WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:18.460 Welcome to Adult Sunday School, everyone. If you haven't been before, the aim of Adult Sunday School is to get a better understanding and a better appreciation of the doctrines, the topics, the different teachings of the Bible. 00:00:18.460 --> 00:00:36.340 So how I like to think of Adult Sunday School, I've said this before, I like to think of Adult Sunday School as a zoo. So in learning the Bible, if that is like learning about animals, there are two ways you can learn about animals. 00:00:36.340 --> 00:00:51.920 One way is to go on a safari and you go into the wild and you learn about the animals as they come. So you go on a safari and you say, oh, there's a lion. You learn a bit about lions. Oh, there's elephants. Oh, there's a zebra. Oh, there's a lion again. Right. 00:00:52.180 --> 00:00:58.600 So you learn as they as they as they come along on this journey. Well, preaching is a bit like a safari. 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:08.579 OK, so you learn about God here. You journey through the wilderness of the Bible and you learn about the church there. Oh, there's the Holy Spirit or a bit more about God. Right. 00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:22.460 So that's one way you can learn about the Bible or you can learn about animals in a zoo and you can gather together all the lions and gather together all the elephants and gather together all the zebras. 00:01:22.459 --> 00:01:29.239 And you can learn about them by gathering them together. Well, that's like Adult Sunday School. Right. 00:01:29.500 --> 00:01:36.479 So we gather all the things the Bible says about God, gather together all the things the Bible says about the church or the Holy Spirit. 00:01:36.479 --> 00:01:43.919 Or we looked at the sovereignty of God last term and we gather all these topics together and we learn the Bible that way. 00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:51.539 Well, we are in a zoo this term. OK, welcome to the zoo. But this time we're going to do things slightly differently. 00:01:51.540 --> 00:01:54.400 We are in a zoo. Don't worry. We're going to do things slightly differently. 00:01:54.600 --> 00:01:58.660 This term, we're going to look at the fundamentals of the Christian faith. 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:09.159 So instead of just the lions or just the sovereignty of God, we're going to look at the essential things that make up the Christian life. 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:14.060 What are the things that really, really matter, the fundamentals of the Christian life? 00:02:14.060 --> 00:02:21.420 And throughout the ages, Christians have used basically three things to teach these essentials. 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:27.159 Christians have used the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed and the Ten Commandments. 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:32.819 And over the next two terms, we're going to look at those three things. 00:02:33.140 --> 00:02:35.379 So next half term, we're going to look at the Apostles' Creed. 00:02:36.140 --> 00:02:40.199 After Christmas, we're going to spend two half terms, a whole term on the Ten Commandments. 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:45.199 But this half term, starting from today, we're going to be looking at the Lord's Prayer. 00:02:46.579 --> 00:02:56.560 And you can think of the Lord's Prayer as kind of like a mini zoo in itself, which shows us all the essentials of the Christian life. 00:02:57.399 --> 00:02:59.379 So I've printed it at the top there for you. 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:03.339 So Jesus teaches the Lord's Prayer twice in the Bible. 00:03:03.340 --> 00:03:07.900 There's a shorter version in Luke 11, and there's a fuller one in Matthew 6. 00:03:08.539 --> 00:03:12.900 And we're going to be focusing on the longer version, which is the one we say in church. 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:21.099 And so I want us to see this as kind of like a mini zoo showing us all the essentials of the Christian life. 00:03:22.140 --> 00:03:24.379 So to begin, I just want us to say it together. 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:28.079 So Jesus said, pray then like this. 00:03:54.379 --> 00:04:05.299 So do you see, just at first glance, this covers a lot, actually. 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:14.099 There is, do you see, God, his name, his kingdom, his will, his providence, daily bread, his care for us, 00:04:14.519 --> 00:04:19.839 his forgiveness, their sin, temptation, God's glory. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:25.199 This is Jesus telling us the essentials of the Christian life. 00:04:25.679 --> 00:04:30.679 And he's doing that by telling us what really matters when we pray. 00:04:31.979 --> 00:04:33.959 And so just think about what prayer is. 00:04:34.599 --> 00:04:43.359 Prayer is us coming to God and bringing our needs and our desires and our praise to him. 00:04:43.979 --> 00:04:44.879 So you can think about this. 00:04:45.019 --> 00:04:46.719 You can't have Sunday school with our diagrams. 00:04:47.019 --> 00:04:47.799 Think about this. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:50.759 So this is God. 00:04:52.259 --> 00:04:55.060 I'm not drawing a picture of God, just kind of representing him. 00:04:58.299 --> 00:05:02.099 Prayer, and this is us in creation. 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:04.019 There you go, actually. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:08.659 Prayer is us coming to God. 00:05:09.159 --> 00:05:15.379 So in creation and in confidence and all things, you could say the hour until it's down for all those things. 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:21.600 But what's unique about prayer is we come to God in prayer. 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:23.019 So the hour is up. 00:05:24.040 --> 00:05:25.339 And what does that involve? 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:26.740 It's in prayer. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:35.800 It's bringing our desires, our needs, and our praise. 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:38.240 Other things as well. 00:05:38.420 --> 00:05:40.259 You could create other categories as well. 00:05:40.340 --> 00:05:41.340 You could break it down a bit differently. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:42.199 But it's basically that. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:45.000 Desires, needs, and praise. 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:48.540 But have a think about our desires. 00:05:48.660 --> 00:05:51.280 Our desires can be all over the place, can't they? 00:05:51.699 --> 00:05:55.600 We can want and praise all sorts of things. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:59.879 Our desires, they need to be shaped. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:05.200 And we need to be taught what matters in the Christian life. 00:06:05.960 --> 00:06:09.280 Which is why Jesus says, pray then like this. 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:14.980 It's like Jesus telling us, this is what matters in the Christian life. 00:06:15.780 --> 00:06:20.420 That this is how to shape and order your desires and bring them to God. 00:06:20.420 --> 00:06:27.840 And so you can think of the Lord's Prayer as a general pattern of how to order what matters. 00:06:28.100 --> 00:06:30.560 How to order our desires in life. 00:06:31.819 --> 00:06:35.759 So that is to say, we don't only need to pray this prayer. 00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:42.040 In fact, we see in the New Testament, the apostles don't only pray this after Jesus teaches them. 00:06:42.200 --> 00:06:44.080 They don't only pray this word for word. 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:47.520 Although we can and we should pray this word for word. 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:48.879 We're going to do that later. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:56.339 But this is overall a model and a general structure for how we pray. 00:06:56.459 --> 00:06:59.839 And how we are to order the essential things of the Christian life. 00:07:00.740 --> 00:07:04.060 So yes, Jesus is actually teaching us how to pray here. 00:07:04.219 --> 00:07:09.579 And my aim this half term is for us to learn how to pray through this. 00:07:10.360 --> 00:07:16.060 But in doing so, Jesus is also teaching us these are the essentials of the Christian life. 00:07:16.699 --> 00:07:17.699 It's a mini zoo. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:23.459 And so over the next few weeks, we're going to look at just each part of the Lord's Prayer. 00:07:23.540 --> 00:07:24.680 We're going to really break it down. 00:07:24.779 --> 00:07:27.420 We're going to visit each part of this mini zoo. 00:07:27.420 --> 00:07:31.280 And I want us to see the essentials of the Christian faith. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.840 And I want us to just grow in our knowledge and our love for God through all of this. 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:40.900 And I hope we will also grow in our prayer life through this. 00:07:40.899 --> 00:07:49.219 And so today, we're going to look at the first line, that top one, our Father in heaven. 00:07:50.299 --> 00:08:01.120 And I want us to look at these four words to see what it says about God, what it says about us as Christians, and what it says about how we should pray. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:06.079 But let's just first think about the word Father. 00:08:06.420 --> 00:08:09.139 So we're looking at this first line, but we're going to break it down into bits, right? 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:10.579 Just looking at the word Father. 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:14.879 So the Lord's Prayer, it's split into three parts. 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:16.840 So just have a look at all of it. 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:21.899 So there's the address, which is the first line, so addressing God. 00:08:22.599 --> 00:08:25.979 And then there are petitions about God. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:28.479 That's the next two lines. 00:08:29.339 --> 00:08:32.019 So asking things about God. 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:39.480 And then the next three lines are petitions for us, asking things for us. 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:47.700 And instantly, with this address, Jesus teaches us something about God straight away. 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:51.840 We are thrown into the mini zoo section of God. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:57.639 And Jesus teaches us, God is our Father. 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:01.860 Now, what does he mean by Father? 00:09:02.820 --> 00:09:05.740 Well, you can understand God is Father in three ways. 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:09.180 So God is Father eternally. 00:09:10.019 --> 00:09:15.180 So in the persons of the Trinity, God is Father to the Son eternally. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:17.080 So look at John 17. 00:09:17.960 --> 00:09:21.759 Father, you loved me before the foundation of the world. 00:09:22.980 --> 00:09:25.019 God is Father eternally. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:30.120 But there's also a sense that God is Father as creator. 00:09:30.980 --> 00:09:33.139 So in the sense that he's given us all life. 00:09:33.300 --> 00:09:34.360 So look at Acts 17. 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:37.920 In him we live and move and have our being, 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:40.079 as even some of your own poets have said, 00:09:40.459 --> 00:09:42.039 for we are indeed his offspring. 00:09:43.099 --> 00:09:45.059 Being then God's offspring, dot, dot, dot. 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:45.919 Paul continues. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:52.019 However, Jesus isn't using Father in this sense. 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:59.099 Because simply acknowledging God as creator isn't actually any comfort for us. 00:09:59.100 --> 00:10:04.920 It's actually a reminder that we've fallen away from our creator. 00:10:05.800 --> 00:10:09.100 In this sense, we aren't his loved children. 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:15.000 We are, by nature, children of wrath with God as Father as creator. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:17.379 So it's not that. 00:10:17.580 --> 00:10:24.419 But instead, Jesus is using Father, meaning God is Father by redeeming and adopting us. 00:10:25.460 --> 00:10:28.620 This is what we mean when we say our Father in heaven. 00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:32.659 To be saved by God is a lot of things. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:38.919 It is to be forgiven and guaranteed eternal life and for the power of sin to be broken in your life. 00:10:40.220 --> 00:10:49.060 And significantly, salvation means we are adopted into God's family and we can call him Father. 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:51.319 So just look at John 1. 00:10:52.719 --> 00:10:58.799 To all who did receive Jesus, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 00:10:59.500 --> 00:11:05.459 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:13.379 So naturally, by nature, in our sin, we cannot call God Father in this comforting sense. 00:11:13.379 --> 00:11:23.980 But just as Jesus is God's true natural son, when we believe in him, we get brought into his sonship 00:11:23.980 --> 00:11:27.879 and we get to call God our Father. 00:11:29.500 --> 00:11:34.899 Which means, although Jesus isn't mentioned here in the actual prayer, 00:11:35.779 --> 00:11:38.679 he is implied and necessary to pray this. 00:11:38.679 --> 00:11:39.980 So think of John 14. 00:11:39.980 --> 00:11:44.560 No one comes to the Father except through me. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:51.480 To even say our Father means we must pray this through Jesus. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:56.700 And the Holy Spirit isn't mentioned in this prayer either, but look at Romans 8. 00:11:57.980 --> 00:12:04.879 You have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. 00:12:06.440 --> 00:12:08.320 This is what prayer is. 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:14.300 We come to our Father through Jesus by the spirit of adoption. 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:18.860 What Jesus is teaching us here is actually very Trinitarian. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:23.160 And this is what is essential to the Christian life. 00:12:24.060 --> 00:12:27.500 What is essential to know about God and salvation. 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:32.920 We are children of God and we come to God as children to their Father. 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:36.439 And we can ask him for help. 00:12:37.819 --> 00:12:42.199 And this is what makes the Lord's Prayer different to any other type of prayer. 00:12:43.179 --> 00:12:45.139 This is what makes it a Christian prayer. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:46.779 So think about it. 00:12:47.259 --> 00:12:49.939 All sorts of people pray around the world, don't they? 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:53.339 People pray in all sorts of ways, with all sorts of intentions. 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:56.579 Prayer isn't exclusive to Christianity. 00:12:56.580 --> 00:13:06.560 But what is key about the Christian prayer is not where we pray or which way we face or our body position. 00:13:07.660 --> 00:13:14.700 No, what makes something a Christian prayer and true prayer is who we pray to. 00:13:14.700 --> 00:13:18.040 We pray to our Father. 00:13:19.680 --> 00:13:23.360 Which means this is not something everyone can say. 00:13:24.340 --> 00:13:27.480 An unbeliever doesn't have the right to do this. 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:34.720 But as his church, Jesus is teaching us we exist in a very unique and special relationship to God. 00:13:34.800 --> 00:13:37.120 We can actually call him Father. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:37.240 Father. 00:13:38.899 --> 00:13:41.940 And I want us to see what this says about God's character. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:45.360 Because remember, we're in this mini part of the zoo of God. 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:50.500 And Jesus is telling us something about how we should think about God. 00:13:51.060 --> 00:13:53.340 He wants us to think of God in a certain way. 00:13:53.860 --> 00:13:55.779 And so I want us to break out into groups now. 00:13:56.340 --> 00:13:57.620 Break into twos or threes. 00:13:58.460 --> 00:14:00.600 You see in the dotted box you've got some questions. 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:02.860 Read Matthew 7 to 11. 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:04.399 7 to 11. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.299 And just answer these two questions. 00:14:06.299 --> 00:14:09.599 What does Father teach us about God's character? 00:14:10.179 --> 00:14:12.759 And what does Father teach us about who we are as Christians? 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:14.519 And how God treats us? 00:14:14.659 --> 00:14:15.419 The two are related. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:17.719 But kind of think about both sides. 00:14:18.459 --> 00:14:18.939 Go for it. 00:14:18.959 --> 00:14:19.500 You've got two minutes. 00:14:36.299 --> 00:14:37.299 Go for it. 00:14:37.299 --> 00:14:38.379 Go for it. 00:14:38.379 --> 00:14:38.719 Go for it. 00:14:38.719 --> 00:14:42.519 Go for it. 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:42.519 00:15:06.299 --> 00:15:36.279 Thank you. 00:15:36.299 --> 00:16:06.279 Thank you. 00:16:06.299 --> 00:16:36.279 Thank you. 00:16:36.299 --> 00:17:06.279 Thank you. 00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:36.279 Thank you. 00:17:36.299 --> 00:18:06.279 Thank you. 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:07.500 He's responsive. 00:18:08.180 --> 00:18:09.019 Say again. 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:10.559 Responsive. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:11.579 So he is. 00:18:15.899 --> 00:18:21.980 Like a father, when your children come to you asking for help, 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:25.539 a good father doesn't just send them away. 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:28.680 If my little Lily runs up to me and says, 00:18:28.740 --> 00:18:29.879 Dad, I really need your help. 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:30.899 I'm not going to ignore her. 00:18:30.980 --> 00:18:32.579 I'm not going to be unresponsive. 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:34.720 If she runs up to me saying, Daddy, I need a wee. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:36.519 I'm going to be like, all right, everyone, get out of the way. 00:18:37.620 --> 00:18:38.579 So responsive. 00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:39.779 A father cares. 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:41.360 All right, let's put that as well, actually. 00:18:41.779 --> 00:18:41.980 All right. 00:18:42.019 --> 00:18:43.059 A father cares. 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:45.240 Anything else? 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:47.200 Loving. 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:47.240 Loving. 00:18:47.380 --> 00:18:47.720 Loving. 00:18:47.860 --> 00:18:48.200 Exactly. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:48.880 All right. 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:50.600 A father loves his children. 00:18:51.259 --> 00:18:51.600 Loving. 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:52.420 Yeah. 00:18:54.019 --> 00:18:55.140 Oh, come on. 00:18:55.380 --> 00:18:55.740 There you go. 00:18:56.019 --> 00:18:56.500 Anything else? 00:18:57.100 --> 00:18:58.460 You can come to him any time. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:18:59.700 Come to him any time. 00:18:59.960 --> 00:19:00.200 Yeah. 00:19:01.740 --> 00:19:02.220 Welcoming. 00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:03.160 Is that right? 00:19:03.620 --> 00:19:04.019 Welcoming. 00:19:04.180 --> 00:19:04.339 Yeah. 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:06.059 Yeah. 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:15.259 God is not this cold dictator that is just running the world in this, yeah, dictatorial fashion. 00:19:15.819 --> 00:19:15.880 Right? 00:19:15.940 --> 00:19:16.059 No. 00:19:16.100 --> 00:19:18.940 He is a welcoming, heavenly father. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:20.579 Anything else? 00:19:21.420 --> 00:19:21.940 Generous. 00:19:22.180 --> 00:19:22.660 Generous. 00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:22.920 Yeah. 00:19:23.019 --> 00:19:23.420 Exactly. 00:19:23.620 --> 00:19:23.779 Yeah. 00:19:24.460 --> 00:19:24.900 What? 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:27.200 What father? 00:19:27.360 --> 00:19:27.920 Generous. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:28.519 Oh, you're testing. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:28.940 I'm just saying. 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:29.740 Generous. 00:19:29.819 --> 00:19:30.240 There we go. 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:36.180 What father, if you ask them for something that would give them a serpent or a stone? 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:37.759 No, God is so generous. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:42.660 How much more will God give good things to his children who ask? 00:19:44.120 --> 00:19:44.920 Anything else? 00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:49.500 Something also to think about father. 00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:49.660 Father. 00:19:49.660 --> 00:19:50.680 That's. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:52.740 That's your place. 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:54.300 Father. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:55.860 So we know what we're doing with. 00:19:56.700 --> 00:19:57.660 Father is. 00:19:57.660 --> 00:20:02.340 It's all these warm, generous, loving things. 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:05.120 But there's also to it a reverence, right? 00:20:05.620 --> 00:20:07.420 He's not a roommate. 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:08.540 He's not a buddy. 00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:11.820 There is a reverence you show your father as well. 00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:15.079 A good father is loving and caring and all these things. 00:20:15.139 --> 00:20:16.539 But there's also a reverence, right? 00:20:16.639 --> 00:20:18.539 You know, disrespect your father. 00:20:19.379 --> 00:20:20.220 And so there is. 00:20:21.259 --> 00:20:22.119 Let's put that there. 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:23.559 There's also a reverence to it. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:28.359 Reverence to how we should think of God. 00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:32.000 How about the next question? 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:37.939 What does father teach us about who we are as Christians and how God treats us? 00:20:38.379 --> 00:20:39.139 I know it's related. 00:20:39.259 --> 00:20:40.139 They're kind of wrapped up. 00:20:40.140 --> 00:20:43.060 But what does this say we are as Christians? 00:20:46.380 --> 00:20:46.860 Children. 00:20:47.080 --> 00:20:47.220 Yeah. 00:20:47.820 --> 00:20:48.420 There you go. 00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:49.680 So he's our father. 00:20:49.780 --> 00:20:50.380 What does that mean? 00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:52.160 We are his children. 00:20:57.120 --> 00:20:57.640 Exactly. 00:20:58.240 --> 00:20:59.000 Anything else? 00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:04.100 Some of them involves repeating some of these other things just from the different angle. 00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:06.460 Oh, dependent. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:06.980 Exactly. 00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:07.320 Yeah. 00:21:08.220 --> 00:21:08.759 Think of. 00:21:10.140 --> 00:21:12.980 The little babies all born in this church. 00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:16.700 What are they to their parents, their father? 00:21:16.820 --> 00:21:17.560 They are dependent. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:20.680 They need everything from their father. 00:21:22.080 --> 00:21:22.759 Anything else? 00:21:27.259 --> 00:21:27.880 Oh, right. 00:21:27.940 --> 00:21:28.060 Yeah. 00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:28.280 Yeah. 00:21:28.280 --> 00:21:28.520 Yeah. 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:28.859 So yeah. 00:21:28.859 --> 00:21:28.859 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:29.779 We live with the reference. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:30.900 That's under that. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:31.879 Under. 00:21:33.259 --> 00:21:33.779 The authority. 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:34.379 Right. 00:21:36.539 --> 00:21:37.980 I could also say, what else are we under? 00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:38.920 We're under his care. 00:21:39.500 --> 00:21:39.680 Right. 00:21:41.579 --> 00:21:42.279 And in love. 00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:44.319 Yeah. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:49.339 Also, another thing to think of. 00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:56.919 If we're his children, the whole aspect of being children, particularly sons, is being heirs. 00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:01.880 If you are a child of God, you are an heir to the father's inheritance. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:04.180 It means we are. 00:22:04.380 --> 00:22:08.080 We come to God as father guaranteed salvation. 00:22:08.080 --> 00:22:08.500 Right. 00:22:08.660 --> 00:22:10.300 Not in doubt about it. 00:22:10.660 --> 00:22:15.400 To be a child is to be guaranteed the inheritance of eternal life at the end. 00:22:15.400 --> 00:22:25.120 And so just in this one word, Jesus is teaching us about who God is and our status as children before God. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:30.100 And this, this is the greatest privilege of the Christian life. 00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:31.900 Just listen to these quotes. 00:22:32.380 --> 00:22:32.700 J.I. 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:33.120 Packer. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:37.840 Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers. 00:22:38.620 --> 00:22:40.080 Higher even than justification. 00:22:40.800 --> 00:22:43.560 To be right with God, the judge, is a great thing. 00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:48.179 But to be loved and cared for by God, the father is greater. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:50.059 John Murray. 00:22:50.879 --> 00:22:56.179 Adoption is the apex, the very peak of redemptive grace and privilege. 00:22:57.639 --> 00:22:58.319 She's what they're saying. 00:22:58.399 --> 00:22:59.960 It's one thing to be forgiven. 00:23:00.859 --> 00:23:04.139 It is another thing to call God our father. 00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:07.700 And Jesus leads with this privilege. 00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:12.460 This is what we need to know first and foremost in the Christian life. 00:23:12.460 --> 00:23:17.400 We get to come to God boldly and confidently as his children. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:24.600 And if adoption is the privilege, then prayer is, it's that privilege in action. 00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:27.259 Coming to God as father. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:32.799 But next, I want us to look at just a little word that comes before father. 00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:33.720 Our. 00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:34.400 Right? 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:36.540 That's the second thing I want to look at today. 00:23:37.019 --> 00:23:37.360 Our. 00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:43.220 Now notice, this doesn't say my father, does it? 00:23:43.820 --> 00:23:45.100 Although we can say that. 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:46.380 God is my father. 00:23:46.460 --> 00:23:47.440 He's your father. 00:23:48.180 --> 00:23:49.700 He, we can say that. 00:23:49.740 --> 00:23:52.180 But Jesus is teaching us something important here. 00:23:52.180 --> 00:24:01.340 The Christian faith isn't merely about me and God and just us in this kind of isolated relationship. 00:24:01.340 --> 00:24:03.019 Him being my father. 00:24:03.700 --> 00:24:07.960 No, the Christian life is fundamentally corporate. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:12.320 It is about God being our father. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:15.679 And who is our referring to? 00:24:16.439 --> 00:24:19.259 It's everyone who's been adopted by God. 00:24:19.779 --> 00:24:21.179 It's the church. 00:24:22.359 --> 00:24:31.639 When we pray, we come to God, not just merely as individuals, but we come as one people of God. 00:24:31.640 --> 00:24:45.500 And I just want to, I want us to have a think about what this means. 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:45.980 Okay. 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:48.720 So this little breakout session, we'll do this together now. 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:56.420 So if Jesus is ordering our desires and our priorities and he's showing us what really matters, 00:24:57.240 --> 00:25:00.920 what does our father teach us about? 00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:04.380 Well, firstly, what does it teach us about what the church is? 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:08.180 What does this say about the church? 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:16.340 Oh, okay, great. 00:25:16.519 --> 00:25:17.740 Oh, where am I going to put this? 00:25:17.960 --> 00:25:18.180 Okay. 00:25:18.560 --> 00:25:19.060 We are. 00:25:19.779 --> 00:25:20.519 Oh, hold on. 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:22.360 We'll deal with that in the third one. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:22.700 All right. 00:25:22.779 --> 00:25:24.080 I'm trying to fill this in. 00:25:24.360 --> 00:25:24.539 Okay. 00:25:24.620 --> 00:25:26.400 So what does it say about what the church is? 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:27.400 That's absolutely right, Lorna. 00:25:28.259 --> 00:25:29.019 We're a family. 00:25:29.360 --> 00:25:29.720 Exactly. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:30.880 We're a family. 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.320 I mean, let's do church. 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:35.279 Right. 00:25:35.380 --> 00:25:36.220 We are a family. 00:25:37.960 --> 00:25:38.720 There you go. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:39.120 Yeah. 00:25:40.259 --> 00:25:40.740 Yeah. 00:25:40.740 --> 00:25:45.440 We're not just a gathering of individual believers who just have the same interest in God. 00:25:45.860 --> 00:25:46.180 No, no. 00:25:46.180 --> 00:25:53.800 We are a family, which means we are, we're united by something very deep, by spiritual bonds. 00:25:54.339 --> 00:25:56.419 We're united by the blood of Christ. 00:25:56.419 --> 00:26:01.119 And so what does that say the church should be like, then? 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:06.879 What should be the dynamic in the church? 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:09.179 What should a family be like? 00:26:09.179 --> 00:26:09.179 00:26:09.180 --> 00:26:15.400 Go on. 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:15.400 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:17.240 Go on. 00:26:21.320 --> 00:26:21.840 Yeah. 00:26:23.220 --> 00:26:23.780 Right. 00:26:24.180 --> 00:26:24.340 Yeah. 00:26:29.019 --> 00:26:30.240 There's a harmony. 00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:34.880 There's a love, a unity in a family that should be. 00:26:35.580 --> 00:26:37.320 And so that is what the church is. 00:26:39.140 --> 00:26:42.420 And what does this say about the second thing, 00:26:42.500 --> 00:26:45.320 the importance of the church in the Christian life? 00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:49.720 How important is that then? 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:56.640 No trick answers. 00:26:56.860 --> 00:26:57.320 Central. 00:26:57.640 --> 00:26:58.060 Central. 00:26:58.259 --> 00:26:59.100 Yeah, absolutely. 00:26:59.280 --> 00:26:59.580 Central. 00:27:02.220 --> 00:27:05.540 Jesus says, this is how you should pray. 00:27:05.940 --> 00:27:07.160 Our father. 00:27:07.340 --> 00:27:08.940 This is the priority. 00:27:09.100 --> 00:27:12.200 These are the things that matter in the Christian life. 00:27:12.600 --> 00:27:15.100 And Jesus leads with, it's our father. 00:27:15.400 --> 00:27:17.120 Not just my father, our father. 00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:21.280 The church should be central, fundamental to the Christian life. 00:27:21.540 --> 00:27:27.700 In fact, if this is how Jesus is teaching us to pray, then we can't pray without the church. 00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:38.680 Now, I don't mean you can never pray individually, but I'm saying in the Christian life, to never have the church means you could never say our then, could you? 00:27:38.680 --> 00:27:39.680 So we don't pray alone. 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:41.860 And so we don't pray alone. 00:27:41.860 --> 00:27:42.759 Although you can pray alone. 00:27:42.860 --> 00:27:46.539 But we don't pray kind of stranded alone. 00:27:46.620 --> 00:27:48.240 No, we don't live alone. 00:27:48.840 --> 00:27:52.039 We are together God's family, church. 00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:55.299 And Jesus thinks this is essential. 00:27:55.879 --> 00:27:57.379 It's one of the first things he says. 00:27:57.539 --> 00:27:58.279 Our, right. 00:27:58.420 --> 00:27:59.500 We lead off with our. 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:03.700 And what does this say about how we should treat other believers? 00:28:04.139 --> 00:28:05.379 Lorna, go on back to you. 00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:06.859 How should we treat other believers? 00:28:08.279 --> 00:28:09.299 What did you say, Lorna? 00:28:09.299 --> 00:28:10.519 Oh, sorry. 00:28:11.799 --> 00:28:13.879 We said that we should serve each other. 00:28:13.879 --> 00:28:14.879 Serve each other, right. 00:28:15.220 --> 00:28:15.740 So how. 00:28:18.099 --> 00:28:18.579 Serving. 00:28:19.919 --> 00:28:20.440 Loving. 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:20.519 Loving. 00:28:22.740 --> 00:28:23.339 Loving. 00:28:24.220 --> 00:28:24.440 Right. 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:25.759 Exactly. 00:28:27.059 --> 00:28:35.779 So if Jesus is teaching us how to order our desires, how to prioritise the things that matter, prioritise our needs. 00:28:36.639 --> 00:28:41.019 This means he's saying our desires should be for each other. 00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:44.480 And our prayers should be for each other. 00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:49.500 So all these petitions that we're going to look at, the things that we ask for in the Lord's Prayer. 00:28:50.039 --> 00:28:53.639 We are longing for all these things for each other. 00:28:54.019 --> 00:28:55.000 Yes, for ourselves as well. 00:28:55.059 --> 00:28:58.559 We need our daily bread, but also for each other. 00:28:59.819 --> 00:29:04.019 So just in these three letters, Jesus is teaching in all that we ask for. 00:29:04.019 --> 00:29:09.960 We ask not just for ourselves, but for God's glory and for the church family around us. 00:29:11.180 --> 00:29:13.379 But there's one last phrase I want us to look at. 00:29:13.980 --> 00:29:14.519 In heaven. 00:29:15.019 --> 00:29:15.480 In heaven. 00:29:16.539 --> 00:29:20.379 Again, Jesus is taking us to the doctrine of God, part of the zoo. 00:29:21.099 --> 00:29:22.359 And he's telling us more. 00:29:23.720 --> 00:29:26.059 God is not only our father. 00:29:26.980 --> 00:29:29.740 He's our heavenly father. 00:29:29.740 --> 00:29:33.259 Now, what does Jesus mean by heaven here? 00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:40.200 Well, he's not necessarily focusing on heaven as the place where Jesus is now. 00:29:40.940 --> 00:29:49.779 Although God does dwell in heaven, his glory is going to manifest intensely in the place of heaven. 00:29:49.779 --> 00:29:55.259 That's the heaven in view when we pray your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:29:56.539 --> 00:30:04.160 But the focus here isn't necessarily the place of heaven, as if like Jesus is saying, you know, put the postcode of heaven. 00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:07.680 When you say our father, your prayers have got to be sent to the right place. 00:30:07.879 --> 00:30:10.099 He's not saying it kind of with that focus. 00:30:10.099 --> 00:30:17.459 But when it says our father in heaven, it is emphasizing God's beyondness. 00:30:18.579 --> 00:30:25.740 It's not emphasizing a different place, but a different plane of existence that God lives in. 00:30:26.439 --> 00:30:29.079 So we have an earthly existence, don't we? 00:30:29.819 --> 00:30:33.179 We live here on earth with our weaknesses and our limitations. 00:30:33.180 --> 00:30:43.900 But God has an existence beyond that, a heavenly existence beyond and exalted above creation. 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.259 Not bound by anything, but beyond everything. 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:54.080 Or another word for this is God's transcendence. 00:30:54.360 --> 00:30:54.960 It's a big word. 00:30:55.019 --> 00:30:57.299 If you're going to come to adult Sunday school, you're going to learn some new words. 00:30:57.660 --> 00:30:59.039 God's transcendence. 00:30:59.220 --> 00:31:01.200 It means God is beyond us. 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:03.799 He's exalted over creation. 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:08.460 And so Jesus is teaching us something else about God's nature here. 00:31:09.340 --> 00:31:12.120 We must recognize this about God when we pray. 00:31:13.100 --> 00:31:17.059 And I want us to think what exactly he is teaching us about God. 00:31:17.319 --> 00:31:20.600 So if God is transcendent, what is exactly he's saying about God here? 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:27.600 And so break out again and think, what does praying to God in heaven say about God's nature? 00:31:27.720 --> 00:31:29.519 Why is it important to know this in prayer? 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:33.420 And use these psalms to help you think about it. 00:31:33.619 --> 00:31:34.119 Go for it. 00:31:34.160 --> 00:31:34.920 Two more minutes. 00:31:34.920 --> 00:31:34.960 Two more minutes. 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:34.960 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:34.960 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:38.960 Two more minutes. 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:52.960 Two more minutes. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:59.180 Thank you. 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:31:59.180 00:31:59.180 --> 00:32:29.160 Thank you. 00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:59.160 Thank you. 00:32:59.180 --> 00:33:29.160 Thank you. 00:33:29.180 --> 00:33:59.160 Thank you. 00:33:59.180 --> 00:34:02.560 A few more seconds. 00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:32.539 Thank you. 00:34:32.559 --> 00:34:36.119 Jesus is holy. 00:34:36.500 --> 00:34:38.239 Holy. Okay. Yeah. 00:34:38.900 --> 00:34:41.000 He's other. 00:34:41.519 --> 00:34:43.659 Well done. Someone was listening at camp. Well done. 00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:47.079 He's other. He's above all the nations. 00:34:47.279 --> 00:34:48.320 His glory above the heavens. 00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:53.420 He is greater than all that exists here on earth. 00:34:53.880 --> 00:34:54.680 What else? 00:34:54.680 --> 00:35:00.059 What does being seated on high mean? 00:35:00.059 --> 00:35:01.059 Sovereign. 00:35:01.059 --> 00:35:05.199 Sovereign. Yeah. It's a picture of a king, right? 00:35:05.539 --> 00:35:08.360 He's the sovereign ruler over all things. 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:10.940 He's in charge and he's in control. 00:35:10.940 --> 00:35:14.039 And so why is this important to know in prayer? 00:35:14.039 --> 00:35:22.820 Well, when our lives feel like they're unraveling and it feels like chaos and it feels like things are very, very powerful down here. 00:35:23.460 --> 00:35:30.559 Well, we can come to him in prayer and know he is the heavenly one beyond who rules over all things. 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:33.000 He's the king. How about some 115? 00:35:33.000 --> 00:35:36.820 What does this say about God? 00:35:36.820 --> 00:35:48.460 He's in control, right? He does all that he pleases. 00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:52.960 Exactly. Not bound by anything. 00:35:53.460 --> 00:35:57.640 Another word for this, if you remember our doctrine of God, he's omnipotent, all powerful. 00:35:58.700 --> 00:36:02.539 He can do anything. No prayer is too big for God. 00:36:02.539 --> 00:36:08.300 How about Psalm 33? The Lord looks down from heaven. He sees all the children of man. 00:36:12.599 --> 00:36:14.460 So he's omnipotent. What else is he? 00:36:16.579 --> 00:36:19.159 We need Jasper Wilcox. Where's Jasper Wilcox? 00:36:19.699 --> 00:36:21.460 He's omniscient. Yeah. 00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:25.159 He sees all the children of man. It's this idea. 00:36:25.239 --> 00:36:31.340 He knows all human beings. He sees all that's going on, which is even implied in praying, right? 00:36:31.340 --> 00:36:39.900 To be able to pray to God, that requires God to have omniscience, to know all things, to hear all things. 00:36:40.940 --> 00:36:43.000 And so this means God knows our needs. 00:36:43.740 --> 00:36:45.820 He knows our futures. He knows our thoughts. 00:36:45.960 --> 00:36:50.539 He knows all the events of our lives that we pray about. 00:36:52.180 --> 00:36:53.300 Let's add some of these. 00:36:53.300 --> 00:36:56.380 Go on. 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:56.380 00:36:59.180 --> 00:37:00.780 He's faithful. Exactly. 00:37:03.140 --> 00:37:04.380 Omniscience. 00:37:05.700 --> 00:37:06.539 Faithful. 00:37:08.340 --> 00:37:09.380 Sovereign. 00:37:12.200 --> 00:37:13.440 How do I put it out the window? 00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:25.440 So instantly, just in this first line, Jesus destroys a materialistic, materialist view of the world, doesn't he? 00:37:26.400 --> 00:37:35.599 The Christian view of life is not that this is all that there is, and this is all just one big machine of atoms that ticks along. 00:37:35.599 --> 00:37:43.880 But no, Jesus is saying there is a ruler who intervenes and runs and controls all of this. 00:37:44.799 --> 00:37:48.699 So a materialist would say, this is all that there is. 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:50.440 A materialist would shut that out. 00:37:51.339 --> 00:37:54.039 But what Jesus is saying is, no, no, no. 00:37:54.460 --> 00:37:56.219 This is how life is. 00:37:56.219 --> 00:38:00.879 In prayer, we are reminded this is the reality. 00:38:02.279 --> 00:38:12.779 Prayer immediately gets our minds off this earth and our worries and our weaknesses, and it turns our hearts to the transcendent, to God in heaven. 00:38:12.780 --> 00:38:24.780 And so even before we ask him for anything, even before we get to these petitions, these words are a powerful reminder that whatever we do ask for, he is able to help. 00:38:25.300 --> 00:38:29.060 He knows he's above all of it, and he's in control. 00:38:30.280 --> 00:38:33.100 And this should make us pray big. 00:38:34.400 --> 00:38:37.500 Starting like this, Jesus is wanting us to pray big. 00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:39.040 Look what J.I. Packer says. 00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:43.300 Drab thoughts of God make prayers dull. 00:38:44.500 --> 00:38:48.340 When we forget God is heavenly, what do we do? 00:38:48.420 --> 00:38:49.539 We ask small. 00:38:50.279 --> 00:38:51.900 We doubt he can do anything. 00:38:52.920 --> 00:38:55.000 And in fact, we probably don't come to him at all. 00:38:56.420 --> 00:39:00.420 But Jesus teaches us, no, your father is in heaven. 00:39:01.699 --> 00:39:02.259 Transcendent. 00:39:03.759 --> 00:39:06.619 And so we need to hold these two things together. 00:39:06.619 --> 00:39:09.839 That he is our father and he's in heaven. 00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:14.239 He is near me and loves me and cares for me. 00:39:14.960 --> 00:39:18.059 And he is beyond and powerful and sovereign. 00:39:19.359 --> 00:39:24.579 And in the Christian life, we constantly need to hold these two things together. 00:39:25.839 --> 00:39:30.299 This should be like a pendulum in our hearts swinging between the two. 00:39:30.300 --> 00:39:36.080 As soon as you remember God is father, the pendulum swings and you're reminded, and he's in heaven. 00:39:36.740 --> 00:39:37.240 And back. 00:39:37.300 --> 00:39:39.180 He's my father and he's in heaven. 00:39:40.760 --> 00:39:49.720 And having that pendulum swing in your heart, it helps us to recognize all that happens in our lives is not random. 00:39:49.719 --> 00:39:51.919 It is not punishment. 00:39:52.539 --> 00:39:57.559 But everything we have is from our heavenly father's hand. 00:39:58.439 --> 00:40:04.079 And everything he takes away is by his fatherly hand. 00:40:05.199 --> 00:40:09.899 Our father in heaven is the one who gives and takes away. 00:40:09.900 --> 00:40:16.760 And so this opening address, it teaches us to give thanks for all the good things God gives us. 00:40:17.360 --> 00:40:19.579 But also to trust him in the troubles. 00:40:20.300 --> 00:40:21.840 In those times of waiting. 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:24.900 In those times that he withholds things from us. 00:40:25.980 --> 00:40:30.139 And to trust that all this is part of his fatherly care for us. 00:40:30.139 --> 00:40:39.000 And not only looking, just looking at this prayer teaches us that, but actually praying teaches us that. 00:40:39.739 --> 00:40:46.900 The act of giving all our needs to God, to our father in heaven, into his care, into his hands, his power. 00:40:47.179 --> 00:40:51.599 It keeps that pendulum swinging in our hearts, even through the troubles. 00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:55.139 And maybe let me just finish with this. 00:40:55.139 --> 00:41:04.159 Some people can find it difficult to see God as father because of bad experiences with our heavenly, with our earthly fathers. 00:41:05.179 --> 00:41:12.799 Well, in this phrase, Jesus is teaching us God is far greater than even the best earthly father. 00:41:13.779 --> 00:41:19.279 He is your true father, the perfect father who never disappoints, never lets you down. 00:41:19.280 --> 00:41:27.320 He is far better than any father on earth because he is our father in heaven. 00:41:28.740 --> 00:41:34.600 And so just in these four words that we've seen today, we actually have the first essentials of the Christian life. 00:41:35.300 --> 00:41:36.380 We are children of God. 00:41:37.060 --> 00:41:39.260 We can confidently come to our father. 00:41:39.720 --> 00:41:41.840 And our father is heavenly. 00:41:42.440 --> 00:41:45.340 And he powerfully cares for each and every one of us. 00:41:46.900 --> 00:41:48.580 We've got two minutes for questions. 00:41:49.280 --> 00:41:49.800 Any questions?