1 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:11,040 Thank you so much for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 2 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:14,680 Riverbend Church exists to bring people to Jesus, grow 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:18,400 generations in Jesus, and send disciples for Jesus. 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,440 We hope that you enjoy this message. 5 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:28,280 Well, good morning Riverbend. My name is Nathan Evans and I'm 6 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,040 the next Gen. pastor here Riverbend. 7 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,440 And if you're a guest with us today, I want to say thank you 8 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,640 for being here. I'm excited that you're here. 9 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:38,360 I'm excited that we get to worship together. 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,160 And I would also say that you're in good company because my 11 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:43,800 family and I, we are also new to Riverbend. 12 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,920 So we've only been here for about 6 months and I've got a 13 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:48,400 picture to show you of my family. 14 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:52,000 We maybe you've seen us in the halls, maybe you haven't had a 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,680 chance to meet us. But it's my wife Stephanie. her 16 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,000 and I have been married for 19 years and our three kids, we 17 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:04,000 have Clay who's 13 and Peyton who's 11 and Caroline who is 6 18 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,000 years old. So it's been a lot of answered 19 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,120 prayers getting us to Riverbend and it's just been a blessing 20 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:13,680 just to see how God has been working and moving in this 21 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,080 church and in our lives. And we're just excited to be a 22 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:21,480 part of the Riverbend family. So today I get the opportunity. 23 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,160 Pastor Ben has trusted me, whether wise or not, to kick off 24 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,480 the series for Christmas called Presents. 25 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,320 And so this series is going to be focusing on the heart of God, 26 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:35,800 really focusing in on how the heart of God is revealed for his 27 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,600 people throughout the Christmas season. 28 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,360 And so if you received notes this morning in your packet, we 29 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:46,280 have our big idea. So the big idea for this, for 30 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,800 this series that's going to be going with us for the next few 31 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:53,440 weeks is that Christmas isn't just the story of Jesus's birth. 32 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,560 It's the story of God's heart. And how true that is. 33 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:02,280 The Christmas isn't just about Jesus's birth. 34 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,360 It's the story of God's heart. This week we're going to look at 35 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,680 some of Jesus's family and we're going to really see how the 36 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,960 presence of God really shaped the next generation. 37 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,160 And as you know, I don't have to tell you anything that you don't 38 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,520 know, but family is very a unique thing. 39 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,560 It's times very chaotic and very complicated. 40 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,040 And when we get to the Thanksgiving and Christmas, that 41 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,920 holiday season, it just seems to kind of add to the complexity of 42 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:35,880 that dynamic. And I think some of you probably 43 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,600 can relate that when you think of family, you just like, Oh my 44 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:44,120 goodness, like family. Like if you just knew family and 45 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,440 you're thinking of the chaos and you're thinking of the craziness 46 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,320 that goes on in your family, you know, thinking about maybe the 47 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:53,440 last time the police were called during Thanksgiving. 48 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,560 I don't know. It's just it's one of those hard 49 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,400 things to think of, of like, why was God? 50 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,840 Why did he put me in this family? 51 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,000 And you just kind of have to chalk it up to God's sense of 52 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,760 humor at times. And then there's others of you, 53 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:10,400 you're like, Nah, I don't, I don't get that. 54 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:12,880 Because my family, we are best friends. 55 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:16,720 We do everything together. We have we, we have 56 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,760 Thanksgiving, we have Christmas, we have every other holiday, we 57 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,840 spend time together and it's just perfect. 58 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,800 And everybody else thinks it's perfect too, because of all your 59 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:29,920 pictures that you put put on social media. 60 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,160 And it I would say it's not necessarily that it's all 61 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,480 perfect so that you're just really good at covering things 62 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,120 up. Because the truth is, is that 63 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,280 all families have their issues. All families have their dark 64 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,160 side. And sometimes others are better 65 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:52,280 at covering up than some. But family is just complicated. 66 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,360 And today, as we look back at Jesus's family, we're going to 67 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:58,720 see that Jesus's family was no different than ours. 68 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:03,000 There were issues that they faced, their problems and sins 69 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,800 that marked their past and how God was able to work through 70 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:09,720 them. And Matthew really shows us in 71 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:13,640 Matthew chapter 1, he really shows us that God is able to 72 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,959 work despite the sins of our past. 73 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:22,880 You know, Matthew, he was, he was writing to a Jewish audience 74 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:28,520 and as he wrote, he was breaking barriers, cultural barriers and 75 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:33,560 gender barriers and, and racial barriers all by just listing 76 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,520 people as a part of Jesus's family. 77 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,720 And like I just said, Matthew was used by God to show us that 78 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:48,280 despite the issues that our family face, our families today, 79 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:52,880 that God can still use us despite our sins of our past. 80 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:57,680 So if you will just turn with me to Matthew chapter #1 and if you 81 00:04:57,680 --> 00:04:59,520 don't have your Bible with you today, that's OK. 82 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:01,800 We have the scripture that'll be on the screen behind us. 83 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:04,840 And I want to just kind of set the stage as you're, you're 84 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:08,840 turning in your Bible. So in, in ancient Israel, when 85 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:12,400 Matthew was writing this, he, he understood the cultural norms 86 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,000 and he understood that your pedigree mattered. 87 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:17,200 So what family you're a part of it. 88 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,280 It really mattered. So if you had nobility or 89 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:23,680 royalty in your family, then your status in the community was 90 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,000 and everybody revered you and they had respect for you 91 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,960 automatically because of what family you came from. 92 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:35,280 If your family was shepherds and handmaids, then you just didn't 93 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:38,000 have really much respect in the community. 94 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:40,880 Nobody really trusted you very much. 95 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,440 But Matthew was was showing us and he was speaking to us and 96 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,680 showing us that it doesn't matter what family we come from. 97 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:53,960 He understood those cultural norms. 98 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:58,320 But he still listed the good and the bad and the ugly characters 99 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:02,680 of Jesus's family. And now I know you're probably 100 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:04,720 already looking at Matthew chapter 1 and you're thinking, 101 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,440 ma'am, like this is not really one of my top 10 passages. 102 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,240 If you, if you look at it, there's a lot of really weird 103 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:12,160 names. And we're going to read the 104 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:14,400 whole thing. We are we're going to commit to 105 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,160 it. We're going to get through every 106 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,720 name that's listed in the 1st 17 verses. 107 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,240 But what we have to remember, this is just amazing to think 108 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,400 of, is that God had been silent for 400 years, and this is what 109 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:28,920 He chose to break His silence over. 110 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,960 This is what He used to break into this world and to really 111 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,600 speak to His people once again. So if you will look with me at 112 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:42,160 Matthew chapter #1 as I read and we'll start in verse #1 it says 113 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,400 the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, 114 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,840 the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, 115 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:51,440 and Isaac the father of Jacob. And Jacob the father of Judah 116 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,120 and his brothers. And Judah the father of Perez 117 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,720 and Zerah by Tamar. And Perez, the father of Hezron. 118 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,560 And Hezron the father of Ram. And Ram the father of Aminadab. 119 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:02,440 And Aminadab the father of Nishan. 120 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,720 And Nishan the father of Salman. And Salman the father of Boaz by 121 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,160 Rahab. And Boaz the father of Obed by 122 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:09,960 Ruth And Obed the father of Jesse. 123 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:11,840 And Jesse the father of David the king. 124 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,160 And David was the father of Solomon, by the wife of Uriah, 125 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:17,680 And Solomon the father of Rehoboam, And Rehoboam the 126 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,640 father of Abijah, And Abijah the father of Asaph. 127 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:22,240 And Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat. 128 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:23,920 And Jehoshaphat the father of Joram. 129 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,040 And Joram the father of Uzziah. And Isaiah the father of Jotham, 130 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,480 And Jotham the father of Ahaz. And Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 131 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:32,720 And Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, And Manasseh the 132 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,680 father of Amos, And Amos the father of Josiah. 133 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,560 And Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the 134 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:40,440 time of the deportation to Babylon. 135 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,640 And after the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah was the father 136 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,360 of Sheltiel, and Sheltiel the father of Zerubbabel, and 137 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,240 Zerubabel the father of Abayud. And Abayud the father of 138 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,400 Eliakim, And Eliakim the father of Azor, And Azor the father of 139 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:54,160 Zedek. And Zedek the father of Achim. 140 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:56,320 And Achim the father of Achim. And Azor, the father of Zezar, 141 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,560 the father of Zadic and Zedek, the father of Achim and Achim, 142 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,720 and, and the father of Jacob. And Jacob, the father of Joseph, 143 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,480 the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called 144 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:07,680 Christ. So all the generations from 145 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,120 Abraham to David were 14 generations and from David to 146 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:14,320 the deportation to 14 generations and from the 147 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:18,880 deportation to to Babylon to the Christ, 14 generations. 148 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,480 That is a lot. So I hope you got all that 149 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:26,360 because we're having a quiz before you leave today. 150 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:28,840 I'm just joking. I'm just joking. 151 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,360 At first glance, when you go through all of these names, it's 152 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,159 pretty easy to pick up on a, on a few of the names that you know 153 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:38,320 of that are that are royalty, that are noble in that day. 154 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,919 But the theme that you see that repeats itself all throughout 155 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:48,960 this lineage right here is this. The cost of repentance is 156 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:54,120 cheaper than resistance. The cost of repentance is 157 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:59,200 cheaper than resistance. I want us to kind of let that 158 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,960 sink into us as we go through just a few of these, these 159 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,960 people in Jesus family. So many we look at, we know 160 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,800 their sins right off because we remember them through stories 161 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,680 that we've been told in Scripture that we've read of how 162 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,360 they sinned and they messed up really bad. 163 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:20,080 But so many were willing to repent and confess those sins 164 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,520 before God and he forgave them and was able to use them despite 165 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,880 their sin. But there's others in this list 166 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:33,240 that continually resisted the presence of God and their lives 167 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:37,400 continually pushed back on God. And we'll talk about some of the 168 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:39,000 destruction that came along with that. 169 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,760 Now, this list is a, it's a miracle in and of itself that we 170 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,960 have this list and this lineage of Jesus, because in Jesus's 171 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,840 days there there had been several conflicts and different 172 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,920 wars that had happened where many of these scrolls that that 173 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,640 contained all of this information have been destroyed. 174 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,520 So for Matthew to be able to pull it together and be able to 175 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:03,400 have it is just a miracle in and of itself. 176 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,360 But Matthew also knew who would be reading this passage. 177 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:09,760 He knew who would be reading this lineage. 178 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:14,000 He knew the religious leaders of the day would be looking at 179 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,960 this. They would be vetting this list, 180 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,400 they would be investigating to make sure that Jesus is who he 181 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:22,080 says he is. It's, it's kind of, almost like 182 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,360 Matthew was kind of provoking these religious leaders saying, 183 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:29,640 hey, prove me wrong and causing them to have to go back through 184 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:33,680 scripture and to really prove and see who Jesus is. 185 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,400 What Matthew was trying to do, he was trying to pull them into 186 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:41,800 the light and show them really who Jesus was. 187 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:45,800 You know, those religious leaders, they still exist today. 188 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:49,680 We see them in churches all over and, and you, you know who they 189 00:10:49,680 --> 00:10:51,160 are. They're those that, that they, 190 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,080 they grew up in church. You know, we don't call them 191 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:57,600 Pharisees and Sadducees anymore. That's that's something that the 192 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,280 ancient Jews use those terms. But we see them today. 193 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,080 It's that person that they wear their religion on their sleeve. 194 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:06,520 It's kind of like a, a badge of honour. 195 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,800 You know, their, their parents and their, their grandparents, 196 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,320 They, they served as leaders of the church and they've kind of 197 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:17,280 lean on that and they're trusting in the works of their 198 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:18,800 parents and of their grandparents. 199 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:20,960 They're trusting in their own works. 200 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,800 And they're living at a very high moral standard. 201 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:31,000 But there's a problem. The problem is, is that morality 202 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:36,360 and work is not the qualifier to get to heaven. 203 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:41,400 It's not the qualifier to get access to our loving God. 204 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,560 It's not the qualifier to be able to come into the presence. 205 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:51,280 Repentance and believing is, as I said, these self-righteous 206 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,480 people that we experience. Maybe we have. 207 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,080 We can identify that in our own lives. 208 00:11:56,080 --> 00:12:01,320 At times they're neglecting the fact that they need a personal 209 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:07,440 relationship with Christ. Matthew was trying to show these 210 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,800 religious leaders and kind of bring them into the light out of 211 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,760 the darkness so they could clearly see who Jesus was. 212 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:19,000 So I want you to write this down the the grace of God shines 213 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:24,040 brightest in the darkest places. The grace of God shines 214 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:29,800 brightest in the darkest places. There's several dark and very 215 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,920 sinful moments that were brought to light through Jesus's family 216 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:38,880 tree, so I wanted to show us just a few of those this 217 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,040 morning. We'll start and begin with 218 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,480 Abraham. Abraham was the founder and he 219 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:49,520 was the first Jew. God chose him out of the region 220 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,720 of Mesopotamia, and he said, Abraham, if you'll just follow 221 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:54,960 me everywhere you walk, everywhere that your foot 222 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:57,040 touches, I'll give you that land. 223 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:02,280 And if you follow me faithfully, then every one of your seed will 224 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:04,240 bless. Every one of the nations will be 225 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:08,280 blessed by your seed. And Abraham had great faith and 226 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:13,560 he followed God. But Even so, he still was human, 227 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:16,320 just as you and I. He still had a sin nature, just 228 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,560 as you and I, and he had an issue sinning. 229 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:23,240 And he liked to lie. At least we see it several times 230 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:25,440 in Scripture when he was in front of the high priest 231 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:29,680 Mechezdek, and when he was in front of Pharaoh, he lied. 232 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,840 He said that Sarah was his sister, not his wife. 233 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,320 And for some you may think, well, that's what's the big 234 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:39,320 deal. Well, Abraham was trusting or 235 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:42,480 was fearful of what would happen to him if they found out that 236 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:46,440 Sarah was his wife. He was afraid that the high 237 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,680 priest or that Pharaoh would have him killed because they had 238 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:54,560 the power to do so, so that they could take Sarah as their wife. 239 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,920 So instead of trusting God in those moments, he chose to lie. 240 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:03,240 If we go down just a few generations, we have Tamar. 241 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:09,120 Tamar's not even a Jew, she's a Canaanite. 242 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,720 How? How strange is that, that just a 243 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,880 few generations in and we're already at somebody who's not, 244 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,640 who doesn't fit the mold, somebody who's different. 245 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,360 She's a Canaanite. Not only that, she has a very 246 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:25,760 dark past. See, Tamar committed incest with 247 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:29,280 her father-in-law, Judah. Now you've heard the name Judah 248 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,400 before. If you know of the children of 249 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,160 Israel and the tribes of Israel, you may have heard of Judah as 250 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:37,400 one of those tribes. And this is that Judah they're 251 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,680 named after. Tamar veiled herself and she 252 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:44,320 went in committed incest, and through that still comes the 253 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:48,360 lineage of Christ. There's still grace in those 254 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,760 moments. It was culturally inappropriate 255 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:56,120 for Matthew to have included her in this lineage, but he did 256 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,760 anyways. In fact, he didn't just include 257 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:03,760 her, he include five women total in Jesus lineage to break these 258 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,200 cultural norms. The next person we look at is 259 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,200 another woman, another Canaanite. 260 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,280 This time it's the prostitute Rahab. 261 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,000 She was a Jerichoite. She she hid the spies, the 262 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:20,080 Israeli spies that were going to, to gather Intel on Jericho 263 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,360 to be able to come back and to be able to, to conquer the city. 264 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:26,840 And so she hid them in her home when the soldiers were coming by 265 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,240 looking for them. And because of that, God's grace 266 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,840 just was poured over her and over her family. 267 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:38,960 And she was saved in the moment when Jericho fell. 268 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:44,200 Another few generations down. We have Ruth, another woman, a 269 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:48,320 Moabitus from the country of Moab, an accursed nation, as 270 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,800 Scripture says. This was Scripture says that 271 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,200 that Moab was born out of incest and it was accursed. 272 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:58,520 That means that the Jews were to have no dealings with these 273 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,160 people. But yet here we are, and we have 274 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:04,880 Ruth as a part of this lineage of Jesus. 275 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:11,600 Then we get to the highlight and the pinnacle of Jewish history 276 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:16,600 and we have David, King David. You know him well from stories. 277 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:21,600 You know about his his God using him to defeat Goliath. 278 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,720 You hear about his the Psalms that he's written. 279 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,440 He's called the apple of God's eye. 280 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,800 Such an amazing person in scriptures, one that's so highly 281 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:40,320 revered, but yet his life is marked with adultery and with 282 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:48,840 murder to cover it up. Then there's and then there's 283 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:53,240 Bathsheba. She's unnamed in this, but is 284 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,560 she really unnamed? I believe Matthew gives us a 285 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:00,840 very kind of a unique way of listing Bathsheba in this 286 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:03,680 lineage. He calls her the wife of Uriah. 287 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:08,440 I think he did that on purpose so that he could continually 288 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,280 bring us and the Jews back to remembrance of the atrocities of 289 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:19,240 David, but also to show us the grace that God supplied even in 290 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:23,200 those dark moments. And we learn of the birth of 291 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,880 Solomon. Solomon was likely, or Solomon 292 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:33,240 was the wisest man before Jesus. He was one of the greatest kings 293 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:40,520 of Israel, but Even so, at his death his heart had been turned 294 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,640 away from God because of his love for women. 295 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,080 And things just continue to get to get darker for Israel at that 296 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,000 moment. We go down several generations 297 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,320 and we get to Manasseh. Now this is not the Manasseh 298 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,760 that we talked about a few few weeks ago in our Joseph Serie, 299 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,280 but this Manasseh was, was wicked. 300 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,480 His God was not the king of kings and the Lord of Lords. 301 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,440 No, his God was sorcery and was witchcraft. 302 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,720 He's accused of filling Jerusalem with innocent blood. 303 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:16,320 He's the man that had the prophet Isaiah's son and two, so 304 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:19,480 God had a response for him and he sent it through the prophet 305 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,680 Jeremiah and he said because of your sin, the Kingdom will be 306 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:29,480 destroyed. Then we have Josiah, another 307 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:34,240 sign of God's grace. Josiah became king at 8 years 308 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:38,200 old, not because of his qualifications, not because of 309 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:42,560 his family stature. No, they were wicked kings. 310 00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:46,360 He became, he became king because his father and his 311 00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:48,480 grandfather had been assassinated and he was the only 312 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,760 one that was left at 8 years old. 313 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:57,360 I couldn't imagine taking on that that role, but Josiah was 314 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:03,560 different than his father's. Josiah loved God and he did 315 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,120 everything in his ability to turn the nation of Israel back 316 00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:09,880 to God. If we look through Scripture, 317 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:13,200 we'll likely we'll see that Josiah's likely the godliest 318 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:17,560 king since Solomon, and unfortunately it didn't stay 319 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,640 that way. Then there's Jeconiah. 320 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:26,640 As somebody you probably haven't heard of, it's a very a very 321 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,880 unknown king and if David was considered the pinnacle of 322 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,840 Jewish history, then the reign of Jack and I would be 323 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:38,600 considered the the lowest point of Jewish history up to this 324 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,280 point. The reason was is because the 325 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,120 Kingdom fell while he was in power. 326 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,960 But what was God to do? He had no option at this point 327 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:53,320 other than to discipline his children for their 328 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:56,640 unfaithfulness. If we go through history, we'll 329 00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:00,680 see time and time again God called out to his people, sent 330 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,120 prophets to his people saying repent, repent, repent. 331 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:08,880 And each time all they did was harden their heart and say no, I 332 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,400 want nothing of it. So God was faithful and he did 333 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:15,880 what he said He would do and he gave them over to another 334 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:19,400 nation. The last one we'll look at this 335 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:23,280 morning is Mary, the mother of Jesus, the one that found 336 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,440 favour. In the sight of God because of 337 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,480 her pureness and her cleanness and her devotion to the Lord. 338 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:34,960 That's not what her neighbors said of her. 339 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,920 There were rumors spread about Mary, about how she became 340 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:41,240 pregnant. Many of her neighbors would have 341 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,160 thought she would have fit really well on the TV show on Mt 342 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:48,760 VS Teen Mom because she was such a young lady and she was single 343 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:53,000 and had a child. So by the time Jesus came on the 344 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:57,320 scene, this family was looking for a break. 345 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,520 Seemed like destruction followed them everywhere they went. 346 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:08,800 Everyone listed in this lineage had skeletons in their closet. 347 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:15,520 But nevertheless, God was faithful throughout all of Jesus 348 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,560 family. Even in the bad times, God's 349 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:24,160 faithfulness never wavered. Many of these that were listed 350 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,400 that we've talked about this morning, and even others would 351 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,720 have been excluded from worship in the Tabernacle or in the 352 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:33,440 temple because they had sinned against the Law of Moses and 353 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,920 they had done so wrong in their life. 354 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:38,600 They would not have been welcomed into the presence of 355 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:41,880 God at that time in these moments that they had to follow 356 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:47,200 the Law of Moses. But I believe Matthew listed 357 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:51,160 these people here on purpose, and he did so, so that he would 358 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:55,240 show us that the barrier of exclusion was broken. 359 00:21:55,960 --> 00:22:01,640 Now that Jesus has come, men and women, Jew and Gentile, were all 360 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:05,000 now welcomed into the presence of God. 361 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,680 And here's the key. God accepts each and every one 362 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:14,680 of us just like we are. He's not asking us to clean 363 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,720 ourselves up. He's not asking us to go do this 364 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,640 or do that to be able to be welcomed into His presence. 365 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,080 No, no, no. He's saying, hey, come into my 366 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,280 presence and when you get here, I'm going to clean you up. 367 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:28,320 I'm going to make you more like me. 368 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:34,000 I just need you to come to me. I know. 369 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,040 Also, going through this list of people probably brings back some 370 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:41,720 memories, some that may be painful, Some of that you can, 371 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:43,960 some of these people you can probably relate with or you know 372 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,040 you have family that can relate to some of these stories. 373 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,720 There's pain associated with a lot of those memories and maybe 374 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:58,800 you're at the point where you're just ready for a change. 375 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,560 I've seen this so many times throughout the years where 376 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,400 people just feel as though if I could just get away from my 377 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,600 family, maybe I could just move to a new city, get a fresh 378 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,880 start, start a new life and I'll just forget about who they are. 379 00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:18,600 And I'll just start from where I'm at and just start moving 380 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,760 forward. And just everything is going to 381 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:22,600 be different from this point forward. 382 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:27,840 But here's some hard truth. You can't escape your family, 383 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:36,280 but you can choose to be different right now in this 384 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:39,160 holiday season. It may seem hopeless. 385 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,600 I know there's many that just feel so isolated from their 386 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,200 family. You believe in God, you've 387 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,640 placed your faith in him, you're living for him and and your 388 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,360 family just wants to have nothing to do with them. 389 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:55,440 You just feel isolated. You feel alone. 390 00:23:57,160 --> 00:23:58,760 You've prayed for them for years. 391 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,040 You've, you've taken time and you have poured into them and 392 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,480 you have witnessed to them all just to be met with resistance 393 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,040 and they're just pushing you away. 394 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,280 If that's you, let me encourage you this morning not to give up 395 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:19,920 because change will come. It's in these moments that we 396 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:24,160 have to lean into the presence of God and allow him to give us 397 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,960 comfort and give us peace and encouragement in these moments. 398 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:31,480 I know there's many here this morning. 399 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,320 You come from a broken family or you're in a broken family now, 400 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,680 and let me tell you that the only one that can replace that 401 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,640 absent parent in your life is the presence of God. 402 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,240 The only one that can soothe that pain that you're 403 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:49,520 experiencing because of your family is God. 404 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:54,040 The only one that can heal those deep wounds that have been 405 00:24:54,040 --> 00:25:00,040 created is God. By this time in history of what 406 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,880 we've been reading and talking about this morning, by this time 407 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:07,160 God had been silent for 400 years. 408 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:10,440 That means no prophets were prophesying. 409 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:13,440 That means there were no visions and there were no dreams. 410 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:20,080 God was quiet. He didn't say a word for 400 411 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:28,320 years. What the world didn't realize in 412 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:33,560 this moment, God was preparing them for the greatest change the 413 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:39,800 world would ever experience. God was saying, I'm not willing 414 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,800 to send someone. I'm not willing to create 415 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,520 something different. I'm willing to go myself to 416 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:51,120 clean up the mess that sin has created and to bring hope to a 417 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:55,640 lost world. And the coming of Jesus changed 418 00:25:55,960 --> 00:26:03,600 everything. Let me say, the God is able to 419 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:07,320 make the impossible situation possible, and He is able to 420 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:11,200 change your family's dynamic. And here it is. 421 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:16,800 It begins with you. Hebrews chapter #11 is often 422 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:21,400 considered the hall of faith. Some of Jesus's family, Abraham, 423 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:25,320 he's one of the top on the list of men and women who had 424 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,560 extraordinary faith. This doesn't mean that they 425 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:30,480 didn't sin. It doesn't mean they didn't mess 426 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:32,880 up at times. It means that means that they 427 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,920 repented when necessary and they moved forward with God with 428 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,960 great faith. And God was able to use them and 429 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,880 be able to do the impossible through them. 430 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:49,880 And when we look at Matthew chapter #1 I believe we could 431 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,920 easily call it the hall of grace. 432 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:58,400 When we look at the the the imperfections of these men and 433 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:02,880 women, yet God was still able to use them to advance His Kingdom 434 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,360 because of how great and how mighty and how wonderful His 435 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:12,000 grace is. Matthew tore down the argument 436 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,520 that the presence of God is only available to the moral elite. 437 00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:23,200 The fact is, is that no one deserves the presence of God and 438 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,560 and Paul reinforces that in Romans when he said in Romans 439 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,480 323 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of 440 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,080 God. There is none of us that will 441 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:36,520 live good enough, be good enough to come into the presence of 442 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,040 God. It takes Jesus. 443 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:44,800 So here's the reality. God did not make a mistake in 444 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:50,440 placing you and your family. I know that's hard for some of 445 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,920 us to grasp and to hold on to that. 446 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:57,440 God did not make a mistake placing you in your family. 447 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:02,640 He knew exactly what He was doing and He was putting you in 448 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,040 a place so that your family could experience the change that 449 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,320 they needed. See, when we read through 450 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,120 Jesus's family tree and we see all these different people and 451 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:15,880 we see all, the, all the, the messiness of sin that's in their 452 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,960 life, we don't see Jesus rejecting them, do we? 453 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,320 No, we actually see the the contrary. 454 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:27,800 We see that Jesus embraced his family and he sought after 455 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,360 people that were just like his family so that he could bring 456 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:34,360 them the hope that they didn't even know that they needed. 457 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,400 Later on, Matthew continued to write about Jesus and he he even 458 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:44,400 says that that some call Jesus a friend of sinners. 459 00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:47,760 That self-righteous crowd that we talked about earlier, those 460 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:51,280 are the ones that were trying to make fun of Jesus, calling him a 461 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,760 friend of sinners, but they were actually giving him a title that 462 00:28:53,760 --> 00:29:00,480 was greater than any other. So let me leave you with this 463 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,880 story. Today I'll tell you about a a 464 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:09,880 guy named James. By 14 years old, James was a 465 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:12,680 drunk. You say, well, that that's kind 466 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:14,160 of weird. Like maybe he started drinking. 467 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,440 No, I'm saying by James's own testimony, by the time he was 14 468 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:21,760 years old, he was a drunk. His family wanted nothing to do 469 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:23,800 with God. They had no use for religion. 470 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:25,960 It just wasn't their thing. So they didn't. 471 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,680 He he very rarely if ever went to church by this time in his 472 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,360 life and he started a spiral downward. 473 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:40,000 By the time he was 17, James has gotten married and the very next 474 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:46,600 day he joined the military. Now you would think with the 475 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,680 structure of the military that maybe it would help James in his 476 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:54,760 addiction to alcohol, but actually made it worse because 477 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,760 of the combat that he saw. It just drove him more to 478 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,520 alcohol. And so when James came home, he 479 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:05,480 came home a changed person. He, he was so addicted into 480 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:09,480 alcohol and, and the experiences that he had through combat, just 481 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,600 putting those together, it just made things worse. 482 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,280 And he continued in this lifestyle. 483 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:25,240 James had two children and still was not interested in anything 484 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,840 and involving God or church or any of that stuff. 485 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,800 But James had a friend. His friend loved James. 486 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:40,160 He prayed for James for years. He prayed for James and he, he, 487 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:44,640 he saw out every opportunity he could to just tell James about 488 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,840 Jesus and what God was doing in the church and would try to 489 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,040 witness to him. And every time James would just 490 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:53,920 reject him and say, man, I just don't want to hear that. 491 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:55,360 Just keep that stuff to yourself. 492 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,520 I don't need that stuff. I don't want it. 493 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:02,760 But his friend was persistent, continually prayed day after 494 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:06,400 day, even to the point to where there was days that he spent 495 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:11,280 fasting in prayer, praying for James because he knew that God 496 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:18,680 could change his life. Finally, one day, James gave in. 497 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:22,440 He's like, man, if you will just leave me alone. 498 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,320 If you'll just stop asking, I'll go to church with you. 499 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,840 This just this one time, if you'll just leave me alone. 500 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,640 So that day James went to church, he and his his wife and 501 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:37,080 at that time he had two daughters. 502 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:42,000 He was there in the church and something happened. 503 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:47,760 God started speaking to James, and James never had experienced 504 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,840 the presence of God before and it made him so uncomfortable. 505 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,560 He was just, he was just looking and counting down the minutes 506 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:55,000 like when is this guy going to be done? 507 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,840 So I can just hit the door, I can leave, I can be done with 508 00:31:57,840 --> 00:31:59,360 this place. I never have to come back. 509 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:02,280 And sure enough, the preacher finished. 510 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:07,280 James hit the door. But what he wasn't counting on 511 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,360 is that the presence of God went with him. 512 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:19,680 James left that day done with church, but God wasn't done with 513 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:22,440 him. James hadn't. 514 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:24,880 He didn't know what to do. The presence of God was so real 515 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:27,160 on him. He was under such heavy 516 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,520 conviction. All he knew to do was go back to 517 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:32,400 the bottle that had that he had continually went back to. 518 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:36,120 So James by his own testimony said that he went back and he 519 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:38,680 started drinking as much as he could that day. 520 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:42,200 But the problem was is that God wasn't allowing him to get drunk 521 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,240 and he couldn't get away from the presence of God. 522 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:54,320 For a week James wrestled with the presence of God till finally 523 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,680 he gave up. He said, Lord, I'll follow you, 524 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,000 Lord, I'll trust you. I'll go all in with you. 525 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:03,200 And James gave his life to Christ. 526 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:08,800 Now I know for many of you, you're like Nathan. 527 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,160 That was that was really good. That's a good story of of James 528 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:14,880 about a giving his life to Christ. 529 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:17,000 I've heard it before. It's wonderful. 530 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:18,800 I love it. Never gets old hearing about 531 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:22,960 somebody coming to trust Christ. And you're right, it doesn't. 532 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:29,760 But for me, this is personal. James is not just another 533 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:33,560 person. To me, James was my granddad 534 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:38,920 James. His life changed so radically 535 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:43,120 that it didn't just affect him, but it affected generations to 536 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:47,400 come. My mom was one of the two 2 537 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,400 girls that went to church with him that day and my mom was 12 538 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:52,080 years old later when she got saved. 539 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:54,920 My grandparents ended up having 5 girls. 540 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,360 They made a commitment after that day. 541 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:02,800 A week later, my grandmother gave her life to Christ and they 542 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:06,640 made a commitment that they would raise their children not 543 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:10,920 just to go to church, not just to know Scripture, but to have a 544 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:16,560 real relationship with God. And they taught them how to live 545 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:21,920 in the presence of God. So when my mom and dad got 546 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:26,400 married, they made that same commitment to teach me and my 547 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,679 brother and my sister to live in the presence of God. 548 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,800 When Stephanie and I were married, we had children. 549 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,400 Even before we had children, we had made the commitment. 550 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:45,280 If God gives us children, we will commit to raise them to 551 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:50,199 live in the presence of God. I can say just a couple weeks 552 00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:53,600 ago, since we've been at Riverbend, my youngest, 553 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:58,320 Caroline, Stephanie, came down with her late one night. 554 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:00,040 They're supposed to already be asleep. 555 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:02,880 And she's like, hey, Caroline wants to tell you something. 556 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,400 And Caroline comes in the room and she tells me about how she 557 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:09,680 just gave her life to Christ. You say, well, Nathan, that 558 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:15,680 could have happened any anyway, maybe so I'll believe God used 559 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:21,080 James. James was 23 years old, gave his 560 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:25,360 life to Christ, defected him and his children and his 561 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:27,360 grandchildren and his great grandchildren. 562 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:29,800 And I have cousins that have children. 563 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:32,720 So there's five generations that I know of right now that have 564 00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:35,960 been affected because of the witness of James. 565 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:40,400 So I'm going to leave you with this this morning. 566 00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:45,800 What is holding you back from experiencing the presence of God 567 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:50,280 in your life? Your past may seem hopeless, but 568 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:54,480 your future could have an eternal impact, all because of 569 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:55,920 the presence of God in your life. 570 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:00,520 So just a second where the altars are going to be open. 571 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,040 We'll have pastors on either side if you need somebody to 572 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:05,760 talk to. I encourage you to follow what 573 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:11,160 God is calling you to do in this moment and respond according to 574 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:16,240 how He is calling you. I'm going to pray for you, and 575 00:36:16,240 --> 00:36:18,080 then the band's going to come back and there'll be a time of 576 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:19,520 response. So let me pray for you this 577 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:23,800 morning. Father, thank You for Your 578 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:28,520 presence, but thank You for how Your grace is shown throughout 579 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:31,880 all generations. Thank You of how when we mess 580 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:35,640 up, You don't reject us and cast us off, but yet You pull us in 581 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:38,360 closer and You show us that You'll love us even more. 582 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:41,760 I pray for those that this morning that may be struggling 583 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,720 that You would just pull them in close, that You would apply Your 584 00:36:45,720 --> 00:36:48,720 grace to their life. And if somebody needs salvation, 585 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:51,320 I pray that you would grant them salvation this morning. 586 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,680 If somebody needs to get back into a relationship with you and 587 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,160 then they need to renew their commitment to you, I pray that 588 00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:01,080 that would happen. Lord, if there's those that are 589 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,360 praying for family, I pray that you would encourage them and 590 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:07,840 help them continue on in their faithfulness to you and to 591 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:11,640 praying for their family. Lord, we're excited for what 592 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:14,280 you're going to do and how you're going to move through 593 00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:16,600 this service in Jesus name, Amen. 594 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:24,400 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 595 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:27,760 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 596 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:31,120 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.