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#14909 - But God - Ephesians 2:4-7 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles to Ephesians
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chapter 2. We are going to pick up where we
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left off last time, although we will cover all of the verses in
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some way to just by way of review because it's been some
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time since we've been there. But I've entitled our Bible
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study, but God, but God, our study last time the topic was
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where we came from. Not an easy study to look at
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because we have to look backwards.
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We have to look back at the darkness of our life.
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You know, some of us have a difficult testimony.
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Some of us have challenges in our lives.
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So you know, all of us have a past, but we don't want to dwell
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there. But at the same time, we don't
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want to neglect it. I always like to say we never
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want to forget where we came from because it becomes a
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platform for the testimony of God's faithfulness in our lives.
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So we were looking at that notice with me again in
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Ephesians, Let me get there with you, chapter 2 in verse one.
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It says in you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and
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sins in which you once walked, according to the course of this
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world, according to the Prince of the power of the air, the
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spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, verse three.
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Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts
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of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
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mind. And we're by nature children of
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wrath just as the others. What a dismal description of our
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life, generally separated from God.
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Of course, we all have our own personal testimonies, but
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generally this is the description of our life.
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It was a very dark, difficult. I mean, some of these things I
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don't know that we ever consider.
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We're following the devil, doing his bidding, doing, fulfilling
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our own lusts. I mean, it's really, really bad.
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And if it ended here, it would be very discouraging.
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But it doesn't end here. We pick up in verse 4 all of
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this darkness, all of this, it's difficulty.
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And then in verse 4 opens. But God, would you mark those
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words in your Bible? Circle them, underline them, put
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a star next to them? But God, these two words change
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everything 45 times. In the Bible, these two words
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are used to describe the power of God intervening in a
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difficult situation, revealing how God enters in and changes
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things, reminding us not only does God change things, but he
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can change things and in many ways He will.
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But God, it changes everything. Someone once said that but God.
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These two words are actually the gospel message condensed into
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two words. This is the beginning of change
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in your life. So of the 45I jotted down a few
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If you're taking notes, just to remind you today how God uses
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this phrase to describe how He can meet you in a difficult time
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#1 if you're taking notes, these are great.
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This is a great phrase to remember when pain enters into
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our lives. We get this from Joseph's life
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in Genesis chapter 50, verse 20. At the end of all the trials and
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difficulties he's faced, he's looking at his brothers there,
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and what does he say? He says, but As for you, you
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meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to
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bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive
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#2 it's good to remember this phrase when we want to give up,
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when we want to quit. I know over the past many years
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of my life, a new phrase popped up during some of the
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difficulties I faced where I just started thinking and even
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sometimes saying it out loud. I'm just done.
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I don't know if you've ever used that word, but I'm just done.
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And what it's reflecting is I've just got to the end in something
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and I just don't want to deal with it anymore.
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I don't want to handle it anymore.
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Some of you no doubt came to church today or TuneIn to this
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Bible study, and that's where you're at.
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You're just done. Well, there's a but God for you
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in Psalm 73, verse 26. My flesh and my heart fail, but
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God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
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But God. It's a great phrase to remember
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#3 when things seem hopeless and you're helpless, It's a great
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phrase to remember. Acts chapter 13 verse 29.
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Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him,
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they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb, Speaking
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of Jesus. But God raised him from the
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dead. God brought life into the
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lifeless human body of our Saviour.
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He brought him back. God can bring life into
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difficulties that have died. He can bring life back into your
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life. And finally just 4 from 45.
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Finally, it's a great phrase to remember when others are hurting
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us or coming against us. This is Genesis 31 verse 7.
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Jacob is speaking here and he says your father is deceived me
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and change my wages 10 times, but God did not allow him to
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hurt me. And we come to 1/5 today in
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Ephesians chapter 2, looking back at a difficult life,
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looking back at a life separated from God, separated in every
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way, spiritually, physically, everything.
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And we come again to verse 4. But God, notice with me.
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But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with
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which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses, made us
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alive together with Christ. By grace you've been saved and
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raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly
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places in Christ Jesus. In our previous study, we looked
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at our past. Today we look at our present.
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For those that are in Christ, you have been delivered from
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your past. Your past is exactly that, your
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past. And these are powerful words
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reflecting a powerful God that all that you have in your life.
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What God has done is he breaks in and helps and does for you
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what you cannot do for yourself and nobody can do it for you,
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only God by his grace. This is the good news of the
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gospel and to be reminded of the power of God.
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This is an area, perhaps you see it in your life.
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I've certainly seen it in mine where like God has saved your
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soul, you, you have an eternal future.
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You are safe, secure in Christ. But there are times where
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circumstances overwhelm you, where it becomes very hard to
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trust God just in circumstances like on one side, Hey, I know
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God saved me, I'm eternal, I'm heaven bound.
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God's done a great work. I've even seen it.
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He's changed my life. He's rescued this, He's changed
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that. But then I'm so buried in the
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circumstances that, hey, I don't know that God can really can
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really help me, but he can. And you want to look for this
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phrase, but God, you know how we come to church week after week?
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And it's a great thing. It's a great habit to have, but
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it may just be religious for you.
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It may just be like I'm doing because it's the right thing to
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do. Or today you're here because
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your mom invited you and welcome.
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I'm glad you're here. What a blessing to your mom or
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your grandmother that you would come to church with her.
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That's a wonderful thing. I'm glad that you're here, but
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it's just one of those things that you do, but you don't come
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expectant. And I want you to know that God
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knows your situation when you come here.
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God knows what you're going through and He always has a word
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for you. It could be in a song, it could
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be in the Psalm, it could be in the Bible study.
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It could be somebody you meet. It could be a prayer afterwards.
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God has a word for you every time you show up expectant with
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ears to hear. So for those of you that have
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been struggling finding a job or really having a hard time making
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ends meet, I want you to remember.
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But God, he can turn things around you.
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You might be struggling in your marriage.
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You know, we, the times where there'll be folks coming in
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their marriage, they're smiling and everything, but you know,
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it's, it's really struggling right now.
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But God, you have kids that aren't walking with the Lord or
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turn their back on God. You remember, but God not going
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to give up. I'm going to pray and intercede.
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You might be personally struggling like you would
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describe it, like I can't overcome this.
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I can't get up out from under it.
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I'm really battling and struggling.
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And you have to remember, but God, you're surrounded with
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people right here in this room now that have seen the power of
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God in their lives. These words have been lived out
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in our lives to give you and me hope for the things that we're
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facing Now in Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 6, it says this.
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Seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while
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he is near. And this is God's will for you.
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To call upon the Lord. God's will for you is to set
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aside the pain and the hurt and to get back to that abiding
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relationship with Christ. All that has happened and all
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the difficulties you're facing and all the disappointments and
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all the things you're upset about, lay them aside, turn away
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from your sin and come back to the Lord.
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But God, and as long as you push, you know, the Bible says
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that if we humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God,
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you know what happened? He will lift us up and as we
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come to our come to the and we humble ourselves.
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He receives us that God he honors humility, but you know
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what happens with pride. He resists it.
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You feel that that pressure of why I feel so distant with God
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and I don't feel close to God and God doesn't know.
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No, no, you have to understand something.
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God has not abandoned you in this difficulty.
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God is not run away from you. He is not punishing you.
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He is extending his grace to you through all of your behavior.
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He's showing grace to you in everything you're experiencing
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and he's calling you back to the place.
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Seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon Him while he
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is near. Nothing is wasted in your life
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and it could be the things that you're learning right now will
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be the tools that you're able to come alongside someone else and
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encourage them. But God, God, God can change
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everything as you turn back to him.
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So when God intervenes, what does he do?
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Notice what happens in verse four.
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He intervenes in your situation and in this case our lostness.
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And first of all, he reveals his mercy.
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God said it says, but God who is rich in mercy.
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Secondly, what does he do? He reveals his love to us
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because of His great love with which He loved us, that even
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verse 5, when we were dead in trespasses made us alive
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together in Christ. So he not only reveals his
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mercy, not only reveals his love, but but He gives us new
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spiritual life. He takes us out of the darkness
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and turns on the light. Now we're alive in Christ and we
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can sense Him and experience Him and have a relationship with
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Him. And notice He also reveals verse
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5, His grace, His grace. It's not because of who we are
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or what we have, but because of God's love for us.
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And then notice verse 6, He then raises us up together.
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So He takes us out of the pit and raises us up together.
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And now we have that place positionally because it's not
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physically like the Bible's saying here, you're raised up
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and sitting with Christ. That's a spiritual position
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because physically we're here right now in the room, We're
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here online, we're on the radio in our cars.
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Like physically we're here, but spiritually we're resting in
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Christ. It's a new life.
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It's completely different. What what happened in the
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verses, in verses 1-2 and three have been erased.
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That's not your life anymore. You're not following darkness.
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You're not following like we have a new life and God has
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revealed these things to us. And you know, one of the things
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that's encouraging to me is that if God loved us even when we
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were rebellious and resistant to him, how much more now as
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believers does he love us? How much more do we get to
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experience the goodness and graciousness of God?
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Paul would put it this way in Romans chapter 2 and verse four.
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He said, do you despise the riches of his goodness,
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forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of
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God leads you to repentance? You know, you get in that, you
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get stuck in that place under the weight of heaviness and
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things just aren't working out the way you want them and just
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just a hard season. It's always good to remember the
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goodness of God. That's what's going to lead you
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out, especially in areas of meaning repentance.
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Not only that, but this is what the world needs to see and
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experience. This is what is to flow through
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our lives. The world doesn't live in the
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characteristics of God. Have you noticed that the world
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and the culture we're in doesn't live in the characteristics of
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God though? The world isn't filled with
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Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness,
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self-control, except through believers.
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That's the only place you'll find a real representation of
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who Jesus is, is to see it with your own eyes and to experience
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it. It's through other believers.
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And this is the message exactly what God is doing with you.
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It's the message the world needs to hear.
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In John chapter 13 and verse 35, Jesus says this.
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By this all will know that you are my disciples.
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If you have love for one another.
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That's why church. It's extremely discouraging and
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it's very hard to watch the church act like the world and to
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attempt to deal with things in the world the way the world
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does. If the world screams, the church
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screams. If the world does this, then no
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church and and you lose the opportunity to express real love
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through your life. That's different than anything
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else. Allowing God to use you,
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allowing God to like where you bless those that curse you,
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that's a characteristic of Christ.
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Where you love those that spitefully use you, that's a
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characteristic of Christ. The world doesn't see this.
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It's nowhere in this world system except through the
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church. Why?
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Because the love of God always moves a person to action.
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The love of God is not a abstract concept.
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The love of God is a person, God dwelling in US, and the love of
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God always leads us to action, to help, to encouragement.
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I found a silly story that kind of explains this and expresses
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this that I came across many years ago.
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Let me read it to you. Says a man was walking along a
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path and fell into some quicksand.
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And as he sunk to his inevitable death moment by moment, he was
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visited by a few men throughout history.
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The first guy to show up was Confucius.
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He comes by the guy sinking in quicksand to his death.
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He stops, looks at him and says it's evident that men should
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stay out of places such as this. And then he moved on.
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Thanks Confucius. Big help.
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Well, Buddha comes by after Confucius.
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He stops and looks at the guy sinking in quicksand and said,
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let this man's plight be a lesson to the rest of the world.
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And then he moved on. Then Muhammad comes by.
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He stops and says, alas, it is the will of God.
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You deserve to be in the quicksand.
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And of course, these three men, they represent the world
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religions today. They represent man's best at
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creating a morality. They represent the philosophies
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of this world and the worldly wisdom.
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But you know who also came by? This guy?
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Jesus. He comes by, the guy's sinking
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in quicksand. He stops and he sticks out his
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hand and he says, take my hand brother, I will save you.
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And he pulls him out of the quicksand.
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Do you know that's what David said in Psalm 40, verse two?
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He also brought me up out of the horrible pit, out of the miry
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clay, and he set my feet upon a rock and established my steps.
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God has brought you here today to hear this Bible study, to be
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reminded of this very simple truth.
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You are greatly loved by God. You, not just the not just
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everyone, not just her, not just him, but you.
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God loves you in your current condition, in this moment.
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He loves you so much that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ to
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die for you. He loves you so much that he's
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patient with you. He loves you so much that He's
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placed you in a in a position seated with Christ, alive with
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him so that your life would reflect his great love.
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He he loves you in a way that will change your life.
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I know this is a hard this is a hard true to receive for some of
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you. It's just very difficult.
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When I walked into a church similar to this lost as lost
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could be. This was the singular issue that
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I had the greatest problem with that God would love me.
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I mean, I was in a room much larger than this, probably 3000
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people standing room only that night.
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And as the pastor was teaching, my pastor now as he was
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teaching, he was talking about the love of God and how God
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loves you. And he was telling exactly what
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I'm sharing with you. And I remember, I don't remember
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everything of every night I was there, but I remember this one
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specifically where I began thinking like, there's just no
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way God could love me. Like, because I know how bad I
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am, like other people knew how bad I was, but only how my sin
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affected them. They didn't know a whole story.
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So you'd experience something. You'd experience something like
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I hurt you and I hurt you and I hurt you.
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But I lived with all the hurt. I live with all of my sin and I
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wrestled with it. It took me a few weeks to really
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wrestle with it. And, and when the invitation
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came and I finally responded, I don't know that I fully
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surrendered the, the thought that God loved me, but I was
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willing to trust him. I don't quite understand.
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I don't know, I don't know, I don't even know if I can change.
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I don't even know if this is true, but I believe what the
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Bible says and I'm going to follow him.
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And you know what I've come to find out it is true.
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All of it's true. Everything that you have doubts
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on when it relates to God, all the things and issues, it's all
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true. Why?
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Because of the love of God, not your own strength, not your own
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efforts. And notice if all that God has
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done notice now we get a little bit of a glimpse into the
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future. In verse 7, He says all of this
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has occurred, that in the ages to come he might show us the
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exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ
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Jesus. Which leads us to a big
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question, doesn't it? Why did God save you?
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And why did God save me? Almost always, if we're asked
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that question, there's going to be an answer to some kind of
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benefit that we have, something that God's doing, some change
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that he made. And they're all great.
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You know, you think of well, why God save me?
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Well, he wanted to save my marriage and he wanted to bless
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my kids and he wanted to use me in this world.
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And and some of the functional parts of what God does to us
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with a safe person and they would all be right.
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You can look at a lot of the benefits of following Christ.
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You'd be completely right as you share those things even of what
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God has done and what God wants to do.
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Yes, yes, yes. However, that's not the primary
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reason why he saved you. The primary reason why he saved
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you wasn't to make your life better.
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It wasn't to somehow make sure that you're the happiest person
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on earth. That it isn't those personal
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issues of why God saved us, although there are benefits
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greatly in our life. Verse 7 is one of the primary
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reasons why God saved you, and that is to show his grace to a
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graceless world, to reveal his love to a loveless world so that
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people would see through your life and mine.
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That He could show you off, which reflects His exceeding
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riches of grace to a world that doesn't know, to the world that
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doesn't understand. Not only that, I want you to
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mark this word. We kind of read over it quickly,
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but I want to pause on it again. This could be a Bible study in
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and of itself as well, but we're not going to go there today.
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But I do want you to mark that word.
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Kindness. I have watched a trend lately,
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probably in the last few years, where segments of the church and
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many believers have become very unkind as a response to the
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difficulties in the world. That's just not God's will for
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your life to be an unkind person.
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It's an oxymoron that when you're walking in the Spirit,
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the Bible says that the fruit of the Spirit is kindness.
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It's not OK for you to be unkind.
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It's not OK for you to be unkind to your spouse.
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It's not OK for you to be unkind to your kids.
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It's not OK to be unkind. It's not OK because your life as
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a saved person was, is still here on the earth, salt and
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light in a very dark spot, Dark World, for the purpose of
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showing off God's kindness and his grace and his love and His
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mercy and his life and His hope and the grace of God is
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powerful. God has chosen you not because
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of who you are or what you've done, not because of your status
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in life. He's chosen you because He loves
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you and He really does. It's true.
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It's true the love of God. He saved us so that the people
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in the world would look at His church and marvel at us.
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They would hunger and thirst for something more that they don't
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get. They would have that hole in
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their heart and then their lives revealed by not all these
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ideologies and all these false religions that are really just
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leave a person more empty than they started, but to lead them
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to a person, your life and mine. God wants to use your life that
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way to show off off His grace and His goodness.
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Let me show you another angle. Would you turn over as we close
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today? In First Corinthians chapter 1,
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Paul says a very similar thing to another church and he says it
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a different way. And he emphasizes on God's
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choosing and the emphasis of why he chose and who he chose and
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the work that he's doing, the work he's doing in and through
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us. Sometimes we think, you know,
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it's for us to enjoy his gifts, for us to exercise his gifts.
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And we do get to enjoy them when we do get to exercise them.
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But that's not the reason why He saved us.
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He saved us so that through our lives He will save more when
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people see his love and experience it where it's just
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otherworldly and spiritual. Now it begins in first
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Corinthians as Paul writes to this church, this church that
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was truly redeemed, the believers here out of a very
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difficult sin, sick city, Corinth.
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And the, the theme here in verse 18 is that the message of the
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cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who
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are being saved, it's the power of God.
23:58
So there's a distinction before worldly wisdom, what's going on
24:01
in the world, how the world thinks, how the world operates
24:03
and the wisdom of God. And he's saying, look, the
24:06
gospel, because you know, our, our existence on the earth today
24:10
does provoke unbelievers. You know that, right?
24:12
Most of the provocation right now is people aren't asking us
24:15
necessarily about our lives. And tell me about Jesus, tell me
24:18
about the Bible. Usually even while we're here
24:20
right now, what's happening, what's happening to the church?
24:23
The church is being mocked. Church is being made fun of.
24:26
You know, I can't believe that you're following that Bible.
24:28
The Bible is not reliable. You're following a myth and on
24:31
and on the list goes. And although that you know, it's
24:34
I don't necessarily like being mocked or my Savior being
24:38
mocked. The response though, is credible
24:41
evidence of the presence of God among us.
24:43
So like any response is a good response and we can work with
24:46
that. We can work with someone that
24:48
that is responding to the presence of Jesus on the earth
24:52
today through his church. But here they don't understand
24:56
the message because it's foolishness to them.
24:58
So they mock it, call us names. But when they get closer to the
25:02
Lord, they start to understand. So the church already is saved
25:05
and notice what he says. Jump to verse 26 now talking
25:09
about God's choice for you. See your calling, brethren, that
25:16
not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many
25:19
noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish
25:23
things of the world to put the shame the wise.
25:26
So let's pause there for a second.
25:28
In order to understand this passage, you really need to
25:31
personalize it. You really need to take it to
25:34
heart. So don't just read it like going
25:36
out, but like read it coming in and say, OK, for you see your
25:39
call. OK, I see my calling.
25:41
I'm the brother, you're the sister.
25:43
And then you got not many whys according to the flesh, not many
25:46
mighty, not many noble or call. But God has chosen the foolish
25:49
things of the world. So who is the foolish things of
25:52
the world? You and me.
25:55
We have to understand that the choice that God has made in your
25:59
life is shocking to the world. It's shocking.
26:03
Now you may take the position, Oh no, God got to deal with me
26:08
like when he chose me. No, no, no.
26:10
It's a shocking thing, the work of salvation in our lives in
26:14
very different ways. But that's, that's the key.
26:16
Like what God is doing on the earth.
26:19
It's foolish to anyone. Their eyes are still not opened.
26:23
So he's chosen the foolish things.
26:25
That's me. I could put my name right there.
26:26
God has chosen Ed to put the shame the wise, and God has
26:30
chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things
26:33
which are mighty. Verse 28 The base things that
26:36
means empty, the base things of the world and the things which
26:40
are despised. God has chosen, and the things
26:42
which are not to bring to nothing the things that are.
26:46
And notice he gives another reason now, that no flesh should
26:49
glory in his presence. So not only is God working among
26:53
us, so that people will see the exceeding riches of his grace
26:56
and his mercy, but he's also choosing and moving among us so
27:00
that nobody can stand there and go.
27:01
I deserve this. I deserve this.
27:04
No, we know that. We don't.
27:05
You look around the room today and you see there's great
27:07
diversity here. People from all walks of life,
27:11
from all over town, in all of our services, all around the
27:15
country, even around the world, join our church for worship
27:18
services. Great, great diversity on every
27:22
level that you can measure diversity and you bring back
27:26
some of the things that are mentioned here in verse 26.
27:30
And the same is true here in among us today.
27:32
There's not many whys among us. There's not many wealthy among
27:36
us. There's not many among us that
27:39
have a noble upbringing and a lineage that's that somehow is
27:43
is really admirable. You know, our whole family tree
27:46
and our family line. There's not many, although there
27:49
are some the Bible doesn't say not any.
27:52
The Bible says not many. And so, yes, among us, there are
27:56
some that are in these categories.
27:58
There are a few doctors among us, some dentists, a few
28:01
lawyers, maybe CEOs, business owners, you know, even a
28:05
veterinarian. Among us, there are people with
28:07
a lot of money. There's few that have a lot of
28:09
money that are very wealthy. Yeah, it's not any.
28:12
It's just not many. Not many.
28:16
Why? Because God has chosen the
28:19
unexpected things of the world. He's chosen the castaways, He's
28:23
chosen even those that gave up on themselves to bring in from
28:29
Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1-2 and three, just living for the
28:33
world, living for yourself, just living in sin, separate from
28:36
God. He's chosen us in every station
28:38
in life so that through our redeemed life, He could show off
28:42
His grace and His mercy so that someone would see your life and
28:46
be attracted to the gospel because they know you, because
28:50
they learn about you. I was writing to the church in
28:53
Corinth and just reminding them, Sure, there's a few that have a
28:56
great status in the world, but not many.
28:59
This is a great reminder for us that when we come to the Lord,
29:03
we must come humble, right? Most of us don't have business
29:08
cards with all these different letters after us because we've
29:10
had the privilege of getting a lot of education.
29:12
Most of us have not much education.
29:14
I mean, I barely finished high school.
29:17
I barely finished high school, and because of the decisions I
29:19
made in life, I couldn't go to college.
29:21
I had to go to work and raise a family right away.
29:24
I couldn't do it. Everything started backwards for
29:27
Marie and I. Every single part of life,
29:29
everything we were, we should have done right, we did wrong
29:32
until God entered in and change things around.
29:35
But you know, you, you look at OK, pastor there.
29:37
You're a pastor up. You've been here 27 years.
29:39
It must because it must be. You're the pastor of this church
29:42
because you have many degrees and you've studied much in your
29:45
seminary training your Bible college.
29:48
Yeah, that's not it. I didn't go to seminary and I
29:52
finished Bible college on my couch a few years ago.
29:55
I was already pastoring before that.
29:57
Like I'm not here. You know why I'm here pastoring
29:59
this church? Because this is God's call upon
30:01
my life and that you could see my life and say, man, if God
30:05
could use someone like him, then God can surely use me.
30:08
And if God could touch a guy like him, then he can bring my
30:11
prodigal son back. I don't stand before you.
30:14
It's not even in without education.
30:17
I don't stand before. Well, you know, I'm here today
30:19
because I'm such a good studier and I know all the Greek and the
30:21
Hebrew. Hey, look, I just want to be
30:24
faithful to the Lord and I'm as shocked as you are that God uses
30:29
me this way. I, I, this was not the course of
30:32
my life, but I'm also grateful that God would change the course
30:36
of my life. But God, I experienced that and
30:39
I get to that experience, the privilege of serving him and
30:43
loving him just like you 2 in the areas that God has called
30:46
you to. Now, I don't want you to, I
30:49
don't want you to come to this section or even what I'm sharing
30:51
with you and in any way come to the conclusion here that God is
30:56
against education or this church is against education.
30:59
We are not. I want you to consider things.
31:01
God is very pro education by the way, and it was I was raising my
31:04
kids. I will always tell them this.
31:06
Get as much education as you can as fast as you can.
31:09
And you know what? The third one is as cheap as you
31:12
can. And I encourage them all the way
31:15
through. They went through the college,
31:17
as far as colleges as they wanted to go.
31:19
God is not anti education. We're not anti education.
31:21
Matter of fact, one of the men that God used to write over half
31:25
of the Bible was a man who would be considered in his day and age
31:29
the highest educated level that you could aspire to.
31:33
Saul of Tarsus, I mean, he was a super smart guy and God used
31:38
him, but he also used fisherman like Peter, who maybe weren't
31:43
smart in the worldly way, but they were smart in following
31:47
Christ. Because that's all you did,
31:48
right? What did you do?
31:50
What did I do? I followed Jesus and sometimes
31:53
not even that well, but I'm going to follow him and I'm
31:56
going to trust him. So it's not many.
31:59
Why is Paul riding in this? It's not that God's against
32:01
education. He's not.
32:02
And it's not that Paul's against money.
32:04
I or God is against money. God is not against money.
32:07
You know why? Because he owns it all.
32:09
It's all his. He owns a cat on 1000 hills.
32:12
And some of the most successful wonder, and there's probably a
32:16
lot that we don't even know, but some of the people who were used
32:18
greatly to fund Paul's missionary trips were men and
32:22
women that were very wealthy. And I know some of you here are
32:26
listening in. You're just very good with
32:28
money. Why?
32:30
Well, you're very good with money so that you can fund the
32:33
Kingdom of God on the earth until Jesus returns.
32:36
Some of you are super smart and have degrees where you're in
32:39
different places where God's opening doors.
32:41
Why? So that God would put you and
32:44
you will follow him to the places that He wants you.
32:46
So that with your money, God sees the richness of God's mercy
32:50
and grace on the earth. And through your education, God
32:52
will see the riches and the mercy.
32:54
Do you understand? You exist to glorify God.
32:58
That's Ephesians. Why does God breakthrough?
33:01
Because we exist to glorify God. This is the work of God in and
33:05
through us as you trust him and abide in him.
33:09
And even those of us with families, you know, like I don't
33:11
know the extent of my family, man.
33:13
I was adopted, but I was adopted by the grace of God.
33:17
Why? So I could be here today to show
33:19
off the riches of God's grace. You matter, Church.
33:24
This is the summary of our time today.
33:26
You matter. God loves you and He entered
33:31
into your life at just the right time to turn everything around.
33:35
You were going in One Direction and guess what happened?
33:38
But God, now, of course, some of you, your testimony is a little
33:42
different because you don't really have this dark, difficult
33:45
past and everything you went into.
33:47
Sometimes when you hear testimonies and people sharing
33:50
and you're looking at your own life, you're like, oh man, I
33:52
don't have a testimony like that.
33:53
I got to go get one. No, you don't need one.
33:57
You don't need to get a testimony.
33:59
You don't need to go in that way.
34:00
You don't need to jump into sin. Take our word for it.
34:03
It will destroy you. It will make you.
34:06
It will make you a person that doesn't follow the Lord anymore.
34:09
It will hurt people that love you.
34:10
You don't need a testimony. Your testimony sometimes is even
34:15
more powerful. Growing up in a Christian home,
34:18
maybe your family has like 10 generations that you can point
34:22
back of believers handing down, handing it down, handing it
34:25
down. You know what your testimony is?
34:27
Your testimony is that God didn't deliver you from the
34:30
quick scent of sin like us, but rather He didn't take you out of
34:35
sin. What did He do?
34:36
He kept you from it. That's huge.
34:39
I mean, not perfect, nobody's perfect, but you don't have to
34:41
experience all this drama and all this difficult.
34:43
You don't have to all this drama and consequences and pain.
34:47
You know, things you have to live with for the rest of your
34:48
life. Why?
34:49
Because God blessed you with the lineage, that noble upbringing.
34:53
However, not all of us. It doesn't say, not any, just
34:56
says. Not many and all of us all
34:59
together. The whole part of the body of
35:02
Christ. I'm reminded today not only of
35:06
God's sufficiency, God's faithfulness, God's love for me,
35:10
His commitment to me, his, his promise to never leave or
35:14
forsake you, His promise to lead you and guide you.
35:18
I think of all the difficulties that are in this room right now.
35:20
There's some big stuff, there's some small stuff, there's some
35:24
medium stuff. And this just this week, we
35:27
were, I had some time to think and I was writing just some few
35:31
little things for pastors on social media and I was typing
35:34
one in and one of the thoughts that came to me, and it's true
35:37
for everyone, but I addressed pastors, but it's true for all
35:39
of us. And that was I, I wrote
35:41
something like, Pastor, God has gotten you through every single
35:46
trial up to today, which is true for all of us.
35:50
Every single thing we've ever experienced, God has brought us
35:53
to today. And he's not going to abandon us
35:56
and just kind of let us go. And now we have to do it all on
35:58
our own. He's going to get you through
36:01
this one too. He's going to stand with you.
36:04
Why? Because he loves you.
36:05
And if he loved you when you were rebellious and where you
36:08
were resistant and when we you were separate, maybe not
36:11
pressing into the things of God because he did and he does love
36:14
you in that condition. How much more in Christ?
36:21
And so a rebellious, resistant life can be summarized in this.
36:26
Why? I just don't want to love God.
36:28
That's really what you're saying.
36:29
I just don't want to love God and I don't want God's love.
36:34
It's not a good place to be. And you know what, God, He will
36:39
continue to pursue you. He will continue to reveal
36:42
himself to you. He will continue to bless you.
36:46
You know why He blesses you? Because of His grace.
36:49
It's not because we deserve it. It's just so gracious to us, so
36:52
wonderful. Be careful not to diminish the
36:55
grace of God or like, where's what's happening?
36:58
Where's the grace of God? The grace of God is all around
37:01
us, working in us. Our very lives reflect the
37:07
faithfulness of God and His love for us every minute of every
37:10
day. Another thing this section tells
37:13
me is that God can and will use anyone, even someone like me,
37:18
Someone Like You. In Second Corinthians chapter 4
37:22
and verse 7 it says this. We have this treasure in earthen
37:25
vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not
37:30
of us. It's what's in the vessel that
37:33
makes the vessel valuable, not the earthen vessel.
37:35
And I had this weird thought at the previous service.
37:38
I'll share it with you. It just reminded me when I was
37:41
growing up, I had this thought of my mom was so she just wanted
37:46
us to be so super careful with the Tupperware containers.
37:52
I don't know if you Tupperware, you guys younger people, you're
37:54
going to have to ChatGPT. Like Tupperware was a big deal,
37:57
super expensive plastic things. And if you put the wrong thing
38:00
in it, it would ruin it, you know, discolor it.
38:03
And how do I, well, pastor it? How do you know I ruined them
38:06
all, every single one of them. And on a small scale, like, you
38:10
would think that my mom cared more about the container than
38:14
what was in the container. And she would make a big deal
38:18
about well, Mom, but at least I didn't waste something.
38:20
Well, you ruin the plastic Tupperware.
38:24
I'm sorry, Mom. I'll pay you off the rest of my
38:26
life. I don't know.
38:27
I'm sorry. But you see, it's not the
38:31
container. It's what's in it that's
38:34
valuable. It's not us to get the glory.
38:37
It's not who we are. It's who he is.
38:41
That earthen vessel. That's you and me.
38:45
The glory though, is what God that he would choose to dwell in
38:48
us, that he would choose to move in our family, that he would
38:52
choose to be patient with us, that he would choose no matter
38:56
what direction our life to enter in.
38:58
But God, and if you will look to him asking for his strength and
39:02
direction, He'll continue to reveal to you His plan and
39:06
purpose for your life. I mean, again, the choices of
39:09
God, like there's a good chance that in our choices, we may not
39:13
have chosen the people that God chose.
39:15
I mean, would you have chosen Peter?
39:17
Like Peter made many, many mistakes, putting his foot in
39:20
his mouth, you know, just kind of like he made many mistakes.
39:23
But man, God used him greatly. Why?
39:27
Because he was just an earthen vessel.
39:29
But but the Lord used him. Would you have chosen?
39:32
I was thinking about the sons of Thunder because we're studying
39:35
first. John, would you have chosen
39:36
them? You know what they were like?
39:38
They were like this. Hey, Jesus, those guys aren't
39:40
with us. Give us permission.
39:42
We'll wipe them out and I mean wipe him out, like kill him.
39:46
You're not following us. And Jesus very patiently go,
39:48
hey, you guys don't know what you don't understand.
39:51
That's not why I came. So no, no, you can't wipe them
39:54
out. But they continue to come along
39:56
with them. And what happened?
39:58
Son of Thunder John, who does he become?
40:00
John the beloved. He became out of love.
40:04
I don't know that we would have chosen, you know, you got a
40:06
resume for the next pastor and they come up and go, hey, so
40:08
what's your big accomplishment? We've wiped people out for
40:11
Jesus. Yeah, I don't think so.
40:13
Would you have chosen Jonah? I mean, Jonah, he's been given a
40:17
message and be given a direction on who to give it to.
40:20
And what does he do? No way.
40:23
I am not going to share the gospel with them because if I
40:26
share the gospel with them, they might get saved and I don't want
40:30
them saved. Imagine that as a pastoral
40:33
candidate. Hey, we just want you to preach
40:35
the gospel. Hey, I'll preach the gospel to
40:37
everyone but them. I mean, I don't know that we
40:40
have chosen Jonah, but God did. It's a true for you as you look
40:45
at your life and you look at the mess ups and you look at the
40:48
challenges, God is at work in your life.
40:50
Why? Because what's more value in our
40:52
lives is who's in us, not necessarily who we are.
40:56
And it's true that God will often choose unlikely candidates
40:59
so that he will get all the glory through our lives, that he
41:03
will get the all the attention, all the like.
41:05
As you learn in the life of our church, our church cannot be
41:08
centered about a man. We cannot elevate men.
41:12
We cannot make people more important than Jesus Christ who
41:15
died for us and gave a we can't have celebrities.
41:18
We can't elevate people like they they don't make any
41:21
mistakes or we can't be great. That is all.
41:24
Not from the Lord. You go Well, pastor, what do you
41:26
mean? That's the whole world's filled
41:28
with that. Social media is filled with
41:29
that, but it's not in the Bible. You know what's in the Bible?
41:33
Listen, and this is where we'll almost close Isaiah 48 verse 11.
41:38
God says this through Isaiah. For my own sake, for my own
41:42
sake, I will do it. For how should my name be
41:46
profaned? And listen what God says, and I
41:49
will not give my glory to another.
41:55
We have to look to the Lord. We have to allow each other.
41:58
It's much as God uses someone in our life or a minister or pastor
42:01
or a book or teaching. So as much as God uses people in
42:05
our lives, we have to allow the people in our lives to get us to
42:08
the cross. It's about Jesus and not us.
42:12
So our past was dark. Our our present is delightful.
42:16
And next time we'll zero in on the grace of God.
42:19
You can read ahead in verse 8, but remember this this last
42:22
phrase I want to give you when you think of but God, I want you
42:26
to add a phrase so you can remember it.
42:28
I want you to add a phrase today from the the word of the Lord to
42:31
us today when you think of but God, I want you also to think of
42:35
it's not over. If there is a God who is true
42:38
and active in the world today and that is true, then the
42:42
story's not over. It's not over in your life.
42:45
The situation's not over the the the it's not all hopeless.
42:48
It's not all division. It's not over because you can
42:52
always lean back as a no, but God, Amen.
42:56
Thank you, Lord, for your word today and the ministry of your
42:59
Holy Spirit among your church and such a day of celebration
43:04
and love. Our moms and so grateful not
43:07
only for the role, but for the women themselves.
43:10
So important, so valuable to us. And then of course, all the pain
43:15
and all the loss and all the challenges.
43:17
Man, we, I don't, we couldn't make it without you, Lord, I
43:20
don't know how people make it without you.
43:23
I don't, I just, I don't know how I made it all those years
43:26
without you except by your grace.
43:28
So I pray over us as we thank God, that to factor you in, not
43:32
to be so swallowed by our circumstances, but to always
43:35
factor you in to the equation and to turn back to you, to seek
43:41
you while you might be found. To give you all the glory to
43:45
begin to enjoy life again, to follow your will, not mine to
43:52
yield and sacrifice. You know, to what's the to yield
43:56
and to like surrender. That's the word.
44:00
So we would be surrendered. People trusting you and for some
44:06
God, they're still living in Ephesians 1-2 and three, chapter
44:09
212 and 3:00 where they're not in any relationship with you.
44:13
But today you're calling them to yourself.
44:16
Today is that day. And so I would just invite you
44:19
as the church is praying before we sing our final song.
44:22
And today you need to make things right with God.
44:25
I'm going to ask you right where you are.
44:26
Would you just stand to your feet?
44:27
I want to pray with you and help you do that, that today you
44:31
would turn your life toward Jesus Christ.
44:34
Why? Because he loves you and he's
44:36
demonstrated that love. And that today the work of his
44:40
Spirit would be received by you, would be enjoyed by you, and you
44:46
could tell God today of your own free will.
44:48
I've sinned God, and I ask you to forgive me.
44:51
I choose to follow you with my life.
44:54
Anyone here that would do that we want to pray for, Just stand
44:56
to your feet that we can come alongside of you and encourage
45:00
you in this new journey in life. The work of God bless you right
45:05
here. Somebody's going to stand with
45:07
you to encourage you. So you know, because that's how
45:09
we follow up right away. You have someone standing with
45:11
you in this church. Who else would say that's me?
45:14
Today's the day, the work of God, the the power of God, like
45:21
you just know, you know things need to get right.
45:26
You know that the invitation's for you and that includes the
45:30
people we don't see, of course, but we acknowledge you online on
45:36
the radio, downstairs nursing moms room.
45:39
We acknowledge that we know that God is working in the room.
45:42
You could sense and feel, Lord, the resistance, but those are
45:47
returning. Some are responding and it's a
45:50
good thing. And so for those of you who did,
45:52
the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord
45:55
Jesus, and you believe in your heart that God raised him from
45:58
the dead, you will be safer with the heart.
46:01
One believes unto righteousness and the mouth confession is made
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unto salvation. So let me help you with that
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confession. You can use these words to talk
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directly to God. You could say, God, I asked you
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to forgive me of all of my sins. I believe you sent Jesus to live
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for me, to die for me. And I believe he rose again from
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the dead and I choose to follow him today.
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Please forgive me God, and help me.
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Help me to follow you closely and God, I just acknowledge that
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when they when someone prays like that, they don't always
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know what's going, what they're getting into.
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They don't know what the future holds.
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They don't know they don't know how it's all going to work out.
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But I pray you would they would just be happy with this little
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little mustard seed of faith, just this little desire to
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follow you and move forward, trusting you with everything
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they learn, growing, learning how to love, learning how to be
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loved. And so I pray for those that
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turn to you today, bless their lives, bless their families,
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pour out your spirit upon them. And for our church, we ask for a
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fresh anointing of your spirit. We, we just pray God for your
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comfort and your encouragement. We pray God, no matter what we
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are as the vessel, there's treasure, we carry treasure.
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We are loved by we, we are loved by someone who treasures us and
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it's not about the vessel, it's about you.
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Lord, thank you for that privilege in Jesus name, Amen.
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Amen. That's good.
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Let's stand together church. So good.
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Happy Mother's Day moms. I just prayed today.
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You get everything you want and more.
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Just demand it. It's Mother's Day and just say
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hey, but enjoy, enjoy those of you that can enjoy.
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And if you can't, maybe you can ask someone just to pray for
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you, if you're willing to open up a little bit and say this
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Mother's Day is hard for me. We could pray for each other.
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The pastors will be up here to pray with you.
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I know I prayed with someone last night just struggling.
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It's just a hard holiday for them.
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So we just point him to the Lord and let's see if we have a baby
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yet. No.
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So Lord, we do pray for our sister.
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Super challenging. Been very, very hard.
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And we pray the same thing, health, strength and a safe
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delivery for mom and baby. Put a piece on that home and
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that that hospital room. I mean, and we're looking
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forward to good news. Lord trust you nevertheless, not
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my will, but your will be done and bless your church as we sing
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this song. So this song is so good for us
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as we just think about your grace and think about your mercy
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and think about your undying care for us.
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It's good to be reminded in Jesus name, Amen.
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Amen. Let's sing this song under the
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Lord. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
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Call us at 87730 Grace that's 877-304-7223.
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To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
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live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
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or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.