Latest / HBCWestminster / 7.5.20 Luke 8:1-15 Pastor Danny Gardner

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7.5.20 Luke 8:1-15 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, our text this morning is Luke chapter 8, Luke chapter 8, verses 1 through 15, and I'm going to read our text, and I would ask that if you're able to stand in honor of God's word as we read out loud, that you do that now. Let me read it, and we'll begin beginning in verse 1. Soon afterward, he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.
• 0:28
  Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the son of Cusa, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their means. And when a great crowd was gathering, and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up,
• 0:56
  It withered away because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. As he said these things, he called out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this.
• 1:26
  The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.
• 1:54
  As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience. Would you pray with me? Lord, I do ask that you would bless again the preaching of your word. May our hearts respond to it in humility. May we be eager recipients of the implanted word. And God, may your word dwell in us richly. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
• 2:24
  Amen. Well, thank you. You can be seated. I don't know if you've noticed, but there is a culture war raging in our country. I heard somebody this week call it a war of perspectives, and I think that that would be a great title for her book that I hope that she writes. We are certainly witnessing history. What's interesting to me about this current culture war is that it seems to be a call for equality and compassion for the outcast and for the maligned.
• 2:53
  There is a social outcry for justice and for freedom for the marginalized. Our hearts as believers should stir when we hear the voices of these oppressed people because these are exactly who the gospel is for. You may recall from last Sunday that the gospel is for the prostitute and not for the Pharisee. Believers are the ones sitting on the answer.
• 3:20
  We know that the answer, and church, man, we know that the answer is not capitalism or socialism. It's not. The answer is not either defending or disintegrating the Constitution. It's not. I know that's what's being argued, but there is no solution there. The answer is not whether you support and celebrate the 4th of July or whether you support and celebrate Juneteenth. None of these are solutions.
• 3:49
  No matter which side of those issues you fall. The answer is not even America. And church, you know me. I love my country. I love my country. I am proud to be from a family on both sides of my family who served in the armed forces. I'm proud of that. I believe our country to be the greatest country in the history of mankind. I'm proud to be from here. I will fly my American flag. But the answer to mankind's problems is not America.
• 4:18
  We keep saying it. I feel like we've been saying it every week. We will keep on saying it. The answer is Jesus. Listen to Graham Scroggie in his Guide to the Gospels when he says that Luke is the gospel of sympathy, especially for the outcast. Jesus has pity for all who are in need, and Luke illustrates this by recording that the boy of Nain in Luke chapter 7 was the only son of his mother.
• 4:47
  That the little maid of Jairus in Luke chapter 8, in the end of our chapter, was his only daughter. That the lunatic boy was the father's only son. In this gospel, the harlot, the criminal, the prodigal, the social pariah of whatever class or condition are freely offered the society and the service of the purest and best. The Christ of Luke, he says, is the friend of sinners.
• 5:15
  It's no marvel that this gospel, the gospel of Luke, more than all the others, may be said to have given birth and inspiration to all the great reformatory movements. Care for the poor, the deaf, the dumb, the insane, the maimed, the widowed, the orphaned, the aged, even the criminal, which distinguish modern Christendom. It is in a peculiar sense. In church, we've been saying this for eight months. The gospel of Luke is...
• 5:40
  In a peculiar sense, the gospel for those for whom in all ages this world has had no gospel. No matter who you are, the gospel of Luke is for you. In our text this morning in Luke 8, the author takes a pause. He pushes pause to explain again what the Lord is doing. To give a quick overview in case you've joined us late, I'm going to call it a progress report. And have you ever woken up?
• 6:10
  disoriented. Has that ever happened to you? Maybe you've been in a hotel room or you're staying the night at friends and family's house. You wake up in a place that you're not familiar with in the middle of the night. You wake up disoriented. You don't know where you are. You don't know who you are, what's going on, what you're supposed to be doing. You wake up in a cloud this last week, just a few nights ago. Church, I don't know what happened. This never happens to me, but I woke up with a crazy charley horse.
• 6:35
  in my back kind of left hamstring, right behind my left thigh. And you guys, I was in the middle of sleeping. It was the middle of the night. I woke up in so much pain. I mean, I was literally writhing around in my bed, screaming, screaming. And you can ask my wife when you see her. I mean, it was a crazy thing. And I was so disoriented because I was sleeping. Hallie said that she could hear me kind of whimpering almost. And then all of a sudden just started screaming because this, my, my, my,
• 7:06
  thigh, my leg had just wrenched so hard and frozen that way and it hurt so badly. What I can recall when I finally woke up and realized what was going on was that Hallie had literally stripped the blankets off of me and was rubbing something on the back of my leg. It was something kind of like icy hot or something like this that she had. She just went and grabbed it and started rubbing it into my leg. It was the craziest thing because I had no idea what was going on.
• 7:33
  Now, church, do you ever pick up your Bible that way? Disoriented? Lost? You feel like when you read that you're kind of picking up in the middle of a story that you're not familiar with? Who is this? What's going on? What were we talking about? I don't get it. I was speaking to one of our members this week, actually, who talked about the value in understanding the Bible as cohesive from beginning to end, as unified, and as...
• 8:02
  easily understood what theologians call the perspicuity of Scripture. I've always found it a little ironic that theologians have designated the word perspicuity to mean easy to understand. They chose a word that nobody knows the definition of to say it's easy to understand. But the perspicuity of Scripture means that God is not hiding. God does not speak in code. If you seek him, he really will be found.
• 8:29
  If you draw near to him, he will draw near to you. And this morning's passage, this progress report, is a simple reminder of that fact. God wants you to know what's going on in the story. And so in verses 1 to 15, he just pushes pause and he says, let me catch you up. Let me give a little review. Let me tell you what the Lord Jesus is all about. And so you'll notice in verses 1 to 3, a helpful progress report. Look at verse 1. It says,
• 8:58
  He went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with him. One verse that kind of sums up, here's what's going on. Don't forget where we are in the story. And here are just a few thoughts related to these first three verses. You'll notice first in verse 1 what Jesus was all about.
• 9:21
  I mean, what was he doing? Where was he going? To whom was he speaking? And it just simply says, through, he went on through cities and villages. He is on this massive preaching circuit, this preaching and miracle-working tour, going to every town, every village. The reason why these cities and villages are not named specifically is that there are way too many to name. He's going everywhere.
• 9:48
  Jesus certainly wasn't lazy. He was singularly focused on the task at hand. He was undeterred. He was undistracted. And although we know the end of the story, although we know that his time was cut short, his impact was great because he was so kingdom-minded. Imagine what Jesus did in three short years. Colossians chapter 4 and verse 5 says,
• 10:18
  toward outsiders, those outside of the church, those who do not know the Lord, walk in wisdom toward them, making the best use of the time. Another translation says, redeeming the time. And church, we know this, but it bears repeating. We were not put on this earth to get married and to raise kids and to have careers and to build our 401ks.
• 10:43
  That's not why we're here. All of those are good things. But even all of those things are meant to serve our greater purpose. And Colossians 4 calls that redeeming the time with those who don't know the Savior. There is an old adage that says someone can be so heavenly minded that he or she is no earthly good. Their heads so in the clouds that they don't get anything done on earth. And may I respectfully disagree.
• 11:13
  I actually think that if we were a little more heavenly-minded, we would do a lot more earthly good. I think maybe a more accurate statement would be that most Christians are so earthly-minded that they are no heavenly good. I think probably a truer statement is to say that most Christians have their minds so focused on earth, what's happening here in the present, that they forget all about eternity and the future. Listen to Colossians 3, 1 and 2.
• 11:43
  If then, it says, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things which are above where Christ is. Seated at the right hand of God, set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Do you hear what he says there? Since you have been raised with Christ, since you know the Lord, why wouldn't you think about where the Lord is in heaven? Seated at the right hand of the Father. Set your minds there, he says, rather than here.
• 12:13
  J.C. Ryle has said this, let the diligence of Christ be an example to all Christians. Let's follow in his steps. However far we may come short of his perfection, like him, let us labor to do good in our day and generation and to leave the world a better world than we found it. 1 John 2 calls us to walk like Jesus walked. And so you may ask the question, well, then how did Jesus walk? And in short, Jesus walked everywhere.
• 12:43
  And with everyone, that's what we see in verse 1. He went everywhere, anywhere he could to preach the good news. And you'll notice, second, that he limited himself to one message. His traveling circuit, his preaching circuit was unlimited. He would go anywhere, but notice that he did limit the scope of his message.
• 13:04
  To the kingdom of God. Look again at verse 1. He went on through cities and villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. He had one message. That was it. He preached the same message over and over. And we've said many times that although Jesus' invitation was inclusive, all are welcomed, his message was exclusive. In other words, anyone is welcome into the kingdom.
• 13:30
  Anybody watching this right now is welcome into the kingdom of God, but no one can get there apart from the blood of Jesus. Wes Andrews, who is our youth intern this summer, was preaching this last Wednesday night in junior high from 2 Peter and the qualities.
• 13:54
  of a genuine believer, things like virtue and knowledge and self-control and brotherly love. And he asked this great question in our small group with the junior high boys after the preaching was done. We got together, about half a dozen junior high boys, and he just asked this question. What a great question. He said, can someone still be saved if the only quality they possess is faith? What if they don't have any of those other qualities? Can that person still be saved? What if faith is all they have?
• 14:21
  And you can imagine the silence that would ensue from a group of 10, 11, 12-year-olds right after a question like that. Like, man, I don't know. I mean, if we're Christians, aren't we supposed to act really good? Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing? Shouldn't we have all of those qualities? Can I still call myself a Christian if I don't have brotherly love and I don't have virtue and I don't have knowledge and I don't have self-control? Am I still a Christian? A long pause ensued. And finally, one of our junior high boys, Garrett.
• 14:49
  Garrett finally spoke up and he said, yes, you can still be saved. He said this. He said, yes, you won't be a great Christian, but yes, you will still be saved. That is the message that Jesus preached. He had done the work. No other work need be done. He had offered the merit. He had offered the righteousness and the perfection he had.
• 15:19
  Done all of the work. So all we would have to do is believe. Now, there is a problem in our culture. And I don't mean American culture. I mean the culture in North Denver. There are many who believe on our side of town that you can believe anything you want as long as you believe it sincerely. So fine, have faith. But you can have faith in anything you want as long as that faith is sincere.
• 15:47
  Recent statistics actually rank the north side of Denver as one of the least churched regions in the country. Can you imagine that? Between 70 and 90 plus percent of North Denverites claim to have no religious affiliation at all. None. Doesn't seem like, as I've been speaking to them, that they are hostile toward religion. In fact, if you speak, I think, to your unbelieving neighbors, and I believe a vast majority will tell you.
• 16:16
  You can believe whatever you want. They don't care. As long as you believe it sincerely, it's your personal belief. Believe whatever you want and it'll work out. It was Ravi Zacharias who said you can be sincere and yet be sincerely wrong. Jesus, we notice in verse one, was about the good news of the kingdom of God. He spoke about the kingdom. It was his only message. And the reason is because it really is the only way to find forgiveness.
• 16:47
  of sin. So he went everywhere, but he preached one message. Notice also that Jesus traveled with a lot more than 12 people. This actually says in verse 1, and the 12 were with him, right? You would expect a period there, but that's not what we would get. Instead, it's a comma, and verse 2 says, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary, Joanna, right? Household manager of Herod, Susanna, and it actually says in verse 3, and many others.
• 17:16
  Many others. He traveled with a lot more than 12 people. Now, I don't want us to get all hung up on this point. And I am not kidding when I say that entire books have been written on this band of traveling companions. And especially the fact that several women are listed. There are some people who freak out about that. And I would just ask, why is this so surprising to us? If Jesus had radically changed your life, wouldn't you want to stay with him?
• 17:48
  If he had healed you, if he had cast demons out of you, if he had returned you because of your healing back to your social setting, you can now return because the leprosy is gone. You're not a social outcast anymore. Now you can return home. You're not a demon-possessed man anymore. Now you can return home. If he had done those things for you, wouldn't you want to be with him? Of course you would. And of course they would. And so they did. And now in regard to enlisting women, I'm only going to point out.
• 18:18
  that this serves as yet another example of Christ and the Scriptures as a whole, Christ's honoring of women in a cultural setting which was very much against them. In fact, a common prayer among Jewish men during Jesus' time was, Thank you, Lord, that you did not make me a Gentile or a woman.
• 18:41
  That's what they used to pray. Thank you, Lord, that I'm not a Gentile. Thank you that I'm not a woman. That was the culture that these books were written in. Imagine how countercultural that statement would be. That Jesus traveled not only with his apostles, which you would expect, but there were many others as well, including some women. And the modern church, I think because of a tradition handed down to us from generations past, and maybe a tradition.
• 19:09
  That twisted the scriptures? The modern church, I think, has a reputation for being a misogynistic boys club. In fact, women in some congregations even today are viewed as inferior. But listen, that is not how the Lord views women at all. Women served along with men at Christ's side during his earthly ministry.
• 19:36
  And although only men were chosen to be apostles, women were nevertheless vital to Christ's ministry. And listen, women of Highland, you still are vital to the ministry of Christ. Absolutely vital and valued. Notice, finally, the last little statement in verse 3. It says that this traveling band actually provided for Christ. It says provided for them.
• 20:05
  Out of their own means. Out of their means. They actually spent their own money to provide for Jesus. And that's kind of an odd thing to include. The Lord had no need of their money. Right? The Lord doesn't need anything or anyone.
• 20:24
  It was the Lord Jesus who could multiply fish and loaves. It was the Lord Jesus who could turn stones into bread. That was the Lord Jesus. He could have called out food from the ground if he had wanted to. And yet Jesus, in his goodness, allowed his people to contribute from their own means. Let me ask you, church, was it for his sake or was it for their sake?
• 20:53
  The fact that he could supply his own needs means that it was not for his own sake. It was actually for their sake. In his goodness, he allowed them to contribute. The Lord wants our help. That's true. But he does not need our help. He does not need our help. He can do all things apart from us. We can do all things in Christ. But you know what? The opposite is not true. It's not true that Christ can do all things in us. He can do all things apart from us.
• 21:21
  But he allows us to help for our own sake. And what a good God we serve. What a valuable lesson this is. Well, that's first, this helpful progress report, verses 1 to 3. But now look at what the gospel writer does. He attaches a parable that illustrates that exact point. What was Jesus doing? He was going everywhere. He was telling everyone about a singular message. He had a band of people with him contributing out of their own.
• 21:50
  means. And then he tells this parable to illustrate his point. Look at verses 4 to 15. It says, And when a great crowd was gathering, and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable. So now he's got this massive group, this massive crowd. It is a mixed multitude, which means there are some who are believers, some who are not, many who are questioning, some who are just curious and just want to see.
• 22:18
  This guy who is causing such a stir, right? We know from our own experience that crowds gather crowds. And so there's this massive group of people and some of them don't even know what's going on. I just see a big group of people. Let's go check it out. And so he says this parable in verse 5. A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot. The birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on the rock. And as it grew up, it withered away because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns.
• 22:46
  The thorns grew up with it and choked it, and some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. And as he said these things, he called out, he who has ears, let him hear. I think Luke's placement of this parable is perfect because Jesus is the farmer in the story. We've just read verse one. He's going everywhere and he's telling everybody about the good news of the kingdom of God. He is the farmer throwing.
• 23:14
  The seed. And it is one of the better known parables. Almost everybody has heard this parable before. It's one of the parables that Jesus actually then interprets himself in scripture. And so we will study it quickly. I don't think we need to belabor this. But notice that the cast of characters is actually pretty small. You'll notice there is a sower, there is seed, and there are soils. And so let's go through those. The sower in verse...
• 23:42
  It just says that he went out to sow his seed. And you'll notice that he is throwing this seed everywhere indiscriminately. His sole desire and goal is the production of fruit.
• 23:57
  And so he throws his seed everywhere. There is no precision in his sowing. There is no selection process, some deserving, some not deserving. You'll notice he doesn't even care about if the seed will run out. He knows the seed will never run out. It reminds me of the times that you drive on the freeway, and maybe you've seen this before, but maybe you're driving on the freeway and you see...
• 24:22
  Those work crews or construction crews on, you know, building overpasses or off ramps. You've got a new off ramp with this overpass. And oftentimes you'll see a guy in a boom kind of bucket. He's up in this bucket. He's got this cannon and he is just spraying this kind of greenish blue liquid. Have you seen that? It's kind of a crazy thing.
• 24:43
  A huge hose. And he's just spraying down an entire hillside of this greenish, bluish liquid. That's actually seed. It's called hydroseed. It is a liquid form of grass seed.
• 24:57
  And he's spraying it all over this hillside in order for that seed to take root. And so it doesn't cause erosion. Without seed there, without grass there, all of that hillside, all of their work would erode away eventually with drainage and rain and other things. And so he just spraying this thing down. And what's crazy about it is there is no precision in that thing at all. It's a shotgun approach.
• 25:21
  to sowing seed. I mean, that blue stuff is going everywhere. Even the workers down below are covered in the stuff. They're wearing goggles, these big trench coats. They're just spraying it everywhere. And the wind is taking it, blowing it all over the place, on the road, on the trees, you know, all over. But he just wants to make sure it is adequately covered. And that's what the sower does here. Adequate coverage everywhere. Indiscriminate. The seed will never run out. Notice the second
• 25:50
  is the seed itself. The seed. And you'll notice it falls on these different types of soils, but the seed is actually defined. If you go across to verse 11, Jesus, in his explanation of the parable, actually says what the seed is. It says, now the parable, verse 11, the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. And so that seed being sown is the same as up in verse 1. It is the good news.
• 26:17
  of the kingdom. It is the gospel, the word of God. That is the seed. And now notice the bulk of the parable focuses on these four soils. You look again at verse 5. It says, Some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot. Birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on the rock.
• 26:35
  It withered away because it had no moisture. Some fell among the thorns, verse 7 says, and they choked it. And then some fell on the good soil and it yielded a hundredfold. Go across now to the explanation. Look at verses 12 to 15. It says this in verse 12. The ones along the path are those who heard the word. The devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved. So what you find out is the birds of the air were actually the enemy of the gospel coming along, swooping down.
• 27:04
  and scooping up that seed and running off with it so that it can't take root. Look at verse 13, the ones on the rock. Or those who, when they heard the word, received it with joy, but these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of testing, they fall away. And so the soil was very shallow. It was rocky. The roots couldn't take in the ground. And so although a little plant sprung up, right, very quickly and with joy, there was no root system there. And so they eventually withered. Verse 14.
• 27:33
  As for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life. So you find out that these weeds, the thorns, are actually the cares of life, sorrow, anxiety, nervousness, overworking, those types of things. And instead, they gave up. They gave up. They couldn't mature because they were being choked out. And then finally, verse 15, the good soil were those who hear the word of God.
• 28:00
  Hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patience. Four types of soil. The infested soil, infested with birds. The rocky soil, shallow, can't take root. The thorny soil, concerned with the cares of this world. And then the fertile soil. And you'll notice that although three soils actually do produce plants, three soils produce plants, only one produces fruit.
• 28:28
  And this one alone is commended. I decided this season, I've never done it before, but I've decided this season to try my hand at growing green bell peppers. I planted two plants, little tiny sapling looking things, stuck them in my garden in the backyard. One has grown into the most beautiful plant you've ever seen. It's incredible. It's tall. It's full. It's lush. It's thick. It's dark, dark green, but it hasn't produced a single bell pepper.
• 28:59
  The other is short. Its leaves are sparse. It's even kind of yellowish. It's not even green. But it has one gigantic bell pepper hanging from its limb. One limb. It can barely hold it off the ground. The whole plant is leaning over like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. But which plant do you suppose I'm more pleased with? John 15, verses 1 and 2 say, I am the true vine. My father is the vinedresser.
• 29:30
  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Listen to John 15 in verse eight, just a few verses down. By this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. The bearing of fruit is what the sower was concerned with. It was not the quality of the plant.
• 29:57
  I believe that there is a danger inherent to each of us hearing this parable today. The danger is that we could easily dismiss the parable because certainly we have already determined ourselves, and maybe even in the reading it, if you're honest in your own heart, maybe you've already determined yourself to be the good soil. But don't miss the fact, church, that the only true determination of good soil has nothing to do with the seed taking root and producing a plant. That's not it. There were two bad soils.
• 30:27
  that did that. But rather, good soil was determined by the production of the fruit. And so, beloved church, I will not ask about your plant. You could have maybe the biggest, luscious, greenest plant on the planet, right? Your plant is doing great. Instead, I will ask about your fruit. Are you bearing fruit in keeping with repentance? Are you growing and you're manifesting or exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit?
• 30:55
  Are you winning souls to Christ and thereby producing fruit? And so that's first. Let's be careful to focus on the fruit rather than the plant. But also, let us not neglect the fact that although salvation is permanent, it is and cannot be lost, that the soil of our hearts nevertheless can transition to different types of soil in different phases of life. Let me say that again.
• 31:24
  Don't neglect the fact that you could be good soil in terms of salvation and yet have different phases in your life, even after being saved, where your heart begins to act as the bad types of soil. There have been times, church, when the soil of my heart, although good for salvation, I am saved, I know the Lord. Nevertheless, the soil of my heart has become burdened with cares and worries of this world.
• 31:54
  I act, although I'm saved, I act more like the bad soil than the good soil. There have been times when the word has been preached and because of my own sin, the enemy has gotten a foothold in my life and has come in and snatched up the word before it can take root. There have been times, even since I've been saved, where the preaching of God's word rolls right off of my back because of my own sin. There have been times, and even as a believer, that I have not taken the time,
• 32:24
  to tend the soil of my heart, and so it has become hard and shallow, rocky. And so when the sun rises and its heat bakes the soil, it makes it impenetrable to the truth of God's word. And church, don't think that just because you gave your life to Jesus that you are now immune to the truths of this parable. Well, too many Christians are acting like they're disoriented.
• 32:55
  Too many. Too many Christians act like they just woke up. They have no idea what's going on. They have no idea who they are or what they're supposed to be doing. No clue what's going on. But church, we are sitting on the answer to our cultural crisis. Are we, like Jesus, going everywhere we can, telling everyone we can about the one true solution to mankind's problem? Are we, like the farmer,
• 33:24
  sowing seed indiscriminately, like imagining that huge cannon, the huge hose just spraying seed everywhere on every type of soil. Are we treating the good news of the kingdom of God as what it truly is? That is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe. Let me pray. Lord, make us the good soil. May our hearts be fertile ground.
• 33:55
  not only to receive the gospel and be saved, but also to continue to receive your word and so to produce fruit, even a hundredfold. God, may we make that our life's ambition. May we not act like the disoriented, newly awoken believer who doesn't know what's going on, who picks things up in the middle of the story and doesn't understand even their own purpose. May we be purposeful believers.
• 34:26
  May we understand that the living of this life is not about us and it's not about our families and it's not about our careers or our retirement, Lord. It is about advancement of the gospel in your kingdom. May we make that our singular message and focus. God, we are grateful. We are grateful for your love in sending your son to die for us and the blood that was shed so that we could be saved. And Lord, as we...
• 34:55
  prepare our hearts and have been preparing our hearts for communion this morning. God, may we just rejoice in the taking of these elements and the reminder that they are, that we really do have true salvation because of the name and blood of Jesus. Amen.