1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,720 Good morning. My name is Daniel. 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:05,840 I'm the lead pastor here a welcome to Res church. 3 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:08,720 We are going to start a a Christmas series today. 4 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:14,200 You know, our culture loves redemption stories. 5 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,840 We, we, we've kind of built the culture, in fact, of, of media 6 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:23,400 and story culture around this idea of people that have lost it 7 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,480 all, sometimes through choices of their own, sometimes because 8 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,200 of things that are done against them or to them. 9 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,240 And then they, they come back and they rise above it all back 10 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:36,120 in to do something great again. The, the Robert Downey juniors 11 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,160 who make it all the way to the bottom and then kind of come 12 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:40,520 back and rebound. Or there's a guy named Luis 13 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,320 Zamperini, who's an Olympic runner, but you know, he 14 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:48,280 survived torture in a World War 2 prisoner camp, came back, had 15 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,600 to overcome alcoholism and PTSD. But these types of stories 16 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,440 resonate with us for some reason. 17 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:59,200 It's, it's almost as if there's something deep down inside of us 18 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,920 that longs to see that happen, to see people redeemed and to 19 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:06,600 come back. If you're new to the Christian 20 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:10,320 faith, or if, if maybe you're a skeptic and you wouldn't even 21 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:13,800 call yourself a Christian just yet and you're just hanging out 22 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:15,480 here today or you're, you're watching. 23 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,080 First of all, welcome. And, and 2nd is one thing you 24 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,880 should know about the Bible is it, it's, it's actually one 25 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:25,800 giant story of redemption, one huge redemption story. 26 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:29,800 And you and I are absolutely the underdogs, but we are not the 27 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:34,440 heroes in this story. And in this one big story, there 28 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,560 are dozens, maybe hundreds of, of smaller redemptive stories 29 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:40,240 that all contribute to the big one. 30 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:41,520 They all kind of connect together. 31 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:44,880 And so we're going to start our Christmas series today in the 32 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,960 book of Ruth, the book of Ruth, We're calling this Christmas 33 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,600 roots. And the reason we're teaching 34 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,320 the Christmas story from the book of Ruth, it's kind of 35 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:57,520 interesting. You see, Ruth did not occur 36 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,480 around the Christmas time at all. 37 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:04,240 It took place about 1100 years or so before Jesus was ever 38 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,440 born. And you're going, that's quite 39 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,520 the prequel. You're right, we are going way 40 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:10,400 back. And so over the course of the 41 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:12,480 next four or five weeks, we're going to take a look at this 42 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,880 little town called Bethlehem where Jesus is later born. 43 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,880 God will eventually send his Son Christ, Jesus Christ as the 44 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,680 great, great, great, great, great, great grandson of the 45 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:29,000 family in this story. In fact, it will be 28 46 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,280 generations later in the same exact town. 47 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,400 Jesus will come. And so we're going to have the 48 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,800 ultimate Christmas prequel. Now here's why I want to start 49 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,680 here, why I want to preach Christmas to you from the book 50 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,520 of Ruth, something that happened over a millennia earlier, 51 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,640 because I want you to see that nothing that God did was 52 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:51,760 accidental. Nothing about the Christmas 53 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,040 story was accidental. All of this was planned. 54 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,120 God does not make mistakes. We make mistakes. 55 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:01,440 God fixes those mistakes. We did not catch God off guard. 56 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,720 And so not only did he plan to send his Son, He planned for so 57 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,200 long that over 1000 years earlier he was already planning 58 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,080 this. He is already laying a way in a 59 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:15,560 foundation for Jesus here in Bethlehem. 60 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,480 So I want you to see how good God is, how intentional he is in 61 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,320 our redemption. So today, if you if you leave 62 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,240 today with only one thing, if you only remember a single thing 63 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:28,240 about today's sermon, I want you to remember this. 64 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,440 God beckons the broken to bless them. 65 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:34,840 God beckons the broken to bless him. 66 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:36,880 God is the God of the broken hearted. 67 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,760 We're going to start today in Ruth chapter one, verse 1. 68 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,360 So if you have your texts, go ahead and turn there and join me 69 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,440 in reading God's word. Ruth 11 Here we go. 70 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:51,200 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the 71 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:56,480 land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn or travel 72 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:01,600 and live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two 73 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:03,280 sons. The name of the man was 74 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:07,000 Elimelech, the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two 75 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,320 sons were Meilan and Chilion. They were a path rights from 76 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:12,920 Bethlehem and Judah. They went into the country of 77 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:17,800 Moab and remained there. Now in the days the judges ruled 78 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:22,160 the land. That was around 1500 BC to about 79 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,960 1050 BC or so. For about 400 years judges ruled 80 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,280 the the nation of Israel and then after that the people 81 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:32,800 demanded that they get a king so they could be like every other 82 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:34,200 country. It didn't work out real well. 83 00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:39,600 And this man, Elimelech, who lives in Bethlehem, is in a very 84 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,360 established family. We know that because he was 85 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,480 called in a path, right? And that the town of Bethlehem 86 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,480 back in the day before was called, that was called a path, 87 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:51,440 right? And so or Epreath. 88 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,000 And that means that his family had been in this city for a 89 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:00,240 long, long, long time. But there's a famine in the 90 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,200 land. It's not producing. 91 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:06,800 And so Elimelech and his wife Naomi and, and, and their two 92 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,840 sons leave and go to Moab. Now, it doesn't seem like a lot 93 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:11,840 of information in this story, but it's actually kind of packed 94 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:14,280 with information that you should understand in context. 95 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:15,960 This is a really big deal for a couple reasons. 96 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:19,520 You see, Elimelech in this established family in this town 97 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:21,920 of, of Bethlehem is an Israelite. 98 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:23,600 That just means he's one of God's people. 99 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:25,800 God has taken a people. He said, I'm going to call you 100 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:27,840 my own people. I'm going to take you out of 101 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:30,520 slavery, out of Egypt. I'm going to lead you to a 102 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:32,920 promised land. They're living in this promise 103 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:37,760 of, of, of God as God's people. He has set them apart from all 104 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,040 other nations. He has told them, hey, wherever 105 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,960 I am is protection is provision is satisfaction. 106 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:51,480 Now, even though we don't get a lot of detail, we know that he 107 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,080 left Bethlehem and he goes to Moab. 108 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,280 We don't know if if Naomi, his wife, was for this move or 109 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:00,960 against this move. Maybe there were other factors. 110 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,240 Let me tell you what's not happening in the story. 111 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,600 Pretty much a guarantee. God is not telling him to move 112 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:12,240 to Moab. In fact, God has said the 113 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:13,880 opposite. God has said I'm I'm setting the 114 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,760 Israelites, you as my people. I'm setting you apart from every 115 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,360 other nation, and wherever I am, you should go. 116 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:26,040 And he's Lee, and he leaves. And if you were going to leave 117 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:29,640 Israel, if you're going to leave Bethlehem, of all the places you 118 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,640 could travel, the last place that an Israelite would go is 119 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:38,640 Moab. Because the land of Moab, not 120 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,400 only do they not follow the God of the Bible, they looked down 121 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,280 on and frequently mistreated Israelites. 122 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:48,320 They worshipped idols particularly. 123 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,640 One of the false gods that they worshipped in Moab was a God, 124 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:57,000 Chimosh, who who part of worship to him was was human sacrifice 125 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,600 and child sacrifice. He was called the savage God of 126 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,520 War. And so there had been so much 127 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,160 enmity between these two nations that God had actually said to 128 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,760 exclude the Moabites from the community of Israel. 129 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,880 Don't allow them to mix into your nation. 130 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:15,680 Don't allow them to be part of the people of God. 131 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,640 In fact, he said don't allow them to participate until the 132 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,880 10th generation. Like you're done messed up a a 133 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,600 Ron. That's the problem. 134 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,760 And so if you're going to go anywhere, Elimelech bro, don't 135 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:32,400 go to Moab. So he goes to Moab. 136 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,800 Why would he do that? Because let me tell you what's 137 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:40,640 not happening. God's not telling him to go. 138 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,080 I can almost guarantee you his family that is established there 139 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:45,400 in Bethlehem is not telling him to go. 140 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:48,160 He doesn't have wise counsel telling him to go. 141 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:49,640 Why would he go? Well, here's what happened. 142 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,640 He looks at his circumstances. There's a famine. 143 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:56,080 It's not going well. He looks at his idiot. 144 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,920 Things are tough, and he decides to run to the very place that 145 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:04,440 God has forbidden. So, so, so circumstances are 146 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,200 difficult. He rejects God's promise, he 147 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,840 rejects God's commands, and he runs to what the world can offer 148 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:15,800 him. What a loser. 149 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:23,400 Wow, Can you believe that guy? Glad I never do that. 150 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:34,799 I mean this week much look around at the difficult 151 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:39,559 circumstances, a bad economy or a tough job market, maybe a 152 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:41,840 relationship status that doesn't feel very good. 153 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,160 Maybe a little bit lonely, maybe kind of copping my emotions of 154 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:49,160 the difficulty or the grief or wounds of a particular season. 155 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:54,440 And then reject all that God is doing and has said and will say 156 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,240 and and and and and being to buy into the promises of a world 157 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:00,360 that is far from God. Yeah. 158 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,080 Yeah. You've never done right. 159 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:05,080 None of you guys. No, no, not us. 160 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:10,560 Elimelech, this guy. OK. 161 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:15,440 I've done this a lot. I've done this. 162 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:18,960 You've done this. You got caught up in the in the 163 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,120 moment of the situation in your life and you're looking around, 164 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:24,000 you're going. I don't know if God's really 165 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,800 going to come through. And so I'm going to run after 166 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:34,320 blank and it was like 3 weeks ago. 167 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:36,840 I'm looking at my life and I'm looking at my bills and I'm God. 168 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,560 I don't know if we can we can pay these bills and I you know, 169 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:43,680 and it so so things thoughts that that are not of God begin 170 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:46,280 to flash through my mind, right? Maybe I need to go get a job 171 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,040 that pays better than this man. Is it really fair that my wife 172 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,680 had to go back to work? Am I really being a good dad or 173 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:53,960 a good husband if I can't actually provide for them? 174 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,200 You ever let Satan get a couple thoughts into your mind, right? 175 00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,320 Get a little foothold in there. Don't take very long. 176 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:06,040 It's a dangerous moment. You see over and over and over 177 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:10,520 again in the Bible, God asks people the same, the same 178 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:16,320 question that I'm sure Elimelech was answering with his life. 179 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:17,800 And you and I have to answer this. 180 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:20,280 Here's what he asks. Hey, will you believe in my 181 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:25,400 promises and my character even when you can't see it in the 182 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:27,320 moment? Will you still have faith? 183 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:34,200 Will you trust my promises? My goodness, my character Alumni 184 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,160 clearly did not. I have this conversation with 185 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:39,320 people all the time when they're making bad decisions. 186 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:42,840 They tell me they're about to do something really unwise. 187 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:44,600 Oh, I'm just going to up my whole family. 188 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,640 I'm going to move to Kentucky bro. 189 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:48,920 They don't actually make the fried chicken there. 190 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,360 I'm going to marry a non Christian, I'm going to divorce 191 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:56,920 my spouse. I'm going to take a job that's 192 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:58,920 going to kill my marriage. I'm going to be gone all the 193 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:02,560 time, whatever they some dumped And listen, I'm going and I 194 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:04,600 always ask them the same series of questions. 195 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:07,880 Always I go, hey, OK, who's been praying with you about this? 196 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:12,760 Crickets. Oh, well, you know, I've been 197 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:13,400 praying about it. Great. 198 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:18,920 Who else? Well, what have you read in 199 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:23,080 Scripture recently that leads you to this decision? 200 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,520 Usually a blank stare or here's a question. 201 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:31,640 Hey, what is your close accountability? 202 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:33,960 People that love God and love you say about this. 203 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:40,320 I haven't really told anyone. Why do you, what do you think 204 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:43,200 God is trying to do as he leads you into this decision? 205 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,760 You ever ask someone who's about to go get a divorce that they're 206 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:55,160 just like? Here, let me tell you the real 207 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:57,360 reason that questions like that don't have good answers. 208 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:00,840 OK, I can tell you this from my own personal life, because the, 209 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,920 the, the actual real motivation behind a lot of these decisions 210 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,240 when we begin to run from God is that we're actually rejecting 211 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,760 the sovereignty of God. And what I mean by that is this 212 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,120 God has said that he will provide. 213 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:13,720 God has said that he will protect. 214 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,560 God has said that he will lead. And the moment I don't see it, 215 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:22,800 I'm like, Nope, going to Moab. I'll just come up with 216 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:25,640 justifications along the way as to why it's probably OK. 217 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:30,960 Well, there was a famine. Did you let God know that there 218 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:32,520 was a famine? Like he probably can't handle 219 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,840 that. Well, I just didn't feel like 220 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:45,100 it. This is why I need the Bible in 221 00:12:45,100 --> 00:12:48,920 my life. This is why I need close 222 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,720 accountability of people that love God and love me in my life. 223 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,680 This is why not only do I need to pray about circumstances and 224 00:12:54,680 --> 00:12:57,200 things, I need people around me to pray about them too. 225 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,080 To remain faithful in the midst of difficulty. 226 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,880 So our story starts with a moral failure. 227 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:10,440 Limeluk, a weak man making a fearful decision to reject God. 228 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:14,920 Man, that is my story all too often too. 229 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:20,280 Now it gets worse before it gets better. 230 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,280 Elimelech can hit Naomi and their sons are there for some 231 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:26,640 time. In fact, the sons marry and 232 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:31,600 Elimelech dies, and then both sons die, leaving these two 233 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:36,560 Moabite wives as widows, leaving Naomi the mother as a widow in a 234 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:40,200 foreign land. By the way, that again, 235 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,960 rejecting God's commands, nobody was supposed to marry Moabite 236 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:46,760 into the Moabite a nation at all. 237 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,160 So that was strictly forbidden. They both marry Moabite wives 238 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,040 completely, absolutely against God's will. 239 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,960 They all die. You now have 3 widows as the 240 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,520 main characters of our story. Merry Christmas. 241 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,480 Welcome to Rest Church. What a joyful, encouraging 242 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:05,560 story. Pastor, thank you. 243 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:08,680 Feel so good. Let's pray. 244 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:13,800 Oh, now understand though, because we'll get to there's 245 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,080 some beautiful redemptive things in here, but understand the 246 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:20,200 context of three widows in that time. 247 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:22,960 There's no Social Security, there's no safety net. 248 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,000 They've moved away from family. Naomi doesn't have any family in 249 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:27,640 Moab. There's there's no one to care 250 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,400 for them. This is a patriarchal culture. 251 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,360 These ladies cannot survive. They can't protect themselves. 252 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,920 They can't just go get a job. They can't provide. 253 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,920 The situation is dark and bleak and looks hopeless. 254 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:46,480 And here's what Naomi finds out. She says, hey, I hear there's 255 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,400 food back in Bethlehem. The famine's over. 256 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:55,080 I'm going home. I'm going home. 257 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:00,640 And we don't know if she was against leaving originally or 258 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:04,320 not. Maybe maybe the the choice to 259 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,400 leave was a mistake that she actively participated in. 260 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:10,040 Maybe she was the one nudging Illinois elect to go. 261 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:12,880 I don't know, maybe not. Maybe it was something that was 262 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:18,520 done to her. And some of you here can relate. 263 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:23,200 You see, some of the disaster of my past in my life was a result 264 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:24,920 of my own poor decisions. Amen. 265 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:31,120 And sometimes it was things that were done to me that I had no 266 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,800 control over. It can be a blend of both. 267 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:41,520 But most of us can relate to at least some of the feelings that 268 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:46,280 she's feeling far from home in a situation she doesn't want to be 269 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,840 in. We don't know if it's because of 270 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:52,160 others decisions or hers. Most often in my life because of 271 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:58,880 mine, following my own emotion, my own logic. 272 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:06,760 And it feels pretty hopeless. So she heads home and, and as we 273 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:10,520 look at her choice to go home, you might say, you might say, if 274 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,320 you're really reading this story, you might say, what 275 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:17,560 choice did she really have? She's out of options at this 276 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:19,280 point. Is that even a choice when 277 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:24,000 there's nothing else to choose? If you've run out of every 278 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,000 option other than turning back to God, is it really a choice? 279 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:33,280 Hey, guess what, I've been here. When you get to the very bottom 280 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:37,120 of the hole you've been digging, the first step is to put down 281 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:47,880 the shovel and ask God for help. You see, the thing I don't want 282 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:50,240 you to miss and I don't want you to forget is that God beckons 283 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,320 the broken to bless them. He often allows us to run out 284 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:57,440 there and get broken of our own accord, of our own bad choices, 285 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:03,080 so that he can welcome us home. So in our story, Naomi decides 286 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:05,079 I'm going to go home. And so she goes to her daughter, 287 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:08,560 daughters in law, and she tells them both one's name, Ruth, one 288 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:10,839 is name Orpa. She says, I'm going home. 289 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:12,640 Y'all should go back to your families. 290 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:13,760 At least you could have a chance. 291 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:15,599 You have a support structure. You could get remarried. 292 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:17,599 There's a future for you. There's none for me. 293 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:21,160 I'm going home. So Orpa goes back to her 294 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:22,960 parents, but Ruth chooses something different. 295 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:24,160 I'm going to show you that in verse 14. 296 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,280 Let's pick it up. Our story says they lifted up 297 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:28,840 their voices and their wept their grieving and Orpa kissed 298 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,280 her mother-in-law. But Ruth clung to her and she 299 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:35,520 said, See your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to 300 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,520 her gods return after your sister-in-law. 301 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,360 But Ruth said, do not urge me to leave you or to return from 302 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:45,920 following you, for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I 303 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,720 will lodge. Your people shall be my people 304 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:53,280 and your God, my God. Where you die I will die, and 305 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,480 there I will be buried. May the God, may the Lord do so 306 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:00,920 to me, and more also if anything but death parts me from you. 307 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,120 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she 308 00:18:03,120 --> 00:18:05,800 said no more. This is actually, this is a 5 309 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:07,840 chapter book. This is the turning point of the 310 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:09,880 whole story right here in chapter 1. 311 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:15,120 Because the the story starts with a person rejecting God and 312 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,480 choosing what he thinks is going to be easier and better. 313 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:21,200 But in this moment, we see the contrast from Naomi. 314 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,840 Naomi has no more options, but Ruth has options. 315 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:26,760 See, Ruth can go back to her family. 316 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:29,280 She could go back to her parents who live in Moab. 317 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,600 She didn't have to go to back to Bethlehem. 318 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:33,520 She goes to Bethlehem. She can have a culture change. 319 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:35,400 She's going to be a foreigner. She's going to be looked down 320 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,160 upon. She's got no system or support 321 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:39,080 there. She doesn't understand the 322 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:40,200 faith. She doesn't understand the 323 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:44,840 customs. And yet Ruth chooses God because 324 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:50,040 of Naomi. What a choice. 325 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:57,040 What a choice. I don't want you to miss God at 326 00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:00,440 work in the darkest of circumstances. 327 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:05,000 This, this story starts out so hopeless and yet right here you 328 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:09,600 see God at work. What would cause Ruth to choose 329 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,120 God? Let's read a little bit more. 330 00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:14,320 You'll see a few more things pick up at verse 19. 331 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:19,600 So the two of them, Ruth and Naomi, went on until it came to 332 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:20,680 Bethlehem. It's a long trip. 333 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:21,560 We'll talk about that in a minute. 334 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,120 And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred 335 00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:26,160 because of them. And the women said, is this 336 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:27,720 Naomi? So they remember her. 337 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:34,120 And she said to them, do not call me Naomi, call me Mara, for 338 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:36,720 the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 339 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,040 I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty. 340 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,920 Why call me Naomi when the Lord has testified against me and the 341 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,280 Almighty has brought calamity upon me? 342 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:51,960 Drama queen. Wow. 343 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,480 So Naomi returned and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law 344 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,400 with her, who returned from the country of Moab and they came to 345 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,880 Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest. 346 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,920 That's kind of an interesting little note in our chapter like 347 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:07,720 that. Timing is going to be 348 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:09,240 interested. Why? 349 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:12,120 Because the word Bethlehem, the name of the town, the word 350 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:14,520 Bethlehem actually means House of bread. 351 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,000 And they're going to come back seeking bread, seeking 352 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:21,880 sustenance, seeking some sort of provision. 353 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:27,840 And it's going to be about about 1000 to 1100 years later in this 354 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,160 town called the House of bread that they're coming back to 355 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:32,320 while they're seeking bread, that God's going to send the 356 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:37,440 bread of life. His name is Jesus, the bread 357 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:42,880 that actually satisfies. But look at, look at, look at 358 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,160 Naomi. I want you to see how distorted 359 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:46,920 her pers. We talk about how trauma 360 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,280 oftentimes distorts the way we see the world. 361 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:52,120 Look at this. She said to them, do not call me 362 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:56,920 Naomi, call me Mara, which means bitter, for the Almighty has 363 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,760 dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full. 364 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:02,480 That's not true and the Lord has brought me back empty. 365 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:08,080 Why call me Naomi when the Lord has testified against me and the 366 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,720 Almighty has brought calamity upon me? 367 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,880 Wait, God brought calamity upon her? 368 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:20,640 Really. Because I'm pretty sure it was 369 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:24,520 Elimelech and maybe Naomi that chose to leave. 370 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,600 God didn't tell him. Go to my worst enemy and live 371 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:30,760 there. Go to the place they worship 372 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:34,160 false gods and live there. Go marry your sons to Moabite 373 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,040 women that I commanded you not to do. 374 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:37,920 No, no, none of that was God's choice. 375 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,080 They chose that. Oh, if it isn't the consequences 376 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:49,640 of my own choices. It was a limo that rejected God, 377 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:53,040 rejected his commands, rejected his faith, rejected his family, 378 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,360 abandoned his family, rejected his faith. 379 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:03,760 God would be certainly within his right to punish this 380 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:07,560 rebellion with death. The fact that he spared Naomi's 381 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:13,760 life at all is a gift. But she's caught up in grief, 382 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:17,520 caught up in those wounds, caught up in the emotions, and 383 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:21,040 she, she, she can't see it. We can we get to read the story 384 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:23,440 and go how do you not see how much God is doing for you? 385 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,960 But think about it. God has not only spared Naomi's 386 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:38,880 life, but God just converted her daughter-in-law Ruth to the 387 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:43,360 faith. From what she's only seen the 388 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:47,600 testimony of rebellious cowards, and for some reason God has 389 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:51,360 drawn Ruth and saved her soul because of Naomi. 390 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:55,800 I think about this. The first point you have 391 00:22:55,800 --> 00:23:00,880 influence. God will use you to reach people 392 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:09,880 even when you're being stupid. Naomi's not doing anything 393 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,920 amazing. There's no phenomenal testimony 394 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:17,760 of God and said yet somehow God has used Naomi and Elimelech to 395 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,720 save a Moabite woman and bring her to faith. 396 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:27,760 God uses Naomi, a depressed, embittered widow to convert, by 397 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,160 the way, the great, great, great great grandmother of Jesus. 398 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:41,280 Now why would he do that? Why would God say the Moabites 399 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,160 are excluded? Don't don't participate with the 400 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,280 don't even have any association with the Moabites. 401 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,800 And then take a Moabite and make that the grandma of Jesus so 402 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:57,760 that you and I 3000 years later, you'd realize that no matter how 403 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:03,520 rebellious and how dumb and how emotional how disastrous your 404 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:07,560 past is, God will still use you for his glory to save people. 405 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:17,960 So you can have a horrible past and God's like come home, come 406 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:25,880 home church. I've watched God use me in times 407 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:29,040 of my life where I was running from God and I was rebellious to 408 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,160 God and and he's saving people through my life and I'm looking 409 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:33,840 at them going, I don't even want anything to do with God. 410 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,120 How in the world is this working? 411 00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:41,440 And the answer is because he's God and he does what he wants to 412 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:45,800 do. You can do that when you're God. 413 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:54,160 And I just want to remind you, regardless of the past, 414 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:58,280 regardless of what you're coming from or through that you have a 415 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:03,160 voice, you have a story, you have influence. 416 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:05,840 You know, we're, we're headed into the Christmas season. 417 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:13,160 It is statistically the season that the the month or so in 418 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:18,400 which people are most probable to say yes to your invite to go 419 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:24,080 to church, to talk about Jesus, to hear the gospel. 420 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:27,720 We printed up a couple 1000 or so of these cards for you and we 421 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,920 left them out in the lobby so you could grab some and begin 422 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:33,760 inviting people to come with you. 423 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:40,480 Because you have influence and you may not realize what a 424 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,160 single invite might do. In the same way that no one 425 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:49,120 would have expected a Moabite widow to change the course of 426 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:55,360 history. So don't miss an opportunity 427 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:59,200 this season to just ask to invite someone to come with you. 428 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,280 Second thing, when you are angry at God, you'll miss how much 429 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:07,760 he's actually doing for you. Here's Naomi saying, oh, God's, 430 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,120 God's reached out his hand against me and he's testified 431 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:13,800 against me and he and he's treated me poorly. 432 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:20,760 You know, Naomi and Ruth, two widowed women by themselves, 433 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:27,520 just made a 75 mile journey on foot between two enemy nations. 434 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:33,640 Going from a 4500 foot elevation in Moab all the way down through 435 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,080 a valley back up 3700 feet takes 10 days. 436 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,600 And if you had a caravan with guards it would be dangerous. 437 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:42,840 What do you think two single women are going to do? 438 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:45,760 How do you think that's supposed to go? 439 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:47,960 Somehow they make it all the way. 440 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:49,840 They're unaccosted. You think it's because they 441 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:56,080 looked pretty tough? Like you could listen. 442 00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:58,080 You could you could tattoo a teardrop next to your eye. 443 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:02,480 It ain't going to matter. It could be like, only God's 444 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,160 going to judge me, man. You going to get enslaved? 445 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:09,160 You're lucky you're not dead. How did they get all the way 446 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,080 back to Bethlehem without being hurt? 447 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:14,720 If only there could be an answer. 448 00:27:16,360 --> 00:27:18,600 Could be the sovereignty and protection of God. 449 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:26,640 A couple years ago I drove my daughter back from Orlando and I 450 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,560 picked her up in this little rental van, 2 wheel drive and 451 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,560 we're driving back and we get stuck in a Blizzard. 452 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,400 It's January by the way. It snows in Florida. 453 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:37,840 Did you know that? It was super weird. 454 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:41,280 I was like, I don't know how crocodiles deal with anyways, so 455 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,880 I'm driving and all I'm doing because I've packed this, this 456 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:48,280 rental van with all the stuff and I'm driving that you can't 457 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,200 see and I'm, you know, I can't see anything. 458 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:51,360 I'm just complaining the whole way. 459 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:55,240 I make it all the way back. And it was only after I got back 460 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,680 that I, I realized we counted something like 17 overturned big 461 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:04,160 rigs on the road out of DFW because the snow was so fierce. 462 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,120 Things were running off the road and flipping everywhere. 463 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:11,080 And we made it fine. And so in the in the moment when 464 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,080 I'm full of emotion, all I had was complaint. 465 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,840 But when it's done and I look back ago, you know, that 466 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:27,660 probably took an army of angels to get us here safely get rid of 467 00:28:27,660 --> 00:28:29,180 this. How easily this could have been 468 00:28:29,180 --> 00:28:31,660 a very different story if God had not been protecting these 469 00:28:31,660 --> 00:28:34,420 two ladies as they, you know, 1 does not simply walk into 470 00:28:34,420 --> 00:28:37,860 Mordor. They didn't even have a ring and 471 00:28:37,860 --> 00:28:40,660 they were little hobbits. But somehow they make this whole 472 00:28:40,660 --> 00:28:44,080 trip and they're fine and they don't even she didn't even 473 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:48,640 realize in the moment, right? She didn't even thankful at all. 474 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:50,960 She doesn't see it. But what about you? 475 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:59,280 You who has has run from God, has rebelled against God, angry 476 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:01,960 that you didn't get your way? How much of God's goodness and 477 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:05,000 kindness are you completely ignoring in your life right now? 478 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,000 You get so caught up in our feelings and in our emotions. 479 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,040 You may miss the providential and sovereign hand of God all 480 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:17,840 around you. You don't see it right now. 481 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,120 But listen, from my experience, what was what's going to happen 482 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:23,960 is in the months or years after, as you begin to realize, you're 483 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,920 going to look in the rearview mirror of your car, except this 484 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:28,360 will be the rearview mirror of your life. 485 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:29,560 And you're going to look back and go. 486 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:36,960 And God was so good to me. God was so gracious to me in 487 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:41,640 that moment. Not only did He not punish me 488 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:50,640 for what I deserved, for what I earned, not only did He not 489 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,800 punish me, but He lavished His grace and mercy upon me. 490 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,240 Where are you blaming God for something instead of realizing 491 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,240 the grace and mercy that He is extending you? 492 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,920 Here's the Third Point from our, our first chapter, this story, 493 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:16,000 you can always come home. You know, there's a lot of us 494 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,200 here that we have wayward kids that are off doing whatever 495 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,960 they're doing. And, and the I think you'd love 496 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,560 to be able to really communicate is to look them in the eyes so 497 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:30,240 you can always come home. Jesus would tell us of a similar 498 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,520 story about 1000 years after this story about a son who 499 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,320 demands his inheritance while his dad is still alive, which is 500 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,160 incredibly offensive, and then abandons his family and runs 501 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,080 away to squander everything in a foreign country with rich 502 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:47,440 living, only to fall into poverty, starvation, and finally 503 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:53,320 decides I'm going to go home. And as he's walking back with 504 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:59,640 his head hung in shame, his father sees him from a a long 505 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:02,400 way off because he's there waiting, watching, hoping. 506 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,920 And he runs them and he puts his arms around him and he welcomes 507 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:10,920 him home. Naomi goes home. 508 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:13,800 This is the message of Christmas. 509 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,800 Christmas didn't start with trees and ornaments and hot 510 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:18,480 cocoa. It started with broken people 511 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,240 who'd gotten themselves into a mess that they couldn't fix. 512 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:27,040 Every generation since Adam and Eve were the first humans. 513 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,680 Every generation has been born under the curse of sin because 514 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:34,640 of that first rebellion against God, and every generation, 515 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:37,720 including yours and mine, has rebelled against God. 516 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,600 The Bible says that you and I were born into sin, born into 517 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:47,800 rebellion, born spiritually dead and out of options, just like 518 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,320 Naomi sitting in Moab. No other choices. 519 00:31:51,400 --> 00:32:00,640 But God in his graciousness sent Jesus, his only Son, to save the 520 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,520 world. Christmas is about God reaching 521 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:12,040 into broken humanity to offer us a chance to come home, come 522 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:17,960 home. The great irony is that God 523 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:22,600 gives us the greatest gift ever given, His Son, the Savior of 524 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:24,960 the world. And yet, how many people reject 525 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:30,760 Christ in this world? How many people reject His 526 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:35,440 Lordship over their lives? He came to save us, and we still 527 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:39,120 choose our own control and our own preference over the King of 528 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:46,480 Kings and the Lord of Lords. So many of the things that have 529 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:50,120 happened in my life, it was not God's hand against me, it was 530 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,400 not God treating me bitterly. It was a God allowing me to 531 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:56,600 suffer the consequences of my own choices and my own decisions 532 00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:00,920 so that I would see how good He is compared to this world. 533 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:08,960 How about you? Where do you need to come home 534 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:15,680 from today? Where have you been chasing your 535 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:19,040 own logic, your own reason, your own emotion, your own feelings 536 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,760 and as a result running from what God has for you? 537 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,080 Where is Christ calling you to come home? 538 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,760 Have you been allowing doubt and fear about the your 539 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:38,040 circumstances and, and your future to consume your thought 540 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:43,000 life and, and, and your choices instead of resting in what God 541 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:46,960 has promised, living in a way that dependent on God? 542 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:51,120 Have you been prioritizing the things of this world? 543 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:53,080 This is exactly what Elimelech did. 544 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:58,520 Prioritizing your job or, or, or money or success or 545 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,360 relationships or comfort and, and you will realize at some 546 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:08,760 point you are worshipping idols. Have you fallen in love with 547 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:12,280 this world, the things that it offers, and now find yourself 548 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:18,120 dissatisfied with it all? Have you sat in the pain or the 549 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:20,639 hurt of what someone did to you and allowed that to change your 550 00:34:20,639 --> 00:34:23,280 perspective of God and others and yourself? 551 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:27,639 You see, oftentimes God will let us get to the point where we're 552 00:34:27,639 --> 00:34:31,159 ready to throw our hands up in frustration and scream at God. 553 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:35,120 And that's a wonderful place because you're at a point where 554 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:36,760 you might actually listen to what he's saying. 555 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:41,159 And he's saying, come home. He's been waiting. 556 00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:44,199 God beckons the broken to bless them. 557 00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:51,000 He's calling Naomi home. For the Christian who who finds 558 00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:54,159 themselves where I found myself plenty of times. 559 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:56,719 There's a formula in in scripture. 560 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,040 Every time we come back to God after we've run from him. 561 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:01,880 It's very simple. It's not easy, but it's very 562 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:08,120 simple. Confess in prayer and and to 563 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:11,880 someone else. Confess what we've done where 564 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:14,280 we've rebelled against God. Confess. 565 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:17,320 Maybe that's in accountability. Maybe that's in a group that 566 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,280 you're in. Maybe that's with a close 567 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,480 brother or sister in Christ. Maybe you don't have anybody and 568 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:24,440 our per team will be up here in a little bit and you can come up 569 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:29,000 and just just I need to confess. I've been running from God. 570 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:35,960 Secondly, repent. Turn away from whatever you've 571 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:37,640 been chasing. Turn toward God. 572 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:41,760 This is what Naomi does. She turns away from Moab. 573 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:46,840 She turns toward Bethlehem. Turn away from what you've been 574 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:53,520 chasing, turn toward God. And 3rd recommit to pursuing 575 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:57,600 Christ and his community. Just ask for help. 576 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,640 Join a group, jump in the team, begin to pursue God with others. 577 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:10,400 Last week we had an opportunity to pray together, and I had 578 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:12,840 person after person after person come up and go. 579 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:14,640 I thought that was going to be boring. 580 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:22,640 No, it's powerful. You need other people. 581 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:26,360 We don't like to admit we need other people, but we need other 582 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,360 people. It's a very simple formula. 583 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:34,320 Confess, repent, pursue. It's not easy to do. 584 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:35,280 You know why it's not easy to do? 585 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:39,320 Because to to do that, we actually have to admit that 586 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:43,080 we're wrong. We have to admit that we need 587 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:45,520 others. We have to admit that God was 588 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,120 right. And oh, does our pride not like 589 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:50,160 that? Let me just encourage you as a 590 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:55,240 lifelong failure to pride, repentance, confession. 591 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:59,400 It is worth it. Maybe the most liberating thing 592 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:03,760 in life is to confess and cry out to God. 593 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:11,840 Come home, Christian, come home. Maybe you're not a Christian. 594 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:13,840 Maybe you're not Naomi in the story today. 595 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,600 Maybe you're Ruth. Maybe you spent your entire life 596 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:20,840 worshipping other gods, other things, and for some 597 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,280 inexplicable reason you have found yourself here today or or 598 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:26,880 watching online and you're not even sure why. 599 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:34,520 Let me explain why the God of Naomi, the God of Ruth, the God 600 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,720 of Daniel, the God of the Bible, desires to be your God. 601 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:42,480 Jesus Christ is calling you home. 602 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:47,760 No matter your background, no matter your past, your 603 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:52,040 decisions, your pain, you can have relationship with the God 604 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:53,960 of this universe. He is calling you. 605 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,320 That's why you're even paying attention right now. 606 00:37:56,760 --> 00:38:01,480 You didn't choose this. God has been wooing you to come 607 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:04,400 home. The one who created you, who 608 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:06,400 knit you together in your mother's womb, who knows the 609 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:10,920 number of hairs on your head. He's calling you to come home. 610 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,520 And I'll just tell you personally, from experience, 611 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:19,520 Jesus is worth it. He is so worth it. 612 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:25,040 Jesus who did not consider himself when he went to the 613 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:29,920 cross to die for us. He is good, He is wise, He is 614 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:34,680 powerful, He is God, He is King, and He is the only one that can 615 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,960 actually sit on the throne of my heart and create life and 616 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:46,720 future. So maybe that's you today. 617 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:52,680 You've never let God be the Lord of your life. 618 00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:57,120 No one else can decide that for you. 619 00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:02,200 No one else can give control of your heart over to God. 620 00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:05,320 Only you can do that. No one else can declare Christ's 621 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,880 king for you. Only you can do that. 622 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:12,400 Will you do that today? Will you come home? 623 00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:17,160 If you want to surrender your life to Christ today, I want to 624 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:19,240 give you an opportunity to do that before we finish our 625 00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:20,720 service. Will you bow with me for just a 626 00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:24,320 brief moment as we pray? If you're willing to ask God for 627 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:28,400 forgiveness and salvation with every eye closed, every head 628 00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:31,040 bowed, I just want you to quietly or or silently repeat 629 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:34,760 this prayer after me. If you're a Christian who feels 630 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:37,400 like you've been running from God, I want you to use this as 631 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:39,640 an opportunity to confess and repent. 632 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:42,440 Turn toward God. All right. 633 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:44,880 You want to give your life to Christ. 634 00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:49,720 Repeat after me. Jesus, I know I'm a Sinner and I 635 00:39:49,720 --> 00:39:55,360 can't save myself. I want you to save me. 636 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:02,200 I surrender everything to you. Be my Lord. 637 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:07,880 Please, Jesus, you said that prayer for the very first time. 638 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:09,160 You've given your life to Christ. 639 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,920 Would you be brave and raise your hand for me to see? 640 00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:15,760 Awesome. Thank you. 641 00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:21,800 Thank you. Put chance now in Jesus name, 642 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:23,440 Amen. Real quick, Real quick. 643 00:40:26,840 --> 00:40:31,960 If you just ask God to save you, welcome to the family. 644 00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:40,600 The Bible says that when a single person turns to God, 645 00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:46,520 gives a life to the Lord that all of heaven celebrates and 646 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:51,200 they are partying right now. In just a minute, when you 647 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:52,360 stand, we're going to sing a song. 648 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:57,560 In just a minute, we're going to close just a second In the back 649 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:01,600 there are tables. It says I raised my hand if, if, 650 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:04,240 if today or recently you've given your life to Christ and 651 00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:06,680 you haven't told anybody. I want you to make your way back 652 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:09,920 there as we respond to this service and tell somebody we 653 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:12,240 we'd love to celebrate with you. We have a gift for you. 654 00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:14,280 We're excited. I'm going to talk about what 655 00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:17,240 this journey looks like, but maybe, maybe today what you 656 00:41:17,240 --> 00:41:19,160 needed was confession and you don't know where you're going to 657 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:20,520 turn for that. Well, our prayer team is about 658 00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:23,240 to be up here. We love praying with you, 659 00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:24,120 praying for you. Amen. 660 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:27,680 If you just want to come and get prayed for, prayed over. 661 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:33,360 If you need somebody to confess with, we'd love to do that with 662 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:39,360 you too. You move as the Lord leads you. 663 00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:42,440 We love you. Merry Christmas.