WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.000 Here's another question for us. Looking around this room, looking at the world, we see a lot of different nations, ethnicities, language, peoples represented. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:28.000 ! And looking out our windows, reading the news, we see nations in conflict. Where do all the nations come from? What is God's purpose for the nations, for all these different people groups? 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:40.000 So today, we've been going through the book of Genesis recently, and we read how in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It was good. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:46.000 There was the Garden of Eden, paradise. But we sinned. Adam and Eve, they ate the fruit of the tree. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:55.000 And sin just got worse and worse and worse, to the point that God decided to wipe out, destroy the earth with a flood. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:01.000 But yet, he preserved humanity through Noah, his family in an ark. 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:05.000 The flood destroyed the earth, but the flood didn't destroy sin. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:11.000 Just as the ark preserved Noah and his family, sin was preserved in their hearts. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:16.000 Their hearts was an ark for sin. Sin survived the flood because the human heart survived. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:25.000 And we know that reading that strange story at the end of chapter 9, where Noah ended up drunk and naked, and his son humiliated him, disrespected him. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:31.000 That was a weird story. But we see that God wiped out the earth with a flood, but the flood didn't eliminate sin. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:38.000 And yet, after the flood, God made a covenant. He puts his bow in the sky, the rainbow, and promised never again to destroy the earth. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:47.000 And he repeats his blessing from Genesis 1 to humanity. Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:53.000 Even though God knows we are still sinners, sin reigns in our hearts. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:58.000 We're still loved by God. We're people made in his image, and he still has that mandate to us. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:01.000 Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:04.000 That's where we left off in Genesis chapter 9. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:12.000 There's Noah's family, eight people, Noah, his three sons, and their wives, with God's blessing to fill the earth. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:23.000 Now, fast forward today to 2026. It's not just eight people, but over eight billion people spread across all seven continents. 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:31.000 Over 10,000 different ethnic groups, people groups, speaking over 7,000 different languages. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:36.000 One family turned into a multitude of nations. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 And today, we're going to look at Genesis chapters 10 and 11. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.000 And we'll see today, where did all these nations come from? 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:46.000 Where did all these different people groups come from? 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:49.000 And what is God's plan for the nations? 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:52.000 Today, we'll read from that famous story of the Tower of Babel. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:55.000 When mankind came together in rebellion against God. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.000 They wanted to build a tower, so that they could stick together to make a name for themselves. 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:04.000 But God frustrated their plans, confused their languages, and scattered them. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:07.000 And that's when all these nations split off. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:13.000 Also, the Tower of Babel is sandwiched between two genealogies. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:17.000 Several weeks ago, we went through one genealogy in Genesis chapter 5. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:21.000 We're in luck today, because we got two genealogies to go through. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.000 We got a genealogy sandwich. 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:26.000 Sometimes, even if the bread is dry, you need it for the sandwich. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:33.000 And we believe that the word of God has something to speak to us today, through these genealogies. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:38.000 And we'll see that God has a good purpose for the nations, for us. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.000 We are part of the nations. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.000 Even though we all sin, and we turn our backs against God, he is sovereign. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:45.000 He has a good plan. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:49.000 And he will accomplish, he will surely accomplish that purpose. 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:55.000 To redeem all people from every tribe, nation, and tongue, through Jesus Christ. 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:56.000 For the praise of his glory. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.000 That's what we'll see today. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.000 And so let's stand as we read the word of God together. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:03.000 We won't read all of it. 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:11.000 I'll read a bit from the end of chapter 10, and some verses from chapter 11 also. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:15.000 I'll start from Genesis chapter 10, verse 32. 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:23.000 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies in their nations. 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:27.000 And from these, the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood. 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:30.000 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:36.000 And as the people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:41.000 And they said to one another, come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:44.000 And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:50.000 Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:55.000 And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:00.000 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.000 And the Lord said, behold, they are one people and they all have one language. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:07.000 And this is only the beginning of what they will do. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:10.000 And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:15.000 Come, let us go down there and confuse their language so that they may not understand one another's speech. 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:20.000 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.000 And they left off building the city. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:27.000 Therefore, its name was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:31.000 And from there, the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:33.000 Skip to verse 27. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:36.000 Now these are the generations of Tara. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:41.000 Tara fathered Abram, Nahor and Haran and Haran fathered Lot. 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:47.000 Haran died in the presence of his father, Tara, in the land of his kindred in Ur of the Chaldeans. 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:49.000 And Abram and Nahor took wives. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:56.000 The name of Abram's wife was Sarai and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father Milcah and Iscah. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:58.000 Now, Sarah was barren. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:59.000 She had no child. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:07.000 Tara took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarah, his daughter-in-law, and his son, Abram's wife. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:12.000 And they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.000 But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:19.000 The days of Tara were 205 years and Tara died in Haran. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.000 This is the word of the Lord. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:22.000 Please take a seat. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:28.000 We'll start today from chapter 10. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:31.000 This chapter is sometimes called the table of nations. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:32.000 The table of nations. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.000 It's a genealogy. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:39.000 It's a list of the families and all the nations descended from Noah's sons. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:41.000 There's a lot of names, 70 of them. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:48.000 And actually, it's not all the nations, but 70 of them representing all the nations descended from Noah. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:53.000 And there's a lot of historical and archeological context that we could look into. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.000 There's a lot of names we can look into. 00:06:55.000 --> 00:07:04.000 But today, rather than zooming in and looking into every single detail, we'll take a step back and look at one overarching point that this table shows us. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:08.000 And that is that God shows mercy to rebellious nations. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.000 God shows mercy to sinners. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.000 He is good to sinners. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:19.000 In the table of nations, we see that the nations, everybody in the whole world is in rebellion towards God. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:23.000 Yet, he is merciful and he has a good plan to redeem us all. 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:35.000 And to clarify, when I say nations, and also in the New Testament, when we read that word nations, for example, in the Great Commission, go and make disciples of all nations. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:39.000 That word nations, when we say that, it's more than just countries. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:42.000 We know the UN recognizes 195 countries. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:48.000 That number may be disputed, but we're not talking about countries, nations in that term. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:08:00.000 In the table of nations, it describes in verse five, for example, peoples, the coastland peoples, spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans in their nations. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:07.000 By nations referring to this association by their lands, by location, sharing a common language and ethnic background. 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:10.000 That's what we're describing. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:18.000 And point is that God has a good purpose for people from every nation, tribe and tongue. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:22.000 And first, we see this in the order of events in Genesis. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:26.000 The order of events in Genesis chapter 10 and 11, it's pretty interesting. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:29.000 Because here in the table of nations, we see people spreading out. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:35.000 We just read that in their own lands, each with their own language, by their clans in their nations in verse five. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:41.000 In chapter 10, the nations are already scattered with divided languages and ethnicities. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:49.000 But if you look forward to chapter 11, verse one, when they were building the Tower of Babel, it says, 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.000 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.000 They were united at that point. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:57.000 So these two chapters are out of order. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:01.000 The table nations is pulled forward ahead of what happened at Babel. 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:08.000 The Tower of Babel is a flashback showing when the nation spread, how that happened. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.000 And that must be intentional. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.000 If Moses went out of his way to change the order, there must be a reason. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:18.000 It's like how Titanic starts with the scene of hundred year old bros. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.000 And then there's a flashback to how she met Jack. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.000 Christopher Nolan did that for a reason. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:24.000 That wasn't an accident. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:33.000 And the reason that many commentators say I agree is that because we pull forward the table of nations, 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:40.000 it's because God wants us to see his good purposes for the nation scattering and dispersing over all the face of the earth. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:51.000 At Babel, we'll read later, God confused their language and scattered the nations in judgment because they rebelled against him and tried to build a tower united in rebellion against him. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:58.000 So if the table of nations came after that, we would see this dispersion as God's judgment and the consequence of their sin. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:06.000 But in pulling this forward, the scattering of the nations is linked not to God's judgment, but to God's blessing. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:14.000 The nation scattered because of God's blessing to Noah in chapter nine, verse one, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:16.000 The fact that mankind was fruitful. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:21.000 And today we have over 8 billion people in all corners of the earth, over seven continents. 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:23.000 That's God's blessing to us. 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:27.000 He has a good plan for the nations, even when they're rebelling against him. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.000 It's not just in the order. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:34.000 But last week we read that strange story at the end of chapter nine where Noah passed out. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:40.000 He was naked and drunk and his one son Ham came and disgraced him, mocked him. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:43.000 And as a result, Noah curses Ham's son Canaan. 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:45.000 And that's in chapter nine, verse 25. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.000 Curse be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers. 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:58.000 And at the same time, Noah blesses the other two sons, Shem and Japheth, but has nothing good to say about that son Ham. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:11.000 Yet, when we look in chapter 10 in this table of nations, if you take account, Ham has more descendants mentioned than either of his other two brothers. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:19.000 Even though Noah didn't bless Ham, even though Noah cursed Canaan, Ham has more descendants mentioned here in this table. 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:26.000 And also Canaan, who was specifically cursed by Noah, he has 11 descendants mentioned. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.000 That's the second most out of anybody in this list. 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:40.000 So we see despite his sin, despite Ham's sin, despite Noah's curse, God's blessing is upon Ham, upon the nations, upon a rebellious people. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:43.000 And to top it off, Ham has a grandson called Nimrod. 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:49.000 In the genealogy before the flood that we read a few weeks ago in chapter five, it said, 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:52.000 At that time, people began to call on the name of the Lord. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.000 And in that list, we read that Enoch walked with God. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:57.000 It was Enoch who walked with God. 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:00.000 Looking here, nobody walked with God. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:05.000 Actually, the only mention of the Lord here is in describing Nimrod in verse nine. 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:12.000 He's described as this mighty man, a mighty hunter before the Lord, which I think is said sarcastically. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:18.000 What we know about Nimrod is that in verse 10, it says here that the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:21.000 That city of rebellion. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:24.000 Also later known as Babylon in the Bible. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:26.000 The city of rebellion against God. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:29.000 That's what Nimrod's kingdom is founded upon. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:38.000 Nimrod also built Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, which was one of the most brutal, violent civilizations of all time in history. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:41.000 And they were ones that oppressed Israel. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:44.000 There's no Enoch here in this list who walked with God. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:47.000 There's only brutal, violent Nimrod. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:51.000 And yet God blesses these rebellious people. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.000 Why does he do that? 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:59.000 Can you see God's mercy and grace here to undeserving sinners? 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:03.000 Sin survived the flood, but God still decides to bless sinners. 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:10.000 Sometimes we like to ask, why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:11.000 Like I'm not too bad. 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:13.000 Why did God allow me to lose that job? 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:14.000 I'm a nice guy. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:16.000 Why did God allow that sickness? 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:23.000 But in reading this, I find myself asking instead, why does God do good things to bad people? 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:32.000 Why does God bless sinners to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth just so that we can fill the earth, his creation with our sin? 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:37.000 Why did he hang the bow in his, his bow in the sky rather than just shooting us again? 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:38.000 That's the real question. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:42.000 And we know God will judge sin. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:46.000 One day he will bring punishment and wrath for sin. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:51.000 But God doesn't choose to characterize himself by his wrath. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:14:00.000 What he says instead is he is the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:02.000 God loves his enemies. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.000 He makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:08.000 He sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:14.000 He's patient towards us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:15.000 That's our God. 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:18.000 He's slow to anger, but quick to love. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:25.000 And so the nations, rebellious nations were fruitful, multiplied, filled the earth. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:28.000 God has a good plan for the nations. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.000 And now let's, let's see how that happened. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:33.000 Let's look at the Tower of Babel. 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:37.000 So this again, Tower of Babel is a backstory to what we just read. 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:43.000 If chapter 10 were a fight scene in a movie, Babel is that childhood flashback of the hero. 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:46.000 This is the backstory of how the nations got dispersed. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:50.000 And as with most flashbacks, there's this problem going on. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:55.000 Let's see that in chapter 11, verse one, it says the whole earth had one language and the same words. 00:14:55.000 --> 00:15:00.000 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plane in the land of Shinar and settled there. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:08.000 And again, we see there in the east, just as Adam and Eve were driven east of Eden and Cain went further east. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:13.000 East of Eden, these people, they repeat Adam's sin from Genesis three. 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:17.000 There's that same mistrust of God, the same rebellion against God. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:19.000 The flood didn't wipe away our sin. 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:22.000 It remained in our hearts, including our hearts today. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:28.000 And at the Tower of Babel and building the Tower of Babel, we'll see they were rebelling against God, 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.000 wanting to stick together. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.000 They built this tower to unite themselves, to stick together, 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:38.000 rather than to take hold of that blessing God gave them and fill the earth, 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:41.000 to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:45.000 And as we read this, we can also reflect on how we share that heart. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:47.000 We turn our backs to God. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:54.000 But also in that, we can rest on the fact that God is sovereign, even over our sin, 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:57.000 and He redeems it all for a good purpose. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:00.000 In verse three, they say to one another, 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:03.000 Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.000 In verse four, come, let us build ourselves a city. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:08.000 Let us make a name for ourselves. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:09.000 Let us do this. 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:10.000 Let us do that. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:12.000 It doesn't matter what God says. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.000 It doesn't matter what God wants. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:16.000 They say, let's do what we want. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:20.000 Just as Eve saw that the fruit was good to eat and she ate it. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:21.000 Let's do what we want. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:24.000 That desire for autonomy, self-determination. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.000 Don't we have that for ourselves also? 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.000 That when it feels right, if it gives me pleasure, 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:35.000 come, let us do this for ourselves, regardless of what God says. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:37.000 And notice their motivations. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.000 First, it's out of pride. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.000 Let us make a name for ourselves. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:44.000 They want fame, recognition, honor. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:48.000 The first thing that Noah did when he stepped out of the ark was build an altar. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:50.000 That's not what they're building here. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.000 They want to build a monument, not for God, but to their own greatness. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:57.000 It's for their name, to make their name great. 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:02.000 I think of world leaders today obsessed with building monuments or stamping their name on things. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:10.000 I think also of our desire for recognition, maybe to be known as executive director, managing director. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.000 Have that board seat. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:15.000 To be making more money than the person next to you. 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:17.000 Do we crave the approval of others? 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:20.000 Do we want to make a name for ourselves in the eyes of others? 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:26.000 To be hardworking, to be funny, to be relatable, to fit in along with them? 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:31.000 Do we still have that same desire for recognition, for fame? 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:34.000 And secondly, they act out of defiant fear. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:40.000 In verse four, they say, let's do all this lest we be dispersed over the face of the earth. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.000 Let us build so that we won't be dispersed across the face of the earth. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:46.000 Remember what God said to them. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.000 Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:51.000 They're acting in defiance of that. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:55.000 They're rebelling not just against God's command, but against his blessing. 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.000 They're not taking hold of that blessing God gave them to fill the earth. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:06.000 And instead of receiving God's blessing, they'd rather work for their own security. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:08.000 They'd rather work to take care of their fears. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.000 They think that if we have this tower, then we will be safe. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:13.000 We will be secure. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:16.000 If we work hard and build this, we won't have to fear anymore. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:20.000 For us, where do we look for that security? 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:23.000 Maybe if I land this job, then I'll be taken care of. 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:26.000 If I save up enough, I can secure my future. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:30.000 I can work and build this tower and secure a future for myself. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.000 If I can find someone, get married, have a family, then I will be happy. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:39.000 When God says to us, I will never leave you or forsake you. 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:45.000 Do we also turn away from the promises of God and instead look to work and build towers 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.000 so that we won't have to fear and so that we can be secure? 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:52.000 And so because of that, they build. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:55.000 They work hard only to shoot themselves in the foot because everything that they do, 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.000 all their efforts, it actually backfires on them. 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:04.000 We see in verse five, the Lord came down to see the tower, the city and the tower, 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:06.000 which the children of man had built. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.000 The Lord came down. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:10.000 But remember the ambition. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:15.000 It said earlier, let's build a tower with the top in the heavens, 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:16.000 with its top in the heavens. 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.000 We're going to be the greatest in the world. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:21.000 We're going to build a tower with the top in the heavens. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:26.000 But to God, their greatest efforts were so small, so minuscule, 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:29.000 he had to come down just to see it. 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:32.000 Imagine the toddlers we just sent off to Crest. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:35.000 They decide in their class to build a tower. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:37.000 They take some toy blocks. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:39.000 They stack them up as high as they can. 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:41.000 They get up on their little tippy toes. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:46.000 They do a big stretch to put that last block on top. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:48.000 Good job, kids. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:52.000 Their tallest tower is going to be this high to us. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.000 This high in Admiralty Center. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.000 We have to come down, crouch down just to see it, to admire it. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:02.000 If you read too loud, it's all falling down. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.000 That's the same thing. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:08.000 God, the Lord, had to come down to see what the children of man built, 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:10.000 to see their tower. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:13.000 And that's what God sees when he looks at humanity's greatest accomplishments. 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:16.000 The foolishness of God is wiser than men. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.000 The weakness of God is stronger than men. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:22.000 Our latest, greatest breakthroughs, our most advanced technology, 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:25.000 they are just a speck of dust in his hands. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.000 If we think we can build a tower that reaches up to the heavens 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:32.000 and makes ourselves God, we're delusional. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:35.000 The Lord stoops down to see what we've built. 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.000 And so in verse seven, God also says, 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:43.000 come, let us go down and there confuse their language 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:46.000 so that they may not understand one another's speech. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:48.000 So while these guys are building a tower, 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:50.000 like, hey, Larry, can you give me the hammer? 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:51.000 Okay, sure, Carl. 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:52.000 Here you go. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:54.000 Oh, Larry, can you give me that brick? 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:55.000 What? 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:56.000 What? 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:57.000 What? 00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:58.000 What? 00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:59.000 What? 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:00.000 What? 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:01.000 What? 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:02.000 What? 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:03.000 What? 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:05.000 That's what happens. 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:10.000 God confused their language as they are in this middle of their building project. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.000 That's going to reach up to the heavens. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:14.000 God confused their language. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:18.000 And just like that, all their plans fell apart. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.000 Remember that desire for recognition also? 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:23.000 Let us make a name for ourselves. 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:25.000 Let's make a name for ourselves. 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:26.000 We are going to be great. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:29.000 To that, God says, okay, sure. 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.000 You can have a name. 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:34.000 Your name is confusion. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:36.000 Your name is Babel. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:37.000 That's in verse nine. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:42.000 Therefore, its name was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:47.000 The word, the name Babel is related to the word for confused confusion. 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:49.000 These people, they wanted a legacy. 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:50.000 They got one. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:52.000 The name they made for themselves, their legacy. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:22:02.000 The only thing they're remembered for in the Bible is the day that the Lord came down, confused them, put them to shame and glorified his name. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:05.000 That's the name they made for themselves. 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:07.000 Babel, confusion. 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:10.000 Remember also that desire for safety. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:15.000 Let us build so that we won't be dispersed, so that we won't be dispersed in the face of all the earth. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:16.000 At the end, what happens? 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:25.000 Their very efforts are what caused God to step in, confuse their language and disperse them over the face of the earth. 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:27.000 They wanted to reach the heavens. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:28.000 God had to come down. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:29.000 They wanted a name. 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.000 They got a name of shame. 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:33.000 They wanted to stick together and they got dispersed. 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:37.000 And that's what happens when we turn our backs to God and build our own towers. 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.000 Every brick we put up falls down. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:42.000 That's the backstory behind the creation of the nations. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:46.000 How different tribes, languages, nations came to be. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:49.000 God saw the rebellion of Babel and scattered them. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:52.000 But I want us to see this also. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.000 Even in judgment, God had a good purpose. 00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:58.000 God had a reason for why he confused them. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.000 We see in verse six, behold, there are one people and they have all one. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:03.000 And they have all one language. 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:06.000 And this is only the beginning of what they will do. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:10.000 Nothing they propose to do now will be impossible for them. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.000 That's why God stepped in to confuse them. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.000 In saying that, God wasn't threatened by their rebellion. 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:20.000 He wasn't scared that they would build a tower that would reach up to him and take over his kingdom. 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:27.000 What God was concerned about is that they would keep running down the same path further and further from him. 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:28.000 This is only the beginning. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:34.000 If God left them alone, unchecked, humanity would have continued even more united in arrogance, 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:41.000 in self-confidence, in pride, in self-reliance, continuing to think that they didn't need God and could rely on the work of their hands. 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:44.000 That they could reach up to the heavens and reach God. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:48.000 And so God stepped in to restrain sin. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:50.000 God wasn't just punishing them, judging them. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:52.000 He was saving them from themselves. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:56.000 Forcing them to fulfill his blessing to fill the earth. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:00.000 Even in judgment, God has a good plan for the nations. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.000 And to see what that is, let's move on to that last genealogy for today. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.000 In second half of chapter 11. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:13.000 So for 11 chapters of Genesis, we've been looking at Genesis. 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:17.000 These 11 chapters, Genesis has been using a really wide-angled lens. 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:22.000 It's zoomed out, showing us the whole world from creation to the fall to the flood. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:25.000 These universal events affecting the whole world. 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:27.000 Nations filling the whole earth. 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:32.000 But at this end of the chapter, at the end of this chapter, at the end of chapter 11, 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:35.000 we're going to transition to a new section of Genesis. 00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:40.000 Where from this wide-angled view, we're going to zoom in on just one family. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.000 We're going to zoom in, slow down, and focus on one family. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:49.000 We spent 11 chapters in Genesis going over 20 generations. 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:56.000 The rest of Genesis now, 39 chapters, will slow down and focus on just three generations. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:05.000 Out of 70 nations, Genesis, God focuses his efforts on one nation, one family. 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:13.000 And in the genealogy, we see Shem, Father Sheila, who fathered Apakshad, who fathered Eber. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:16.000 Eber, by the way, is where we get that word Hebrew from. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:21.000 Shem is where we get the words Semitic, the Semitic peoples and languages from. 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:23.000 Eber, the Hebrew people. 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:32.000 Who fathered Peleg, who fathered Reu, who fathered Searug, who fathered Nahor, who fathered Terah, who fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:44.000 And reading this genealogy, imagine the camera zooming in from all the nations of the world onto one family, one man, Abram. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:50.000 And you may be more familiar with the name that God gives him later, which is Abraham. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:57.000 The God's blessing for all nations will come through, passed down through one man, Abram, Abraham. 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:06.000 And if you jump ahead with me to chapter 12, verse three, God promises Abraham, Abram, I will make of you a great nation. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:10.000 And I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:18.000 And this blessing isn't just for Abram, but God says to him, in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.000 Through you, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through Abraham. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:24.000 Now look who God chooses. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:27.000 God chooses the least likely. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:31.000 We think of Abraham as a giant of faith. 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:34.000 Someone who really trusted God, believed in God. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:36.000 A giant of the faith. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:37.000 And that is true. 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:38.000 He becomes that. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:43.000 But here he's not the strongest and mightiest of the nations God created. 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:44.000 Look at Abram's situation. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:46.000 He's actually in a pretty dire spot. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:52.000 In verse 28, Abram's brother, Haran, died and left two daughters orphaned. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:57.000 He has his brother who died, orphaned nieces. 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:02.000 And on top of that, verse 30 says that Abram's wife, Sarai, was barren. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:04.000 She had no child. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:07.000 Even today, being barren, that can be heartbreaking today. 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:15.000 That's especially true in Abram's time, where having children is so important for your survival, for your legacy. 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.000 So Sarai being barren was a really big deal to Abram and his family. 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:22.000 And we talk about Abram being the father of faith. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:25.000 But Abram here, at this point, wasn't especially righteous. 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:31.000 In Joshua chapter 24, verse 2, he said to Israel, 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:33.000 He said to Israel, God says to Israel, 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:39.000 Your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham, worshipped other gods. 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:43.000 The Bible says that Abram came from a family that worshipped other gods. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:48.000 The place that they lived, Ur of the Chaldeans, was known for worshipping the moon. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:54.000 And some commentators say that the names of Abram's family is related to the worship of the moon. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:59.000 So probably, likely, Abram's family worshipped the moon, if not other gods. 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:02.000 They definitely worshipped other gods. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:11.000 Out of all the nations of the earth, God chooses this wandering, old, childless couple from a family of pagan moon worshippers. 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:14.000 God didn't choose Abram because he was the most holy. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:17.000 He prayed and read the Bible more than everyone else. 00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:23.000 God chose someone who didn't earn his grace, who didn't deserve his grace, for his good purposes. 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:27.000 And that's also true for how God would save the nations. 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:30.000 Because of course, the story doesn't end at Abram. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:38.000 If we keep moving on past Noah, past Shem, past Abram, we eventually find our way to Jesus. 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:44.000 Jesus is the offspring of Abram, through whom all the families of the earth will be blessed. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:48.000 And that's good for us, because I think not many of us here are descended from Abraham. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:51.000 But through Jesus, we are blessed. 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:59.000 At Babel, they wanted to build a tower with the tops in the heavens, to reach their way up to God, to work their way up to him. 00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:02.000 But in Christ, God came down to us. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:06.000 He humbled himself, took the form of a servant, and was born as man. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:11.000 The way to God isn't by our efforts to build up, but through the cross. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:12.000 We don't work our way to heaven. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:21.000 But simply, God says, if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believed in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:27.000 Just like how Abram didn't deserve it, we are saved by grace through faith apart from works. 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:30.000 God doesn't choose the most holy, the strongest people. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:32.000 We are saved just by faith. 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:35.000 At Babel, they wanted to make their name great. 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:40.000 But just as God said to Abram, I will make your name great. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.000 In Christ, the Father, he calls us sons of God. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:48.000 We're raised with Christ, seated with him in the heavenly places. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:50.000 We are co-heirs with Christ. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:53.000 Given, and he is given the name above every name. 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:56.000 At Babel, the nations were confused and dispersed. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:01.000 But after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, God reversed the curse. 00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:07.000 In Acts 2 at Pentecost, God poured out his spirit on all flesh in the crowds of Jerusalem. 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:12.000 Everyone hears the good news in their own native languages, in their own native tongue. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:16.000 And in that, we see God's plan for the nations. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:18.000 God's purpose for the nations. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:20.000 God's purpose for Babel. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.000 Jesus doesn't reverse Babel and make us all the same. 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:26.000 Unite us that way. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:31.000 Rather, God redeems Babel and turns our rebellion for good. 00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:35.000 The judgment of God in confusing and scattering the nations was for good. 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:40.000 To contribute to the praise of his glory by people from every tribe, nation, and tongue. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:45.000 That's what we see when we turn to the end of our Bibles to Revelation 7, verse 9. 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:47.000 We see, it says this, 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:52.000 Behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:57.000 standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 00:30:57.000 --> 00:30:59.000 and crying out with a loud voice, 00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:03.000 Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:05.000 That's God's plan for Babel. 00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.000 God is gathering for himself worshipers from different walks of life, 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:15.000 different ethnicities, speaking different languages from different backgrounds, from all places of the world. 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.000 Jesus doesn't just erase our cultures or languages. 00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:24.000 God's plan for the nations is not to unite us because we're all the same, 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:31.000 but his plan is to take a diverse people and unite them in one body with one shared mission, 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:36.000 and that is the praise of his glory, redeemed in one spirit, in one body. 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:44.000 If we were all the same without Babel, it's like listening to maybe a hundred violins all playing the same note. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:50.000 It's still music. It might still sound good, but it's one dimensional. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:57.000 God's design for Babel is to create for himself this orchestra that every culture has something unique, 00:31:57.000 --> 00:32:03.000 has a unique perspective from our different walks of life, different cultures playing different instruments, 00:32:03.000 --> 00:32:11.000 all in one rich harmony of different languages, singing one united song of praise to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, 00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:16.000 that despite everywhere we've been, all the corners of the earth, there's one universal truth, 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:22.000 and that salvation belongs to our God. We all rebelled and Christ redeemed us all. 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:29.000 God scattered the nations to fill the earth and build these unique cultures, unique languages, 00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:34.000 because only then can we even come close to adequately singing his praises. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:40.000 I mean, try with our own experiences in our own languages, with our own culture. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:49.000 I can't fully, I can't find myself to have the words to fully express the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:53.000 When we think of the glory of God, he is so much bigger than that. 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:58.000 I find that I don't have the words to fully sing his praises. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:03.000 I don't have the perspective to fully understand every facet of his glory. 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:09.000 God is greater than that. And that's why he's gathering for himself diverse nations, each culture, with something different. 00:33:09.000 --> 00:33:14.000 Each culture, with something unique. I'm not going to list things out at risk of stereotyping, 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:22.000 but each culture has something unique, a different perspective of God's multifaceted glory. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:27.000 And so he says in Psalm chapter, Psalm 67 verse 4, 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:35.000 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy. Let the nations, all nations, every nation, tribe and tongue, let them be glad and sing for joy. 00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:41.000 Because he is God of all the earth. He's God of the nations. That's God's plan. 00:33:41.000 --> 00:33:47.000 All the nations of the earth are redeemed through the one man, Jesus Christ. 00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:54.000 And so, how should we respond today? Or something is, how should we respond today? 00:33:54.000 --> 00:34:00.000 First, to think of Babel. Don't trust in our efforts. Don't trust in Babel. 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:06.000 Let's stop trying to build our own towers. We don't need to exhaust ourselves. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:18.000 Trying to reach heaven on our own merit. To make a name for ourselves. To find security in our finances, our career, our status and recognition. 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:26.000 God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Let's put down our bricks and just trust the finished work of Christ on the cross. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:32.000 And second, if God's heart is for the nations, let ours be also. Jesus gave us the great commission. 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:39.000 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:44.000 Baptizing them, teaching them all I've commanded you. And I'm with you to the end of the age. 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:49.000 Our church leadership team, we got together recently and discussed next season for our church. 00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:54.000 It's time to think about more what it means to scatter here in Hong Kong and to the ends of the earth. 00:34:54.000 --> 00:35:01.000 We'll share more about this in the summer. But for now, I want to feel in our hearts that the glory of God must fill the Lord. 00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:05.000 God must fill the whole earth. Every tribe, nation and tongue must worship him. 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:08.000 People in Hong Kong and to the ends of the earth must worship him. 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:16.000 He deserves the praise of the nations. And let us look forward to the day when we see that happen in fullness. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:21.000 When we see that happen face to face. And lastly, remember that we are the nations. 00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:26.000 We are the rebellious ones that God redeemed back to him. 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:30.000 We are the ones who are far off without hope, without God in this world. 00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:35.000 Strangers to the covenants of promise. But we've been brought near through the blood of Christ. 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.000 So let the nations, let us be glad and sing for joy. 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:41.000 Salvation belongs to our God. 00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:45.000 Let everything that has breath, let us praise the Lord. 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:47.000 Praise the Lord. Let's do that. 00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:52.000 I'm going to invite the worship team to come up and we'll pray together. 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:58.000 God, we praise you. 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:07.000 You are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, bounding in steadfast love and mercy. 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:12.000 It's only because of your mercy and grace that we are here today. 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:18.000 We don't deserve to know you. We turned our backs to you. 00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:24.000 Thank you that we are your children in Christ. 00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:28.000 That we have been justified by faith. 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:31.000 Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:38.000 And yeah, we pray that we would just respond in worship to you. 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:41.000 See that you deserve the praise. You deserve the glory. 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:44.000 To look forward to that day when you return. 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:49.000 And we will be able to worship you with people from every tribe, nation and tongue. 00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:52.000 A thousand generations falling down in worship. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:56.000 Worship of your name. Not our name. 00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:58.000 Not the name that we make for ourselves. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:00.000 But for your name. 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:02.000 You make a name for ourselves. 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:03.000 We are children of God. 00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:06.000 Thank you, Jesus. We pray in his name. Amen. 00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:07.000 Amen. 00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:17.000 So Lord, we go in your power. We go in your might. 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:21.000 Lord, we know that you are with us. 00:37:21.000 --> 00:37:25.000 So we carry that with us as we go into this week, Lord. 00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:28.000 Continue to speak to us. Show your face to us, Lord. 00:37:31.000 --> 00:37:34.000 May we never want to wander or leave your presence, Lord. 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:36.000 But God, would we relish it? 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:38.000 Would we hold it dear to us, Lord? 00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:42.000 So Holy Spirit, go before us this week. 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:47.000 Help us to bear the fruits of the Spirit in all things that we do. 00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:50.000 Help us to be your people. 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:56.000 A fallen people, but lifted back up to life because of you, Jesus. 00:37:56.000 --> 00:38:00.000 So we go in that truth and in your goodness, Lord. 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:02.000 We pray this all in your name, Jesus. Amen.