WEBVTT 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:18.800 Chapter 5, verses 6, 7, and 8. We'll read through 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:21.920 these verses, then we'll pray and get started. 00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:30.660 For while we were still helpless at the appointed 00:00:30.660 --> 00:00:36.060 moment, Christ died for the ungodly. will someone 00:00:36.060 --> 00:00:39.759 die for a just person though for a good person 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:43.219 perhaps someone might even dare to die but God 00:00:43.219 --> 00:00:45.880 proves his own love for us and that while we 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:50.399 were still sinners Christ died for us let's pray 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:53.920 God we thank you for the beautiful truth of this 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:57.659 word God we thank you for loving us even though 00:00:57.659 --> 00:01:00.799 we are pretty rotten dear Lord we thank you for 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:03.939 just the freedom and the ability to come here 00:01:03.939 --> 00:01:06.760 today and to look at your words, to hear your 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:10.299 words, and I pray, God, that your Holy Spirit 00:01:10.299 --> 00:01:13.780 would just be among us this morning. I pray that 00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:15.659 you would give me the words to say, dear Lord, 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:18.099 that you would help us to hear what you want 00:01:18.099 --> 00:01:20.060 us to say, dear Lord. There are no good words, 00:01:20.099 --> 00:01:22.000 God, that come from me. If there's any good that 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:24.140 comes today, God, it has to come from you, so 00:01:24.140 --> 00:01:27.099 I pray That you would be with us. God, you know 00:01:27.099 --> 00:01:29.840 where we are in life. You know our struggles. 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:32.079 You know our worries. You know our fears, dear 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:34.959 Lord. You know where we are and we need you today. 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:37.420 And so we come and we pray that your word would 00:01:37.420 --> 00:01:39.359 just help us to grow in you today. That we would 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:42.480 find encouragement and joy and peace and hope, 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:46.040 dear Lord, in you this morning. And I ask these 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:51.569 things in Jesus' name. Amen. In the chapter before 00:01:51.569 --> 00:01:53.989 this, and you can go back and read it this week 00:01:53.989 --> 00:01:56.709 if you get a chance, it's a really great chapter 00:01:56.709 --> 00:02:01.090 where Paul is talking about Abraham, and more 00:02:01.090 --> 00:02:05.090 specifically talking about Abraham's faith. And 00:02:05.090 --> 00:02:07.829 he's talking about faith in the previous chapter, 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:10.849 and he's saying that we need to be one who has 00:02:10.849 --> 00:02:14.650 a faith like Abraham. That that is how we are 00:02:14.650 --> 00:02:17.349 made righteous. It's not through any outward 00:02:17.349 --> 00:02:20.069 acts. It's not through anything that we can do. 00:02:20.250 --> 00:02:23.650 It's not because we are good enough, but it's 00:02:23.650 --> 00:02:28.289 because we have faith in Jesus Christ. And Abraham, 00:02:28.569 --> 00:02:31.990 even though he had not seen Jesus Christ, he 00:02:31.990 --> 00:02:35.629 had faith in God and whatever it was that God 00:02:35.629 --> 00:02:39.199 told him. He had faith in God. He had faith in 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:41.699 God when God said he was going to give him a 00:02:41.699 --> 00:02:45.120 child, and it was credited to him as righteousness. 00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:51.120 And he makes a beautiful showing of that idea 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:54.479 in the previous chapter. And then we flip to 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:58.219 Romans chapter 5. And in Romans chapter 5, it 00:02:58.219 --> 00:03:01.159 starts with beautiful language of those who have 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:04.340 faith in Jesus Christ. It talks that they are 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:07.159 those who have peace and those who have grace 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:10.379 and those who have hope. Now, I don't know about 00:03:10.379 --> 00:03:13.020 you guys, but those three words are things that 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:16.560 we should long for, that we desire. I would imagine 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:21.819 that everyone in here today desires peace. We 00:03:21.819 --> 00:03:23.659 don't like when there's chaos. Maybe there are 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:25.840 some people that do. I hope that's not any of 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.460 us. But some people, maybe they feed on chaos. 00:03:28.780 --> 00:03:32.020 But that's not a good place to be. It's not good 00:03:32.020 --> 00:03:35.000 when your family life is chaotic. It's not good 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.159 when your relationships are chaotic. It's not 00:03:37.159 --> 00:03:40.419 good when your work life is chaotic. Chaos is 00:03:40.419 --> 00:03:43.400 not good. Chaos is of the devil. Chaos brings 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:47.620 us down and it drains us and it worries us. But 00:03:47.620 --> 00:03:50.560 peace comes from the Lord. And that is the only 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:53.039 source of peace. There is no peace in anyone 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:57.199 else or anything else in this life. And so in 00:03:57.199 --> 00:03:59.159 the middle of our lives that are filled with 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:03.900 chaos, we need the peace of God. Because the 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:08.000 chaoticness of life can just bring us down. And 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.060 that's why it's a wonderful thing that God gives 00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:13.919 us his word. That's why it's a wonderful thing 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:17.370 that we can come here in this building. on Sundays 00:04:17.370 --> 00:04:19.689 and on Wednesdays, and just kind of take a minute 00:04:19.689 --> 00:04:24.250 to praise God, to take a minute to look at His 00:04:24.250 --> 00:04:27.459 Word. to let it speak to us. And sometimes it 00:04:27.459 --> 00:04:30.199 speaks to us in a way that's hard, and sometimes 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:32.959 it speaks to us and it convicts us, and sometimes 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.819 it speaks to us and it gives us peace and it 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:37.939 gives us that hope. And even in the corrections 00:04:37.939 --> 00:04:40.319 and even in the convictions, there's still some 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:43.339 peace in that when we listen to the Word of God 00:04:43.339 --> 00:04:45.560 and submit to the Word of God and humble ourselves 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:49.129 before God and repent of our sins. There's just 00:04:49.129 --> 00:04:52.430 peace all over everything that God does if we 00:04:52.430 --> 00:04:55.709 would just seek him. And so Paul begins to talk 00:04:55.709 --> 00:04:57.709 about those who have faith in Christ, that they 00:04:57.709 --> 00:05:01.110 are at peace with God and that they have experienced 00:05:01.110 --> 00:05:04.790 grace. Isn't that something else that we all 00:05:04.790 --> 00:05:09.670 need? That we need the grace of God that we mess 00:05:09.670 --> 00:05:13.199 up so often? that we sin, that we do things that 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:15.759 we are so ashamed of, that we wish we would not 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:17.779 have done, that thing that we wish we would have 00:05:17.779 --> 00:05:19.660 just kept our mouth shut and we wouldn't have 00:05:19.660 --> 00:05:21.480 done this or we wouldn't have gone there or we 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:23.540 wouldn't have been involved in that thing. And 00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:25.600 we do these things and we just feel the weight 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.139 of them and they just press down on us like an 00:05:28.139 --> 00:05:31.379 elephant sitting on our chest. It's just a burden 00:05:31.379 --> 00:05:36.439 and it just weighs us down. But what a beautiful 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:40.819 thing the grace of God is. To know that God will 00:05:40.819 --> 00:05:44.060 forgive us of our sins. And maybe we need to 00:05:44.060 --> 00:05:46.660 be reminded of that today. Maybe we've read God's 00:05:46.660 --> 00:05:48.779 word a million times and you've seen that God 00:05:48.779 --> 00:05:52.339 is gracious. But we need to be reminded as humans 00:05:52.339 --> 00:05:55.459 because every week it's a struggle. From last 00:05:55.459 --> 00:05:58.079 Sunday to this Sunday, I suspect we've all done 00:05:58.079 --> 00:05:59.800 some things that we just wish we hadn't have 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:03.600 done. And we feel the weight of our sin. But 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:05.660 the greatest thing that there has ever been for 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:08.519 us is Jesus Christ and the grace that comes through 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:11.839 Jesus Christ. That those sins that we have committed 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:16.360 can be forgiven. And so there's great peace in 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:19.100 that grace. And then he talks at the beginning 00:06:19.100 --> 00:06:22.180 of the chapter here about hope. Well, certainly 00:06:22.180 --> 00:06:25.199 we need hope. That's one of the worst feelings 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:29.370 in life is when we feel hopeless. And there are 00:06:29.370 --> 00:06:31.250 a lot of people in our world today, and maybe 00:06:31.250 --> 00:06:33.189 even some in this room, maybe you come in here 00:06:33.189 --> 00:06:37.290 today and you feel hopeless. And the only source 00:06:37.290 --> 00:06:40.509 of our hope, the only source of grace, the only 00:06:40.509 --> 00:06:43.870 source of peace, it comes through Jesus Christ. 00:06:44.410 --> 00:06:47.230 We come here today and we look at all that goes 00:06:47.230 --> 00:06:50.769 on in the world, and it's horrible. We see horrible 00:06:50.769 --> 00:06:54.660 evils, and this is not new. We may think it's 00:06:54.660 --> 00:06:56.779 new, or we may think it's never been this bad 00:06:56.779 --> 00:06:59.019 before, and that's kind of recency bias. It's 00:06:59.019 --> 00:07:01.019 our generation, and we're living it, so we think 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:03.740 it's the worst ever. But there's nothing new 00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:06.180 under the sun. I know I say that all the time, 00:07:06.220 --> 00:07:09.500 but I'm constantly reminding myself of that from 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:12.800 Ecclesiastes, that this old world has not changed, 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:16.160 that only for a brief second was it really great 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:18.579 in the Garden of Eden, and it didn't take long 00:07:18.579 --> 00:07:22.430 until sin ruined that. And from that point forward, 00:07:22.569 --> 00:07:27.069 this world has been horrible. Evil has run rampant. 00:07:27.069 --> 00:07:29.930 And there have been evil people in every generation. 00:07:30.149 --> 00:07:33.069 And there continue to be today. And there continue 00:07:33.069 --> 00:07:36.290 to be evils and atrocities all around the world. 00:07:36.389 --> 00:07:39.350 But in the midst of all of that, there is still 00:07:39.350 --> 00:07:43.720 hope because God is in control. Because God has 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:47.420 not forgotten us. God has not left us or forsaken 00:07:47.420 --> 00:07:51.360 us. God shows us in his word through Jesus Christ 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:54.639 that there is hope today. Now, I know life is 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:57.160 tough. And I know that we're going through stuff, 00:07:57.240 --> 00:07:59.160 probably some of you some really serious stuff. 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:01.480 And it doesn't seem like that there's any light 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:03.480 at the end of the tunnel. And I don't know how 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:05.959 your situation is going to turn out. But I know 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:08.639 that God is good. And I know that if you would 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:11.779 trust him, he will give you strength. And He'll 00:08:11.779 --> 00:08:14.500 give you peace even in the midst of your struggles. 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:19.459 And we need that hope today. And just as God 00:08:19.459 --> 00:08:21.300 has been with every generation that has come 00:08:21.300 --> 00:08:24.600 before us, He is with us. And so He will be with 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:28.480 every generation that comes after us. And if 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:33.139 we find no hope in God, then we are doomed. If 00:08:33.139 --> 00:08:37.139 you find no hope in God and in the Word of God 00:08:37.139 --> 00:08:41.559 and in the Son of God, you are doomed. Because 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:46.000 you will not find that hope anywhere else. And 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:49.179 so Paul says it so beautifully as he talks at 00:08:49.179 --> 00:08:51.519 the beginning of this chapter about the peace 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:53.759 that we receive and the grace that we receive 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:57.820 and the hope that we have through our faith in 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:01.799 Jesus Christ. And it's so beautiful what he says 00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:04.440 here in these verses we just read. For while 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:07.179 we were still helpless at the appointed time, 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:11.720 Christ died for the ungodly. Isn't that a beautiful 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:16.340 way that he put that? While we were still helpless. 00:09:17.500 --> 00:09:20.600 That is to say, there was nothing that we could 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:24.059 do. We were as helpless as we could be. There 00:09:24.059 --> 00:09:26.600 was nothing that we could offer. There was nothing 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:29.039 that we could bring to the table. There was nothing 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:32.100 that we could do for God or give to God. We are 00:09:32.100 --> 00:09:34.759 completely helpless and completely dependent 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:37.879 on another if there's any chance that we are 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:40.710 going to be spared. No different than when a 00:09:40.710 --> 00:09:43.690 child is born. If you've ever had a child, if 00:09:43.690 --> 00:09:46.450 you've ever seen a child, when that child comes 00:09:46.450 --> 00:09:50.870 into this world, it is completely helpless. It 00:09:50.870 --> 00:09:53.690 cannot feed itself. It cannot change itself. 00:09:54.009 --> 00:09:57.669 It cannot do anything for itself. It is completely 00:09:57.669 --> 00:10:01.629 dependent on someone else to reach down and to 00:10:01.629 --> 00:10:04.409 pick it up and to nurture it and to feed it and 00:10:04.409 --> 00:10:07.370 to provide for it and to care for it and to teach 00:10:07.370 --> 00:10:11.759 it and to love it. And anybody in here who's 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:15.419 not a child or a grandchild, you do those things. 00:10:16.179 --> 00:10:18.899 Not because the child is doing anything for you. 00:10:19.059 --> 00:10:22.840 The child's not doing anything for you. But you 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.259 do those things because you love the child. Because 00:10:26.259 --> 00:10:29.100 the blessing is in having the child. Even though 00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:31.659 the child is going to make stinky diapers, he's 00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:33.899 going to make you lose sleep, he's going to cost 00:10:33.899 --> 00:10:36.259 you money, it's going to make your life really 00:10:36.259 --> 00:10:38.899 difficult for years to come until you get him 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:40.679 out of college and still probably difficult. 00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:44.440 But yet even knowing all that, all the pain that 00:10:44.440 --> 00:10:47.240 they will cause you, you pick that child up and 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:49.799 you nurture it and you care for it because you 00:10:49.799 --> 00:10:54.379 know that it is helpless. And so it is for Jesus 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:58.980 Christ with us. That we are helpless in this 00:10:58.980 --> 00:11:04.080 world. That our sin has left us in a rotten and 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:08.740 pitiful situation. Listen to what verse 9 says. 00:11:08.940 --> 00:11:12.620 But God proves his own love for us in that while 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:17.820 we were still sinners, Christ died for us. There's 00:11:17.820 --> 00:11:21.559 nothing that we have done to deserve the grace 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:24.990 of God. There is nothing that we have done to 00:11:24.990 --> 00:11:29.710 deserve the love of God. Jesus did not look at 00:11:29.710 --> 00:11:34.110 any of us today and say, I see that group of 00:11:34.110 --> 00:11:36.730 people at Enterprise Baptist Church in 2025, 00:11:37.090 --> 00:11:40.289 and they are so awesome, I will go to the cross 00:11:40.289 --> 00:11:42.409 for them and for them alone because they are 00:11:42.409 --> 00:11:44.789 awesome, and I know how good they're going to 00:11:44.789 --> 00:11:48.379 do for me. That's not what Jesus said. That's 00:11:48.379 --> 00:11:51.259 not what the Scripture says. The Scripture says 00:11:51.259 --> 00:11:54.879 that while we were still sinners, we brought 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:57.960 nothing to God, we were nothing but sinners, 00:11:58.019 --> 00:12:02.379 Jesus Christ looked upon us and saw that we were 00:12:02.379 --> 00:12:08.399 helpless, and He died for us. And that, my friends, 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:13.740 is what love is. That Jesus could look at us 00:12:13.740 --> 00:12:17.220 and all of the sins that we have ever committed, 00:12:17.710 --> 00:12:22.110 and every will commit, and he can see value in 00:12:22.110 --> 00:12:25.590 that. He can see that we can be more than what 00:12:25.590 --> 00:12:29.460 we are. Maybe even today as we sit on these pews, 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.220 maybe we feel pretty rotten and maybe we feel 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:34.500 pretty worthless and maybe we feel like our life 00:12:34.500 --> 00:12:37.240 is a wreck and maybe we feel like there's no 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:40.480 way that restoration can be made and there's 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.179 no way that our life can change and there's no 00:12:43.179 --> 00:12:45.659 way that our soul can be saved and there's no 00:12:45.659 --> 00:12:48.799 way that Jesus would ever die for me. Well, Jesus 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.840 did know all of those things about you and he 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:56.100 still died for you. He knew how rotten you were 00:12:56.100 --> 00:12:58.620 going to be. He saw value in something that maybe 00:12:58.620 --> 00:13:01.820 no one else in the world could see value in other 00:13:01.820 --> 00:13:05.940 than God himself. Y 'all ever watch these TV 00:13:05.940 --> 00:13:07.940 shows where these people go buy these houses 00:13:07.940 --> 00:13:09.779 and they restore them? That's a big deal. I mean, 00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:12.080 those shows got popular 10, 12 years ago, and 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.259 now you see them all the time. Michelle watches 00:13:14.259 --> 00:13:15.779 them all the time, and there's one show that 00:13:15.779 --> 00:13:18.139 she watches, and this couple, they buy houses, 00:13:18.259 --> 00:13:21.360 and I'm telling you, I would bulldoze 90 % of 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:24.019 them down. I mean, these things are completely 00:13:24.019 --> 00:13:27.279 and totally worthless, and I think to myself, 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:29.519 how are people living in there, and how does 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:31.600 it ever get to this shape? How does it get so... 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:35.080 So messy. These things are worthless. These things 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:38.480 have no value. Just bulldoze them down. They're 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:42.500 done. But you know what they do? They go in these 00:13:42.500 --> 00:13:44.960 houses, and they walk through them, and sometimes 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:47.659 they fall through the floor in them. And they 00:13:47.659 --> 00:13:49.519 look around, and they say, man, this could be 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:51.200 a nice house. And I'm thinking, are you kidding 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:55.840 me? This is a death trap. This is horrible. And 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:57.340 they go in there, and you know what they start 00:13:57.340 --> 00:14:00.419 doing? They start cleaning out all this junk. 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:03.480 Sometimes it's nasty and it's stinky. And I'm 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:06.460 thinking, man, who would do that? Who would pay 00:14:06.460 --> 00:14:10.600 $500 ,000 for this junk? And then you've got 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:12.200 to go in there and you've got to get that out. 00:14:12.580 --> 00:14:14.279 You've got to wear all these suits because it's 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:17.220 nasty and it's dirty. But they do it and they 00:14:17.220 --> 00:14:19.519 put the effort in and they begin to get out all 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:24.139 the old junk. And they begin to restore it. And 00:14:24.139 --> 00:14:26.019 they begin to put some new paint on the walls. 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:29.200 And they put some new... Light fixtures in and 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:33.440 they redo everything. Add on a little bit, the 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:36.580 house begins to grow. And then at the end of 00:14:36.580 --> 00:14:39.100 the show, you know what happens. It's the before 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:42.580 and after. A house that looked totally worthless. 00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:48.100 And they saw value in it. They factored in that 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:49.799 it was going to take the work. It was going to 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:52.139 take the money. It was going to take the effort. 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:54.340 But they looked at something that looked completely 00:14:54.340 --> 00:14:57.830 worthless. And they said, I see great value there. 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:02.750 And they turn it into something beautiful. And 00:15:02.750 --> 00:15:07.190 that's what Jesus did for us. He looked at us, 00:15:07.230 --> 00:15:11.330 and we were just as rotten and nasty and as worthless 00:15:11.330 --> 00:15:15.289 looking as those houses. And sometimes we feel 00:15:15.289 --> 00:15:18.429 that way. Sometimes our lives are such a mess, 00:15:18.509 --> 00:15:21.330 and we sit down and we say, how did I even get 00:15:21.330 --> 00:15:25.100 here? How did I get in such a rotten shape? Is 00:15:25.100 --> 00:15:28.440 my life even worth anything? Is there even any 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:33.039 value? But Jesus looked down and he knew who 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:37.919 you were before you were born. He knew just how 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.620 messy and rotten and nasty your house was going 00:15:40.620 --> 00:15:44.360 to be. And he said, you know what? I think I 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:47.960 can make something out of that. And so Jesus 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:52.279 did what had to be done. Now there's one problem 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.860 with these house shows. All the stuff that they 00:15:54.860 --> 00:15:57.019 do is great. We wish we could do it to our houses, 00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:58.379 right? We say, man, I'd like to do that to my 00:15:58.379 --> 00:16:01.519 house. But the real thing that stops any of that 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:04.460 from ever coming to fruition is what? Money. 00:16:05.340 --> 00:16:07.200 Because they'll put a million dollars in these 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.799 houses. It's a great cost to restore something 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:13.340 that's completely ruined into something that's 00:16:13.340 --> 00:16:16.379 beautiful and make it new again. It costs a lot. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.960 And Jesus had to look at us and all of our sinfulness 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:24.419 and all of our nastiness, and he had to calculate 00:16:24.419 --> 00:16:28.460 the cost. And once he calculated the cost, there 00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:32.120 was only one thing that could pay for the price 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:34.000 of the forgiveness of our sins, and that was 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.980 his own life, that he would give his life as 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:43.059 a ransom for you and I. He considered the cost 00:16:43.059 --> 00:16:46.779 today. Whenever you look at your life, whenever 00:16:46.779 --> 00:16:49.139 you wonder if you're still lovable, whenever 00:16:49.139 --> 00:16:52.519 you wonder if there is any hope, know this, that 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:55.799 Jesus looked at you and he knew who you are and 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:58.679 he knew the sins you'd commit and he said, I've 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:01.500 calculated the cost for your life and I love 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:04.799 you so much that I want to die on a cross for 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:08.299 you. You are worth something to Jesus Christ. 00:17:08.619 --> 00:17:11.880 He did not die for nothing. He died for you. 00:17:12.940 --> 00:17:15.599 So that he could take our lives full of our sin 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:19.920 and full of our rottenness. And he could forgive 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.339 us of those sins and clean all that junk out. 00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:26.279 And he could begin to restore us. And he could 00:17:26.279 --> 00:17:30.339 begin to make us new. While we were still helpless. 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:35.460 Jesus Christ died for us. While we were still 00:17:35.460 --> 00:17:39.299 sinners, while we were enemies of God, Jesus 00:17:39.299 --> 00:17:42.299 died for us so that we could become children 00:17:42.299 --> 00:17:47.339 of God. And what a beautiful, beautiful truth 00:17:47.339 --> 00:17:51.500 this is for us today. And it is because of this 00:17:51.500 --> 00:17:56.539 truth. It is because that Jesus Christ, the Son 00:17:56.539 --> 00:18:00.450 of God, saw our sins. He counted the cost and 00:18:00.450 --> 00:18:03.410 he paid the price by giving his life on a cross. 00:18:04.569 --> 00:18:07.190 It's because of him that we can rejoice today. 00:18:07.990 --> 00:18:10.730 It's because of that that we can have hope today. 00:18:11.049 --> 00:18:13.690 If we come in here discouraged and overwhelmed 00:18:13.690 --> 00:18:17.150 and burdened by our sins and our struggles, then 00:18:17.150 --> 00:18:20.869 today we need to call on Jesus Christ. Maybe 00:18:20.869 --> 00:18:22.829 there are some of you and you've never put your 00:18:22.829 --> 00:18:26.089 faith in Jesus. I pray that today that you would 00:18:26.089 --> 00:18:28.130 trust Him, that you would give Him your sins, 00:18:28.309 --> 00:18:30.309 that you would repent, and that you would let 00:18:30.309 --> 00:18:32.730 Him forgive you, that you would let Him begin 00:18:32.730 --> 00:18:35.329 to do a work in you and to restore your life 00:18:35.329 --> 00:18:39.750 and to make you new. Maybe some of you today 00:18:39.750 --> 00:18:43.470 already know Jesus Christ. But even in those 00:18:43.470 --> 00:18:45.490 houses that get restored and they're beautiful, 00:18:45.789 --> 00:18:49.490 there's still a little work required by the homeowner. 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:53.299 It's still a little upkeep. We can't just say 00:18:53.299 --> 00:18:55.680 I trust Jesus and go on back to our old life 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.200 living in sin. We have to continue to work on 00:18:58.200 --> 00:18:59.920 our life. Now there's nothing that we can do. 00:18:59.980 --> 00:19:01.799 Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm not 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:03.980 saying that there's any work we can do that's 00:19:03.980 --> 00:19:06.400 going to change anything. But we work to grow 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.319 in Jesus Christ. We work to serve him more and 00:19:09.319 --> 00:19:12.200 to love him more and to grow in his word and 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:15.640 to live by his word. It takes effort on our part 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:18.690 to serve God. Because there's a battle between 00:19:18.690 --> 00:19:21.670 the ways of the world and the ways of Scripture 00:19:21.670 --> 00:19:24.349 and the ways of Jesus Christ. Once we come to 00:19:24.349 --> 00:19:27.289 faith in Jesus Christ, there's a battle pulling 00:19:27.289 --> 00:19:30.809 us both ways. But we have to choose to do what 00:19:30.809 --> 00:19:33.950 God's Word says and continue to live in faith 00:19:33.950 --> 00:19:37.789 to Jesus Christ. So maybe there are some of you 00:19:37.789 --> 00:19:41.009 today and you've been restored by Jesus. But 00:19:41.009 --> 00:19:43.990 maybe you haven't been putting the work in. Maybe 00:19:43.990 --> 00:19:47.450 your prayer life's not been so good. Maybe you 00:19:47.450 --> 00:19:50.529 haven't been in God's Word. Maybe you know it, 00:19:50.549 --> 00:19:53.410 you just haven't been listening to it. Maybe 00:19:53.410 --> 00:19:55.750 you've had some of those battles between right 00:19:55.750 --> 00:19:57.970 and wrong, and you've chosen what is wrong. Maybe 00:19:57.970 --> 00:20:00.430 today is a good day for us to humble ourselves 00:20:00.430 --> 00:20:04.490 before God and ask Him to do a little cleanup 00:20:04.490 --> 00:20:10.890 in our life to restore us today. We need to know 00:20:10.890 --> 00:20:14.809 today that we are loved by Jesus Christ, that 00:20:14.809 --> 00:20:18.259 He considered us. not because of anything that 00:20:18.259 --> 00:20:21.799 we have done, but because of what he has done 00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:25.359 on our behalf. And it is only through Jesus Christ 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:29.740 today that we will find peace, that we will find 00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:33.019 grace, and that we will find hope. Let us pray. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:35.940 God, we come to you today. We thank you for these 00:20:35.940 --> 00:20:41.279 beautiful words that are just reassuring to us, 00:20:41.299 --> 00:20:44.180 dear Lord, that you just help us to remember, 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:48.150 dear Lord, We're pretty rotten on our own. And 00:20:48.150 --> 00:20:50.289 there's not anything we can do for you, dear 00:20:50.289 --> 00:20:52.809 Lord. We can't earn your favor. We can't earn 00:20:52.809 --> 00:20:55.509 forgiveness of our sins. We can't work our way 00:20:55.509 --> 00:20:58.349 into heaven, dear Lord. We are just as helpless 00:20:58.349 --> 00:21:02.410 as a new babe, dear Lord. But God, we thank you 00:21:02.410 --> 00:21:06.549 that even though we are helpless, that Jesus 00:21:06.549 --> 00:21:10.049 Christ died for us. That Jesus Christ looked 00:21:10.049 --> 00:21:13.369 at our lives as bad as they are, dear Lord. As 00:21:13.369 --> 00:21:16.950 rotten as we are, and he saw value. And it was 00:21:16.950 --> 00:21:18.990 worth the cost that he paid to give his life 00:21:18.990 --> 00:21:21.309 on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven. 00:21:22.170 --> 00:21:24.569 So God, I pray that if there is one that is here 00:21:24.569 --> 00:21:28.210 that does not know Jesus Christ, maybe they just 00:21:28.210 --> 00:21:30.250 don't feel like they're worth much. Maybe their 00:21:30.250 --> 00:21:32.349 sin has gotten the better of them. But God, I 00:21:32.349 --> 00:21:35.619 pray today that they would see. Hope in Jesus 00:21:35.619 --> 00:21:37.980 Christ. I pray that even now, God, that they 00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:40.200 would just repent of their sins, that they would 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:41.980 ask you to forgive them, dear Lord, that they 00:21:41.980 --> 00:21:44.400 would ask Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior, 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:46.859 that they would seek to follow and serve him, 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:49.440 dear Lord. And I pray, God, if anybody makes 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:51.940 that decision and that commitment today to trust 00:21:51.940 --> 00:21:54.640 in Jesus, I pray that in a moment as we sing 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:56.680 that they would come and share that news with 00:21:56.680 --> 00:22:00.339 us today. God, maybe there are some here today 00:22:00.339 --> 00:22:03.690 and they're yours. And maybe they've been restored 00:22:03.690 --> 00:22:06.309 and maybe they have felt the peace and the grace 00:22:06.309 --> 00:22:09.690 and the hope of Jesus, but God, maybe our sins 00:22:09.690 --> 00:22:12.630 or our stresses or our worries or our failures, 00:22:12.670 --> 00:22:16.930 dear Lord, have just got the better of us. We've 00:22:16.930 --> 00:22:18.849 kind of lost sight of the things that matter, 00:22:18.930 --> 00:22:21.970 dear Lord. I pray that you would help us to humble 00:22:21.970 --> 00:22:25.230 ourselves before you today. Maybe there are some 00:22:25.230 --> 00:22:27.170 things in our life that need to be cleaned up, 00:22:27.250 --> 00:22:30.289 God. And so I pray through Jesus Christ that 00:22:30.289 --> 00:22:32.839 you would begin a restoration. that we would 00:22:32.839 --> 00:22:34.519 seek you, God, that we would seek your word, 00:22:34.599 --> 00:22:36.140 that we would listen to your word, that we would 00:22:36.140 --> 00:22:38.279 live for you, dear Lord, that you would help 00:22:38.279 --> 00:22:41.420 us to grow in you and make us into the beautiful 00:22:41.420 --> 00:22:43.519 men and the women that you want us to be for 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:46.279 your kingdom. I thank you for these good words. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:48.140 I thank you for each one that's here today. God, 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:50.140 I pray that you bless these people, and I pray 00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:52.680 that you bless these next few moments as we have 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:55.259 together. In Jesus' name I pray it.