1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:06,240 Good evening, Merry Christmas. Welcome to cozy Christmas. 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,039 So my name is Daniel. I'm the lead pastor here. 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,160 I I brought out. So they're cozy slippers, but 4 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:16,239 they're all terrain for the storm. 5 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:23,360 Ready to go, ready to go. All right, tonight in just the 6 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:25,680 the few moments, because we have a pretty short service so that 7 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:28,680 you can get home and go hang out and and have some eggnog 8 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,880 tonight. I want you to see 11 really big 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:35,440 thing about Christmas. And it actually is also in our 10 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:37,560 story as we finish up the book of Ruth today. 11 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,480 And it's this idea. The end was never in doubt. 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,160 The end was never in doubt. So over the past four weeks 13 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:48,720 we've been going through this book called Ruth and we've been 14 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,160 looking at it as a Christmas story, even though it took place 15 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:55,960 about 1000 plus years before the 1st Christmas story. 16 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,840 And what happened if you you kind of missed part of this is 17 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,760 that there are two widows, a Naomi and her Moabite 18 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,160 daughter-in-law named Ruth. And she's a foreigner to the 19 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:10,760 Jewish nation. But they've come back from Moab 20 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:16,200 to the city of Bethlehem. And while there, they have found 21 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,440 food, they have found protection, they have found 22 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:22,000 kindness by the hand of a distant relative. 23 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:28,280 His he's named Boaz, and he has agreed to this bold request that 24 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,160 Ruth made of him, and he's going to marry Ruth. 25 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,840 And so last week on Sunday, we looked at sort of this kind of 26 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:39,560 brilliant, almost legal maneuver that Boaz makes in order to 27 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,720 become the first in line to marry her. 28 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,480 And he takes over a title that was something that they used in 29 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,400 the ancient world called a kinsman Redeemer. 30 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,120 A kinsman Redeemer. And we're going to pick up this 31 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:56,800 story in chapter 4. This is the end of the book 32 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:02,000 around verse 7. And in verse 7, he seals the 33 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,320 deal. He kind of completes this, this 34 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,480 legal proceeding. There's 10 elders sitting around 35 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:13,240 and he's making this, this covenant to redeem Naomi and 36 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,040 Ruth. Now, in the ancient times, I 37 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:17,560 know it's a little weird. In ancient times, they would 38 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:22,400 take off their sandal and they would give it to the other 39 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:24,440 person. And somehow that was like, now 40 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,720 we use DocuSign, which I got to be honest, smells a lot better. 41 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:33,360 But they would handle hand this sandal over as a way to finish 42 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,600 out this agreement, this transaction. 43 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,800 And I, I live in Bakersfield. So if someone takes off a sandal 44 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,640 here, we call that a chunk LA. And that means mama's mad and 45 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:48,800 you're about to get beat. But back then, this is how you 46 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,440 finalize the deal. And so Boaz is purchasing the 47 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,400 land of this relative, but he's choosing to take on the 48 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,120 responsibility to care for the widow Naomi. 49 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,800 And he's pledging to Mary Ruth and to produce an heir. 50 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,400 He's committing to this role of kinsman Redeemer, someone that 51 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,840 has the right and the responsibility to rescue family 52 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,720 members in crisis. And so the elders that are there 53 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:17,840 at the gate of this story, they they bless this and then they 54 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,080 pray a blessing over the new family and the couple. 55 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,880 And we're going to pick up the very end of our love story in 56 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,600 chapter 4, verse 13. And so you can follow along on 57 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:30,720 the screen. We'll start at verse 13. 58 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:35,800 It says this. So Boaz took Ruth and she became 59 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,560 his wife and he went into her and the Lord gave her conception 60 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,680 and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, 61 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,240 Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a 62 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,840 Redeemer, and may His name be renowned in Israel. 63 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:58,160 He shall be a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age. 64 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:02,360 For your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you 65 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,040 than seven sons, has given birth to him. 66 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,160 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became 67 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:12,720 his nurse. And the women of the 68 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,480 neighborhood gave him a name saying a son has been born to 69 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:18,440 Naomi. They named him Obed. 70 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,800 He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. 71 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:24,560 Now, this is the very end of our book, the book of Ruth. 72 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,720 And there's some really interesting things that happen 73 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,200 right at the end. Here's the first thing. 74 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,040 So Ruth and Boaz get married and they have a son. 75 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:38,280 So we're now at least nine plus months out from this moment at 76 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:41,320 the gate that we we looked at on Sunday and they've been in town 77 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,080 for at least over a year. And once again, we see Ruth 78 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,360 mentioned here in verse 13 when she gives birth to a son. 79 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:48,880 Here's what's interesting. She's not mentioned again for 80 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:53,040 the rest of the story, and that's a little weird because 81 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:54,560 like this book is called the book of Ruth. 82 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,200 So it seems like she's the main character and it seems kind of 83 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,080 weird to not mention the main character if that's her for all 84 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:05,760 the rest of the story. The rest of the book that we 85 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,160 just read is about Naomi, her mother-in-law, and about this 86 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,360 grandson. The women says the women in the 87 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,360 community or the women in the neighborhood said this to Naomi. 88 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,480 This is kind of the end of the story and I find this very 89 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,400 interesting. They say to her, blessed be the 90 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:25,040 Lord who has not left you this day without a Redeemer, and may 91 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,280 his name be renowned in Israel. He shall be a restorer of life 92 00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:31,000 and a nourisher of your old age. For your daughter-in-law whom 93 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:36,000 you love more than seven sons has given birth to him worth 94 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,760 more than seven sons. That seems kind of random, but 95 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,040 see, it's actually it culturally. 96 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:43,800 That was the Jewish dream. So the if the American dream is 97 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,200 2 1/2 kids in a white picket fence, the Jewish dream was to 98 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,200 have seven sons because 7 was a holy number. 99 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,320 And the women are saying, listen, Ruth means more to you 100 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:57,080 than even the dream of a perfect family. 101 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:01,120 And then they say something that I think is really odd because I 102 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:02,400 had to read this over and over again. 103 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,840 I kept reading this trying to understand what what this meant. 104 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:07,720 It said they said, blessed is the Lord because he didn't leave 105 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,480 you without a Redeemer. And so I kept reading that and 106 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,400 going, what are they talking about? 107 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:15,960 Because we have this guy, a kinsman Redeemer. 108 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,520 That's what Boaz is doing. But they're not talking about 109 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:23,160 Boaz. They're talking about the baby. 110 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:26,920 They're calling the baby a Redeemer. 111 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:28,880 And I was like, that is really weird. 112 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,240 That's really odd. This is what they say about the 113 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:33,720 a newborn child. That's what they say. 114 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:39,280 He shall be a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age. 115 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:45,160 How's a how's a newborn baby supposed to do that? 116 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:48,680 Like y'all thought that that that cheerleading parents put a 117 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,080 lot of pressure on their kids. That's a lot of pressure for a 118 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,680 newborn to be a Redeemer, to be a nourisher. 119 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,720 See, I think there's actually a couple of of reasons that I want 120 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,720 you to see that they would mention this, but to but to 121 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,920 understand the context of why they would call this baby a 122 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,600 Redeemer, you got to go back to the very beginning of the story 123 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,160 in chapter 1 to get a full view of the problem. 124 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:20,360 And so when Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem in chapter 1, it 125 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,000 was the women of the community that greeted them. 126 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,880 If you flip back to chapter one, verse 20, this is what happens. 127 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,480 They walk into town, the women recognize her. 128 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,480 And then Naomi says to the women in the community, she said to 129 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:37,720 them, do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, which literally means 130 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:43,000 bitter, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 131 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,360 I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty. 132 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,280 Now, if you remember the story, they left for Moab, her husband 133 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,960 dies, her sons die, she comes back a widow and her 134 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,480 daughter-in-law are widows. Why call me Naomi when the Lord 135 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,560 has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity 136 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:03,960 upon me? That's how our story started. 137 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:09,400 So Naomi comes to Bethlehem hurting and broken and empty, 138 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:15,360 and she blames God, despite the fact that she and her husband 139 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:17,960 left voluntarily to go live with God's enemies. 140 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,960 And she says, my new name is bitter. 141 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,640 Now her name, Naomi, actually means sweet or pleasant. 142 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,160 And she looks at this community of women and she says, you know, 143 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:34,159 I used to be pleasant, but now I'm defined by my bitterness. 144 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:39,120 And it's God's fault. Never mind that I had a role in 145 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:40,280 this. My husband had a role in this. 146 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:44,680 It's God's fault. Sound familiar? 147 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:49,440 Now, how often have I done that in my own life? 148 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,920 Made a mess of relationships, made a mess of situations, lied 149 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,240 to cover up, lies to cover up more lies, finding myself in a 150 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,080 hole that I dug. And I'm angry at God. 151 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:06,880 It must be his fault. But if you followed our story 152 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:11,680 through 4 chapters, since she's come back, she she's had food, 153 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:16,800 she's had protection, she's actually seen God's Providence 154 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,400 throughout the whole story. She's had all of her physical 155 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:25,880 needs met, and yet that alone has not fixed the problem. 156 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:32,920 How? How much of our lives do we 157 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,160 spend? Just just how much of our lives 158 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,040 revolve around our physical needs and desires? 159 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:43,920 You know, a lot of us live to eat. 160 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:51,560 We we, we work 4050 sixty hours just to to have food and to have 161 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:55,840 shelter and to have protection. But in fact, if you're you 162 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,400 really want to bring this close to home, you think about that. 163 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:02,680 In America, we have almost no discipline around our physical 164 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:06,240 urges. We're a country with with very 165 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:08,360 little people with very little discipline. 166 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,520 You want to you want to know we've actually turned hungry and 167 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:15,360 angry into a word? It's called hangry. 168 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:19,840 Many of you are sitting next to someone that's hangry. 169 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,040 I'm sorry. We'll be done soon. 170 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:28,200 If you want to ever know how our physical needs control us, get 171 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,480 in the long drive through line and look at the faces of the 172 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,920 people waiting. So angry that my food won't be 173 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,920 two minutes faster. How dare you get the wrong 174 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,280 topping on my $8 coffee at Starbucks. 175 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:44,960 This is the culture that we live in. 176 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,280 We make all sorts of choices in our life to fulfill physical 177 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,680 desires and physical needs. And so here is Naomi. 178 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,280 All of the physical needs have been met, and yet she's still 179 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:03,160 bitter. Naomi is experiencing something 180 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,720 that I think many of us, maybe, maybe all of us, can relate to. 181 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:14,000 It's this idea that no amount of physical provision satisfies the 182 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:20,400 soul. Being safe, being fed, being 183 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,960 warm is not enough. We we can simply look at our 184 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:26,440 culture and come to this realization. 185 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,280 It it is the most famous people in our culture. 186 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,520 It is the most successful people in our culture. 187 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:35,480 It is the wealthiest people in our culture that have the 188 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,560 highest rate of depression and the highest rate of suicide. 189 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:45,160 Actors, wealthy, successful people, get to the end of this 190 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:50,680 little rat race and realize that nothing in this world actually 191 00:11:50,680 --> 00:11:55,480 feeds to the soul. From Robin Williams to Anthony 192 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,360 Bourdain, hopelessness is a human condition. 193 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:02,760 If only. If only there were something 194 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:07,640 perfectly shaped to fit this hole inside of us. 195 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:13,000 Something no amount of scrolling on Instagram or jumping into 196 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,400 another relationship or self medicating with substances could 197 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:20,480 fix. So. 198 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:24,640 So the women in this community who one year earlier had heard 199 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:29,120 Naomi introduce herself as bitter, now look at her holding 200 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,520 her grandson. And you know what they say? 201 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:34,120 The first thing they say? They look at her holding this, 202 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:40,000 this little child and they say, blessed be the Lord, the one you 203 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:45,640 blamed for your condition. Blessed be the Lord because you 204 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:50,400 were bitter and you needed your bitterness redeemed, not just 205 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:54,960 your hunger. And now look at how God has 206 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:58,680 provided for you because food is not enough. 207 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,600 Jesus would go into the wilderness and and as he's 208 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,560 tempted by Satan, he would say man will not live by bread 209 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:08,840 alone. And now in our story, in our 210 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:13,840 love story, God has delivered a Redeemer not just for bread, but 211 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:16,120 to save Naomi from her bitterness. 212 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,040 And then and listen, this is a little crazy because I don't 213 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:24,080 know how you chose if you have kids, I don't know how you chose 214 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,560 your kids names. But do you notice that it's the 215 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:28,680 ladies in the town that choose the baby's name? 216 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,320 You probably didn't crowd source your baby's name. 217 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:37,440 They don't even name their own baby. 218 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,080 Look at this verse 16. The Naomi took the child, laid 219 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:41,520 him on her lap and became his nurse. 220 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,520 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name 221 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,080 saying a son has been born to Naomi. 222 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,400 They named him Obed. He's the father of Jesse, the 223 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,080 father of David. Not only to move past this too 224 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:56,960 quickly, because I think this is a little bit interesting. 225 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,960 This baby named Obed, he grows up to be the father of Jesse. 226 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:04,440 Jesse has eight sons, the youngest of which is a little 227 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:06,840 shepherd boy named David, who goes and kills the giant, 228 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:08,640 becomes the greatest king that Israel ever had. 229 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:14,440 But the story isn't in there. God makes a promise to that 230 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:18,800 little shepherd boy who becomes king that one of his descendants 231 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:24,400 would sit on the throne forever. And 28 generations after King 232 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:29,080 David, roughly 1000 years later, in the same family line in a 233 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,920 little town of Bethlehem where our story takes place, another 234 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,000 baby is born. And this baby would be called 235 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:42,000 the Son of David. His name is Jesus, Emmanuel. 236 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:47,080 God is with us and unlike David, his Kingdom would have no end. 237 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:52,200 So the the ladies in the town decide they're going to name the 238 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:59,040 baby and they pick Obed. Who names their kid Obed. 239 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:05,440 It sounds like a pillow company. You know, that could be a lot in 240 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:06,600 a name. We see that all throughout the 241 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,080 Bible, right? Like my my wife and I, but 242 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:13,040 before we got married we picked 2 girl names and two boy names. 243 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:19,160 I'm a bit of a planner and we wanted our first 2 girls are 244 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,560 going to be named Avery and Baya and our first two boys are going 245 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,720 to be Quintin and Aidan. And I really liked Quintin 246 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:28,680 because I wanted to name my first son after my dad's dad 247 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,720 Quinn. But we liked Quintin a little 248 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,240 bit better and so I was really excited about that. 249 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:38,400 Except we didn't have a son. We had four girls in a row. 250 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:43,720 And so when we had decided we're only going to have 4 kids, and 251 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,240 when I found out my final child was going to be a daughter, that 252 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:47,680 I was going to be a dad of daughters only. 253 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,720 We call that a dodo. Yeah. 254 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:55,440 When I realized I was going to be a dad of daughters only, I 255 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,880 remember going, Oh my Lord, this is going to be pink and glitter 256 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,520 everywhere. And I went out that day and I 257 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:06,960 bought a Doberman Pinscher named Maximus Eridius. 258 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,280 We got to get some testosterone in the house. 259 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:15,360 It's dying. Some of you know our story. 260 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,320 We lost our fourth child at birth. 261 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:25,320 And, you know, the loss of Dansley for our family was just, 262 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,640 it was a tremendous, we, we spent a great deal of time 263 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:35,040 dealing with bitterness and grief and loss. 264 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,400 And it was a couple of years later we found out we were going 265 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:44,320 to have a fifth child. And we found out it was going to 266 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:49,520 be a boy. And so of course his name would 267 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:52,000 be Quentin. I'd been waiting like 12 years 268 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:57,200 to use that name. And so while we did all the 269 00:16:57,200 --> 00:16:59,800 things you do and you're, the pregnancy is progressing. 270 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:02,680 We got the vinyl that spelled Quentin up on the wall and we 271 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:05,560 got the pirate blankie with the little stitching that says baby 272 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:07,119 Quentin on it. You know, we're getting all the 273 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,440 fun stuff. And I mean, we were 6-7 months 274 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:11,960 into this and someone looked at me and goes, oh, that's cool. 275 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:17,079 What does Quentin mean? And I went, oh, I don't know. 276 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:20,599 And it kind of scared me for just a minute because I realized 277 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:22,960 like, we took a lot of care with all of our daughters names. 278 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,520 We were very intentional about how we named them and what they 279 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,440 named. And I'd never looked up 280 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:29,800 Quinton's name because it was after my grandpa. 281 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:31,880 So it was just, you know. And look, you know that names 282 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:33,280 can mean some crazy stuff, right? 283 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:35,440 I mean, y'all are familiar with some of these? 284 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:40,680 There's a guy in First Samuel, his name is Nabal and that 285 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:44,280 literally means fool. And I just have questions for 286 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:50,680 his parents. What were you thinking? 287 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,280 So, so in a semi panic, like I run to Google. 288 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:56,000 I'm like, oh, we could have made a mistake here. 289 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,480 And I Google what does Quentin mean? 290 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,920 And I, and it comes up on the screen and I literally I'm, I'm, 291 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:08,880 I'm looking at it like because Quentin actually means, you 292 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:15,040 know, the thing about names in the Bible is that sometimes 293 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,200 they're, they're given like as a prophecy over the child's life. 294 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:22,280 I mean, that was actually the case with Nabal in first if 295 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:24,640 you'll, he was destined to be a fool. 296 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,400 But, but sometimes names are even more strategic. 297 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:33,440 Sometimes in the Bible it's used to foreshadow something that's 298 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,480 coming that's even further away. But always in the Bible, when we 299 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,320 see this intentionality with names, it is actually to remind 300 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:45,080 us that God is sovereign. What that means is that God is 301 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,480 ultimately in control, regardless of what how chaotic 302 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,120 we think life is and and how wild and disastrous we think 303 00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:54,920 that that life might be, that God is actually ultimately 304 00:18:54,920 --> 00:19:00,520 completely in control. But things aren't random. 305 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:10,120 And so after 12 plus years of waiting to get to name my first 306 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:15,000 son Quentin, I sat in front of a computer staring at some Google 307 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,640 results. And I started crying because the 308 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:23,040 name Quentin means fifth born child. 309 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:31,680 Because the end was never in doubt. 310 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:36,800 God was never not in control of my life. 311 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:45,440 Not in the loss, not in the grief, not in the pain, not in 312 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:50,480 the darkness. And so, as Naomi holds Obed in 313 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:54,080 her lap and he stares at those chubby little cheeks and begins 314 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:58,000 to realize the goodness of God, who has never not been in 315 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:04,440 control but has blessed her and saved her despite her own 316 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,320 decisions, despite her being angry at God for all the things 317 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:12,400 that she and her husband did, she finally sees God's 318 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:17,560 redemption in her life. What she doesn't know in this 319 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,840 moment is that God's redemptive plan is a lot bigger than what 320 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:23,880 she sees. It's not just a plan for Naomi. 321 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,680 It's not just a plan for Ruth. It's not just a plan for Daniel. 322 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:34,800 It is to save all of us. So these ladies in the 323 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,560 community, they look at this little chubby baby and they name 324 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:42,920 him Obed. And in that moment, holding this 325 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:47,160 tiny baby, Naomi has no idea that she's holding the 326 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:52,400 grandfather of King David. She has no idea that 28 327 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:55,680 generations later in this family, Jesus will be born in 328 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,960 this same town. She has no idea that the prophet 329 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,560 Isaiah will one day write about a coming Messiah who would be 330 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:06,160 called God's servant, someone who would bring justice not 331 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,440 through power, but through humility and sacrifice. 332 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:15,320 That's how the apostle Paul describes Jesus in Philippians 333 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,320 2. He says this. 334 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,920 Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, 335 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:29,120 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality 336 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:36,120 with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking 337 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:41,880 the form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of 338 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:48,080 men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by 339 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:53,400 becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 340 00:21:55,600 --> 00:22:00,040 The Bible is filled with stories that foreshadowed Jesus, and 341 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:06,160 this is one of them. Ruth, the outsider who's grafted 342 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,000 into God's family. That's the church. 343 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:14,640 That's you and I, Boaz, the kinsman Redeemer who willingly 344 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:21,720 pays the price to rescue. That's Jesus, Naomi, bitter and 345 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:25,080 broken, restored to overflowing joy. 346 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:31,920 That's what Jesus does for us. And Obed, this baby named 347 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:36,560 specifically who carries the bloodline of the king, the 348 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:39,840 genealogy that leads to Jesus, the servant King born in 349 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,920 Bethlehem. God was writing the Christmas 350 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:47,920 story for 1000 years before Jesus was born, and He made sure 351 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:52,160 that you and I wouldn't miss it. Of all of the names that that 352 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:56,520 community of women could have picked for this little baby, joy 353 00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:00,440 or happiness or excitement, they didn't pick any of those names. 354 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,240 They picked Obed the most illogical name in that moment 355 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:13,760 because Obed means servant. In the moment, that seems like a 356 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:15,880 really illogical name for that little baby. 357 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:21,360 But if the purpose of that name is so that you and I might not 358 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:27,800 miss the most important story in history, that a servant king who 359 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:32,520 came to die, rise again and conquer, well, if that were the 360 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,280 purpose, then this is a very appropriate name for a baby 361 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:45,360 indeed. Obed servant pointing to a 362 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,720 servant that would come 1000 years later. 363 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:51,800 What does this mean for you and I on Christmas? 364 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:54,480 Two things. Two things. 365 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:59,240 First, if you're a Christian tonight, but you've been running 366 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:03,240 on empty, maybe you're bitter like Naomi, and you don't even 367 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,600 know why. I want you to know that God is 368 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,240 not surprised. He's not ashamed of you. 369 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,800 He's not angry. He's calling you to repentance. 370 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,960 He didn't send his only Son to die for you so that you could 371 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,080 feel ashamed. He sent him so that you could be 372 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:28,440 redeemed, that you might have your soul restored to go from 373 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:35,600 bitter and empty to a cup that overflows if you follow Christ, 374 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,480 if you know Christ as your Savior, but you found yourself 375 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:42,480 living a life by your own power, by your own strength, by your 376 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:48,720 own wisdom, and you've forgotten that it is God who sustains and 377 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,080 gives us life. Then tonight I give you the 378 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:57,600 simple recipe of the gospel to throw yourself on Jesus. 379 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,280 What does that mean? It means to rely on His finished 380 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:04,760 work on the cross, not your own merit. 381 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:10,520 It means to confess and repent and follow Him anew every day. 382 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,280 And you can do that tonight, in just a moment. 383 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:16,560 As we respond to the sermon, our prayer team is going to be down 384 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,560 here. We would love to pray for you 385 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,400 and with you. And if you need to come up and 386 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:25,000 confess and repent and be prayed for, we would love to do that 387 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:29,200 for you here on Christmas Eve. We have a community that wants 388 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:34,280 to walk with you. Maybe you've gotten caught up in 389 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:39,400 the difficulties of life, but I want you to remember when you 390 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:43,640 wake up tomorrow on Christmas Day as a child of God, the end 391 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:49,000 is not in doubt. The end was never in doubt. 392 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:56,480 It's already been written. 2nd For those of you that have never 393 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:02,120 surrendered your life to Christ, baby, tonight on Christmas Eve 394 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:04,680 you'd like to do that for the first time. 395 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:09,280 There's no greater gift than the salvation offered to us freely 396 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:13,760 by Christ Jesus according to scripture. 397 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:18,000 Here's how you do that. Romans 10/9 and 10 says if you 398 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,960 confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in 399 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:24,600 your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be 400 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,960 saved. For with the heart 1 believes 401 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:32,240 and is justified, and with the mouth 1 confesses and is saved. 402 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,440 So if you would like to surrender to God today, I want 403 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:39,000 to give you that chance. Would you all please bow your 404 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,280 heads and close your eyes for a brief moment as we wrap up? 405 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:49,840 If you're willing to ask God for forgiveness and salvation with 406 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,200 every eye closed, with every head bowed, I just want you to 407 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,080 quietly or even silently repeat this prayer after me. 408 00:26:55,520 --> 00:27:05,960 Jesus, I know I'm lost. I want you to redeem me and save 409 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,480 me. I want to be part of your 410 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,800 family. I surrender everything to you. 411 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:22,320 Be my Lord. Please Jesus, if you prayed that 412 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,480 prayer for the very first time right now, would you be brave 413 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:27,120 and raise your hand for me to see? 414 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,120 Thank you, thank you. You can put your hands down. 415 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:36,760 Thank you, thank you in Jesus name, Amen. 416 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:38,440 Real quick, right here, real quick. 417 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:44,960 Jesus loves you. And if you just gave your life 418 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,600 to Christ, welcome to the family. 419 00:27:55,370 --> 00:27:57,490 We're going to have a time to respond to this. 420 00:27:57,490 --> 00:27:58,930 You go and stand. We're going to sing as well. 421 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:01,720 Our prayer team's going to be on both sides over here. 422 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,920 If you would like prayer for any reason at all, come down. 423 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,400 We would love to pray with you and for you and over you. 424 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,360 If you just made a declaration of faith to Christ, we would 425 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:13,440 love to talk to you. There's some tables in the back. 426 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:14,960 Say I raised my hand. You can go back there. 427 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:17,120 You can come up to one of us. We have a gift for you. 428 00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:23,760 We'd love to celebrate with you. Our prayer team is up here to 429 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,200 pray with you for any reason. You move as the Lord leads you 430 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,760 church. We love you and Merry Christmas.