Well, good morning guys. My.
Name is Mike. I am one of.
The the pastors here. At Redemption Church North.
Ogden and. This morning we're going to take
a look at this. This the sermon.
That I've I've titled the Golden Rule.
And the narrow path and we're going to.
We're going to look. At Matthew 7 verses. 12.
Through 14, it says. So whatever you wish that others
would do to you, do also to them, for this is the.
Law and the profits enter by the narrow.
Gate for the gate is. Wide and the way.
Is easy that. Leads to destruction, and those
who entered by it are many, for the gate is narrow and the way
is hard. That leads to life.
And those who find. It are few well, so for the.
Last several months we've. Been we've been working through
the Sermon on the Mount. You know, we actually started
this, this portion of. Scripture that the Sermon on the
Mount is chapters 5-6 and seven in in Matthew we actually
started this part of Scripture back in.
July and today's passage. Begins what is clearly the
conclusion to. The sermon, so the passage
starts off with the Greek. Word UN which basically means.
Therefore or. Subsequently, and as many of you
know, when we. See the word?
Therefore it's. Serving.
Let us know that. What?
Follows will be. Some sort of a summation of the
previous text, and in this case this is the closing out.
Of the sermon summation. And Jesus.
Makes it clear. In one sentence, what we've
spent the last. 26 weeks working through and and learning SO.
Throughout the the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus discusses how to
live a life. That is dedicated to.
And and pleasing. To God free of hypocrisy, full
of love. And grace full of wisdom and and
discernment. He.
Talks a lot about the Christian life because as we read in.
Matthew 5, when we first started this sermon, the Sermon on the
Mount. Jesus, Jesus.
Had left the crowds and was teaching his.
Disciples specifically. So the message.
That followed was was to. Us and.
About our lives as. Believers, but then over the the
upcoming month. As we.
Completely finish this chapter. We'll see that crowds of people.
Have gathered to hear. What he is teaching his
disciples about the. Christian life.
So he summarizes his message in verse 12, and then he makes
clear to those listening that there.
Is a choice. To be made two paths, one that.
Leads to life and one that leads to destruction.
I don't think I have control of that.
Let me. See.
Sorry about that. Here we go.
Is that right? That's the one.
Sorry about that. So there is a a choice to be
made. Like I said, 2 paths.
One that's. That leads to life and one that.
Leads to destruction and. So the main idea as as we go
through this today is, is that that.
Jesus summarized this deep, complex sermon that he's given
into a simple point and then presents us with a critical
decision with eternal consequences.
So our first point here today is the.
Golden rule, now we've. All heard.
We've all heard of the golden. Rule throughout our lives in
some. Way or another, right?
And that's based off of the the first of our verses here today,
Matthew 7, verse 12 that says so whatever you wish that.
Others would do. To you do also.
To them, for this is the law and profits.
Now, like I said, many of us have heard of.
The Golden Rule. Or some variation of it
previously. In Confucianism they say do not.
They say do not do to others what you would not like
yourself. In Buddhism, they say hurt, not
others in ways that you yourself would find.
Hurtful. Ancient Greek philosopher Thalis
de Miletus said avoid doing what you would blame others for
doing, Voltaire said this is probably the most common way a
lot of us is put yourself in the other person's shoes.
And my mom said if you. Can't say something nice.
Don't say anything at. All.
She'd like that. I probably put her up there
with, you know, Confucius and, you know, great ancient Greek
philosophers or whatever. But but so so.
Most. Of these examples here and and a
lot that we would see. Out there, most of these are
what we would call a negative form, meaning that their
approach. Is don't do things that you
wouldn't. Want done back?
To you, but those guys, those. Are inaccurate summations each
of these positions other than maybe?
Voltaire's who here? Who's kind of coming from an
empathetical standpoint, but each of these positions is is
simply saying. What not to do so that it won't
be done to you sort of in a in like a?
Karma kind of a way, but I think married couples might, if you
guys might be able to understand this if you look.
At what? My mom's.
Advice up here is if your spouse.
I know this wouldn't happen, but if.
Your spouse wants to say something ugly, but they bite
their tongue and they keep. Silent.
That's that's good, right? But that's.
Not the same as them flowering you with.
Love. And adoration and compliments.
Right, all they're doing is avoiding the.
Sin, which as I said is good, but that's not how Jesus
demonstrated to. The way to live is it those
examples I gave only. Limit.
Bad behavior, but Jesus. Says something very different,
Jesus says. To do to other.
People what you want them to do. He's taking positive action.
He's he's talking about planting seeds that will blossom later
on. If we look back.
From the very beginning, God intended us to do good things,
not just. Avoid bad things if we look.
At Genesis chapter 2 verse starting in verse 15.
Says the Lord God. Took the man and put him in the
Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
See, there was already something positive to be done in this.
Verse it goes. On it says, And the Lord God
commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of
the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
you shall not eat from the day you eat.
Of it you shall. Surely die Adam.
Wasn't supposed to just set just sit back.
Controlling himself from eating that fruit of the tree of.
Good and evil he was supposed to be about.
Working to make things better around him, investing his labor
into the garden in doing what God told him to do.
Think about this Which. Is which is better a society?
That simply doesn't commit crime or a society that that
demonstrates. Respect for other people and
their property and gives to each.
Other sacrificially and goes out of.
Its way to to care for each other.
I think we'd all say that the second option where people
invest in relationships and and build each.
Other up is. The much better.
Of of the. 2 And so when we repent, when we.
Are followers of Jesus. Something changes inside of.
US. When we repent, that means.
That we that that we, we turn away from the sin, we turn away
from choosing to go our way, and we instead we go the way that.
That God tells us to do and and, and so when we are followers of
Jesus, something changes inside of us.
At first, we, we identify the sin, we recognize it when it
happens, right? That's that's sort of the the
first thing is we is we, we can identify and go, Oh, that was
sinful. What I?
Just did then later on as we
continue to change we. We try to bite our.
Tongue we. Divert our eyes, we.
Keep our hands to ourselves and and and avoid the sin, but as
we. Continue to be changed we don't
just avoid the sin, but we. Love on other.
People and we build. Them up and we.
Try to help. Them to do the same we we love
them the way that Jesus told us right we love them with patience
and kindness and and. Without being a a.
Keeper of wrongs with without irritability or resentment.
So why is Jesus telling his? Disciples this year this.
Isn't something new. If you've been through with us
through this whole. Sermon on the Bound back in
chapter 5. He told us that we are the.
Salt and light and that salt. That has lost its saltiness is.
Thrown out because. It's of no use and.
Then later, he said, whoever relaxes one of.
The least of these. Commandments and teaches.
Others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of
Heaven. And then in Chapter 6, he warned
us. Repeatedly not to be.
Hypocrites in our. Giving we learned about in our
serving. In our praying.
He's saying through this entire sermon.
That he expects his disciples to follow His.
Example and to respond to and to obey what they've been taught.
And then the verse that we're in today goes on and says, for this
is the law and prophets. Now in the in the Greek, this
says something closer to for this sums up the law and
prophets so loving on each other.
Isn't just the. Point of his sermon.
But a fulfillment of those things we've read.
In the law and. Prophets.
When you see the law and prophets, that's that's code for
the Old Testament. So it's not just the point of
his sermon, it's a fulfillment. Of the things that we've been
reading through all. Of the Old Testament, one of the
commentaries I was reading as I was studying for this, it said
in the deepest sense, therefore, the golden rule is the law and
prophets in the same way as the Kingdom is the fulfilment of all
that the law and prophets foretold.
And then? Charles Spurgeon about that.
Charles Spurgeon said. Oh.
That all men acted on it, and there would be no slavery, no
war, no swearing, no striking, no lying, no robbing.
But all would be. Justice and love.
What a. Kingdom is this which has such a
law. So all of the law and prophets
are saying this Jesus. Embodied this in the Kingdom of
heaven will. Substantiate this.
When we break it down this way. It makes the law.
Easier to understand, but it doesn't make it any easier to
obey. Many of us.
Probably set some kind of a goal.
At New Year's, right to to be a better.
Version of ourselves in some way.
Well, guys, it is January 18th. Now, anyone still living 2026
perfectly without sin? No, no, anybody perfectly
demonstrating. Love to to others.
Still on the 18th. Of the 18th day.
Of the year no see, no one has ever consistently done unto
others. As they would like others to do
unto them nobody but Jesus. See, this is not easy to obey,
and yet those. Are our marching orders in?
Matthew 22 verses. 36 through 40, says Teacher, which is the
great commandment in the law. And he said to him, You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and 1st
commandment, and a second is like it, you shall love your
neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend
all the. Law and the prophets now maybe?
When you see this. This passage here maybe you
think. That our primary passage.
Today misses the first commandment of love the Lord
your God with all your heart. But.
It it definitely does not when you consider the example.
That we see of God throughout. Scripture.
See, God Himself practices this. He wants.
Us to serve him, so he serves. He wants us to give generously.
So he gives generously to us he wants.
US. To keep our promises, so he
keeps his. Promises.
So I think this summation we've been looking at.
Is proven when we look at first. John 419 through 21, it starts
off and it says. We love because he first loved
us. That's the.
Example and all the reasoning that we need.
Jesus did it first. And and who?
We are guys as. Christians as as believers, who
we are. Is followers of him.
Today we're going to. Celebrate together as someone is
baptized here to to tell you that he intends to be identified
as a follower of Jesus See guys, our goal is to.
Honor him by. Emulating him that verse, it
goes on, it says if anyone says I love God and hates his
brother, he's a liar for he who does not love his brother, whom
he has seen cannot love God. Whom he has not.
Seen and this commandment we have from him, whoever loves
God. Must also.
Love his brother. Now hear me on this guys.
We are all. Aware of our own.
Shortcomings, right? Deep down, we know.
The. Places where we fall short,
where we are imperfect, where we're hypocrites, but we we
love. Ourselves in spite of knowing.
That we are imperfect and we. Truly.
Want what's best for ourselves, right?
We seek out. Safety we seek out.
Health in our relationships, we seek out comfort because we
want. What's what's best for?
Us I, I I want, I want to. Be blessed this year.
I want to be cared. For.
I want to be. Loved but all I.
Can control is my output, how much I?
Care for people? How much?
I love on people. And it isn't.
It isn't just. Merely being kind.
To people but truly loving each other.
Romans 13. Verses 8 through 10.
Says owe no one anything except to love each other for the one
who. Loves another has.
Fulfilled the law for the commandments.
You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder.
You shall not steal. You shall not.
Covet and any. Other commandment are summed up
in this word. You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. Love does no wrong to a
neighbor. Therefore, love is the.
Fulfilling of the law. Now that can be hard, right?
I've seen some examples on the across the nation in recent.
Weeks that that demonstrates. Pure animosity and.
Hatred and ugliness. Some people are so mean and
nasty that it seems almost impossible to consider loving.
Them So let's start here. Let's let's start here.
Galatians 610 says. So then, as we have opportunity,
let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of
household of faith. Here's the thing.
If you can't. Be a shining example.
Of love. In the way that you interact
here. With those who who.
Serve you and and love on you every week.
Are you really? Going to be a.
City on the Hill. Out out those.
Doors Are you really going to be somebody that the world would
care to look to and listen to anyone who.
Says they love God but doesn't love his brother is a liar.
I've got some work to do there. We've probably all got some work
to do there, and it needs to start here.
It needs to. Start amongst this group.
It needs to start in my home. So as I said.
Our first verse today. Summed up the entirety of the
Sermon on the Mount. But Jesus doesn't end there.
Instead, his message now changes into a series of warnings for
the remainder of. The chapter for three chapters.
Jesus has preached to us about Kingdom living, right?
That's what we titled. This he's been teaching.
Us about Kingdom living. He's has has clarified many
things that mankind has been getting very wrong, and then
after summing it all up in one verse, he begins to lay out a
series of comparisons that. We need to pay.
Close attention to in fact, it's not just it's not just for
comparisons, but he gives us and the entirety of his audience,
which is disciples, non believers and Pharisees.
He, he gives us. 4 clear warnings and in each warning
there's a. Choice to be made.
We're going to see today 2 gates and roads, and then next week
two kinds of prophets, and after that two kinds of disciples and
two foundations. He's laying it out.
There to separate the. Grain from the chaff.
He's he's laying out there to separate the sheep from the
goats. Those who believe in him as
their true savior and those who don't and are lost.
Now I will admit guys, there is. Some weight to those words.
I don't use them flippantly, but because Jesus uses them.
He's letting people. Know they are.
They are either with. Him or they are against him, and
that choice was not only for the.
Crowds that day but for us as well so my second point here
today as we. Continue on in the.
Passage is the wide gate and easy path, and we get that.
From 13 and 14 says enter. Excuse me, says enter by the
narrow gate. For the gate is.
Wide and the way is. Easy.
That leads to. Destruction and those who enter
by it are many in these two verses 13 and 14.
We see 2 gates. We see 2 paths.
Even 2 crowds and two destinations.
Here there is clearly. A contrast that is.
Being focused on here. Now I'm going to get back to the
narrow gate in a few minutes. So we'll, we'll focus. 1st on
the wide gate and the easy path The wide, wide and easy paint an
inviting picture right has plenty of.
Elbow room it accommodates. The the entire crowd and it
allows you to bring along your baggage.
Just as we saw that there are many different religions and
parts of society that are taking things like the Golden Rule and
try to rewrite that, many of those same groups have tried to
rewrite the path to heaven too. In fact, every single one of
them. Has the has.
Has done that. If they hadn't then they would
be biblical Christian followers of Jesus.
Simple fact is outside of biblical Christianity, every
other religion is based in some part on a works dependent
salvation. That is 1 where your deeds play
some role in your salvation. Some examples would be.
Believing that God extends US grace, but only after everything
that we can do on earth. Or.
By robotically reciting certain prayers a certain number of
times, or by, you know, tipping the scale numerically with.
More good. Works than than bad.
In all of these ways, there is some measure of grace being
taught, but that grace. Of God falls short of.
Salvation without the extra boost from someone's good deeds.
That mentality denies the power of God, and it denies his
character by insinuating that he is either.
Untrustworthy or he's a liar and yet as.
Clear as Scripture is that Jesus is the way to eternal life.
As we'll see here. In a in a couple of minutes,
mankind has sought to. To elevate the value of.
His deeds since the very beginning, back in Genesis.
Four with Cain and Abel. They were the first.
Two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain was bothered that his sacrifice
that. That he brought to the Lord.
Wasn't received because. He valued his.
Works more than God did in genesis 11 the people believed
they. Could build a physical.
Tower to heaven. That their effort.
Would get them there. There are myriad examples
throughout. Scripture of people.
Choosing the wide gate. Of of works.
And of course, it stands to reason that people would buy
into that when the. Scribes and Pharisees were
teaching it to them daily. The wide gate was the.
Appearance of. Righteousness, but not actual
righteousness in Matthew 5, again at the beginning of the.
Sermon on the Mount. We saw that the Pharisees were
saying not to murder, and their conclusion was that if you
didn't physically murder anyone, then you've succeeded in in
keeping that law. Or that you avoided the if you
avoided the the. Physical act of sexual
immorality, then you've. Lived a righteous life in that
category but but Jesus. Kicked down that.
Idea by by saying. You've committed.
Murder when you've hated in your heart.
You had you've you've committed adultery when you lusted after
someone in your. Thoughts by the way.
Make sure and come back next week and hear.
As Eric gets into. You know the.
Idea of false. Teachers and stuff.
It's going to be a fascinating 1 to.
Look at but this wide gate is is so appealing because it it
allows a person to set their own rules to to follow their heart
right or do whatever makes you happy or like the the Billboard.
And commercials say whatever happens.
In Vegas stays in Vegas. That is an easy concept to sell
to people because. That's what we are.
Begging. To hear.
It's an echo Chamber of sin. No accountability.
Because morality is subjective. Truth is.
Whatever you decide, it is or. Whatever I.
Decide it is if it's. Different than yours.
And all of us do this, guys. All of us do this too at.
Times we even do this with scripture, we find a verse that
when we take it out of context. Allows us to justify.
The things that we already know are wrong deep in our hearts.
Things that go against the heart of God.
And that's the problem. This broad gate, this.
Wide. Easy path leads us to.
Destruction because it leads us away from Jesus.
As our Savior, you. Cannot save yourself.
You cannot redefine. Who Jesus is, what He said, or
your obligation to follow Him if you try to.
Do any of those things, you are on a path to destruction, along
with many, many other. People and when Luke tells us.
About. This in in Luke. 13 Jesus.
Describes the path. Of destruction.
Leading to a place. Leading.
To hell that is full of. Weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It's a perpetual. Existence of.
Eternal growing torment a place where in.
In Mark Chapter 9. It's referred to as unquenchable
fire, the wide path. Of destruction is always getting
wider because people continue to come up with ideas that ignore.
What are all knowing and all powerful?
God told us the the weeping. Gnashing of teeth.
In a place of unquenchable fire has my attention.
I hope it has your attention as well.
Wide path is. Paved with stones of.
People's selfish, sinful delights, right?
I was having a conversation with a friend recently.
We were talking about. Repentance and the need to cut
sin out of our lives. And he said something pretty
profound that. Most of us are.
Probably not comfortable even admitting he said sin.
Feels really good in the moment. And he was right, it does.
But it lies to us about how long that good feeling will last
though. Because as he.
As he. Explained it brings up.
It it. Brings with it feelings of shame
and and guilt but. But but, but the allure.
Of it is an empty promise. Of fun.
This is probably going to sound like I'm making a joke here and
I don't. I don't mean it that way wide.
Path of Destruction is a hell of a good time, but we don't have
to stay on that path. There is one opportunity.
To avoid it. So listen up.
Let's let's. Look at the narrow.
Gate and the difficult path. Matthew back to again.
Matthew 713 through 14. It says enter by the narrow gate
and then down in 14. It says for the gate is narrow
and the way is. Hard that leads.
To life and those who. Find it are few.
Let me point something out here that I think that you need to.
See the choice of. Words used here is
significantly. Many enter the wide path of
destruction, and few find the narrow.
Difficult path of life. Now as I read this.
It seems. As though the numerically larger
group of people will be on the side.
Of choosing destruction in other words, guys most people
throughout all of history will choose death most of our.
Friends and our families and our neighbors.
Will choose death people Jesus was teaching.
Seemed to have noticed this too, because in Luke 13 one of them
asks will the number of those. Saved be few Jesus.
Says strive to enter through the narrow.
Door now that. Word strive in the Greek is the
word agonize, meaning agony, torture, anguish, right and and
and understand something. This path isn't easy.
Christianity isn't easy. Jesus never promised us an easy
life, but an eternal life. One thing that I think is often
misunderstood is the idea that giving your life over to Jesus,
relying on Jesus, having full faith in him, something that
that often comes when when people are already hurting and
in desperation following Jesus is actually a promise of a more.
Difficult path, DA Carson said. Well, that's, that's all.
He said. Jesus is not encouraging
committed disciples, Christians, to press along the narrow way
and just be rewarded in the end. He's rather commanding his
disciples to enter the way marked by persecution and then
rewarded. In the end, we can't skip over
the the the the journey. And just.
Look at the end of the story. Jesus told us to be about the
work that he set for. Us in in loving other, dirty,
messy. People.
People who who may hate you. Jesus said remember.
When the when the world hates you, that it hated me first, he
said. We can't honestly expect to be
treated better than Jesus, can we?
And yet. When they ask.
Are there? Only a few available.
Seats, Jesus says make sure you do everything you can to get.
One of those seats. He's letting us know that
exactly how many people get to heaven isn't our concern.
Our concern needs to be ensuring that we know how to heaven.
We already saw that the path of. Destruction.
Leads to eternal agony. But the the narrow.
Path is one that. That that we must agonize for
now so that our eternity is one of life with Jesus in paradise.
But we have to know that the word.
Strive in that passage is not suggesting that we work for
salvation or that our our works and indeed somehow.
Help with our salvation. Not at all.
We already, we already saw that. Trusting in good deeds.
To save us is the wide. Path of destruction.
So what? Is the narrow gate then?
And how? Do we go through it well the the
whole of this verse discusses a. A narrow gate and a narrow path.
So if you consider. That imagery.
That the gate. Serves as the threshold to what
comes after, right? They're not the same, though
they are. Closely related, a gate or a
door has. Two functions.
If it's open, it serves as a point of limit entry in an
otherwise impassable barrier. And if it's closed?
It serves as part of the wall or the barricader of.
Partition right. To get from outside the
structure to inside or vice versa, you must pass through the
gate. But even the gate.
Keeps people from. From going through freely.
So. Our good deeds and.
Works. Aren't the door through the
barrier? So what is?
John 10, verses 7 through 9. Says Jesus.
So Jesus again said to them, Truly, truly.
I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not listen to them. I am the door.
If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go.
In and out and find Pastor now. As you read that, maybe you sit
and you go, well, that's, that's got to be figurative, right?
Maybe Jesus is just. Simply claiming to have the
insight. As to how we get through the
gate or the door, well, John 14-6, which happens to be the
the verse that our youth group that we have here is built
around John 14. Six, says Jesus said to him, I
am. The Way and the truth and the
Life. No one comes to the Father
except. Through me, Jesus isn't just
claiming to know the way to the Father, but makes it clear that.
He is the way to the Father, the only way.
To the Father. The human condition is that we
bump into the. Walls in a million different
ways and places to try to find our own way to heaven.
People have been doing this since the beginning.
I had a conversation just earlier this morning with
somebody and, and, and he pointed out something that.
We have all heard, which is an opinion so many people have that
that that we're. All on the path.
To Jesus, right or or each of us has.
His or own path. To follow, but we all end.
Up in the same in the same place.
I thought of as I was. As I was thinking this, I
thought about. A Roomba vacuum cleaner, right?
How it how it it bumps into the furniture and it.
Bumps into the to the walls as it's trying to figure.
Out map its way through through the obstacles and we're the same
way. We just keep bumping into the
wall, trying to do the the wrong thing, bumping into it, bumping
into it, keep doing it our way. But there's only one way.
To get through and past that obstacle.
That obstacle? That is impassable and and non
negotiable. We have to remember.
What scripture? Tells us clearly.
You are dead. In your sins and trespasses you
are lost without a savior, and you have no way of changing that
on your own. The only exception to that is to
go through the narrow gate by believing.
That Jesus Christ paid. 100%. Of the.
Cost of your sins. In his death on the cross.
And and believing that he is God in the.
Flesh who died for. Sinners and then defeated death
by rising again. Now some will continue to have a
hard time dealing with this truth.
They'll insist on believing that they have some extra special.
Level of spiritual. Insight and they'll never be
secure in their. Future these who are.
Many. We'll follow the broad Rd. that
leads to Eternal. Destruction while for others.
We can have joyful hope. John, 10/27/28.
Says My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me,
and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Jesus makes it clear that he is the door to salvation.
You simply. Can't get there in any other way
and that path is not easy for non believers here.
Today I, I, I hope you'll go through that gate today need if
you have questions about that, you want to talk more about
that, please come and find me after the service, talk to one
of the other. Pastors, find somebody.
To help you. Understand what that means.
What that looks like. For believers in Jesus Christ, I
hope you'll remember that the path is.
Supposed to be difficult travel it anyway.
Love on your neighbor. Starting with those.
In the household. Of God starting with your With
your. Church family strive.
Anguish over over learning. What the narrow gate is and stay
on the narrow. Difficult path.
Pour over God's word all the time.
Devour this and let it fill your soul so that that people will
see. The the fruit.
Of that change take refuge as as David did in in that Psalm.
That we read. Earlier that the Lord is the
Good Shepherd. Who leads us on paths of
righteousness? And restores our soul.
You guys pray with me Lord, God, I thank you that you lay things
out clearly for us. This way, Lord, we can see that
we do have a choice here and and although that comes with
difficulty, Lord, we. We read that and and and we know
that that is true. That can still.
Overwhelming to us, Lord, and. And so if anybody's here in this
room today listening and, and, and maybe they.
They worry about that. They have fear over what that
difficult life might look like. Maybe they.
Maybe they've already. Lived a difficult life.
And they're, they're curious. Or they're or they're worried
about what that would look like. Lord help us to be able to.
Come alongside them to answer their questions, to be able to
to share with them our own experiences.
Lord, because I know. That as a as a follower.
Of you, Lord, my life has not always been easy in that realm,
and yet the blessings that come. To us that.
Have come to me have been immense, and they have changed
and they have been for my good and for your glory and so.
Lord as we. As we take this lesson and we.
And we think about this golden. Rule and about investing in
other people, in loving on other.
People starting with our. Homes starting with our church
family. Lord, I ask that you would help
that. Fruit to be seen.
By by the the. The rest of our communities, the
rest of people in our lives. And that we would be able to.
Share with them, Lord. This discussion.
About the the wide and easy gate and the narrow and.
Difficult gate and that we can. Help.
Somebody to to. Understand that they also.
Have a choice to be made. Lord and and help.
Give us. The words that we need to be
able to share that succinctly and and properly.
The Lord, we trust you. We trust that it isn't the way
that we say it or the way that we deliver that that matters.
It's our faithfulness in that. And so we trust, Lord, that.
You will do a mighty work in this.
In this community. Through our family and friends
as we go, and we do. This as we follow through.
On being obedient. To what you've told us to do,
and we look. Forward to seeing that fruit.
And we thank you. Jesus name Amen.