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 --> 00:00:21,520 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 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:32,960 I'll tell you what, if if I had my way, and it would be weird, 7 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,280 but if I had my way, I would have come primarily to the 8 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,160 second service. Because some of, you know, there 9 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:42,480 was like there was a game that happened last night and it went 10 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:46,880 kind of late. But I'm thankful for the results 11 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:52,160 of that game because had the results been different, no 12 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:54,880 offense to any Packers fans, have the results been different? 13 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,000 Matt Schweitzer was going to harass me throughout the service 14 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,120 by having like a banner and like maybe even stuff on that back TV 15 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,920 that say go, pack, go. And now I don't have to live 16 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,800 with that. So I am praising the Lord today 17 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:11,920 for a silly thing such as a game. 18 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,640 But it's incredibly helpful for my focus, which always needs 19 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:21,000 help if you know me anyway. Well, yeah, we are in the second 20 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:25,120 week of our 4F series and we get to talk about family today, 21 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:29,160 which I'm really excited about. We look at faith and we look at 22 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,360 family, fitness and finances and we see all these things. 23 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,760 We see all these ways, these different areas that God wants 24 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,360 to grow us, that he wants to teach us, that he wants to 25 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:43,240 change us and to guide us, and never just for ourselves. 26 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:48,000 He wants to grow us in all these different ways so that we can 27 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,320 give away the gift that he's given us, whether that's whether 28 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,320 that's our faith or whether that's our understanding of how 29 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,000 we're to take care of God's Templar or whether that's our 30 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,800 money. He calls us to be generous with 31 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,840 that in ways that we can only do if we have the freedom that he's 32 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,800 provided. And so, yeah, all these things 33 00:02:09,199 --> 00:02:10,919 we want to know Jesus and make him known. 34 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,920 And in every single one of these aspects, we have the power to do 35 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:18,000 that through the Holy Spirit. Now this week we are going to 36 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,800 talk about family just like that. 37 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,520 And we're going to talk about family and and, and, and and 38 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:31,080 recognize that our faith is the greatest inheritance that we can 39 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,600 give to them far and away. Now here's what I don't mean by 40 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,000 that. I don't mean that you can 41 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,120 forcefully put your God-given faith, which he gave to you 42 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,000 individually. You can't force that upon even 43 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,400 your family. It's not going to work out. 44 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,680 In fact, some people might even call that a crime, like forcing 45 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,440 people to, you know, believe what you believe. 46 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,360 That is problematic. But here's what I mean by that 47 00:02:57,720 --> 00:02:59,920 by giving this gift of faith as an inheritance. 48 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:03,720 What I mean is that as God has given us this gift of faith, 49 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,920 what we get to do then through the Holy Spirit, you might call 50 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:10,480 them the fruits of the Spirit, we get to pour all of those 51 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,360 things into the people that we care about the most, whether 52 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:18,720 that's our time, our energy, our resources, all those things then 53 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,880 get filtered through the gospel. And because those things are 54 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,760 filtered through the gospel, when we start to give that away 55 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,160 to our family, when we start to be very intentional about giving 56 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,040 that to them and, and, and making sure that they're aware 57 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,600 and that we teach them that all these things, man, that like 58 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,920 that makes a substantial impact on not only maybe your kids or 59 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,240 your friends kids, or who knows what that looks like for you. 60 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,680 We know that every family looks different, but at the same time, 61 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,000 we also know that God gives us something to give away, right? 62 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:53,080 So before we go any further and we get to the text, there's one 63 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,640 thing I do want to say. I want to say that I don't want 64 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,040 us to think about family in the very narrow sense. 65 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,320 Pastor Matt just kind of brought it up, but I want to define this 66 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:08,240 even a little bit further. Sure, we have a blood relative, 67 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,680 family, people that live with us, all that kind of stuff. 68 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,160 That's important. Don't miss that. 69 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:19,720 But at the same time, Jesus tells us in Mark 3 and Luke 70 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:25,000 chapter 8 that everybody, everybody who hears the word of 71 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,880 the Lord and, and believes it and then comes into that and, 72 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,320 and does those things, they proclaim those things. 73 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,280 That's also our family. That's also our family. 74 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,840 So you have brothers and sisters in Christ who don't look like 75 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:42,760 you, who don't talk like you, who they, they would eat wildly 76 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,560 different foods. And you all over the planet, you 77 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,720 have this faith family. And the reason why God gives us 78 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,600 that is because Christianity was never meant to be an island. 79 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,120 It was never meant to be something that we just kind of 80 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,640 taken ourselves and we hold onto and we get really quiet. 81 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,240 It's not like that. No, we have an entire world. 82 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:05,080 We have an entire faith family that we get to lean on and that 83 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:07,840 we also then get to support, right? 84 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:10,760 So please don't think about family in the narrow sense. 85 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:15,040 I want you to more so understand family as much as you can and 86 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:17,600 the in the global sense if you can. 87 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,120 So here's how here's what this is going to look like. 88 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,400 We're going to be in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and Deuteronomy 89 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:26,520 chapter 6. It tells us about this 90 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,360 inheritance that we're supposed to give away, this faith that 91 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,880 we're supposed to spread and give out in in Lord willing 92 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,000 generation to generation that flows down. 93 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,920 But we recognize that or we should recognize you can't give 94 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:44,280 away something you don't have. So what does it look like to 95 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,920 develop that personal relationship and that personal 96 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,160 faith with Jesus Christ? Well, the text will get to that. 97 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,120 Second thing is then how then does my faith affect and 98 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,480 influence and, and move through my family? 99 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,560 That's that inheritance piece. And finally we get to see that 100 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,000 there is a faith that leads to eternal life that again, we can 101 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,640 project, we can give, we can teach, we can pour into those 102 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,720 that we care about most. So that's where we're going 103 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:14,000 today and we will look at Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses one 104 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,720 through 15 to hear about that. If you have Bibles, physical 105 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:20,160 Bibles, you're welcome to grab that. 106 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,240 Or if you again, you download the Bible app, you know, you can 107 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,000 look at that too. There's no no weirdness there. 108 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,440 But it's Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses one through 15. 109 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,200 And we read this in Jesus name because it is His word. 110 00:06:37,840 --> 00:06:42,160 Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the 111 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:46,320 Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them 112 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:48,720 in the land which you are going over to possess it. 113 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:54,120 That you may fear the Lord your God, you and your Son, and your 114 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,840 Son's Son, by keeping all the statutes and commandments which 115 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:01,880 I commanded you all of the days of your life, and that your days 116 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,200 may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be 117 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,840 careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you 118 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,920 and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord, the God of 119 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,920 your Father's has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and 120 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,000 honey. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 121 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,240 God, the Lord is 1 You shall love the Lord your God with all 122 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,760 your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might. 123 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:29,760 And these words that I command you today shall be on your 124 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:32,560 heart. You shall teach them diligently 125 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,240 to your children. And you should talk of them when 126 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,640 you sit down in your house, and when you walk by the way, and 127 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:42,400 when you lie down and when you rise up, you shall bind them as 128 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,360 a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between 129 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,120 your eyes. You shall write them on the 130 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,560 doorposts of your house and on your gates. 131 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,320 And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that He 132 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:56,600 swore to your father's, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, 133 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,880 to give to you, with great and good cities that you did not 134 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,920 build, and houses full of good things that you did not fill, 135 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,160 and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive 136 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,240 trees that you did not plant. And when you eat and are full, 137 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,960 then take care lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of 138 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,720 the land of Egypt, out of the House of slavery. 139 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:22,920 It is the Lord your God. You shall. 140 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,080 It is Lord your God. Oh yeah, sorry. 141 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,680 It is the Lord your God. You shall fear him. 142 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:33,600 You shall serve, and by his name you shall swear. 143 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,760 You shall not go after other gods, the God of the peoples who 144 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,760 are around you. For the Lord your God in your 145 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,679 midst is a jealous God, lest the anger of the Lord be kindled 146 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,400 against you and he destroy you from the face of the earth. 147 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:49,040 Here in this reading of God's word. 148 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:59,560 So that was a lot. Let's start with something 149 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:01,760 simple. Let's start with the concept and 150 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,840 the truth that it does all just start with a relationship. 151 00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:10,040 Now, as we consider what maybe starting a relationship looks 152 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,880 like, I would tell you that like whether you're starting a 153 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:18,000 friendship or whether you're starting a more of a romantic 154 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,800 interest kind of relationship. The cool thing about those 155 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,720 moments in those early stages is that oftentimes there's there's 156 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:26,280 an excitement there, isn't there? 157 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,920 So if it's a if it's a new friend, you probably maybe sit 158 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:32,240 around when you're not near them and you ponder and you're kind 159 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:34,400 of like, man, I wonder what they're interested in. 160 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,640 I wonder where they would want to like go hang out at. 161 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,840 I like the next time we talk, like, I wonder, yeah, I wonder 162 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:41,600 what kind of food they like and stuff like that. 163 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:43,520 And so you're trying to figure all that out, and that's kind of 164 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,520 an exciting process. Well, I would tell you all the 165 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:51,320 more so if when you're starting to meet and get to know somebody 166 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,920 who might be a potential love interest, think about it. 167 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,480 I'll think about it my way. And here's what this looks like. 168 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,400 It was. It was the better part, I think 169 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,840 of like 26 years ago, 27 years ago. 170 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:13,040 Gosh, I'm getting old. It's been a while. 171 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:16,680 It's been a while, but I have not forgotten what it's like to 172 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,240 create and, and to be excited about a new relationship like 173 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:22,160 that. And So what that might look like 174 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,840 is you constantly think about them even when you're not around 175 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:28,160 them. It's, it's all these things 176 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,240 floating through your head. And you know, I think we call 177 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,480 that like butterflies if you're being more scientific about it, 178 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:35,840 or you might call that infatuation. 179 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:40,560 There's that phase and you know, you've got this weird level of 180 00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:43,440 energy and excitement that there's really no accounting 181 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:45,840 for. And, you know, somebody brings 182 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,760 up that person and then you get this like, silly look on your 183 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:56,000 face. Some of you, I can tell it's 184 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:57,320 been a while since that happened. 185 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,440 Good gravy. But I'm willing to bet it has 186 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:06,160 happened. It has now that's important. 187 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,680 And and and let me tell you one more thing before I kind of move 188 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:12,360 on. The best advice that I think 189 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,840 Lisa and I ever got, you know, we've been married more than a 190 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:17,800 decade or so, I think at this point. 191 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,680 And the best advice we ever got the the pastor used to be here. 192 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:24,880 He said you need to keep he told me you need to keep dating your 193 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:30,600 wife. And I went OK, that's we sure 194 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:32,480 we're married. I don't what do you I don't get 195 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,120 it. But what he meant was it was 196 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:38,800 important that we continue to pursue each other in a real way 197 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,800 as if we were just first started dating again. 198 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,160 Recall those moments and you may not be able to produce those 199 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,520 moments anymore and that's OK. But recall those moments of 200 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,880 intrigue and excitement, how you were just constantly pursuing 201 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:56,960 that person, right? It is true and I've I've read 202 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:57,840 it. I would have to look up the 203 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,320 statistics again. But there is a majority of 204 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:06,000 women, guys pay attention, there are a majority of women who when 205 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,120 they report about the happiness or whatever of their marriage 206 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,400 and they report they are not happy inside their marriage. 207 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:17,400 You want to know why their husbands stop pursuing them, 208 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:24,760 They stop chasing them. And so all of a sudden we've we 209 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:29,600 we've got marriages that are mundane at best because we're no 210 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,160 longer pursuing each other the way we once did. 211 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,800 Well, let me switch gears here a little bit. 212 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:40,560 In our relationship with the Lord. 213 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:45,120 It is the same way, man, when we first meet the grace of Jesus 214 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:47,880 Christ, we are on fire for the Lord often times. 215 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,200 And we're so excited and we get involved in it and maybe a 216 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,040 community and we're reading this word and we're we're pumped up 217 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:56,440 about it. But then over time, just like a 218 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,880 human relationship, we tend to go, yeah, God's just kind of a 219 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,800 really decent roommate that I talked to like every once in a 220 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,600 while or I kind of look into every once in a while. 221 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,040 But man, that's not what God wants for us. 222 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:12,640 And he knows that's not what's best for us. 223 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,520 God is. He's calling us to continue to 224 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,600 pursue that deep, intimate relationship with him. 225 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:24,240 And here's the thing, when we do that, well, Pastor Matt 226 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,880 previewed us, there's this thing that people have learned. 227 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,320 It's called the power of 4. It means that you're in God's 228 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:35,440 Word at least four days a week. Now, I'm not going to read all 229 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:37,720 this stuff to you, but I'll just give you a few highlights here. 230 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:44,280 So people, they had a 218 to 416% increase in sharing faith 231 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,760 with others, giving charitably, discipling people, memorizing 232 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,720 Scripture, all that stuff. Four days a week or more, 14 to 233 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,160 60% reduction and thinking destructively about themselves 234 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:59,640 or others, thinking unkindly, feeling spiritually stagnant, 235 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:01,440 loneliness, bitterness, etcetera. 236 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,080 All those things started going down. 237 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:09,360 And then a 20 to 6262% reduction in overeating or mishandling 238 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,520 food, extramarital affairs, pornography, lying, etcetera, 239 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:14,640 etcetera, anger, all that kind of stuff. 240 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,360 You need more. Well, we also found out that 241 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,960 when people are in their Bible four days or more per week, 242 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:27,320 there is a 62% reduction in drinking to excess, there's a 243 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,760 59% reduction in extramarital affairs and pornography, there's 244 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,240 a 45% reduction in gambling, and so on and so forth. 245 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:40,880 All of these things are produced, are created, are are 246 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:46,240 taken away from our lives as we pursue God inside of His Word. 247 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:50,880 All of these things that's not that's just that's not just 248 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:53,920 coming up with the things that we can meet a goal of 30,000 249 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:55,280 daily check insurance in the Bible app. 250 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,760 No, we bring this stuff up because it's real. 251 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,280 It's true. It's statistically and 252 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:05,840 scientifically backed. By the way, if you want the 253 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:08,480 source for this, just come talk to me. 254 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,760 I will send you the link source for this material, OK? 255 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:14,160 We're not just putting up random numbers on the screen to try and 256 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,760 spur you on. That's not the point of it at 257 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,400 all. You see, The thing is, we bring 258 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,120 up things like that and those things are important to help 259 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:27,160 steer us in the right direction. But I can also tell you that 260 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:29,600 none of those things will matter. 261 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,000 None of those facts, none of those statistics, none of the 262 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:36,480 science will matter. If we don't love the Lord, how 263 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,120 do we develop that love relationship? 264 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,560 That's the second part, or maybe the first part of pursuing God. 265 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:46,800 It's prayer and we, we hear what verse is it? 266 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,400 Verse 6, we hear that the, the word of the Lord in our heart, 267 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,000 how that shifts our, our emotions and our spiritual 268 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,880 being, right? Well, that comes through prayer. 269 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,760 It's probably going to be hard for me to want to pursue God if 270 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:05,840 I never have a conversation with him, right? 271 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,040 There would be the same thing inside of a human relationship. 272 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,400 If I'm not actively seeking Him, if I'm not talking to Him, if 273 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:17,080 I'm not, if we're not relating through prayer, all those facts 274 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:19,720 in the world probably won't motivate me and they won't spur 275 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,480 me on to go seek Him out in His word to pursue Him that way. 276 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:28,400 Friends, we have to be praying. We have to be talking to our 277 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,080 Father in heaven. Because The thing is, as we talk 278 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:35,560 to Him, most of us, I would assume as we talk to Him, we are 279 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:39,880 revealing things in our hearts and in our minds and our souls 280 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,560 that we reveal to nobody else. And you know what that does for 281 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:45,760 you? You know what that does? 282 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,080 When you open your heart to the Lord like that man, it set you 283 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,320 free because all these burdens that you're carrying, all these, 284 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,360 all these things that you would never tell anybody, man, God 285 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,280 gets in there. He lights up the darkest corners 286 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,880 and he brings us peace and he brings us joy and he brings us 287 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:04,960 forgiveness. The Bible tells us, and we're 288 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,560 going to hear about it later when we receive the body and 289 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:10,880 blood of Jesus. But every single sin we confess 290 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,599 to him, he fully and he freely forgives. 291 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:17,240 There's nothing he won't forgive. 292 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:19,720 He loves us and he wants to hear from us. 293 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:23,760 So again, getting to the to the bigger picture here, man. 294 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,160 If we want to give something away, if we want to give a good 295 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,080 inheritance to our family, it we can't give away something we 296 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,760 don't have. And we have this faith through 297 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,440 seeking him out in prayer and seeking him out in his word 298 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:41,320 every single day. Now, having said all of that, 299 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,320 and I know that was kind of a lot, I was going to apologize, 300 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:47,120 but I won't because it was good stuff. 301 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,480 Having said all that, if we stayed there and we just said, 302 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,440 hey, guess what? This personal faith of mine, 303 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,880 yippee, it's mine and I'm just going to go take it home and I'm 304 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:02,000 going to hide it. Well, man, we have broken the 305 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,960 command. Because here's the thing, our 306 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:07,720 faith is great as it is for us to personally have. 307 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,640 It's not even really for us. Do you realize that? 308 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:13,640 Yes, it's for personal salvation. 309 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:15,560 The fact that I believe in Jesus Christ. 310 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,280 I'm leaning on him. We're talking about personal 311 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,160 salvation then. But it was never meant to stay 312 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,480 with just me. It was meant to be given away. 313 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,360 It was meant to be talked about. It is meant to be expressed. 314 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,960 And so God calls us in his Word ambassadors. 315 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:35,840 And the word command is not too heavy of a word to say. 316 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:40,720 God commands us to speak about His goodness and to speak about 317 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,240 our faith, to talk about the things that He has done in our 318 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,120 lives. And that's where we start giving 319 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:49,400 that great inheritance. That's where we start giving 320 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,680 that stuff away. So let's look at that. 321 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:59,720 If you've talked to me in the last, oh, I don't know, 3 1/2 322 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,760 years and you've said, Pastor Chris, how you doing? 323 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,560 I would probably tell you I'm doing really pretty well. 324 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,000 I'm just really busy. My life is very full now. 325 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,320 I wasn't lying about the first part because usually if I'm not 326 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,160 doing that great, I'll probably let you know and then you'll be 327 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:17,680 sad. You'll be upset you asked you 328 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,080 back. I wish I didn't ask that dude. 329 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,000 He like told me that he wasn't doing great. 330 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:25,360 I will be honest with you, so be careful. 331 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:31,760 But usually I'll say, no, I'm doing great, doing great, but 332 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,200 I'm just really busy. Now here's what I'll tell you 333 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:35,920 about that. Most of you would probably give 334 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,200 a similar answer, right? At least the second-half of that 335 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:41,080 answer. You're probably fairly busy 336 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:45,880 people for the most part. But I don't want to condemn 337 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:47,760 that. I don't want to say that that's 338 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:51,320 terrible because we should be pursuing with some amount of 339 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:53,320 intensity. We should be pursuing those 340 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,360 things that give us life, that provide for our families. 341 00:19:57,360 --> 00:19:59,320 We should be pursuing those things often. 342 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,760 We should be pursuing relationships with people that 343 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,040 are life giving. So that's what a lot of my life 344 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,760 looks like. It's pursuing the thing that 345 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,560 that helps feed my family. It's pursuing my God, and it's 346 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:13,920 pursuing relationships with people that matter, right? 347 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:15,120 Stay very full with those things. 348 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:16,960 So none of those things are inherently bad. 349 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:21,400 But what that does mean is it means that the slow moments, the 350 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,160 mundane moments, the moments of transition from here to there, 351 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:27,640 guess what? Those become all the more 352 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:31,120 important because the rest of life is so stinking full. 353 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:34,360 Those moments are important and that's what He's telling us. 354 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:36,600 That's what God is telling us in this. 355 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,960 Let me reread verse 7 to you. It says you shall teach them 356 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:44,320 diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit 357 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:49,240 in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down 358 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,920 and when you rise up. Friends, are we taking advantage 359 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,080 of the time that we have? Are we taking advantage of the 360 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,160 time that we have? Because if you haven't figured 361 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,920 it out already, it is finite. It is limited. 362 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:09,240 Let me paint a picture for you of a typical American Western 363 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,120 family. Let's say it is a family with 364 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:15,520 kids and you've got mom or mom and dad or some kind of 365 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:17,720 combination. They're in and, and you got, 366 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,480 you're driving kids somewhere. Or maybe you're driving two or 367 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:21,880 three of them, three or four different spots. 368 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:23,960 Who knows? It's just madness and you're 369 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:25,280 just trying to get through the day. 370 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,320 Well, what happens is what you'll typically see is head in 371 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:33,480 the tablet, headphones on, and then you've got mom, dad, 372 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,040 whoever, kind of driving. No interactions. 373 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,080 Now you might be thinking to yourself, Pastor Gris, don't 374 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,440 tell me that's wrong because that is the 5 minutes of peace I 375 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,720 get. If you take that tablet or that 376 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,240 phone away from my kid, they're going to be and they're going to 377 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:51,160 be crying. No, I am going to tell you to 378 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:55,040 take that junk away, especially in those transitional moments. 379 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:57,520 Do you know how many transitional moments we have 380 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,800 with people that we don't take advantage of that we get weirdly 381 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,600 distracted in? It happens with adults too. 382 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,200 Maybe you're you're going out to dinner with your spouse or maybe 383 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:07,040 you're hanging out with a friend. 384 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:09,560 You're heading somewhere, man. Those transitional moments, 385 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:14,840 usually it's filling out face down and there's no interaction. 386 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,080 The Lord is telling us that even in these small moments. 387 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:22,960 So he says when you walk, by the way, yeah, maybe if we modernize 388 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,600 that as we get in the car and move from A to B, but man, 389 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,040 we're, we're missing it. We're missing our opportunities, 390 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:34,240 we're missing our, we're missing our chance, our limited time 391 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,280 chance to interact with our friends, our family in 392 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,800 meaningful ways. You're missing the chance to, to 393 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,480 share the love of God with them. Now here's the thing. 394 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:46,560 You hear me say that you're like, we're pastor, you're 395 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:50,680 talking about God 24/7. That's not, not totally what I'm 396 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:52,640 saying. I'm not asking you to have a 397 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:56,200 Bible study prepared for the 12 minute drive to get your kid 398 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,520 from A to B No, I'm, I'm talking about having a real 399 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,280 conversation. You know what if, if, if I am 400 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,080 filled with the, with the power and the love of God through, 401 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,680 through prayer and being in his word every single day, you know 402 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,880 what I'm probably going to do? I'm probably going to lead out a 403 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:13,880 lot of sentences with man. You know what I'm really 404 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,080 grateful for? You know how I've seen God work 405 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,560 in this week? Those are not hard things to say 406 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,120 that doesn't take any prep work. I just have to be reflective 407 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:27,560 enough to see that God is moving in my life and then talk about 408 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,400 my life. We do that all the time, but we 409 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,960 just do it with more mundane things like work and school and 410 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,560 gosh, we can do better. And it's not that difficult. 411 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,040 It's not that difficult to say, man, you know who I'm so 412 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:43,040 grateful for? To look at your kid and say, I'm 413 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,200 so grateful for you. The Lord provided me you. 414 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:52,200 Maybe it's a little bit more difficult, but if it is, we can 415 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:59,160 talk to look at your spouse and say, man, I'm so God, I'm so 416 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,960 glad God gave me you. And you're like, oh, that's so 417 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,240 cheesy. I know, but it's great. 418 00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:09,440 It's great. It's great to be able to 419 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:13,040 acknowledge that person that you used to pursue with some level 420 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:15,400 of intensity. And maybe that hasn't happened 421 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:17,320 in a while, but it's great to look at them and remind them. 422 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:19,840 Guess what? I'm so thankful that God gave me 423 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:21,440 you. I'm so thankful that He has 424 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,240 blessed us in these ways, that He's given us a family, or he's 425 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,120 given us this house or he's given us these jobs. 426 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,320 I'm so thankful for the way God has moved in our lives. 427 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:31,360 You don't have to prepare anything for that. 428 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:36,680 You just say it. You just say it and you will say 429 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:41,440 that easily if you are dwelling in God's Word and if you are in 430 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,560 prayer with Him, it will. He will move in your heart quite 431 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:53,040 naturally that way. Now, all that to say, I want us 432 00:24:53,760 --> 00:25:00,400 to pursue relationship with God. I want us to pursue relationship 433 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:04,520 with our families in a way that really matters. 434 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,120 We can do that when we rise up in the morning. 435 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:08,320 We can do that when we go to bed. 436 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,200 We can do that in all those transitional moments. 437 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,400 Don't waste the time. Don't let that slip by. 438 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,000 Now I want to also point out one more thing in this, in this 439 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,680 text, in this little section, verses 8:00 and 9:00, it kind of 440 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:25,120 goes like this. You shall bind them as a sign on 441 00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:27,160 your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 442 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,280 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on 443 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,040 your gates. You see what God is calling us 444 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:36,000 to? He's calling us to to be forward 445 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:40,480 facing with our faith, to make that obvious. 446 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,080 And again, I'm not talking about knocking on people's doors and 447 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,680 being obnoxious. I would not recommend that. 448 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,080 Usually it's the people with little black tags that do that. 449 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,160 I would not recommend you talk to them either. 450 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:55,920 That's not a joke. I mean, you giggled. 451 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:59,000 That's not a joke. Send in my house, I'll talk to 452 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,600 him. But we're, what we're getting 453 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,640 out of this text is we're getting a full view of how God 454 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:07,360 wants to move in our lives and our hearts. 455 00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:10,280 And he wants to make it obvious for us and he wants us to make 456 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:12,000 it obvious to everybody around us. 457 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,760 OK, so that's how we build faith into our family. 458 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:19,640 It starts with our personal faith and then we allow it to 459 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,320 move in, in, in and amongst us during this small and the big 460 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,400 moments. Pursue your family with faith. 461 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,640 Pursue them with faith, by praying for them, by praying 462 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,000 with them, reading God's word with them. 463 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:33,880 And it doesn't have to be tricky. 464 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:37,080 I've said this before, but I'll just give you the little pro tip 465 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:41,200 in my house, what we do every single night when we have 466 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,520 dinner, we just pull up the Bible app verse of the day. 467 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,520 We read the verse of the day, we pray together and we have 468 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,320 dinner. And it's great because that that 469 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,560 verse of the day, that that prayer, it sets us, it sets us 470 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:55,840 up to have a better conversation when we're together. 471 00:26:57,680 --> 00:26:59,040 Not hard. There you go. 472 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:01,680 If you take that one thing, today was worth it. 473 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:06,680 All right, so let's talk about what God has given us. 474 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,400 Well, the short answer to what God has given us inside this 475 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:11,600 faith is everything. OK? 476 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:17,320 Verses 10 and 11 here God lays out that everything has already 477 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,280 been prepared for his people. So in the case of Deuteronomy, 478 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,760 what happens is God, God make sure the city is ready for them. 479 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,640 He makes sure the homes are ready for them, that the, that 480 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,760 the, the, the land has already been tilled, that the plants are 481 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:34,600 already there. Do you realize that those lucky 482 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,760 people didn't have to do anything. 483 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:41,920 God just provided it all. And you might say, well, that's 484 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:46,040 not my story because I go to work 40 to 50 or 60 hours a week 485 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:48,480 and I work really hard. Well, guess what? 486 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,480 Yes, you do, but you still didn't do it. 487 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,640 That's not you Who gave you the mind to think. 488 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,840 The Lord gave you that mind. Who gave you the body and the 489 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:04,800 hands to work with? Lord gave you that too. 490 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:07,800 It's all gift. All of it belongs to Him. 491 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,600 So what I'm trying to tell you is what Kristen often tells us 492 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,280 is that it's all his. This world, our bodies, our 493 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,640 lives, our children, our families, all of it is His. 494 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:22,760 Therefore, God has not withheld any good thing from us. 495 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,480 And that doesn't mean our lives are perfect, but it does mean 496 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,560 that everything necessary for faith that leads to eternal 497 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:33,040 life, He's given us everything necessary to love and gift faith 498 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:34,360 as an inheritance for our family. 499 00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:38,240 He gives that to us. All of it He's given as a good 500 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:43,840 gift to us so that we might give the inheritance that He's won 501 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,600 for us by keeping all of the commands. 502 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,800 Because here's the thing, and we look at the beginning of this 503 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:53,640 text and God gives, hey, you got to follow the statutes and this 504 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,400 thing that I've commanded you, be sure you do it. 505 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,560 Follow every single command and then it will go well with you. 506 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:08,360 How are you doing with that? I'm not doing that great with 507 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:15,560 that, to be honest moment of honesty here they all are. 508 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,720 But going to bring it to the forefront. 509 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,560 A lot of the things that I've recommended that we've talked 510 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:25,360 about this morning, I have absolutely failed to do. 511 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:33,040 I have absolutely failed to consistently do those things 512 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,600 with my family. And not just my family in here 513 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:41,600 in my house. I'm talking about my family, my 514 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:44,400 church. I failed them. 515 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,400 It means I've failed you. And if I haven't failed you yet, 516 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:52,800 we're not close enough yet. And as we get close enough, 517 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:54,400 you'll be like, dude, you messed up. 518 00:29:54,400 --> 00:30:00,240 And I know, I know, and I'm sorry for those things. 519 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:05,600 I really AM. But here's the thing. 520 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,680 Even in the midst of being sorry that I have failed to do the 521 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,920 commands that God has called me to do, I'm not downtrodden. 522 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:15,560 I'm not. I'm not shameful. 523 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,240 I don't feel terrible about myself. 524 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:20,160 Why? Because we have a Lord and 525 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,480 Savior who has done all of these commands. 526 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:26,560 He has followed all the statues. He has done all of the dues on 527 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:28,760 our behalf. And the Bible tells us, the 528 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:33,080 gospel tells us that he imputes his righteousness on us, that 529 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:37,160 even though we have failed time and time again, he has not 530 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:41,840 failed. So when we, when we missed the 531 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:46,280 mark, those are the marks that are on him. 532 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:50,040 Our missed marks are directly on him. 533 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,920 And as we think about that, as we process that, that reality, 534 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,560 that truth that Jesus Christ has marks on his bodies because we 535 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:03,160 missed it, man, don't let that, don't let that keep you down. 536 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:05,560 Don't make, don't let that feel make you feel bad. 537 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:08,040 No, we are called to let that set us free. 538 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:11,800 We are called to, weirdly as it may sound to our ears, we are 539 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:16,000 called to rejoice that the only Son of God shed his, shed his 540 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,560 blood and gave his total body for our righteousness, for our 541 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:23,600 salvation, for our eternity. That's what he's done for us. 542 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:28,240 And so man like you can, you can repent, you can repent when you 543 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,880 fail to do these things that we've talked about today, but 544 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:34,280 you don't stay in sorrow because then the devil wins. 545 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:39,520 We cannot let him win because we have a king in Jesus Christ who 546 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:43,000 is greater than any accusation that the that Satan never puts 547 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,720 against you. Man, I hope you know that. 548 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:51,040 I hope you know that. And friends, we're about to, 549 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:55,760 we're about to come before his table where we receive the body 550 00:31:55,760 --> 00:32:03,400 and blood of Jesus Christ. If you're not there yet, if the 551 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:08,280 words I'm saying to you have fallen on deaf ears, then hear 552 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:15,600 this. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, 553 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:21,640 fully God, fully man and total perfection, has given his body 554 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:26,560 and his blood for your life. You have been ransomed at a 555 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:29,560 great cost. And so as we come to the table, 556 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,880 if that is your faith, if that is your belief that Jesus Christ 557 00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:35,840 is your Lord and Savior, friends, we get to walk out of 558 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:44,240 here free. Thanks for listening to ERC 559 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:46,720 Sundays. To support the work God is doing 560 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:48,320 at Emmaus Rd. Church, visit 561 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:51,320 emmausrdonline.org/giving.