You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace.
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If you have your Bibles, open up to the 19th chapter of Luke, and we're going to begin
today in verse 45, and we will continue through verse 8 of chapter 20.
We're going to continue this morning in the detailed last week of Jesus' life that Dr.
Luke lays out for us here over these next several chapters.
Will helpfully placed us all in this story last week as we were able to marvel at the
unique King Jesus through the eyes of the young man Samuel.
We saw Jesus prophesy, and he fulfilled prophecy as he sent his disciples into a village to
bring back a cult with which the owner easily parted, which is weird.
We saw people gladly throwing their cloaks on the ground in front of the unique King, not
because they were compelled to by his power, but because they were compelled to by his person.
And we saw the people cry out hosannas to Jesus because even if they didn't, the stones surely
would.
And then we saw King Jesus weep over his city, Jerusalem.
The God-man overlooked his home and wept at the coming judgment for this place and for
these people.
And as we move to this morning's text, the seemingly mild-mannered King Jesus does something that's
seemingly out of character when you consider last week.
Then the seemingly patient rabbi gives a short answer to the Pharisees.
So let's catch up with Dr. Luke as we read Luke 19, starting in verse 45.
And he, being Jesus, entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to
them,
And he was teaching daily in the temple.
The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him,
but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.
One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes,
with the elders, came up and said to him,
Tell us, by what authority do you do these things?
Or who is it that gave you that authority?
And he answered them,
Well, let me ask you a question.
Tell me,
Was the baptism of John from heaven?
Or was it from man?
And they discussed it with one another, saying,
Well, if we say it was from heaven, he'll say,
Well, why don't you believe him?
But if we say for man, all the people will stone us to death,
for they're convinced that John was a prophet.
So they answered that they did not know where it came from.
And Jesus said to them,
Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
This is a trustworthy retelling of the events in Jesus' life.
We should put our faith in that.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning as a needy people,
as a thankful people,
who were driven to consider you
and consider what you've done in our lives,
even over the last couple of days.
But all too often, we are people who compartmentalize our lives,
and we have you slotted in a certain space.
And we pray that you would send your Holy Spirit to us now
to illumine our hearts and our minds
so that we would allow you to be the backdrop of our entire life
so that everything we do would be glorifying to you
and that you would be not a part of our lives,
but that you would be our lives.
Just as you sent your Son to give his life for us
and rise again so that we can have hope,
eternal and everlasting hope.
Please be with the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts.
I pray that they would be pleasing unto you.
And all of this in the name of and for the sake of King Jesus.
Amen.
Most organizations of any size go to great lengths
to let the people around them know what their mission and vision is.
And you don't have to be at Southwood long.
Perhaps you listened to Will a couple of moments ago to hear him say,
we are a church that experiences grace and expresses grace.
And that's to say that we desire that all who engage with us
might experience the grace of Jesus Christ in their lives
and then turn around and express that grace to others.
We're people who love people.
We want to live in community with each other.
And we're driven by these relationships.
I'll put the core commitment slide up behind us now.
If you see these, these are the five things that we're committed to
as a church beyond that.
And we strive to love the least, the lost, the littlest,
the lonely, and the left out.
We know that our personal restoration, it's only a piece of the puzzle.
And that we've been called to be agents in our Heavenly Father's
greater mission of restoring all of creation in Huntsville and beyond.
I was challenged by Will Sermon a couple of weeks ago
as he discussed the sacrificial giving of our times
and our talents and our treasure.
And whether or not we take our mina and put it away for safekeeping
or do we reinvest it and see it multiplied tenfold?
Do we engage the world with our time and our treasure in a sacrificial way?
The core commitments that I've mentioned so far are wonderful things,
but we can't even seem to do those well.
And if you see the first two up there,
the most important one of those five is the one that's listed first,
that we're committed to being Christ-centered.
A natural outflow of what it means to be Christ-centered
is that we recognize our deep dependence
and need for prayer.
As we look at our text this morning,
we shouldn't be startled at the unique king,
even though we could be.
We were marveling at him that last week,
and now we see him angrily going through and cleansing the temple.
And this is kind of a brief statement of that
compared to what the other gospels say.
But we shouldn't be surprised at this at all
because Jesus has been giving us his mission and vision statements
throughout the entirety of the book of Luke.
And as he enters this last week of earthly ministry,
he comes face to face with his people who can't do it right.
He's face to face with his people who have made an idol out of what is sacred.
He's face to face with his leadership who refuse to acknowledge his lordship.
As the church of Jesus Christ, even here at Southwood,
all that we do and everything that we are must start with the king
and be measured against who he is.
We ought to work backward from who Jesus is
and what he says about the kingdom of God
and what he says that that's about.
And then we can define who we are as a church
and what we're supposed to be doing in this world.
We're going to look at this in three ways this morning.
First, with his unique authority.
Second, with his unique righteousness.
And third, with his unique grace handily
that is all printed on the back of the bulletin
that you should have received as you walked in.
So considering his unique authority,
I'd like to dive into this idea of him cleansing the temple.
Luke doesn't make a mistake
when he places this section of scripture
immediately after Jesus weeping over Jerusalem.
If you remember what Will said last week,
this is a real, the heart of Jesus is
that you see him looking down
knowing that judgment is coming for these people
and he's weeping about that.
That's who Jesus is.
And so if we look at verse 45 and 46,
he entered the temple
and he began to drive out those who sold,
saying to them,
it is written,
my house shall be,
this shall be a house of prayer,
but you've made it a den of robbers.
And he's referencing back to Jeremiah.
And basically the idea there is that
a den of robbers would be
that these people are coming
to sell their wares and their goods
and then they're going to take them
and hide them in their dens,
which would be like caves in the mountains, right?
That they're going to take that.
It's a really bad imagery
and having a son of God say that about you
is not really a good thing.
That's not where you want to be.
But this is his house.
And we shouldn't be surprised
at him saying that about his house.
We can go back to Luke 2
and remember his parents
couldn't find him anywhere.
They couldn't find him anywhere in the city.
And when they finally did,
they found him in the temple
and he said to them,
why were you looking for me?
Didn't you know that I must be
in my father's house?
Woe to you Pharisees
for you love the best seat
in the synagogues
and greetings in the marketplace.
Woe to you for you're like unmarked graves
and people walk over them without knowing.
Woe to you lawyers
for you load people with burdens
too hard to bear
and you yourselves
don't want to touch the burdens
with your fingers.
Woe to you
for you've taken away
the key to knowledge.
You didn't enter yourselves
and you hindered those
who were entering.
This is his house
where the key of knowledge
is supposed to be given
freely to those who come in.
And instead it's become
something else.
Probably what was going on here
was stuff that you could
slip into easily.
Certainly there was
some bad things going on
or Jesus wouldn't have called them
a den of robbers.
But there were also people
who were making pilgrimages
to Jerusalem
to do their sacrifices
and some of these people
were selling things
to be sacrificed.
There was a need.
Right?
Demand called for it.
So someone's going to meet
that demand.
But somehow we got
from the tabernacle
where they used to tie
something to the ankle
of the high priest
in case he died
in the presence of God
so that they could pull him out
to what Herod's temple
looks like here
in Jerusalem.
We're a long way from that.
And his leaders
aren't very happy with him
as he goes on doing this.
He was teaching daily
in the temple
and the chief priests
and the scribes
and the principal men
of the people
were seeking to destroy him.
This is the first time
that is specifically said in Luke
that they're going
to do something to Jesus.
And the word for destroy there
is certainly at least death
but also wiping him
and any memory of him
off of the map.
They want him gone.
This is going to be done.
He's making people angry.
What does he call
from his leaders though?
Is it that?
You remember when he called Simon
way back in Luke 5?
Hey, don't be afraid.
From now on
you're going to be
fishing fishers of men.
And then they brought
their boats to land
and how did the leaders respond?
How did his disciples respond?
They left everything
and followed him.
He told his leaders
be merciful
even as your father
is merciful.
He asked them
why do you call me
Lord, Lord
and don't do
what I tell you?
And then he said
blessed are those
who hear the word of God
and keep it.
Whoever would lose
his life
who saved his life
will lose it
but whoever loses
his life for my sake
will save it.
And these leaders
are nothing like that.
They don't recognize
that the prophecy
has come to them.
The thing that they're
so zealous about
is actually
in their presence.
I don't know
if you're familiar
with the basketball player
Marquez Foltz
was reading late last night.
He was the first player
picked last year
in the NBA draft.
He plays for the
Philadelphia 76ers.
And he was
a lights out
unbelievable young player.
He had a shot
that was pure
and deserving
of the number one
pick in the draft.
Something happened
to him though.
Over the course of time
in the past year and a half
he has developed
a hitch in his jump shot.
And basically
he can't score.
He's a fine NBA player.
I believe this season
he's averaging
something like
eight points
and four rebounds
and a couple assists.
Something like that.
If you don't know basketball
that's good
and if you're doing that
in the NBA
that's really good.
But that's certainly
not what they were expecting
when they spent millions
and millions of dollars
on him
and got him first
in the NBA draft.
And I was reading
last night
that Elton Brand
who was the
general manager
of the 76ers
former Duke basketball player
said that they're
pretty much moving on
from Markel Fultz
or Markel Fultz.
And Heap
has pulled himself
off of the team
in the last couple of days
citing a shoulder issue
that nobody on the team
has been able to find.
None of the team doctors
none of the team surgeons
nothing like that.
Rather their assessment
of the situation
is that
he kind of stopped
practicing the fundamentals
of his jump shot
that made him
worthy of a number one
pick in the NBA draft.
He stopped working
he stopped paying attention
to the things
that made him
successful
in the first place
and ultimately
where that's brought him
to is a point
that he has
a problem
with his jump shot
that he can't
recover from.
It's not a problem
with his shoulder
it was a problem
with his orientation
ever since he
became drafted.
So now
here he is
without a team
and his stock
has really plummeted
he's not worth
the contract
that he has
so he'll be
hard to unload
and hard to trade
I don't mean unload
in a bad way
the business of basketball
is all I mean by that.
I use that illustration
because
I don't think
it's hard for us
to understand
and relate to
losing track
of the fundamentals
in our lives.
when we lose
sight of fundamentals
it becomes
easy to be
complacent
with the good
things that
we're doing.
Most everyone
thinks that
they're right
I know I do
but thankfully
we have
holy scripture
against which
we can balance
all of our
notions of that.
When it comes
to the church
and the idea
of our core
commitments
the things
that we're doing
in our personal
lives
the things
that we should
be excited about
as a community
of believers
if that can't
be balanced
against this
and what's
going on
in the Bible
and most importantly
for our context
in the life
and through the words
of Jesus
we've really
lost the plot.
Unlike
Markel Fultz
you and I
can't go out
every day
and work hard
enough to be
good enough
to do what
we're called
to do as
believers.
I wish I could
but I can't.
And Jesus
isn't calling
anyone to that
through these
words.
He's calling
people to recognize
that he is
the Lord
who has come
to call
sinners to
repentance.
He is the only
way we can be
good enough
for anything.
Repent and
follow after me.
Not go do
things well enough
so that you can
do them on your
own.
Today the church
has developed
a relationship
with a school
in our community
where we'll be
doing a prayer
walk.
And the great
thing about a
prayer walk
is that you
can't do it
wrong.
So please
come.
I encourage
everyone to
come out to
Weichsburg P8
for five minutes
or for an
hour or
whatever time
that you can
spare.
We'll mention
no more than
a half an
hour.
If you want to
stay beyond
that nobody
is going to
pull you off
of the
property.
Believe it or
not things like
a prayer walk
can be wrong.
See we do
this because
we believe
that the
full scope
of the
gospel of
Jesus Christ
is in view
when we
engage our
community in
love and
in justice
and in
sustainability
and in
restoration
and in
reconciliation.
James
song or
not James
song the
song that
James performed
a few moments
ago
hits it on
the head.
God is not
interested in
our show.
We've not
been equipped
to put on
a show for
anyone.
We've been
equipped to
live out the
gospel of
Jesus Christ
every minute
of every day.
And as a
church we need
to be excited
about the
opportunities to
go and do
something like
that.
When my heart
is left to
itself I want
to do what I
want to do
when I want
to do it.
I don't know
if anybody
else can
identify with
that.
I'm glad
that something
is going
on but I'm
also glad
that there's
somebody else
out there
who's doing
it.
Don't hear
what I'm
not saying.
Everyone
can't do
everything all
the time and
if we notice
that you were
trying to do
everything all
the time we
would discourage
you from that
because that's
not healthy.
But the reality
for most of us
is that we
don't do
anything most
of the time.
Not only are
we not really
participating,
but we don't
even watch to
see if what's
happening is
biblical and
representative of
Jesus and his
passion for the
world.
The temple
didn't get to
this place
because people
were meticulously
watching and
balancing what was
happening against
the laws and the
scriptures.
It got to this
place for the
opposite reasons.
Jesus comes in
because he
knows the
stakes are
high.
The stakes
are really
high.
When we talk
about this
book as
pastors, I
constantly use
the phrase
that was used
by one of my
professors,
eschatological
intensity.
Jesus is so
concerned about
the eternal
reality of
every soul
that he
encounters
that there's
no time for
games in the
meantime.
He's always
on about that
mission.
He's always on
about that
thing.
Now, thankfully
for my heart,
Jesus is happy to
reorient me.
And he
reorients me as
he points me to
his unique
righteousness.
We can see it
there in that
passage, but
also as we
look to the
first four
verses of
chapter 20.
One day, as
Jesus was
teaching the
people in the
temple and
preaching the
gospel, the
chief priests
and the
scribes with
the elders
came up and
said to him,
tell us, by
what authority
do you do
these things,
or who is it
that gave you
that authority?
He answered
them, I will
also ask you
a question,
tell me, was
the baptism of
John from
heaven, or
was it from
man?
The first
part of this
is amazing
because it
shows us
Jesus'
heart.
What's
happening there
at the very
beginning of
that first
sentence?
One day,
Jesus was
teaching the
people in the
temple and
preaching the
gospel.
Luke 4, 43,
this is what
Jesus said,
I must preach
the good news
of the kingdom
of God to
other towns as
well because I
was sent for
this purpose.
This is Jesus'
heart.
In Luke 9, he
talks about the
little children
coming to him
and the child
coming to him,
and he said,
whoever receives
this child in my
name receives me,
and whoever
receives me receives
him who sent me.
this is when the
disciples were
arguing about who
the greatest was,
and they were
bickering back and
forth.
And Jesus says,
hey, whoever
thinks that you
are great, you're
going to be the
least.
But whoever's the
least among you,
you're going to be
the one who's
great.
Then he talks,
there's a popular
song right now that
uses this line.
He said, I tell
you there's more
joy in heaven over
one sinner who
repents than
ninety-nine
righteous persons
who need no
repentance.
And then even as
we heard last week,
Jesus drew near to
the city, and he
started weeping over
it.
This is what Jesus
is doing.
This is his heart.
He didn't come to
judge.
He came to share
and give of himself
to the world.
As good
Presbyterians, we
don't always like to
think about that
reality.
When I talk to
the teenagers, I
use the idea of
there are things
that are above the
line and things
that are below the
line.
If you can imagine
that this is the
line.
We know above
the line things
such as
predestination and
election and all
of those things
that we like to
discuss.
And we somehow
put them at
tension with the
below the line
things, the way
that God has
descended to us and
told us to go out
and act in the
world.
Romans 9 doesn't
exist without
Romans 10.
Romans 9 talks
about God and
his disposition
toward us as
people, as the
heavenly father.
And we can't get
into his mind and
know what he is
doing because we
are finite.
He is not.
He then says to
us, basically a
summation of what
Jesus says, who do
you say that I am?
Because if you
confess me with
your heart and
believe that my
father raised me
from the dead, if
these things are
really true, like
Michael said today
that they're true,
then you're one of
mine.
Jesus came giving
of himself to
everyone because
people who harden
themselves and deny
Christ are ultimately
responsible for that
action.
But his heart is
that that wouldn't
be the case.
And his mission
is similar.
We can go back to
Luke 4.
The spirit of the
Lord is upon me
because he's anointed
me to proclaim the
good news to the
poor.
He sent me to
proclaim liberty to
captives and
recovering of sight to
the blind, to set at
liberty those who are
oppressed and proclaim
the year of the
Lord's favor.
God's favor.
Again, I didn't come
to call righteous
people.
I've come to call
sinners to repentance.
And then some more
drastic commentary from
Luke 12.
I came to cast fire on
the earth and wood
that it was already
kindled.
Do you think that I've
come to give peace?
No.
I tell you, I've come
to give division.
You can't encounter
the God-man without
being on one of two
sides.
There's no neutral
reaction to who he is
and what he does in
the world.
Being asked by the
Pharisees when the
kingdom of God would
come, he said to
them, the kingdom of
God is not coming in
ways that can be
observed, nor is
anybody going to say,
look, here it is,
or there.
Rehold, the kingdom
of God is amongst you
now.
His mission is for
people to know him
and to know the
kingdom of God.
This idea of
reorientation is easy
for most of us, I
think, if we use an
illustration.
Most of us in here
either have kids or
have worked with
children in the past.
Not naming any of you
in particular.
If you're paying
attention, I'm not
sure that they are.
But it's not weird to
say to any of my
children, hey, buddy,
go grab your, go get
your PJs out, put them
on, and brush your
teeth.
I wish I had a camera
that could follow 10
seconds behind them to
figure out why when I
go in the bedroom,
they're listening to
stories on the CD
player and playing with
Legos.
Or there's a thing
with a cup and
tapping it on a desk
that I don't know why
that happens.
I can't get in the
mind of my children,
but I'm sure it's
very, very interesting.
And in that moment,
as a parent, you have a
decision to make, right?
Do I treat my child
like a 40-year-old?
Or do I treat them
like their actual age?
But the really simple
decision you have to
make is, regardless of
how you respond in the
moment, they still need
to get their PJs on and
they still need to brush
their teeth.
How do you reorient
them to what they're
actually supposed to be
doing in that moment?
How do you get them to
do the things that you
know are best for them?
Because, you know,
bedtime is one thing,
but if your house is
anything like our house
is, or if working with
the kids in the nursery,
or any of the ways you
might plug in to children,
it is more herding cats
most of the time.
So this could be applied
to lunchtime, or
breakfast time, or
playtime, or rest time,
or any time of the day.
We get trained in what is
the right thing to be
doing, right?
Which is also a good,
that's an aside for
parents.
Make sure that we're
choosing the right
battles with our kids,
right?
You don't have to be
right all the time
about everything.
I'm not encouraging
your parents.
Don't let your kids
disrespect you, you
know what I mean?
But there are also
battles that need to be
fought and battles that
don't need to be fought.
That's just an aside.
I don't mean to belittle
you as a person, but it
belittles me as a person,
but this is how Jesus
treats us.
This is his ultimate
goal for his people, is
that he constantly takes
us, and that's a move I
do in my house.
The TV is a magnet, so
regardless of what is on
the TV, even if it's a
clock bouncing around and
you just want it to go
right in the corner, but
regardless of what's
happening, the TV always
has to be looked at.
Turn their heads and focus
them back on what they're
supposed to be doing.
That's most of us, most
of the time.
If you're like me, your
pie is divided in so many
ways that you can be
distracted doing any
number of things.
That's one of the reasons
I prayed earlier, because
for me, one of the biggest
things I need to remember
all of the time is that
God is our backdrop.
God is our top, because
everything we're doing is
supposed to be filtered
through that grid, and
our focus is always
supposed to be oriented
based upon who Jesus is
and what we're called to
do in the world because of
that.
I need that all the time.
And sometimes correction
and reorientation is not
enjoyable.
We see at the end of that
passage, he says to the
Pharisees, neither will I
tell you by what authority
I do these things.
In the second, we'll talk
about why that's so sad.
But some of us just don't
want to be reoriented.
But thankfully, he shows
us correction and mercy in
those ways.
So finally and quickly, why
does Jesus show us this
kind of correction and
mercy?
Well, because of his
unique grace.
those last four verses,
five through eight of
chapter 20, the Pharisees
discuss Jesus' question
with one another.
And you notice they're not
even thinking of Jesus and
all of the things that he's
done.
They're giving it zero time
a day.
This is the danger, by the
way, for us when we seek to
logic people into the
kingdom of heaven.
We don't want to get into a
conversation where people
stop seeing Jesus in us and
rather start to combat our
words and experiences based
upon those things.
So rather than thinking of
what Jesus might have
actually been saying to them
by asking this question, they
said, well, if he's from
heaven, if we say that he's
from heaven, he's going to be
like, well, why don't you
believe him and who I am?
But if we say he's from man,
all the people are going to
stone us to death because they
think he's a prophet.
And so they answered that
they didn't know where it
came from.
And Jesus said, neither will I
tell you by what authority I do
these things.
Throughout the book, he's been
very willing to engage with the
Pharisees and to answer them,
attempting to reorient them in
myriad ways.
And at this point, he finally
says, I'm not going to answer
you.
This is the leadership of
Israel.
These are the people who are
charged with leading his people.
And he says, I'm done.
But there's a unique grace that's
being said here that Jesus shows
to his people throughout all of
time because at the same, we
can only imagine that he went
back to teaching at that point
in time, which is what he was
doing at the beginning of this.
They come to a stalemate in their
argument.
And Jesus probably turned around
and began to do what he was
doing before.
His heart for his people is
shown in that type of action,
but it's also shown in simple
ways and in complex ways
throughout the book.
In Luke 4, he casts a demon out
of the man and the man wasn't
even harmed.
Remember when he healed the
paralytic in chapter 5?
He answers the Pharisees in this
one.
He said, well, what's it easier
to say?
Your sins are forgiven of you
or is it easier to say rise and
walk?
But that you may know that the
Son of Man has authority on
earth to forgive sins.
He said to the man who was
paralyzed, I say to you, pick up
your bed and go home.
He's terribly interested in
healing our bodies as well as
our souls.
And even when that doesn't
happen, we know from passages
like that that he is with us and
empathizes with us in our
struggles and our lives.
After he sent out the 72 in
chapter 10, they came back and
they're like, man, you should
have seen.
We were casting demons out and
I made a cloud go from here to
there.
I don't know why I did that, but
it was awesome.
And they're saying all these
great things that he had done
through them.
And the eschatological
intensity, the end times
intensity, the reality of
eternity, Jesus focuses them
back and says, nevertheless,
don't rejoice in that, that
spirits are subject to you, but
rejoice that your names are
written in heaven.
For those of us who are
anxious, are not five sparrows
sold for two pennies?
And not one of them is
forgotten before God.
Why, even the hairs on your
head are numbered.
Fear not, for you're of more
value than many sparrows.
And if God so clothes the grass
which is alive in the field
today and tomorrow is thrown
into the oven, how much more
will he clothe you, O you of
little faith?
Instead, seek his kingdom.
And these things will be added
under you.
Fear not, little flock, for it's
your father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom.
And his passion for his world
can't be lost in this also.
The grace he shows to his world.
As for that, in the good soil,
they are those who, hearing the
word, hold it fast in an honest
and good heart and bear fruit with
patience.
This is, again, talking about
preaching the gospel openly and
people receiving it.
Jesus said to him, remember this
story, no one who puts his hand
to the plow and looks back is fit
for the kingdom.
In the same hour, he rejoiced in
the Holy Spirit and said, I thank
you, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that you have hidden these
things from the wise and the
understanding and revealed them to
little children.
Yes, Father, for such is your
gracious will.
All things have been handed over to
me by my Father.
No one knows a son except the
Father.
Or who the Father is except the
Son and anyone to whom the Son
chooses to reveal him.
It's another above the line,
below the line statement.
Great for assurance.
Terrible to club someone over the
head with.
Then last week, as he was coming
into the city and the Pharisees
said, hey, tell them to stop saying
Hosanna to you.
It's really disruptive and they
think you're the great one, the
Messiah who's coming.
And Jesus said, hey, I could tell
them that.
But even if I did, even the stones
would cry out.
You can't deny what's happening
right now.
Perhaps the biggest sign of his
grace to the world is that three
times over the course of the book
to this point, Jesus tells of his
death.
He says it's going to happen.
And it has to happen.
The ultimate grace that we find in
Jesus is that when we might want to
play cognitive or intellectual mind
games with, as though you can play
this with some other part of your
body.
At any rate, we want to play cognitive
or intellectual games with the word and
with the reality of the gospel.
Jesus still has our hearts and our
souls in view.
As he knew, he ultimately came to die
because only him dying and raising
again, physically raising again, is
ultimately going to bridge the chasm
that you and I create between
ourselves and our Heavenly Father
every single day.
I've heard all sorts of analogies for
what it means to repent of your sins,
but I can't help but feel that we get
it wrong because we think that there's
some tit for tat at play as though if
I repent of this sin, if I just keep
doing that enough, then I'll keep up
with Jesus in all the times that he's
forgiving me.
Here's a crazy thought.
That's a reality.
During this 40 minutes or 35 minutes that
I've been up here talking right now,
there's no way that through this entire
time I've been honoring God with all my
heart, soul, mind, and strength.
And I don't know how.
I don't know how to confess those things
specifically.
Let alone from 6 o'clock this morning
up until this point.
Our debt load is so exponential
that Jesus has zero interest in us
thinking of how we could possibly repay him
through our actions.
And he knows going through this that only
people who know how desperate they are
for their heavenly father and how the only
way to him is through Jesus.
They're the only ones who inherit the
kingdom.
We see Jesus for who he is and we love
him and we do what he says and we follow
him and we repent and we do all of those
things and they're effective only because
his death satisfies a debt that we can't
even imagine.
We don't know what it is.
That's the ultimate grace shown to his
people and to his world.
This is ultimately what Southwood is
about.
This is why we want you to be excited
about giving of your time and your
talents.
God doesn't need your money.
God will use you in spite of you
just like he has used me in spite of me.
But Jesus calls us to action in the
world not because he needs us but because
we need him.
We've been given the key to happiness
that no one is ever going to seek out
and find on their own.
Our neediness is his glory.
Our brokenness is his passion.
He loves people and he loves his world.
Let's be excited as we get to give of
ourselves sacrificially for the one who
gives of himself eternally.
Pray with me please.
Father thank you for the gift of your word.
Thank you for the way that Luke has taken the
time to draw it out and even as we step away
over the next several weeks to celebrate the
advent and the coming of our savior.
Father thank you for the gift of
we think of the fact that he came to die.
He came to show us grace unfathomable and
unmeasurable.
And we pray that our response to that isn't to do
anything other than marvel at the wonderful love that
Christ has for us.
And I pray that that would drive us today and that
many of us would come out and pray and walk around
Whitesburg.
But even if we don't that that would drive us throughout
this week and the coming weeks as we consider what does
it mean to be your people living with your heart and on
your mission here in the world.
How does that impact Huntsville and beyond?
How do we live in a Christ centered way in front of people
that we live around and work with?
What does it look like to pray as though we need to pray?
Where are the least and the lost and the littlest and the
loneliest and the left out?
And I pray that we would know and have experienced your grace
so that we can really express it to those who live around us.
And who you've put in our path.
Thank you for your love for us.
In Christ's name we pray.
Amen.