1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 piece of the word faith. But I want to start by asking a question. In my office, 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,800 there is kind of the names or titles or attributes of Jesus, that he is the way, 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:14,880 the truth, and the life, and has a little kind of Bible address for where you find 4 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:20,680 that. But I want to ask you, before I give you mine, what is kind of your favorite 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:25,360 imagery or who Jesus says he is or attribute of Christ that you find in the 6 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:32,760 Bible? Anybody? The light of the world, absolutely. 7 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:37,080 Though, huh? Hang on Tom, hold on to that one because you and I have something in 8 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:45,840 common, so we'll wait on yours. Over here? Savior, absolutely. Yeah. Friend. 9 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:52,280 Emmanuel, God with us. Healer, up in the balcony. Like, oh wait, he saw us. Yes, 10 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:59,280 you're up there. Teacher, I'm not gonna continue until the balcony answers. That's 11 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:05,360 still not the balcony. Oh, a good one. They're all staring at me. You can't see 12 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:11,420 they're all staring at me. Oh no, I'll wait. There's 50 of you up there. One of 13 00:01:11,420 --> 00:01:23,180 you. Hunter, what about you? I'll start calling more by name. They're testing me. 14 00:01:23,180 --> 00:01:27,240 I have three boys, under 12. 15 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:34,880 Hope of the world. Was that in the balcony? Thank you, let's give the balcony a 16 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:42,560 hand. Yes, the balcony woke up. Okay, good. Tom, what was yours? Amen. The good 17 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:48,360 shepherd. Has been, always will be my favorite imagery of kind of our 18 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:52,040 relationship with Christ, Christ's relationship with us. Obviously, the 23rd 19 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,800 Psalm is a big one, but I want to jump and start with John 10. So, we're gonna 20 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:02,400 read the first 11 verses. Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the 21 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:07,840 sheepfold by the door, but climbs in another way, that man is a thief and a 22 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:14,160 robber. But he who enters the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the 23 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:18,580 gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name 24 00:02:18,580 --> 00:02:23,920 and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and 25 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:29,320 the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, 26 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:35,320 but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This 27 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:40,280 figure of speech Jesus uses with them, but they did not understand what he was 28 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,440 saying to them. So, Jesus said to them, truly, truly I say to you, I am the door 29 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:49,320 of the sheep. All who come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did 30 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:54,760 not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and 31 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:59,920 will go in and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I 32 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:04,720 have come that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good 33 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:10,280 shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. So, not only do we 34 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,240 have Jesus as good shepherd, he's also the door. Now, if you remember, we did 35 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:22,000 that, Mike, how long ago was that? The door sermon series for Lent. First here, 36 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:27,200 oh wow, the door, yeah. So, that was during 2020, beginning of 2020. And that 37 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:32,720 not only is Jesus the door, which, yeah, I'm not surprised a lot of you didn't 38 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:37,760 say that one, even the balcony, because that's not one that comes to mind, that 39 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:42,880 Jesus calls himself the door, that he is the door of the sheep pen. He is also the 40 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:48,400 shepherd. He's a lot of things. But that imagery of being hemmed in, of being 41 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:53,360 known by the shepherd, the sheep knowing the shepherd's voice, and the part which 42 00:03:53,360 --> 00:04:00,360 is so convicting, that with confidence Jesus says that the sheep hear his voice 43 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:05,120 and he calls him by their name and he leads them out. He goes before them and 44 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,840 they follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow. 45 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:17,200 Jesus is confident that his sheep will not follow another voice. Yet, if I asked 46 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:23,000 each of you this week, did you follow something of another voice that led to 47 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:30,200 sin, I'm gonna go almost 100% of us would say yes. But Jesus is confident that his 48 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:36,360 sheep will not follow other voices, but that is the wrestle we have with our 49 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:42,680 depravity every day. And I don't know what the week was like, and I was thinking 50 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:49,760 about it during the last song of the set and then the offertory. I would love to 51 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,720 just have all of us one by one talk about the week. There's something, I don't 52 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,720 know what it is, this is a little bit of an audible, that there's someone here or 53 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:04,400 a few of us here that had really bad weeks. And I don't know about you, but I 54 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:11,280 needed to hear that I'm hemmed in this morning. That Jesus is the door. That 55 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:15,320 there are times I want to kick that door open, I want to go do my own thing, and I 56 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:21,440 want to say enough with you, Shepherd, I'm gonna go. Yet we also know that out 57 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,360 of that 99, and you know I'll be that one for this example, you could be one in 58 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:29,840 your own example, that we go astray. Guess what? He still goes and finds us too. And 59 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:35,680 there's something powerful about that, and I think, I really do, I think that's 60 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:40,400 what Jim Osterhaus was getting at with this last piece. Where in TULIP we call 61 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:45,920 perseverance of the saints, he's calling it held by God. And the reason why is 62 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:51,160 because the sheep know his voice. So let's go over just where we've been as we 63 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:57,080 wrap up. The F, fallen humanity. The A, adopted by God. The T, or the I, 64 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:01,240 intentional atonement, I know how to spell. T, transformed by the Holy Spirit, 65 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:09,120 and finally held by God. And being held by God is such a personal thing. And it's 66 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:14,520 an amazing understanding of God's relationship with us. And I don't know 67 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:19,800 about you, but I need that today. I need the promise that God is holding me, and 68 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:24,280 it's something, I know we all probably need daily, weekly, monthly, every moment 69 00:06:24,280 --> 00:06:30,400 that we are alive. If we're honest, we need to be held by God. Yet we struggle 70 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:36,800 with it. And we see this in the life of our children. That our children desire 71 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:42,240 independence, we know we've hit a new stage of life. Because as kids are 72 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:49,800 younger, they follow you everywhere, right? The term locked bathroom does not 73 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:54,000 apply to them, right? Because they want, they just were ever, and they seem to 74 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:58,240 want you right when you need to answer nature's call, right? That's something 75 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:04,960 that happens a lot. But then all of a sudden something happens as we get older, 76 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:11,600 and this thing called independence happens. When all of a sudden our kids 77 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:16,960 don't want us around. Now how many of you, be honest because you're in the House of 78 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:24,320 the Lord, how many of you when you hit that stage of life, you celebrated it 79 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:34,160 immensely? Yep. That wasn't a lot of you. That's interesting. Maybe you're still 80 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:38,640 struggling with it. But how many of you when that independence hit, you mourned 81 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:46,120 it? Ray, you don't have to do this. You can raise it high. And I think there's 82 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,800 half of you that have no idea what I'm talking about because you didn't raise 83 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,640 your hand for either of them. And you're like, wait, independence? Our kids are 84 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:59,240 supposed to have independence? Let's go. I don't know. But we do the same thing 85 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:06,240 with God. At some point we develop a sinful independence. At some point it's 86 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:12,720 no longer in our mind that it's a have to. That our faith can sometimes become 87 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:19,920 optional. Notice how I said sinful independence. And it's things like this, 88 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:24,600 things like the doctrine, the third article of the fifth doctrine of the 89 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:29,240 Canaan's Adore, Perseverance of the Saints, which I'll get to in a second, is 90 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:35,600 defining how we are to live our life. That you and I are called to live a life 91 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:41,760 held by God. That when people see our life, they should see someone who has 92 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:48,360 the security, the confidence, the maturity that we are being held by God. 93 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:56,400 That come hell or high water, God's got us. But I think we struggle with that, or 94 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:03,440 at least I do. Because when things don't go my way, yesterday was my wife's 95 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:10,320 birthday and we had reservations with her folks and we had a assembly to go to. 96 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,920 All the entire, I am not really paying attention at all. For some reason I'm 97 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:19,560 fixated on there's going to be traffic on 1894 and we're not going to get to 98 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:26,680 Cooper's Hawk in time. Thank you for laughing at that. But it wasn't funny. 99 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:33,720 Not only did we get out just fine in time, we were at Cooper's Hawk 20 minutes 100 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:42,440 early. And I thought to myself, how dumb am I that I allowed a new experience for 101 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:48,440 my son for me to be so preoccupied with time. Like what is Cooper's Hawk going to 102 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:54,560 say? No, you can't eat here anymore. No. But I allow myself to have the anxiety 103 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:59,560 over a situation that I don't have control over because I demand control. 104 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:07,000 Friends, that is sinful independence when it comes to our relationship with God. 105 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,000 Now, I could also go on the other side and go, God really doesn't care if we go 106 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,560 to Cooper's Hawk or not. I don't think the master of the universe is really 107 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:19,920 worried about any of that because I don't think he worries. It's fun when you get 108 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:24,960 it here because there's so much that goes on. And to me, the understanding of 109 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:29,480 needing to be held by God and understanding that I should be and desire 110 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:35,400 to be held by God I think is the biggest sin that I struggle with when it comes to 111 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:40,520 this, that there are times, and if we're honest, maybe you feel the same way, we 112 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:47,760 don't want to be held by God. Because if we're being held by God, that means he's 113 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:52,360 the one doing the work. He's the one in control. Or if we're going to look at it 114 00:10:52,360 --> 00:11:00,520 in a sinful way, he's the one controlling us and we don't like it. But what was 115 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:07,400 Jesus saying to his disciples in John 10? That the sheep know my voice. They will 116 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:14,880 follow me no matter where I go. And the only time, right, that they would in his 117 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:19,880 example, but what we do is we hear the voice of the stranger and we say, oh, this 118 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:27,120 must be our new shepherd. This must be our new God. And we do that every day. The 119 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:31,600 sin of this or that or whatever will call to you, say, hey, Jim, no, come this 120 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:36,640 way. Hey, Jim, get out of your situation and worry about getting to Cooper's Hawk 121 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:43,600 on time and let that anxiety ruin that situation. And my family knows when I 122 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:50,120 think I'm going to be late for something, how does that normally go? Yeah, they're 123 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:54,720 all just staring at me. We don't know what to say. It doesn't go well, right? It 124 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:59,400 doesn't. And I need to let that go. It is a constant reminder that I am not in 125 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:06,000 control. And that's a good thing. Why? Because we are being called to persevere 126 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:11,560 in the fact that we are being held by God every day, that he is the one holding 127 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:18,480 us. Because of these remnants of sin dwelling in us and also in the temptation 128 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:24,640 of the world and by Satan, those who have been converted could not remain standing 129 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:32,320 in grace if left on their own resources. This is the canons adored. But God is 130 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:39,480 faithful, merciful, strengthening them in the grace once conferred on them and 131 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:47,520 powerfully preserving them till the end. That God is preserving us in everything. 132 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,920 He is telling us no matter what the week you just went through was like or the 133 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:56,800 week you will be going through, God's got you. God wants you to know that all the 134 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:03,480 time. That God's the one that's got you. He's the one holding you. And to me, 135 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:11,520 that is so powerful. And it's hard not to think of being held by God. And there are 136 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:17,120 days that I just need this and I praise the Lord that he's given me a wife that 137 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:21,680 will just not say anything and just hug me. Because I know a lot of you aren't, 138 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:26,200 but I'm a hugger. How many huggers do we have? Everyone else in the room just got 139 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:31,960 real uncomfortable. But understand, there's so much that can happen in a hug. 140 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:37,840 To me, hugs are powerful. And I have in my notes, sorry if this creeps you all out. 141 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:43,560 Okay, I guess that's what I was thinking this week. But what do we like about a 142 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:47,560 hug for the huggers? If you're not a hugger, I don't want to hear from you. But 143 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:54,120 if you are a hugger, what do we like about hugs? That's my very first point. 144 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:58,400 Comfort, yep. Security, that was my next point. You don't get to talk anymore. 145 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:07,160 Okay. Others, yeah. Kindness, yeah. What a great answer, right? That to show 146 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,960 kindness to someone, they give a hug. My wife is kind to me a lot because I need 147 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:17,120 that and she hugs me a lot and that is a great thing. Anything else? Yeah. 148 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:23,840 A connection, absolutely. Yeah. Others? There's two more that I have in here. 149 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:29,760 Huh? I thought you said mercy. I was like, whoa, alright, that just took a turn. 150 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:35,920 No, personal, absolutely. Yeah, Nancy. Love slash friendship, absolutely. 151 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,600 That was one of mine in here as well. Intimacy, that, okay, now you want to 152 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:45,760 participate. Go ahead, Patty. Safe, right? You said safe? You just take somebody 153 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,400 else's? That's right, none of you wanted to talk but a minute ago so it's fine. 154 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:55,880 But, yeah, being safe. That when my wife hugs me, right, I feel safe. I feel 155 00:14:55,880 --> 00:15:02,320 safer. Hopefully when I hug my kids, they feel safe. Anyone else? I'm looking for 156 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:09,600 one more. Hmm? Accepted, that's a good one in the back. Wanted, absolutely. 157 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:15,360 Daniel, when the Michigan Wolverines conquered the world and won the 158 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:20,600 national championship, what did we do? We hugged, right, out of excitement. It was 159 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:26,280 great and not against our HR policy and understand that we can be excited and 160 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:31,840 want to hug, right? I mean, Dan, you felt the opposite way yesterday, right, when 161 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:36,120 Purdue lost. You probably didn't want to hug anybody, right? You didn't. And so 162 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:43,360 understand that we, there's so much that can happen in a hug. And 163 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:49,960 four years ago, I told myself I wasn't gonna cry, four years ago there was a 164 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:55,280 picture of a hug that wrecked me. Because I don't know if it was someone, I think 165 00:15:55,280 --> 00:16:01,040 it was someone from Crown Point. It was after Lynn died and they sent me this 166 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:16,160 pic. And I practiced this. And the caption was, this is your sister's first 167 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,760 day in heaven. 168 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:34,920 Just look at it. What do you see in her face? Joy. Anything else? Safe. Relief. 169 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:44,640 Love. All good things. And then in more of a comical way, after my, and I don't 170 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,800 know if a lot of you ever met Lynn. Lynn was a little bit shorter than me, you 171 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:51,400 know, and that kind of hug with Jesus would work. And then someone said this to 172 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:56,400 me when my pa died, who was 6'6 and like 280 pounds, and they sent that to me and 173 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:01,360 my first thought was poor Jesus. You know, like if that was in fact what's 174 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:08,740 happened with him. But understand that, I mean, this picture, it means so, I wanted 175 00:17:08,740 --> 00:17:13,000 to print it out but I couldn't because if I saw it in my office or at home 176 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,440 every day I would just cry. But like, there's just so much. You know, a picture 177 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,880 says a thousand words and I think this says a million. And just the 178 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:25,280 understanding of a hug, the understanding that seeing this picture, I just 179 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:29,680 wrote my notes that my sister had ran a race. She had fought the good fight of 180 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:35,240 faith. And though I'll never be fully okay that her race was only 36 years 181 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:41,080 long, I can guarantee because my sister was a hugger that she hugged Jesus like 182 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:48,800 this. That it was just pure, unabandoned joy. Joy that we will never know on this 183 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:53,920 earth. Joy we will never understand no matter how many kids we have, no matter 184 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,640 how great our marriage, no matter how many times our team wins the whatever, 185 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:06,360 right? That joy, that is something different because that is joy complete. A 186 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:16,200 completion of a journey. So then on the flip side, I thought to myself, what about 187 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:21,280 us still here? What about us still running our race? What about us still 188 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:27,960 fighting our good fights? Still fighting our daily battle against sin and 189 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:33,640 darkness. I think that's the writer of the Canons of Dort, Jim Osterhaus, in his 190 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:38,840 book. I think that is what he's trying to convey with this doctrine, with this 191 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:45,880 understanding that we are still being held by God though the world around us 192 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,600 doesn't want it. The world around us wants to rip us from our relationship 193 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:56,240 with God. The world around us wants us to just love ourself and that is it. So I'm 194 00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:02,880 gonna move Ken's Bible and where's Jay? Jay, you want to come up? Everyone say 195 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:09,480 hi Jay. I'm gonna use Jay as a sermon illustration, okay? He has zero idea what 196 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:12,760 we're gonna do but he was okay with it and so I appreciate that. I did ask his 197 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:17,320 parents first. So this understanding of being held by God, I need two more 198 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,240 volunteers and I'm just gonna go right in this room. I'm gonna have Jesse and 199 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:25,760 Jim. Can you guys come up? Why you come on up too? That's fine, you come up too. You 200 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:33,200 guys stand right over here. Nope, you're not on the stage. So I don't know if, 201 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:38,920 hopefully this will make sense, but when we talk about having just nasty stuff 202 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:42,720 going on in the world, right? Things that want to rip us away from our relationship 203 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:47,400 with God. There is a difference here that I think a lot of us need cleared up and 204 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,200 what our relationship with God is like. So I apologize to all three of you, but you 205 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:56,840 guys are representing sin and death, so thank you. And in this scenario I'm 206 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:03,040 representing God. So I don't do this often, but this is the understanding of 207 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:08,960 what I believe this doctrine actually means. That every day we are on this edge, 208 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:15,000 whether we believe it or not, that there is a whole force against us that want us 209 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:20,720 to be completely separated from God. That Satan is there and will send whatever he 210 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:25,840 can to try to rip us away and try to get us isolated. And I've said it before, not 211 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,200 that Satan wants a relationship with you, he doesn't. He just wants you to not have 212 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:33,000 a relationship with God. He just wants you to doubt. So Jay, as you live your 213 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:38,880 life, right? You're what grade? Fifth grade. You go to what school? What are some of 214 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:47,120 the things you like to do in life? Yeah, I don't buy that. Sports, let's do sports. 215 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:52,200 Yeah, okay, just sports in general. He just likes sports. But Jay is growing in his 216 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:56,480 faith. Jay is a leader in Lighthouse. Jay is going to be in junior high next year. 217 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:00,040 That's scary. And not because you'll be in junior high because my son's the same 218 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:06,760 age. But understand that he's growing. And one day he will understand that life, 219 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,200 just turn this way, is this way and that there are going to be things that are 220 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:15,440 going to try to grab a hold. Go ahead. Why get in there? And they're going to try to 221 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:19,640 pull you. Okay, they're going to try. Not too hard. Okay, we didn't sign a waiver 222 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:26,480 for this. All right. I mean, that is a strong... No, keep going. That is... I mean, 223 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:30,000 is that comfortable? You're laughing, but it's kind of more of a nervous laugh, 224 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,280 like I don't know what's going to happen. Are they going to pull my arm off? Are 225 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,440 they going to pull me off the stage? All that kind of stuff. But for a lot of us, 226 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:39,560 now stick this hand out. For a lot of us, we think that our relationship with God 227 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:44,640 is like this, right? Hold on. Right? We think God's just standing here allowing 228 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,760 all this to happen, right? You guys can pull. There's three of you and only one 229 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:53,920 of me. You know, like all that, right? That's uncomfortable, right? And then 230 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:59,600 unfortunately for some of us, you can let go. You guys can pull. Don't pull them 231 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:04,440 off though. That we think that happens. We think that all of a sudden God's like, 232 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:09,040 no, I'm good. I'm going to let you handle that. But what this doctrine, what this 233 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:15,280 understanding of grace actually is, keep pulling, that it's not Jay holding, right? 234 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:21,920 And it's not just God doing this, but it's God doing this. That this is a picture 235 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,560 of the Lord going, Jay, I know you're going to go through it, right? I know 236 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,840 you're going to have hard times. You're going to have tribulations. But in the 237 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:34,680 end, let go. None of that matters. Let's give him a hand, okay? You can go sit 238 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:41,520 down, thank you. In my head, I had that super dramatic with like smoke machines 239 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:47,080 and all this kind of stuff and Michael W. Smith, but you get it. You understand 240 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:52,040 that for a lot of us, we think it's our faith has to do with, our salvation has 241 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:56,520 to do with, our perseverance in life has to do with how strong our grip is. 242 00:22:56,520 --> 00:23:01,720 Friends, understand it is not about your grip. It has always been about God holding 243 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:11,800 you. Romans 8 says this, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 244 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:17,760 Shall tribulations or distress, persecution or famine, nakedness, danger 245 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:24,080 or sword, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all day long. 246 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:30,640 We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. But friends, hear this promise 247 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:39,440 today. No. In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 248 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:48,320 For I am sure, and hear this, neither life or death nor life, nor angels nor rulers 249 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:54,520 nor things present or things to come nor powers or height or depth or anything in 250 00:23:54,520 --> 00:24:02,200 all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our 251 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:11,840 Lord. I want you to walk out today understanding you cannot be separated 252 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:21,360 from God. But what about all of us that feel like it already has happened? 253 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:25,520 What about all of us that things have been going not well? Things have been 254 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:34,120 going very wrong in life. It is time to just come back to center. It is time to 255 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:41,040 seek that forgiveness. It is time to understand that when you go astray, and 256 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:48,000 we all do in life, that not only does the shepherd come get you, but he brings you 257 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:56,280 back within that gate. He wants you to understand that you are hemmed in. So 258 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:02,280 what does that look like in 2024? No. In all of these things we are more than 259 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:10,680 conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither issues at work, 260 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:20,400 issues at home, issues at school, maybe even issues at church, that neighbor who 261 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:27,240 can't stand you, that family member you have zero relationship with, that sin 262 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:31,560 that just keeps dangling that carrot of whatever it is that says no, no this 263 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:39,120 would be much better. Or maybe the anxiety of self, the lack of self-esteem, 264 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:43,960 the lack of self-awareness, the lack of whatever internally going on in all of 265 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:52,120 us. All of that is covered in the fact that nothing will ever separate us from 266 00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:59,600 the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. So friends understand today that when 267 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:07,960 Christ says he is with you always, he is. And now he's gonna...