WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.320 To many of us, this is just an ordinary warm day in a warm building, but to some of you, 00:00:07.820 --> 00:00:14.359 this is bringing back fond memories, right? National Baptist Memorial Church was pretty warm. 00:00:15.040 --> 00:00:21.859 And then who here was a part of Advent when we were in Casa? Yeah, a few, right? Right. 00:00:22.100 --> 00:00:27.359 The advantage of that building was that there was a hole in the roof, so some of the air could 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:37.000 escape out. So, yeah, God is good. And they're checking on making sure the AC is working well. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:41.700 They're going to see if they can turn it on or something. They're on it. They're on it. 00:00:42.519 --> 00:00:49.679 We are almost halfway through our study of Psalms 113 to 118. These psalms are called the Hallel 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:57.340 Psalms. Hallel means praise. Psalm 113 begins with the command, praise the Lord, or hallelujah. 00:00:58.339 --> 00:01:06.060 Today's psalm, Psalm 115, ends with the same command, praise the Lord. Psalm 113 set the stage, asking 00:01:06.060 --> 00:01:15.739 who is like the Lord our God? We saw how great God is, and yet the great God stoops down to care 00:01:15.739 --> 00:01:24.140 for the poor and the weak. Psalm 114 shows how God's greatness and his stoopiness, 00:01:24.140 --> 00:01:35.060 his imminence. Stupidness, that's a theological term. His imminence, yeah, was demonstrated in the 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:43.319 Exodus, okay? God rescued Israel from slavery, and then he descended and dwelled in the midst of his 00:01:43.319 --> 00:01:51.780 people. Today we arrive at Psalm 115. At the center of this psalm is a scathing commentary on the practice 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:57.019 of idolatry. It would be easy to let ourselves off the hook here. After all, there's not many in this 00:01:57.019 --> 00:02:01.939 room who are going about carving silver and gold into statues and sending them around our house and 00:02:01.939 --> 00:02:09.979 bowing down and worshiping those statues. Yet, when we peer into our hearts, we realize we do this all 00:02:09.979 --> 00:02:17.379 the time. All the time. Martin Luther wrote, anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say that 00:02:17.379 --> 00:02:26.259 really is your God. So what about you? What does your heart truly rely and depend on? Where do you look 00:02:26.259 --> 00:02:37.979 for security, meaning, fulfillment, happiness, or comfort? When you're pressured or tense, what is the thing you go to? 00:02:37.979 --> 00:02:45.759 What is the thing that if you finally got it, you think would finally make you happy? 00:02:47.679 --> 00:02:54.219 We know we should say God to all those questions, but our hearts usually identify something else. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:01.439 Today we're going to look at those idols and how we can be free of them. But first we'll look deeper 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:05.359 into this psalm. We're going to look at the psalm, look at our idols, and see how we can be free of them. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:13.700 Let's pray. We need your help to understand your word, Lord. Without your spirit, we are blind to 00:03:13.700 --> 00:03:21.140 your glory, deaf to your word, and incapable of speaking back your praises. Without your spirit, 00:03:21.220 --> 00:03:27.520 we are too prideful to admit what's wrong with us, and then to experience your healing and forgiveness. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:34.640 So open our hearts to your word. Open your word to our hearts. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:03:36.700 --> 00:03:42.320 England had just won an historic battle against all odds. Greatly outnumbered on the fields of Agincourt, 00:03:42.480 --> 00:03:48.680 England relied on its archers and light infantry to defeat a much larger and heavily armored French 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:57.000 army. In this dramatic portrayal of these events, Shakespeare records Henry V being given news of 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:04.240 their victory. And Henry says, do we all holy rites let there be sung the non nobis and the te deum. 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:12.180 All the psalms have Latin names to them, and this psalm, Psalm 115, is named the non nobis. It's the 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:19.319 first three words. Non nobis domine. Not to us, O Lord. This is one of the most famous psalms from the 00:04:19.319 --> 00:04:24.759 Bible. It's appeared throughout history to celebrate victories and to give God credit for them. It was 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:29.420 sung in the fields of Agincourt. History records that when it was sung, the soldiers were required 00:04:29.420 --> 00:04:35.379 to bend the knee at the first verse. When the bill was signed in England abolishing the slave trade, 00:04:35.500 --> 00:04:41.500 William Wilberforce meditated on the first verse of this psalm. However, when this psalm was written, 00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:47.800 Israel had not just secured a victory or seen God recently work on its behalf. Israel seemed to be 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:54.300 in a bad place. How do we know? Look at verse two. They're being taunted by their enemies. The person 00:04:54.300 --> 00:05:00.120 writing the psalm was offering praise to God in expectation that God would deliver them, that he 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:05.420 would be their help and shield, that he would richly bless Israel in the future, that he would do what the 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:12.840 gods of the other nations can't do, for those gods are dumb, inanimate objects made by human hands. 00:05:13.860 --> 00:05:19.680 Those who trust in God will flourish. Those who trust in idols will become like the idols, dead. 00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:28.560 The psalm, and many like it, are very instructive. They offer praise to God from a place of expectation 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:36.079 and longing and need. They're statements of trust. God has proved himself for me and to us over and over, 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:40.040 and he will prove himself again, and I will not put my trust in anything else. 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:45.939 Now, when we read and interpret a psalm, we ask two questions. First, why was it written? 00:05:47.220 --> 00:05:51.579 That helps us understand the psalm. The second is, why was it put in the psalms here? Like, 00:05:51.579 --> 00:06:01.060 why is Psalm 115 not Psalm 82 or 148? Well, let's look at what becomes, what comes before this psalm. 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:07.279 Psalm 113, we looked at it two weeks ago. It answered the question, or asked the question, 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:12.639 who is like the Lord our God? Well, certainly not these little idols of silver and gold. 00:06:13.799 --> 00:06:17.759 The psalm right before this, Psalm 114, recounts the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:24.439 And so this psalm stands as a judgment on the idolatry of Egypt and on the idolatry of the 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:30.779 nations surrounding Israel. It brings to mind the ten plagues. Moses had received instruction to tell 00:06:30.779 --> 00:06:37.839 Pharaoh to release his people from slavery. Pharaoh refused, and so God sent plagues as judgment on 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:42.539 Egypt. And they seem a bit random at first when you look at the plagues. A swarm of locusts, 00:06:42.540 --> 00:06:48.680 turning a river to blood, sending frogs. I mean, I would have sent dragons, fire-breathing dragons. 00:06:51.200 --> 00:06:57.780 That seems like a more dramatic demonstration of judgment. But God was bringing judgment on the 00:06:57.780 --> 00:07:05.300 idolatry of Egypt, okay? So they worshipped the Nile as a source of life, so God made it a source of death. 00:07:05.520 --> 00:07:11.280 They worshipped the sun, so God made the sun dark and brought a profound darkness on the land. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:19.500 They worshipped frogs. So how do you like these frogs, Egypt? And ultimately, Pharaoh himself, 00:07:19.599 --> 00:07:28.859 who viewed himself as a god, was judged. Sweeping judgment and victory over all of Egypt's idols. 00:07:30.019 --> 00:07:37.919 And yet, throughout its history, Israel constantly gave into the temptation to adopt the gods of the 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:44.920 nations around it. They set up idols all over their own land and worshipped them. I mean, they had just 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:50.180 escaped from Egypt, and they had made it into the wilderness when they had collected all their gold, 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:56.480 melted it down, fashioned a golden calf, and said, Israel, this is the god who brought you out of Egypt. 00:07:56.580 --> 00:07:57.259 This is your god. 00:07:57.259 --> 00:08:09.560 Idolatry would plague Israel throughout its history. Now, idolatry has two major consequences among many. 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:17.079 The first is idolatry is dehumanizing. When God created humanity, male and female, he made them in his own 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:23.959 image. They were to reflect back God's own image. And turning away from God, that image and reflection 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:30.579 becomes marred. Israel, in its worship of God and in its obedience to God, was supposed to fulfill 00:08:30.579 --> 00:08:37.860 its original intention for humanity. But when Israel worshipped that which is not God, the image of God 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:44.720 was reduced in themselves. Idolatry is dehumanizing. It says so in verse 8, right? Those who make idols 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:52.939 become like them. So do all who trust in them. The second big problem with Israel's idolatry is that it 00:08:52.940 --> 00:08:59.500 derailed the mission God gave to Israel. Israel was to declare to the nations that they stood under 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:06.020 God's judgment. But God would show mercy to those who turned to him. Instead, the exact opposite thing 00:09:06.020 --> 00:09:11.140 happened. Instead of calling the nations to repentance, Israel would adopt the lifestyles of 00:09:11.140 --> 00:09:16.240 the nations around them, their beliefs, their idolatry. The image of God was not filling the earth. 00:09:17.140 --> 00:09:21.020 The glory of God was not being proclaimed. The worth of God was not being cherished. 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:33.039 Come on, Israel. But Israel is a mirror to us. It's a mirror for us. When we see Israel, we see 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:38.980 ourselves. When we see them guilty of, we know ourselves are guilty. We find ourselves dehumanized 00:09:38.980 --> 00:09:45.039 by giving the honor that is due to the creator to created things. We find our mission as the church 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:51.860 constantly getting derailed. We've looked at what the psalm says about idolatry. So let's answer 00:09:51.860 --> 00:09:59.839 the question, how are we guilty of idolatry? What are our idols? Remember Luther's quote from earlier. 00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:05.019 He was reflecting on the first commandment, do not have other gods before me. 00:10:05.019 --> 00:10:15.460 Luther writes, a god is the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to 00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:23.519 find refuge in all need. Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:29.860 one with your whole heart. For these two belong together, faith and God. Anything on which your heart 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:39.800 relies and depends, I say, that is your God. Three prominent gods in our culture today, three things 00:10:39.800 --> 00:10:46.700 that our culture sets its heart upon, are money, sex, and power. These things are inherently good things. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:53.180 They were created by God for us to enjoy and to use for his glory. They are intrinsic 00:10:53.179 --> 00:11:01.859 to our being made in God's image. Idolatry happens when a good thing becomes an ultimate good. 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:07.179 We derive our worth from these things. We feel like we can't be happy unless we have them. 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:13.959 Incidentally, we find we can never have enough of them. They never keep their promises except to destroy. 00:11:15.019 --> 00:11:20.799 And when they're threatened, we move to protect them fiercely. They're dehumanizing. Poor I was and 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:28.859 sought for rich is something that would satisfy. But the dust I gathered around me only mocked my soul's loud cry. 00:11:30.620 --> 00:11:34.759 Money, sex, and power. Those are the big three, but there's plenty of others. 00:11:35.839 --> 00:11:46.199 Good things. Things that we can turn into idols. Success, reputation, comfort, order, ease, work, being right. 00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:56.080 How do we discover our idols? I'll suggest four ways to do that. Two questions and two other things. 00:11:56.379 --> 00:12:03.460 Four ways to ask. Four ways to uncover what our idols are. The first is a question. What do you think about when you daydream? 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:11.560 What does your mind go to? Another way to ask that is what is the last thing you think of before you fall asleep? 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:20.979 Try that tonight as an exercise. Our thoughts often go to that one thing that will finally bring us happiness. 00:12:23.539 --> 00:12:31.679 If I can just get this one thing, or this one experience, or this one person, then I'll be happy. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:39.639 Second, second way to unearth your idols is when do you find yourself getting angry? 00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:49.559 Usually an idol lies underneath our anger. For me, it happens at around 9 30 at night, most nights in our house. 00:12:50.819 --> 00:12:58.019 It's after my kids should already be in bed and be asleep. We have four boys. Three of them share a room. 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:01.840 And two of those boys are extroverts. So it is impossible. It will never happen. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:10.159 That our boys, all of them, will be asleep by 9 30. And yet somehow, I'm surprised when a boy comes down and he's still awake. 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:14.679 I act surprised and indignant. What are you still doing awake? 00:13:17.019 --> 00:13:22.019 Oh, you're thirsty? You're not allowed to be thirsty. It's 9 30. Go to bed. 00:13:22.019 --> 00:13:30.899 And then five minutes later, down the steps, what is it? Oh, there's a fly in my room and I can't get to sleep. 00:13:31.059 --> 00:13:38.500 A fly. A fly? Man up. It's just a fly. Get over it. Because nature. Now go to bed. 00:13:38.500 --> 00:13:47.220 The parents in the comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes, used to seem like unrealistic to me until I became a parent. 00:13:47.700 --> 00:13:51.960 And they are a sea of calm compared to what I am at 9 30 at night. 00:13:51.980 --> 00:13:55.440 Because I've made a big idol out of Ease. Ease. 00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:59.100 Ease is the idol that I take out every night after my kids go to bed. 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:03.740 Set it on the TV. I offer to it a drink offering, usually gin and tonic. 00:14:03.740 --> 00:14:06.240 Like, I've become a grandma already. 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:14.820 Turn on Netflix. I browse Netflix. I don't even, like, often actually turn on a film. 00:14:14.899 --> 00:14:19.360 I just add things to my queue. Things I think will make me look sophisticated next time I bring this film out. 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:22.659 Browse Twitter. 00:14:25.960 --> 00:14:29.180 It's a daily liturgy. Every night. Well, most nights. 00:14:29.179 --> 00:14:35.759 Every time I do it, though, this liturgy trains my heart to desire it even more. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:39.659 And I turn into a fool when that idol is threatened. 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:43.219 My idolatry, my anger is so destructive. 00:14:43.339 --> 00:14:45.539 My idol worship is so destructive. 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:48.139 It would be much better if I would just calmly enforce the rules. 00:14:48.259 --> 00:14:50.439 Is that so hard? Oh, you're awake still. 00:14:50.599 --> 00:14:52.459 You've come downstairs. You've broken the rules. 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:54.359 These are the consequences for breaking the rules. 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:55.359 This is what we agreed on. 00:14:55.859 --> 00:14:57.059 I mean, that's not so hard, is it? 00:14:57.059 --> 00:15:01.079 Instead, I act like a fool. 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:06.899 And after bedtime, our house is an unsafe place, and Dad is an unsafe person. 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:11.879 This is really the home my children are going to remember when they grow up. 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:18.659 What are they going to believe about their Heavenly Father based on the way their father acted? 00:15:18.659 --> 00:15:25.139 My idolatry distorts the image of God. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:29.620 And it derails my mission as a father. 00:15:29.620 --> 00:15:35.740 A third way to discern our idols is to ask someone else. 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:39.600 Usually our idols are in blind spots, and we can't see them. 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:41.120 Other people can see them just fine. 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:43.460 If we would just ask them, we would find out what they are. 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:45.320 So ask your housemates. 00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:45.980 They know. 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:49.600 Ask your significant other. 00:15:50.560 --> 00:15:51.700 Ask your friends. 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:53.779 Ask your parents. 00:15:53.860 --> 00:15:54.180 They know. 00:15:54.259 --> 00:15:54.720 They remember. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:55.879 And you still have those idols. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:10.940 As part of our training to be missionaries, I had to call people who knew me well and ask them how I do conflict. 00:16:12.040 --> 00:16:13.700 Like, how am I being received? 00:16:13.860 --> 00:16:14.820 How do I act? 00:16:14.820 --> 00:16:21.100 The exercise wasn't an exercise about idolatry per se, but conflict can often reveal our idols. 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:26.540 So, like, for instance, if your idol is control or power, you're going to try and win every argument. 00:16:27.140 --> 00:16:34.260 Anyways, when I called my parents, both of my parents said that I shut down whenever a conflict arises. 00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:39.740 I would shut down and I would shut them out, and I just refused to engage in the argument. 00:16:39.740 --> 00:16:47.139 And here again is my idol of ease coming out. 00:16:50.220 --> 00:16:54.940 I was causing damage to our relationship because the message they were receiving was, I don't care. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.299 I don't love you enough to work out this difficult thing between us. 00:17:01.060 --> 00:17:02.180 My idol was destructive. 00:17:02.179 --> 00:17:07.179 Now, I said to ask someone else what your idols are. 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:12.500 It's a good thing to discuss our idols with each other because we often share the same idols. 00:17:13.339 --> 00:17:17.899 And they can be destructive as a community and derail our mission as a community. 00:17:20.679 --> 00:17:25.619 A fourth way to expose your idols is to be so immersed in the living God 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:30.240 that you'll see the dead, lifeless gods that have been stealing your loves and your loyalty. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:54.000 We're halfway through the Hallel Psalms, the Praise Psalms, and just before halftime, we read in verse 18, 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:58.279 but we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:17:59.900 Praise the Lord. 00:18:01.980 --> 00:18:06.339 Not only does worship expose our idols, but it removes them as well. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:10.440 We've looked at what the psalm tells us about idolatry. 00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:11.880 We've looked at our own idols. 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:13.940 Now we'll look at how we can be rid of them. 00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:21.339 Our hearts are constantly and dynamically oriented towards a goal, an end. 00:18:21.339 --> 00:18:27.959 It's usually a vision of the good life, something we believe will ultimately bring us happiness. 00:18:28.699 --> 00:18:29.799 Everyone's heart is like this. 00:18:30.579 --> 00:18:34.159 Our worship of God, our immersion in the living God, directs not just our minds, 00:18:34.259 --> 00:18:37.019 but our desires toward God and his kingdom. 00:18:37.539 --> 00:18:41.339 We confess to following too much the devices and desires of our own heart. 00:18:41.399 --> 00:18:42.439 That's in our prayer book, right? 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:46.199 Every week in worship, we have forgiveness pronounced over us. 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:49.940 And in taking communion, we're fed spiritually with what our hearts truly need. 00:18:50.539 --> 00:18:53.580 And if we're doing it right, we're spending time with Christians throughout the week, 00:18:53.900 --> 00:18:58.440 praying, worshiping, spending time alone in prayer and in the Bible. 00:18:58.860 --> 00:19:04.279 These practices of worshiping on Sundays combined together with regular times of prayer by ourselves 00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:07.500 and with other Christians can be called spiritual formation. 00:19:08.180 --> 00:19:11.200 Now everyone experiences spiritual formation because everybody worships. 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:14.799 Therefore, everyone is being oriented towards something. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:17.919 Everyone is going through some kind of spiritual formation. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:20.279 Dallas Willard writes this, 00:19:20.919 --> 00:19:26.419 Spiritual formation, without regard to any specifically religious context or tradition, 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:32.180 is the process by which the human spirit or will is given a definite form or character. 00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:36.059 Make no mistake, it is a process that happens to everyone. 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:41.519 The most despicable as well as the most admirable of persons have had a spiritual formation. 00:19:42.379 --> 00:19:44.220 Their spirits or hearts have been formed. 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:48.960 We all become a certain kind of person, gain a specific character, 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:55.079 and that is the outcome of the process of spiritual formation understood in general human terms. 00:19:55.779 --> 00:20:01.900 At Church of the Advent, we're going to be looking a lot over the next eight months at spiritual formation. 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:04.140 What forms us as Christians? 00:20:05.019 --> 00:20:07.259 Our core groups will relaunch in September, 00:20:07.259 --> 00:20:14.099 and we'll be simplifying, focusing more on the practices of prayer and community and life together. 00:20:14.879 --> 00:20:20.460 We believe that our core groups will be an attractive place of rest and worship for us 00:20:20.460 --> 00:20:23.299 and for those we would want to invite into our community. 00:20:23.299 --> 00:20:28.259 We want to be spiritually formed. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:31.460 We want our hearts and desires to be formed. 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:32.419 But where do we start? 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:35.779 We want to repent of our idols. 00:20:36.399 --> 00:20:39.659 We want practices to uproot and replace them with a desire for God. 00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:40.740 But how do we begin? 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:46.399 Do we just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and get to work? 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:49.620 When that doesn't work, we work and try harder? 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:50.500 No. 00:20:51.420 --> 00:20:52.420 That's not how it's done. 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:53.620 That doesn't work. 00:20:54.259 --> 00:20:58.280 We begin by admitting we desire other things besides God, 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.580 and we're powerless to turn from them in our own strength. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:03.160 Look at verse 8 again. 00:21:03.900 --> 00:21:05.800 Those who make idols become like them. 00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:08.100 So do all who trust in them. 00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:17.419 They become mute, blind, deaf, lame, lifeless, dead. 00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:21.519 Do those things sound familiar? 00:21:23.799 --> 00:21:25.579 These things used to describe us. 00:21:25.719 --> 00:21:26.799 Ephesians 2 says, 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:33.480 You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, 00:21:33.959 --> 00:21:35.679 following the course of this world, 00:21:36.199 --> 00:21:37.859 carrying out the desires of the body, 00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:38.639 and the mind. 00:21:39.379 --> 00:21:41.079 But God, being rich in mercy, 00:21:41.459 --> 00:21:44.199 because of the great love with which he loved us, 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.519 even when we were dead in our trespasses, 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:49.240 made us alive together with Christ. 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:51.799 By grace, you have been saved. 00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:52.599 Mute. 00:21:53.299 --> 00:21:53.699 Blind. 00:21:54.339 --> 00:21:54.679 Deaf. 00:21:55.299 --> 00:21:55.740 Lame. 00:21:56.419 --> 00:21:56.799 Dead. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:58.219 That was us. 00:21:58.500 --> 00:22:00.039 And why those things sound familiar 00:22:00.039 --> 00:22:02.740 is because those are the things that Jesus came to fix. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:04.439 Those are the things that he did. 00:22:04.919 --> 00:22:05.639 He came to fix. 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:07.719 He came to make the mute speak. 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:08.839 The blind see. 00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:09.960 The lame walk. 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:10.640 The deaf. 00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:11.259 Here. 00:22:11.380 --> 00:22:11.980 And the dead. 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:13.140 To live again. 00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:15.500 Turning from our idols begins with Jesus. 00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:17.559 With being enamored with his beauty. 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:19.839 Grateful for his grace. 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:22.180 Transfixed by his beauty and grace, 00:22:22.579 --> 00:22:26.120 we repent of our idols and then thrown him in our hearts. 00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:29.279 And then God takes these remade people, 00:22:30.019 --> 00:22:31.699 these sons and daughters, 00:22:33.059 --> 00:22:36.839 transfixed and enamored by his mercy and grace, 00:22:36.839 --> 00:22:38.439 and he turns them loose. 00:22:38.579 --> 00:22:40.079 On a broken world, 00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:43.439 he is determined to restore and make new. 00:22:43.919 --> 00:22:44.779 Praise the Lord. 00:22:45.579 --> 00:22:46.059 Hallelujah. 00:22:46.899 --> 00:22:49.639 In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 00:22:50.139 --> 00:22:50.439 Amen. 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:50.539 Amen. 00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:51.460 Let's pray. 00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:52.120 Amen. 00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:02.920 Holy Spirit, be working in us even now as we sing, 00:23:03.059 --> 00:23:05.160 even now as we proclaim our faith, 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:07.039 and especially as we come. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:10.259 to take bread and wine, Lord. 00:23:10.539 --> 00:23:12.659 In this meal, you are going to feed us spiritually. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.759 You can transform us right here. 00:23:17.420 --> 00:23:19.980 We can leave here being more transfixed 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:22.099 and enamored with your grace and mercy 00:23:22.099 --> 00:23:25.119 that's found in your Son, Jesus Christ. 00:23:26.460 --> 00:23:28.339 Why would we worship anyone else? 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:33.500 We know there is no other God but you, God. 00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:39.119 So teach our hearts even in these next 10 to 15 minutes. 00:23:41.099 --> 00:23:43.079 We love you and we want to love you more. 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:44.359 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:46.200 Amen.