WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.500 All right, good morning, church. Today we'll be reading from Numbers chapter 15, and if you're reading with us with the church Bible, it'll be on page 115. 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:16.460 Here then, God's word to us today. Numbers chapter 15, verse 1. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:26.060 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you. 00:00:26.059 --> 00:00:41.560 And you offer to the Lord from the herd or from the flock a food offering or a burnt offering or a sacrifice to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or at your appointed feast to make a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:53.300 Then he who brings his offering shall offer to the Lord a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of heen of oil. 00:00:53.299 --> 00:01:01.899 And you shall offer with a burnt offering or for the sacrifice a quarter of a heen of wine for the drink offering for each lamb. 00:01:02.739 --> 00:01:11.079 Or for a ram you shall offer for a grain offering two tenths of an ephah of a fine flour mixed with a third of a heen of oil. 00:01:11.079 --> 00:01:17.679 And for the drink offering you shall offer a third of a heen of wine, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 00:01:17.679 --> 00:01:24.939 And when you offer a bowl as a burnt offering or sacrifice to fulfill a vow or for peace offerings to the Lord, 00:01:25.700 --> 00:01:34.700 then one shall offer with the bowl a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of a fine flour mixed with half a heen of oil. 00:01:34.700 --> 00:01:41.859 And you shall offer for the drink offering half a heen of wine as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:49.960 Thus it shall be done for each bowl or ram or for each lamb or young goat as many as you offer. 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:54.300 So you shall do one do with each one as many as there are. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:03.060 Every native Israelite shall do these things in this way in offering a food, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 00:02:03.060 --> 00:02:13.500 And if a stranger is sojourning with you or anyone is living permanently among you and he wishes to offer a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord, 00:02:13.819 --> 00:02:15.199 he shall do as you do. 00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:21.180 For the assembly there shall be one statue for you and one for the stranger who sojourns with you, 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.800 a statue forever throughout your generations. 00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:27.039 You and the sojourner shall be a light before the Lord. 00:02:27.460 --> 00:02:31.960 One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you. 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:37.280 The Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 00:02:37.500 --> 00:02:43.080 when you come into the land to which I bring you and when you eat of the bread of the land, 00:02:43.219 --> 00:02:45.540 you shall present a contribution to the Lord. 00:02:46.200 --> 00:02:49.500 Of the first of your dough, you shall present a loaf as a contribution, 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.680 like a contribution from the threshing floor. 00:02:53.020 --> 00:02:54.180 So shall you present it? 00:02:55.040 --> 00:02:56.580 So of the first of your dough, 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:59.860 you shall give to the Lord as a contribution throughout your generations. 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:07.840 But if you sin unintentionally and do not observe all these commandments that the Lord has spoken to Moses, 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:15.080 all that the Lord has commanded you by Moses from the day that the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations, 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:19.540 then if it was done unintentionally without the knowledge of the congregation, 00:03:19.539 --> 00:03:26.900 all the congregation shall offer one bowl from the herd for a burnt offering, 00:03:27.359 --> 00:03:32.340 a pleasing aroma to the Lord with its grain offering and its drink offering according to the rule, 00:03:32.799 --> 00:03:34.719 and one male goat for a sin offering. 00:03:35.719 --> 00:03:39.939 And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the people of Israel, 00:03:40.139 --> 00:03:43.120 and they shall be forgiven because it was a mistake. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:45.140 And they have brought their offering, 00:03:45.640 --> 00:03:47.020 a food offering to the Lord, 00:03:47.180 --> 00:03:50.159 and their sin offering before the Lord for their mistake. 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:54.400 And all the congregation of the people of Israel shall be forgiven, 00:03:54.920 --> 00:04:01.099 and the stranger who sojourns among them because the whole population was involved in the mistake. 00:04:02.040 --> 00:04:03.960 If one person sins unintentionally, 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:06.480 he shall offer a female goat, 00:04:06.900 --> 00:04:08.860 a year old for a sin offering, 00:04:09.760 --> 00:04:16.620 and the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who makes a mistake, 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:21.079 when he sins unintentionally to make atonement for him, 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:22.420 and he shall be forgiven. 00:04:23.579 --> 00:04:27.000 You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, 00:04:27.139 --> 00:04:30.060 for him who is native among the people of Israel, 00:04:30.340 --> 00:04:32.560 and for the stranger who sojourns among them. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:35.439 But the person who does anything with a high lamb, 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:37.660 whether he is a native or a sojourner, 00:04:38.459 --> 00:04:39.379 reviles the Lord, 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:44.500 and that person shall be cut off from among his people, 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:47.379 because he has despised the word of the Lord, 00:04:47.500 --> 00:04:49.279 and he has broken his commandment. 00:04:49.939 --> 00:04:52.540 That person shall be utterly cut off, 00:04:52.819 --> 00:04:54.540 his iniquity shall be on him. 00:04:55.540 --> 00:04:58.540 While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, 00:04:58.939 --> 00:05:01.699 they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. 00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:07.399 And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. 00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:09.279 They put him in custody, 00:05:09.539 --> 00:05:13.159 because it had not been made clear what should be done to him. 00:05:13.659 --> 00:05:15.079 And the Lord said to Moses, 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:17.459 The man shall be put to death. 00:05:17.659 --> 00:05:21.359 All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:26.959 And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, 00:05:27.039 --> 00:05:28.379 as the Lord commanded Moses. 00:05:28.379 --> 00:05:31.079 The Lord said to Moses, 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:33.000 Speak to the people of Israel, 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:37.620 and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, 00:05:37.620 --> 00:05:40.639 and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:45.740 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, 00:05:46.219 --> 00:05:50.579 to do them not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, 00:05:50.719 --> 00:05:52.399 which you are inclined to whore over. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:57.399 So you shall remember and do all my commandments and be holy to your God. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:02.560 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. 00:06:02.779 --> 00:06:04.959 I am the Lord your God. 00:06:06.739 --> 00:06:09.779 Let us believe and respond to God's true and living word. 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:10.759 Thanks. 00:06:11.539 --> 00:06:12.019 Great. 00:06:12.159 --> 00:06:13.219 Thank you, Lydia. 00:06:13.299 --> 00:06:14.560 Let me pray for us. 00:06:15.679 --> 00:06:16.479 Difficult reading, 00:06:16.659 --> 00:06:17.359 but thank you, Lydia, 00:06:17.459 --> 00:06:18.459 for reading that for us. 00:06:18.539 --> 00:06:18.919 Lord Jesus, 00:06:19.060 --> 00:06:19.959 we come to your word. 00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:25.500 We want to not just know or analyze the words and phrases and sentences, 00:06:25.500 --> 00:06:26.279 the details. 00:06:26.419 --> 00:06:27.459 We want to see the big picture. 00:06:27.560 --> 00:06:29.120 We want to see what you have to say to us. 00:06:29.719 --> 00:06:30.500 And so speak to us, 00:06:30.539 --> 00:06:30.699 God, 00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:32.199 from this challenging passage. 00:06:32.379 --> 00:06:33.819 Come and draw us to yourself. 00:06:34.479 --> 00:06:35.159 In your great name, 00:06:35.219 --> 00:06:35.639 I pray. 00:06:36.259 --> 00:06:36.620 Amen. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:40.719 Let's see if you know these words. 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:42.339 Grace. 00:06:43.039 --> 00:06:44.339 She takes the blame. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:46.519 She covers the shame. 00:06:47.539 --> 00:06:48.519 Removes the stain. 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:50.459 It could be her name. 00:06:51.180 --> 00:06:51.579 Grace. 00:06:51.899 --> 00:06:53.419 It's the name for a girl. 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:56.879 It's also a thought that changed the world. 00:06:57.959 --> 00:06:59.620 And when she walks on the streets, 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:01.680 you can hear the strings. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:04.240 Grace finds goodness in everything. 00:07:05.180 --> 00:07:05.479 Grace. 00:07:05.699 --> 00:07:06.539 She's got the walk, 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:08.419 not on a ramp or on chalk. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:10.560 She's got the time to talk. 00:07:11.379 --> 00:07:13.159 She travels outside of karma. 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:15.579 She travels outside of karma. 00:07:16.579 --> 00:07:16.899 Grace. 00:07:16.899 --> 00:07:19.120 She carries the world on her hips. 00:07:19.359 --> 00:07:21.459 No champagne flute for her lips. 00:07:21.719 --> 00:07:24.479 No twirls or skips between her fingertips. 00:07:25.139 --> 00:07:26.579 What once was hurt. 00:07:27.139 --> 00:07:28.339 What once was friction. 00:07:28.899 --> 00:07:31.179 What left a mark no longer stings. 00:07:31.679 --> 00:07:35.099 Because grace makes beauty out of ugly things. 00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:38.060 Grace finds beauty in everything. 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:41.179 Grace finds goodness in everything. 00:07:41.180 --> 00:07:46.139 So sang the Irish rock band U2 once upon a time. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:51.079 Friends, ours is a world which is starved of grace, 00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:53.220 and we are poorer for it. 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:57.960 In a world which has increasingly become digital and moved online, 00:07:58.579 --> 00:08:02.960 social scientists have warned us that one of the consequences of social isolation 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:09.299 is that not only this increased polarization and political polarization and division within families, 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:14.680 but within society, we have much less empathy than any generation before us. 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:16.660 We are far less trusting. 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:22.980 We know how to handle differences less graciously than any other generation before us. 00:08:22.980 --> 00:08:50.779 Friends, how many of us have grown up at homes where sharp comments, 00:08:50.779 --> 00:08:55.980 cutting remarks, always being put down or made to feel small was the norm? 00:08:56.939 --> 00:08:59.500 How many of us saw our fathers ridiculing our mothers, 00:09:00.100 --> 00:09:01.819 siblings getting preferential treatment, 00:09:02.339 --> 00:09:06.620 or parents' love and affection being earned through good grades and filial piety? 00:09:07.699 --> 00:09:10.079 Friends, how many of us walk into the office each day 00:09:10.079 --> 00:09:14.159 feeling that we're walking into a gladiator ring of office politics, 00:09:14.699 --> 00:09:17.600 where every mistake is turned into a weapon against you, 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:20.740 where any error is made, you made to feel, 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:23.220 I was publicly exposed and you made to feel silly? 00:09:24.139 --> 00:09:26.720 And what about the lack of grace towards ourselves? 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:29.740 How many of us are our own worst enemies, 00:09:30.019 --> 00:09:31.360 always accusing ourselves, 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:33.860 the negative self-talk in our own voice, 00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:35.960 telling ourselves that we're stupid? 00:09:36.540 --> 00:09:39.940 In a world in which everyone keeps the score, 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:42.100 where mistakes are seldom forgotten, 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:45.600 where any prospect of future depends on current success, 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:49.659 success, we live in a world in which relationships are transactional, 00:09:50.180 --> 00:09:53.240 calculated, cultivated for what they can give us, 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:54.860 rather than how they can serve us, 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:57.779 we live in a world that is starved of grace. 00:09:59.139 --> 00:10:00.820 Paul Hewson writes this, 00:10:00.820 --> 00:10:18.440 It's clear to me that karma is at the very heart of the universe. 00:10:19.220 --> 00:10:23.620 And yet, along comes this idea of grace to upend all of that. 00:10:23.620 --> 00:10:26.799 Grace defies reason, it defies logic. 00:10:27.340 --> 00:10:29.039 Love interrupts, if you like, 00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:31.919 the natural consequences of our actions. 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:36.019 Grace makes beauty out of ugly things. 00:10:37.580 --> 00:10:39.560 The passage of scripture we're looking at today, 00:10:39.659 --> 00:10:41.779 Numbers 15, is not an easy passage, 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:44.560 but it's a passage that is all about grace. 00:10:45.340 --> 00:10:46.720 It is all about grace. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:50.460 It's about the unfathomable grace of God towards undeserving sinners. 00:10:50.460 --> 00:10:55.120 It's about the way that God does not give us what we deserve. 00:10:55.800 --> 00:10:57.040 If you're new to Watermark, 00:10:57.139 --> 00:10:58.879 we're working through the book of Numbers, 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:00.759 the fourth book of the Old Testament. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:04.500 And it's the story of how God's people leave Egypt, 00:11:04.560 --> 00:11:07.580 and He takes them through the wilderness towards the promised land. 00:11:07.980 --> 00:11:11.100 The promised land is a land of flourishing and thriving life. 00:11:11.400 --> 00:11:13.940 But as they go from Egypt to the promised land, 00:11:13.980 --> 00:11:15.240 they've got to go through the wilderness, 00:11:15.400 --> 00:11:16.720 and they've got to live by faith. 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:18.259 They've got to trust God in the wilderness. 00:11:18.259 --> 00:11:22.519 And we've been saying this is an apt analogy for the Christian life. 00:11:22.899 --> 00:11:25.819 Those of us that are Christians know that we too have been saved 00:11:25.819 --> 00:11:27.700 from a terrible, terrible past, 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:30.259 a slavery from which we could not save ourselves. 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:33.279 We were under God's wrath and judgment in hell. 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:34.860 And God has saved us, 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:37.399 and He's bringing us through to the new creation, 00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:38.439 the new heavens and earth. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:39.419 Heaven, you could say. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:42.919 But on the journey between our salvation and heaven, 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:44.840 we've got to travel through this wilderness, 00:11:45.100 --> 00:11:47.399 this life, this wilderness of faith. 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:50.659 And on this journey of faith, we must trust Him. 00:11:51.439 --> 00:11:55.079 And so the book of Numbers is about how God's people are called to trust Him 00:11:55.079 --> 00:11:58.259 and hold on to Him and live by faith on the journey through the wilderness. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:03.079 But if living by faith and trusting the sovereign God is the one thing they call to do, 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:04.959 it's the one thing that they do not do. 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:09.100 And so remember how chapter 14 ends. 00:12:09.259 --> 00:12:10.679 Neil spoke to us last week. 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:16.559 In chapter 13 and 14, God sends our 12 spies to go into the promised land and to check it out 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:18.599 and to say, tell us which way we should go. 00:12:18.699 --> 00:12:19.620 What is the land like? 00:12:19.699 --> 00:12:21.120 Should we go this way or that way? 00:12:21.379 --> 00:12:22.979 How should we enter the promised land? 00:12:23.479 --> 00:12:24.979 And the spies come back and they say, 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:27.500 it's a good land, but we should not go. 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:28.679 It's dangerous. 00:12:28.939 --> 00:12:30.159 God will not be with us. 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:32.059 The people are unkind. 00:12:32.359 --> 00:12:33.359 We should not go. 00:12:33.439 --> 00:12:34.599 Let's not listen to God. 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:36.100 Let's rather go back to Egypt. 00:12:36.779 --> 00:12:41.759 And they treat God's promises and His presence with doubt, disdain, and disobedience. 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:43.680 And so how does the chapter end? 00:12:44.340 --> 00:12:46.240 Well, chapter 14, verse 22. 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:46.879 God says, 00:12:47.040 --> 00:12:50.519 None of the men that have seen my glory, what I did in Egypt, 00:12:50.779 --> 00:12:53.000 and have put me to the test these ten times, 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:56.379 none of them shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. 00:12:56.800 --> 00:12:57.399 Verse 28. 00:12:57.800 --> 00:12:59.060 As I live, declares the Lord, 00:12:59.460 --> 00:13:01.680 what you have said in my hearing I will do to you. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.980 Your dead bodies will fall in the wilderness, 00:13:03.980 --> 00:13:07.480 and all of your number listed in the census from 20 years old and upward, 00:13:07.920 --> 00:13:09.180 who have grumbled against me, 00:13:09.259 --> 00:13:12.800 not one shall come into the land that I swore to make you dwell in, 00:13:13.259 --> 00:13:14.300 except Caleb and Joshua. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:17.720 And so the book of Numbers starts so hopeful. 00:13:17.940 --> 00:13:19.060 God is with these people. 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:19.980 He's bringing them through. 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:20.940 Just hold on to me. 00:13:21.060 --> 00:13:21.879 Just trust me. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:23.639 I will bring you to glory. 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:26.639 And they're full of doubt and disdain and disobedience, 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:28.639 and judgment comes upon them. 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:32.039 And the story at this point is a flood of casualties. 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:39.319 Friends, in the midst of all the darkness and the doubt of Numbers 11 to 14, 00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:42.659 and all the mess of Numbers 16 onwards, 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:47.139 a rich vein of gold is Numbers 15 that we're going to look at today. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:51.439 It's like this beautiful rich vein of gold in a dark, dank mine. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:54.299 And we're going to see something of God's grace. 00:13:54.419 --> 00:13:56.219 So let's dive in and look at it. 00:13:56.259 --> 00:13:58.459 Firstly, encountering God's grace. 00:13:58.719 --> 00:13:59.500 Encountering grace. 00:13:59.500 --> 00:14:03.120 I don't know if you've ever done anything really stupid in your life. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:05.120 I'm sure you've never done anything like that. 00:14:05.500 --> 00:14:06.980 I've done that many, many times. 00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:09.320 And you've done something silly or stupid, 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:11.980 and it's going to make you look really bad. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:14.519 And you know the other person knows, 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:16.480 but they haven't said anything yet. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:18.960 Could be a couple of seconds where you're waiting, 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:19.860 what are they going to say? 00:14:20.179 --> 00:14:21.820 Or it could be a couple of days. 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:24.540 I remember many times like that with my dad, right? 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:25.680 I'd done something dumb, 00:14:25.900 --> 00:14:27.840 and he knew, or I knew that he knew, 00:14:27.980 --> 00:14:28.800 and I was just waiting. 00:14:29.020 --> 00:14:30.180 What is he going to say? 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:32.980 What are the first words that are going to come out of his mouth? 00:14:33.340 --> 00:14:35.540 I could tell you many stories, but we'll move on, right? 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:37.260 How are they going to react? 00:14:37.259 --> 00:14:43.439 In light of Israel's ongoing unbelief, mistrust, incessant rebellion, 00:14:43.939 --> 00:14:45.659 look at what comes out of God's mouth here. 00:14:45.860 --> 00:14:46.899 15 verse 1. 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:49.720 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:53.019 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:56.740 When you come into the land that you are to inhabit, 00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:59.419 the land which I am giving you, 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:01.840 then this is how you shall worship me. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:03.659 God does not say, 00:15:03.939 --> 00:15:05.980 If you guys can get your act together, 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:08.180 and if you guys can sort yourselves out, 00:15:08.259 --> 00:15:10.899 and by some miracle that's unfathomable, 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.600 you manage to get yourselves into the promised land, 00:15:13.920 --> 00:15:15.480 well, then we can talk about things. 00:15:15.920 --> 00:15:16.740 That's not what he says. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:17.860 He says, 00:15:18.180 --> 00:15:20.720 I, I am going to bring you into the land. 00:15:20.820 --> 00:15:22.060 I am going to go before you. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:23.539 I'm going to drive out your enemies. 00:15:24.180 --> 00:15:27.480 I'm going to bring you to the land of milk and honey and favor and goodness, 00:15:27.800 --> 00:15:29.159 the land which you don't deserve, 00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:30.320 but I am going to do it for you. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:31.960 I am still going to bring you through. 00:15:32.779 --> 00:15:34.519 God is looking at these people now, 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:35.100 and he's saying, 00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:36.420 I am not done with you. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:38.279 I'm not finished with you. 00:15:39.040 --> 00:15:41.279 You and I still have a future together. 00:15:42.180 --> 00:15:43.220 And when you come in, 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:44.680 this is how you shall worship. 00:15:45.639 --> 00:15:47.180 Friends, you see God's amazing grace here? 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:48.379 After all their complaining, 00:15:48.540 --> 00:15:49.200 and their moaning, 00:15:49.300 --> 00:15:50.080 and their accusing, 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:51.620 and their shaking their fists at God, 00:15:52.220 --> 00:15:52.779 God says, 00:15:52.899 --> 00:15:53.879 I am not done with you. 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:55.600 I'm still going to bring you in. 00:15:57.300 --> 00:15:58.540 A couple of years ago, 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:00.460 friends of ours in K-Town, 00:16:00.500 --> 00:16:01.660 a very, very good friend of mine, 00:16:01.700 --> 00:16:04.379 he was one of the pastors at the church that I served at, 00:16:04.379 --> 00:16:06.700 one night, 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:07.200 they've got, 00:16:07.379 --> 00:16:08.500 he and his wife have two kids, 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:09.879 one years old and four years old. 00:16:10.659 --> 00:16:11.360 One night, 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:13.820 his wife puts the kids to bed, 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:15.980 and comes through and says to him, 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:17.960 we need to talk about something. 00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:19.139 I've got something to tell you. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:21.620 And the room suddenly goes very, 00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:22.519 very ice cold, 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:23.700 and very quiet. 00:16:23.700 --> 00:16:26.720 And over the next couple of hours, 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:27.980 she says to him, 00:16:28.660 --> 00:16:28.879 honey, 00:16:28.920 --> 00:16:29.980 I need to tell you something. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:34.020 I've been keeping a secret from you for the last seven or eight years, 00:16:34.140 --> 00:16:36.080 and I swore that I would never tell you. 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:37.520 I would go to my grave with a secret, 00:16:37.640 --> 00:16:38.879 but I've been convicted by God, 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:39.820 and I need to tell you this. 00:16:39.860 --> 00:16:40.600 I need to come clean. 00:16:41.640 --> 00:16:41.920 And so, 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:42.780 over the next few hours, 00:16:42.920 --> 00:16:44.460 through a waterfall of tears, 00:16:44.640 --> 00:16:46.600 she tells him that seven or eight years ago, 00:16:46.680 --> 00:16:48.280 she had a two-year affair 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:50.899 with someone that she'd met at the sports club. 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:52.620 He wasn't a pastor at that stage. 00:16:52.659 --> 00:16:54.579 He was working and traveling a lot for work, 00:16:54.620 --> 00:16:55.500 and while he was traveling, 00:16:55.620 --> 00:16:59.240 she engaged in a two-year affair with this person. 00:16:59.779 --> 00:17:01.419 And it had ended long ago, 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:03.659 but she had swore she was never going to tell him 00:17:03.659 --> 00:17:05.720 it was a secret that she was going to take to her grave. 00:17:06.639 --> 00:17:07.000 But, 00:17:07.460 --> 00:17:09.539 over a couple of weeks before, 00:17:09.639 --> 00:17:10.579 God had been speaking to her, 00:17:10.660 --> 00:17:12.259 and she felt like she needed to come clean. 00:17:13.019 --> 00:17:13.339 And so, 00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:14.240 she tells him, 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:16.180 and my friend, 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:16.619 her husband, 00:17:16.619 --> 00:17:19.119 goes into complete state of shock and meltdown 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:21.559 as he tries to process what he's just heard. 00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:24.659 That not only has his wife betrayed him 00:17:24.659 --> 00:17:26.039 in the most unbelievable way, 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:29.219 but also that the last five or six years of their marriage 00:17:29.219 --> 00:17:30.459 has not been what he thought it was. 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:31.739 He thought they'd had a great marriage, 00:17:31.739 --> 00:17:33.799 but actually there's this whole dark secret 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:35.500 that has been going on. 00:17:35.699 --> 00:17:36.500 And in some ways, 00:17:36.579 --> 00:17:37.819 their marriage is not what he thought it was. 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:38.819 And so, 00:17:38.899 --> 00:17:39.919 my friend just collapses, 00:17:40.059 --> 00:17:41.139 and he breaks down 00:17:41.139 --> 00:17:43.859 as he's trying to process wave after wave of grief 00:17:43.859 --> 00:17:45.799 and anger and questions and doubts 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:46.799 and all sorts of things. 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:49.480 And then after a couple of hours, 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:50.000 he says, 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:50.279 listen, 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:51.480 I need to go for a walk. 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:52.680 And so, 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:53.519 he gets up, 00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:54.960 and he goes to the front door, 00:17:55.639 --> 00:17:56.659 and as he does that, 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:57.740 he turns around, 00:17:57.799 --> 00:17:58.519 and he looks at her, 00:17:58.539 --> 00:17:58.859 and he says, 00:17:58.940 --> 00:17:59.240 Laura, 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:00.759 I need to tell you two things. 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:01.819 One, 00:18:02.339 --> 00:18:03.220 I still love you. 00:18:03.980 --> 00:18:04.299 Two, 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:06.139 we are going to get through this together. 00:18:06.140 --> 00:18:08.140 And then he goes outside 00:18:08.140 --> 00:18:09.759 into a long walk into the night. 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:10.940 And today, 00:18:11.040 --> 00:18:11.520 if you ask them, 00:18:11.580 --> 00:18:12.960 their marriage is better than it's ever been. 00:18:13.040 --> 00:18:13.360 He says, 00:18:13.420 --> 00:18:14.580 the trust in their marriage 00:18:14.580 --> 00:18:15.880 is greater than it's ever been. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:17.620 They're doing really well. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:19.560 He's back in ministry and pastoring again. 00:18:20.600 --> 00:18:22.200 We will get through this together. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:24.940 We still have a future together. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:25.940 Friends, 00:18:25.980 --> 00:18:27.860 that's what God is saying to his people here. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:29.840 Despite their betrayal, 00:18:30.060 --> 00:18:30.940 and their unfaithfulness, 00:18:31.140 --> 00:18:32.200 and their rejection of him, 00:18:32.520 --> 00:18:33.720 God looks them in the eye, 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:34.039 and says, 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:35.380 we have a future together. 00:18:35.980 --> 00:18:37.799 I know it looks dark and messy now. 00:18:38.100 --> 00:18:39.440 I know your life is a mess, 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:40.400 but as Ray Orton says, 00:18:40.460 --> 00:18:41.400 you're my mess, 00:18:41.600 --> 00:18:42.880 and I'm going to deal with it, 00:18:42.900 --> 00:18:44.140 and I'm not giving up on you. 00:18:44.600 --> 00:18:46.019 We are going to get through. 00:18:46.539 --> 00:18:48.100 When I bring you into the land 00:18:48.100 --> 00:18:49.200 that I am giving you, 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:50.900 when I've driven out the enemies before you, 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:51.920 when I've gone before you, 00:18:51.980 --> 00:18:52.900 and parted the Red Sea, 00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:54.100 and provided food for you, 00:18:54.120 --> 00:18:55.579 and done everything that you can't do, 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:57.240 you will worship me, 00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:58.860 and we will be one again together. 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:01.539 And so look at what God says here 00:19:01.539 --> 00:19:02.299 about their worship. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:03.620 Lydia read it, 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:05.440 all these details about bulls, 00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:05.880 and goats, 00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:06.480 and wine, 00:19:06.600 --> 00:19:07.259 and olive oil, 00:19:07.339 --> 00:19:08.160 and all sorts of things. 00:19:08.500 --> 00:19:09.720 But look at what God is saying here. 00:19:09.900 --> 00:19:11.019 Two things I want you to notice 00:19:11.019 --> 00:19:11.720 about their worship. 00:19:12.460 --> 00:19:12.860 First, 00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:15.100 notice the abundance of their possessions. 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:16.779 All these animals, 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:17.600 and this produce, 00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:18.720 these are things that belong 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:20.079 to a prosperous society. 00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:21.259 At the moment, 00:19:21.360 --> 00:19:22.400 these guys are no bandits 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:22.880 in the wilderness. 00:19:23.059 --> 00:19:23.980 They don't have any food. 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:25.539 They don't have any produce. 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:27.380 God's got to bring meat to them. 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:29.079 God's got to bring manna from heaven. 00:19:29.079 --> 00:19:31.299 They are as poor as anything. 00:19:31.900 --> 00:19:32.360 And God says, 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:33.479 when you go into the land, 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:35.000 you're going to have so many flocks, 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:35.459 and goats, 00:19:35.579 --> 00:19:36.079 and bulls, 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:37.119 and so much food, 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:37.979 you're not going to know 00:19:37.979 --> 00:19:38.659 what to do with it. 00:19:38.959 --> 00:19:40.019 And come and bring it to me 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:41.240 and offer it as an offering. 00:19:41.500 --> 00:19:43.579 The abundance of their possessions. 00:19:43.779 --> 00:19:44.799 God is promising that 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:45.519 he will give them 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:46.439 what they don't deserve. 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:48.159 What they deserve 00:19:48.159 --> 00:19:49.079 is to bear the guilt 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:49.839 for their sin. 00:19:50.339 --> 00:19:51.199 But God is going to 00:19:51.199 --> 00:19:52.419 lavishly bless them. 00:19:53.139 --> 00:19:53.939 Though their sins, 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:54.579 they are many. 00:19:54.699 --> 00:19:55.919 His mercy is more. 00:19:56.579 --> 00:19:57.919 But look at what else here. 00:19:58.139 --> 00:19:59.119 In the Old Testament, 00:19:59.199 --> 00:20:00.419 look at what kinds of offerings 00:20:00.420 --> 00:20:01.300 they're going to offer here. 00:20:01.380 --> 00:20:02.380 It's a bit hard to see, 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:03.700 but in the Old Testament, 00:20:03.840 --> 00:20:04.259 there's typically 00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:06.140 three main kinds of offerings. 00:20:06.320 --> 00:20:06.820 There's more, 00:20:06.900 --> 00:20:08.160 but three kind of main categories. 00:20:08.700 --> 00:20:09.539 There's the sin offering, 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:10.320 burnt offering, 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:11.160 fellowship offering. 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:12.320 A sin offering 00:20:12.320 --> 00:20:14.019 is you bring an offering to God 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:15.080 when you've done something 00:20:15.080 --> 00:20:15.980 tragically wrong. 00:20:16.060 --> 00:20:16.700 You've sinned, 00:20:16.980 --> 00:20:17.980 and you need to pay 00:20:17.980 --> 00:20:19.120 the penalty for your sin. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:20.539 And so you bring an animal, 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:21.860 and the animal dies, 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:22.420 and it's burnt, 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:23.340 and it's offered to God, 00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:24.300 and it's kind of like saying, 00:20:24.600 --> 00:20:26.140 my sin is put on the animal, 00:20:26.320 --> 00:20:27.660 they will bear the sin for me. 00:20:27.660 --> 00:20:28.759 I deserve to die, 00:20:29.120 --> 00:20:30.720 but they will die in my place. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:32.540 But that's not the kind of offering 00:20:32.540 --> 00:20:33.519 that God is talking about here. 00:20:33.620 --> 00:20:35.300 There's different procedures for that. 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:36.800 The second offering 00:20:36.800 --> 00:20:38.100 is a burnt offering. 00:20:38.620 --> 00:20:40.000 It's when someone brings an animal, 00:20:40.100 --> 00:20:41.920 and the whole animal is burnt up 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:42.800 as an offering to God. 00:20:42.900 --> 00:20:43.700 And it's a way of saying, 00:20:43.800 --> 00:20:45.100 God, all that I am, 00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:46.420 I'm not keeping anything from me, 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:48.420 I give my entire life to you. 00:20:48.700 --> 00:20:50.100 It's the picture of a subject 00:20:50.100 --> 00:20:51.420 to the overlord. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:52.200 There's an overlord, 00:20:52.259 --> 00:20:53.000 and the subject says, 00:20:53.220 --> 00:20:54.040 I belong to you, 00:20:54.120 --> 00:20:55.560 everything that I have is yours. 00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:57.299 And so you bring a burnt offering 00:20:57.299 --> 00:20:59.000 as a kind of part of your worship, 00:20:59.119 --> 00:20:59.659 your devotion. 00:20:59.879 --> 00:21:00.359 You say, God, 00:21:00.460 --> 00:21:01.859 everything I have belongs to you. 00:21:02.259 --> 00:21:03.619 But that also has other things. 00:21:03.679 --> 00:21:04.940 That's not what they're talking about here. 00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:06.740 Here what they're talking about 00:21:06.740 --> 00:21:08.000 is a fellowship offering. 00:21:08.679 --> 00:21:09.480 And a fellowship offering 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:10.940 is when you bring an animal to the priest, 00:21:11.299 --> 00:21:12.319 and some of it is burnt 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:13.079 and offered to God, 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:15.079 some of it is given to the priest to eat, 00:21:15.339 --> 00:21:16.720 but some of it you eat 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:18.480 with the priest and with God. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:19.539 And the picture here 00:21:19.539 --> 00:21:20.940 is you are hosting a meal. 00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:22.639 And there's meat, 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:23.639 and there's carbohydrates, 00:21:23.639 --> 00:21:24.559 and there's oil, 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:25.399 and there's wine, 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:26.440 and the picture is 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:28.139 here is a banquet table, 00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:29.659 and we are sitting down together. 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:31.019 God and the priest and me, 00:21:31.259 --> 00:21:32.819 I am hosting a meal, 00:21:33.159 --> 00:21:34.519 and we're having fellowship together. 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:36.500 You know how in the Bible, 00:21:36.639 --> 00:21:37.940 a meal is always a picture 00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:39.259 of relationship, right? 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:40.980 When you host someone for a meal, 00:21:41.059 --> 00:21:42.119 you're not just opening your home, 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:43.099 you're opening your heart. 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:44.480 You're saying you are welcome here. 00:21:45.419 --> 00:21:46.579 God says when you go 00:21:46.579 --> 00:21:47.659 into the promised land, 00:21:48.059 --> 00:21:49.279 despite all your sin, 00:21:49.399 --> 00:21:50.339 I am going to sit down 00:21:50.339 --> 00:21:51.200 and have a meal with you. 00:21:51.500 --> 00:21:52.919 I'm going to open up my home. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:55.399 I'm not just wiping away your sin. 00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:57.019 I'm giving you a seat at the table. 00:21:57.480 --> 00:21:58.640 I'm including you. 00:21:59.640 --> 00:21:59.920 Though, 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.660 he says, 00:22:00.860 --> 00:22:01.120 though, 00:22:01.320 --> 00:22:02.500 all this mess, 00:22:02.600 --> 00:22:03.860 we will get through this together. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:05.460 We still have a future together. 00:22:06.460 --> 00:22:06.740 Friends, 00:22:06.820 --> 00:22:07.160 grace, 00:22:07.660 --> 00:22:08.640 it takes the blame, 00:22:09.380 --> 00:22:10.320 covers the shame, 00:22:11.080 --> 00:22:12.280 removes the stain. 00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:14.519 It travels outside of karma. 00:22:15.320 --> 00:22:15.840 Karma says, 00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:17.120 you get what you deserve. 00:22:18.100 --> 00:22:18.700 Grace says, 00:22:18.780 --> 00:22:19.940 you get what you don't deserve, 00:22:20.120 --> 00:22:21.320 and you do get what you, 00:22:21.319 --> 00:22:23.019 you don't get what you do deserve, 00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:24.539 and you do get what you don't deserve. 00:22:25.919 --> 00:22:26.519 If God, 00:22:27.439 --> 00:22:29.500 grace makes beauty out of ugly things. 00:22:30.059 --> 00:22:30.359 Now, 00:22:30.460 --> 00:22:31.319 what does this tell us? 00:22:31.879 --> 00:22:33.879 It tells us that the heart of Christianity 00:22:33.879 --> 00:22:35.439 is relationship. 00:22:36.299 --> 00:22:37.700 The heart of Christianity is relationship. 00:22:38.019 --> 00:22:38.220 God, 00:22:38.399 --> 00:22:39.759 grace is not just an idea, 00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:40.819 or a concept, 00:22:41.259 --> 00:22:43.460 or a free pass to skip cosmic detention. 00:22:43.939 --> 00:22:46.279 It's not just a crutch to get through life. 00:22:47.019 --> 00:22:49.359 Christian faith is profoundly personal, 00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:50.539 intimate relationship. 00:22:51.079 --> 00:22:51.599 It's why, 00:22:51.740 --> 00:22:52.460 when someone says, 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:52.899 well, 00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:53.740 if God is so gracious, 00:22:53.879 --> 00:22:54.819 why can't I just sin, 00:22:54.859 --> 00:22:55.539 and do what I want, 00:22:55.619 --> 00:22:56.639 and then at the end of my life, 00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:57.599 I'll just ask for forgiveness? 00:22:58.519 --> 00:22:59.299 And Jesus says, 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:01.420 you don't understand the first thing about grace. 00:23:01.819 --> 00:23:03.960 Because grace is not just wiping the slate clean, 00:23:04.019 --> 00:23:04.799 so you can carry on, 00:23:04.879 --> 00:23:05.639 and do whatever you wanted. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:07.799 Grace is the seat at the table. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:08.119 It's saying, 00:23:08.180 --> 00:23:09.259 come into my family. 00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:10.039 It's saying, 00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:11.240 we're going to do life together. 00:23:11.879 --> 00:23:12.099 It's saying, 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:13.139 I will be your father, 00:23:13.139 --> 00:23:14.500 you will be my child. 00:23:14.500 --> 00:23:14.660 But, 00:23:15.140 --> 00:23:18.079 grace is God not giving us what we do deserve, 00:23:18.259 --> 00:23:19.839 eternal separation from him, 00:23:20.220 --> 00:23:22.180 so that we can get what we don't deserve, 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:23.640 which is intimacy, 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:26.460 personal enjoyment of the living God forever. 00:23:27.740 --> 00:23:28.140 So friends, 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:29.599 what does this grace look like? 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:31.299 What does it look like? 00:23:31.380 --> 00:23:31.579 Well, 00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:34.079 it looks like Jesus coming to Zacchaeus. 00:23:34.579 --> 00:23:35.380 You remember Zacchaeus? 00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:36.299 He's a tax collector. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:37.619 He's an outcast. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:39.680 He is a pariah of society. 00:23:39.980 --> 00:23:40.880 He is rejected, 00:23:41.099 --> 00:23:41.519 unloved, 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:42.220 and Jesus says, 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:42.720 Zacchaeus, 00:23:43.180 --> 00:23:43.920 open up your home. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:45.600 I want to come and have lunch with you today. 00:23:46.560 --> 00:23:48.759 Grace looks like Jesus coming to the woman at the well, 00:23:49.420 --> 00:23:49.920 social outcast, 00:23:50.800 --> 00:23:52.000 morally despised, 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:52.820 unloved, 00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:53.420 and rejected, 00:23:53.620 --> 00:23:54.759 and Jesus comes to her and says, 00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:56.279 I know everything about you. 00:23:56.700 --> 00:23:58.500 I know all the skeletons in your closet. 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:00.480 There is nothing that I don't know, 00:24:00.820 --> 00:24:02.039 and I love you still. 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:03.160 Friends, 00:24:03.220 --> 00:24:06.779 grace is Jesus coming to the lady who is trafficked into sex work, 00:24:07.180 --> 00:24:08.620 and everyone despises her and says, 00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:09.700 what is she doing in here? 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:11.420 And Jesus is welcome. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:13.019 I love you. 00:24:13.740 --> 00:24:13.980 Friends, 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:15.200 grace is Psalm 103. 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:15.880 That says, 00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:19.940 as far as the east is from the west, 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:22.200 so far will God remove our sins from us. 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:25.000 As a father has compassion on his children, 00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:27.340 so has the Lord had compassion on us. 00:24:28.140 --> 00:24:28.380 Friends, 00:24:28.460 --> 00:24:30.480 grace looks like the father of the prodigal son, 00:24:30.980 --> 00:24:31.220 saying, 00:24:31.380 --> 00:24:32.720 sacrifice the fattened calf. 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:34.420 My son is home. 00:24:34.839 --> 00:24:35.799 My son was lost, 00:24:35.880 --> 00:24:36.600 but now is found. 00:24:36.740 --> 00:24:37.579 My son was dead, 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:38.600 but is now alive. 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:40.039 Friends, 00:24:40.180 --> 00:24:40.559 grace, 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:42.339 this is what God does. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:43.039 And God says, 00:24:43.220 --> 00:24:43.500 yes, 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:44.720 Israel is a mess, 00:24:45.059 --> 00:24:46.420 but I am not done with you. 00:24:46.539 --> 00:24:47.900 We will get through this together. 00:24:48.660 --> 00:24:49.880 Two things I need you to know. 00:24:49.980 --> 00:24:50.779 I love you, 00:24:51.160 --> 00:24:52.400 and we will get through this together. 00:24:52.980 --> 00:24:53.620 Isn't that amazing? 00:24:54.539 --> 00:24:56.779 This is the God that we've come to worship this morning, 00:24:56.900 --> 00:24:57.160 friends. 00:24:57.600 --> 00:24:58.720 This is the God of grace. 00:24:59.380 --> 00:24:59.660 So now, 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:00.680 how do we find this grace? 00:25:00.740 --> 00:25:02.200 How do we access this grace? 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:04.839 How do we come into this gracious relationship? 00:25:05.059 --> 00:25:05.259 Well, 00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:06.680 it's not automatic, 00:25:07.140 --> 00:25:10.460 and it's not found by just simply attending church. 00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:12.880 Grace isn't just something that, 00:25:13.160 --> 00:25:14.000 by osmosis, 00:25:14.059 --> 00:25:15.920 it just happens by attending a church service. 00:25:16.120 --> 00:25:18.380 Grace is something that you've got to pursue, 00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:19.180 or you've got to find. 00:25:19.819 --> 00:25:20.059 Friends, 00:25:20.140 --> 00:25:21.259 some of us here today, 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:23.000 will leave this place, 00:25:23.120 --> 00:25:25.420 having never encountered the God of grace, 00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:27.539 and we will die in our sins. 00:25:28.380 --> 00:25:30.420 But God does not want that. 00:25:30.420 --> 00:25:34.120 But the God of the Bible longs for us to encounter His grace, 00:25:34.220 --> 00:25:35.240 and so be transformed. 00:25:35.840 --> 00:25:36.840 And so look at what happens here. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:37.480 If you've got your Bible, 00:25:37.580 --> 00:25:39.440 look at verse 22 to 31. 00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:41.039 In this passage here, 00:25:41.380 --> 00:25:43.120 Moses talks about the sins of the people, 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:45.340 and he talks about two different kinds of sin. 00:25:45.420 --> 00:25:48.220 He kind of contrasts and compares two kinds of sin. 00:25:48.700 --> 00:25:49.600 Look at verse 22. 00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:50.080 He says, 00:25:50.079 --> 00:26:12.059 Verse 27. 00:26:12.059 --> 00:26:13.919 If one sins unintentionally, 00:26:14.059 --> 00:26:15.519 he shall offer a female God, 00:26:15.879 --> 00:26:17.119 a year old for a sin offering. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:19.059 But then look at verse 30. 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:20.519 Here's a different scenario. 00:26:21.399 --> 00:26:21.819 But, 00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:25.259 the person who does anything with a high hand, 00:26:25.700 --> 00:26:27.539 whether he is a native or sojourner, 00:26:27.819 --> 00:26:28.940 reviles the Lord. 00:26:29.299 --> 00:26:31.960 That person shall be cut off from amongst his people. 00:26:32.179 --> 00:26:34.419 Because he has despised the word of the Lord, 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:35.599 broken his commandments, 00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:36.960 that person shall be cut off, 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:39.159 and his sin shall remain upon him. 00:26:39.980 --> 00:26:41.119 Such a great picture, right? 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:42.959 If anyone does anything with a high hand, 00:26:43.019 --> 00:26:44.659 it's like a picture of somebody 00:26:44.659 --> 00:26:47.039 who's shaking their fists in defiance, right? 00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:47.759 I love this picture. 00:26:47.879 --> 00:26:48.319 Go ahead. 00:26:48.439 --> 00:26:49.079 Call the cops. 00:26:49.459 --> 00:26:50.219 See if I care. 00:26:50.979 --> 00:26:52.339 It's a picture of somebody saying, 00:26:52.459 --> 00:26:53.439 Stuff you, God. 00:26:53.539 --> 00:26:55.199 I'm going to do things my way, 00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:56.419 and see if you care. 00:26:56.679 --> 00:26:58.879 See if I care what you think about it. 00:27:00.519 --> 00:27:01.299 Do you remember last week, 00:27:01.319 --> 00:27:02.500 we asked the question in the catechism, 00:27:02.639 --> 00:27:03.539 What is sin? 00:27:04.199 --> 00:27:06.539 Sin is rejecting or ignoring God 00:27:06.539 --> 00:27:07.919 and the world that he's created, 00:27:07.919 --> 00:27:10.439 not doing or being what he's commanded in his law. 00:27:11.899 --> 00:27:13.239 But scripture tells us 00:27:13.239 --> 00:27:15.500 that sin is far more nuanced 00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:16.159 than just saying, 00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:17.519 Do this, don't do this. 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:19.299 The condition of our hearts, 00:27:19.399 --> 00:27:20.419 the motives of our hearts, 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:21.799 the mixed motivations, 00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:22.879 the self-awareness, 00:27:22.939 --> 00:27:24.079 the lack of self-awareness, 00:27:24.119 --> 00:27:25.699 all these things make it a complex 00:27:25.699 --> 00:27:27.039 and multifaceted issue. 00:27:27.959 --> 00:27:28.759 And so scripture here 00:27:28.759 --> 00:27:31.319 differentiates between unintentional sins 00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:32.919 and intentional sins. 00:27:33.159 --> 00:27:33.500 Okay? 00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:35.359 Or our actions, 00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:35.940 our motives, 00:27:36.059 --> 00:27:36.519 our thoughts, 00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:37.140 our attitudes 00:27:37.140 --> 00:27:38.579 that do not honor God, 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:40.539 but the unintentional ones are 00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:42.599 ones that we're either not aware of 00:27:42.599 --> 00:27:44.019 or we kind of like, 00:27:44.440 --> 00:27:45.619 we're suddenly made aware of it 00:27:45.619 --> 00:27:47.859 without realizing that we're going into it. 00:27:48.380 --> 00:27:49.380 But on the other hand 00:27:49.380 --> 00:27:50.099 is what they call 00:27:50.099 --> 00:27:51.799 the sin of intentionality 00:27:51.799 --> 00:27:52.799 or high-handed 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:54.019 or deliberate sin. 00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:56.220 This is kind of a willful rejection 00:27:56.220 --> 00:27:57.579 where you know what you're doing 00:27:57.579 --> 00:27:58.839 and you pursue it nonetheless. 00:27:58.839 --> 00:28:00.519 And the Bible says 00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:02.199 that both of these things are sin. 00:28:02.359 --> 00:28:03.839 Both of them are deadly serious. 00:28:04.039 --> 00:28:04.500 Both of them, 00:28:04.579 --> 00:28:05.279 there's a problem, 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:07.039 but the consequences 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:08.399 are maybe slightly different. 00:28:08.819 --> 00:28:08.980 Okay? 00:28:09.299 --> 00:28:10.720 So think about it this way. 00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:14.119 In marriage, 00:28:14.339 --> 00:28:15.279 if you married, 00:28:15.699 --> 00:28:17.240 you probably sin most days, 00:28:17.319 --> 00:28:17.559 right? 00:28:18.579 --> 00:28:19.659 There's the bickering. 00:28:19.939 --> 00:28:21.419 There's the little comment. 00:28:21.579 --> 00:28:22.939 There's the lack of thoughtfulness. 00:28:23.019 --> 00:28:24.480 There's the lack of appreciation. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:25.939 The lack of care 00:28:25.939 --> 00:28:27.619 or graciousness towards one another. 00:28:27.720 --> 00:28:28.359 And there's kind of like 00:28:28.359 --> 00:28:29.859 just these things that you say, 00:28:30.179 --> 00:28:30.399 friends, 00:28:30.459 --> 00:28:31.119 this is a sin. 00:28:31.579 --> 00:28:32.699 We should not do that. 00:28:32.779 --> 00:28:33.879 We should love our wives 00:28:33.879 --> 00:28:35.219 like Christ has loved the church. 00:28:35.459 --> 00:28:35.699 Okay? 00:28:36.579 --> 00:28:37.779 But that's very different 00:28:37.779 --> 00:28:39.259 from somebody that says, 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:40.519 I'm going to go and have an affair. 00:28:41.139 --> 00:28:42.779 I'm going to go and look for pornography. 00:28:43.299 --> 00:28:44.819 I'm going to go and flirt 00:28:44.819 --> 00:28:46.099 with that person at the office. 00:28:46.899 --> 00:28:47.839 There's one that is, 00:28:47.939 --> 00:28:48.619 they both sin, 00:28:48.659 --> 00:28:49.559 they both wrong, 00:28:49.919 --> 00:28:50.819 but one is kind of, 00:28:51.079 --> 00:28:52.199 you don't really realize it 00:28:52.199 --> 00:28:53.559 or suddenly you awaken to it 00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:54.500 and it looks terrible. 00:28:54.500 --> 00:28:55.859 The other one looks appealing. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:56.379 You think, 00:28:56.579 --> 00:28:57.979 I'm going to pursue this. 00:28:58.359 --> 00:28:59.399 Or maybe another way 00:28:59.399 --> 00:28:59.939 of thinking about it 00:28:59.939 --> 00:29:00.319 is like this. 00:29:00.379 --> 00:29:01.539 Think about how we handle money. 00:29:02.099 --> 00:29:04.039 It's one thing to be very careful, 00:29:04.299 --> 00:29:05.439 maybe overly careful, 00:29:05.879 --> 00:29:06.759 overly planning, 00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:08.699 maybe not very generous 00:29:08.699 --> 00:29:10.459 because we are so particular. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:11.339 Actually, 00:29:11.439 --> 00:29:11.879 if we're honest, 00:29:11.939 --> 00:29:13.000 that's probably greed. 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:13.939 It's a form of greed. 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:14.919 That's not good. 00:29:15.179 --> 00:29:16.139 We should run from that. 00:29:16.719 --> 00:29:17.579 But that's very different 00:29:17.579 --> 00:29:18.179 from saying, 00:29:18.539 --> 00:29:18.619 hey, 00:29:18.659 --> 00:29:19.439 let me go to Macau 00:29:19.439 --> 00:29:20.219 and gamble away 00:29:20.219 --> 00:29:20.899 everything I have 00:29:20.899 --> 00:29:22.159 or I'm going to go to the races 00:29:22.159 --> 00:29:23.439 after church this afternoon 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:24.799 or I'm going to go 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:27.120 and hand in an expense receipt 00:29:27.120 --> 00:29:27.700 at my office 00:29:27.700 --> 00:29:28.960 that was from a personal expense. 00:29:29.019 --> 00:29:30.100 That's a very different thing, 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:30.380 right? 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:32.720 And so the problem here 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:34.000 is that both involve 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:36.259 rejecting and ignoring God. 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:37.360 Both are not doing 00:29:37.360 --> 00:29:38.299 what he's asked in his word. 00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:39.519 But the problem is 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:40.480 that the second one 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:41.700 by its very nature 00:29:41.700 --> 00:29:43.160 is cutting ourselves off 00:29:43.160 --> 00:29:44.519 from the grace that we need. 00:29:45.299 --> 00:29:46.120 This one says, 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:46.660 oh, 00:29:46.660 --> 00:29:47.080 I'm a sinner. 00:29:47.220 --> 00:29:47.860 I need grace. 00:29:47.940 --> 00:29:48.080 God, 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:48.519 forgive me. 00:29:48.600 --> 00:29:49.360 This one says, 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:50.000 God, 00:29:50.080 --> 00:29:51.259 take your grace somewhere else. 00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:52.799 I'm doing what I want 00:29:52.799 --> 00:29:54.200 and no one's going to stop me. 00:29:54.839 --> 00:29:56.019 It's not that one is wrong 00:29:56.019 --> 00:29:56.720 and the other is fine. 00:29:56.819 --> 00:29:57.599 They're both wrong. 00:29:57.700 --> 00:29:58.619 They both need mercy. 00:29:58.819 --> 00:29:59.879 But this one is shaking 00:29:59.879 --> 00:30:00.779 its fist at God 00:30:00.779 --> 00:30:01.119 and saying, 00:30:01.259 --> 00:30:01.539 God, 00:30:01.619 --> 00:30:03.180 I will do things my way 00:30:03.180 --> 00:30:04.140 and you're not going to tell me 00:30:04.140 --> 00:30:04.619 what to do. 00:30:05.500 --> 00:30:06.379 And so the issue here 00:30:06.379 --> 00:30:07.660 is not is sin serious. 00:30:07.799 --> 00:30:09.039 They're both serious. 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:11.579 The issue is upon realizing 00:30:11.579 --> 00:30:12.799 and seeing our sin 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:13.779 and recognizing it 00:30:13.779 --> 00:30:14.240 for what it is. 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:15.140 What is our attitude? 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:17.200 Do we hate it 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:19.019 or do we persist in it? 00:30:19.400 --> 00:30:20.359 Do we fight it 00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:21.859 or do we defend it? 00:30:22.619 --> 00:30:23.559 Mark Devers says this, 00:30:23.659 --> 00:30:24.839 the Christian stands 00:30:24.839 --> 00:30:25.759 with God 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:27.099 against his sin. 00:30:27.779 --> 00:30:28.959 The secular person 00:30:28.959 --> 00:30:30.379 stands with their sin 00:30:30.379 --> 00:30:31.359 against God. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:33.119 And that's the difference here. 00:30:33.399 --> 00:30:34.259 And Moses says 00:30:34.259 --> 00:30:35.519 that we're going to sin. 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:36.419 We are people of sin. 00:30:36.479 --> 00:30:37.359 None of us are perfect. 00:30:37.639 --> 00:30:38.479 But what do we do 00:30:38.479 --> 00:30:39.000 with our sin? 00:30:39.319 --> 00:30:40.419 Do we stand with our sin 00:30:40.419 --> 00:30:41.079 against God 00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:42.199 or do we stand with God 00:30:42.199 --> 00:30:43.000 against our sin? 00:30:43.779 --> 00:30:44.699 And that's what the story 00:30:44.699 --> 00:30:45.059 is about 00:30:45.059 --> 00:30:46.559 in the story of the Sabbath, 00:30:46.719 --> 00:30:46.859 right? 00:30:46.939 --> 00:30:47.559 Verse 32, 00:30:47.699 --> 00:30:48.259 there's the story 00:30:48.259 --> 00:30:48.899 of this guy 00:30:48.900 --> 00:30:50.380 and he goes out 00:30:50.380 --> 00:30:50.840 into the field 00:30:50.840 --> 00:30:51.480 on the Sabbath day 00:30:51.480 --> 00:30:52.800 and he's picking up sticks 00:30:52.800 --> 00:30:53.360 and he's going to go 00:30:53.360 --> 00:30:54.019 and make a meal 00:30:54.019 --> 00:30:54.500 and everything 00:30:54.500 --> 00:30:56.740 and he gets in deep trouble. 00:30:57.320 --> 00:30:57.940 And we may think, 00:30:58.140 --> 00:30:58.280 what? 00:30:58.540 --> 00:30:59.620 This guy's just picking up sticks. 00:30:59.700 --> 00:31:00.380 What's wrong with that? 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:01.560 Just give him a break, right? 00:31:02.040 --> 00:31:02.580 But actually, 00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:03.600 what is he doing here? 00:31:04.259 --> 00:31:05.740 Just a few weeks before, 00:31:05.880 --> 00:31:06.540 God has given them 00:31:06.540 --> 00:31:07.420 the Ten Commandments 00:31:07.420 --> 00:31:09.040 and he knows the commandments. 00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:10.080 On the Sabbath day, 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:11.800 set your day aside for God. 00:31:12.280 --> 00:31:13.180 Devote yourself to him. 00:31:13.420 --> 00:31:14.040 He is the Lord 00:31:14.040 --> 00:31:15.140 that brought you out of Egypt. 00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:16.120 He saved you 00:31:16.119 --> 00:31:16.779 and rescued you. 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:17.819 You belong to him 00:31:17.819 --> 00:31:18.959 one day a week. 00:31:19.099 --> 00:31:20.299 Devote yourself to him. 00:31:20.639 --> 00:31:21.239 Don't work. 00:31:21.339 --> 00:31:21.559 Let, 00:31:21.739 --> 00:31:23.359 trust God to provide for you. 00:31:23.879 --> 00:31:24.679 And this guy says, 00:31:25.099 --> 00:31:26.639 take that rule somewhere else. 00:31:27.199 --> 00:31:28.500 I'm going to go do my thing. 00:31:28.939 --> 00:31:29.679 And he goes out 00:31:29.679 --> 00:31:31.199 in the open defiance of God, 00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:32.619 shaking his fist at God, 00:31:32.699 --> 00:31:32.819 saying, 00:31:32.899 --> 00:31:33.699 no one's going to tell me 00:31:33.699 --> 00:31:34.199 what to do. 00:31:34.679 --> 00:31:35.539 And how does it end? 00:31:36.059 --> 00:31:36.959 It ends terribly. 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:38.819 A terrible death. 00:31:40.899 --> 00:31:41.279 Friends, 00:31:41.319 --> 00:31:42.000 you may be familiar 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:43.279 with Jesus' teaching 00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:44.479 about the unforgivable sin. 00:31:45.160 --> 00:31:46.240 It's kind of somewhat similar, 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:46.539 right? 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:47.240 It's a little bit different, 00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:47.799 but it's similar. 00:31:48.220 --> 00:31:48.860 Some people say, 00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:50.660 what's the unforgivable sin? 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:51.319 Is it like, 00:31:51.360 --> 00:31:51.960 if I do this, 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:52.700 or if I do this? 00:31:53.120 --> 00:31:53.480 Actually, 00:31:53.559 --> 00:31:54.279 what Jesus says, 00:31:54.380 --> 00:31:55.660 there's any sin 00:31:55.660 --> 00:31:56.480 in the whole world 00:31:56.480 --> 00:31:57.259 that is able to be covered 00:31:57.259 --> 00:31:57.980 by his grace, 00:31:58.519 --> 00:32:00.140 except there's one that can't. 00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:01.700 The one that you refuse 00:32:01.700 --> 00:32:02.400 to bring to him. 00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:04.160 The one that you refuse 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:05.880 to come to his only means 00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:06.680 of grace and say, 00:32:06.779 --> 00:32:07.039 God, 00:32:07.079 --> 00:32:07.700 I need you. 00:32:08.120 --> 00:32:08.620 It's the one where 00:32:08.620 --> 00:32:09.500 our hearts are hard 00:32:09.500 --> 00:32:10.339 and callous and say, 00:32:10.940 --> 00:32:11.240 God, 00:32:11.360 --> 00:32:12.339 I'll judge you. 00:32:13.059 --> 00:32:14.259 Who are you to judge me? 00:32:14.759 --> 00:32:15.640 That's the only sin 00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:16.759 that they cannot be graced from 00:32:16.759 --> 00:32:17.940 because you're not 00:32:17.940 --> 00:32:18.759 bringing yourself 00:32:18.759 --> 00:32:19.539 towards him. 00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:21.400 If you're familiar 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:22.500 with Jesus' parable, 00:32:22.599 --> 00:32:23.880 the two prodigal sons, 00:32:24.120 --> 00:32:25.559 we see something similar here, 00:32:25.620 --> 00:32:25.980 don't we, 00:32:26.039 --> 00:32:26.220 right? 00:32:26.620 --> 00:32:27.579 The younger brother, 00:32:27.779 --> 00:32:28.440 he's clearly 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:29.700 the more immoral one. 00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:31.140 He takes his dad's money, 00:32:31.240 --> 00:32:31.720 he goes off 00:32:31.720 --> 00:32:32.620 into wild country, 00:32:32.900 --> 00:32:34.099 living it up on drinking 00:32:34.099 --> 00:32:34.880 and prostitutes 00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:36.319 and living however he wants. 00:32:36.860 --> 00:32:38.160 And he's far more 00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:39.400 immoral than his brother, 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:41.039 but he comes to his senses 00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:41.940 and he says, 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:42.879 what am I doing? 00:32:43.099 --> 00:32:44.240 And he realizes 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:44.899 what he's done 00:32:44.899 --> 00:32:45.839 and he goes home 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:46.240 and he says, 00:32:46.379 --> 00:32:46.639 Father, 00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:48.019 I've sinned before heaven 00:32:48.019 --> 00:32:49.019 and against you. 00:32:49.460 --> 00:32:49.859 Father, 00:32:50.019 --> 00:32:50.819 I'm so sorry, 00:32:50.859 --> 00:32:51.480 I'm not worthy 00:32:51.480 --> 00:32:52.460 to be called your son. 00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:54.559 And the father says, 00:32:55.379 --> 00:32:56.680 slaughter the fattened calf. 00:32:57.059 --> 00:32:58.119 My son is home. 00:32:58.399 --> 00:32:59.039 He's welcome. 00:32:59.180 --> 00:32:59.819 Bring the ring, 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:00.680 bring the robe. 00:33:01.319 --> 00:33:02.159 Let's celebrate. 00:33:02.159 --> 00:33:04.119 But the other son, 00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:05.099 the older brother, 00:33:05.700 --> 00:33:06.480 he's sinister, 00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:07.880 he's brooding, 00:33:08.140 --> 00:33:09.120 he's angry, 00:33:09.279 --> 00:33:10.079 he's jealous. 00:33:10.519 --> 00:33:11.339 And the father says, 00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:11.660 come, 00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:12.299 come inside, 00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:12.980 you brother's home. 00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:13.339 He says, 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:14.420 get lost. 00:33:14.759 --> 00:33:16.019 Why should I come inside? 00:33:16.440 --> 00:33:17.799 That son of yours 00:33:17.799 --> 00:33:19.460 wasted all my inheritance. 00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:21.019 And he's brooding 00:33:21.019 --> 00:33:21.819 and he's angry 00:33:21.819 --> 00:33:23.200 and he will not reconcile. 00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:24.200 And Jesus leaves 00:33:24.200 --> 00:33:25.099 the parable open 00:33:25.099 --> 00:33:25.860 and he's asking us 00:33:25.860 --> 00:33:26.420 the question, 00:33:26.980 --> 00:33:27.640 which one are you? 00:33:28.460 --> 00:33:29.240 Which one are you? 00:33:30.299 --> 00:33:31.620 Are you going to receive grace 00:33:31.620 --> 00:33:33.480 or are you going to stay far away? 00:33:34.500 --> 00:33:34.799 Friends, 00:33:34.860 --> 00:33:36.059 how do we find grace? 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:37.200 How do we come 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:38.579 into this amazing relationship 00:33:38.579 --> 00:33:39.799 with the amazing God 00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:40.339 of the Bible? 00:33:41.099 --> 00:33:41.900 We come to him 00:33:41.900 --> 00:33:42.240 in our hands 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:42.480 and say, 00:33:42.579 --> 00:33:42.839 Jesus, 00:33:42.940 --> 00:33:43.480 I need you. 00:33:44.200 --> 00:33:44.539 God, 00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:45.200 I need you. 00:33:45.700 --> 00:33:46.799 I don't have what it takes. 00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:47.599 We come to the one 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:49.220 who stands with arms wide open, 00:33:49.380 --> 00:33:50.079 ready to welcome 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:50.539 and forgive 00:33:50.539 --> 00:33:51.420 with healing grace 00:33:51.420 --> 00:33:52.240 and say, 00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:52.579 Jesus, 00:33:52.700 --> 00:33:53.240 I need you. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:54.200 Well, 00:33:54.220 --> 00:33:54.380 friends, 00:33:54.420 --> 00:33:56.220 as we come to the last section here, 00:33:56.319 --> 00:33:57.660 look at verse 37 00:33:57.660 --> 00:33:58.259 and onwards, 00:33:58.640 --> 00:33:59.579 remembering grace, 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:00.779 remembering grace. 00:34:01.819 --> 00:34:02.880 As we come to a close, 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:03.640 how should we, 00:34:03.799 --> 00:34:04.480 what should we do? 00:34:04.620 --> 00:34:05.680 What does this mean for our lives? 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:05.920 Well, 00:34:06.360 --> 00:34:07.000 in scripture, 00:34:07.600 --> 00:34:08.559 the way to grow 00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:09.579 in spiritual maturity 00:34:09.579 --> 00:34:10.639 and therefore the way 00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:12.740 to attain the spiritual blessings 00:34:12.740 --> 00:34:13.619 that God promises, 00:34:14.280 --> 00:34:15.099 grace and peace 00:34:15.099 --> 00:34:15.860 and all these things, 00:34:16.260 --> 00:34:17.680 is not by telling yourself, 00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:18.960 I'm a Christian now. 00:34:19.019 --> 00:34:21.019 I better do what good Christians do. 00:34:21.380 --> 00:34:21.599 Okay? 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:22.420 That's not the way 00:34:22.420 --> 00:34:23.360 to grow in grace. 00:34:23.940 --> 00:34:25.199 The way to grow in grace, 00:34:25.299 --> 00:34:26.380 that's the worst thing you can do. 00:34:26.460 --> 00:34:27.619 The way to grow as a Christian 00:34:27.619 --> 00:34:29.420 is to remember 00:34:29.420 --> 00:34:31.199 what Christ has done, 00:34:31.719 --> 00:34:32.699 is to remember 00:34:32.699 --> 00:34:33.339 the depths 00:34:33.339 --> 00:34:34.400 from where he saved us. 00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:36.460 Remember the grace of God 00:34:36.460 --> 00:34:37.259 to never, 00:34:37.619 --> 00:34:38.219 ever forget 00:34:38.219 --> 00:34:39.299 what God has done. 00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:40.299 Remember the grace 00:34:40.299 --> 00:34:41.119 in which you stand. 00:34:41.559 --> 00:34:42.699 Remember how you're saved 00:34:42.699 --> 00:34:43.599 by grace alone. 00:34:44.099 --> 00:34:45.139 Remember that you were dead 00:34:45.139 --> 00:34:45.599 in your sins, 00:34:45.699 --> 00:34:46.860 but God in his great love 00:34:46.860 --> 00:34:47.619 raised you up 00:34:47.619 --> 00:34:48.380 and saved you. 00:34:48.679 --> 00:34:50.119 Remember the grace of God 00:34:50.119 --> 00:34:50.980 and run to it 00:34:50.980 --> 00:34:52.079 and let it infiltrate 00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:53.460 every aspect of your life. 00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:55.380 Friends, as Christians, 00:34:55.539 --> 00:34:56.339 the way that Christians 00:34:56.339 --> 00:34:57.259 change deeply 00:34:57.259 --> 00:34:58.799 is when the grace of God 00:34:58.799 --> 00:34:59.799 intersects 00:34:59.799 --> 00:35:01.839 with a very real problem 00:35:01.839 --> 00:35:02.559 in our lives. 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:04.099 When the real everyday 00:35:04.099 --> 00:35:04.960 stuff of life 00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:05.799 intersects 00:35:05.799 --> 00:35:06.619 with the grace of God, 00:35:06.759 --> 00:35:07.719 that's how our hearts 00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:08.739 change deeply. 00:35:09.719 --> 00:35:11.019 And in this final section, 00:35:11.739 --> 00:35:13.039 God wants his people 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:14.699 to remember the grace of God 00:35:14.699 --> 00:35:15.819 every single day 00:35:15.819 --> 00:35:17.199 and so be changed by it. 00:35:17.639 --> 00:35:18.399 And so what does he do? 00:35:18.899 --> 00:35:19.739 He tells them to 00:35:19.739 --> 00:35:21.139 make some tassels, 00:35:21.239 --> 00:35:21.699 some kind of like 00:35:21.699 --> 00:35:22.679 long threads 00:35:22.679 --> 00:35:24.939 to put blue material 00:35:24.939 --> 00:35:26.119 or thread in them 00:35:26.119 --> 00:35:27.379 and to tie them 00:35:27.379 --> 00:35:28.099 to the hems 00:35:28.099 --> 00:35:28.819 of their cloaks. 00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:30.379 Now why should they do that? 00:35:30.439 --> 00:35:31.239 Well, two reasons. 00:35:31.759 --> 00:35:32.139 The one, 00:35:32.500 --> 00:35:33.379 the hem of the cloak 00:35:33.379 --> 00:35:34.059 in the ancient world 00:35:34.059 --> 00:35:35.000 is kind of an extension 00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:35.899 of your identity. 00:35:36.339 --> 00:35:37.219 It is who you are. 00:35:37.559 --> 00:35:38.179 Remember when 00:35:38.179 --> 00:35:39.480 David is in the cave 00:35:39.480 --> 00:35:40.539 and Saul comes 00:35:40.539 --> 00:35:41.480 and he cuts off 00:35:41.480 --> 00:35:42.639 the hem of Saul's cloak. 00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:44.059 Why is that so offensive? 00:35:44.259 --> 00:35:45.119 It's not just that he ruined 00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:46.219 his designer jacket. 00:35:46.219 --> 00:35:47.299 It's that it's a way 00:35:47.299 --> 00:35:48.559 of saying you're dead to me. 00:35:48.879 --> 00:35:49.000 Right? 00:35:49.159 --> 00:35:50.299 He's cutting off his identity. 00:35:50.839 --> 00:35:52.079 So the hems of your cloak 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:52.959 there's this analogy 00:35:52.959 --> 00:35:53.759 there's this kind of extension 00:35:53.759 --> 00:35:54.379 of who you are. 00:35:54.799 --> 00:35:55.819 Many people in the ancient world 00:35:55.819 --> 00:35:56.819 had their initials 00:35:56.819 --> 00:35:57.339 or signature 00:35:57.339 --> 00:35:58.039 kind of sewed 00:35:58.039 --> 00:35:58.439 into the hem 00:35:58.439 --> 00:35:58.959 of their cloak. 00:35:58.960 --> 00:36:00.900 But the other thing 00:36:00.900 --> 00:36:02.000 is there's this blue thread. 00:36:02.099 --> 00:36:02.679 The blue thread 00:36:02.679 --> 00:36:03.679 is the veil 00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:04.780 between the holy place 00:36:04.780 --> 00:36:05.780 and the most holy place 00:36:05.780 --> 00:36:07.320 is made of blue material. 00:36:08.099 --> 00:36:08.900 And God wants them 00:36:08.900 --> 00:36:10.500 to every single day 00:36:10.500 --> 00:36:11.159 with the clothing 00:36:11.159 --> 00:36:11.400 up there 00:36:11.400 --> 00:36:12.059 as they're walking 00:36:12.059 --> 00:36:12.559 the streets 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:13.780 as these tussles 00:36:13.780 --> 00:36:14.320 are shaking 00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:15.280 and maybe shining 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:15.760 in the sun 00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:17.420 every day to remember 00:36:17.420 --> 00:36:19.860 we stand by God's grace alone. 00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:21.039 Who am I? 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:21.980 Who is my identity? 00:36:22.500 --> 00:36:23.019 My identity 00:36:23.019 --> 00:36:23.840 is not my work 00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:24.840 or my job 00:36:24.840 --> 00:36:26.119 or whether I have 00:36:26.119 --> 00:36:26.539 a boyfriend 00:36:26.539 --> 00:36:27.119 or a girlfriend 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:28.000 or my kids 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:28.759 or my parenting. 00:36:29.539 --> 00:36:30.079 My identity 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:30.559 is the fact 00:36:30.559 --> 00:36:32.019 that I'm saved by grace. 00:36:32.539 --> 00:36:33.779 That I was dead in hell 00:36:33.779 --> 00:36:34.960 destined for an eternity 00:36:34.960 --> 00:36:35.639 without God. 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:36.599 But God 00:36:36.599 --> 00:36:37.699 in his rich mercy 00:36:37.699 --> 00:36:39.239 Jesus went to the cross 00:36:39.239 --> 00:36:39.420 for me 00:36:39.420 --> 00:36:40.119 and saved me 00:36:40.119 --> 00:36:40.719 and brought me 00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:41.440 into the family 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:42.279 and given me 00:36:42.279 --> 00:36:43.219 a seat at the table. 00:36:44.460 --> 00:36:44.739 Friends, 00:36:44.819 --> 00:36:46.000 many, many years later 00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:47.880 Jesus Christ 00:36:47.880 --> 00:36:49.259 was sitting 00:36:49.259 --> 00:36:49.900 at the 00:36:49.900 --> 00:36:50.920 celebrating 00:36:50.920 --> 00:36:52.059 the Passover meal 00:36:52.059 --> 00:36:53.779 with his friends 00:36:53.779 --> 00:36:55.000 his disciples. 00:36:55.739 --> 00:36:56.460 The Passover meal 00:36:56.460 --> 00:36:57.659 was a covenant meal 00:36:57.659 --> 00:36:59.240 and they're remembering 00:36:59.240 --> 00:37:00.000 the way that God 00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:01.300 had rescued his people 00:37:01.300 --> 00:37:02.280 from Egypt 00:37:02.280 --> 00:37:03.440 by the blood of the Lamb. 00:37:04.420 --> 00:37:05.519 And at that table 00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:07.280 Jesus takes some bread 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:08.980 and he breaks it 00:37:08.980 --> 00:37:10.119 and he says 00:37:10.119 --> 00:37:10.599 tomorrow 00:37:10.599 --> 00:37:12.059 my body 00:37:12.059 --> 00:37:12.940 the real 00:37:12.940 --> 00:37:14.599 the Passover lamb 00:37:14.599 --> 00:37:15.380 is going to be broken 00:37:15.380 --> 00:37:15.920 for you. 00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:17.740 And then he says 00:37:17.740 --> 00:37:19.139 whenever you gather 00:37:19.139 --> 00:37:20.639 break bread 00:37:20.639 --> 00:37:22.179 in remembrance of me. 00:37:22.780 --> 00:37:23.940 In remembrance of me. 00:37:23.940 --> 00:37:26.039 Jesus takes a glass 00:37:26.039 --> 00:37:26.480 of wine 00:37:26.480 --> 00:37:27.880 and he says 00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:28.340 tomorrow 00:37:28.340 --> 00:37:28.920 my blood 00:37:28.920 --> 00:37:29.679 is going to be shed 00:37:29.679 --> 00:37:30.179 for you 00:37:30.179 --> 00:37:31.019 for the forgiveness 00:37:31.019 --> 00:37:31.720 of sins. 00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:33.360 Whenever you gather 00:37:33.360 --> 00:37:34.019 do so 00:37:34.019 --> 00:37:34.679 and drink 00:37:34.679 --> 00:37:35.519 in remembrance 00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:36.019 of me. 00:37:36.200 --> 00:37:37.539 Remember my grace. 00:37:39.059 --> 00:37:40.000 I think you've got 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:41.019 communion elements 00:37:41.019 --> 00:37:41.360 with you 00:37:41.360 --> 00:37:41.780 don't you? 00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:42.840 Friends, 00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:44.179 if you follow Jesus 00:37:44.179 --> 00:37:44.920 we're going to take 00:37:44.920 --> 00:37:46.000 communion together now. 00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:47.579 Why don't you open 00:37:47.579 --> 00:37:48.039 that up? 00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:49.780 If you're not a follower 00:37:49.780 --> 00:37:50.200 of Jesus 00:37:50.199 --> 00:37:53.559 this is us remembering. 00:37:53.839 --> 00:37:54.960 This is us having a meal. 00:37:55.139 --> 00:37:55.460 I'm sorry 00:37:55.460 --> 00:37:56.719 this is a pretty pathetic meal 00:37:56.719 --> 00:37:57.639 compared to a bull 00:37:57.639 --> 00:37:58.299 and goats 00:37:58.299 --> 00:37:58.939 and lambs 00:37:58.939 --> 00:37:59.879 and oil 00:37:59.879 --> 00:38:00.699 and everything else. 00:38:01.399 --> 00:38:02.299 But this is meant 00:38:02.299 --> 00:38:03.339 to be a meal. 00:38:03.460 --> 00:38:04.379 Every week we gather 00:38:04.379 --> 00:38:05.139 every second week 00:38:05.139 --> 00:38:05.500 we gather 00:38:05.500 --> 00:38:06.319 we have a meal 00:38:06.319 --> 00:38:08.199 and God is with us 00:38:08.199 --> 00:38:08.899 and he looks us 00:38:08.899 --> 00:38:09.519 in the eye 00:38:09.519 --> 00:38:10.919 and he says two things 00:38:10.919 --> 00:38:12.319 I love you 00:38:12.319 --> 00:38:13.980 I'm not done with you 00:38:13.980 --> 00:38:15.619 my grace is sufficient. 00:38:15.619 --> 00:38:19.599 Friends, 00:38:19.659 --> 00:38:20.059 are you a follower 00:38:20.059 --> 00:38:20.460 of Jesus? 00:38:22.759 --> 00:38:23.380 Christ's body 00:38:23.380 --> 00:38:24.119 broken for you. 00:38:25.179 --> 00:38:26.199 Remember what he's done. 00:38:27.460 --> 00:38:27.759 Friends, 00:38:27.839 --> 00:38:28.299 this week 00:38:28.299 --> 00:38:29.599 when you go to the office 00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:31.000 there are going to be 00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:32.099 a thousand reasons 00:38:32.099 --> 00:38:33.299 why you think 00:38:33.299 --> 00:38:34.420 that your identity 00:38:34.420 --> 00:38:35.679 is built on meritocracy 00:38:35.679 --> 00:38:36.539 and how good you are 00:38:36.539 --> 00:38:37.440 how well you perform. 00:38:38.539 --> 00:38:38.839 Friends, 00:38:38.940 --> 00:38:39.940 in the journey of life 00:38:39.940 --> 00:38:40.719 through the wilderness 00:38:40.719 --> 00:38:42.219 there are a thousand voices 00:38:42.219 --> 00:38:43.480 Justin reminded us 00:38:43.480 --> 00:38:43.880 this morning 00:38:43.880 --> 00:38:44.719 there are a thousand voices 00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:45.380 in our lives 00:38:45.380 --> 00:38:46.599 and the voices 00:38:46.599 --> 00:38:47.300 are all saying 00:38:47.300 --> 00:38:48.280 you're not good enough 00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:49.400 you suck 00:38:49.400 --> 00:38:51.019 if only you were better 00:38:51.019 --> 00:38:52.460 or they say 00:38:52.460 --> 00:38:53.340 look how good you are 00:38:53.340 --> 00:38:54.200 you must be amazing 00:38:54.200 --> 00:38:54.900 you're better 00:38:54.900 --> 00:38:55.940 than everybody else. 00:38:57.559 --> 00:38:57.960 Friends, 00:38:58.019 --> 00:38:58.519 your identity 00:38:58.519 --> 00:38:59.780 is built on shaky ground 00:38:59.780 --> 00:39:01.519 but if you want to 00:39:01.519 --> 00:39:02.000 make it through 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:02.460 the wilderness 00:39:02.460 --> 00:39:03.380 if you want to get 00:39:03.380 --> 00:39:04.380 to the promised land 00:39:04.380 --> 00:39:05.599 if you want to get 00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:06.140 out of Egypt 00:39:06.140 --> 00:39:07.320 and make it all the way 00:39:07.320 --> 00:39:07.840 to glory 00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:09.039 remember 00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:10.840 remember the grace 00:39:10.840 --> 00:39:11.220 of Christ. 00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:11.680 Friends, 00:39:12.300 --> 00:39:12.820 Christ's body 00:39:12.820 --> 00:39:13.500 broken for you 00:39:13.500 --> 00:39:14.140 on the cross 00:39:14.139 --> 00:39:15.500 your sins 00:39:15.500 --> 00:39:16.039 covered 00:39:16.039 --> 00:39:17.139 your shame 00:39:17.139 --> 00:39:17.819 done away with 00:39:17.819 --> 00:39:19.259 Jesus died for you 00:39:19.259 --> 00:39:19.679 let's eat 00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:20.199 and remember 00:39:20.199 --> 00:39:21.940 what Jesus did for us. 00:39:21.940 --> 00:39:34.639 at the end of the meal 00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:37.159 Jesus takes a glass of wine 00:39:37.159 --> 00:39:38.039 he says 00:39:38.039 --> 00:39:38.539 my blood 00:39:38.539 --> 00:39:39.119 shed for you 00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:39.720 for the forgiveness 00:39:39.720 --> 00:39:40.340 of sins 00:39:40.340 --> 00:39:41.900 grace 00:39:41.900 --> 00:39:43.420 covers the shame 00:39:43.420 --> 00:39:45.099 takes the stain 00:39:45.099 --> 00:39:48.760 travels outside of karma 00:39:48.760 --> 00:39:50.940 it swallows karma 00:39:50.940 --> 00:39:52.240 grace 00:39:52.240 --> 00:39:52.860 Christ's blood 00:39:52.860 --> 00:39:53.600 shed for us 00:39:53.600 --> 00:39:54.560 drink and remember 00:39:54.560 --> 00:39:55.580 what Jesus did for us. 00:40:00.080 --> 00:40:00.860 Jesus today 00:40:00.860 --> 00:40:02.060 we drink of your grace 00:40:02.060 --> 00:40:03.820 remember what you did 00:40:03.820 --> 00:40:04.300 for us 00:40:04.300 --> 00:40:06.760 thank you Christ 00:40:06.760 --> 00:40:07.700 for dying on the cross 00:40:07.700 --> 00:40:09.200 thank you God 00:40:09.200 --> 00:40:09.740 the ultimate 00:40:09.740 --> 00:40:10.700 lamb of God 00:40:10.700 --> 00:40:11.420 thank you Jesus 00:40:11.420 --> 00:40:12.700 for rising again 00:40:12.700 --> 00:40:14.600 you didn't just die 00:40:14.600 --> 00:40:15.540 as an example 00:40:15.539 --> 00:40:17.380 you didn't just die 00:40:17.380 --> 00:40:19.000 to show us 00:40:19.000 --> 00:40:19.980 how to be sacrificial 00:40:19.980 --> 00:40:20.659 and selfless 00:40:20.659 --> 00:40:21.079 and loving 00:40:21.079 --> 00:40:22.940 you died for our sins 00:40:22.940 --> 00:40:23.920 and you rose again 00:40:23.920 --> 00:40:25.139 and now you 00:40:25.139 --> 00:40:26.039 sit in the throne 00:40:26.039 --> 00:40:26.440 of heaven 00:40:26.440 --> 00:40:26.880 and you 00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:28.199 intercede for us 00:40:28.199 --> 00:40:29.079 and you welcome us 00:40:29.079 --> 00:40:30.099 and you pray for us 00:40:30.099 --> 00:40:31.159 and you apply the blood 00:40:31.159 --> 00:40:32.320 of your death 00:40:32.320 --> 00:40:32.779 for us 00:40:32.779 --> 00:40:35.179 and you welcome us 00:40:35.179 --> 00:40:35.400 home 00:40:35.400 --> 00:40:37.659 God we love you 00:40:37.659 --> 00:40:38.679 we need you 00:40:38.679 --> 00:40:40.039 we thank you 00:40:40.039 --> 00:40:41.480 remind us 00:40:41.480 --> 00:40:42.199 day by day 00:40:42.199 --> 00:40:42.960 God I pray 00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:44.179 that Lord I pray 00:40:44.179 --> 00:40:45.099 for anybody here 00:40:45.099 --> 00:40:46.220 today that feels 00:40:46.220 --> 00:40:46.699 unworthy 00:40:46.699 --> 00:40:48.740 pray God for anybody 00:40:48.740 --> 00:40:49.380 here that 00:40:49.380 --> 00:40:50.980 the voice of their 00:40:50.980 --> 00:40:51.920 mind is telling 00:40:51.920 --> 00:40:52.720 them you're not 00:40:52.720 --> 00:40:53.240 good enough 00:40:53.240 --> 00:40:55.380 I pray God 00:40:55.380 --> 00:40:55.960 for those that 00:40:55.960 --> 00:40:56.679 have grown up 00:40:56.679 --> 00:40:57.380 with parents 00:40:57.380 --> 00:40:57.740 that 00:40:57.740 --> 00:41:00.800 maybe life 00:41:00.800 --> 00:41:01.340 worked on the 00:41:01.340 --> 00:41:01.840 basis of 00:41:01.840 --> 00:41:02.460 meritocracy 00:41:02.460 --> 00:41:04.440 that love was 00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:04.960 given to us 00:41:04.960 --> 00:41:05.460 on the basis 00:41:05.460 --> 00:41:06.320 of good grades 00:41:06.320 --> 00:41:07.599 or filial piety 00:41:07.599 --> 00:41:09.079 oh God 00:41:09.079 --> 00:41:10.099 by your power 00:41:10.099 --> 00:41:10.980 break that over 00:41:10.980 --> 00:41:11.420 our hearts 00:41:11.420 --> 00:41:12.019 and our lives 00:41:12.019 --> 00:41:13.440 remind us 00:41:13.440 --> 00:41:13.820 that God 00:41:13.820 --> 00:41:14.320 you are a 00:41:14.320 --> 00:41:14.860 different kind 00:41:14.860 --> 00:41:15.380 of parent 00:41:15.380 --> 00:41:16.800 that your 00:41:16.800 --> 00:41:17.599 kingdom operates 00:41:17.599 --> 00:41:18.219 on a different 00:41:18.219 --> 00:41:19.119 ethic completely 00:41:19.119 --> 00:41:20.980 by your spirit 00:41:20.980 --> 00:41:21.639 God set us 00:41:21.639 --> 00:41:21.920 free 00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:24.539 Jesus 00:41:24.539 --> 00:41:25.079 I pray that 00:41:25.079 --> 00:41:25.699 the grace 00:41:25.699 --> 00:41:26.259 of the living 00:41:26.259 --> 00:41:26.639 God 00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:28.099 will intersect 00:41:28.099 --> 00:41:28.820 with the very 00:41:28.820 --> 00:41:29.719 real issues 00:41:29.719 --> 00:41:30.480 of our lives 00:41:30.480 --> 00:41:31.719 in such a way 00:41:31.719 --> 00:41:32.360 that changes 00:41:32.360 --> 00:41:33.099 us 00:41:33.099 --> 00:41:35.239 oh spirit 00:41:35.239 --> 00:41:35.559 of God 00:41:35.559 --> 00:41:36.039 do that 00:41:36.039 --> 00:41:36.559 do that 00:41:36.559 --> 00:41:37.099 in our midst 00:41:37.099 --> 00:41:38.199 do that 00:41:38.199 --> 00:41:38.719 even now 00:41:38.719 --> 00:41:40.199 help us 00:41:40.199 --> 00:41:40.659 to walk 00:41:40.659 --> 00:41:41.099 out of here 00:41:41.099 --> 00:41:41.719 differently 00:41:41.719 --> 00:41:43.039 because we've 00:41:43.039 --> 00:41:43.480 encountered 00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:43.859 the God 00:41:43.859 --> 00:41:44.419 of grace 00:41:44.419 --> 00:41:52.459 we're going to 00:41:52.459 --> 00:41:53.039 sing a song 00:41:53.039 --> 00:41:53.500 that we've been 00:41:53.500 --> 00:41:54.139 singing the last 00:41:54.139 --> 00:41:54.719 few weeks 00:41:54.719 --> 00:41:56.319 faithful he has 00:41:56.319 --> 00:41:56.519 been 00:41:56.519 --> 00:41:57.279 faithful he will 00:41:57.279 --> 00:41:57.619 be 00:41:57.619 --> 00:41:59.139 gracious he has 00:41:59.139 --> 00:41:59.399 been 00:41:59.399 --> 00:42:00.319 gracious he will 00:42:00.319 --> 00:42:01.239 be 00:42:01.239 --> 00:42:02.879 worthy he has 00:42:02.879 --> 00:42:03.119 been 00:42:03.119 --> 00:42:03.819 worthy he will 00:42:03.819 --> 00:42:04.099 be 00:42:04.099 --> 00:42:05.799 why don't you 00:42:05.799 --> 00:42:06.399 stand and let's 00:42:06.399 --> 00:42:07.000 sing this together 00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:07.559 and if you would 00:42:07.559 --> 00:42:08.199 like prayer for 00:42:08.199 --> 00:42:08.839 anything there are 00:42:08.839 --> 00:42:09.219 going to be 00:42:09.219 --> 00:42:09.719 prayer stewards 00:42:09.719 --> 00:42:10.139 around the 00:42:10.139 --> 00:42:10.379 room 00:42:10.379 --> 00:42:12.519 that can be 00:42:12.519 --> 00:42:13.059 related to 00:42:13.059 --> 00:42:13.459 sermon or 00:42:13.459 --> 00:42:13.899 anything else 00:42:13.899 --> 00:42:14.480 once you come 00:42:14.480 --> 00:42:14.919 to a prayer 00:42:14.919 --> 00:42:15.439 student we'd 00:42:15.439 --> 00:42:16.079 love to pray 00:42:16.079 --> 00:42:16.659 with you 00:42:16.659 --> 00:42:18.759 let's for the 00:42:18.759 --> 00:42:19.119 rest of us 00:42:19.119 --> 00:42:19.619 let's worship 00:42:19.619 --> 00:42:20.000 and sing 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:20.219 now 00:42:20.919 --> 00:42:21.879 let's pray 00:42:21.879 --> 00:42:21.879 00:42:21.879 --> 00:42:21.879 00:42:21.879 --> 00:42:21.879 00:42:21.879 --> 00:42:21.879 00:42:21.879 --> 00:42:21.879 00:42:21.879 --> 00:42:22.399 let's pray 00:42:22.399 --> 00:42:23.419 let's pray 00:42:23.419 --> 00:42:23.699 let's pray 00:42:23.699 --> 00:42:24.419 let's pray 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419 00:42:24.419 --> 00:42:24.419