1 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,360 This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd. 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,240 Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,320 striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:21,560 our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:25,360 at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message. 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,640 Today marks the day in our movement of the book of Exodus 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:32,600 and beyond. It marks the day where we're 8 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:35,360 going to actually exit the honeymoon phase a little bit. 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,800 Because if you think about this, what's been happening so far is 10 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:41,880 that God has been doing all of the primary work. 11 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,880 He's been walking people along. And so we've seen all these 12 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,480 great miracles and all these really cool things are happening 13 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:51,320 in the lives of the people who trust and believe in Him. 14 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,680 Yet we need to move into a space out of the honeymoon phase and 15 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,080 into a longer, more sustainable relationship. 16 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:01,080 I think we see that in humans too. 17 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,840 If you've ever first fallen in love with somebody or you meet a 18 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,520 brand new friend, you know, there's there's all these very 19 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:09,760 high and just big emotions and all those feelings. 20 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,000 But what we need to do long term is we need to be create a 21 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,040 sustainable relationship that looks like that's very 22 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,280 approachable. And so how then do we approach 23 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,080 the Lord? Well, in order to approach him, 24 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,600 I think that there's there's five ways that this text that we 25 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,400 have from Exodus 19 is going to help us understand that. 26 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,640 I would say just for any of you who are scared, you're like, OK, 27 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:37,960 I expected a longer service, but you're normally like a 28 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:40,040 three-point preacher. Why are there 5? 29 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,000 I'll tell you that I'm going to move through these fairly 30 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:50,320 quickly as I can, and we'll do our best. 31 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,120 I really will. But I do think that the text 32 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,400 leads us in a logical line. These are the ways that we can 33 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,640 approach God. This is the process that we do 34 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:00,520 that. And so let me name them for you. 35 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:02,720 First of all, we need to recognize that we're already 36 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:04,200 accepted. That's an important thing. 37 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,840 Then we receive and live out His law, and then we recognize that 38 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,160 we're His holy representatives. We see that the Lord is good, 39 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:16,000 not safe, and then finally, we approach Him through Christ 40 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:17,920 alone. So that is the lens with which 41 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:22,240 we will view Exodus 19 today. And so if you have your Bibles 42 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,120 and you and you want to get those out or they're kind of in 43 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,400 the seats in front of you, you can follow along that way or you 44 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:32,760 can follow along on the screen. That is also just fine. 45 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:38,240 So we'll be reading Exodus 19 one through 6, and then we jump 46 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:43,000 ahead and we read 16 through 22, and we read this in Jesus name. 47 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,440 On the third new moon, after the people of Israel had gone out of 48 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,480 the land of Egypt on that day, they came into the wilderness of 49 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,400 Sinai. They set out from Refidim and 50 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,560 came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the 51 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,400 wilderness there. There Israel encamped before the 52 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:03,360 mountain. While Moses went up to God. 53 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,160 The Lord called him out of the mountain, saying, Thus you shall 54 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,480 say to the House of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel, You 55 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,760 yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore 56 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,680 you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. 57 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,120 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my 58 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:27,400 covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all 59 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:31,920 the peoples, for the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a 60 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:34,760 Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 61 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,960 These are the words that you shall speak to the people of 62 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,960 Israel. Jumping ahead to verse 16, on 63 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,360 the morning of the third day there were thunders and 64 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,720 lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud 65 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:51,400 trumpet blast, so that all the people of the camp trembled. 66 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:55,760 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and 67 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,680 they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 68 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,160 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had 69 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,880 descended on it, and fire, the smoke of it went up like the 70 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,280 smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 71 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,400 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses 72 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,760 spoke, and God answered him in the Thunder. 73 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,360 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the 74 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,560 mountain, And the Lord called Moses up to the top of the 75 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:26,120 mountain. And Moses went up. 76 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:32,080 And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and warn the people, lest 77 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,280 they breakthrough to the Lord, to look. 78 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,680 And many of them perish. And let the priests who come 79 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,480 near to the Lord consecrate, consecrate themselves, lest the 80 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:46,760 Lord break out against them. Here ends the reading of God's 81 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:51,040 Word. So we have these ways that we 82 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,520 are called to approach God. And first and foremost, friends, 83 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,800 if we don't get anything else today, I hope we get more than 84 00:04:57,800 --> 00:04:59,240 this. But if you don't get anything 85 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:01,720 else today, please see that first and foremost, before 86 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,800 you've ever done anything, God has already accepted you. 87 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,840 We see this in verse 4 when He talks about the fact that He 88 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:11,760 brought them out. He bore them out. 89 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,600 Now had they done anything yet besides grumble and complain and 90 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,760 cry and Nope, they've done nothing at all. 91 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,920 And he brought them out anyway. He, he loved them anyway. 92 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,680 Now, I would say that the interesting thing about this is 93 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:30,760 that Christianity, and we've talked about this before, but 94 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:34,800 Christianity is wholly unique in the other world religions. 95 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,160 Because if you follow Islam, for example, and I've taken some 96 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:43,160 notes here, if you want to go to paradise, as Islam talks about 97 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:47,480 it, that is earned by fulfilling core beliefs and performing good 98 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:49,640 deeds. And if you really want to know, 99 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,960 the only way in Islam to assure yourself that you will be in 100 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:59,080 paradise with Allah is to die a martyr doing his work. 101 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:04,560 That is dangerous talk and I think it has led to a lot of the 102 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,840 radicalism of that particular religion. 103 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,360 Now on Buddhism, what you do is you accumulate this wholesome 104 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,360 karma and, and that karma and, and those ethical actions, 105 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,960 eventually they lead you into this otherworldly kind of 106 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:21,920 spiritual thing. You are no longer yourself. 107 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,600 You're just a part of the spiritual whole. 108 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:27,120 And you can do that by following the eightfold path. 109 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:29,920 You have to earn your way there by making sure you do all the 110 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,160 steps. Judaism, of course, is 111 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,840 determined by how well you follow the law of God. 112 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:40,720 And so your reward is equal to your ability to earn and follow 113 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,040 the law of God. Now, my favorite one that I 114 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,280 researched this week is Hinduism. 115 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,120 Now, Hinduism is not so different from Buddhism in that 116 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,480 like there's kind of an A karma account that you're building up 117 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,800 and then when you do bad things like that account is deducted a 118 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:57,560 little bit. But my favorite thing about 119 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:01,960 Hinduism is this. If somehow you've built up your 120 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:06,400 account by good works enough, you can make it to their version 121 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:07,920 of heaven or paradise or whatever. 122 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,520 Now, the crazy thing about this that I, it just makes me laugh. 123 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:13,520 It's terrible. I shouldn't laugh at it, but it 124 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,200 makes me laugh because it's like what happens is you spend so 125 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,120 much time in that paradise or in that heaven or whatever and it's 126 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,600 like a gas tank. Eventually all of your good 127 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,760 deeds, they like whittle down, whittle down, whittle down and 128 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,360 guess what you get to do? You get to come back to Earth 129 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,600 and start over again. It's insane. 130 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,280 It's insane. But the whole point of all of 131 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,040 these different religions is that you have to earn your way 132 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:38,960 into whatever you're going to get. 133 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:43,360 But that's not how God acts. Now, if we think about all those 134 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,920 different religions and we think about what it looks like to earn 135 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:50,960 our salvation, maybe the maybe we have a human element here 136 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:52,600 that actually bumps up against that. 137 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,840 And that would be the relationship, I think, between 138 00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:01,800 parents and their children. So, for example, when my wife 139 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,360 was pregnant with either of our kids, I know for sure that we 140 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,800 love those kids no matter what. They hadn't spoken yet. 141 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,040 They hadn't cried yet. They haven't done anything to 142 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:14,520 earn or take away our respect for them. 143 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,640 But we love them dearly. We would do anything for them, 144 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,400 right? So that is probably the closest 145 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,320 thing we can see on the human side. 146 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,400 So like how God treats us, how he looks at us. 147 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:32,280 Now consider this, what if, for example, we took these other 148 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,720 religions of face value and, and actually how most people, you 149 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,320 know, treat other people. And we said, OK, well, your 150 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,440 perfect adherence to doing what I tell you, doing the rules, 151 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,200 doing the law. That's what I expect from you. 152 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:47,800 And, and, and as soon as you stop doing that, I no longer 153 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:49,440 love you. I'm kicking you out of my life. 154 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,200 I would tell you that there is not a parent in this room who 155 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:54,880 loves their kid past the age of 2. 156 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:57,960 Not a chance. If you made it through the 157 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,440 terrible twos with your kids and they didn't break any of the 158 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:03,480 rules and they didn't make you mad and they didn't make you 159 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,400 want to put your hand through a wall, God bless you. 160 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:10,560 That was not my experience with two year olds or three or four 161 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:14,880 or five or teenagers too. You know, those are some. 162 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:16,760 Oh, Lord, those are some fun years. 163 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:20,800 Yeah. Yeah, those are some fun years. 164 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:26,520 But think about it, if God set us up to be in the position of 165 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,840 we have to do this thing perfectly, otherwise he no 166 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,800 longer loves us and he rejects us, none of us would make it 167 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,120 like there, there would be no chance. 168 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,800 And so then what we have to do is we is we have to ask the most 169 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:44,280 logical question. OK, well if God doesn't love us 170 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,120 because we can adhere to his laws and to his rules, if that's 171 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,520 not why he loves us, why do we need the law at all? 172 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:55,520 Can't we just throw the whole thing away and say, Nah, he's 173 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:57,000 going to love us no matter what. It's fine. 174 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,000 Don't even worry about it. Do what you want to do. 175 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:01,880 You do you, Boo. I think is how they say it. 176 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:08,320 Good gravy, I'm not. I should not try to speak in 177 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,520 modern slang. I'm really bad at it. 178 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:12,720 See, I got the hard no from Kristen. 179 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:19,960 Like, please stop doing that. So anyway, OK, so then why do we 180 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,000 need the law? What what what's the whole 181 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,200 what's the whole point of it? Let's let's that moves us right 182 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:29,880 into .2 verse 5 go there you go verse 5 and point it says this 183 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,320 Now, therefore, if that's a conditional statement, if you 184 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:35,680 will indeed obey my voice and keep my commands, you shall be 185 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,400 my treasured possession among all the peoples for all of the 186 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:39,960 earth is mine. What's happening here? 187 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,040 Well, God is acknowledging first and foremost that of course all 188 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,400 the earth and everything in it is in fact his. 189 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,960 Now we hear that conditional statement if and that can make 190 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:50,800 us wonder. You can be like Pastor Chris. 191 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,360 That's a conditional statement. Therefore you must be wrong 192 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:55,360 about everything you just said in the last four or five 193 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:57,640 minutes. I'm not and here's why. 194 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:02,000 If everything is already owned by God, the next level of him 195 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,040 owning everything is I want to love these things more than 196 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:08,480 everything else. You probably have things that 197 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,880 you own or people that you know that you love more than other 198 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,320 things or other people. Why do you do that? 199 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,920 Because they are expressing love back to you and, and all those 200 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,640 things that help us feel like we're reciprocating a healthy 201 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:22,440 relationship. All those things, right. 202 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:28,160 Well, again, coming back to it, if we're going to be his 203 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,160 treasured possession, what does that potentially look like? 204 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,600 Well, that potentially looks like following his law, 205 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,680 following his rules, living in the way that he called us to do. 206 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:40,640 Now, the fact that the law is not the reason why he loves us, 207 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,160 it means that the law is in fact there. 208 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:47,000 For what? For human flourishing. 209 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:52,080 The law is in place for human flourishing. 210 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,160 If you don't believe me, let me let me give you an example. 211 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:00,440 Think about this. What if we all follow the 10 212 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,560 commandments as prescribed by God, which we'll get to the 10 213 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:06,400 commandments in the sermon series very soon. 214 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,000 But what if we all follow them as prescribed by God? 215 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,240 Well, first and foremost, we would put God first. 216 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,600 So that's that's a start, right? He would be the first and 217 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,760 foremost in our lives, which means that we wouldn't worship 218 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:20,920 any created thing. We wouldn't bow down to any 219 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,280 idols, anything that that we made by our own hands. 220 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:27,360 We would speak rightly about God, which means that we would 221 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:30,880 have a true sense and we would show the world how we appreciate 222 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:32,920 Him by speaking rightly. We're not taking his name in 223 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,960 vain. We would rest well. 224 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:36,800 That means we're not going to be so stinking busy. 225 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:38,840 We're not running around in 50 different directions. 226 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:41,640 That is probably going to lower our blood pressure, make us 227 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,560 calmer, better people, and that's really good. 228 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,600 So God wants us to rest well. And then we, we would be in good 229 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:52,120 relationships with our parents and they with us, which means 230 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,200 that from those relationships, when we leave our home and we go 231 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,880 out into the world, we'd be much better, more productive, 232 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,760 respectable citizens. And so that would be good for 233 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:02,880 everybody. And of course, we wouldn't kill 234 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,280 or commit adultery or steal or lie. 235 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,560 And then lastly, we certainly, we, we certainly wouldn't be 236 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:11,400 chasing after the Joneses, would we? 237 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:16,240 No we wouldn't because our relationship with God and with 238 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,680 others around us would be so fulfilling that looking at what 239 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:22,760 other people have, it would not create jealousy, it would 240 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,120 actually create joy. You would give your neighbor a 241 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,720 big old high 5 and be like sweet new car good for you. 242 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:30,440 Instead of saying, well, I should have a new car. 243 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:35,000 Mine doesn't have cool features. No, if we follow the 10 244 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,400 commandments like this is what life would look like. 245 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,920 It would lack jealousy. We would just be at harmony with 246 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:43,040 our neighbors and with God himself. 247 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:47,240 And if you think about that, does that not sound fairly 248 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:50,280 perfect? We get all these writers and all 249 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:54,040 these creators who who write stories about utopias and things 250 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,840 like that. I mean, think about it, in our 251 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:00,360 society, in America, even in the state or even in the city of 252 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:06,000 DeWitt, we have hundreds if not thousands of laws and rules. 253 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,280 I think God nailed it the first time when He kept it very simple 254 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:12,640 at 10. And again, those 10 things are 255 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,600 there not to hinder us, not to take away our freedom, but 256 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,440 actually to promote our human flourishing. 257 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,320 If we did those things, man, life would look pretty amazing. 258 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:27,240 However, when we fail to adhere to those designs, what we need 259 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,760 to know is that doesn't mean that God stops loving us when 260 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,640 you mess up. It doesn't mean God hates you. 261 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,040 It doesn't mean that he's waiting to kick you down into 262 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,120 the rivers of fire. That's that's not what he's 263 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:42,960 doing. The same way that when our kids 264 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,160 misbehave, we don't necessarily throw them out of the house, 265 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:47,680 although some of them probably deserve it. 266 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,160 Until you're 18. Bam. 267 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:11,440 Yeah. See, it's great to have a front 268 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:12,280 row. I love that. 269 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,200 Well, here's the thing. When we, when we disobey God's 270 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,000 design, which is for our flourishing, those 10 271 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,360 commandments, I, I tend to think that like, it's like this. 272 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:29,520 If, if you have a, if you have a car and then you put sugar in 273 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:32,280 the gas tank and then it doesn't run the way you want it to run. 274 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,360 You can't actually be mad at the manufacturer for that. 275 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,880 You need to stop, read the manual for the machine and then 276 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:42,680 go forward with how the machine is designed to work. 277 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:45,800 Therefore, if we think about the law that way too, in the 278 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:49,760 commandments that God gives us, what we ought to do is, is we 279 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:52,880 ought to put the right thing in the tank, right? 280 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:55,480 Because if we put the wrong thing in there, that is our 281 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,720 bodies and our lives, we can't get mad at the manufacturer that 282 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,440 is God for the thing not working correctly, right? 283 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,480 So what we recognize is when we fail to do the law the way that 284 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:09,320 God has prescribed for our flourishing, what we're really 285 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,600 doing is we're just making our own lives more difficult and 286 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,840 we're making the lives of those around us more difficult. 287 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,120 That's how that works. So if we are going to work 288 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:24,320 properly, we need to adhere to the law that promotes 289 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,960 flourishing. That brings us up to .3 being 290 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:31,600 His holy representatives. When we are being His holy 291 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:33,960 representatives, that means we're probably doing so because 292 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,200 we're flourishing. This verse tells us that you 293 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,520 shall be, to me a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 294 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:43,840 Priests and the holy nation. Well, in order to understand 295 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,280 this idea, we have to kind of break down in context what it 296 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:49,800 means to be a priest. There's a biblical scholar, and 297 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,520 his last name is Kaiser, and he puts it this way. 298 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:57,960 The whole earth or the whole nation was to act as mediators 299 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,600 of God's grace to the nations of the earth. 300 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,960 Again, the idea behind this language is that we would 301 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:09,880 individually and as a community uphold the law of God. 302 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,240 Therefore loving him, putting him in his proper position, and 303 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,280 therefore reaching out to our neighbors appropriately with not 304 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:22,240 a heavy burdensome law, but love and care and respect and a lack 305 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,240 of jealousy and all those kinds of things. 306 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:29,360 It's like, as I mentioned, if we decide if we take seriously 307 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:32,040 God's commandments and we really actually start to live those 308 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:33,800 things out, you know what's going to happen? 309 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:37,760 Think about it from somebody else on the on the outside, 310 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:42,520 their perspective, they're going to go, man, these guys are kind 311 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,680 of weird, but they're weird in like a way that I kind of like, 312 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,840 they're weird in a way that is kind of attractive. 313 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,200 And so like, I look at my life and I've got some infighting, 314 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,120 I've got some drama, I've got all this stuff. 315 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,440 Their lives don't look perfect, but they don't seem to have 316 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,880 that. That doesn't seem to be present 317 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:02,520 among them. And it doesn't seem to be 318 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,760 present among them because they, they seem to be respectful of 319 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:07,960 people that they normally wouldn't. 320 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,520 They're generous with their time and they're generous with their 321 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,000 money. They don't hold on to these 322 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:13,760 things. Like it's like it's going to 323 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,560 kill them if they get rid of it. Man, I, I wonder what it would 324 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:19,480 be like to join a community like that. 325 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,680 And here's the thing, when people start asking those 326 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:26,600 questions, then we ought to be the people who are ready to 327 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:29,120 receive those questions and to receive those people. 328 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:34,280 And again, that means that we are called into this life where 329 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,080 we get to exit out of this building and we get to go 330 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,800 represent our living God. And then when people start 331 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:45,360 asking those questions, we are called to speak the truth in 332 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:47,080 love. 1 without the other doesn't work. 333 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,080 But we're called to speak the truth in love to those people 334 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:54,280 and bring them in and invite them into a community where they 335 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:57,840 know they can be seen and they can be heard and they can feel 336 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,800 safe. Now I know that's very touchy 337 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:04,200 feely and I don't I don't mean to be that way, but it's true. 338 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:08,080 Like as we do those things, that's our goal is to invite the 339 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:12,600 one more in so that they can join in a community that's 340 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,560 healthy, that's not self-serving, but is others 341 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,200 serving. And so that's what it looks like 342 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,360 to be a priest of God. Now, if we're going to be this 343 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:24,440 holy nation that he's talking about in this verse, it means 344 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:28,120 that we need to be the kind of community that outsiders are 345 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:31,760 attracted to, that outsiders are attracted to. 346 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:34,720 And So what makes a community attractive? 347 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:38,360 Well, I'll tell you what I think DeWitt, although it's only a 348 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:42,560 town of 5000, I've lived, we've lived over a lot of different 349 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,960 parts of the country and man, DeWitt is incredibly attractive. 350 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,200 And you want to know why? Because in general, to me, it 351 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:51,680 feels and it looks clean and well run. 352 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,800 And I would say that there's, there's typically things to do. 353 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,600 People are generally nice to me and all those kinds of things. 354 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,640 Well, if we want to be a community of believers that's 355 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,760 attractive to the outside world, what then should we look like? 356 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,600 I'm not going to stand up here and answer all that for you 357 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,520 because I would, I'm willing to bet I think you're smart enough 358 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:17,840 that you know what a healthy community is supposed to look 359 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:19,160 like. And we are. 360 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,960 Lord help us, we are trying to live that out every single day, 361 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,440 not just on Sundays, are we not? Yeah. 362 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:29,840 OK, so here's the thing. As we look like that healthy 363 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,640 community, we are going to look more and more like Jesus. 364 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:37,240 And looking more and more looks like Jesus means that we don't 365 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:42,440 come ready to be served. We come ready to serve. 366 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,360 And just like he said, I came to serve and give my life as a 367 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:49,480 ransom. So let me ask you some questions 368 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:51,440 that you don't need to answer out loud right now. 369 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:57,720 What would it look like to ransom your time for someone 370 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:02,240 else? What would it look like to 371 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:06,120 ransom your finances for the betterment of somebody else? 372 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:18,200 Think about those things. Consider it as you do that, 373 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,200 let's recognize something else about approaching God. 374 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,480 We need to approach God knowing that he is good but he is not 375 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,240 safe. Verses 21 and 22 get a very real 376 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:31,880 sense of the danger of approaching God and you're like, 377 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:35,080 but I but I thought Jesus loves being and he wants to give me a 378 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:36,480 big hug. Yes, that's true. 379 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,080 But if we do not take God seriously the way we ought, we 380 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:45,040 approach at potentially our own harm or our own death Even so, 381 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,640 where did I get this phrase? God is good, but He's not safe. 382 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:52,560 Well, if you know who CS Lewis is, he was a writer and he wrote 383 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,200 the books, the Chronicles of Narnia, among a lot of other 384 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,760 things. And I think that he actually got 385 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:00,400 this little section that I'm going to read to you. 386 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:04,560 I think, I can't verify, but I think he got this section of 387 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,000 writing from these verses. And here's here's what this 388 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,880 little section sounds like in the Chronicles of Narnia. 389 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:15,960 So Aslan is a lion who represents Jesus Christ in these 390 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,320 books, right? And so the kids are about to 391 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,840 meet Aslan, a lion, and they're kind of freaked out about that, 392 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:24,760 as they should be. But here's how it reads. 393 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:29,400 Oh, said Susan, I thought he was a man. 394 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:34,160 Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous 395 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:38,760 about meeting a lion that you will deary and make no mistake, 396 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,120 said Missus Beaver. If there's anyone who can appear 397 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:46,360 before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver 398 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:54,280 than most or they're just silly. Then he isn't safe, said Lucy. 399 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,360 Safe, said Mr. Beaver. Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver 400 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:01,760 tells you? Who said anything about safe? 401 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,680 Of course he's not safe, but he's good. 402 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:10,080 He's the king, I tell you. Yeah, that's Jesus. 403 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,040 He is good, He is not. Stay safe. 404 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:16,760 So when God shows us that as they approach the mountain, 405 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:18,680 there's some very real danger to that. 406 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,840 There's a good reason why that's dangerous, because God is 407 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:27,720 otherworldly, God is holy, God is set apart, God is perfect. 408 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:32,160 You approach perfection and utter sin the way that we are 409 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,440 built. And man, you are really taking 410 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:38,560 your life into your own hands. That is dangerous work to 411 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,240 approach him. Think about it this way. 412 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:44,440 For the millennia there have been, there have been kings and 413 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,160 Queens. And so for anyone to approach 414 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:51,240 the king or the queen without direct invitation, you were 415 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,400 probably going to die doing that. 416 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,880 You would be killed. Bring that forwarding even into 417 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,640 our modern day. If the president is anywhere 418 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:05,160 nearby and I run towards him, I try to approach him, guess 419 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:08,160 what's going to happen to me? I am going to be detained and 420 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:12,400 probably killed. I cannot approach such a person 421 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:17,400 without a direct invitation. I can't, it's, it's too 422 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:18,720 dangerous. I can't do it. 423 00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:23,600 And so when we think about God, the Holy of Holies, we ought not 424 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,800 to try to attempt to approach him lightly. 425 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,560 We ought not to be like, hey bro, what's up? 426 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,160 No, this is God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. 427 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:38,200 We do not approach Him lightly. We take that seriously. 428 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:45,320 Now, as I say that you might wonder, and I've even wondered 429 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,800 at times, can I approach Him at all? 430 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:54,000 Because quite frankly, I know who I am. 431 00:24:55,360 --> 00:25:01,040 I know what I've done. I have seen the deep recesses of 432 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,960 my heart and more times than I care to admit it is black. 433 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:14,560 Can I approach him at all? God has given us a way to do 434 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,920 that. God has given us a way to 435 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,400 approach him, and we have to approach him through Jesus 436 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,400 Christ alone. And this is what that looks 437 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,640 like. First Timothy 25 says, for 438 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:27,520 there's one God and there's one mediator between God and men, 439 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,640 Christ Jesus. And then Jesus tells us, I am 440 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,800 the way, I am the truth. I am the life. 441 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,240 No one comes to the Father except through me. 442 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,800 There is not a second way. It is just through Him. 443 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,960 And he invites us into that way, doesn't He? 444 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,960 Now I want to bring out two things pretty quickly, two parts 445 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,120 that prove this to be true about the fact that we can approach 446 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:53,480 this holy awesome God through Jesus Christ. 447 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:55,000 Think about the woman at the well. 448 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:57,400 If you don't know that story, I'm going to give you the brief 449 00:25:57,400 --> 00:25:59,920 version. So Jesus meets a Samaritan woman 450 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,240 at the well and she's there in the middle of the day because 451 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,400 her community has totally exiled her. 452 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,720 Nobody likes her. Everybody talks bad behind her 453 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:08,680 back. They spit on the ground when she 454 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,600 comes by and hear Jesus is in the middle of the day talking to 455 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,120 her. And Jesus does this incredibly. 456 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,640 He does the hard thing. He brings the law right to her 457 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,680 face and he talks about how many husbands she's had. 458 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:23,480 And you're like, whoa, Jesus, slow down. 459 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:25,880 That's a little intense for a first meeting, isn't it? 460 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,480 But he does that. So of course, Jesus bringing 461 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:33,920 forth her sin, even though he has no reason to know that she, 462 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,280 she feels the awkwardness of that moment. 463 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,880 And so she shifts gears and she changes the conversation to 464 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,800 somebody, to something else. And she starts talking about, 465 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,320 well, Jews worship at the temple in Jerusalem and in Samaritans, 466 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,120 we worship on this mountain over here and blah, blah. 467 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:53,160 And, and Jesus looks for her and goes, ah, you got it all wrong. 468 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:58,480 Because soon people will not worship at a location. 469 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:02,640 They will worship in spirit because God is Spirit. 470 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,560 So you know what he's telling her and you know what he's 471 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:07,880 telling us that in order to approach God, in order to 472 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,160 worship him the way he deserves, it's a posture of our heart. 473 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,160 It's not a place we go. I love the fact that all of you 474 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:18,120 come here on any given Sunday, but this is not a holy place. 475 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:22,200 This is a building that God has built to house those who will 476 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:25,520 worship him. The building itself is not holy. 477 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:32,360 It's our heart position. So as we come to God, as we 478 00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:35,960 approach God in worship, what is the position of your heart as 479 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:40,400 you do that? Is it one of pride and arrogance 480 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:42,760 of Yep, I I already know this. I've heard this. 481 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,080 This pastor is like he's repeating himself blah blah. 482 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:47,880 I've heard the song 100 times. I don't even like this song. 483 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:49,760 Why don't why do they keep playing that? 484 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:55,000 No, our posture is 1 of humility and it's one I'm saying, Lord, I 485 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,720 want, I want to give you everything I want to. 486 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:01,480 I want to put my sins at the foot of your cross because I 487 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:04,800 cannot bear them anymore and I know you'll take them from me if 488 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,520 I ask. That's humility. 489 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:10,720 The second thing that I'll that I'll point out and then I'll 490 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:12,840 finish up. The second thing that I'll point 491 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:20,440 out is this, when Jesus was on the cross, it reports that there 492 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,160 was a there was a veil. There was a curtain that 493 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,600 separated the people from what they called the Holy of Holies 494 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,320 in the temple. And this curtain, it's reported 495 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:34,360 that it was 60 feet tall and four inches thick. 496 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,280 Now, I don't know if you've ever hung drapery, but no, thank you 497 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:41,880 that that's a little bit much, But it says this, the curtain of 498 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,240 the temple as he's being crucified, as he gave up his 499 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:49,000 spirit, the temple, the curtain of the temple was torn into from 500 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,160 top to bottom and the earth shook. 501 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:55,240 What's happening here? What's happening here is that 502 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:59,160 Jesus Christ, because he has taken the penalty for all of our 503 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,840 sins, he has cut down the dividing line between US and 504 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,080 God. So therefore we get to approach 505 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:10,640 God now because all of our sins are taken away by the blood and 506 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:12,560 the body of Jesus Christ. Amen. 507 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,400 Yeah. So that means when we move and 508 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,880 we want to approach God, we can do so in actual, real 509 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:23,760 confidence, knowing and believing that he is inviting us 510 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:25,960 into his space. He's inviting us into a 511 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:29,640 relationship with him because his son paid the penalty for 512 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:31,720 everything that we should have paid for. 513 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,200 And he did it on the cross. He said all of his blood, he, he 514 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:41,120 allowed his body to be broken so that way we can approach God. 515 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:45,200 Incredible, incredible. No more curtain. 516 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:49,320 It's gone. Friends. 517 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:55,880 You may have come to the place where you don't feel like God is 518 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,680 approachable because of something you've done, Something 519 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,880 you've said is something that you haven't repented of yet. 520 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,720 It's just welled up inside you. It's a deep secret that you have 521 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:08,040 not told anybody because guess what? 522 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,240 If you tell them, they'll never love you again. 523 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,640 And that's what you think. Can I tell you you're wrong? 524 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:19,840 You're wrong because of Jesus Christ. 525 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:25,080 You can still approach God. And if that's you, today I'm 526 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,400 going to close out in prayer. I want to. 527 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,520 I want to pray for you and I want to pray with you that God 528 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,480 will tear down that curtain between your heart and him. 529 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:39,040 Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we have 530 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:41,440 all sinned. We have all fallen short of your 531 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,760 glory. The fact that we can come before 532 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:49,440 you and speak to you is pure gift, and it is a gift because 533 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:52,600 of what your Son has done. So, Father, I pray that if there 534 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:57,160 are heavy hearts here in this room today that are listening to 535 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,720 this Lord, would you tear that wall down? 536 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,840 Would you demolish it? Would you blow it up? 537 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,000 That we might come to you in confidence, knowing that Jesus 538 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:12,200 Christ has perfectly loved us and has set us free from our sin 539 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,880 and brings us to the foot of your throne. 540 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:20,200 Lord, at the foot of your throne may we worship wholeheartedly, 541 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:28,200 maybe recognize that because of your Son we are 3. 542 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:33,160 Lord God, give us Your spirit that we might worship in freedom 543 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:36,200 today and that we might approach you with assurance and 544 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,800 confidence. We pray all this in Jesus name, 545 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:46,120 Amen. Thanks for listening to ERC 546 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,600 Sundays. To support the work God is doing 547 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:50,240 at Emmaus Rd. Church, visit 548 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,200 emmausrdonline.org/giving.