You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
I'm going to ask you all to bear with me this morning.
Will just brought me the sheet of what I'm supposed to say,
so I didn't have a chance to review it before he wrote it for me.
If you have a Bible, open it to Luke chapter 5.
We're going to be back in Luke this morning after the helpful sermon last week,
the recap from Will of Daniel.
It helped to settle my heart.
I hope to settle some of your hearts as well, going into the election time last week.
Feeling a little weighed down this morning,
and I can't help but be impacted by the beginning of this service
in a way I'd like to suggest for you to be impacted,
because I think that it helps us look through this passage today.
And this has just kind of been an overwhelming idea of the glory of Christ
and how big he is.
And that's a lot of what this passage has to speak about today.
The glory of Jesus, the wonder of his eternal kingdom,
the action of our loving Father throughout history,
actual things that have happened to assure our salvation to us,
his redemption of all of creation.
I mean, this is big stuff, and this is what Luke is on about.
So as we get back into it, I hope that our eyes are that big,
and I hope that our hearts are open to hear what Dr. Luke tells us today.
And we'll start in chapter 5 with verse 1,
and we'll read all the way down through verse 16.
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God,
he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,
and he saw two boats by the lake,
but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.
So he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's,
and he asked them to put out a little on the land,
and he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
And when he'd finished speaking, he said to Simon,
hey, go put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.
And Simon answered him,
Master, we've toiled all night and took nothing,
but at your word, I'll go and let down the nets.
When they'd done this, they enclosed a large number of fish,
and their nets were breaking.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them,
and they came and they filled both of the boats so that they began to sink.
And when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying,
Depart from me, for I'm a sinful man, O Lord.
For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they'd taken.
And also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.
And Jesus said to Simon, don't be afraid.
From now on, you'll be catching men.
And when they'd brought their boats to the land,
they left everything and followed him.
And while he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy.
When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.
And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying,
I will be clean.
And immediately the leprosy left him.
And he charged him to tell no one,
but go show yourself to the priest
and make an offering for your cleansing as Moses commanded for a proof to them.
But now, even more, the report about him went abroad,
and great crowds gathered to hear him
and to be healed of their infirmities.
But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.
Let's pray.
God, we're overwhelmed with the reality of your grace through your son, Jesus.
We pondered David earlier and his great sins against you
and against the kingdom of Israel and against Bathsheba and against Uriah.
And we identify with the weight of who we are,
the weight of what we bring to the table.
And Jesus came to this earth to make our eyes big
at the amount of grace you've shown throughout all of history,
chasing down your people,
chasing down your creation,
bringing it back to yourself.
So as we go through this text,
I pray that the words of my mouth,
the meditations of all of our hearts,
will be pleasing unto you.
And that we will know something more
of how much you love us
and how much grace we indeed receive
through your son, Jesus.
We pray this in his name
and for the sake of his kingdom.
Amen.
Anything interesting happen to you guys this week?
Anybody have anything maybe on Monday or Tuesday
that was impactful,
that caused you some trepidation
or some excitement or anything like that?
I'll share a story.
On Tuesday,
there's this big thing that happens
every once in a while.
It's our session meeting.
And I was so touched
by the men that lead this church.
Not just Will and sometimes Ron,
but the feeling in that room
of men who were broken
for the cause of Christ in the world,
for the name of our God
to be represented well.
And starting from that point,
not from a point of
any kind of self-gratification
or glorification,
that just shaped me
for the rest of the week.
And so,
I've had a pretty good week
in that way.
You know,
it's not often that you can serve
in a church
where the session is like together
and they love you
and they love God
and they really want to do
what's best.
So I was in a good place.
And I think that our current circumstances
often shape the way we look at
truth
and the way we look at
what God's doing in the world.
And so for me,
that's what Tuesday was.
For some other people,
which there was some laughter,
I didn't even know
I was that funny,
there was an election
on Tuesday.
That's all I have to say
about that.
I'm not speaking
because I had something funny
to say,
but I know it's not that funny.
So getting to this text,
I think that the way
we often approach life
and the way that we approach
the Bible
and the way we approach
scriptural truths,
we get together in small groups
and we pull our ignorance
or we get together
on the phone
and we're kind of
one-sided with somebody
or oppositional
with somebody else.
We're all coming from it
with this certain perspective.
If it hasn't occurred to us,
it hasn't occurred.
The situation that is shaping
my life right now
is the way everybody
should view and interpret
Luke 5
that we're going to go through
this morning.
And I think this passage
does a great job for us.
I was trying to figure out,
I had an illustration
that I worked on
in a PowerPoint for,
or not a PowerPoint,
an illustrator for about an hour
and then I lost it.
So I'm going to try to verbally
give the illustration.
And the best way
that I can summarize it,
I think that for all of us,
this passage is going to do
something well for us
to expand,
expand our thoughts of God,
expand what He's doing
in the world,
expand what He's done
in our hearts
through Christ.
And I think it's going
to also serve
to contract some of that.
And this is going to happen
simultaneously
at various places
throughout the passage
as we go through it.
And so the first place
that we're going to look
at things that will help us
expand and contract
our understanding
of this text
is in the call of Christ.
Christ,
as good Presbyterians
you might be,
or Reformed people,
you might be familiar
with the thought
of the effectual call.
Do you know
what the effectual call is?
It's that thing
that Jesus did
that made you believe.
And it's exactly
what it sounds like.
It was a call from Him
that affected
you coming to Him.
So I heard a pastor
display it this way once.
My wife is sick
of this illustration,
but I'm going to give it anyway.
He said,
imagine that you're
in your bed
and it's dark.
Maybe it's 2 a.m.
Your dog's not whimpering.
Your kids are asleep.
The lights are out
and you're deep,
deep and sound asleep.
And someone walks
into the room
and leans into your ear
and says,
wake up!
And you don't sit there
and consider to yourself
well.
I was sleeping.
Someone just yelled at me.
I think I'll go back to sleep.
No, you wake up.
Someone screaming in your ear
affects exactly
the response
that they're looking for.
And that's the reality
of the call
of Christ
in your heart
and my heart
and any believer's heart.
God's heart
and I think that
I think it's interesting
to consider that
because, you know,
do you believe?
Do you believe in Jesus?
Do you believe in him?
The Bible makes it
pretty simple
as far as
getting into heaven.
John 3.16
Believe.
He died for the whole world.
Believe.
Romans 3.22
Believe.
Romans 10.
Believe.
And a lot of times,
I mean,
I can explain to you
why you believe
through Ephesians 1,
through John 3.10,
through Romans 9,
right before Romans 10.
But do you believe?
And this gives us
a picture
in this passage
of several different
kinds of calls
that Jesus issues here.
First of all,
we have a group of people
sitting on the shore,
probably not too dissimilar
from what we're doing
this morning.
This guy has been
doing miracles.
He's interesting.
He's a good speaker.
Let's go down
to hear him talk.
And he did.
And they came closer.
His buddy Simon was there.
He just healed his mom
two weeks ago, right?
It was longer than that.
Put in Will's sermon
two weeks ago.
Pushed out in a boat.
And he's calling
these people,
faithfully preaching
the word,
preaching truth to them,
exposing who he is
to them.
Then there's a more
specific kind of call.
And I think that we can
identify with this one
as well.
And this is the one
that went to
the guys in the boat.
The first one's
more of a general call.
This is something
we might recognize
a little bit more.
You know,
the guys have just
gotten in.
You can imagine
it's the end of a work day.
They got nothing done.
They're not going to get
any money for their catch.
They spend a ton of time
in the water.
And this carpenter
who healed my mom,
I like him.
He's a good guy and all.
But he tells me,
you know,
you're talking
fisherman business now,
man.
We did this.
Worked my fingers
to the bone
all night long.
We didn't catch anything.
And then there was
still something in him,
in Peter,
that heard what Jesus
was saying
and said,
you know,
even though I've done
all I can
to control this situation
today,
tonight,
I'm going to go out
and do what he said.
I think that's a call
that we identify with
a little bit more
maybe in our lives
as we
tend to walk away
from
the reality
of Jesus doing things
for us
and trust and obey
for there's no other
way to be happy
in Jesus
than to trust and obey.
It's easy to say.
I'm going to stop
rhyming now.
But that's often
where we find ourselves.
Jesus,
thanks for getting me here.
I've done a lot of work,
though.
Thanks for healing my mom.
I've got it from here.
I'm going to take care of it.
We'll go out and work
and we'll do our thing
and I don't really need
to listen to you
as you tell me
to go back out
into the water
and fish again.
And then Jesus goes,
yeah, do it.
And you go,
okay,
yeah, do it.
That sounds good.
And this last call,
this third call
is the most poignant
and seemingly dramatic.
This leper,
broken,
ostracized,
outcast from society.
No hope for him
in life at all.
Can't get near people
in this society.
Lepers had to stay
a certain number
of paces away
from people.
And he knows
beyond a shadow
of a doubt
that if Jesus
wills for him
to be healed,
he can be healed.
More often than not,
we find ourselves
in that first group,
much like we are
this morning.
You probably have plans
already after today.
Some of you
are going to be lamenting.
Auburn and Clemson fans
are welcome to meet
at Pastor Will's house
to think about yesterday
and consider it together.
You're having dinner,
traveling back to where
you came from
if you're a visitor.
And we're thankful
and we're grateful
for this general call
that Christ continues
to give to us
where we can be fed
and we can be edified
by fellowship
and communion,
literally communion
and communion
with each other,
preached word,
getting to sing songs,
everything that goes along
with corporate worship.
This great thing.
Look to your right
and to your left.
Seriously,
look to your right
and to your left.
There's a good chance
these people feel
the way that you do.
They love Jesus.
They didn't come here
to sit in a bubble
and experience
this worship service
by themselves.
They came here
to be with you,
to worship their Savior
with you.
That's an awesome thing.
And it's great
that God gives us
this kind of call
in our lives
to be around each other.
That second call,
man,
that second call
is the one
I hate to hear about.
Over and over
in my life
I've learned that,
and I'm young,
I'm 35,
I'm young,
I understand that,
but over and over
in my life
I've learned
that I really try
to sort things out
and organize them
and get them just so
because God's given me
this so I should be
a good steward of it.
Right?
Is there anything
wrong with stewardship?
No,
there's nothing wrong
with stewardship.
It's a good thing.
But I begin to think
that,
you know,
God,
you gave me this,
I'll take care of this.
You go do the big stuff.
You go hang out
with the lepers.
I'm going to do this thing
in my life
that you've given me.
And God comes
and takes it from you
or it breaks down
because of the sin
of other people
in your life,
in your world.
And so we go
from these people
who are generally
happily going through life
receiving that general call
to those who are broken
and we get broken
by our own sin,
choices we make
actively against our spouse.
Will was discussing
something that I think
most parents can empathize with.
You know,
it's stressful
at the end of the night.
Why?
I have no idea.
If I could put my finger
on why it was stressful,
I would not be stressed
at the end of the night.
And then we sit there,
supposed to be
our representatives of Jesus
to our kids
and treat them
anything like
but that.
Our minds
our minds betray us.
Addictions,
depression,
awful,
awful realities
that are not
in our plans.
It's not supposed to be
what I'm doing.
And Jesus is there
calling us
in those moments
to saying,
rest on me
in that.
I know you've been
out working all night.
I know you think
you've got it.
And when you have nothing
and you're left with nothing,
you still have me.
And I think
both of these things
push us
down
to where this
contracts the most
on us.
Where
you probably remember
that time
if you're saved
in this room,
you remember
you remember that time
where you were broken
and you were brought
to your knees
at the reality
of who Jesus is.
How grievous
your sins are
against a holy God.
You stopped
comparing your sins
to those around you
and started comparing
yourself to the one
who created you
and it drives you
to your knees.
And you say
like Thomas
or like Peter,
my Lord,
my God,
only you can fix
this brokenness
that's in me.
I'm cast out.
I cheated on my wife.
I cheated on my husband.
My church has betrayed me.
I'm alone.
I'm ostracized.
I'm depressed.
Nobody knows it.
I have cancer.
I'm alone.
My spouse
is no longer
in this world
and people have stopped
visiting me.
I'm alone.
And you're
broken in that place.
And you reach out
knowing that
Jesus,
if you just reach down
and touch me,
if you'll just do that.
Have you experienced
these calls?
Have you experienced that?
The rest of my sermon
doesn't really matter.
I'm not sure the rest
of this text makes sense
to you if you haven't.
That's why I started
with do you believe?
I want to implore you,
believe.
Belief is not
that fleeting thing
that you did once
when you walked
down the aisle
or when you prayed
the believer's prayer
with your parents.
Whether you're
seven years old
or you're
77 years old
in this room.
Belief is a
continual understanding
of who you've
been called by.
The continual call
on your life
and the continual
understanding that
if he didn't reach
down effectually
to touch you
and heal you,
there's nothing
to believe in.
So,
the call of Christ
is one way
that we see him
do this today.
And the understanding
of the call of Christ
begins to
contract that reality
for us.
What he's doing
in men.
Even as it begins
to expand
our understanding
of what he's
doing in the world.
So,
the next thing
we would want to do
is understand
the care of Christ.
And I think that's
number two.
I think that's
full disclosure,
I was going to leave
blank underlines there
to be more like Will
and I actively chose
against them.
The care of Christ
is the second way
that this passage
shows us.
We actually see it
in the same breakdowns
as I used
for the call of Christ.
These people
who are there
in Luke 5,
1 through 3
on the shores,
he cares for them.
They're pressing in
on him.
He's tired.
He's been teaching
in the synagogues.
He's been healing people.
They won't leave him alone.
They're everywhere.
And they're pressing
in on him.
I lived at the beach.
That was my only image
in my mind.
I know this is less
of a beach scene
and more of a bay scene
or a lake scene.
But can you imagine
just people wanting
to be around you
that much
and want to hear
what you say?
And I don't know
if he had one of those
big, booming preacher voices
that could carry over
an entire beach.
But chances are
if the crowd
is of any substantial size,
they were pressing in
on trying to hear
and that can get,
man, your back's
against the water.
What's going to happen?
And I see my buddy Peter
and I say,
hey man,
let me get out
in your boat.
And he takes the time
to think through
how can I communicate
with them?
How can I be there
for them?
How can I continue
issuing this truth
to them?
Who cared for them?
A little thing like that
to continue being able
to speak to them
so that more could hear him
and maybe he could finish
what he had to say.
And for that same group,
I asked Will about it
this morning.
There's nothing really
substantial theologically
to this,
but it's a fair thought.
When Peter and James
and John left
everything in the boats
after they had just
caught a ton of fish,
well, something happened
to those fish.
They probably didn't sit
in the boats and rot.
So maybe that's
another subtle way
that he cared
for those people
who provided food for him
after they hung out
and listened to him.
Again, that's not
word of God.
That was word of Peter.
And then we see
these guys,
Peter, James, and John.
Peter, always at the forefront
putting his foot
in his mouth.
I can identify with this.
I wish my parents
had named me something else.
He says,
hey man,
you don't know
what you're doing.
And Jesus said,
yeah, go out
and do it anyway.
Can you imagine
imagine the,
what would you have done?
I keep thinking
I would have like
cut my nets,
gone into shore
and been like,
whatever,
whatever you're doing,
I'm doing,
just tell me where we're going.
But Jesus let them
experience the joy
of their work,
simply,
pulling in a big hall.
But he had called them
to be something more
than just fisher men,
as we see later
in that passage.
He called them to be
fishers of men.
You're going to be
catching men.
And he was preparing them
to understand
what following him
was going to be like.
Because they knew
about the miracles.
They'd seen them.
Peter had seen one
firsthand.
And he was caring
for them enough
to show them,
look,
this is you too.
And you're going to be
my inner circle
and come with me.
And they did.
And he led them to lepers.
We'll talk about that
more in a minute.
Then he goes to the leper.
And the care for the leper
seems obvious, right?
Jesus,
the great rabbi,
this one who's healing
and teaching people,
reaches down
and touches this guy
who's not supposed
to be anywhere near him.
That's not supposed
to be how this worked.
Will lepers stay over
in their leper column?
And this could have
been anything back then
from psoriasis
to Robin Hood,
Prince of Thieves,
where you lost your ear,
my love.
Did I just date myself
with Robin Hood men?
Anyway.
And Jesus does that.
That's simple care.
The thing I,
it's interesting
that we lose in this,
and Mark has a little bit
different take on this,
but Jesus takes care
of the guy
to make sure
he knows how to properly
get back into society.
in society.
Because it would have been
easy for the dude,
and we've seen Jesus
saying to them
over and over again,
he's been shutting demons up.
He's been telling
his disciples,
don't say that I'm the Christ
for his purposes
and his time.
And it would have been
easier for him,
or for this guy,
to jump up and be like,
whoa,
Jesus cast a demon
out of me.
This whole system
we have of Levitical stuff,
that's going away.
I can see it.
Can you believe
what this guy did to me?
And Jesus is really
careful to say,
hey,
go back to them
and show them
so that you can
satisfy the law.
You can be cleared
by the priests
who are the only people
who can tell you
that you're clean
and properly put you
back into society.
We need to take
great care of him
to show him that
and to do something
little like that.
So, I mean,
it was this physical need,
but it was this need
that the guy probably
was not even thinking about.
And again,
I mean,
this is the kind of care
that he shows
to you and I.
And it expands
our view of care
a little bit
when we think about
this thing
that you struggle
to do
and get up
and get to church
by 10.30.
If you're under
the age of 20,
you know I just spoke
a real truth to you.
This thing of getting up
and going to church
means something.
You're communing
with believers.
You're hearing
God's word preached.
You're seeing all
of those kind of things
that mean something.
There's something
of God's care
in that for you.
And we can approach it
with more of a sense
of joy
than we have to
with a sense of work.
My wife
is my superhero
in so many ways.
The devil led us
to get a dog yesterday.
And so,
in getting four,
buddy,
I'm just kidding.
I love the dog.
It was always amazing
to me
that I would just
get up and do
my own thing
on Sunday mornings
because you get here
and got to work
and all that kind of stuff.
And she somehow
gets four boys
under the age of 10
out of bed,
clean,
dressed,
teeth brushed.
A couple of weeks ago
she put an Instagram
photo up
that I was going,
man,
I can't,
that happened at my house.
That is amazing.
So she's a superhero
for that.
And all of us
have that kind of thing
whether it's
sleep or children
or tough things
at work.
A lot of us
get paid
to do way more
than we can possibly
fit into 50 hours
or 60 hours
in a week
that most of us work.
There's plenty
of reasons
not to come here.
And yet,
this is something
that shows
Christ's care
for his church.
The church that,
there's a little bit
of politics for you.
The church that existed
before the American
experiment began.
The church that will
exist long after
the American experiment.
I mean,
well,
Lord Jesus,
come now.
Save you all
from the rest
of my sermon
and that would be
an awesome thing
for all of us.
But generally speaking,
the Lord tarries.
This is what
he's given us.
This is what
he's given us.
This is the care
he's given us
generally.
And it's awesome
that it doesn't matter
how you feel
coming in.
Because we're all here
with that stuff.
We're here with parents
who are needing
way too much care
from us.
That's unfair.
Children who are
making terrible decisions.
Loneliness.
It's all here.
It's all around you.
You look to your left
and to your right again.
And these are people
who identify
with you
not only in
how much
God has called them
specifically
and their need
for a savior
but also in
life didn't stop
because of that.
Sin didn't stop
because of that.
Unexplainable things
didn't stop
because of that.
You know,
our understanding
is not any kind
of precondition
to faithfulness.
we don't always
know what God's
on about.
We want to
but we don't.
And this is a place
where you get to come
and be beside people
in your brokenness,
in that lowly state,
in the state
of just kind of
being here.
That's a great care
for God's people.
And for these guys
who are
sowing their nets
after a bad catch.
I mean,
if you're a salesman
and you've had a dry spell
for the last three weeks,
no sale,
no money.
Some of your jobs
are impacted
by a presidential change
and potential change
in policy.
That's very real.
You've worked
and organized
your time
in such a way
that your career
is headed
on this trajectory
and all of that
could be up in the air.
Some of us
just make bad decisions
at work
and we finally
got caught for them.
and we planned
not on getting caught.
And Jesus
meets us there
and shows us
his care for us
by saying,
yeah, but
you move forward
because you're
one of mine.
The things
that I've called you
to do
are because
of my reasons
and you can't see
that there is
a giant catch
out there.
I'm not necessarily
talking about
men
but I'm talking
about the reality
of what God
has set in motion
to happen
and that
our role
sometimes
is just to get
in the boat
and go out
and let down
the nets.
Whatever that looks like.
That short bit
of momentary
faithfulness.
God cares
for you enough.
Jesus cares
for you enough
that he's still
orchestrating
those things
in spite of
our desire
to control
and desire
to basically
tell him
you don't
really know
what's going
on with me
because the last
time I trusted
you
I had
nine businesses
go under
because you
had
told me
things were
going to go
a certain way
and I had
really aligned
my life
that way
and then
none of it
worked out.
That's a personal
story for me
and in spite
of my lack
of understanding
and the
place that I
was kind of
brought low
to
I was really
just rebelling
against my own
desire to control.
God didn't know
what he was doing
because if he knew
what he was doing
my 5, 10,
and 15 year plan
would still
be happening.
My investment
broker
would still
know my
first name.
That was my
plan.
That wasn't
God's plan.
And God
wants to
satisfy us.
But I guess
it's John Piper
that says that
we're most
satisfied in life
when we're
satisfied in him
because he's
doing things.
He cares for us
and we think
we know everything.
We're like
petulant
two-year-olds.
I want my
lollipop before
bed.
I want it.
You've already
brushed your teeth.
Sometimes we get
a specific answer
like that.
Sometimes we don't
know the answer
but we just have
to trust
that God is
really doing
what he's
supposed to.
George Mayer
and I were
talking about
this after
Sunday school
a few minutes
ago.
Where does
our view
of God
as this
abusive
father
come from?
and I
think I can
identify it
in my
own heart
and I
think that I
turn around
and project
that on him
even though the
Bible is nothing
but a story
of how much
he loves
and cares
for us
enough that
he sent
his son
who he was
in perfect
relationship
with.
If you have
a child
if you have
a dog
that you
love
if you
have a
cat
that you
love
you can't
imagine
sacrificing
that thing
for much
and imagine
if there was
none of that
brokenness
and sin
in your
relationship
there was
perfect
intimacy
that's the
reality
of what
Christ sent
what Christ
being sent
to us
is
and we
think that
somehow
our bad
decisions
are what
are driving
God's
love for
us
when God
is on
about this
work in
the world
that has
everything to
do with us
and has
nothing to
do with
us
it contracts
all the way
to you
and it
expands
into places
that are
amazing
and that's
the third
place
third thing
I think
we can see
from this
passage
Jesus
shows us
something
really unique
here
we're
going to
get to
the third
point
in a
second
I like
this
because
he
talks
about
what
he
does
in
516
he
withdraws
to
desolate
places
and pray
and this
is setting
up the
third
point
Jesus
needs
that
intimacy
with
his
father
and this
is something
he's showing
to us
about the
way that
we commune
with God
in our
need for
prayer
because our
prayer so
often starts
out with
God
I've got a
chance to
sell four
fire trucks
today
I really want
this deal to
go through
it would be
awesome for
me and
Sarah and
the kids
and please
make it
happen
or
God I've
got to
preach this
morning
I hope
I don't
sound like
an idiot
please
fill in
the blank
of how
our prayers
start that
way
God I
just
I know
my kid's
been out
drinking
all weekend
and I
can't
figure out
how I'm
going to
talk to
him about
this
or her
about
this
God
my
mom
turned
the heater
up to
80
for no
apparent
reason
again
and mixed
all of
her pills
up
and turned
the oven
on
and then
she was
laying
underneath
of the
couch
on the
porch
even
though she
can barely
get up
and that
was even
before I
had to
start talking
to her
and trying
to get
through that
line of
communication
you know
we pray
about
things
so
centered
on us
that
we
forget
about
Christ's
call on
our hearts
and we
forget about
the care
that he's
actually
showing
us
and promised
to show
us
in these
situations
and we
forget
about
his
cause
in the
world
because
our
minutia
and that's
point three
go ahead
Blake
the minutia
in our
lives
are so
big
and so
real to
us
and I
said that
very
specifically
I said
minutia
because
as
the cause
of Christ
is expanding
in our
minds
it feels
like
what's
going on
with me
must not
really matter
that much
in the
grand scheme
of things
but the
reality is
that Christ
cares so
much
that he
pursues
even us
in those
moments
for you
to know
that he's
there with
you
that he's
experienced
every kind
of temptation
and every
kind of
brokenness
and that
little thing
that you're
dealing with
matters to
him
it matters
to him
because he
loves you
it matters
to him
because he's
on about
this huge
work in
the world
what did he
come to do
we've seen
it earlier
here in
Luke
a couple
weeks ago
I must
preach the
good news
of the
kingdom of
God in
other towns
as well
because I
was sent
for this
remember what
the angel
said to
Mary
he'll be
great
and he'll
be called
the son of
the most
high
and the
Lord God
will give
him the
throne of
his father
David
and he'll
reign over
the house
of Jacob
forever
and of
his kingdom
there will
be no
end
and then
he read a
prophecy
and then
said it was
about him
in Luke
4 as well
go to the
next slide
Blake
the spirit
of the Lord
is upon
me
to proclaim
good news
to the
poor
he sent
me to
proclaim
liberty
to the
captives
to recover
the sight
of the
blind
and to
set at
liberty
those who
are
oppressed
to proclaim
the year
of the
Lord's
favor
that's his
messianic
understanding
of himself
this is
Christ's
cause in
the world
to be as
big as
the king
of everything
and be
the one
that walks
to you
and says
I love
you
I'm
going to
free you
from this
I'm
going to
put you
in right
communion
with your
father
the
linchpin
of all
of biblical
history
God promised
Abraham
he was
going to
make his
people
into a
great
nation
and they
would
bless
the
world
they
probably
had a
different
idea
of what
that
might
look
like
also
you
look
through
their
history
adulterous
kings
bad
judges
whole
generations
of people
who turned
their back
on God
despite a
few who
wanted to
keep the
covenant
Deuteronomy
talks about
the same
thing
the people
of God
I'm
going to
make a
blessing
to the
nations
we
can't
do
it
we
failed
every
step
of the
way
but
God
kept
his
promise
in
Christ
to
you
individually
he's
keeping
it
to
the
world
that's
the
scope
of
what
Jesus
is
on
we
talked
about
communion
in
senior
high
Sunday
school
today
how
important
is
this
table
how
incredible
is
this
table
the
call
of
Christ
on
your
heart
making
you
a
believer
has
more
to
do
with
your
understanding
of
his
mission
in
the
world
we
talk
about
faithfulness
and
not
sinning
the
mortification
of the
flesh
is the
way
that
Paul
words
it
and
we
get
bogged
down
in
this
idea
that
God
wants
us
walking
on
our
knees
up
the
stairs
and
flogging
ourselves
your
holy
response
to the
righteousness
given to
us
by
Christ
is
out
of an
understanding
of
what
he's
done
for
you
and
what
he's
doing
in
the
world
that
bit
of
faithfulness
to
your
children
when
you're
putting
them
to
bed
at
night
plays
into
God
redeeming
everything
to
himself
through
Christ
that's
what your
faithfulness
means
students
your
parents
aren't
harping
on you
about
smoking
marijuana
and
drinking
because
they
are
worried
about
anything
less
than
the
impact
that
has
on
the
kingdom
that's
how
big
that
is
and
here's
the
really
great
news
of
all
of
it
which
is
why
we
don't
come
to
this
table
as
a
funeral
dirge
we
come
to
remember
Christ
until
he
comes
again
his
death
until
he
comes
again
well
what's
the
implication
of
the
death
of
Christ
he
died
and
a lot
of
times
we
sit
there
and
we
hang
our
heads
because
our
sin
like
we
read
David
in
Psalm
51
our
sin
is
so
grievous
and
we
feel
it
and
the
reason
you
feel
guilt
and
shame
in
your
sin
now
is
because
you
know
we
look
down
as
the
music
plays
and
we
get
up
and
we
somberly
walk
down
the
aisle
and
we
kind
of
look
the
elder
pastor
in
the
eye
and
we
take
communion
the
death
of
Christ
is
the
best
thing
that
could
have
ever
happened
to
us
he
reached
down
to
us
who
had
ostracized
ourselves
from
God
we
made
ourselves
lovers
other
people
didn't
do
that
we
did
that
this
table
is
an
amazing
thing
because
it
tells
us
about
Christ
rising
again
and
the
implications
of
what
that
means
for
us
this
as
much
as
representing
the
death
and
our
sin
if
not
more
is
representing
when
this
care
he
shown
us
as
a
community
of
believers
we
get
to
be
with
him
at
the
wedding
feast
of
the
lamb
this
is
a
practice
for
eternity
together
it's
not
about
you
it's
not
about
me
it's
all
about
Christ
our
decisions
we make
every
day
all
about
Christ
I
didn't
fall
the
care
he's
shown
us
to
you
loving
you
individually
equipping
you
all
about
Christ
he's
so
big
his
glory
is
so
huge
and
I
think
this
pastor
did
a
good
job
of
showing
us
that
he
loves
you
he
loves
you
so
much
he's
called
you
into
something
really
big
what
you
do
matters
but
his
love
for
you
is
bigger
than
the
wrong
that
you
can
do
it's
amazing
it
doesn't
make
sense
to
us
because
I
want
to
work
and
I
want
to
make
it
about
me
when
I
screw
up
I
want
and
Jesus
says
I
love
you
and
God
says
I
love
you
but
it's
all
about
Christ
let's
pray
God
thank you
for
your
mercy
to us
and your
tender
care
your
love
for us
when we
don't
deserve
it
and I
pray
that we
will
understand
more
about
the
grace
that
you've
offered
us
through
your
son
Jesus
I
pray
that
we
will
look
expectantly
at
this
table
as
we
get
the
chance
to
participate
together
in
remembering
your
son
but
thank
you
for
loving
us
thank
you
for
calling
us
thank
you
for
caring
for
us
thank
you
for
opening
our
eyes
more
to
the
cause
of
your
son
in
the
world
make
his
kingdom
big
and
make
it
big
in
our
own
eyes
in
Jesus
name
we
pray
amen
what a
joy
it is
to
come
and
celebrate
together
the
care
of
Jesus
for
us
that
extends
into
the
details
of
our
lives
and
also
to
giving
his
life
for
us
that
he
might
be
with
us
forever
remember
how
Paul
wrote
about
this
institution
of
this
supper
he
says
in
first
Corinthians
for
I
received
from
the
Lord
what
I
also
delivered
to
you
that
the
Lord
Jesus
on
the
night
when
he
was
betrayed
took
bread
and
when
he
had
given
thanks
he
broke
it
and
said
this
is
my
body
which
is
for
you
do
this
in
remembrance
of
me
in
the
same
way
also
he
took
the
cup
after
supper
saying
this
cup
is
the
new
covenant
in
my
blood
do
this
as
the
friends
and
embrace
him
by
faith
come
and
rejoice
you
don't
have
to
be
a
member
of
this
church
if
you
are
a
member
of
any
church
that
rejoices
in
King
Jesus
and
his
salvation
come
and
celebrate
with
us
if
you
don't
know
him
if
these
things
sound
strange
to
you
and
maybe
you
want
to
know
more
my
encouragement
to
you
this
morning
would
be
don't
come
to
this
table
to
an
outward
representation
of
something
that
that's
not
true
yet
of
you
inwardly
rather
come
to
Jesus
himself
come
and
know
him
we'd
love
to
talk
with
you
about
him
the
relationship
he
desires
with
you
is
significant
enough
that
he
would
give
his
life
for
it
we'd
love
to
share
that
joy
with
you
let's
pray
and
then
we'll
come
together
father
thank you
for this
reminder
of your
love
that you
know
we need
you want
us to
taste
again
and see
that you
are good
set these
common
elements
aside
for a
sacred
purpose
this
morning
in our
hearts
we ask
in Jesus
name
amen
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information
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