Session 3: Lost-Found-Party

LaRue Baptist Church, OH

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Be faithful to the word. Well, thank you,

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Tim And I just want to share Something I'm thankful for is and I mean this from the bottom of my heart

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Our pickles So there's something about this place and your pickles that are above well above average

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And so is that just like a is that a LaRue thing or no if I just like your wife you

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Gotcha, they're excellent. Those are fried pickles that I had there. Yeah, they're on point and Is it only oh you have sour pickles there too, right?

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The spears are sour Yeah, I could I can put away some pickles

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I'm always more of us of a salty guy. Like I'm not a sugar guy appetite I can give up dessert doesn't matter to me.

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You give me something with salt and vinegar. Ooh That is good. I'm just glad that we're recording this

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Because imagine missing out on this like how your soul would be hurt Luke 15

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Luke chapter 15 I'd like to as we start out

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We're gonna be focusing on 17 through 24, but I think I'm gonna read from verse 11

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Recapping what we covered just in the last session and Also looking at what we're going to be looking at in this section.

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So Luke 15 beginning in verse 11 If you are physically able, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God's Holy Word?

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Follow along silently as I read aloud beginning in verse 11 of Luke chapter 15 This is what the

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Word of God says and He Jesus said there was a man who had two sons and the younger of them said to his father father

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Give me the share of property that is coming to me and he divided his property between them not many days later the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country and there he squandered his property in reckless living and When he had spent everything a severe famine arose in that country and he began to be in need

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So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into the fields to feed pigs

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And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate and no one gave him anything

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But when he came to himself He said how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger

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I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you

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I'm no longer worthy to be called your son treat me as one of your hired servants

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And he arose and came to his father but while he was still a long way off his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him and The son said to him father.

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I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son but the father said to his servants bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and Shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate for this my son

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Was dead and is alive again He was lost and is found and they began to celebrate

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This is the word of the Lord Father in heaven, we are grateful to be

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Back together gathered together again as the family of God and grateful for your word

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Would you add your blessing to the reading and the preaching of your word for your glory and for our good?

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We pray in Jesus name Amen, please be seated. And so just to recap last night.

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We looked at how to interpret parables and how not to interpret parables More importantly we ended the night understanding that our best approach to Scripture Should be one that enables me to remove logs from my own eyes

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Before I think myself able to remove specks from others I'm told there has been an illustration of that point drawn by a young child, which

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I can't wait to see I'm told it's me with a telephone pole coming out of my eye. I'm pumped

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I want to see how how this was like in his mind. I'm really looking forward to that But that's the time that we spend yesterday how to best interpret parables how not to interpret parables and then to let's make sure that we're coming to Scripture and living really the the whole of life

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Coming to Scripture and looking to first be changed to be formed be shaped by it

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I struggled whether to do Matthew 7 or a James chapter 1 and making that point But let's just for kicks and giggles keep your finger in Luke 15.

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And would you go over to the book of James? chapter 1 James 1

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Let's look at verse 22 So here James the brother of our

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Lord Says this in James 1 beginning in verse 22, but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves

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For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer He is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror

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For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forget what he looks like but the one who looks into the perfect law the law of Liberty and perseveres being no here forgets, but it's or perhaps he will be blessed in his

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Doing and so here God likens the word The law of God's words anyone who's a hearer of the word and not a doer is like a person who looks

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Intently at his natural face in a mirror and depending on where you at You where you're at in your season of life probably depends on what your experience is like.

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You should look in the mirror I remember when I was younger, I would just look just to kind of like Real fast as I'm leaving like make sure

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I don't look like there's not something out of place There's not a hair out of place. I actually used to have to check there was a hair out of place

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Rarely do that now And looking at a mirror was just a kind of like it was kind of like something you just did but now as you age

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You look at a mirror kind of for damage assessment, right? Like when you get up in the morning, okay, let's see how last night went

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And I've also noticed that when we take lately with Sarah and I we're gonna take a selfie

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With each other So looking at oneself in a mirror here

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It's a great it's a great illustration that James James Says the person who's a hero but not a doer

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It's like someone who looks at themselves in a mirror and goes up gosh and does nothing about it Right.

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They are aware of how they look they're aware that something's out of place. They're aware that Adjustments need to be made and those adjustments can be slight or they can require a major Agent orange black flag or whatever chemicals and stuff that people use on their faces and hair and all this other stuff

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I'm not really I'm not familiar with it but if you look at Yourself in the mirror and do nothing about it

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That is the person who looks into the Word of God as a hero of the Word and not a doer

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Why do you look at yourself in the mirror? You're not going to make it just Why even look at God's Word if it's not if you're not doing so with the objective to change to grow to make adjustments

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So similarly to the point that we made last night with Matthew 7 Why look to God's Word if we're not going to first seek to remove the logs from our own eyes before we go around respects from others and so that is a

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Approach that we would all do well to take as we look to God's Word Together then closely related to that fact is that what we looked at just before And we need to understand that we're in the best position to apply the parable of the prodigal son if we see ourselves first and foremost as the prodigal

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As the prodigal all we like sheep have gone astray each to his own way There's not one of us that was only a little lost versus the people out there who are a lot lost

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There's no such thing as lost or we're born with a sinful nature. And so we'll make simple choices

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We're held out and we're held deserving but God who is rich in mercy Sets his mercy upon us and grants his faith and trust in him and we then respond

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Of our own volition because God has changed what we want it's always important particularly for people who embrace a reformed soteriology for people who say that those of us who

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Are are embracing the doctrines of grace and excited about that that we are not robots.

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We always do what we want It's just that God has changed what I want. Amen Thank God has changed my wanter.

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So I nobody gets dragged kicking and screaming There's nobody who's like I just want to walk with the world but instead

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I love Christ That's that's not how people relate to God has literally changed what we want He's literally changed what we want.

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He's changed what gives us joy. He's changed what we want to pursue We always do what we want to God has changed what we want.

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He's given us a new heart He's given us a new mind And so we are good when we are we it is good for us to see ourselves as the prodigal

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First and foremost it is good for us to make sure that as we read through scripture

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That we see ourselves as the one who has received grace and mercy

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Probably another example is I'm getting a little old from that. I want to share it with John chapter 8 when we're looking at Jesus who is the

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Jesus who is confronted with the situation with the adulterous woman, which is another situation where John Jesus tried to be they're trying to trick him

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And oftentimes, you know, we know the way that that account ends Jesus says he among you who is without sin let him cast the first stone

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And we're thinking to ourselves like wow That's true. We should always remember that none of us are without sin.

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It's true But we should also remember that we're all the adulterous woman, right?

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We're all deserving of death We're all deserving of justice. We're all deserving of Punishment and we've all received mercy

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That Jesus granted her as well. And so I would encourage you to look as you look throughout scripture to Always look at the person who's receiving mercy

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Who's the one who deserves it the least? The one who gives the wow factor that we can't believe that that person was what we can't believe

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Lazarus was raised from the dead We can't believe that the paralytic was healed And don't look at yourself and say what

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I believe if I was in the crowd Look at yourself saying I was once dead and I have been made alive

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Because that's the way for us to humbly approach the Word of God And so similarly coming back to our text today

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We are reminded that the prodigal son is similar is symbolic of us. Let's ask ourselves this question

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If the Pharisees who are hearing this story the Pharisees and the scribes that we read about in the beginning of Luke 15

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They're listening question. What do the Pharisees hope happen next in the story?

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Okay, so where we left off was that this Prodigal son said to himself self.

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I'm gonna go home and I'm gonna tell my father I've sinned against him and I asked him to hire me as one of his servants, which is essentially him saying

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This is the best case scenario that I could be that I can hope for that I would perhaps be treated in a way that I would not be stoned to death or I would not be

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I would not be judged If you would take a look at Deuteronomy 28

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Keep your finger in Matthew Not Matthew Luke 15 and look at Deuteronomy 28 look specifically at verse 15

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Says this but if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God Or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today

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Then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you Curse shall you be in the city and curse shall you be in the field?

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curse shall be your basket and your kneading bowl curse shall be the Fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground the increase of your herds and the young of your flock curse

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Shall you be when you come in and cursed shall you be? When you go out the

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Lord will send on you curses Confusion and frustration and all that you undertake to do

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Until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds because you have forsaken me

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The Lord will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take

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Possession of it. I lost count of how many times I said cursed In that short reading so this the

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Pharisees know the Word of God the Pharisees would think that this is the result of The result of sinning the result of rebellion would be

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Cursed that he would be cursed by God and how that would play out in his life Would be we'd have to see how that comes in the days in the weeks in the months in the years ahead

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And so the best case scenario that could happen like okay What's gonna probably happen at the end of this story the

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Pharisees would think the younger son would be allowed to live as a Pariah of sorts on the outskirts of his father's land

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Trying in futility to repay his father for the rest of his life That would be a best -case scenario a best case because it doesn't involve stones in his skull so that's the best case scenario is that he would get to come back and Be be hired which is essentially what he is hoping for to be hired as Somebody who would work on the outside of his land and live as a pariah

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Another possibility would be that the younger son would have to sit outside the city gate

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In public view for several days For several days in shame and so where he would be spat upon where he would likely be derided

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Where he would sit out in shame outside the city for what he had done

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To be a way of him being punished and also a way of the father's honor being

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Upheld so the father would basically be saying okay. Well since he has done this I should do this for both his sake and my sake

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Another possibility is what we find in if you're in Deuteronomy ready. You can just go to Deuteronomy 21 and verse 21

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Deuteronomy 21 We can actually start in verse 18 But 21 and verse 18 says if a man has a stubborn and rebellious son

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Who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and though they discipline him will not listen to them

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Then his father and mother Shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of the city at the gate or the place

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Of the place where he lives and they shall say to the elders of the city this our son is stubborn and rebellious

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He will not obey our voice He is a glutton and a drunkard verse 21 says that all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones

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So you shall purge the evil from your midst and all Israel shall hear and fear

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So that would be another perfectly legitimate Response to what the younger brother did this

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Sunday would be that he would be stoned to death because of his

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Rebellion verse 20 of Luke 15. Let's go back to our text today which shows what the younger father younger brother excuse me did

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So verse 20 says and he arose and came to his father now

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Let's just remind ourselves where he has been He has been off in a far country both literally and metaphorically speaking.

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He has Squandered we don't know this yet, but we know the end He is he has spent his money in all sorts of reckless living which we know is including but is not limited to Sexual exploits and so he's been with prostitutes.

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He then moved from there to The outer parts probably of the city where there is farmland and then hired himself

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To this man to feed the pigs. So he's been wallowing with pigs and He says

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I know what I will do says the Bible says he came to himself literally he came to his senses

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And he said I think I'll go home and talk to my dad Nowhere in that text is I should probably shower first Nowhere in that text is will

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I pass a target right? So he is looking and feeling and smelling like he has been

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Doing all of those things and so verse 20 says when he arose and came to his father understand

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He looks completely disheveled understand he smells like all sorts of fecal matter and disgusting food and everything that he would have filled up on him said that he would have been surrounded by and Involved with he smells like how he's been living and he arose and came to his father and Then we still we see this comment here in verse 20, but while he was still a long way off his father saw him his father saw him

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That's an important part of the text to focus on because it's not just like me standing from here

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I can see somebody walk by if they're walking down the hallway. I can look over here at this section and in my

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Periphery I can't see who but if somebody were to walk by I could see them walk by does that make sense?

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Get my attention and they'll probably pass before I can look to see who they are, but I wouldn't be able to see who

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It was it's interesting that Jesus specifically says While he was still a long way off Like if you took out that portion of that sentence that sentence still makes sense if you said and he arose and came to his

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Father his father saw him and felt compassion that would have been a legitimate way to write this account

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But Jesus specifically says While he was still a long way off And you can't see somebody far away by accident

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So his father was looking for him. His father had his eyes fixed towards the

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Horizon his father was looking for his son. He didn't see him by accident just happened to catch his attention his father was

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Looking I don't know if that means that his father would have been at the top of this house looking I don't know if he would have been standing outside looking.

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I don't know if while he's doing whatever he's doing in life He's just happens to look up and think of his son and get back to him to what he was doing

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But the bottom line is the father was looking for the son Because he saw him while he was a long way off And the fact that he saw him and then we're told what else in verse 20

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While he was still a long way off his father saw him and felt compassion

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He saw him and felt compassion That's the Greek word. That is Splendid to my

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Splendid to my meeting is he literally felt it in his gut in his gut

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We make a lot of talk of the seat of the emotions being the heart, right? Oh, my heart was broken or all this other stuff

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But if you think about it when you're when somebody walks into a room that you find attractive You hope you notice you have butterflies in your what stomach right when you're stressed out

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You have a knot in your stomach And so we don't speak like that, but the

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Israelites And the Greeks that made sense. It can still make sense to us I've tried to tell

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Sarah that when I see her my bowels move, but she's just not that doesn't flatter It's not a defective thought it would have so but here slug needs to buy means he was moved with compassion

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Moved with compassion not like oh wow. What's up with him? He looks like he needs help It's it's this.

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Oh this gut punch of seeing somebody just like oh my Gosh, I don't know if you've ever been in a in a situation like that I don't know that I've ever been in a situation like that where I just saw something that was so outrageous so So horrible that my

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I was just oh Just moved that I had to do something That's what's happening here

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His father saw him while he was still a long way off and felt compassion and What was he moved to do it says his father saw him and felt compassion and ran ran

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Didn't run from him But ran to him the first thing that he was moved to do was to not just see his son

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But to see his son quickly that when he realized he goes That's him he could not help but run and go and make himself like you couldn't get there fast enough

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He couldn't get there soon enough No doubt he wanted to get there before other people who get there because other people had a good idea of what they wanted to Do to him and so he is running because he had compassion

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He's running because what he was looking for he had seen But there's something else there's two aspects of the running that I think is so key to understand and That is this that Arab men don't run

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Arab men don't run. That's not what people do who live over in the middle.

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They don't run They don't run they don't go off for jobs. They don't run. It's not it's thought of as a shameful thing to Run in fact there are

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Arabic versions of this parable that omit the fact that the father

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Ran it's wrong to do that. They're adjusting to but they they're like surely this isn't Surely this isn't happening.

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So let me read to you a quote. I'm really a big quote guy This is kind of long trying to follow along But it says this the reluctance on the part of the

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Arabic versions to let the father run is amazing for a thousand years a wide range of such phrases were employed almost as if there was a conspiracy to avoid the humiliating truth of the text that the father ran

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The explanation for all this is simple the tradition identified the father with God and running in public is too humiliating to attribute to a person who symbolizes

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God not until 1860 Does the father appear running in Arabic versions?

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1860 the worksheets of the translators are available even in the great version of the first rendition of the

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Greek was he hurry So it's not like they're saying he walked like they're not lying, but just let's not say can we not say road?

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Can we say speed walk? Can we say he was in a rush, but not he ran but let's just get that idea across in a different way and Only in the second round of the translation process does the word mean that was the word he ran appear

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The Hebrew of Proverbs 19 in verse 2 reads he that hastens with his feet sins

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That's a paraphrase the father represents God How could he run and so running was not something people of any nobility or any notoriety did?

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They don't get there when they get there I'm on my way They sauntered they walk with great with great ease with And they're not in a rush.

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They're not going to run the fact that the father ran is mine Because our men don't run people who lived in that section of the world at that time in that culture don't run

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Let me add to it something else If he ran and what he was wearing the

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Bible doesn't say what he was wearing But I can like he's for sure not wearing joggers right so if he ran in what he was wearing

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Which is likely a role of some sort He would have to lift up his rope Or a triple himself like you can't take big strides

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Hitting a rope so he'd have to lift up his rope which would expose his legs. I don't know if you ever noticed him

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But when we're in Albania, which is they were under the Ottoman Empire for so long

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Men don't wear shorts Men don't wear shorts they were pants they were

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Breathable pants in the summertime, but men boys little boys wear shorts the men don't wear shorts

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To show your legs and shape so I Like I didn't get that you know it's all about baby.

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It's really hot I've got several pairs of shoes, and it's fine because I'm obviously not

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Albanian, but I stood out I was I'm walking around I don't feel really I didn't feel really weird

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There's several days, and I'm like wow don't like I don't see many people wearing shorts

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I was like that's incorrect. I don't see anything Many implies there's someone I literally see zero they don't wear shorts

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It's customary in Middle Eastern culture to not show your legs and So this is why

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I think The father some people say the father represents God the pursuing love of God couldn't agree more

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But I would get more specific and say this the father represents Jesus God the son

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Because Jesus took on and died as a took on my shame right we don't see

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God the father God the Holy Spirit taking on shame But God the Son Jesus Christ took on the shame took on the reproach to show me

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Compassion he died on the cross as if he were a criminal he died a horrible horrible death

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That was the shame of all of society at that time And so I think and it might be you know people sometimes say potato potato.

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I don't say potato potato There's God the Father God the Son of the Holy Spirit. I think the father Represents Jesus Because there's the pursuing love that he has also mixed in with this element of of shame of reproach

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All in that he ran His father saw him when he was a long way off.

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Oh Instantly felt compassion The compassion didn't mean that he was disgusted with him the compassion didn't say oh wow

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He's never gonna be able to get his life together. He drove him to run. He didn't care what other people thought

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He didn't care how he would have been talked about he saw his son that he was looking for and he ran and then verse 20 says he ran and What?

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embraced him and Kissed him Technically speaking somebody could see him run to the

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Sun and think he's fighting back He's gonna like get there and just like he's gonna just take him out.

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He's that angry that would have made sense So you can see him run like wow, that's a little weird that he's running, but I bet he's that ticked off He attacks him with love he embraces him he kisses him

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In some traditions in order for the Sun to regain even just the just just the respect of the father

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The Sun would get on his knees and would have his face touch the ground and would kiss the feet of his father

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This is the opposite where the father is running to the Sun in all his squalor in all his smell

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And he is embracing him. He is kissing him in my mind

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I can't even see the Sun hugging back. I think the Sun's just like shocked like I'm alive

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He didn't take me out just kind of okay. Wow, this is okay Just shocked that his father is treating him with this love and this compassion.

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He embraced him and he kissed him It shows the uninhibited shameless love that the father had for his son

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The title of the sermon is lost found pardon That's the common theme you see in Luke 15

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Someone who loses a sheep the sheep is lost Diligent looks for the sheep the sheep is found and then what does he say rejoice with me.

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I found my sheep I had a hundred sheep. I had a hundred sheep I'm now back to having a hundred sheep every sheep matters 99 is not enough lost found party a woman who loses the coin

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You can't find it. That's a valuable piece for her. She looks around her. She's worried. She's scared. It's lost

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She finds it. She tells her friends rejoice with me. I found my coin lost found party Finally in the parable of the prodigal son

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Where Luke dedicates the most of his ink where there's the most amount of detail We see one who is lost

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Just like you and me We see one who is found by the grace of God just like you and me

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And we see somebody who is worth celebrating Just like you and me point number one

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Nobody is too far for Christ to see to reach and to say

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I Emphasized pretty strongly yesterday and today the importance of seeing ourselves in the story

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I'm not I'm not checking that aside having seen ourselves in the story

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If we are believers We do well to be reminded that nobody is too far for Christ to see and to Reach and to save again verse 20 says while he was still a long way off his father saw him

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Nobody's too far for Christ to see to reach and to save my dad

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It's it's it's it's part of my testimony that I'll share tomorrow, but my parents are divorced My dad is a self -proclaimed atheist

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God saved my mom and God used her greatly in our life to preach the gospel to us

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God in his kindness and his mercy saved myself and my sister. My dad has remarried and my dad is

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An atheist he's an okay guy Probably probably get all of them, but he is an atheist and I Believe that the

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Lord saved me in 1989 My dad has never been interested really in the gospel

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He likes what I do. He's tied to me. He's proud of me. He thinks I'm a do -gooder

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You know like look at him all the good. He does when I was a youth pastor. Look at him. He loves the kids

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He doesn't make a connection between what we do or the Christ. Does that make sense? It's just like oh, he's

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He really serves kids. That's fine, but he doesn't get it He doesn't get it

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I've shared the gospel with him on a number of occasions, but I believe

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I've been a Christian since 1989 Today is Saturday March 23rd 2024

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So that's 35 years It's not trending.

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Well It doesn't seem to be moving in a positive

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Direction and so to my shame I Want to let you know

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That I pray for him less now Because I'm pretty sure it's just not gonna happen.

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And so it's kind of falling off my radar. Does that make sense? I'm not saying do you agree with that? But do you understand what I'm saying?

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because I start to think like I Mean surely if God's gonna save him he would have done that by now

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Not getting any younger But surely if God was going to use me to be a witness to him

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He would have done it by now Do you ask me if God could save him there's a right answer to that question, right?

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There's a right answer. I will give you the right answer a thousand percent. Yes, God We've got nothing is impossible.

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Yes, God could save him if you corner me and say do you think God will

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I? Become a functional atheist and I'm like start to think of odds

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I Mean odds are probably not who have you given up on who?

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Has not come to Christ and has not shown an ounce of interest in Christ And So you have talked yourself into I don't need to Even make it self -preservation right if I expect him not to save him

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I won't be I won't be upset when he doesn't which is ridiculous because cynicism makes it terrible insulator

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Disappointment, but who have you given up on who did you once pray that the

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Lord would say? who do you even still pray for the Lord would say, but you do in kind of a rote way and If really push comes to shove you like I know

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God could save him But you want to I really think he probably won't but the text reminds us.

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Nobody's too far for Christ to see to reach and To say

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Romans 1 16 Paul says for I am NOT ashamed of the gospel. Do you know why? For it is the power of God for salvation

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To everyone who believes it is the power It's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes it's not just like it

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It's this it's this option bro, and if they choose it's gonna be great. There's power in the gospel

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God saves people God saves sinners God Breathes life into dead hearts

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God replaces hearts of stone with hearts of flesh Nobody is too far for Christ to see to reach and to save the gospel has not changed

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God's power has not changed It is the power and always will be the power of God to salvation for those who believe

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Who are you tempted to believe is too far away from the Lord to be saved You know on paper.

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That's not the right answer if you want to test but in your heart, you're like not hold of my breath

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I think we need to remind ourselves that even if they're far beyond our reach.

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They're not beyond God's I Think we need to remind ourself that his arm is never too

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Short, I think we need to remind ourselves that God saves people

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Through a bunch of different means and even if things happen in different ways you're like there's so far

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God's like yeah I'm I'm not worried like I could still do it. Yeah, look at who they're with.

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Yeah, look at the group They run with yeah, but look what they kind of believe One thing God has never said ever.

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It's like wow. This is really something He's never wrote his hands. He's never paid. He's never been like what are we gonna do?

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I love saving people, but this is like Tom He's never things

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God has never said Wow Huh, that's really something. What are we gonna do?

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Said God never God's response to your prayer request for your person for somebody to be saved is always this this is not hard for me

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This is not hard for me. I We don't know

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God's will we don't know what God is We know God's revealed Well, we don't know God's will for every single day of our lives and certainly the rearview mirror is clearer than the windshield

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Even though it's small and looks wonky. We can look back and see oh look what God has done This is what

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God has done. We know what his will was for our life We like it see what it's happened in my life I know how he's acted in Providence, but God never think that God is like wow that's really your dad

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Oh Why I know he's kind of a tough one. It's like he really is Really doesn't believe he's very very much fiercely logical.

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So it's like yeah I don't know if you can teach somebody like that logical you can understand faith Because at the end of the day

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I do believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead because the Bible tells me so This is not hard for me.

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God says this is not me. I Can save her I can bring him back.

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I can reach in there I can use other means outside of you. You're not sometimes

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We think you're not around any other Christians and God's like wow you're right That's really difficult for me said the creator of the universe right like He's not worried

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God can reach them God can reach them I have a family member who is made just a bunch of just a bunch of foolish choices and Did everything?

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Essentially wrong not just by God's standards, but by the world standards Like we could I could hook up with us atheists and say look at this one

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You're like, yeah, that's pretty dumb Like this is you don't have to have the Bible to say what this like this and this and this like that's not good and so they were cohabitating with their friend at the time boyfriend girlfriend at the time and Decided that they were going to move to a far -off content of our country but a far off place away from all family

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And just that that's where they were going to live and then Their relationship was such that they ended up breaking up And the family member of my they were they were dating

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They were gonna go and move out to another place and then they decided not to do that for a bunch of different reasons

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And then the family member of mine decided to still go out and move there So they're like I'm still kind of excited about that now understand the family member that I'm speaking to you about has been in multiple psych wards

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You can have a conversation with them today and it goes super well And then you can get a phone call from my dad the next day be like great for them

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They ended up checking themselves in they were suicide They're on all sorts of meds and all and now they're gonna do that and they're gonna remove themselves

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From any sort of like family or friends they're gonna start over in hee -haw somewhere way far away from all of their cousins and and Parents and anybody who could come to their aid.

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They know nobody they just got a job out there So they're gonna move there. And so that's what they did and it did not go well

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It went like as bad as we thought it was going to go They're around and again, there are no

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Christians that I do none of them that I know I don't know if you assume this but I should probably clear this up.

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I don't know every Christian That might have just just FYI. I don't know every

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Christian God convicted me and reminded me that I don't know every Christian Like these are there any Christians?

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How is she gonna get saved? Well, lo and behold she ends up working with a

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Christian In one of her many episodes some mental hospital

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This co -worker visits her and it starts talking to her and just builds a friendship

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She gets out of the psych ward for however long short she was out of the psych ward and She's invited to go to church with her and this relative

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Sounds fun. You seem nice We'll go to church. And so she intends this

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Bible study that she goes to every single week. I get a phone call From this family member.

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They're starting to ask me questions about the Bible and so I'm wondering so and I'll just be very honest with you

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I'm like That's what I thought I was like, oh instead of being like happy to just question about the

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Bible I'm like should be locked up. This is it. She's this is a precursor to something's going

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Wrong, but asking questions about the Bible and I'm answering them Send the phone for 10 minutes. We say the phone for 20 minutes next time 23 minutes next time 37 minutes next 45 minutes next time and then she sent me a text saying that she really believes she thinks she's saved

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She thinks she's saved. She's heard about what it means to be saved and what it means to believe Jesus And she thinks she has like this love for God It's really hard to understand but she's seen her own sin and understands what

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Jesus did for sinners And believes that the Lord has saved her so I'm like wow, that's

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That's really really great That's really really great. I'm so glad I Hear see if you can catch what

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I'm saying. I'm so glad I believe that you believe that you believe that I'm really

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And I'm just a skeptic and cynic and of course, I'm not saying that to her

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I'm saying thank you for sharing that and then when I hang up the phone I tell my wife about how skeptical

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I am because that seems like the most honoring thing to do at the time God saved her

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She was baptized She's still part of the church She's still working out different things in her life because there's a lot to work out

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Telling you right now if she dies she's going to heaven God saved her. Oh This is being recorded

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It is being recorded. I couldn't be less thrilled with the church. She's going to and I just say that I'm like It's not doctrinally sound

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I'm like kind of hoping she asked me about some of the things that they believe because I'd love to say I'm glad you asked

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Here's a list of other churches. I would like you to go to like anyone throw a rock go to a church Try to mess this up.

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It's a rough church God's using it in her life used it in her life to preach the gospel to her

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Used it to save her used it to that was the means by which God used to take out the heart of stone to give

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Her a heart of flesh, but I'm telling you like this is against all odds This makes no sense at all.

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This shouldn't have worked. It doesn't make sense. She's away from everybody She knew that what like it makes no sense

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I'm like wow God's like just another day me being not

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I say it's what I do Nobody's too far for Christ to see to reach and to save Who are you tempted to believe might be outside of the realm of possibility of being saved by God's sovereign

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Grace, you know what? Can we just pause for a minute? We close our eyes

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Just for a moment if you would Would you picture the person that?

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You've either given up on intentionally you're done thinking that you would hope they get saved or you just realize.

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Oh, wow. I've forgotten about It's been a while since I prayed for them. It's been a while since I invited them.

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Would you now ask God to? Restore hope

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In your mind in your heart, would you confess your unbelief?

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To him or your forgetfulness to him and whatever shortcoming it is that you need to confess.

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Would you just ask for God's mercy and do so boldly by boldly approaching the throne of grace knowing that He will give you the help that you need in this your time of need

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Hebrews 4 But would you pray for God to work in that person's life even now?

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Lord, would you? Even in a tangible bizarre way, would you cause these people everyone that we are thinking of right now?

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Would they just be? aware of Would they would they randomly just think that's weird.

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I never think about God. Why did God just cross my mind? Would you cause them to just be a little stunned a little like, huh?

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Lord for your glory for their good. Would you draw them to yourself? Would you save souls we pray?

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Amen Nobody's too far for Christ to see to reach him to say point number two

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You're never more like Jesus than when you're excited for people to receive Mercy, that's what we see throughout

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Luke 15 right beginning in verse 7 Jesus is just so I tell you whether he finds a lost sheep

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There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents that over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance

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God loves turn around. God loves the story that I just told you. He loves he loves the wow factor

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He loves the wow factor because it makes him look great. He's Appropriately self -centered he is focused on himself and his glory

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He loves just like for you to worship anyone else other than God will be to worship an idol to worship anything else

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Guess what for God to focus on anything else other than God He would also be worshiping an idol.

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And so God is most appropriately focused for his glory and for our good

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He loves shock value. He loves the problem Wow saved him Wow That person's completely self -righteous was brought up in a home where they would just think like we're good

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We never miss a Sunday. We never miss a Wednesday. We never miss a Bible meeting We never miss a Bible study Wow that person said but I need

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Jesus. He loves saving people in a Wow way and You're never more like Jesus than when you're excited for people to receive mercy

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Matthew 9 verses 12 and following Jesus says it says when he heard him He said those who are well have no need of a position

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But those who are sick go and learn what this means. I desire what mercy and not sacrifice

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Micah 6 Micah 6 in verse 8. It's such a popular verse He has shown you a man what is good and what does the

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Lord require of you but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with your

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God That's a key part of the Old Testament scriptures It's an imaginary conversation with them between the

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Lord and Israel and in the first five verses of Micah 6 The Lord introduces his case against the disobedient people of Israel and then verses 6 and 7 record his response with a

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Series of questions saying well with what shall I come to the Lord should I bring you our first Lord? So it's very it's kind of like whiny

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Like oh, what should we bring should we bring you everything we have and then in verse 8

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Even though Israel is focused on their external religious rights in verse 8 The answer is he has shown you a man.

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What is good? What does the Lord require of you but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with your

51:55

God? Their focus is on their external religious rights and their question shows this progression of from lesser to greater

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God be satisfied with burnt offerings offerings required in the law of Moses. Should they bring thousands of rams?

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Should they offer their firstborn? What would be enough to cover their sin? Verse 8 with God's answer rooted in the law of Moses.

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He has told you what is good In other words Israel should already have known the answer to their questions

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But I find it interesting of how it's worded Do justly love

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Mercy here. We have justice and mercy two things that are good and right in the sight of God If God tells us to only love one of them, does that make sense?

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God wants us to live with a sense of right and wrong and to do what is just Do justly would have been understood by Micah's audience as live with a sense of right and wrong according to God's Word in Particular the judicial courts had a responsibility to provide equity and protect the innocent

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Injustice was a problem just like it is in our day and age do justly but friends listen love mercy

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Do justly yes, but love mercy Love mercy means loyal love or loving kindness

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The Hebrew word has said along with justice Israel was to provide mercy Both justice and mercy are their foundations to God's character expecting his people to show love to their fellow man and to be loyal in their love toward him just as he had been loyal to them

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Paul in 1st Timothy 1 verses 12 and following says I thank him who has given me strength

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Christ Jesus our Lord because he judged me faithful Appointing me to his service though. Formally.

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I was a blasphemer a persecutor and an insolent opponent But I received what

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Mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom

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I am The foremost here it is again, but I received mercy For this reason that in me as the foremost

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Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example To those who are to believe in him for eternal life

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Do justly love mercy and when we do what is right and love the mercy of God We are more prone to humbly walk with God and others

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Do justly love mercy and walk humbly with your God you're never more like Jesus than when you are excited for people to receive mercy finally

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A point number three Point number three

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God gives mercy and grace to all who trust in him But the mercy of God is shown in the fact that we're not treated as our sins deserve

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He Psalm 103 verse 10 says he does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities

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For as high as the heavens are above the earth So great is his steadfast love towards him towards those who fear him as far as the

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East is from the West They never meet So far does he remove our transgressions from us?

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And the mercy of God will not receive what we deserve But it's the grace of God that we're welcomed and called and adopted and loved

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It's the grace of God that God just doesn't not that the father here doesn't just not stone him

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It's like I'll let you live that's mercy. I'm not gonna charge you like I have the right to do great That's mercy, but nothing beyond that And so the fact that we don't go to hell because of Jesus is the grace of God, but we don't just become warm food

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Good news. You're not going to help. That's great Right if we're not going to help because that's we deserve

55:53

But then we have grace on top of that because then we're also able to to defeat death even as Christ has defeated death

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The grace of God is the fact that we're welcomed and called and adopted and loved and cherished members of the family of God That's why in Luke 15

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When the son says to a father I've sinned again, but he repeated this right if you picture like we say before He goes,

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I know what I will say to my father. I'll just say hey, just call it. It is what it is

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I've sinned against heaven. I've sinned against you For sure not worthy to be called your son Could you at least treat me like a high priest?

56:28

He had this so it's heaven. It's you mention heaven first It's just I'm just gonna say how it is

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Not worthy to be called your son father. I said it gets evidence and then all of a sudden. Okay. Wow.

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My father's charging me Oh gosh, this is not gonna go. Okay. Oh, wow. Well, he's hugging me.

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He's kissing. Oh, wow. This. Oh gosh They have a smell. I must smell terrible Okay, I gotta say my line father

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I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm not worthy to be called your son But the father says to his servants just bring hey

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Just bring them bring the best road find the best road Put it on put a ring on his head put shoes on his feet.

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The servants wouldn't be wearing shoes They need to get shoes for him to wear People in service didn't wear shoes put shoes on his feet.

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Also bring the fat get the fattened calf the fattened calf that the

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Fattened now Then we're gonna use that now. Yeah, we're gonna use it now Bring the fattened calf and let us celebrate for this.

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My son was dead. It is alive He was lost and is found and they began to celebrate. I'm gonna try something

57:47

I mean to ask him if he thought this would go well, but I forgot so we're just gonna wait We're having a baptism we do baptism

57:57

Sundays at our church It's our tradition that we do it twice we do it twice a year. We do one of the spring and one of the fall

58:04

We have a baptism class for people who want to be baptized to make sure that they understand what baptism is that they meet with One of us and share their testimony.

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How did God how did God save you when I hear about? What the

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Lord has done in your life and I encourage them to think through it in three sections. I was but God So now does that make sense?

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Every one of us Can fill in those blanks? I was what was that before Christ, but God Did something in me and for me in first glory.

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And so now I worship it

58:52

I Was In every way shape and form a sinner There are a lot of things that I should be right now because of my background that just statistically you would say

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Oh child in this situation. So I was Hell -bound and hell -deserving

59:10

But God in his mercy and grace changed my heart and gave me a love for him so now

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I Seek to walk with him and do my best to repent to grow to change

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I was but God so now So here's what

59:29

I'd like to do. Hope this goes well Would you just fill in those blanks for us would you edify the body would somebody just just in one set just tell me

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What were you? What did God do? And what are you now?

59:50

I was but God So now what about you? What were you?

59:57

What has God done? And what are you now? Somebody finished somebody fill in this blank.

01:00:05

I was taught Was what's that?

01:00:11

You were a fool but God That's right.

01:00:17

So now man Someone else

01:00:25

I was Center but God Should grace so now

01:00:37

It's right. You're safe. Someone else I was

01:00:48

I Was blind but God So now

01:01:19

We all have

01:01:26

We all We all have Rags and smells we all were wallowing.

01:01:36

We all were gonna die, but God saw us Ran towards us we love him because he what first loved us

01:01:49

Embraces loved us kissed us and has given us a seat at his table instead of a seat in judgment

01:02:06

What grace amen what grace

01:02:12

Can we sing a song to close? I'm gonna

01:02:19

I'm gonna play it on the piano for us. We do that. It's a It's a hand. I don't know what another is

01:02:26

I Oh Oh We stand here before you as recipients of your grace

01:06:19

Recipients of your mercy and in need of it each and every day So Lord, would you grant us?

01:06:27

Gratitude, would you grant us shop? Would you grant us all? We look before how far we've come

01:06:34

Would you never mind us of where we sit because of your mercy and your love.

01:06:39

Thank you for running towards us Thank you for embracing us Thank you for not only not giving us the treatment that we deserve

01:06:47

But for that lavishing us with grace and counting us as in the beloved for your glory and our good