,
because it was a sermon about how if you have a vision of Jesus,
how it completely and utterly transforms your life,
and he uses the story in the Gospels of the Transfiguration.
But if you actually go on and you read right after the Transfiguration,
it didn't transform any of the disciples' life.
They were just as clueless, incompetent, ornery, backstabbing, fighting as they were before.
So I said, you know, he had really good things to say,
but that text actually says the opposite.
And then my wife said I was being too picky, which was probably correct,
because most people just went away with lots of very, very helpful thoughts
about wanting to see Jesus, which is very good.
But anyway, so here we have, so we're back up here.
Actually, why don't we put up a verse, no, no, we won't put it up yet.
So here we have this, this passage begins, verse 14,
for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
And I've heard lots of people talk about how we go to God because he gives us guidance.
Well, actually, that's not what this text is talking about at all.
That's true, God does guide us, but that's not what this text is talking about
in terms of whether we should go to graduate school or, you know,
whether we should date this young woman or this young guy or whatever.
That's not actually, there's other texts about this, but that's not what this is saying.
We have to sort of go earlier in the text to see the context about what the text is actually saying.
And it's telling us something very, very, very far more glorious
than whether or not God will actually give us some insight
about whether we should go to graduate school or not.
So if you go up to the very beginning of chapter 8,
in fact, Andrew, could you put Romans 8.1 up last week?
Those of you who were here last week, I just tried to hammer away at this one text.
Oh, Andrew's not here.
Adam, could you put up Romans 8.1? No?
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
That's, well, here, if you have your Bibles, here's how Romans 8.1 goes.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
And what Paul is doing, oh, there it is.
You found it.
Could you all say this with me?
Because it's just good sometimes to say the Bible together out loud, isn't it?
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
And it says, you know, there is therefore now.
And so Paul is sort of summarizing all, a lot of what he's talked about
for the first seven chapters of the book.
And he's talking about how there's no condemnation.
And in verse 2, it continues like this.
This is going to be relevant for us to understand verse 14.
For the law of the Spirit of life, verse 2,
has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do,
by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.
And for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.
And what this text is saying, it's a very, very powerful type of image.
It says how the Holy Spirit leads people to Jesus to this point where when they put their
faith and trust in faith and trust in Jesus, there is no condemnation that comes from God that will ever,
you will never have any condemnation for the entire rest of your life.
And in this text, as I talked about last week, I'm just giving you a brief reminder of it for those of you who are here.
In this text, there's this very, very powerful image.
It's, you know, in the flesh and for sin and all that.
It's the language of the Old Testament sacrifices.
And some of you remember, I reminded you last week, the way the Gospel of John begins,
like in terms of the narrative bits, is when John the Baptist sees Jesus walking by and he points to Jesus and says,
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
It says it twice.
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And all of the Paul's readers who were Jewish, and they would have understood the Old Testament thing,
but actually pagans also did sacrifices, so they would have this as well,
that in sacrifices, what would happen is that you put your hands on the hand of the animal,
and in Jewish law, the animal had to be pure and without blemish.
And we all have a, there's an interesting thing in the National Post this week,
that one of the things that we don't like about cruelty to animals is that there's this sense of innocence around animals.
You know, to hurt an animal and hurt a young child, not that an animal and a young child are equivalent,
but that there's this innocence about them that just really strikes us at wrong at a far deeper level.
And so there's this animal without blemish, it's perfect, it's innocent,
and the person, the man or the woman, puts their hands on the head of the animal,
and there's this image then, it's being enacted in front of you,
that this, the, all of the things that I've done that are wrong
are being laid on the head of the animal.
And then the animal that is pure and innocent, its purity and innocence becomes mine.
And then when the animal is sacrificed and dies,
it's the animal, in a sense, paying the price in my place for the things that I've done that are wrong.
And I receive the purity and the innocence of the animal.
And for pagans and for Jewish people at the time,
they understood that you had to keep doing this over and over and over and over again.
And what Paul is summarizing here, which he's talked about in the book of Romans,
is what if God himself provided a true and greater lamb?
What if God himself, in and through the person of his son,
provides a true and greater lamb?
And so Paul is trying to get them to understand this unbelievable truth.
The Holy Spirit leads you to Jesus,
leads you to that point in life where you put your hands up, so to speak,
maybe just in your heart, maybe some of you even with your hands,
and you put your hands out and you call out to Jesus
to have a place in your life, to be your savior.
And you don't entirely know what it is that you're asking for when you ask this.
And you pour out your heart.
You say, Jesus, I really need you.
I don't know how to put it, but I see whatever it is in my friends.
I just have this sense of the Holy Spirit prompt me.
I put your hands out to Jesus.
And Jesus crosses the infinite distance from God to us and takes our hands.
And what Paul is telling us here is that in this remarkable moment,
there is an exchange that the Holy Spirit accomplishes in our lives
that is beyond what we knew or what we expected when we put our hands out to Jesus,
that Jesus actually reached down.
He takes our hands.
And when we put our hands on Jesus,
it is like you were putting your hands on that innocent lamb.
And all of that which you have done, which is wrong,
and deserves mockery and condemnation and justice,
and all of that is put on Jesus,
and the purity and innocence of Jesus is given to you.
And you don't necessarily know that at the moment,
but that is what the Holy Spirit does in your life.
And because he is God, the Son of God,
the true and perfect lamb,
and God knows every single thing there is to know about you,
he knows everything about you from the moment of your conception
to the moment of what for you is your future, your death,
with nothing left over,
all of that is placed on Jesus.
And all of Jesus' purity and innocence
and standing before God is given to you.
And so for the rest of your life,
when you are in Jesus,
there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
None.
At all.
Ever.
And the Holy Spirit leads you to Jesus.
It leads you to a faith in Jesus where that happens.
And so it's within this context,
everything in the rest of Romans 8 is all under that,
not the shadow,
but the bright light of this profound truth
for even the worst person who calls out to Jesus.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
And then to explain what he means by that,
it's sort of encapsulating all of Romans,
for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus
from the law of sin and death.
And here the word law,
and so the version of the Bible that I'm using,
some of your versions probably say principle or logic or reason
or something like that.
One of the things that this version of the Bible does
is if there's the same word in the original language,
it likes to keep using it.
But sometimes, as we know,
the same word can have different meanings.
Here's an example.
I stopped playing bridge to drive across the bridge
to go to the bridge before getting my bridge work done.
Bridge, a game.
Bridge that goes over a water or something like that
or another road.
The bridge, which is a church in Ottawa,
and bridge work, stuff done to your mouth.
Same word, okay, but slightly different meanings.
And here, in this particular case,
law means sort of, in a sense,
the intention behind the power,
the reason behind the power,
the goal behind the power,
the logic to the power.
And it makes sense because the Holy Spirit is a person.
In a sense, electricity or light,
it has no purpose.
I mean, it doesn't have any goal.
It just does things.
It's impersonal.
But the Holy Spirit is not like the force
and isn't just energy.
The Holy Spirit is a person.
Like, if you just jump down,
just before we come to verse 14,
look at verse 9.
But actually, could you put up the point for me?
The first point.
In every Christian,
there we go.
In every Christian,
the personal God is personally present
in the person of the Holy Spirit.
In every Christian,
the personal God is personally present
in the person of the Holy Spirit.
And that helps to explain this language.
Look at verse 9 and 11.
You, however, are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit,
if, in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ
does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin,
the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you,
he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies
through his Spirit who dwells in you.
So you see,
it's this language of,
the Bible is always doing this,
that I am in the Holy Spirit
and the Holy Spirit is in me.
But that's how it works with persons, right?
Like my wife and I have been married for 34 years.
And in many ways,
I mean,
I am in her life
and she is in my life.
Those of you who've had a loved one die,
that when a loved one dies,
it feels as if there's almost a hollow place
in the center of you that's been ripped out.
Because people are in each other
when there's personal relationships.
And so,
that's why Paul in verse 2
can talk about how the Holy Spirit
has a principle,
a purpose behind his power
as he works in our lives.
And that leads us up here then
to verse 14.
So it's been a bit of a long aside,
but hopefully it's been helpful to you
in your spiritual life.
Look at verse 14 again.
So Paul's just continuing.
He's now going to give us
a second powerful image
of what it means to be a Christian.
And actually,
I think we have it.
We want to say verse 14 with me together.
I think I have it up there.
Is it verse 14?
Can we say it together?
For all who are led by the Spirit of God
are sons of God.
Let's say it again.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God
are sons of God.
And then in verse 15,
it continues.
For you did not receive the Spirit of slavery
to fall back into fear,
but you have received the Spirit of adoption
as sons by whom we cry,
Abba, Father.
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God.
And if children,
then heirs.
Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
provided we suffer with him in order
that we may also be glorified in him.
There's a different image here.
If you could put up the next point,
that would be really helpful.
The Holy Spirit,
you see,
in the first part
that we talked about last week
is the Holy Spirit,
we should never want to quench
the Holy Spirit.
We should be asking the Father regularly
to pour out his Holy Spirit upon us
for more of the Holy Spirit.
Why?
Because the Holy Spirit brings us to the Gospel.
The Holy Spirit brings us
to an understanding
that we talked about last week
that there is no condemnation now
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
And here,
this same logic and power
of the Holy Spirit
is going to bring us
if we let him work in our lives
and don't quench him.
The Holy Spirit leads me
to a secure,
humble,
trusting knowing
that in Jesus,
God has adopted me
as his child
and his heir.
The Holy Spirit leads me
to a secure,
humble,
trusting knowing
that in Jesus,
God has adopted me
as his child
and his heir.
Now,
in the time that
the Bible passage was written,
around 57 AD,
in the Roman world,
adoption was usually
actually quite different
from the way it is today.
And in the ancient world
that Paul was writing to,
so all of these people
would be familiar with this.
As soon as they got this image,
they would get it in a way
that we wouldn't necessarily get.
First of all,
they often didn't adopt babies.
We want to adopt babies primarily
or young children.
But in the ancient world,
if there was a man
who was very rich
and he had no heir
or no suitable heir
to leave his vast fortune
and power to,
he would go looking around
and he would pick a man
to adopt.
Like,
it could even be somebody
as old as me
or it could be a young man.
So it would be as if
if we were back in ancient Rome
and I'll just use Ken.
I'm sure he won't mind me
using his name as an example.
And let's say Ken has no heir.
And Ken looks around
and he sees Andrew
and he says,
Andrew has 10 kids
and,
I can't remember,
how many of them are boys?
Anyway,
a few of them are boys.
Five boys.
And surely,
out of those five boys,
one would be a suitable one as well.
I'm going to adopt Andrew
with his 10 kids.
I'm going to adopt Andrew
as my son.
And Ken would pick Andrew.
If Andrew tried putting ads
in the personals,
I have lots of kids,
I'd like to be adopted.
It doesn't work.
And Ken would look at Andrew
and says,
you know,
Andrew looks healthy.
He looks like he's
a responsible person.
He would really,
I'm going to make him my heir.
And so,
in the ancient world,
the father,
in a sense,
the man chooses
and does all the work
to make the adoption possible.
And when Andrew
is adopted by Ken,
Andrew changes his last name.
He now has a different name
and a different identity.
He instantly,
once the adoption goes through,
is the heir of everything
that the rich man has.
All of his power
and all of his influence.
And on top of that,
Ken,
when he adopts Andrew,
undertakes on Ken now
every single debt
and everything against Andrew
now goes on the dad
in the Roman world.
and Ken is now liable
for all future actions
of Andrew.
They all go on the dad,
the new dad.
And the son
has an obligation
to honor
and please
and be with his father.
and this is all done
by the father
in this ancient world.
Now,
just,
I'm sure in the ancient world
it was a little,
I was listening a little while ago
to a tape of a man
who was a pastor
of a church
that only had male elders.
And he was telling this story
about sometimes
after the elders board
had made this decision
for the church,
one of the elders,
male elders,
would come up to the pastor
and say,
pastor,
I've been praying about this
and I think we need to reconsider.
And the pastor says,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I don't want you to lie in church.
You weren't praying about it.
You talked to your wife.
She disagrees.
Right?
And the guy said,
the man would often
get red in the face
and say,
yeah,
I wasn't praying about it.
I was talking to my wife
and she does disagree
for these reasons.
And then the pastor would say,
those are really good reasons.
Let's have a,
let's reconsider
the particular issue.
So,
you know,
in the ancient world
where there was all
just male,
male,
you know,
knowing how men and women work,
that's probably not the way
it actually worked
on the ground.
Okay?
But legally,
then you see this profound image,
this profound image
of the father
choosing
a son
to be his heir,
giving him
a new name,
taking upon himself
all of the debts
and obligations
and charges
against the son.
And forever afterwards,
as long as the father
is alive,
being liable
for all of what
the son does
and a new name
and a new identity
and it's fixed
and it's solid
and it's all done
by the father
for the one
who is adopted
as his heir.
And that's what,
and that's what's being said
here in verse 14,
for all who are led
by the spirit of God
are sons of God.
For you did not receive
the spirit of slavery
to fall back into fear,
but you have received
the spirit of adoption
as sons
by whom we cry
Abba,
Father.
The spirit himself
bears witness
with our spirit
that we are
children of God
and if children
then heirs,
heirs of God
and fellow heirs
with Christ
provided we suffer
with him
in order that we may
also be glorified
with him.
Once again,
you put your hands
out to Jesus
and you don't know
all this theology,
you're not a complicated
guy or gal,
you haven't figured out
all this theological
imagery stuff,
I mean maybe today
after the sermon
it will be a little bit
different,
but you don't necessarily
know all of this stuff
and you just reach out
to Jesus
because you just have
this sense that you
need to be connected
to Jesus
and you put your hands
out to Jesus
and Jesus crosses
that infinite distance
down to you
and takes your hands
and what you do not know
is that as Jesus
takes your hands,
the father
has adopted you
as if you,
man or woman,
are his son
with all the rights
of inheritance
and all of the obligations
against you
are now on your father
and all of the things
that you will do
in the future
as long as the father
is alive
are on your father
and he adopts you
as his child
and you have his name
and he will never
let you go
or backtrack on that.
That is your new
identity and destiny
and that is what
happens to you
when you put your hands
out and you do not
realize that when
Jesus takes your hands
it is the father
adopting you
as his child
and heir
forever
and for the rest
of your life
one of the ministries
of the Holy Spirit
in your life
which is why
you should want
the Holy Spirit
to have as great
a role in your life
as you possibly can
is to bring you
to us secure
and humble
trusting
knowledge
that you
are God's
child
not weighing your
merits
that you
are God's
child
by adoption
and grace
this text
was actually
profoundly
subversive
I mean you
can just imagine
that the people
when they're hearing
Paul
and in the
congregation
there's some
estimates
anthropologists
have done some
work
and in the
it might very
well have been
that 70%
of the congregation
in Rome
were slaves
majority women
there were some
rich people too
and this would
have gobsmacked
them
that woman
over there
who's a slave
Paul has just
said
that she
inherits
as if
she is
the son
bam
that slave
woman
with no
status
the lowest
of the low
when she
puts her
faith and
trust in
Jesus
she
becomes
adopted
by the
creator
and sustainer
of the
entire
universe
as his
child
as if
she is
a son
it's a
very very
powerful
text
you know
you see
with
as the
Holy Spirit
leads us
to this
knowledge
of the
Father
you
realize
you
have
this
you
start
to have
this
sense
of the
security
that you
have
remember
I began
this
whole
sermon
by this
you know
plump
mentally
handicapped
young
man
probably
20
trying to
catch up
to his
mom
and the
son's
hand out
and the
mom's
hand back
like this
they
hold
hands
that's
your
father
with
you
the
security
you
long
for
is in
Jesus
in the
gospel
the
belonging
you
long
for
the
intimacy
that
you
long
for
the
Holy
Spirit
leads
you
into
crying
out
in pain
I don't
know if
you've
ever
been
maybe
in
your
neighborhood
or
maybe
you've
had
the
experience
yourself
but
the
kids
when
they're
a
certain
age
you know
maybe
three or
four or
five
and
maybe
the
dad
comes
home
after
a
day
of
work
and
one
of
the
kids
looks
out
the
window
and
they
say
daddy
is that
crying
out
as well
it's not
just
pain
father
is always
present
showing up
and
I saw
another
thing
in a
different
Starbucks
this
week
I
know
I
spend
a lot
of
time
in
Starbucks
you
know
how
slippery
and
slidey
is
outside
right
now
and
it
was
such
a
wonderful
thing
there's
this
mom
and
she
had
a
little
two
year
old
girl
and
the
mom
they
were
on
this
really
big
icy
patch
and
the
mom
had
the
little
girl's
hand
mom's
reaching
down
like
this
the
little
girl's
reaching
up
like
this
the
little
girl
had
the
biggest
smile
on
her
face
and
she
was
trying
all
these
cool
moves
on
the
icy
snow
you
know
as if
she
was
the
world's
greatest
figure
skater
adventurer
sliding
here
losing
her
feet
and
she
never
fell
the
mom
was
holding
her
in
this
text
we
see
that
there's
a
freedom
that
when
we
understand
as I
shared
last
week
if
my
next
five
sermons
suck
big
time
I
am
still
not
condemned
and
I'm
still
God's
adopted
child
if
I
have
some
great
failure
in
my
life
in
three
years
I
am
still
not
condemned
I
am
still
God's
adopted
son
if
I
decide
to
try
to
leave
the
church
in
some
way
of
making
some
difference
for
the
kingdom
and
it
fails
and
maybe
people
say
if
George
had
half
a
brain
and the
council
had
even
a
quarter
of
a
brain
they
wouldn't
have
tried
something
like
that
you
know
what
for
me
and
the
council
still
not
condemned
still
God's
adopted
child
this
profound
security
to
risk
like
this
little
girl
trying
out
all
her
cool
dance
moves
and
skating
moves
and
who
knows
I
was
through
maybe
she
was
going
I
don't
know
fighting
bad
Barbies
or
something
I
don't
know
all
secure
in the
mom's
hand
and
it's
also
just
profoundly
freeing
to know
that
what
the
end
of
the
day
all
Jesus
asks
us
to
do
is
to
bear
witness
to
him
because
only
the
Holy
Spirit
can
lead
people
to
Jesus
and
he
just
asked
for
words
Holy
Spirit
carries
the
weight
only
the
Holy
Spirit
can
carry
that
weight
you
can
try
to
carry
the
weight
of
conversion
it'll
crush
you
it'll
make
you
proud
and
arrogant
it'll
crush
you
being
proud
is
being
crushed
too
that's
a
whole
other
story
Holy
Spirit
carries
that
weight
now
just
in
closing
some
of
you
might
say
yeah
George
what's
all
this
stuff
about
suffering
though
what's
all
this
stuff
about
suffering
could
you
put up
Romans
818
we're
going to
read it
in a
moment
but
here
just
read
verse
17
and
then
join
with
me
in
reading
verse
18
and
if
children
then
heirs
of
God
and
fellow
heirs
with
Christ
provided
we
suffer
with
him
in
order
that
we
may
also
be
glorified
with
him
now
with
me
for
I
consider
the
sufferings
of
this
present
time
are
worth
comparing
with
the
glory
that
is
to
be
revealed
to
us
can
you
say
that
with
me
again
it's
a
profound
verse
to
memorize
for
I
consider
that
the
sufferings
of
this
present
time
are
not
worth
comparing
with
the
glory
that
is
to
be
revealed
to
us
for
the
creation
waits
with
eager
longing
for
the
revealing
of
the
sons
of
God
for
the
creation
was
subjected
to
futility
not
willingly
but
because
of
him
who
subjected
it
in
hope
that
the
creation
itself
will
be
set
free
from
its
bondage
to
corruption
and
obtain
the
freedom
of
the
glory
of
the
children
of
God
for
we
know
that
the
whole
creation
has
been
groaning
together
in
the
pains
of
childbirth
until
now
and
not
only
the
creation
but
we
ourselves
who
have
the
first
fruits
of
the
spirit
grown
inwardly
as
we
wait
eagerly
for
adoption
as
sons
the
redemption
of
our
bodies
for
in
this
hope
we
were
saved
now
hope
that
is
seen
is
not
hope
in
other
words
if
you
have
it
in
your
hand
for
who
hopes
for
what
he
sees
has
in
his
hands
but
if
we
hope
for
what
we
do
not
see
we
wait
for
it
with
patience
Andrew
could
you
I don't
know
if
I
have
this
in
the
right
order
could
you
put
up
our
theme
verse
for
all
of
the
book
of
Romans
can
you
say
this
with
me
together
those
of
you
who
aren't
maybe
this
is
your
guess
is
the
way
Paul
has
written
the
book
of
Romans
is
that
in
verses
16
and
17
he
trying
to
unfold
and
deepen
and
give
context
for
this
could
you
say
it
with
me
for
I
am
not
ashamed
of
the
gospel
for
it
is
the
power
of
God
for
salvation
to
everyone
who
believes
to
the
Jew
first
and
also
to
the
Greek
for
in
the
gospel
the
righteousness
of
God
is
revealed
from
faith
to
faith
as
it
is
written
the
righteous
shall
live
by
faith
and
here
Paul
is
in
jail
he
basically
says
in
2
Timothy
chapter
1
part
of
what
2
Timothy
is
all
about
in
chapter
1
is
that
there's
always
going to
be a
choice
before
you
as
you
live
your
life
will
you
be
ashamed
will
you
suffer
for
the
gospel
or
will
you
be
ashamed
of
the
gospel
will
you
suffer
for
the
gospel
or
will
you
be
ashamed
of
the
gospel
Paul
writes
that
just
before
he
time
and
time
and
time
again
what
are
you
doing
today
well
do
you
tell
them
that
you're
on
your
way
to
church
or
you
tell
them
you're
doing
something
else
it's
all
sorts
of
things
just
the
ways
that
we
try
to
avoid
the
mockery
of
the
world
and
we
see
here
as I've
explained
how we've
made
clear
that
if
you
believe
that
there's
a
power
of
God
for
salvation
to
it's
revealed
from
faith
we
receive
it
by
faith
and
our
life
goes
from
faith
to
faith
from
faith
to
faith
from
faith
to
faith
and
Paul
here
is
now
wanting
to
have
us
to
understand
if
we
could
go
back
to
Romans
chapter
8
and
this
profound
verse
in
18
he
wants
us
to
understand
something
else
about
the
Christian
life
and
what
the
Holy
Spirit
does
in
our
life
in
closing
because
sometimes
the
Holy
Spirit
will
lead
us
into
suffering
yes
I
actually
believe
the
Bible
is
true
or
yes
I
believe
Jesus
rose
from
the
dead
or
yes
I
know
you're
going
to
think
I'm
a
complete
and
utter
idiot
and
a
fool
but
I
actually
don't
believe
in
naturalistic
evolution
I
believe
God
is
the
creator
of
all
things
yes
I
believe
Jesus
is
the
only
way
I
believe
he
is
the
way
the
truth
and
the
life
yes
I
believe
the
Bible
is
God's
word
and
that
if
you
read
it
in
the
context
of
the
gospel
and
power
of
the
Holy
Spirit
will
bring
you
freedom
profoundly
yes
I
believe
that
every
human
being
even
human
beings
still
in
the
womb
bear
the
image
of
God
and
are
worth
dignity
and
protect
all
these
things
that
flow
out of
the
Bible
that
we
in
our
culture
know
in
our
bones
they
are
counter
cultural
sometimes
the
Holy
Spirit
will
lead
us
to
bear
witness
in
a
way
that
causes
suffering
and
then
there's
just
the
normal
suffering
of
living
in
a
life
with
a
body
but
the
Holy
Spirit
not only
leads
us
into
suffering
he
leads
us
while
we
are
in
suffering
and
if
you
could
put
up
the
final
point
Andrew
the
Holy
Spirit
leads
me
to
a
secure
humble
trusting
knowing
of the
eternal
weight
of
glory
beyond
all
comparison
prepared
for me
in the
new
heaven
and the
new
earth
the
Holy
Spirit
does
in
our
lives
the
Holy
Spirit
leads
me
and I
always
use
me
these
notes
will
be
on
the
computer
after
Shirley
gets
back
from
holidays
so
that
if
you're
writing
them
for
yourself
you're
writing
me
because
sometimes
we can
believe
that
this
is
true
of
those
really
holy
people
over
there
those
people
have
their
lives
together
just
remember
everybody's
normal
until
you
get
to
know
them
title
of a
really
good
book
everybody's
normal
until
you
get
to
know
them
and
then
you
go
whoa
you're
pretty
weird
you're
odd
yeah
anyway
I was
going to
say
something
but
the
Holy
Spirit
stopped
me
sorry
I would
have
got
in
trouble
you
know
it's
really
funny
when you're
up here
preaching
without a
written
text
you know
there's
these
things
that come
into your
mind
and sometimes
you think
I should
just say it
and other times
you go
no no no
no
just
that's
your internal
voice
George
not your
external
voice
you're not
supposed to
say that
out loud
so
where was
I
so
where was I in this
the Holy
Spirit
works in our
lives
to bring us
to this
point
where more
and more
we understand
that
God
when Jesus
comes a second
time he will
bring in the
new heaven
and earth
and
just as
there is now
no condemnation
for me
if I'm in
Christ Jesus
just as
I am
adopted
when I am
in Christ
Jesus
when I am
in Christ
Jesus
it doesn't
matter if
you're that
handicapped
young man
who can't
has trouble
holding his
pants up
when he
waddles over
to his mom
that he
puts his
faith and
trust in
Jesus
that in
the new
heaven
and the
new
earth
he will
be a
creature
of glory
that if
you saw
him now
before the
new heaven
and the
new earth
you would
fall down
to worship
him like
a god
it doesn't
matter if
you're old
it doesn't
matter if
you're young
it doesn't
matter if
you're sick
it doesn't
matter if
you're handicapped
it doesn't
matter if
you're one
of those
spectacular
athletes who
are going
to compete
in the
Super Bowl
this evening
our bodies
will eventually
fail
many of us
know what
that means
every day
when we
wake up
but when
we put our
faith and
trust in
Jesus we're
not only
not condemned
we're not
only adopted
as his
child
we will
bear an
eternal
weight
glory
in the new
heaven
new earth
only God
only he
can do it
and he
can do
it in
you
brothers and
sisters
pray that
the Holy
Spirit will
not be
quenched in
your life
but that
you will
allow that
you will
call out
for the
Father to
have the
Holy Spirit
work ever
more deeply
and fully
in your
life
because in
the Holy
Spirit leads
me to a
secure
humble
trusting
knowing of
the eternal
weight of
glory
beyond all
comparison
prepared for
me in
the new
heaven
and the
new
earth
please
stand
maybe
you know
the Holy
Spirit leads
you to a
faith in
Jesus
and then
after the
Holy Spirit
leads you to
a faith in
Jesus
he keeps
leading you
to a deeper
faith in
Jesus
and maybe
some of
you right
now
you have
been quenching
the Holy
Spirit
you have
not wanted
to reach
your hands
out
to call
out to
Jesus
to be
your
Savior
and I'm
just going
to say
if the
Holy Spirit
is moving
and working
in your
life right
now
don't quench
the Holy
Spirit
just let
go
and call
out to
Jesus
there's no
better time
than right
now
call out
to Jesus
and for
each of us
with the
different things
that we're
struggling
with
and we
sense
this
and I'm
not going
to give
you magic
words
I'm just
going to
tell you
just say
Father
I want
Jesus
to be
my Savior
I want
to have
the Holy
Spirit
lead me
you just
pray that
you don't
need some
special
prayer
that you
have to
try to
figure out
if you
remember
the words
properly
afterwards
just
in light
of what
just let
the pressure
and the
power
of the
Holy Spirit
lead you
to call
out to
Jesus
and if
you call
out to
Jesus
to be
his
child
he
takes
your
hands
there
will
be
no
more
condemnation
you will
be his
adopted
child
and an
eternal
weight
of glory
beyond
comparison
is what
will take
place
in your
life
in the
new
heaven
and the
new
earth
and for
the rest
of us
just pour
out your
heart
and call
out to
God
I think
every
single
one of
us
me
included
need
to grow
in this
humble
trust
secure
humble
trusting
knowing
of what
is accomplished
for us
in the
gospel
and just
imagine
the security
and the
adventure
that can
begin
to go
as you
realize
the strong
grip
of God
on your
life
let's
just pray
father
ask for
those who
maybe have
never given
their lives
to you
that your
holy
spirit
would move
with might
and power
and deep
conviction
and bring
them to
that point
where they
call out
to you
and father
for all
of us
who are
here
who have
given our
lives
to Jesus
you know
father
how we
struggle
with accusation
how we
struggle
with bodily
weakness
you know
how we
can struggle
with doubts
you know
how we
can struggle
with fears
you know
father
how we
might be
afraid
to try
to do
bold
or new
things
for you
because
we're
afraid
of failing
we have
a spirit
of slavery
and fear
not a spirit
of the adoption
of us
as sons
father
we ask
that your
holy spirit
would move
mightily
in every
life that
is here
to grant
us a
secure
humble
trusting
knowing
that we
are adopted
as your
children
when we
put our
faith in
Jesus
and that
you will
glorify us
with Jesus
for all
eternity
in the new
heaven
and the new
earth
father
grow
every
day
within us
such a
secure
humble
trusting
knowing
and this
we ask
in Jesus'
name
amen