WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.339 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:10.500 ! Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us. 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:13.740 ! Amen. We thank you all so much. 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:17.699 And for the reminder of God's faithfulness to every generation. 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:21.480 We want to live in that a little bit by bringing the kids up here. 00:00:21.820 --> 00:00:26.300 Kids, if you all would come on down and sit on these steps over here with me. 00:00:26.300 --> 00:00:30.660 We're going to talk for just a minute as we start to look at God's Word together. 00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:31.320 That was quick. 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:41.539 All right. Yeah, just somewhere over here on the steps. That's great. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:42.900 You can start there. 00:00:45.120 --> 00:00:48.060 Everybody just get a seat where you can see me. 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:52.960 All right. Awesome. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:01:01.280 Today, when we start our sermon, we're going to be reading a story from the book of Joshua. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:02.480 Have you ever heard of Joshua? 00:01:03.539 --> 00:01:04.579 I know there's names, Joshua. 00:01:04.620 --> 00:01:08.680 Some of you have named Joshua. That's awesome. Yeah. 00:01:10.260 --> 00:01:14.799 Joshua leads God's people into the promised land, doesn't he? 00:01:14.960 --> 00:01:19.500 Remember last week, God powerfully brought them out of Egypt through the Red Sea. 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:23.620 He delivered them and now we're in the promised land. 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:26.280 God keeps all of his promises, doesn't he? 00:01:26.299 --> 00:01:27.799 Did you all hear that song they were just singing? 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:31.579 You keep your promises, your covenant. 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:36.379 That means God's faithful in relationship with us, to be with us. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:41.099 So what happens is when they get in this land, 00:01:41.099 --> 00:01:46.280 God gives every one of his people, 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:48.379 no, not Carter. 00:01:48.619 --> 00:01:49.919 Carter, you sit on the stool. 00:01:50.339 --> 00:01:50.519 Yep. 00:01:50.699 --> 00:01:51.219 You don't, yep. 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:56.099 God gives every one of his people an inheritance. 00:01:56.439 --> 00:01:58.519 Do you all know what inheritance is? 00:01:59.039 --> 00:02:00.259 That's a big word, isn't it? 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:01.239 Here you go. 00:02:01.299 --> 00:02:03.259 Can you pass those to the people behind you, Emerson? 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:04.280 Awesome. 00:02:05.039 --> 00:02:06.899 Anybody know what inheritance is? 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:09.439 This is not an inheritance. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:11.939 This is pretend money, okay? 00:02:12.219 --> 00:02:17.920 This is just pretend money for each of you to be a picture of inheritance this morning, 00:02:18.020 --> 00:02:18.340 all right? 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:20.980 I want to make sure everybody gets one. 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:23.360 And did you get one? 00:02:23.420 --> 00:02:23.879 There you go. 00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:25.040 Yeah. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:26.140 Thank you. 00:02:27.640 --> 00:02:32.740 Inheritance in the promised land meant a piece of land, okay? 00:02:32.740 --> 00:02:37.400 Where you could have a place to live, have a place to be safe, 00:02:37.480 --> 00:02:40.480 have a place to grow the food that you needed to eat. 00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:44.760 That was part of God's inheritance for his people. 00:02:44.920 --> 00:02:48.760 He gave all of them, well, almost all of them. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:49.820 Did you get anything, Carter? 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:50.760 No. 00:02:51.040 --> 00:02:53.740 Oh, that's really sad. 00:02:53.780 --> 00:02:54.400 Are you sad? 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:55.439 Yes. 00:02:55.540 --> 00:02:56.540 Thank you for pretending. 00:02:56.539 --> 00:03:01.359 How are you going to buy food to eat with no money? 00:03:01.780 --> 00:03:02.359 I don't know. 00:03:02.459 --> 00:03:03.259 I don't either. 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:07.379 And see, this is what happened to God's people in the promised land. 00:03:07.780 --> 00:03:18.180 God gave an inheritance to every tribe except one tribe, the tribe of Levi, okay? 00:03:18.419 --> 00:03:20.879 So how were they going to make it? 00:03:20.979 --> 00:03:22.799 What were they going to do? 00:03:22.899 --> 00:03:24.159 How were they going to eat? 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:28.120 And yet this is one of the neatest things in the whole book of Joshua. 00:03:28.379 --> 00:03:29.379 You know what God says? 00:03:30.139 --> 00:03:37.879 God says to the tribe of Levi, you didn't get an inheritance in the land because I, your God, 00:03:38.099 --> 00:03:39.419 will be your inheritance. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:41.879 You get me, God says. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:44.060 You're going to be especially close to me. 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:45.579 We're going to have this special relationship. 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:48.819 And that's going to be all that he needs because guess what? 00:03:49.579 --> 00:03:50.960 He's the banker, isn't he? 00:03:51.780 --> 00:03:52.219 Yeah? 00:03:52.219 --> 00:03:52.300 Yeah? 00:03:52.939 --> 00:03:57.719 He's the one with all the money that you need, right? 00:03:57.900 --> 00:04:00.979 So when he gets God, is he going to be able to eat? 00:04:01.780 --> 00:04:03.939 Is he going to have a place to live? 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:07.900 Is he going to have someone he can trust to take care of him no matter what? 00:04:08.900 --> 00:04:11.780 Yeah, because he is with God. 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:14.400 It reminds God's people. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:21.660 This whole arrangement is set up to remind them that is the land the most important thing they need? 00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:24.399 Is that money really what you need? 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:26.420 Is it going to get you the most important thing? 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:27.740 No. 00:04:27.860 --> 00:04:34.220 God's reminding them that he himself is the most important thing that they need. 00:04:34.220 --> 00:04:40.380 And that if they have him, they will have everything that they need because he will take care of them. 00:04:41.180 --> 00:04:45.940 It's having God himself, knowing him, trusting him, loving him. 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:48.040 That is the thing you most need, okay? 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:50.060 So here's what I'm going to ask you to do this morning. 00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:54.160 In just a minute, when you get up, I want you all to walk by this pew. 00:04:54.280 --> 00:04:57.400 And I want you to throw your fake money back on the pew, okay? 00:04:57.399 --> 00:05:02.599 And I want you to go and pick up a Bible when you go where you're going next. 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:08.000 And I want you to remember that the most important thing for you to have is not money, 00:05:08.620 --> 00:05:10.699 but it's God himself. 00:05:11.339 --> 00:05:13.179 That he speaks to you. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:14.959 That he gives you his word. 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:16.919 That he promises to be with you. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.159 And that he always keeps his promises. 00:05:19.799 --> 00:05:20.659 Can you all remember that? 00:05:21.259 --> 00:05:23.979 You're going to put your money down and then go find a Bible. 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:27.660 Some of you are in kids' worship and you're going back there with Miss Afton. 00:05:28.080 --> 00:05:29.480 You see Miss Afton back there? 00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:32.200 If you go to kids' worship, you can go back there with her. 00:05:32.540 --> 00:05:38.439 The rest of you can go back to your seats now and go get a Bible and read it with us in just a minute, okay? 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:41.580 Money on the pew and go get your Bible. 00:05:42.580 --> 00:05:43.200 Thanks, y'all. 00:05:43.819 --> 00:05:44.520 Thank you, Carter. 00:05:44.520 --> 00:05:44.520 00:05:53.980 --> 00:06:12.360 That was not intentionally timed with the finance update. 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:20.699 But I hope you didn't put fake money in the plate the way I did. 00:06:25.280 --> 00:06:37.920 The last time we preached from Joshua was when we began a chapter-by-chapter study through the book of Joshua, April of 2020. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.460 April of 2020. 00:06:42.220 --> 00:06:46.180 COVID had just upended our world. 00:06:47.340 --> 00:06:53.819 And we turned to Joshua to learn about living in fear and uncertainty. 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:59.460 My favorite verse comes near the end of the book. 00:07:00.900 --> 00:07:02.960 Chapter 21, verse 45. 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:12.719 Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed. 00:07:13.579 --> 00:07:16.599 All came to pass. 00:07:16.819 --> 00:07:18.759 That's kind of the conclusion. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:26.419 COVID is a lesser threat these days, but we still live in a world of fear and uncertainty. 00:07:27.039 --> 00:07:27.339 Yes? 00:07:29.259 --> 00:07:30.219 Plenty of it. 00:07:30.220 --> 00:07:38.540 And it's still true that God has shown himself faithful to all of his promises to us. 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:47.340 But if you're like me, you acknowledge that it can still be difficult to trust God even when he has come through for you before. 00:07:48.400 --> 00:07:58.120 As we turn to Joshua this morning, God's people are back 40 years later in a place where they have been before. 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:08.240 They've stood there when God brought them out of Egypt, out of slavery there, all the way to the banks of the Jordan River. 00:08:09.579 --> 00:08:16.480 But when they sent spies into the promised land and they got scary reports back from those spies, 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:24.240 fear, uncertainty, and more. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:26.000 They lost heart. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:27.879 They lost faith. 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:39.320 And now God has brought another generation back after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness to those same stormy banks of the Jordan. 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:55.940 And as they send spies across the Jordan again, look how gracious God is to remind his people that he can be trusted to come through for them again. 00:08:56.640 --> 00:09:04.420 Listen to the story of Rahab and the spies and God's grace in an unexpected place. 00:09:04.419 --> 00:09:08.679 This is Joshua chapter 2 from God's holy word. 00:09:10.179 --> 00:09:16.099 And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies saying, 00:09:16.479 --> 00:09:18.579 Go view the land, especially Jericho. 00:09:19.579 --> 00:09:24.740 And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. 00:09:25.439 --> 00:09:27.059 And it was told to the king of Jericho, 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:30.399 Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:36.480 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab saying, Bring out the men who have come to you who entered your house, 00:09:36.600 --> 00:09:39.079 for they have come to search out all the land. 00:09:40.079 --> 00:09:42.679 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. 00:09:43.620 --> 00:09:48.459 And she said, True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:52.079 And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:54.319 I did not know where the men went. 00:09:54.419 --> 00:09:56.559 Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:03.319 But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. 00:10:03.739 --> 00:10:07.779 So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. 00:10:08.199 --> 00:10:10.739 And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. 00:10:12.179 --> 00:10:16.379 Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:26.059 I know that the Lord has given you the land and that the fear of you has fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 00:10:26.840 --> 00:10:31.039 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt. 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:37.259 And what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sion and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 00:10:38.059 --> 00:10:43.399 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted and there was no spirit left in any man because of you. 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:48.500 For the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 00:10:49.620 --> 00:10:54.059 Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that as I have dealt kindly with you, 00:10:54.399 --> 00:11:00.840 you also will deal kindly with my father's house and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:05.319 my brothers and sisters and all who belong to them and deliver our lives from death. 00:11:06.459 --> 00:11:09.220 And the men said to her, our life for yours, even to death. 00:11:09.220 --> 00:11:15.600 If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land, we will deal kindly and faithfully with you. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:23.500 Then she let them down by a rope through the window for her house was built into the city wall so that she lived in the wall. 00:11:24.220 --> 00:11:30.560 And she said to them, go into the hills where the pursuers will encounter you and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. 00:11:30.680 --> 00:11:32.720 Then afterward, you may go your way. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:38.740 The men said to her, we will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:44.480 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie the scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down. 00:11:44.680 --> 00:11:49.379 And you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers and all of your father's household. 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:56.840 Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head and we shall be guiltless. 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:02.220 But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:08.300 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:11.899 And she said, according to your words, so be it. 00:12:13.040 --> 00:12:16.840 Then she sent them away and they departed and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:22.379 They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.980 And the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. 00:12:24.980 --> 00:12:27.180 Then the two men returned. 00:12:27.700 --> 00:12:31.340 They came down from the hills and passed over and came to Joshua, son of Nun. 00:12:32.259 --> 00:12:34.279 And they told him all that had happened to them. 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:40.440 And they said to Joshua, truly, the Lord has given all the land into our hands. 00:12:41.100 --> 00:12:45.659 And also all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:47.220 God's holy word. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:48.259 Let's pray. 00:12:48.259 --> 00:13:00.039 Oh, Father, would you give us eyes to see, minds to understand, hearts to believe your truth. 00:13:01.659 --> 00:13:03.240 To see your salvation. 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:07.600 To trust Jesus more today. 00:13:08.019 --> 00:13:09.159 We ask in his name. 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:10.240 Amen. 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:10.379 Amen. 00:13:10.379 --> 00:13:22.360 When you are reading the Bible devotionally for yourself or when you're studying a portion of it more deeply, maybe you want to learn more. 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:27.480 It's important to consider what it tells us about God. 00:13:27.879 --> 00:13:30.100 Since it is, after all, his word, right? 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:33.139 And he's the one that we were made to know. 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:43.500 That can be especially helpful in an Old Testament passage that seems so long ago, like the one we just read or the ones maybe you've been reading lately. 00:13:43.500 --> 00:13:47.799 If you're doing the chronological Bible reading plan and thinking, what does this have to do with me? 00:13:47.939 --> 00:13:52.080 Well, we'll start, what does the passage teach us about God? 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:52.740 Right? 00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:54.480 He's the same one in the story we're living. 00:13:56.139 --> 00:14:01.120 And then, what does it teach us about living in relationship with him? 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:03.039 What do we learn about that? 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:10.719 I thought we would use those two questions and just make two brief passes through this story to answer those questions together. 00:14:10.959 --> 00:14:17.399 And maybe that would encourage you to use those questions on your own as you contemplate other Bible stories. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:19.919 So, we'll start with the first one. 00:14:20.099 --> 00:14:22.000 And what does it tell us about God? 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:33.600 Well, when I consider the story of Rahab and the spies, the overarching aspect of God's character that is on brilliant display here is his faithfulness. 00:14:34.740 --> 00:14:35.940 You may have heard that word. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:38.820 It's possible it's been sung this morning once or twice. 00:14:39.659 --> 00:14:43.179 It means that he can be trusted to keep his promises. 00:14:43.179 --> 00:14:48.019 Not one word of all of them will fail. 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:48.759 Right? 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:57.599 That's the comfort that he gives to his fearful, uncertain people right in the place of their failure. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:14:59.620 He says, I'm still faithful. 00:14:59.620 --> 00:15:06.159 We see it most explicitly in the land promise. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:13.620 There in the very first verse of chapter 2, the spies are sent to view the land. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:18.500 And then in the last verse where the Lord has given the land into their hands. 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:20.019 That's pretty clear. 00:15:20.019 --> 00:15:28.120 It's also highlighted by Rahab right in the middle when she says, I know that the Lord has given you the land. 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:30.519 That the fear of you has fallen upon us. 00:15:30.740 --> 00:15:33.919 That all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 00:15:34.220 --> 00:15:41.480 Verse 11, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. 00:15:42.079 --> 00:15:45.879 She's highlighting the power of Yahweh, right? 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:45.960 Right? 00:15:47.480 --> 00:15:53.899 See, part of the reason that God can be faithful to all of the different kinds of promises that he's made 00:15:53.899 --> 00:16:05.820 is that he's not some tribal deity, but rather the universal sovereign over all the land and all lands. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:12.259 See, most of the so-called gods of the Canaanites, they had one little piece of land, 00:16:12.259 --> 00:16:18.279 one little area, one little aspect of life that they were supposedly in charge of. 00:16:19.659 --> 00:16:22.179 Yahweh is very different. 00:16:22.580 --> 00:16:27.720 Yahweh is God of the skies and the lands and everywhere in between. 00:16:28.620 --> 00:16:31.059 The one true God. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:35.879 He's got the power to be faithful to whatever promise he makes. 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:42.200 He can bring people from a long distance away with no power and might of their own. 00:16:42.259 --> 00:16:43.819 No military expertise. 00:16:44.299 --> 00:16:47.039 And he can put them in this land if he so chooses. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:56.500 And he can bring you from this broken world and whatever low place you experience in it 00:16:56.500 --> 00:17:01.319 into the promised land of your inheritance and rest. 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:02.939 He can do that for you too. 00:17:02.940 --> 00:17:10.700 But this story is about much more than merely getting people into the land. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:18.140 In fact, if you think back to the story, I'm not sure the spies find out anything strategically helpful about the land, 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:21.900 like a secret way in or a water source in Jericho. 00:17:22.120 --> 00:17:23.820 It's just not what happens. 00:17:24.019 --> 00:17:25.380 And why would they need to? 00:17:25.380 --> 00:17:28.720 Many of you will have known the story of Jericho. 00:17:28.940 --> 00:17:33.520 God's about to tell them that they're going to conquer Jericho not by some creative strategy, 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:37.260 but by marching around the city seven times and blowing trumpets. 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:40.220 That's how the walls of Jericho are going to fall down, right? 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:41.660 Didn't need spies for that. 00:17:44.040 --> 00:17:45.100 So what's happening? 00:17:45.099 --> 00:17:49.139 Why is Rahab's story even here? 00:17:50.379 --> 00:17:59.480 I think, at least in part, it's giving us a glorious glimpse of God's faithfulness to his promise to bless. 00:18:01.139 --> 00:18:03.500 Bless the people of Abraham, right? 00:18:04.139 --> 00:18:08.339 The promise, that special relationship they have with Yahweh. 00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:09.839 That's the blessing, right? 00:18:09.879 --> 00:18:11.139 That's at the heart of it. 00:18:11.140 --> 00:18:20.020 And then, not merely to bless them, but through them to bless all nations, right? 00:18:21.020 --> 00:18:29.740 See, the conquering of Jericho, if you read the story, primarily highlights God's judgment against people whose sin he abhorred. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:38.080 He had waited generations since he told Abraham the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:42.639 You're not going in there yet, Abraham, but now they are. 00:18:42.740 --> 00:18:48.500 Now God will judge the wickedness of child sacrifice throughout that culture. 00:18:49.139 --> 00:18:55.379 Of a religion that featured cult prostitution and many other terrible things. 00:18:55.500 --> 00:18:57.659 Ways of life in Jericho. 00:18:57.660 --> 00:19:07.560 But when we think that we read the story and the only thing that's going on is spying, God is up to something else entirely. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:08.680 He's saving. 00:19:09.820 --> 00:19:12.279 He's showing us his grace. 00:19:12.580 --> 00:19:18.180 Not merely his power, but his grace that allows him to keep his promises, to keep all of them. 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:22.720 Because he's not merely powerful, but extraordinarily gracious. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:28.079 There's a wideness in God's mercy, the song says. 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:34.160 A wideness in God's mercy that once again preserves, even while punishing. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:43.620 His people are blessed here as well as this Gentile woman and her family. 00:19:44.059 --> 00:19:49.380 They are blessed with this blessed relationship with Yahweh. 00:19:49.380 --> 00:19:52.380 God's people and the nations. 00:19:52.900 --> 00:19:56.540 So of all the people in Jericho, why the prostitute God? 00:19:59.540 --> 00:20:05.080 Because sometimes, as Jesus tells us, they go into the kingdom ahead of the preachers. 00:20:06.040 --> 00:20:09.880 Desperate to trust themselves to a God of grace. 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:22.840 Because we need to marvel at a God who rescues Canaanite prostitutes and puts words of faith into their mouths that teach the people of God to trust him. 00:20:23.100 --> 00:20:24.480 That teach us who he is. 00:20:25.120 --> 00:20:27.600 He speaks through people like Rahab. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:33.260 And because we need to share God's heart that calls sin, sin. 00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:35.879 He judges very seriously. 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:43.779 But the heart that never stops expressing grace and rescuing lost sinners from every nation. 00:20:43.900 --> 00:20:47.140 That has always been God's heart and it has not changed. 00:20:48.619 --> 00:20:50.379 But it doesn't stop there, does it? 00:20:50.619 --> 00:20:52.599 It's even better than that in this story. 00:20:52.900 --> 00:20:54.839 The woman who seems to have lived alone. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.180 Who seems to have failed morally. 00:20:57.339 --> 00:20:59.220 Right in the area of family. 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:00.900 If you had to pick one, right? 00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:03.460 What does God do? 00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:06.900 God brings her into his family. 00:21:07.800 --> 00:21:10.300 To belong among his people. 00:21:10.620 --> 00:21:12.900 Here's what we read when the Israelites conquer Jericho. 00:21:13.780 --> 00:21:21.280 Everyone else dies but Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belong to her. 00:21:21.620 --> 00:21:22.900 Joshua saved alive. 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:27.080 And she has lived in Israel to this day. 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:31.079 Because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. 00:21:31.980 --> 00:21:34.460 Do you hear the extent of God's grace there? 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:39.079 And she has lived in Israel to this day. 00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:41.139 Scandalous, right? 00:21:41.439 --> 00:21:42.259 Do you feel that? 00:21:43.259 --> 00:21:44.639 If she was your neighbor? 00:21:46.639 --> 00:21:51.299 The Gentile prostitute gets not just a reprieve from death. 00:21:51.299 --> 00:21:54.139 And now, make your own way in the world? 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:55.039 No. 00:21:55.700 --> 00:21:55.940 No. 00:21:56.039 --> 00:21:59.799 When God rescues someone, he brings them into his family. 00:21:59.940 --> 00:22:02.500 Fully a part of his covenant community. 00:22:02.819 --> 00:22:04.619 Welcomed into a grace group. 00:22:04.879 --> 00:22:11.180 Because the sovereignly powerful, amazingly gracious God is also personally loving. 00:22:11.919 --> 00:22:13.279 Rahab has a family. 00:22:14.059 --> 00:22:15.240 A place to belong. 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:17.899 Because of the faithfulness of God. 00:22:17.900 --> 00:22:23.620 Let me just say, I hope Rahabs always find a place to belong at Southwood. 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:28.720 Do you see God's faithfulness as he does this? 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:31.220 To yet another promise. 00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:34.519 Remember what he told Abraham? 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.120 He said, Abraham, you're going to be a great people. 00:22:38.980 --> 00:22:40.880 Because I'm going to give you a family. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:53.480 Because God promised Adam even further back that there would be the seed of the woman who would come to crush the head of the serpent. 00:22:54.360 --> 00:22:59.740 That seed promise, as you're seeing as we go through these stories, it's tracked through the whole Old Testament. 00:23:00.260 --> 00:23:01.200 Over and over. 00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:03.080 Where's the seed? 00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:06.080 As God's people grow and they struggle, where's the seed? 00:23:06.180 --> 00:23:07.460 Where's the hope coming from? 00:23:07.460 --> 00:23:17.980 So now, grafted into the great people of God comes a woman in need of restoration to a family who, against all odds, marries. 00:23:19.620 --> 00:23:25.079 And we later learn, is in the line of the Messiah. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:34.600 The seed who comes to crush the head of the serpent and to fulfill all of God's promises. 00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:44.279 Listen, if God can make Rahab an ancestor of Jesus, then he can make you and me children of God. 00:23:44.439 --> 00:23:47.980 Brothers and sisters of Jesus and of one another. 00:23:48.219 --> 00:23:54.339 And he can do the same for our friends who don't look like us or act like us. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:58.359 Who don't talk like us or worship like us. 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:04.599 Even for our enemies and persecutors, no one is beyond his grace. 00:24:04.819 --> 00:24:07.000 So no one is beneath us, right? 00:24:07.679 --> 00:24:12.579 The story of God, the gospel of Jesus, must be the end of snobbery. 00:24:13.399 --> 00:24:14.439 It has to be. 00:24:14.740 --> 00:24:18.039 The worst and the furthest away are brought right into the center. 00:24:18.479 --> 00:24:19.959 Right where they've failed. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:21.979 Right where they're fearful. 00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:24.880 God faithfully rescues. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:26.980 That's the story we live in. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:28.519 That's how it works, friends. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:37.519 There are many people out there with the power to keep promises. 00:24:39.099 --> 00:24:42.019 But not the generous heart to follow through. 00:24:43.360 --> 00:24:46.680 There are many other people out there with tender hearts. 00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:54.900 But limited resources to have impact on keeping their promises beyond their very limited sphere of influence. 00:24:56.660 --> 00:25:02.920 And there is one living God with the power over all heaven and earth. 00:25:03.120 --> 00:25:06.900 With the grace to reach to the least deserving. 00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:15.700 And the love to bring all of us undeserving people who trust him eternally home to the promised land with him forever. 00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:22.299 Now listen, there are legitimate reasons for fear and uncertainty in our world. 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:28.759 There's more failure in all of our lives than we wish. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:38.759 But none of that will stop him from being faithful in general or in your life specifically. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:45.820 There is a God that you can trust no matter what is going on around you or what has gone on inside of you. 00:25:45.819 --> 00:25:51.599 And if you don't believe that, ask Rahab the prostitute, the ancestor of Jesus. 00:25:52.659 --> 00:25:53.740 He's that good. 00:25:56.700 --> 00:25:58.099 Alright, that's who he is. 00:25:58.659 --> 00:26:06.379 It's important though when we open God's word not merely to seek for intellectual knowledge about him, who he is. 00:26:06.380 --> 00:26:12.240 But to ask next, what can we learn about living in relationship with him? 00:26:12.320 --> 00:26:18.760 How does this impact how I have a day in and day out relationship with this God? 00:26:19.140 --> 00:26:23.340 Often, if you'll use these two questions, you'll find that they helpfully connect. 00:26:24.060 --> 00:26:24.820 Like here. 00:26:25.460 --> 00:26:26.660 God is faithful. 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:32.500 We live in relationship with him by faith. 00:26:32.500 --> 00:26:34.320 He can be trusted. 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:37.620 We must trust him. 00:26:38.620 --> 00:26:45.180 This narrative is structured to highlight the faith that Rahab has in Yahweh. 00:26:46.019 --> 00:26:50.300 She expresses it to the spies in verses 9 through 13. 00:26:50.299 --> 00:26:52.119 Let's look at that faith together. 00:26:52.659 --> 00:27:00.940 The faith God is calling us to have finds safety in the sovereign and gracious God. 00:27:01.500 --> 00:27:08.180 In other words, God is so strong and so good that nothing else is needed. 00:27:10.139 --> 00:27:12.000 Notice Rahab's faith. 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:16.019 Yahweh has given you this land. 00:27:16.019 --> 00:27:23.839 He's brought you through the Red Sea, performed all these miracles, and I've realized he is my only hope. 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:30.460 So now even the Gentile prostitute can cast herself on him and be saved. 00:27:31.559 --> 00:27:35.259 It's like Jesus telling us it's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:39.720 I've come to call not the righteous who've done enough to be granted safe passage. 00:27:39.879 --> 00:27:40.400 No, no. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:46.519 But the sinners who've done nothing to earn my favor, but get it poured on them lavishly. 00:27:47.860 --> 00:27:51.180 See, anyone can find safety with this God. 00:27:51.320 --> 00:27:52.940 Even those facing his judgment. 00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:54.840 Even an immoral Gentile. 00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:57.080 So you are not beyond his reach. 00:27:58.060 --> 00:28:02.600 But everyone must find safety in him. 00:28:02.940 --> 00:28:05.800 His judgment against our sin is real. 00:28:06.080 --> 00:28:08.240 And none of us is guaranteed tomorrow, are we? 00:28:09.320 --> 00:28:10.320 None of us. 00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:10.460 None of us. 00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:16.600 The only place of eternal safety is trusting in Jesus. 00:28:16.800 --> 00:28:21.080 I urge you, if you haven't done that already, flee to him today. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:24.560 Run to Jesus for refuge. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:28.519 If you don't know how to do that, it's not meant to be complicated. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:32.120 All you do is to say, Jesus, I need you. 00:28:32.119 --> 00:28:35.119 I can't save myself. 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:40.739 I trust you to rescue me and to keep me safe forever. 00:28:42.259 --> 00:28:46.979 Jesus promises that you'll find shelter under his wings. 00:28:47.179 --> 00:28:50.519 And not one word of all his promises has failed. 00:28:50.859 --> 00:28:52.839 Flee to him right now. 00:28:53.239 --> 00:28:53.979 Right now. 00:28:54.099 --> 00:28:54.719 Run to Jesus. 00:28:54.720 --> 00:28:54.900 Jesus. 00:28:55.980 --> 00:28:58.980 And if you already have. 00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:00.299 If you trust him. 00:29:00.579 --> 00:29:03.860 I want you to learn something else about faith from Rahab. 00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:10.019 Faith that has found safety in our God risks safety. 00:29:10.019 --> 00:29:12.319 To trust God. 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:18.500 The king of Jericho. 00:29:19.559 --> 00:29:19.980 Okay. 00:29:20.200 --> 00:29:20.659 Get that in your mind. 00:29:20.779 --> 00:29:22.299 The king of Jericho. 00:29:23.099 --> 00:29:23.879 Powerful guy. 00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:27.700 Sends men to Rahab to tell her what to do. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:30.159 To turn over the men who have come to her. 00:29:30.379 --> 00:29:32.740 What's the easy way forward for Rahab? 00:29:34.339 --> 00:29:35.279 Turn him in. 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:38.579 At a minimum, you're safe if you turn him in. 00:29:39.180 --> 00:29:41.440 Perhaps even you become a local hero. 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:43.480 You know, you caught the spies. 00:29:45.339 --> 00:29:48.240 Instead, Rahab risks it all. 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:53.019 Certain torture and death if she's caught in a lie. 00:29:53.259 --> 00:29:58.359 But she risks it all for the sake of this God who has clearly transformed her heart. 00:29:58.359 --> 00:30:06.579 I met a woman named Seema in India when she was 35. 00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:09.019 Just a couple years ago. 00:30:09.419 --> 00:30:18.199 All of her life to that point she had been Hindu until Jesus had miraculously delivered her into relationship with him. 00:30:19.399 --> 00:30:24.740 The problem was that her husband and both of their families remained Hindu. 00:30:24.740 --> 00:30:35.019 And he had told her that if she did not disown this God that she worshipped, that he would throw her out of the house. 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:38.940 When she tried to read her Bible, he would abuse her. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:40.859 Threaten to kick her out. 00:30:42.140 --> 00:30:49.279 And when she eventually decided to go forward with being baptized, he ran her off. 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:57.759 With the support of their families and the government, he kept her away entirely from her middle school aged kids. 00:30:59.539 --> 00:31:00.460 Nowhere to live. 00:31:01.220 --> 00:31:02.859 No access to her kids. 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:11.259 Until her church took her in and housed her at the Bible college that we support over there where I was teaching. 00:31:11.259 --> 00:31:15.440 And she'd been living there for almost a couple of years. 00:31:17.059 --> 00:31:18.460 Praying for her husband. 00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:22.160 Missing her kids terribly. 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:28.059 Risking safety beyond what most of us understand. 00:31:29.180 --> 00:31:30.420 To trust God. 00:31:33.420 --> 00:31:36.140 Maybe that's not what faith in Jesus costs you. 00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:37.879 That may not be your story. 00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:43.220 Although even in our country these days, faith in Christ can cost you even your life. 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:48.800 Would you risk the safety of your reputation? 00:31:50.500 --> 00:31:51.640 Of your comfort? 00:31:52.300 --> 00:31:53.320 Of your relationships? 00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:59.740 To trust the God who keeps his promises to you even when you can't see how? 00:32:02.940 --> 00:32:04.380 Rahab's faith is amazing. 00:32:04.380 --> 00:32:08.100 In her culture there wasn't even a concept of a God like this. 00:32:08.800 --> 00:32:10.960 Gods ruled over little parts of life. 00:32:11.060 --> 00:32:12.220 Little areas of land. 00:32:12.340 --> 00:32:13.480 One nation or another. 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:15.380 But Rahab says, no, no. 00:32:15.820 --> 00:32:20.980 Yahweh rules over heaven above and all of the earth. 00:32:21.300 --> 00:32:24.260 It's as though there is no other God to trust. 00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:26.960 No other God to receive blessing from. 00:32:27.140 --> 00:32:28.440 No other God at all. 00:32:29.800 --> 00:32:30.680 But this one. 00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:32.880 There's one and he rescues people. 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:36.200 And Rahab knows that she needs to be rescued. 00:32:38.520 --> 00:32:42.740 In our culture, gods do lots of things. 00:32:42.820 --> 00:32:43.680 They make you look good. 00:32:45.580 --> 00:32:47.360 They make you seem important. 00:32:48.220 --> 00:32:50.160 They make you feel comfortable. 00:32:53.300 --> 00:32:55.440 Yahweh doesn't promise you that. 00:32:55.440 --> 00:33:08.340 But faith in him risks that safety to trust the one who rules over all of creation and all of eternity. 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:10.120 He is the banker. 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:11.140 Right? 00:33:11.299 --> 00:33:17.620 He is the one who can always be himself and give to you all that you need. 00:33:17.700 --> 00:33:19.440 Don't look for it anywhere else. 00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:30.460 Finally, beautifully, faith in this faithful God invites others into safety with God. 00:33:31.600 --> 00:33:33.900 This involves further risk, by the way, doesn't it? 00:33:34.759 --> 00:33:39.180 What would Rahab have to tell her family members to get them into her house? 00:33:39.380 --> 00:33:42.279 Would they laugh at her story of Yahweh's protection? 00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:45.099 Would one of them turn her in? 00:33:46.039 --> 00:33:46.579 Could have. 00:33:48.399 --> 00:33:50.940 Instead, isn't it beautiful? 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:57.279 The home of immorality becomes a haven of refuge. 00:33:58.420 --> 00:34:02.720 A safe house against the judgment of God. 00:34:02.920 --> 00:34:05.839 Marked by the scarlet cord in the window. 00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:12.880 So Rahab immediately, as soon as she talks to the spies, she has an invite list ready right at the top of her mind, doesn't she? 00:34:13.239 --> 00:34:14.000 Who's coming in? 00:34:14.420 --> 00:34:21.940 And now all of a sudden, as a father and mother and brother and sister and in-laws, all of these people running to Rahab's house, 00:34:22.019 --> 00:34:26.659 they were usually heaping judgment on themselves and their idolatrous behavior. 00:34:26.659 --> 00:34:31.000 But now they're running to Rahab's house to be embraced by grace. 00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:31.420 Right? 00:34:31.420 --> 00:34:36.019 To find safety in the one place that's safe in all of Jericho. 00:34:37.260 --> 00:34:42.159 Are you inviting others into the safe house that you've found in Jesus? 00:34:44.659 --> 00:34:46.039 I want to be honest with you. 00:34:46.119 --> 00:34:53.700 For a lot of wrong and right reasons, a church building like this one doesn't feel safe to many outsiders. 00:34:54.360 --> 00:34:56.400 It's not true for all, but it's true for some. 00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:06.820 What would it look like for you then to welcome a neighbor into your life, into your home, into your grace group even, 00:35:07.240 --> 00:35:13.900 so that they taste the faithfulness of God and the covenant community into which he longs to include them? 00:35:13.900 --> 00:35:16.880 The front of our bulletin says, 00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:25.519 We open wide our doors, our hearts, our lives as our God has done for us. 00:35:26.519 --> 00:35:27.660 Will you be a part of that? 00:35:27.780 --> 00:35:32.300 Will you pray about whom God would have you invite into safety? 00:35:33.139 --> 00:35:34.240 Safety in him? 00:35:34.619 --> 00:35:37.660 How they could experience safety through you? 00:35:37.659 --> 00:35:48.079 Once again, in this story, the picture of God's rescue and restoration in the midst of just judgment 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:56.019 involves coming into the safe house, into the ark, into the home marked by the blood of the Lamb, 00:35:56.119 --> 00:36:00.159 into salvation in Jesus Christ by faith in him. 00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:04.099 Listen, no one you love should be left outside. 00:36:05.239 --> 00:36:13.319 And no one, not your family, not your neighbor, not your enemy, should be left outside your love. 00:36:13.879 --> 00:36:14.339 No one. 00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:19.579 Your life, then, when you come to worship, 00:36:20.879 --> 00:36:23.699 when you love in covenant community, 00:36:23.699 --> 00:36:28.159 when you confess your sin and repent publicly, 00:36:28.799 --> 00:36:31.279 when you forgive the sin of others, 00:36:31.619 --> 00:36:35.819 your life is marked by those things as a safe house 00:36:35.819 --> 00:36:40.179 for those who would flee to the faithful God for refuge, 00:36:40.339 --> 00:36:43.500 the one who is faithful to all his promises. 00:36:43.879 --> 00:36:48.359 Not one word of all of his promises has failed or will fail. 00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:50.439 All will come to pass. 00:36:50.440 --> 00:36:55.019 So won't you live by faith in him, 00:36:55.659 --> 00:36:57.099 no matter the cost, 00:36:57.700 --> 00:37:02.639 for the salvation of your soul and the safety of everyone you love? 00:37:05.200 --> 00:37:12.880 This table sets before us this morning a reminder that our safety is in God. 00:37:12.980 --> 00:37:15.019 We find it not in ourselves, 00:37:15.480 --> 00:37:16.700 not in our performance, 00:37:17.420 --> 00:37:18.360 but in him, 00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:22.640 in the blood of the lamb covering our sins. 00:37:24.140 --> 00:37:26.120 It's what Jesus was explaining when he, 00:37:26.780 --> 00:37:27.900 on the night he was betrayed, 00:37:28.180 --> 00:37:31.360 celebrated this Passover with his disciples 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:32.980 and filled it with new meaning. 00:37:33.680 --> 00:37:35.740 He took the bread and he broke it 00:37:35.740 --> 00:37:37.900 and gave it to his disciples. 00:37:38.140 --> 00:37:40.079 Just as I'm ministering in his name, 00:37:40.220 --> 00:37:41.380 give this bread to you. 00:37:41.700 --> 00:37:42.880 He said, take and eat. 00:37:43.180 --> 00:37:45.160 This is my body given for you. 00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:47.140 Do this in remembrance of me. 00:37:47.139 --> 00:37:49.839 And in the same way also, 00:37:49.960 --> 00:37:51.579 he took the cup after supper, 00:37:51.980 --> 00:37:55.119 saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, 00:37:55.219 --> 00:37:57.579 shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. 00:37:57.719 --> 00:37:59.219 Drink from it, all of you. 00:37:59.420 --> 00:38:00.579 You need that forgiveness. 00:38:00.940 --> 00:38:02.539 For as often as you eat this bread 00:38:02.539 --> 00:38:03.759 and drink this cup, 00:38:03.819 --> 00:38:05.420 you proclaim the Lord's death 00:38:05.420 --> 00:38:06.699 until he comes. 00:38:06.699 --> 00:38:11.199 If you're here today 00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:14.839 and you're not in the safe house of Jesus, 00:38:15.460 --> 00:38:19.239 perhaps you know that you've never trusted him. 00:38:20.379 --> 00:38:22.839 Or maybe you know that you have, 00:38:22.919 --> 00:38:24.799 but right now you're standing outside 00:38:24.799 --> 00:38:28.000 refusing to repent of a particular sin 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:30.399 and to come in to Jesus 00:38:30.399 --> 00:38:34.059 to find forgiveness and restoration and safety. 00:38:34.059 --> 00:38:37.380 then don't come to this table, 00:38:38.279 --> 00:38:40.199 but do see it as a warning 00:38:40.199 --> 00:38:42.619 and an invitation. 00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:49.960 Warning, don't be left outside the safe house 00:38:49.960 --> 00:38:54.420 to face your sins on your own, 00:38:54.579 --> 00:38:55.900 to deal with them yourself. 00:38:56.239 --> 00:38:59.500 You will be dealing with them for eternity 00:38:59.500 --> 00:39:02.320 and you won't be able to pay for them. 00:39:04.619 --> 00:39:05.179 Invitation, 00:39:06.039 --> 00:39:08.699 come into the safe house today. 00:39:09.500 --> 00:39:12.219 There's one whose blood does cover 00:39:12.219 --> 00:39:13.719 and does pay. 00:39:13.880 --> 00:39:15.420 By faith alone, 00:39:15.559 --> 00:39:17.059 in Christ alone, 00:39:17.460 --> 00:39:18.719 find all the forgiveness 00:39:18.719 --> 00:39:21.039 and relationship and life 00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:23.059 that you'll ever long for 00:39:23.059 --> 00:39:25.920 and that you'll enjoy for all eternity. 00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:29.680 If you have come inside 00:39:29.680 --> 00:39:31.440 by faith in the Lamb 00:39:31.440 --> 00:39:33.240 who was slain for you, 00:39:33.500 --> 00:39:34.920 if you're in His family, 00:39:35.099 --> 00:39:36.760 here or at another church, 00:39:36.860 --> 00:39:38.260 then come this morning. 00:39:38.380 --> 00:39:39.079 Eat with us 00:39:39.079 --> 00:39:40.720 and more importantly with Him 00:39:40.720 --> 00:39:42.820 to strengthen your faith 00:39:42.820 --> 00:39:44.760 no matter what may come. 00:39:45.099 --> 00:39:45.559 Let's pray 00:39:45.559 --> 00:39:46.840 and then we'll celebrate together. 00:39:46.840 --> 00:39:50.800 Jesus, 00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:52.360 we give you great thanks 00:39:52.360 --> 00:39:53.420 for your sacrifice 00:39:53.420 --> 00:39:55.620 that made a way to God, 00:39:56.019 --> 00:39:57.440 that made it safe 00:39:57.440 --> 00:40:00.039 for sinners to be in the presence 00:40:00.039 --> 00:40:01.160 of a holy God 00:40:01.160 --> 00:40:02.800 because we're covered, 00:40:04.019 --> 00:40:05.440 united to you. 00:40:08.079 --> 00:40:10.480 Would you use bread and wine 00:40:10.480 --> 00:40:12.640 to remind us of that this morning? 00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:15.059 very common things 00:40:15.059 --> 00:40:17.019 that are pointing us 00:40:17.019 --> 00:40:17.619 to something 00:40:17.619 --> 00:40:19.539 that is way beyond normal. 00:40:20.679 --> 00:40:22.299 Your grace and love, 00:40:23.420 --> 00:40:24.980 the gift of Yourself for us. 00:40:26.119 --> 00:40:27.940 Strengthen our faith as we eat 00:40:27.940 --> 00:40:29.299 that we would know You're with us, 00:40:29.799 --> 00:40:30.940 know You can be trusted, 00:40:31.519 --> 00:40:32.779 and we trust You afresh. 00:40:32.859 --> 00:40:33.699 In Jesus' name, 00:40:34.359 --> 00:40:34.619 Amen. 00:40:36.139 --> 00:40:37.359 For more information, 00:40:37.759 --> 00:40:39.679 visit us online at southwood.org. 00:40:42.639 --> 00:40:43.639 Amen.