0:46

All right . Well , we are gonna get set up for this

0:49

morning . While we do , let me just mention

0:51

we're gonna do something a little different . If you're

0:53

visiting with us , this

0:55

is not a typical Sunday . About

0:57

three or four times a year , we do what we call a

0:59

read-through , where we look at a larger portion

1:01

of scripture . What I'd like for you to do is get

1:03

your hands on a Bible , if you can . I know

1:05

that we don't always have enough and sometimes we

1:07

get accustomed to using the screen , but if you're able to get hands

1:10

on a Bible , this would be a great Sunday . If you need to hop

1:12

up and grab something , we got something on the front

1:14

, as you're putting your hands on

1:16

your Bible , not even turning anywhere . Yet I

1:18

just want to remind you of something For

1:20

the longer period of human

1:23

history in which God has

1:25

been meeting with and drawing people to himself

1:27

, this was a luxury . We

1:30

see this as we look at videos on the persecuted church

1:32

. Still many today Can I get their hands

1:34

on an entire Bible , old Testament

1:36

and new . This is , for lack of a better

1:39

term , new technology

1:41

when we look at the scheme of

1:43

human history , but for us it's very

1:45

common . For us it's very normal

1:48

as we get ready to read through

1:50

larger portions of scripture

1:52

, which we love to do a few times a year . Let

1:54

me just warn you of getting something that is naturally

1:56

going to happen in the heart of a

1:58

group of people who are used to getting their information

2:01

in three to two-minute soundbites , who

2:04

constantly fast-forward through things , who

2:06

are more prone to look something

2:08

up on YouTube than ever open in an owner's

2:10

manual . What is going to be prone to happen to

2:12

you is Trent's going to start

2:14

reading chapter six and about halfway

2:17

through there's going to be this little I'll

2:19

call it sinful piece of you . That's

2:21

like okay , like when are we going to get to

2:23

the end of the reading so that we can talk about it and send

2:25

questions in ? I mean , just make this simple . This

2:27

is the highlight . Whatever I have to say Trent

2:30

, I say Larry has to say whatever questions you guys

2:32

send in , reading scripture

2:34

is the highlight . Would you guys put up I

2:36

wanted to point this out to you in scripture

2:39

In the early church ? This is what they would do

2:41

. They would get together and they would read

2:43

much longer portions of scripture than we

2:45

are going to today . First , timothy Paul tells

2:47

him , as he's leading a young congregation , devote

2:50

yourself to the public reading of scripture

2:52

, and you could say , well , will , that could just be six

2:54

verses . Then you get Colossians and when

2:56

this letter , the whole letter , has

2:59

been read among you , have it also read in the

3:01

church of the Laodiceans to the Thessalonians

3:03

. I put you under oath before the Lord

3:05

, have this letter read to all

3:07

the brothers . And so what we're going to

3:09

do this morning may not be normal

3:12

to us , but it's probably one of the

3:14

most normal things in Christian

3:17

history , as people have pursued

3:19

the Lord together . And so we're going

3:21

to Trent , or I . One of us

3:23

will read a chapter of scripture , one

3:25

of us will chop it up and then

3:27

if you guys would put the slide up with 812

3:29

Midtree , if this ever hit enough and you're like

3:31

, what's the phone number ? It's the same thing on the prayer card

3:33

in front of you , but send in

3:36

any questions you have . I'll go ahead and tell you . We

3:38

had so many questions Last

3:40

service we didn't get a chance to answer them all

3:42

. But here's the good news we will be preaching

3:45

through these three chapters over the next few

3:47

months and I will try to answer

3:49

as many of those questions as I can while

3:52

we're working through the text . Yeah

3:54

, so with that , let's hop in . I can't remember

3:56

who's reading first . Who's reading first ? Trent

3:58

, trent , trent . Do you want to introduce yourselves , and

4:00

then we'll read .

4:01

Certainly can . My name is Trent Wilbanks . I've

4:04

got the privilege of serving alongside Will

4:07

and Larry , the other elders here . My wife Joy

4:09

and I , our six children have been part of Midtree

4:11

since we helped plan

4:13

it Day Uno and before . Almost six years

4:15

.

4:16

Yeah .

4:17

Yeah , going my quick . I'm Larry

4:19

. I also have the privilege of serve as

4:21

one of the elders here . My wife

4:23

is Christy . We currently have seven

4:26

kids .

4:28

Let's see . You need to explain that , because when you say

4:30

currently , they're wondering which one , oh

4:32

yeah , which one about to get rid of ? I'm just

4:34

kidding , we currently have seven . We currently have seven

4:36

. We'll see how it goes after lunch .

4:37

Yeah , yeah , so we have our . Seventh

4:39

is our current foster child . She's

4:41

five months old , and so if I misspeak

4:44

or something , just have grace for me . We're

4:46

sleep deprived right now .

4:47

Although Christy loved you very well by letting you

4:49

sleep .

4:50

She did Usually .

4:51

Saturday night is that's my night , yeah

4:53

.

4:53

Yeah , usually Saturday night is my night , but she's like

4:55

I guess , since you're speaking , I will give you

4:57

some grace here . Love it so yeah

4:59

, all right .

5:00

Well , trent , let's read Luke , chapter six .

5:02

Okay , we're starting

5:05

Luke six . I'd encourage

5:07

you again , as Will said , open it up if you

5:09

got a physical copy . I was reading in the first service

5:11

and I started getting worried that I'd gone past

5:13

where I was supposed to stop . You were

5:15

cheating into seven . All

5:17

right . Luke chapter six

5:20

On

5:22

a Sabbath , while he referring to Jesus

5:24

. So on a Sabbath , while he was going through

5:26

the grain fields , his disciples plucked

5:29

and ate some heads of grain , rubbing

5:31

them in their hands . But some of the

5:33

Pharisees said why are you doing

5:35

what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath ? And

5:37

Jesus answered them have you not read

5:39

what David did when he was hungry , he

5:42

and those who were with him , how he entered

5:44

the house of God and took and ate the

5:46

bread of the presence , which is not lawful for

5:48

any but the priest to eat , and also

5:50

gave it to those with him . And

5:53

he said to them the son of man

5:55

is Lord of the Sabbath . On

5:58

another Sabbath he entered the synagogue

6:01

and was teaching and a man was there whose

6:03

right hand was withered and the scribes

6:05

and the Pharisees watched him to see whether

6:07

he would heal on the Sabbath so that

6:09

they might find a reason to accuse him . But

6:12

he knew their thoughts and he said

6:14

to the man with a withered hand come and

6:16

stand here . And he rose

6:18

and stood there and Jesus said

6:20

to them I ask you , is

6:23

it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or

6:25

to do harm , to save life or

6:27

to destroy it ? And

6:29

after looking around at them all , he said

6:32

to them stretch out your hand

6:34

. And he did so and

6:36

his hand was restored . But

6:39

they were filled with fury and discussed

6:41

with one another what they might do to Jesus

6:44

. In those days he

6:46

went out to pray , he went out to

6:48

the mountain to pray and all night he

6:50

continued in prayer to God . And when

6:52

day came , he called his disciples and

6:54

chose from them 12 whom he named apostles

6:57

Simon , whom he named

6:59

Peter , and Andrew , his brother , and

7:01

James and John and Philip and Bartholomew

7:03

and Matthew and Thomas and

7:05

James , the son of Alpheus , and Simon

7:08

, who was called the zealot , and Judas , the son

7:10

of James and Judas . Ascariot

7:12

, who became a traitor , and

7:15

he came down with them and stood on a level

7:17

place with a great crowd of his disciples

7:19

and a great multitude of people

7:21

from all Judea and Jerusalem

7:24

and the sea coast of Tyrant Sidon

7:26

, who came to hear him and

7:28

to be healed of their diseases , and those

7:32

who were troubled with unclean spirits were

7:34

cured , and all the crowd sought

7:36

to touch him , for power came out from him

7:38

and healed them all . And

7:41

he lifted up his eyes on his disciples

7:43

and said Blessed

7:45

are you who are poor , for yours is the kingdom

7:47

of God . Blessed are you who are hungry

7:49

now , for you shall be satisfied . Blessed

7:52

are you who weep now , for you shall laugh . Blessed

7:55

are you when people hate you and when they

7:57

exclude you and revalue and

7:59

spurn your name as evil on account of

8:01

the Son of man . Rejoice in

8:03

that day and leap for joy

8:06

, for behold , your reward

8:08

is great in heaven , for so

8:10

their fathers did to the prophets . But

8:12

woe to you who are rich , for you

8:14

have received your consolation . Woe

8:16

to you who are full now , for you shall be hungry

8:19

. Woe to you who laugh now , for you

8:21

shall mourn and weep . Woe to you

8:23

when all people speak well of you , for

8:25

so their fathers did to the false prophets

8:27

. But I

8:29

say to you who hear love

8:32

your enemies . Do good to

8:34

those who hate you . Bless those

8:37

who curse you . Pray for those

8:39

who abuse you or mistreat you . To

8:41

one who strikes you on the cheek . Offer

8:43

the other also , and from the one who takes

8:46

away your cloak , do not withhold your tunic either

8:48

. Give to everyone who begs from

8:50

you and from one who takes away your

8:52

goods . Do not demand them back . And

8:55

, as you wish that others would do to you , do

8:57

so to them . If you love

8:59

those who love you , what benefit is that

9:01

to you ? For even sinners love those

9:03

who love them . And

9:06

if you do good to those who do good

9:08

to you , what benefit is that to you ? For

9:10

even sinners do the same . And if you lend

9:12

to those from whom you expect to receive

9:15

, what credit is that to you ? Even sinners

9:17

lend to sinners to get back the same amount

9:19

. But love your enemies and

9:22

do good and lend , expecting

9:24

nothing in return , and

9:26

your reward will be great and

9:28

you will be sons of the most high , for

9:31

he is kind to the ungrateful

9:33

and the evil . Be merciful

9:35

, even as your father is merciful

9:38

. Judge not , you will

9:40

not be judged . Condemn not and

9:42

you will not be condemned . Forgive and

9:44

you will be forgiven . Give and it will

9:46

be given to you . Good measure , pressed

9:48

down , shaken together , running over

9:50

, will be put into your lap , for with

9:52

the measure you use , it will be measured back

9:54

to you . He also told them a

9:57

parable Can a blind man lead

9:59

a blind man ? Will they not both

10:01

fall into a pit ? The disciple

10:03

is not above his teacher , but everyone , when he is

10:05

fully trained , will be like his teacher

10:08

. Why do you see the speck

10:10

that is in your brother's eye but do not

10:12

notice the log that is in your own eye ? How

10:14

can you say to your brother , brother , let

10:16

me take out that speck that is in your eye , when

10:19

you yourself do not see the log that is in

10:21

your own eye ? You , hypocrite , first

10:24

take the log out of your own eye and then

10:26

you will see clearly . To take out the speck that

10:28

is in your brother's eye . For

10:31

no good tree bears bad fruit

10:33

. Nor again does a bad tree bear

10:35

good fruit , for each tree is

10:37

known by its own fruit . For

10:39

figs are not gathered from thorn bushes , nor

10:42

are grapes picked from a bramble bush . The

10:44

good person , out of the good treasure

10:46

of his heart , produces good , and

10:49

the evil person , out of his evil

10:51

treasure , produces evil . For out

10:53

of the abundance of the heart , his mouth speaks

10:55

. Why do you call

10:57

me Lord ? Lord , and do not do what

10:59

I tell you ? Everyone

11:01

who comes to me and hears my words and does them

11:03

. I will show you what he is like . He

11:06

is like a man building a house who

11:08

dug deep and laid the foundation on

11:11

the rock and when a flood

11:13

arose , the stream broke against that house

11:15

and could not shake it because it had been well

11:17

built . But the

11:19

one who hears and does not do them is

11:22

like a man who built a house on the ground

11:24

without a foundation . When the stream

11:26

broke against it , immediately it

11:28

fell and the ruin of that house

11:30

was great . Amen .

11:34

All right .

11:35

It's over there .

11:37

Thanks , trent . I'm just

11:39

kind of thinking about some things that stand

11:41

out to me as I read through

11:43

this over the past couple of weeks . I mean , there's

11:45

so much that we can dive into , but I

11:48

really like for us to zoom in on verse 27

11:50

and 28 as a congregation

11:52

. And this says but I

11:54

say to you who hear this is Jesus speaking

11:56

love your enemies , do

11:59

good to those who hate you , bless

12:01

those who curse you , pray for those

12:03

who abuse you . And as

12:06

I was reading through this , this really stood out

12:08

to me , because one is

12:10

Jesus is not really saying

12:13

anything new . So often

12:15

I'll hear people commentators say well , you know

12:17

, this is Jesus adding something new

12:19

. No , like he's not changing

12:21

the law at all , he is actually expounding

12:24

on it . He's flushing it out a

12:26

bit more so we can understand . But

12:29

one of the things that I wanted to share was

12:31

you know , so often when

12:34

we , you know , think about our

12:36

walk with Christ

12:38

, we want to love on people so

12:40

that they can , you know , we hope

12:42

that , oh , man , we don't love on them so they

12:44

can turn and hopefully

12:47

, you know , they see the love that I have . They

12:49

can then turn and love on others and accept the

12:51

gospel when we forget

12:53

, as we said early in the first service , that Judas

12:56

was here listening to this message

12:58

. Jesus knew that Judas was

13:01

going to betray him and yet

13:03

, in spite of that , jesus

13:05

still washes his feet .

13:07

Treated him the same as every other guy who was there .

13:08

Yes , treated him the exact same

13:11

. And so one of the convictions

13:13

that I had coming out of this was

13:15

you know , larry , do I

13:17

love with the condition , even

13:19

with the hopes of that person to be saved , right

13:22

, like is it . Oh man , I'm going to love

13:24

them so well with the hope that they're saved , do I

13:26

just love them still , even when they're actively

13:28

persecuting me ? And so Jesus

13:30

here commands us to not just

13:32

have a gospel that we hold close , but

13:35

we have to put feet to our gospel and

13:37

not love those who are easy to love , but

13:39

love those who are actively persecuting us . And

13:43

that is a hard thing to do as a believer . And

13:45

so one of the

13:47

questions that I had that came out of this is even

13:50

though we understand and we

13:52

have this amazing gospel and we've

13:54

accepted Christ , and we know

13:57

that we're a wretch that's been saved of

13:59

no accord to us , why is it still so

14:01

hard to live that out ? Why

14:03

is it so difficult ?

14:07

Yeah , I , when

14:09

you asked us the first service . I don't know why it's

14:11

so hard , Other than the fact that , yes

14:15

, we are in process of restoration , but

14:18

there's that sense of when injustice

14:20

is done towards us , there's that automatic response

14:23

of this is not how things

14:25

should be . 1 , I

14:30

don't know how much it gets easier

14:32

. I was first service

14:34

, I wondered , but did , did , will

14:36

orchestrate the uh , the voice

14:39

of the martyrs video where you see Richard Wormbrand . When

14:41

I read that says love your enemies

14:43

, I think about that of okay

14:45

, the Russians are coming , the the

14:48

, the Nazis are coming and they're arresting

14:50

him and torturing him and torturing a

14:52

guy would walk in , bring as much physical

14:54

pain as he could leave and then the

14:56

next day Richard's like I love you

14:59

.

14:59

Man , I need to tell you about Jesus .

15:00

And a quick plug too If you haven't read

15:02

Richard's book torture for Christ

15:04

, read it like get that

15:06

book . Order it Amazon .

15:08

It's an application to the very thing that you're pointing

15:10

.

15:10

Yeah , read that book .

15:11

So quick plug , sorry , but I think it's

15:13

. It's not only that . I think it's hard when

15:15

it's not my enemy , but it's my

15:17

own friend in the church , it's my

15:19

own spouse , my own son or daughter

15:21

, that maybe

15:25

they don't hate me , but in the moment it might feel like

15:27

they do , or maybe

15:29

they're not cursing me . Maybe they're cursing

15:31

me , maybe they're just saying things that feel

15:33

like they're mistreating me . But

15:35

even in that moment it's hard . It's not just my

15:37

enemies , but it's . It's not just

15:39

well , don't have hate for them . It's

15:42

, seek their highest good , do good

15:44

to them as they're cursing you . Bless

15:46

them . And I think that's when I started

15:48

reading these passages . I don't love being

15:51

up here , so when ?

15:51

Will asked me about this five weeks

15:53

ago .

15:54

So five weeks ago I started reading

15:57

this and those two scriptures that

15:59

you have all three chapters . Those are the scriptures

16:01

that these past five weeks , I'm

16:03

just like sometimes like , okay , lord , whether

16:06

it's a family member or whether it's a colleague

16:09

or a friend , okay

16:11

, you're actually calling , calling me to

16:14

bless them right now , while I feel

16:16

like the opposite

16:18

of that . So I don't know why , other

16:20

than that we're broken people too , but for

16:23

me , the why is I think I deserve

16:25

better than I do ?

16:26

That's the why I think if somebody's mistreating

16:29

me I mean he even goes so far in verse 22 to say

16:31

exclude you , like that is not

16:33

being torture , okay , so like any

16:35

of these little things I immediately

16:38

there's this piece in me that's

16:40

like I deserve better than what I'm getting

16:42

, especially if I am trying to actively

16:44

go go for someone's good , because

16:46

it's one thing I think of forgiveness

16:49

as for a previous

16:51

evil , and so it makes me

16:53

think of my enemy not as a future good

16:55

. In other words , like if you do something to me

16:57

, I think , okay , I'm supposed to forgive , right

16:59

, okay , done . And then that's supposed to get us back

17:01

to , like this neutral state . But what

17:03

we see Christ through is he says not only am I going to forgive

17:06

, which we see on the cross but in

17:08

addition to forgiving , it's like

17:10

, yeah , and this is kind of a little bit of deep theology

17:12

here but Jesus does not just

17:14

forgive us of our sins when he

17:16

dies on the cross according to the scriptures

17:18

, he does . It says he gives

17:21

us , he imputes to us his righteousness

17:23

. So not only is he saying I'm going

17:25

to love my enemy , I'm going to forgive

17:27

my enemy . I am going to give as

17:29

much of my own earned good to

17:32

the one who doesn't deserve it as I possibly

17:34

can . Yeah , I think it's hard for me because

17:36

I think I deserve better than I do and

17:39

I don't rightly see myself

17:41

the way the gospel does .

17:43

So good , so good . Yeah , I

17:45

think just kind of put a pin

17:47

in this one . And

17:49

to add on to that , not only that he imputes his

17:52

righteousness , but he seeks

17:54

us to be his friend . He

17:56

we're his brother , and that

17:58

puts a whole new kind of twist

18:01

on things . It's like , yeah , I'm not called just to forgive

18:03

, but I need to pull you in and

18:05

to love you and pursue you

18:08

. It's beautiful .

18:09

All right , One of the questions that came in the name of the book

18:11

that you just recommended . Would you say it again ?

18:13

Yeah , yeah , great question . So , Richard Warnbrandt

18:15

, it's called Tortured for Christ

18:18

. It is not a very long read

18:20

, but it is really , really convicting and

18:22

good and it highlights a lot of the

18:24

passages that we're covering today . So if you

18:26

don't have that , I think that's one of the ones that is

18:29

on my bookshelf .

18:31

I feel like we may even have it in those little shelves by

18:33

the bathroom , but I can't get it wrong .

18:34

Go , look by the bathrooms , go look by the bathroom .

18:36

All right , luke , chapter seven

18:38

. Remember , this is the highlight

18:40

. After he had finished all his

18:42

sayings in the hearing of the people , he entered Capernaum

18:45

. Now , a Centurion had a servant who was sick

18:47

and at the point of death , who was highly valued

18:49

by him . When the Centurion heard about

18:51

Jesus , he sent to him elders of the Jews

18:54

asking him to come and heal

18:56

his servant . And when they came to Jesus , they

18:58

pleaded with him earnestly , saying he

19:00

is worthy to have you do this

19:03

for him , for he loves our nation and

19:05

he is the one who built us , our synagogue . And

19:07

Jesus went with them . When he was not far

19:09

from the house , the Centurion sent friends

19:11

saying to him Lord , do not

19:13

trouble yourself , for I am not worthy

19:16

to have you come under my roof . Therefore

19:18

, I did not presume to come to you , but

19:20

say the word and let my servant be

19:22

healed , for I too am a man set under

19:24

authority , with soldiers under me , and I

19:26

say to one go and he goes , to another , come

19:28

and he comes . And to my servants do

19:31

this and he does it . When Jesus heard

19:33

these things , he marveled at him

19:35

and , turning to the crowd that followed him , said

19:37

I tell you , not even in Israel

19:40

have I found such faith . And

19:42

when those who had been sent returned to

19:44

the house , they found the servant . Well

19:46

, soon afterward he went to a town

19:48

called Nain , and his disciples and

19:50

a great crowd went with him . As he

19:52

drew near to the gate of the town , behold , a man

19:55

who had died was being carried out , the only

19:57

son of his mother , and she was a widow , and

19:59

a considerable crowd from the town was with

20:01

her . And when the Lord saw her , he

20:04

had compassion on her and said to her do

20:06

not weep . Then he came up and

20:08

touched the veer and the bearer stood still

20:10

and he said young

20:12

man , I say to you , arise

20:15

. And the dead man sat up and

20:17

began to speak and Jesus gave him

20:19

to his mother . Fear seized

20:21

them all and they glorified God , saying

20:23

a great prophet has arisen

20:25

among us and God

20:27

has visited his people . And

20:30

this report about him spread throughout the whole of

20:32

Judea and all the surrounding country

20:34

. The disciples of John reported all

20:36

these things to him and John , calling

20:38

two of his disciples to him , sent them to the

20:40

Lord , saying are you the one who is to

20:42

come or shall we look for another ? And

20:44

when the men had come to him . They said

20:47

John the Baptist has sent us to you saying

20:49

are you the one who is to come or shall we look for

20:51

another ? In that hour , he

20:53

healed many people of diseases and

20:55

plagues and evil spirits , and on

20:57

many who were blind , he bestowed sight and

21:00

he answered them . Go and tell John what you have seen and

21:02

heard . The blind received their sight . The

21:04

lame walk . Lepers are cleansed . The deaf hear

21:06

. The dead are raised up . The poor have good

21:08

news preached to them , and blessed is

21:10

the one who is not offended by me . When

21:13

John's messengers had gone , jesus began to

21:15

speak to the crowds . Concerning John , what

21:17

did you go out in the wilderness ? To see A

21:19

reed shaken by the wind . What

21:22

, then , did you go out to see A man

21:24

dressed in soft clothing ? Behold

21:26

, those who are dressed in splendid clothing

21:28

and live in luxury are in king's courts . What

21:31

, then , did you go out to see A prophet

21:33

? Yes , I tell you , and

21:35

more than a prophet , this is he of

21:37

whom it is written . Behold , I send my messenger

21:39

before your face who will

21:41

prepare your way before you . I

21:44

tell you , among those born of women , none is greater

21:46

than John . Yet the

21:48

one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater

21:50

than he . When all the people heard this , and

21:52

the tax collectors too , they declared God

21:54

just having been baptized with the baptism

21:57

of John . But the Pharisees and the lawyers

21:59

rejected the purpose of God for themselves

22:02

not having been baptized by him

22:04

. To what , then , shall

22:06

I compare the people of this generation ? And what are

22:08

they like ? They're like children sitting in

22:10

the marketplace and calling to one another . We

22:12

played the flute for you and you did not

22:14

dance . We sang a dirge and you did not

22:16

weep . For John the Baptist has come eating

22:18

no bread and drinking no wine , and you say

22:21

he has a demon . The Son of man

22:23

has come eating and drinking , and you say look at

22:25

him , a glutton and a drunkard , a friend of

22:27

tax collectors and sinners . Yet

22:29

wisdom is justified by all her children

22:31

. One of the Pharisees asked him

22:33

to eat with him and he went into the Pharisee's

22:36

house and reclined at table . And behold , a

22:38

woman of the city who was a

22:40

sinner , when she learned that he was reclining

22:42

at table in the Pharisee's house , brought

22:44

an alabaster flask of ointment and , standing

22:47

behind him at his feet , weeping

22:49

, she began to wet his feet with

22:51

her tears and wiped them with the hair

22:53

of her head and kissed his feet and

22:55

anointed them with the ointment . Now

22:58

in the , pharisee who had invited him , saw this . He

23:00

said to himself , if this man were a prophet , he would

23:02

have known who and what sort of woman this

23:04

is who's touching him , for she is a sinner . And

23:07

Jesus , answering , said to him Simon

23:09

, I have something to say to you . And he answered

23:11

say it , teacher . A certain money lender

23:14

had two debtors . One owed 500

23:16

, an arai , and the other 50 . When

23:18

they could not pay , he canceled the debt of both

23:20

. Now , which of them will love him more ? Simon

23:23

answered the one , I suppose , for

23:25

whom he canceled the larger debt . And

23:28

he said to him you have judged rightly

23:30

. Then , turning toward the woman

23:32

, he said to Simon do you see this

23:34

woman ? I entered your house and you gave me

23:36

no water for my feet , but she has wet

23:38

my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair . You

23:41

gave me no kiss , but from the time I

23:43

came in , she has not ceased to kiss my feet

23:45

. You did not anoint my head with oil

23:47

, but she has anointed my feet with ointment . Therefore

23:50

, I tell you , her sins , which are

23:52

many , are forgiven , for

23:54

she loved much . But he who

23:56

is forgiven little loves little . And

23:59

he said to her your sins are forgiven

24:01

. Then those who were at table with him began

24:03

to say among themselves who is this

24:05

who even forgives sins ? And

24:08

he said to the woman your faith has

24:10

saved you . Go in

24:12

peace , amazing Trent . When

24:15

you look at chapter seven , what pops out

24:17

?

24:19

Yeah , there's so much here and I'm

24:21

just going to make a quick note and allow

24:23

you to preach through it . Like we see , this is the

24:25

first time in Luke that we see Jesus

24:28

raised a man from the dead , and

24:31

we typically , like I , think about Lazarus

24:34

, but the next chapter he's going to raise some money .

24:36

He does it a lot more than we realize , yeah

24:38

, so .

24:39

I'm just going to leave it there , other than , like , the

24:41

people are starting to realize wait a

24:43

minute , this guy has power over

24:45

life and death . Like who

24:47

is he ? Like God is visiting us . I

24:51

want to step before I go back . I want to just

24:53

make a couple of observations from

24:56

chapter seven that I think

24:58

, as you read it in large portions

25:00

, you start to see threads and comparisons

25:02

instead of just isolated .

25:04

It's one of the advantages of reading a large portion

25:06

. You can kind of go there , feel it out .

25:08

Yeah , I've really appreciated that

25:10

. But so we're going to observe

25:12

. You've got the Centurion

25:14

and the elders of the Jews and Jesus and

25:16

how they're relating . At the end of the chapter You've

25:19

got this Pharisee and this woman

25:21

of the city who's a sinner and Jesus . We're

25:24

going to see how they're reacting and contrast

25:26

their postures . But before

25:28

we go there I want to go back earlier in Luke

25:30

, because right in the middle there's this

25:32

interaction with John the Baptist and it's referring to

25:34

the baptism of John . And

25:37

in chapter seven it says that the

25:39

people and the tax collectors are like

25:41

excited because they

25:44

had received John's baptism , but

25:46

the Pharisees had rejected God's purposes

25:48

for themselves because they weren't baptized by

25:50

John . So if you go back to Luke , chapter three

25:53

and I just want to pull a couple of threads

25:55

forward in Luke , chapter

25:57

three , it's talking about John

25:59

the Baptist and in verse three it

26:02

says John went

26:04

to all the region around the Jordan proclaiming

26:06

a baptism . So it's John's baptism

26:08

. What was his baptism ? He was proclaiming

26:11

a baptism of repentance , for

26:14

the forgiveness of sins . So it wasn't just

26:16

come get dunked in the river , it was

26:18

. He was preaching repentance

26:20

for the forgiveness of sins . And

26:23

then later in that chapter , in chapter three

26:25

. Then it says that the crowds

26:27

were asking him okay , well , what do you mean ? Like you're talking

26:29

about , don't just repent like bear fruit , like

26:32

your actions need to repent . So then the crowds

26:34

started saying , well , what does that mean for us ? And

26:37

then tax collector said well , what does that mean for us ? And

26:39

then some soldier said , well , what does that mean for ?

26:41

us . How do you live this thing out ? That's right .

26:45

And so then in verse the

26:48

last thing I want us to kind of have context

26:50

for as we carry it forward is in verse 15

26:52

and 16 . It says then the people were in expectation

26:55

. They started wondering is

26:57

Jesus the ? Is John the Baptist

26:59

, is he the Messiah , is he the Christ ? That's , that's

27:02

going to come . And John the Baptist

27:04

says in verse

27:06

16

27:09

, a phrase that we're going to see as we turn

27:11

the page . He

27:13

says he who is my year than I

27:15

, is coming , the strap of whose sandal

27:17

I'm not worthy to

27:19

untie . So let's

27:21

carry that forward back into chapter seven

27:23

, where we are , and

27:26

Jesus has just , he's just

27:28

been teaching what we just talked about

27:30

in chapter six , talking about love your enemies

27:32

, bless those who curse

27:35

you , pray for those who mistreat you

27:37

or abuse you . And

27:39

now , all of a sudden , you see a Roman centurion

27:41

the enemy of the Jews who's

27:44

thought well of by the Jewish

27:46

elders , and he's got a servant who's

27:48

at the point of death . And so the Jewish

27:51

elders come to Jesus and it

27:53

says they're earnestly pleading with Jesus saying

27:55

hey , come , do this for this Roman

27:57

centurion . He likes , he likes

28:00

our nation . He even built our synagogue . He's

28:02

worthy for you to come do this .

28:04

He deserves it , so Jesus come on like

28:06

.

28:07

I know he's our enemy but he deserves it . Come

28:09

on , Two

28:11

verses later , jesus is actually almost to his

28:13

house and the centurion sends some

28:15

other friends and he says don't

28:18

bother coming in , I'm not worthy for you

28:20

to come under my house , under my roof

28:23

. And so you start to see

28:25

this contrast of this posture of

28:27

no

28:29

, jesus , I'm not worthy . And

28:32

you hear John the Baptist saying no

28:34

, look guys , he who's coming . I'm

28:37

not even worthy to like

28:39

stoop down and untie his sandal . And

28:42

then you see Jesus . It says that he marveled

28:44

when he heard these things about the

28:47

Roman centurion and he says I've

28:49

not even seen such faith in all

28:51

of Israel . So I want us to just observe

28:54

, take note of

28:56

that posture of I'm

28:58

not worthy and something about that caused

29:00

Jesus to marvel at his

29:02

faith . And now we're going to skip down to

29:05

the end of the chapter and you see another contrast

29:07

to

29:09

where you've got a Pharisee that's asked Jesus to

29:11

come eat with him . And so now we've already been told

29:13

that the Pharisees were filled

29:16

with rage and fury and

29:18

we're trying to figure out what they could do to Jesus . They

29:20

were trying to catch him and

29:22

trip him up . Jesus has just

29:24

talked about do good to those

29:26

who hate you . Jesus

29:29

could have just said look , I've got the multitudes . I'm

29:32

going to spend my time with people who are actually responding

29:34

.

29:34

Not about to walk into a house where I know people

29:36

are trying to catch me and trip me up .

29:39

Luke has just told us , right before this , that the

29:41

Pharisees rejected the purpose of

29:43

God because they didn't receive this

29:45

baptism of repentance . But

29:47

Jesus actually goes to his house . But

29:50

then you see this contrast to where this woman

29:52

of the city it doesn't say what her sin is , but

29:54

evidently she's known pretty

29:56

widely for being sinful , and

29:58

to the point that the Pharisee is saying look

30:01

, jesus didn't even know that this woman's a sinner , like

30:04

, if he's , he's a prophet , he

30:06

should at least know this .

30:07

He's not a very good one . He's not a good prophet

30:09

.

30:09

He doesn't even know that she's a sinner . But

30:12

you see this picture of this woman weeping and

30:15

weeping to the point that her tears are

30:17

drenching his feet . And

30:19

Jesus tells this story about the

30:21

man who was forgiven 50 days worth

30:23

of wages and another one for given

30:25

500 days worth of wages . And

30:28

he starts pointing towards that

30:31

when you're forgiven a lot , you

30:33

love a lot . And

30:35

if you're forgiven very little , well

30:38

, it may not evoke as much of that love

30:40

. And in verse 47

30:44

, it says Jesus

30:46

tells the Pharisee her sins

30:48

, which are many , are forgiven

30:50

. This says for she loved

30:52

much . Another translation says thus she

30:54

loved much . So it

30:57

doesn't tell us . I wonder , as I read

30:59

this like did this woman already know

31:01

about Jesus' forgiveness ? Was she one of the ones

31:03

that went to John and was baptized and

31:06

already realized that there was a repentance

31:08

and a forgiveness of sins ? But

31:10

she was weeping . There was this sorrow

31:12

over she knew she was a sinner . You

31:15

see her weeping and there is a godliness to

31:17

a sorrow that leads to their repentance . But you almost start

31:19

to wonder is there some shame

31:21

here that this woman is feeling ? Because then Jesus

31:23

, at the end after all

31:26

of this story , he says

31:28

to her in verse 48 , your

31:30

sins are forgiven . No-transcript

31:33

. They start wondering who is this that even forgives

31:35

sins ? But then he says to this woman your

31:38

faith has saved you , go in peace . And

31:40

so I just the observations

31:43

that I have just lead towards this application

31:45

of reflecting on what is my posture

31:47

Like . Do I come to God thinking that I'm worthy

31:50

, or I realize

31:52

that I'm not worthy , and

31:54

yet it seems this woman

31:56

, I'm not worthy , but yet

31:58

also God doesn't want us to

32:00

go in shame and so with unworthy , and

32:02

yet in Christ we're

32:04

forgiven . And Jesus tells her go

32:07

in peace . What about you guys ? Any

32:09

other applications you see from this ?

32:11

Yeah , this is so good and I

32:13

think about that , the unworthiness

32:15

, that posture of I do not

32:17

deserve this great gift of

32:20

Christ and His forgiveness . That

32:23

is fuel for us to therefore

32:25

go and actually love our enemies and

32:27

love people who don't would

32:30

not deserve it . And it looks weird

32:32

, it looks really strange

32:34

doing that . It's completely opposite

32:36

of what the world would tell you to do . I

32:38

think in chapter six it gets into

32:41

when someone strikes you on one

32:43

cheek , offer them the other . And

32:45

in those times you know the Jews

32:48

, that would be a backhand strike

32:50

right , so you would slap someone

32:52

on the right cheek and that was extremely

32:54

shameful . And Jesus says oh no

32:56

, offer them the other one . And

32:59

I think that posture of unworthiness

33:02

and not staying there and living

33:04

in the any sort of

33:06

shame should fuel us

33:08

to realize , hey , we

33:10

shouldn't walk around with kind of spectacles

33:12

to say , man , that guy's unworthy

33:15

, what's happening to her ? But

33:17

rather this word should be a mirror and

33:20

we should constantly be looking at it through the lens of

33:22

God . I'm not worthy , but

33:24

yet you love me and

33:27

you call me friend , and

33:30

it is yeah , yeah , yeah , it's

33:32

.

33:32

One of the questions that came through was if

33:34

Jesus is marveling . It

33:37

says a lot about the centurion , but does it say less

33:39

about like , can Jesus be surprised

33:42

? I mean , he literally is reading people's thoughts

33:44

at the end of this chapter and creating Bible

33:46

lessons to teach them . The fact that Jesus

33:48

is marveling here Does it reduce

33:51

in any way the things that that

33:53

Christ knows ? And I would just say this , I

33:55

would say what

33:58

it , not what it says about Jesus , because

34:00

he is all knowing , you know , omni

34:02

, all of the things . I think it says a lot about

34:04

people . I think it says that

34:06

a man or a woman living by

34:09

faith like literally living by faith

34:11

is so unusual

34:13

, whether it's inside the church or outside of the church

34:15

, trusting that God is in control

34:17

, that if he says it , it happened . It

34:19

is just incredibly unusual

34:21

. And if I were to say there was something

34:23

that we need out of what you just laid out

34:25

, trent , is you've got these three postures

34:27

, you've got this centurion , which would

34:30

be the person who has all of the stuff

34:32

in life . It looks like they've got it

34:34

figured out Like he built the sanctuary

34:36

. He's not even one of our people . He loves God

34:38

from a culture that shouldn't like . This

34:40

guy has done it right . Then

34:43

you've got the woman who is a woman of the city , which

34:45

I think has sexual connotation for

34:47

her sin and it's like she couldn't

34:49

have lived more wrongly . And

34:51

this guy's humble and he says I don't

34:53

deserve Jesus . This one is

34:55

humble , she's weeping over the feet of Jesus

34:58

, but in the middle you have the regular churchgoer

35:00

who walks in . We can

35:02

and we can and we sit down

35:04

and we look up and we've already

35:06

done our duty by showing up . And

35:08

never maybe I shouldn't say never , rarely

35:11

do we look at the things we've done

35:13

Sunday school , serving in kids ministry

35:16

, vbs , being on your Bible

35:18

reading plan , quiet time . Usually

35:20

do we look at this and say I'm unworthy for

35:22

God to show up and listen to one prayer I

35:24

pray in light of all the things and

35:26

to get to a place where how

35:29

long has it been before you wept before the Lord Because

35:31

of your need and deserving of him ? Most

35:33

of us probably find ourselves more like the Pharisee

35:35

I deserve to be here , I'll

35:37

walk in , I'm going to do my deal , but

35:40

mostly I know I'm a sinner , we're

35:42

all sinners , but I sort of deserve

35:44

. I'm not a worse man . I'd say I want

35:47

to be this guy or want to be this girl . I do not want to be

35:49

the teacher in the middle .

35:50

Amen , amen , not at all .

35:52

All right , let's jump and look at our last little

35:54

bit . Larry , will you read eight for us ? Yep , my pleasure

35:56

.

35:57

Soon . Afterward he went on through cities

35:59

and villages proclaiming and bringing

36:01

the good news of the kingdom of God

36:03

. And the 12 were with him and

36:05

also some women who had been healed

36:08

of evil spirits and infirmities Mary

36:11

called Magdalene , from whom seven

36:13

demons had gone out , joanna , the

36:15

wife of Suja , harold's household

36:17

manager , and Susanna and many

36:20

others who provided for

36:22

them out of their means . And

36:25

when a great crowd was gathering and

36:28

people from town after town came

36:30

to him , he said in a parable

36:32

a sower went out to sow

36:34

his seed and as he sowed

36:36

, some fell among the path and was

36:39

trampled underfoot and the birds of

36:41

the air devoured it . And some fell on the

36:43

rock and as it grew up it

36:45

withered away because it had no moisture

36:48

. And some fell among thorns

36:50

and the thorns grew up with it and

36:52

choked it . And some fell into good soil

36:54

and grew and yielded a

36:56

hundred fold . And as

36:58

he said these things , he called out he

37:01

who has ears to hear let

37:03

him hear . And when

37:06

his disciples asked him what this

37:08

parable meant , he said to

37:10

you it has been given to know

37:13

the secrets of the kingdom of God . For

37:16

others they are in parables

37:18

, so that seeing they may not

37:20

see and hearing that

37:22

may not understand . They

37:25

may not understand . Now , the

37:27

parable is this the seed

37:29

is the word of God . The ones

37:31

among the path are those who

37:33

have heard . Then

37:35

the devil comes and takes away the

37:37

word from their hearts so that

37:40

they may not believe and be saved

37:42

. And the ones on the rock

37:45

are those who , when they hear the word

37:47

, receive it with joy . But

37:49

those but these have

37:51

no root . They believe for a

37:53

while and , in time of testing , fall

37:55

away . Then

37:57

, as for what fell among the thorns , they

38:00

are those who hear , but as they

38:02

go on their way , they

38:05

are choked by the cares and riches

38:07

and pleasures of life , and their

38:09

fruit does not mature . As

38:11

for what ? In the good soil ? For

38:13

that , excuse me . As for that in

38:15

the good soil , they are those who

38:18

, hearing the word , hold it fast

38:20

and an honest and good heart

38:22

and bear fruit with patience

38:24

. Verse 16 . No

38:26

one , after lighting a lamp , covers

38:29

it with a jar or puts

38:31

it under a bed , but

38:33

puts it on a stand so

38:35

that those who enter may

38:37

see the light , for nothing

38:39

is hidden that will not be made

38:41

manifest , nor is anything secret

38:44

that will not be shown

38:46

and come to light . Take

38:48

care , then , how you

38:50

hear , for to the one

38:52

who has more will be given

38:54

, and from the one who has not , even

38:57

what he thinks that he has will

38:59

be taken away . Then

39:02

his mother and his brothers came to him , but

39:05

they could not reach him because of the crowd

39:07

, and he was told your mother

39:09

and your brothers are standing outside desiring

39:12

to see you . But he answered them my

39:15

mother and my brothers are those who

39:17

hear the word of God and do it

39:19

. One day he

39:21

got into a boat with his disciples and

39:24

he said to them let us go across

39:26

to the other side of the lake

39:28

. So they set out and

39:30

as they sailed he fell asleep and

39:33

a windstorm came down on the lake

39:35

and they were filling with

39:37

water and were in danger . And

39:40

they went and woke him saying master

39:42

, master , we are perishing . And

39:44

he awoke and rebuked the wind and

39:46

the raging waves , and they ceased

39:49

and there was calm . He

39:51

said to them where is your faith

39:54

? And they were afraid and

39:56

they marveled , saying to one another who

39:58

then , is this that he commands

40:00

even winds and water , and

40:02

they obey him . Then

40:05

they sailed to the country of the garrisons , which

40:07

is opposite Galilee . When Jesus

40:09

had stepped out on

40:11

land . There met him a man

40:14

from the city who had demons for

40:16

a long time . He had worn known

40:19

clothes and he had not

40:21

lived in a house but among tombs

40:23

. When he saw Jesus , he cried

40:25

out and fell down before him and

40:28

said with a loud voice what

40:30

have you to do with me , jesus , son of the most

40:32

high God , I beg you , do

40:35

not torment me , for

40:37

he had commanded the unclean spirit

40:39

to come out of the man . For

40:42

many a time it had seized

40:44

him . He was kept under guard

40:46

and bound with chains and shackles

40:48

, but he would break the bonds

40:51

and be driven by the demon into the desert

40:53

. Jesus and asked him

40:55

what is your name ? And

40:57

he said Legion , for many

40:59

demons had entered him and

41:01

they begged him not to command them to

41:04

depart into the abyss . Now

41:06

a large herd of pigs was feeding

41:08

there on the hillside and they

41:10

begged him to let them enter

41:12

these . So he

41:14

gave them permission . Then the demons

41:17

came out of the man and entered the pigs

41:19

, and the herd rushed down the

41:21

steep bank into the lake

41:23

and drowned . When the herdsmen

41:25

saw what had happened , they fled and

41:27

told it in the city and

41:30

in the country . Then

41:32

people went out to see what had happened . And

41:35

they came to Jesus and found the man from whom

41:37

the demons had gone sitting at the feet

41:39

of Jesus , clothed and

41:41

in his right mind , and they were afraid

41:43

. And those who had seen it

41:45

told him how the demon possessed

41:48

man had been healed . Then all

41:50

the people of the surrounding country of

41:52

the garrisons asked him to depart

41:54

from them , for they were seized with

41:57

great fear . So he

41:59

got into the boat and returned the

42:01

man from whom the demons had gone . Begged

42:04

that he might be with him , but

42:06

Jesus sent him away , saying return

42:08

to your home and declare how much

42:10

God has done for you . And

42:13

he went away proclaiming throughout the

42:15

whole city just how much

42:17

Jesus had done for him . Now

42:20

, when Jesus returned , the crowd

42:22

welcomed him and they were all waiting

42:24

for him . And there came a man

42:26

named Jarius who was a ruler of

42:28

the synagogue and , falling at Jesus'

42:31

feet , he implored him to come to his

42:33

house , for he had an only daughter

42:35

, about 12 years of age , and

42:38

she was dying . As Jesus

42:40

went , the people pressed around him and

42:42

there was a woman who had a discharge

42:44

of blood for 12 years and

42:47

though she had spent all

42:49

of her living on

42:51

physicians , she cannot

42:54

be healed by anyone . She

42:57

came up behind him and touched the

42:59

fringe of his garment and immediately

43:01

her discharge of blood ceased

43:03

. And Jesus said who

43:06

is it that touched me ? Then

43:08

all denied it . Peter said

43:10

, master , the crowds surround you and

43:12

are pressing in on you . But

43:14

Jesus said someone touched

43:16

me , for I perceive that power

43:19

has gone out from me . And

43:21

when the woman saw that she

43:23

was not hidden , she came

43:25

trembling and falling down before

43:27

him , declared in the presence of all

43:30

the people why she had touched him and

43:32

how she had been immediately healed

43:34

. And he said to her daughter

43:37

your faith has

43:39

made you well , go

43:41

in peace . While he

43:43

was still speaking , someone from the

43:45

ruler's house came and said your

43:47

daughter is dead , do not trouble

43:49

the teacher anymore . But Jesus

43:52

, on hearing this , answered him do

43:54

not fear , only believe

43:56

, and she will be well . And

43:59

when he came to the house he allowed

44:01

no one to enter with him except Peter

44:03

and John and James and the father

44:05

and mother of the child . And all were

44:07

weeping and mourning for her . But he

44:09

said do not weep , for she

44:11

is not dead but sleeping . And they

44:13

laughed at him , knowing that she

44:16

was dead , but taking her by

44:18

the hand he called , saying child

44:20

arise and her spirit

44:22

return . And she got up at once

44:25

and he directed that someone

44:27

should be given , that

44:29

something should be given her to eat .

44:31

He's to say , we almost swung into cannibalism .

44:32

I almost did . Yeah , that was a close

44:34

one . Jesus was accused of that too . Yeah

44:37

, he was , and her parents were

44:39

amazed , but he charged them

44:41

to tell no one what had

44:43

happened .

44:43

Thanks , sir . I appreciate you reading

44:46

. That's close

44:48

, I think . When I was growing

44:50

up , when I was younger , I always felt like

44:52

if I could have walked with Jesus , my faith would

44:54

be stronger than being born after

44:56

him with the Holy Spirit , even though Jesus said it is

44:58

better for me to go in the Holy Spirit to come . It was hard

45:01

for me to buy into that scripture because my

45:03

thought was , if I listened to Jesus' teachings

45:05

, if I walked with him , if I saw these miracles

45:07

, I would not struggle in my faith . I would have

45:09

assurance in my faith . I believe in Jesus , but

45:11

I do question how many

45:13

of us would actually have stuck with

45:15

Jesus through the entire thing . When he

45:18

says things like hey

45:20

, in a crowd of people , that

45:22

dead girl's not dead , she's sleeping . Or

45:25

when everybody wakes up in the boat because

45:28

they're about to die and his first response is

45:30

why do you have such little faith ? It's

45:32

like how am I supposed to keep walking with

45:34

you ? When a demon-possessed

45:37

man is told don't go and tell the

45:39

city , go home , it's like , no , jesus

45:42

, we can win this whole city

45:44

for our cause . I

45:46

just love it . But one of the things that he says and

45:48

, by the way , if I am a lady in this

45:50

room . Luke eight is what I'm reading

45:53

in my quiet time for the next few days

45:55

. There is so much about daughters in here

45:57

. There is so much about mothers in here . The chapter

45:59

opens by women being the ones

46:01

who are funding and providing for the ministry going

46:03

forward . So just so you know , ladies , if you ever feel

46:06

like in the church or in

46:08

Christianity , especially when the culture that's

46:10

trying to tell you that your identity comes

46:12

from other things and what the Bible ? I'm just

46:14

telling you , luke , chapter eight , drink from

46:16

that . Well . But one of the questions that came

46:18

through while you were reading , larry

46:20

, is why does Jesus say Mary

46:23

is not my mother and those are not

46:25

my brothers , recognizing that she's

46:27

going to be the one weeping at the foot of the cross when just

46:29

about everybody else runs away ? Why

46:32

is it that that happens ? And I

46:34

think Jesus answers by saying

46:36

let me tell you who my actual mother and

46:38

brother , son , daughter are . It's

46:41

not people by blood , it's not

46:43

people by bone , it is anyone

46:46

who believes in the word of God . And

46:48

so I've got one thought I want to close this with

46:50

, but let me give you a question to answer

46:52

. I feel like recognizing

46:55

that , for Jesus' spiritual relationships are

46:57

deeper and more meaningful than

47:00

familial blood relationships

47:02

. Where is ministry strong

47:04

in this and where's an area we could

47:06

be stronger in seeing family

47:08

not as my last name , but

47:11

as the name of Christ , people I'm going to spend eternity with

47:13

? Where are we strong ? Where

47:15

should we ?

47:17

be stronger .

47:19

I'll jump in .

47:19

Um , I

47:22

think maybe this

47:24

is answering a slightly different question than

47:26

you're asking yeah , just do whatever you want , jordan , that's fine . I

47:29

think where we're strong in that maybe

47:32

the easiest place to start relating

47:37

to brothers and sisters in Christ and the church

47:39

as family is in our missional community groups

47:41

. The fact that we're in

47:43

each other's homes some of

47:45

the groups are sharing meals together or eating

47:47

together . The fact that our

47:49

kids are getting in arguments and hitting

47:52

each other down in the basement while

47:54

we're trying to be holy Um , I

47:56

mean like We'll sanctify

47:58

them later . It forces you into , but

48:01

I mean even that , like you're

48:03

living life with each other and not just sitting

48:05

shoulder to shoulder , and

48:07

so you're . I think it's a

48:09

great place and a place that we

48:11

do model that Um , I

48:14

think a place where I would encourage

48:16

us to do it even more , um

48:18

would be back to when

48:21

Jesus says go and declare how much God's

48:23

done for you . I

48:27

can share stories with David Blanchard , who

48:29

was up here earlier with some of my own children

48:31

where when God shares

48:33

something with you , when he does something in our life

48:35

, it often is

48:37

not only or even mostly

48:39

about you , amen . And

48:42

so I'm going to be holding to others and

48:44

Joy and I have been down sitting wrestling through

48:46

something and

48:48

one of our young children , who we thought we had

48:50

tucked in bed , was reading their Bible , came down and quoted a scripture

48:52

and like , oh , wait a minute , but

48:56

they have to be spanked for staying up . No , no , no , they didn't

48:58

do that , but it evoked within me

49:00

a reality that man I have a

49:02

God . That is All right . We have a God that is living and

49:05

hears us and speaks to his people

49:07

. Now , in a day , Thank you , we

49:10

do a disservice . I think we can do better about

49:12

actually sharing with each other what

49:16

God is doing in our life .

49:16

Yeah , when you see the prayer requests that come in , and

49:19

then you know how it ends . There are so many

49:21

seeds that should turn into vines , that should turn into plant

49:23

for us sharing .

49:25

Here's what the Lord has done in my life , yeah yeah

49:27

, and just to add to that real quick is

49:29

we should be again sharing

49:31

these stories . And I , you know the first service , I

49:33

got choked up when the

49:36

man went out and he shared all that God

49:38

had done for him and I think we shouldn't be

49:40

ashamed of those stories . And I think sometimes

49:42

we come into this room , you

49:45

know , kind of with a little bit preconceived

49:47

notion , like man , if I open up a little bit too much

49:49

of this brother or sister and even in MCG's

49:51

, you know there's some shame , take

49:53

the shame off the table .

49:55

Like we see happen with the woman who Jesus

49:57

go in peace Like . The point is for you

49:59

to leave unburdened .

50:01

That's exactly right , I know that everyone in

50:04

this room is not perfect there's

50:06

not one perfect person in this room

50:08

or in your MCG and I'm just encouraged

50:10

you to be vulnerable with one another

50:13

. That's where the brother and sister

50:15

come from , and I say brother a lot

50:17

, right , and sometimes people around me notice you

50:19

call that guy brother or whatever . And well

50:21

, I call brothers and sisters in Christ brother

50:23

and sister and it's because I

50:26

feel if we are both in the spirit

50:28

, walking with one another , we have a bond

50:30

in the spirit that goes well beyond blood

50:32

and we should be able to share those things with each other

50:34

. And I think constantly about how God

50:37

, who we were once far off , he brought us

50:39

close and we should be

50:41

sharing in that . So I would just

50:43

encourage it , as Trent said

50:45

, be , be transparent

50:47

, share those stories and those things

50:49

, build those bonds and and it's so

50:52

deep beyond just flesh and

50:54

bone .

50:54

Yeah , amen , soaks , if you want to come

50:56

up , I'll close this out with with

50:58

just a thought . I'm gonna stand up because I can tell him I

51:00

get preachy on it . At

51:03

the end of Luke , chapter 8 , you

51:06

see him write the word , the number 12

51:08

, two times . You have a daughter who

51:11

is 12 years old and you have a woman , who

51:13

will be called daughter , who has been sick

51:15

for 12 years . And I just want you to appreciate

51:17

the parallelism of this that

51:20

in one family you have this

51:22

vibrant , young 12 year old who's

51:24

living life and living it to the full

51:26

, and on this side , it's

51:28

almost as though , as soon as this life began

51:30

going well , this woman's life

51:33

begins to diminish . She's literally bleeding

51:35

out . She is becoming weaker

51:37

and weaker , life leaving

51:39

her and at the end of this chapter , jesus

51:42

grabs one and he calls her daughter

51:44

. He grabs the other one and he says

51:46

little child , get up . And what

51:48

I see in this and the fact that we put voice

51:51

of the martyrs up , what a beautiful Sunday

51:53

. There are people in this room

51:55

and there are people around the globe who are

51:57

trusting in Christ , and if you're a Christian

52:00

, that is brother and that is sister , that

52:02

is mother , that is uncle , that is family

52:04

to you . And some of us

52:06

are in the middle of living out 12

52:09

years of things just kind of going swimmingly

52:11

. Like David said , I don't deal with a lot of

52:13

persecution . We do not deal with a lot of

52:15

persecution . Every day my

52:18

head hits the pillow . I'm not worried about

52:20

what I'm gonna go through that night , what I'm gonna wake up with

52:22

that same time that my

52:24

eyes are closing . Someone else on the other

52:26

side of the world who is trusting in Christ is

52:28

closing their eyes , not knowing if they are going

52:30

to open in this world or in eternity

52:33

, and that's a reality . And then we

52:35

also have people who are actively struggling

52:38

life being drained out of . And

52:40

here's what I would say true family

52:43

is when you are able to celebrate

52:45

the life that is happening and mourn

52:48

the life that feels like it's being lost

52:50

. And the most and I would think

52:52

, the dangerous place for us to be is

52:55

to be that family that had the 12 year old and year

52:57

one went really well and year two went really well

52:59

and so did 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7

53:01

, 8 , 9 , 10 and 11

53:03

, and it wasn't until that 12th

53:06

year and this may be a month that you're

53:08

in , coming from or going to when

53:10

everything had to be shaken , for

53:13

you to decide . Is Christ

53:15

, my everything , is

53:17

his family , truly the thing that

53:20

I am going to identify

53:22

with , or am I

53:24

just gonna try to squirrel up the best years

53:26

that I possibly can ? We

53:28

? We were singing earlier this

53:30

morning about Christ knowing the sparrow

53:33

and I don't know if you notice , but he kind of flew up on the window

53:35

and he visits occasionally . If

53:38

God knows the feather on every bird

53:40

, if he knows the hair on

53:42

every head , whether you are bleeding

53:45

out in this moment or you're

53:47

in year 8 of 12 great

53:49

years , do not be the Pharisee

53:52

who just walks in and has it all

53:54

together . Be the one who says even

53:56

if things are going well , I am undeserving and

53:59

when things are falling apart , I need to cry

54:01

at the feet of Jesus . But

54:03

let us not be people who walk in , sit

54:06

up , listen to some scripture , nod

54:08

heads and then walk out those double white doors

54:10

the exact same way we came in . Do business

54:12

with God . If that means sitting

54:15

when Stokes says hey , everybody , stand

54:17

up , sit . If it means you need to read

54:19

rather than sing , read . If you

54:21

need prayer , go get prayer . If you need to go confess

54:23

sin or ask for forgiveness from somebody

54:25

in the room . Do it , but let

54:27

us be a people who knows that God knows and

54:30

he cares about each one of us , and

54:32

let's draw near to the one who not only forgives

54:34

us of our sins , but gives us his righteousness

54:36

as well . Stand up and let's

54:38

worship together .