WEBVTT

00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:23.679
 Good morning everyone. I love a good love story. Give it to me in a novel, in a film, on stage, in a song. I love a wedding. I even love reading articles or watching videos online about animals that have fallen in love in the wild, coupled up.

00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:41.780
 I saw a story recently about some penguins in a Dutch zoo that they coupled up and kept stealing each other's eggs. Drama. Love stories make me happy. They entertain me. And I'm sure I'm not the only one in the room that thinks so.

00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:50.100
 But these kind of love stories, as we all know, they have their ups and downs. They are never truly plain sailing.

00:00:51.160 --> 00:00:58.140
 For example, though I love them, in any rom-com, the story is pretty much always almost the same.

00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:01.560
 Boy meets girl. They fancy each other.

00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:12.859
 But then they have a fallout, usually over some miscommunication, misunderstanding, that could easily have been avoided if they had just talked like normal human beings.

00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:19.000
 Then they ghost each other for a while, which means that they ignore each other's texts or calls or their existence.

00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:29.939
 Until, all the while they're pining for each other, until they resolve their differences eventually and they live happily ever after.

00:01:29.939 --> 00:01:30.939
 The end.

00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:34.840
 Entertaining, feel-good, predictable.

00:01:36.259 --> 00:01:48.759
 But, there is one love story that is true, that wasn't created for entertainment purposes, that isn't only temporarily feel-good and certainly isn't predictable.

00:01:49.539 --> 00:01:55.379
 It's the greatest love story ever told and it's the one that we're living in here and now.

00:01:55.379 --> 00:01:59.920
 It's the story of God's agape.

00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:05.060
 The Greek word that was used to describe God's unconditional love for us.

00:02:05.479 --> 00:02:12.259
 It's the love story of all love stories and it revolves around a father giving his son to the world.

00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:17.060
 Who would love the outcast, forgive the sinner, welcome the wanderer.

00:02:17.579 --> 00:02:24.419
 Who'd die on a cross, good conquering evil, giving eternal life to all who believe, now and forevermore.

00:02:25.379 --> 00:02:30.759
 Agape is considered the highest form of love.

00:02:30.859 --> 00:02:42.219
 It's a covenant love between God and his people based not on emotion or feeling, but on God's grace, his character demonstrated in his actions.

00:02:42.219 --> 00:02:45.859
 Agape love doesn't judge or discriminate.

00:02:45.979 --> 00:02:47.599
 It doesn't get bored or impatient.

00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:50.520
 Agape love is perfect love.

00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:56.860
 And it's the love that took Jesus to the cross to die for us, for our sin and shame.

00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:00.680
 Agape is God's heart.

00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:01.680
 Agape is perfect.

00:03:01.980 --> 00:03:07.920
 Which leads us to our theme today as we continue in the sermon series of what would Jesus do.

00:03:08.700 --> 00:03:10.680
 Today's title is what would Jesus do?

00:03:11.099 --> 00:03:13.540
 Eat and drink with the outcast and the sinner.

00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:19.520
 And I'm so excited that I get to preach on this because to me this is God's heart.

00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:25.580
 He communes with the outcast, the last, the lost, the least, the sinner.

00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:32.740
 And before we go much further, let's clarify what we are talking about when we talk about the outcast.

00:03:33.040 --> 00:03:41.240
 The outcast is the one who is rejected, isolated from normal society.

00:03:41.720 --> 00:03:43.360
 They are cast out.

00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:53.780
 We might think maybe of people in the Bible who had leprosy, who were cast out of society, made to live in isolation so that they wouldn't infect anyone else.

00:03:54.160 --> 00:03:56.980
 Sadly, that's something that still happens around the globe today.

00:03:57.900 --> 00:04:03.380
 We might think of people that we know who have been made to feel outcast by their peers.

00:04:03.760 --> 00:04:11.680
 Or maybe that's something that we actually have felt before ourselves, feeling outcast at times.

00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:19.360
 And as we carry on this morning, I want to make the case as well that the sinner should also be an outcast.

00:04:20.180 --> 00:04:31.100
 See, if heaven is our home, then surely our sinful nature theoretically should disqualify us from being part of it.

00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:38.740
 Our sinful nature surely should and could cast us out from our society, so to speak.

00:04:38.740 --> 00:04:45.079
 But because of God's great love for us, he doesn't let that happen.

00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:54.560
 In the passage this morning, Jesus calls Levi, later called Matthew, to follow him, to be his disciple.

00:04:55.220 --> 00:05:02.900
 And in the context of the time, Jewish tax collectors were hated by their fellow Jews because they worked for the Roman government.

00:05:02.899 --> 00:05:13.519
 And they were also hated for notoriously being greedy, extorting money from everyone, even the poor people, and keeping profits for themselves.

00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:18.379
 Tax collectors, lightly putting it, didn't have very many friends.

00:05:19.379 --> 00:05:24.899
 But we see in this passage that Jesus doesn't bat an eyelid at Levi's occupation.

00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:26.579
 He doesn't come in judgment.

00:05:26.799 --> 00:05:29.479
 He doesn't call Levi by his greed or by his sin.

00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:34.140
 He sees Levi sitting in the very booth in which he was extorting money.

00:05:34.819 --> 00:05:37.420
 And he called him to come, to follow him.

00:05:38.500 --> 00:05:45.740
 And from extorting money to then being invited to follow Jesus, Levi then finds himself the host of this dinner party.

00:05:45.900 --> 00:05:51.920
 Not just for Jesus, but for the disciples and for a mishmash of tax collectors and sinners.

00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:55.379
 His encounter with Jesus changed his life.

00:05:55.379 --> 00:06:04.819
 And we don't know if that was an immediate change that led him to offering such hospitality or whether Jesus was the party planner in this situation.

00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:14.279
 But what we do know is that this potentially lonely tax collector suddenly found himself surrounded by a bunch of people,

00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:19.159
 a community of people who Jesus wanted to spend time with.

00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:23.839
 And the saviour of the world invited him to be his disciple.

00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:27.699
 And we know that that was life changing for the apostle.

00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:37.839
 Now, we might not all be tax collectors in the room, but we are sure all sinners.

00:06:38.259 --> 00:06:42.059
 And I'm sorry if that is news to you, but you are one of us.

00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:50.879
 When the Pharisees asked Jesus why he's eating with the tax collectors and sinners, he is quick and clear with his response.

00:06:51.259 --> 00:06:54.459
 It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill.

00:06:54.819 --> 00:06:59.439
 I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinner.

00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:03.639
 In other words, he's come to those whose lives are messy.

00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:05.600
 And that's all of us.

00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:09.540
 The message version puts Jesus' words like this.

00:07:09.840 --> 00:07:12.500
 Who needs a doctor, the healthy or the sick?

00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:17.360
 I'm here inviting the sin sick, not the spiritually fit.

00:07:18.820 --> 00:07:23.960
 The Pharisees thought that they were off the hook because they thought that they were spiritually fit,

00:07:24.080 --> 00:07:26.240
 that they were righteous and sin free.

00:07:26.740 --> 00:07:28.379
 But we're all sin sick.

00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:29.720
 We are all sinners.

00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:35.300
 There is only one who is righteous and sin free by himself, and that's Jesus.

00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:42.440
 But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus chooses to come to us in our sin and make us righteous,

00:07:42.820 --> 00:07:47.020
 just as a doctor comes with the intention of making us well.

00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:54.060
 In Ephesians 1, verses 3 to 8, we get confirmation of this.

00:07:54.060 --> 00:07:54.720
 It says,

00:07:54.720 --> 00:08:24.720


00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:39.740
 This wasn't a chore for Jesus.

00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:43.160
 It didn't go against the grain of his will.

00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.519
 Jesus' love caused him to make us holy,

00:08:47.320 --> 00:08:48.360
 to pay our debt,

00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:50.160
 to wipe away our sin,

00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:53.460
 to lavish his grace and mercy upon us,

00:08:53.460 --> 00:08:58.879
 even though he very well could have reasonably cast us out because of our sin.

00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:08.639
 Jesus associating with the outcast or the sinner isn't an uncommon scenario.

00:09:09.180 --> 00:09:11.680
 For example, if we look at John 4,

00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:15.100
 we read about Jesus meeting with the woman at the well.

00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:21.340
 Here's a woman who had been outcast from society after five failed marriages

00:09:21.340 --> 00:09:25.060
 and is now living with a man who wouldn't marry her.

00:09:26.180 --> 00:09:30.240
 She's collecting water in the middle of the day from the well on her own,

00:09:30.519 --> 00:09:33.480
 without the normal gaggle of girls for company,

00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.019
 because everyone is avoiding this multiple divorcee.

00:09:37.019 --> 00:09:39.919
 Jesus meets her where she's at,

00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:42.159
 introduces her to the living waters,

00:09:42.319 --> 00:09:44.240
 and offers her freedom from her sins.

00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:47.699
 And then, amazingly, she went from being the village outcast

00:09:47.699 --> 00:09:51.220
 to leading the whole Samaritan village to Jesus.

00:09:53.620 --> 00:09:55.620
 As with Levi, the tax collector,

00:09:55.860 --> 00:09:58.259
 Jesus wasn't afraid of her sin,

00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:02.939
 and her encounter with Jesus leads to a whole life change.

00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:08.840
 We see this happening time and time again throughout the Gospels.

00:10:09.160 --> 00:10:11.200
 Jesus was unafraid of the leper.

00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:13.060
 He was compassionate to the sick.

00:10:13.460 --> 00:10:16.720
 He was a friend to all who received him.

00:10:17.260 --> 00:10:20.640
 And he's just the same now, today, as he was then.

00:10:21.460 --> 00:10:23.980
 Today, he is still meeting with the outcast,

00:10:24.060 --> 00:10:25.980
 the tax collector, the sinner,

00:10:26.300 --> 00:10:28.100
 and bringing them into his light.

00:10:28.100 --> 00:10:32.899
 Jesus loves to come into the lives

00:10:32.899 --> 00:10:35.840
 and the situations of those of us who are outcasts,

00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:37.980
 those of us who are caught up in our sin.

00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:40.980
 And instead of disqualifying us from his family,

00:10:41.259 --> 00:10:44.940
 he invites us into his way of freedom and belonging with him.

00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:52.879
 You might know that I love a good book.

00:10:53.040 --> 00:10:55.240
 You'll know that I love a good love story.

00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:59.340
 But I am totally rubbish at reading

00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:03.240
 what I once heard Clive refer to as goddy books.

00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:08.759
 I dread to think how many goddy books I have on my bookshelf

00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:12.639
 that I have read the first maybe three chapters of them

00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:14.820
 and then never opened them again.

00:11:15.740 --> 00:11:18.500
 Therefore, it comes as a surprise to me

00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:21.759
 that I found a book that I actually only finished this week.

00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:23.279
 I may have started it last summer,

00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:24.799
 but I finished it this week.

00:11:26.139 --> 00:11:28.039
 And I already want to read it again.

00:11:28.200 --> 00:11:31.960
 It's called Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland.

00:11:32.220 --> 00:11:35.919
 And it's a beautiful book about the very heart of God,

00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:38.299
 seeking to reveal the central truth

00:11:38.299 --> 00:11:42.580
 about Jesus's heart for the sinner and the sufferer,

00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:44.860
 the outcast, if you will.

00:11:46.019 --> 00:11:47.960
 In the book, Ortland points out

00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:49.779
 that the very people, sinners,

00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:53.460
 who the Pharisees accused Jesus of associating with

00:11:53.460 --> 00:11:57.820
 were the ones who really, truly understood who Jesus was

00:11:57.820 --> 00:11:59.060
 and what he had come to do.

00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:02.680
 And because of that, they couldn't stay away from him.

00:12:03.220 --> 00:12:05.500
 And Jesus couldn't stay away from them either.

00:12:06.700 --> 00:12:08.259
 In Luke 15, chapter...

00:12:08.259 --> 00:12:13.100
 In Luke 15, we find three parables.

00:12:13.100 --> 00:12:14.919
 The parables of the lost sheep,

00:12:15.299 --> 00:12:17.539
 the lost queen, and the lost son.

00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:19.840
 All parables that will show us

00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:22.120
 that Jesus will go out of his way

00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:24.039
 to find and meet with the lost,

00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:25.059
 the wandering,

00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:27.939
 the one who had made the most silly mistake.

00:12:27.940 --> 00:12:32.540
 And I think that we need to be reminded of this message

00:12:32.540 --> 00:12:33.940
 again and again,

00:12:34.100 --> 00:12:37.920
 that Jesus isn't afraid of or allergic to our sin.

00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:40.060
 He comes to the outcast.

00:12:40.140 --> 00:12:41.100
 He comes to the sinner.

00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:42.640
 He comes to the rejected

00:12:42.640 --> 00:12:45.360
 because his heart is compassionate

00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:47.360
 and full of grace and kindness.

00:12:51.680 --> 00:12:54.360
 I reminded us earlier that we're all sinners,

00:12:54.620 --> 00:12:56.880
 and sometimes that's not a comfortable thought.

00:12:56.879 --> 00:13:00.340
 But Jesus isn't uncomfortable with it.

00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:05.360
 Jesus loves to meet us in our sin and take it away.

00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:10.039
 When I was probably about eight or nine,

00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:12.379
 one of our summer holiday club songs

00:13:12.379 --> 00:13:14.679
 was 1 John chapter 1 verse 9.

00:13:15.100 --> 00:13:17.200
 This is true every time.

00:13:18.059 --> 00:13:20.000
 If you confess your sins to God,

00:13:20.259 --> 00:13:23.299
 he can be trusted to take our sins away.

00:13:23.779 --> 00:13:24.259
 Away.

00:13:24.659 --> 00:13:25.139
 Away.

00:13:25.139 --> 00:13:26.240
 That's how the song went.

00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:28.960
 The actual Bible verse goes,

00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:30.399
 if we confess our sins,

00:13:30.539 --> 00:13:32.379
 he is faithful and just

00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:34.500
 and will forgive us our sins

00:13:34.500 --> 00:13:38.279
 and purify us from all unrighteousness.

00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:41.259
 Jesus does this willingly.

00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:42.480
 It's his choice,

00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:43.439
 his character.

00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:45.360
 You could even say

00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:49.659
 that our sin allows God to be everything he is.

00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:50.500
 Grace,

00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:51.360
 mercy,

00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:52.240
 love,

00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:53.080
 forgiveness.

00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:56.100
 These are all parts of his character,

00:13:56.700 --> 00:13:57.520
 who he is.

00:13:57.520 --> 00:13:59.300
 God is love.

00:13:59.740 --> 00:14:03.080
 So if God was to stop loving us because of our sins,

00:14:03.420 --> 00:14:05.480
 he'd actually stop being God.

00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:09.440
 Our sins don't stop God from loving us.

00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:13.940
 And speaking of his character,

00:14:14.180 --> 00:14:17.660
 I recently learned that in the 89 chapters of the Gospels,

00:14:17.780 --> 00:14:22.700
 there is only one sentence where Jesus tells us about his heart.

00:14:22.880 --> 00:14:25.300
 And that's Matthew 11, 28 to 30,

00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:26.440
 where he says,

00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:29.560
 come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened,

00:14:29.800 --> 00:14:31.120
 and I will give you rest.

00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:33.840
 Take my yoke upon me and learn for me,

00:14:34.160 --> 00:14:36.360
 for I am gentle and humble in heart,

00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:38.540
 and you will find rest for your souls,

00:14:39.160 --> 00:14:41.740
 for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:45.780
 This verse is the theme of the book,

00:14:45.920 --> 00:14:46.740
 Gentle and Lowly,

00:14:46.800 --> 00:14:47.880
 that I just referenced.

00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:51.759
 That he is gentle and humble,

00:14:51.899 --> 00:14:53.360
 or gentle and lowly in heart,

00:14:53.419 --> 00:14:55.379
 meaning that he's not harsh,

00:14:55.620 --> 00:14:57.879
 or even mean in the face of our sin,

00:14:58.100 --> 00:15:01.460
 but the most understanding person ever.

00:15:03.139 --> 00:15:05.480
 And he's accessible to all of us,

00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:06.899
 without qualification,

00:15:07.439 --> 00:15:08.720
 without prerequisite.

00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:11.399
 Even in the midst of our sin,

00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:14.559
 Jesus remains unchanged.

00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:18.159
 He is forever gentle and humble.

00:15:20.699 --> 00:15:23.219
 So when we look at the passage today,

00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:25.379
 where Jesus eats with Levi

00:15:25.379 --> 00:15:27.479
 and the other tax collectors and sinners,

00:15:28.479 --> 00:15:31.299
 perhaps we can see ourselves there too.

00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:33.459
 And we can know for sure

00:15:33.459 --> 00:15:37.799
 that Jesus willingly chooses to sit and eat

00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:39.299
 and drink with us,

00:15:39.500 --> 00:15:40.659
 outcasts and sinners.

00:15:41.219 --> 00:15:42.899
 And he chooses to do that

00:15:42.899 --> 00:15:44.779
 every day.

00:15:49.899 --> 00:15:52.159
 As I was preparing for this morning,

00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:55.139
 I had this song that kept going round and round in my head.

00:15:55.659 --> 00:15:58.039
 And the lyrics go like this.

00:15:58.860 --> 00:16:00.379
 You're the God of salvation.

00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:01.939
 We call on your name.

00:16:02.199 --> 00:16:03.500
 You came to redeem us,

00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:04.740
 to carry our shame.

00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:06.899
 We stumble and fall down.

00:16:07.019 --> 00:16:08.279
 We turn from your ways.

00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:10.319
 In you we find mercy.

00:16:11.220 --> 00:16:12.559
 We're held in your grace.

00:16:12.899 --> 00:16:14.679
 You're the God of compassion,

00:16:14.899 --> 00:16:16.079
 the friend of the least,

00:16:16.299 --> 00:16:17.679
 not coming to be served.

00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:19.220
 You serve those in need.

00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:21.939
 We surrender our burdens,

00:16:22.079 --> 00:16:23.240
 our lives at the cross.

00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:24.860
 We trust in the Saviour,

00:16:25.579 --> 00:16:26.879
 our God who is love.

00:16:27.740 --> 00:16:29.139
 You never give up on us.

00:16:29.199 --> 00:16:31.379
 You never let go or turn away.

00:16:31.819 --> 00:16:33.139
 We're holding on to you.

00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:34.659
 Our God is strong.

00:16:35.139 --> 00:16:36.579
 Our God is good.

00:16:36.580 --> 00:16:37.580
 God is good.

00:16:37.580 --> 00:16:41.080
 And I think sometimes we forget this,

00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:42.920
 that God doesn't give up,

00:16:43.020 --> 00:16:44.100
 let go or turn away.

00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:48.280
 We can trust in him to be patient and kind,

00:16:48.920 --> 00:16:51.240
 slow to anger and abounding in grace.

00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:54.840
 God didn't send Jesus to die for us

00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:57.120
 because he needed us to be perfect.

00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:02.159
 He sent Jesus because he knows the human condition.

00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:05.900
 He knows that we'll keep on messing up,

00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:08.559
 missing the mark and falling short of the glory.

00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:12.880
 But he persists and keeps on loving us,

00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:16.039
 keeps sitting with us in the mess.

00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:20.180
 And he will keep on sitting with us in the mess

00:17:20.180 --> 00:17:23.220
 until we stand face to face with him in heaven.

00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:28.500
 And that's something in the mess and the chaos of the world

00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:31.200
 that we can always hold on to.

00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:36.880
 Perhaps this morning we might be super aware

00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:38.180
 of our sinful condition.

00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:43.319
 We might be aware of a sin that we keep struggling with

00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:46.160
 or maybe we're feeling spiritually outcast

00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:49.400
 or within our daily lives we're feeling outcast.

00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:53.440
 Maybe we actually need to acknowledge our sinfulness

00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:55.580
 so that we can fully understand

00:17:55.580 --> 00:17:59.880
 the depth of God's compassion and grace for us.

00:18:00.259 --> 00:18:03.200
 But wherever we're sitting with this this morning,

00:18:03.820 --> 00:18:06.420
 I pray that we would all have a revelation

00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:10.720
 of the compassionate, merciful, loving God

00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:15.960
 who comes to us, the sin sick in need of a doctor.

00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:17.560
 Let's pray.

00:18:17.560 --> 00:18:17.660
 Amen.

00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:24.360
 Heavenly, gracious, forgiving Father,

00:18:24.560 --> 00:18:27.460
 thank you that this is who you are.

00:18:28.580 --> 00:18:31.620
 That you could use our sin to disqualify us

00:18:31.620 --> 00:18:35.160
 but instead you lavish your love and forgiveness on us

00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:36.600
 and you welcome us back home.

00:18:38.420 --> 00:18:40.960
 We're sorry for those things that are coming to mind

00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:41.519
 at the moment.

00:18:41.780 --> 00:18:45.660
 The ways that we've hurt you in thought and word and action.

00:18:45.660 --> 00:18:48.340
 Please help us, God.

00:18:48.779 --> 00:18:51.240
 Help us to turn from our ways and turn towards you.

00:18:52.800 --> 00:18:55.340
 Thank you that you don't call us outcast.

00:18:55.880 --> 00:18:57.279
 You don't call us sinner.

00:18:57.800 --> 00:18:59.140
 But you call us yours.

00:19:00.040 --> 00:19:01.920
 You call us free and forgiven.

00:19:03.140 --> 00:19:04.040
 Thank you, God.

00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:05.560
 Amen.

00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:23.799
 There you go.