WEBVTT 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.599 Numbers chapter 6 verses 24 through 26. Some 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:12.939 of you may have heard this passage before. It's 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:15.359 a pretty popular passage. It's a passage that 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:18.500 I read at just about every wedding I do. It's 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:21.739 a good closing passage. It's a good blessing. 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:25.079 That's what this passage is. It was a part of 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:27.820 God's command to the priest in the Old Testament 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:31.960 that this is how the priest were to bless God's 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:35.420 people. And what a beautiful... few verses I 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:37.979 think this is for us to look at today. So we'll 00:00:37.979 --> 00:00:40.600 read through it and then we'll pray and then 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:46.719 we'll talk. Numbers chapter 6 verse 24. May the 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:49.979 Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord cause 00:00:49.979 --> 00:00:53.240 his face to shine upon you and be gracious to 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:56.700 you. May the Lord lift up his countenance toward 00:00:56.700 --> 00:01:02.100 you and give you peace. Let's pray. God we thank 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:05.409 you for being good to us. We thank you for the 00:01:05.409 --> 00:01:08.890 freedom we have today to be in this place. I 00:01:08.890 --> 00:01:10.629 thank you for the people who are here today, 00:01:10.730 --> 00:01:13.010 dear Lord. We come today and we seek you because 00:01:13.010 --> 00:01:16.549 we need you, God. We praise you because you're 00:01:16.549 --> 00:01:20.829 good. We seek you because life is hard. And so, 00:01:20.849 --> 00:01:23.290 God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would just 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:26.930 be among us this morning. I pray that you free 00:01:26.930 --> 00:01:29.870 us from the distractions and the worries and 00:01:29.870 --> 00:01:33.250 the things of this world, but that in these... 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:36.500 few minutes, God, that we would just feel your 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:38.739 presence in a mighty way, that we would be encouraged 00:01:38.739 --> 00:01:42.400 by that, God, that we would feel your blessings 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:44.980 today, that we would recognize the many blessings 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:48.780 that you give us in our life. So I pray, God, 00:01:48.819 --> 00:01:50.579 that every word that comes from my mouth will 00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:53.480 be for your glory. Take away any pride or fear 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:55.540 that's within me and let the Holy Spirit take 00:01:55.540 --> 00:01:59.019 control of us this morning. And I ask these things 00:01:59.019 --> 00:02:04.140 in Jesus' name. Amen. What a beautiful blessing 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:07.739 that God's priests were to speak unto God's people. 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:11.039 And in some way, we make it loosely say that 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:13.919 a blessing is kind of like a prayer in a sense, 00:02:13.979 --> 00:02:16.659 and praying for the goodness and the protection 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:21.159 and the grace to be bestowed on someone. And 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:24.080 so, in that sense, the priests were kind of praying 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:28.050 for these people that God would bless them. But 00:02:28.050 --> 00:02:30.310 what does it mean to experience the blessing 00:02:30.310 --> 00:02:33.830 of God? I think sometimes when we think of being 00:02:33.830 --> 00:02:37.949 blessed, we may tend to think of materialistic 00:02:37.949 --> 00:02:40.650 things. And that's not a mistake, by the way. 00:02:40.789 --> 00:02:43.330 The things that we have are blessings from God. 00:02:43.449 --> 00:02:45.610 If we've got a little money, a little food to 00:02:45.610 --> 00:02:48.469 eat, some clothes to wear, those things are certainly 00:02:48.469 --> 00:02:53.389 blessings from God. But God's blessings are far 00:02:53.389 --> 00:02:56.949 greater than the things that we wear. God's blessing 00:02:56.949 --> 00:02:59.610 is far greater than the money that's in our bank 00:02:59.610 --> 00:03:03.370 account. God's blessing is far greater than the 00:03:03.370 --> 00:03:08.509 material things that we see. If we really are 00:03:08.509 --> 00:03:11.629 blessed by God, then we experience the peace 00:03:11.629 --> 00:03:15.110 of God and the grace of God in ways that really 00:03:15.110 --> 00:03:17.729 begins to transform our lives and work in our 00:03:17.729 --> 00:03:21.090 lives and brings us a certain joy that the things 00:03:21.090 --> 00:03:26.729 of the world can never bring us. blessed by god 00:03:26.729 --> 00:03:29.530 and to be living in that blessing well i think 00:03:29.530 --> 00:03:32.990 jesus gives us a good example of that in matthew 00:03:32.990 --> 00:03:37.530 chapter 5 if you want to turn there this little 00:03:37.530 --> 00:03:39.590 section we're going to look at today is often 00:03:39.590 --> 00:03:44.090 referred to as the beatitudes jesus gives us 00:03:44.090 --> 00:03:47.830 this beautiful list of of The blessed and really 00:03:47.830 --> 00:03:50.650 what it means for them. What does it mean to 00:03:50.650 --> 00:03:52.949 be blessed? If you've never read through the 00:03:52.949 --> 00:03:55.110 Sermon on the Mount, that's Matthew 5 through 00:03:55.110 --> 00:03:57.349 7. That's some good homework for you this week. 00:03:58.469 --> 00:04:03.009 But in Matthew chapter 5, starting in verse 3, 00:04:03.069 --> 00:04:08.650 listen to what Jesus says. Blessed are the poor 00:04:08.650 --> 00:04:12.449 in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:04:13.110 --> 00:04:23.139 Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are those 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:25.220 who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for 00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:28.560 they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:32.899 for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the 00:04:32.899 --> 00:04:36.459 pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed 00:04:36.459 --> 00:04:39.279 are the peacemakers, for they shall be called 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:42.839 sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted 00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:46.759 for righteousness' sake. for theirs is the kingdom 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:49.980 of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and 00:04:49.980 --> 00:04:52.939 persecute you and say all kinds of evil things 00:04:52.939 --> 00:04:57.319 against you falsely for my name's sake. Rejoice 00:04:57.319 --> 00:05:00.699 and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:04.560 in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:08.170 who were before you. What are the things that 00:05:08.170 --> 00:05:11.670 Jesus said accompany those who are blessed? It's 00:05:11.670 --> 00:05:16.129 comfort. It's peace. It's mercy. It's these types 00:05:16.129 --> 00:05:18.649 of things. It's a filling with righteousness. 00:05:18.750 --> 00:05:22.110 It's not a materialistic gain that Jesus is speaking 00:05:22.110 --> 00:05:25.649 of here. In fact, Jesus is not speaking of all 00:05:25.649 --> 00:05:29.009 good in our life through blessing. He even closes 00:05:29.009 --> 00:05:31.990 this section by saying, even in the worst of 00:05:31.990 --> 00:05:34.529 days, if you are living for me and people are 00:05:34.529 --> 00:05:37.350 attacking you because of that, Jesus says you 00:05:37.350 --> 00:05:40.589 are still great. Blessed are you and your reward 00:05:40.589 --> 00:05:43.990 in heaven for those who would seek me. Blessed 00:05:43.990 --> 00:05:45.949 are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs 00:05:45.949 --> 00:05:49.649 will be the kingdom of God. And these are the 00:05:49.649 --> 00:05:53.149 kind of things that accompany blessing. So many 00:05:53.149 --> 00:05:56.529 times in our world, we get so caught up in seeking 00:05:56.529 --> 00:06:00.649 the material and the worldly. And we think that 00:06:00.649 --> 00:06:03.370 that's where our joy is going to come from. But 00:06:03.370 --> 00:06:06.089 oftentimes, the things that we may consider as 00:06:06.089 --> 00:06:09.529 blessings may very well be a curse. Some of you 00:06:09.529 --> 00:06:12.470 have probably heard this. In Liberty last week, 00:06:12.509 --> 00:06:14.750 we had somebody that won the lottery. That's 00:06:14.750 --> 00:06:16.449 pretty incredible. Some of you are probably saying, 00:06:16.470 --> 00:06:18.189 I wish I could win the lottery. They won a million 00:06:18.189 --> 00:06:20.769 dollars, as best I can understand, and that's 00:06:20.769 --> 00:06:23.250 pretty incredible. And some may say, what a blessing. 00:06:23.550 --> 00:06:26.889 And in some way, it is a blessing. But perhaps 00:06:26.889 --> 00:06:29.509 in another way, it's a curse. I was reading about 00:06:29.509 --> 00:06:32.290 lottery winners this week. I was curious. I know 00:06:32.290 --> 00:06:35.170 that lottery winners usually don't hold the money 00:06:35.170 --> 00:06:39.550 for very long. Within five years, 70 % of people 00:06:39.550 --> 00:06:43.629 who win the lottery have lost everything. 70%. 00:06:44.110 --> 00:06:46.389 People that's won hundreds of millions of dollars, 00:06:46.430 --> 00:06:49.470 70 % of them within five years have lost everything. 00:06:49.649 --> 00:06:52.430 I was reading one story of a gentleman who won 00:06:52.430 --> 00:06:55.629 $325 million. Can you imagine what that would 00:06:55.629 --> 00:06:58.850 be like to go from just your normal wages to 00:06:58.850 --> 00:07:03.149 having $325 million? We think, man, I wish I 00:07:03.149 --> 00:07:05.470 could do that. What a blessing that would be. 00:07:06.490 --> 00:07:09.589 But you know what he said? He said, I wish I'd 00:07:09.589 --> 00:07:12.910 never cashed that ticket in. He said, it ruined 00:07:12.910 --> 00:07:15.529 my life. He said, I wish I were to tore it up. 00:07:16.949 --> 00:07:19.009 Since he had won the lottery, things had gone 00:07:19.009 --> 00:07:22.709 downhill. He had lost a child and another family 00:07:22.709 --> 00:07:25.310 member to drugs that occurred through all the 00:07:25.310 --> 00:07:27.790 excess money that they had living a wild life. 00:07:28.649 --> 00:07:32.149 And it had cost him greatly. And so sometimes 00:07:32.149 --> 00:07:34.230 the things that we may consider to be blessings 00:07:34.230 --> 00:07:37.949 are actually curses. Perhaps some of the situations 00:07:37.949 --> 00:07:40.470 that we go through in life, things that are hardships 00:07:40.470 --> 00:07:42.810 that we don't understand. And some of you have 00:07:42.810 --> 00:07:45.750 stories like this. You go through life and something 00:07:45.750 --> 00:07:49.250 bad happens and you lose a job and you say, man, 00:07:49.250 --> 00:07:51.129 God, things are tough. What am I going to do? 00:07:51.189 --> 00:07:54.050 I lost my job. And in the moment, we don't consider 00:07:54.050 --> 00:07:56.050 things like that a blessing. And then lo and 00:07:56.050 --> 00:07:59.600 behold, what happens? You get a better job. There 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:01.740 are so many things in our life that in the moment 00:08:01.740 --> 00:08:04.259 we don't realize that God is blessing us, but 00:08:04.259 --> 00:08:07.639 we have to realize that wherever we are today, 00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:11.879 God is good. And we may not always see the blessing 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:15.040 of God, but you need to know today that God loves 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:19.259 you. And that God never promises us that life 00:08:19.259 --> 00:08:22.860 is going to be easy. He never promises us... 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:25.319 health and wealth that everything is going to 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:27.740 be great and our pocketbooks will be full and 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:30.160 i know that there are a lot of people that preach 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:33.039 that message today but i just don't think that 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:35.620 that is the message that jesus christ preaches 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:39.100 And there's so many today that teach that the 00:08:39.100 --> 00:08:41.419 blessings of God are the things of this world. 00:08:41.620 --> 00:08:43.659 And if you don't have the things of this world, 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:46.240 you don't have the blessings of God because you're 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:48.720 not seeking Him. And I can tell you the secret 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:52.340 to getting all the things of God if you would 00:08:52.340 --> 00:08:55.879 just buy my book, Hope, Faith, and Wealth, The 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:59.639 Secret to Success, for $29 .95. That's often 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:01.799 the message you hear. People that say, I want 00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:04.039 to tell you of the blessings of God. I want to 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:05.919 tell you of the goodness of God. And I'm going 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:08.220 to tell you in this book. And once you get through 00:09:08.220 --> 00:09:09.899 with this, I'm going to want you to buy my other 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:13.039 book. And the blessings of God are not for sale. 00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:15.799 The blessings of God are free. And the blessings 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.620 of God don't just come in the material things, 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:21.700 but the true blessings of God come through the 00:09:21.700 --> 00:09:24.960 comfort and the peace and the joy and knowing 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.740 that we are forgiven and loved by God and have 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:29.879 a place with Him for all of eternity in heaven. 00:09:30.980 --> 00:09:34.320 Those are the blessings of God. And those are 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:37.120 not secret and those are not for sale. They have 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:43.039 been paid for by Jesus Christ. And what a beautiful, 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:48.240 beautiful prayer blessing that we see in Numbers 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:54.679 chapter 6, verses 24 through 26. May the Lord 00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:58.360 bless you and keep you. Some of your translations 00:09:58.360 --> 00:10:01.360 may say something like protect you. That's what 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.500 it means there. May the Lord watch over you and 00:10:04.500 --> 00:10:06.519 take care of you. Is that not what we desire 00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:09.299 in our life? In this hectic world that we live 00:10:09.299 --> 00:10:11.600 in and our stress and our pain and our losing 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:14.279 our job and our health problems and our money 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:17.179 problems and our marital problems and all of 00:10:17.179 --> 00:10:20.120 our problems and the chaos and the wickedness 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:24.679 in the world. Don't we desire? protection? Don't 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:27.240 we desire some comfort? Don't we desire some 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:30.120 shelter and to feel safe? And that's what this 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:34.639 is. God, bless us and protect us. Take care of 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:38.139 us, dear Lord. May the Lord cause his face to 00:10:38.139 --> 00:10:43.379 shine upon you and be gracious to you. Boy, the 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:47.379 grace of God is a powerful thing. There are so 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:51.360 many times in our life that we blow it. And by 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:53.960 blow it, that's a Kind of a nice way to say we 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:57.580 sin greatly. We do some really wicked stuff. 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:00.419 There are times in our life that we... feel like 00:11:00.419 --> 00:11:03.320 such failures, and we are such failures in some 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:06.720 sense. We have done some evil and wicked things, 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:09.480 and we have sinned against God, and we have hurt 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:11.919 people that we love, our spouses, our children, 00:11:12.059 --> 00:11:15.080 our friends. We have just done evil things that 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:18.399 we, even now as they come into our mind, we cringe 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:21.419 to think that we ever did and do some of the 00:11:21.419 --> 00:11:25.559 things that we do. And that is a horrible place 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:30.120 to be, is drowning. in the midst of all of that 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:34.820 sinfulness it is a painful and scary place to 00:11:34.820 --> 00:11:37.940 be it's like jonah when he was in the whale in 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:40.519 the darkness and and it was dark and and he was 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:43.220 overcome by seaweeds and wrapped up and he and 00:11:43.220 --> 00:11:45.799 he thought his life was coming to an end but 00:11:45.799 --> 00:11:48.620 yet once more he said i'm going to call to the 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:53.009 lord in my distress So many times our sin, as 00:11:53.009 --> 00:11:55.669 we talked about a few weeks ago, it just entangles 00:11:55.669 --> 00:11:58.129 in us and it's got us wrapped up and it's dragging 00:11:58.129 --> 00:12:01.070 us down. And so many times we feel like we're 00:12:01.070 --> 00:12:03.690 in a place where we're too far gone and we even 00:12:03.690 --> 00:12:06.190 come to church and we sit on a pew and we know 00:12:06.190 --> 00:12:09.250 God's word is good, but we just feel like I'm 00:12:09.250 --> 00:12:13.809 just too far gone. But the solution to that problem 00:12:13.809 --> 00:12:18.110 is the grace of God. That God has looked at you. 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:22.320 And God knows that you are a hot mess. He knows 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:24.500 that your life is full of sin. He knows that 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:27.379 you have done some things that you don't even 00:12:27.379 --> 00:12:32.139 want to think about. But even still, God's grace 00:12:32.139 --> 00:12:36.539 is good. What a beautiful blessing of God's graciousness. 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:39.960 God, let your face shine down upon me. God, don't 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:42.539 turn your face from me and my wickedness as David 00:12:42.539 --> 00:12:46.139 says in the song. God, please look upon me and 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:48.980 have mercy on me. God, let me experience your 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:53.379 grace. And there is no greater feeling in this 00:12:53.379 --> 00:12:57.340 life, not a greater feeling in this life, than 00:12:57.340 --> 00:13:00.820 the moment you pray to God and seek him. And 00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:02.659 through Jesus Christ, you can know that your 00:13:02.659 --> 00:13:05.379 sins are forgiven and that you have received 00:13:05.379 --> 00:13:09.139 the grace of God, that your sin is not held against 00:13:09.139 --> 00:13:12.309 you anymore. That your sin has been taken care 00:13:12.309 --> 00:13:14.970 of. Yeah, you still hurt people in the past. 00:13:15.169 --> 00:13:17.789 Well, go make up those relationships. Go apologize 00:13:17.789 --> 00:13:20.610 to those people. Go ask those people to forgive 00:13:20.610 --> 00:13:23.169 you. Go show people the love that God has shown 00:13:23.169 --> 00:13:25.809 you. Go say, look, I'm a new man. I'm a new woman. 00:13:25.850 --> 00:13:28.330 That God has changed my heart and changed my 00:13:28.330 --> 00:13:30.610 life. And I've experienced the grace of God. 00:13:30.750 --> 00:13:33.690 And I was a horrible, wicked man. I was a horrible, 00:13:33.750 --> 00:13:36.570 wicked woman. But God has touched me. And I've 00:13:36.570 --> 00:13:38.889 experienced the joy of God. And I live in the 00:13:38.889 --> 00:13:43.399 comfort of God. and I'm blessed by God. I can 00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:48.440 guarantee you that that feeling of grace and 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:51.320 joy and comfort that comes from the Lord will 00:13:51.320 --> 00:13:54.559 far surpass any material blessings you can ever 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:58.899 gain. It's a beautiful thing to live in the grace 00:13:58.899 --> 00:14:02.259 of God. When we live in the grace of God and 00:14:02.259 --> 00:14:05.279 are content with God, then everything else kind 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:08.519 of falls by the wayside. Even the greatest things 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:11.039 that we are up against in this world seem like 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:15.259 nothing to us. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, Paul 00:14:15.259 --> 00:14:17.980 talks about his momentary light afflictions. 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:20.639 And then when you flip to 2 Corinthians chapter 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:23.000 12, he goes through and he lists some of his 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:26.080 momentary light afflictions. It's beatings, it's 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:29.139 imprisonments, it's stonings. And yet Paul calls 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:33.240 these things momentary light afflictions. How 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:36.759 can he do that? Because he's living in the grace 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:40.659 of God. He's living in the comfort of God. He's 00:14:40.659 --> 00:14:44.519 living in the joy of God. And so Paul says these 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:48.700 momentary light afflictions, they pale in comparison 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:51.820 to the glory that I will one day experience in 00:14:51.820 --> 00:14:56.379 the presence of God. That is the blessing of 00:14:56.379 --> 00:15:02.860 God. Verse 26. May the Lord lift up his countenance 00:15:02.860 --> 00:15:08.100 toward you. And give you peace. God, would you 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:12.059 just look upon me? Would you smile down upon 00:15:12.059 --> 00:15:17.460 me, dear Lord? And would you give me peace? I've 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:21.940 said this many times. But that's what we really 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:27.360 desire in life. We just desire peace. We desire 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:32.159 peace. And it is peace that the Lord gives us 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:35.379 and the Lord alone. That's what our world needs 00:15:35.379 --> 00:15:38.700 today. Our world is in so much chaos. There are 00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:40.980 so many people that are living in so much wickedness 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:43.139 and doing so much and battling so much. And some 00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:46.100 of us here today, we can relate to that in our 00:15:46.100 --> 00:15:50.080 own lives. But what we really desire is just 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:54.379 peace. But so many times we look for peace in 00:15:54.379 --> 00:15:57.500 the wrong places. We're looking for peace in 00:15:57.500 --> 00:16:00.559 the chaos. We're going out into all of the world 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:02.980 and all of the things the world offers, and it's 00:16:02.980 --> 00:16:05.279 just chaos and evil and wickedness, and we're 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:07.480 trying to find peace there. And we're trying 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:10.299 everything the world tells us to try, and there's 00:16:10.299 --> 00:16:12.980 no peace. And we're looking everywhere the world 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:16.679 says, and there's no peace. And that's because 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:21.259 peace comes through Jesus Christ alone. Maybe 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:23.159 you're looking for peace in your life today. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:28.220 Maybe you've tried the ways of the world. You 00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:32.419 have not found peace. Maybe for a moment. Maybe 00:16:32.419 --> 00:16:35.039 a momentary something that seems like peace but 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:38.620 it's always fleeting. It doesn't last. It's because 00:16:38.620 --> 00:16:42.340 you're looking in the wrong place. But if we 00:16:42.340 --> 00:16:45.320 would come to Jesus, all of us who are weary 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:51.919 and burdened, Jesus will give us rest. The blessing 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:56.529 of God is... It's His protection. It's His grace. 00:16:57.629 --> 00:17:01.850 It's His peace. When we're living in the blessing 00:17:01.850 --> 00:17:04.609 of God, everything else falls by the wayside. 00:17:06.529 --> 00:17:10.170 What about you today? Are you seeking protection 00:17:10.170 --> 00:17:14.069 and grace and peace in your life? Are you longing 00:17:14.069 --> 00:17:15.849 for something better than what the world has 00:17:15.849 --> 00:17:18.049 to offer? I will tell you today, it's only found 00:17:18.049 --> 00:17:21.980 in Jesus Christ. That God so loved the world, 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:24.000 He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:27.660 believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal 00:17:27.660 --> 00:17:38.519 life, but have eternal peace. Let's pray. God, 00:17:38.660 --> 00:17:43.559 I thank You today for being good to us. I thank 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:45.420 You for the goodness of Your Word, dear Lord. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:51.839 So oftentimes we are... led astray by the ways 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:55.839 of the world. So oftentimes, dear Lord, we're 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:59.019 deceived on what your blessing is, dear Lord, 00:17:59.099 --> 00:18:02.400 maybe, but God, let us not seek material gain 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:05.059 as blessing from you, dear Lord. That shouldn't 00:18:05.059 --> 00:18:06.920 be our only motivation, dear Lord. Maybe you 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:10.740 bless us in those ways, but God, let us be blessed 00:18:10.740 --> 00:18:13.779 by knowing who you are, by trusting in Jesus 00:18:13.779 --> 00:18:17.200 Christ and by living in accordance to your words. 00:18:19.150 --> 00:18:21.250 God, I pray that you'd bless the people who are 00:18:21.250 --> 00:18:25.609 here today. God, I pray that you would just look 00:18:25.609 --> 00:18:28.410 upon them today wherever they are, dear Lord. 00:18:29.789 --> 00:18:32.829 I pray that you'd bless the ones who are struggling 00:18:32.829 --> 00:18:36.509 with sin. I pray that you'd bless the broken 00:18:36.509 --> 00:18:39.230 marriages and the broken relationships with family. 00:18:39.329 --> 00:18:42.049 I pray that you'd bless those that just struggle 00:18:42.049 --> 00:18:46.549 with work and with school. God, I pray that you'd 00:18:46.549 --> 00:18:49.589 bless those who who struggle with anxiety and 00:18:49.589 --> 00:18:54.190 fear and worry. God, I pray that you just bless 00:18:54.190 --> 00:18:56.390 our nation, that you would help us to be a people 00:18:56.390 --> 00:19:00.670 who would seek you. God, I pray that you'd pour 00:19:00.670 --> 00:19:04.470 your grace out on us this morning. I pray that 00:19:04.470 --> 00:19:06.430 you would help people to be encouraged today, 00:19:06.549 --> 00:19:09.470 dear Lord, that maybe they come in here with 00:19:09.470 --> 00:19:13.349 a lot on their heart. And I pray, God, that through 00:19:13.349 --> 00:19:15.490 Jesus Christ, they would seek you today and that 00:19:15.490 --> 00:19:19.319 that burden would be removed. I pray that you 00:19:19.319 --> 00:19:21.759 would just encourage them and give them joy today, 00:19:21.859 --> 00:19:25.279 God, that you would bless their heart, that they 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:27.119 would seek you, dear Lord, that they would seek 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:29.319 your righteousness today and they would be filled. 00:19:29.980 --> 00:19:32.579 God, that if their spirit is broken and poor 00:19:32.579 --> 00:19:34.519 today, that they would come to you and that they 00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:39.160 would enter into your kingdom, God. God, I pray 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:41.559 for those who know that they have struggled with 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:44.880 sin. God, they would receive your mercy today 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:49.460 and be merciful to others. God, I pray that we 00:19:49.460 --> 00:19:53.799 would just know the blessing that is grace and 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:59.740 eternal life and forgiveness of sins. God, I 00:19:59.740 --> 00:20:01.559 pray that you just bless each one here today, 00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:05.940 that you would give them peace. If just for a 00:20:05.940 --> 00:20:08.640 moment, dear Lord, a moment of peace in your 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:14.240 presence is a powerful thing. So I pray in these 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:17.279 few moments, dear Lord, that we would seek you, 00:20:17.299 --> 00:20:20.220 each one of us, that we would pray to you, that 00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:21.980 we would ask for your forgiveness, that we would 00:20:21.980 --> 00:20:23.880 praise you, dear Lord, that we would confess 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:26.859 our sins to you, that we would open our hearts, 00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:30.220 God, that we would ask you to forgive our sins, 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:35.339 that you would protect us today. Give us grace 00:20:35.339 --> 00:20:40.339 and give us peace. God bless these people. And 00:20:40.339 --> 00:20:43.250 I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.