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If you have your Bibles, we're gonna be in Hosea chapter 11 this morning.

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Now, in my lives, there have been times in my life where expectation did not meet reality.

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Think about the first time you learned about taxes, right?

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You knew how much you were getting paid per hour.

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You knew how many hours you worked.

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But then you get your first check, right?

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And you learn about things like FICA and Social Security.

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And you're just kind of disappointed with what is in front of you, right?

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Or think about the upcoming NFL season, right?

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There's all this hype around your team.

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And this is going to be the year that they win the Super Bowl.

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You let them get a few wins under their belt.

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Maybe they go undefeated for an entire month.

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And the expectations just get worse.

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This is our year.

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But the cowboys are gonna do what the cowboys do.

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The bears are gonna do what the bears do.

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And then by November, everybody's like, well, next year, right?

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Next year is gonna be our year.

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We're gonna make some changes.

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And we're gonna get our act together and win, right?

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It's a crazy cycle.

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My wife loves coffee in the morning.

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A few weeks ago, I walked into the kitchen.

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She's sitting down at the table.

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She's drinking her coffee.

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She's being really sweet.

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And I hear her say, you are the best part of my morning.

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I don't know what I would do without you.

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And so I repeat those things to her.

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Like, I can't imagine my life with you, without you.

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Right?

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You messed that one up.

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But anyway, so I repeat these things to her.

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And she says, I was talking to my coffee, not you.

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So how do you handle disappointment?

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Think about last week, chapter 10.

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We hear all about the times that Israel had disappointed the Lord.

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They continually chose idolatry.

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They didn't give much thought to the things of God.

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They were constantly trying to find fulfillment in other things.

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Pastor Drew went through the narrative in Judges,

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where the people were just doing things that seemed right in their own eyes.

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And we are all guilty of that.

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We do what we think is right and good,

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without really giving any thought to how the Lord feels about it.

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So keep that in mind. Let's look at chapter 10.

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I'm sorry, chapter 11.

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We're going to do the first four verses here.

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When Israel was a child, I loved him.

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And out of Egypt, I called my son.

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The more they were called, the more they went away.

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They kept sacrificing to the bails and burning offerings to idols.

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Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk.

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I took them up by his arms.

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They did not know that I healed them.

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I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love.

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And I became to them as the one who eases the yoke on their jaws,

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and I bent down to them and fed them.

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Now, I don't know how you interpret that text.

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I'm going to read the first four verses.

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But I see a father caring for his children,

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who are unaware of all that he does for them.

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In this context, Israel is just like a naive child.

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Expectation has not met reality.

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So the Lord begins to speak,

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and he is referring to Israel as a child.

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You see, one of the basic ideas in Hosea's prophecy

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is God does care about what we do.

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God does care what we are like.

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God is concerned with our loyalty.

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But Hosea saw, I think, a lot more deeply than you and I see,

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that God is hurt when we are not what he intended us to be.

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God feels a keen pain when we are less than his hopes for us.

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But more than that, God shows us how to channel those feelings,

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and how something positive happened from disappointment.

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Now, our kids will disappoint us,

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even though we have loved them unconditionally.

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Even though we spent, we lost a lot of sleep when they were babies,

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trying to get them back to bed.

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Even though some of us have worked two to three jobs

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to make sure that they have everything they need.

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This is how children are.

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They don't care how the food gets on the plate.

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You just better have it on the plate.

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Children, they don't care what your schedule is like.

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They have places to be, right?

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And so children are naive to how much we protect them,

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how much we provide for them, and how much they are loved.

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They are going to do what's right in their own eyes at times,

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without any consideration for the parents.

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But I want you to see how God reacts to disappointment.

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Because if you were like me, it's quite different than how I react.

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God thinks back to the love that he had for them at the beginning.

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It's like he's pulling out the baby book,

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and he's looking through pictures,

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and he's reminiscing about those times

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before these children had attitude, before they could talk back.

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He is remembering their first steps.

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He is remembering those times when they were helpless,

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and he had to feed them.

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Think about the last couple chapters of Hosea,

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and this is God's response.

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He bends down to feed them.

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He isn't some cruel being,

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just throwing food out like we do when we go to the pond

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and we're feeding the ducks.

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We just throw bread out and we kind of watch them fight.

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That's not what he does.

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He is careful and thoughtful as he cares for us.

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Have you ever been in the store with one of your children?

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And your kids get upset because you don't buy them some certain object they want.

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Some random object they see on the aisle, and you don't buy that for them.

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My kids, not all the time, but there were times where they would just lose it.

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Start crying.

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You don't love me.

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Sometimes they'd fall on the floor and start rolling around.

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Like, what do you do in that situation?

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If you're like me, there isn't a whole lot of being led by kindness in those moments.

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There's being led by me grabbing your arm and dragging you out into the parking lot.

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You know the kind where you're dragging them and only every other foot hits the ground.

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Like, that's how I lead my children when they disappoint me.

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God's response is different than that.

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Israel has just caused a scene.

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They've just messed up and God is remembering the times that he led them in kindness.

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Even when they didn't deserve it.

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He makes the yoke easy.

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I mean, think about it.

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Tracking down wilderness, tracking down food in the wilderness,

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every single day would have been taxing.

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So God makes it easy.

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And he just rains down manna from heaven.

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Israel is like a spoiled teenager who is completely unaware of how much they are loved and cared for.

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So let's see what happens in verse 5.

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It says, they shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king.

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Because they have refused to return to me.

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The sword shall rage against the cities, consume the bars of their gates,

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and devour them because of their own counsels.

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My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the most high,

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he shall not raise them up at all.

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Now there comes a point in a parent's life where you have to allow your kids to make their own decisions

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and live with the consequences.

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If you are a helicopter parent, this is going to be hard for you.

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We can't protect our kids from everything, no matter how hard we try.

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And even if we could, we shouldn't.

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Sometimes the decisions they make, even though we know they are bad,

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they need to happen so that they will learn.

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At times we have to understand that God's wrath is passive.

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He lets us live with our decisions.

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He is going to let them be overcome by the Assyrians.

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Many of them are going to be killed by the sword.

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And he says it all is because they keep turning away from me.

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They keep leaving me.

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They have refused to repent.

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They have refused to listen to my commands.

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So I am going to leave them to their own devices.

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Several years ago, my kids all had hoverboards.

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You know what I am talking about?

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Even Riker at the time, he was two.

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He didn't have his own, but he was still his brothers.

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He was two.

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Not walking for very long, he would get on this hoverboard

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and he would hold on to the table or the couch and he would get his balance.

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He would do that all day long.

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After about a week, he got the hang of it

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and he didn't need the support of the couch or the chair anymore.

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He could just do it.

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So I had this two-year-old cruising around my house

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from room to room with a sippy cup.

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I mean, until that thing died, he was on it.

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Then he would charge it up and do it again.

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So I am watching my two-year-old cruise all over the house on this hoverboard.

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So naturally, I began thinking, I could do that.

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If a two-year-old can do that with such ease, why can't I?

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I have good balance. I've been riding the bike for years.

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I'm somewhat athletic. I can handle this.

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So I take the hoverboard over to the doorway

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and I'm holding on to the door frame just to kind of get my balance, get my bearings right.

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When I feel pretty confident, I let go of the door and I'm ready to cruise.

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Next thing I know, my feet are above my head and I feel like I broke my hip.

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Needless to say, I haven't tried it since.

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But never once did I shake my fist at heaven angry at God

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because he allowed that to happen.

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It was my dumb decision to think that I was still young enough to be able to do that easily.

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God wasn't punishing me for not following him

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or for not giving him the attention he deserves.

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He was just letting me live in my decision.

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I can't count how many times I have heard from people who are mad at God

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because their life is a wreck.

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If God was loving, he wouldn't let me live through this pain.

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If God cared for me, then I wouldn't be living in the conditions that I am.

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When in reality, you might be experiencing the wrath of God

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by him just stepping back and letting you live with the decisions that you've made.

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God isn't striking them down and wiping them off the earth. Notice this text.

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He has already done that and he's promised not to do it again.

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He is just leaving them to go down the path that they've chosen.

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No matter how many times he's told them, that's going to go badly for you.

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That's going to end badly.

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Now, don't think of God's passivity as something that he is approving of.

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Just because there isn't a loud voice from heaven coming down

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doesn't mean that he's pleased with your decisions.

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Now, when you get slapped in the face with disappointment, what is your natural reaction?

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What is it you want to do? How do you handle it?

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Well, some of us just retreat to the corner and pow and feel sorry for ourselves,

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but others of us, we want to punish.

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We want to hurt. We want to react and manipulate and extend our control if we can.

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Guess what? God feels the same way too.

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Even God feels anger. Even God wants to rebuke and to punish.

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And as much as some of us would prefer to get rid of all the harshly judgmental passages in the Bible, we cannot.

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They're there. God speaks in wrath. God's feelings flare up.

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And his disappointment turns into a desire to strike out.

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But here's what I want you to notice this morning.

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God's way of dealing with disappointment, God's way of expressing his wrath and his anger,

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is not so much to strike out, strike us down and destroy us as it is to just leave the people to their own devices.

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So sometimes his wrath is him just taking a step back and watching you go down the wrong path

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and learning a lesson from the decisions that you've made.

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You continually try to do things on your own and have failed to give him praise for all that he has done for you.

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And he just kind of steps back and watches you go down that road.

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About 14 years ago, I left the ministry and I'm just going to make it on my own.

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I went and got a secular job because I wanted to make money and because ministry had kicked me in the teeth quite a few times.

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In the span of two and a half years, I had six jobs.

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My marriage wasn't in the best shape. I was struggling mentally and I wasn't content.

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From the world's perspective, I wasn't doing anything wrong.

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I was still going to church.

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I was still serving when I was asked, but something was off.

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I was running from what the Lord had called me to do.

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He left me to my own decisions and the consequences weren't catastrophic, but they weren't pleasant either.

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Eventually, you just get tired of running.

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Eventually, it just wears you out.

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And I'm so grateful for that little church in La Mesa that God used to get me back on track.

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How is God getting your attention?

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For some people, it takes an Assyrian army and captivity and pain.

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For others of us, maybe he will use a worship service just like this one to get you back on track.

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In light of all that, let's see how God responds in verse 8.

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How can I give you up, O Ephraim?

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How can I hand you over, O Israel?

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How can I make you like Adema?

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How can I treat you like Zeboim?

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My heart recoils within me.

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My compassion grows warm and tender.

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I will not execute my burning anger.

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I will not again destroy Ephraim.

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For I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.

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The word that stuck out to me when I was reading that passage was the word recoil.

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Recoil is to find this drawing back of something as a result of a force of impact.

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So in light of our unfaithfulness to God, his response is to draw back into himself.

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Scripture says that God is love.

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So when a force comes at him, he recoils back into love.

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I handed my son a 20 gauge shotgun several years ago.

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We got his stance correct, because there's a certain way you stand, right?

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We got it. We got it.

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He said, really push it into your shoulder, because we're trying to prepare him for the recoil.

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He pulls the trigger, and he hands up on the ground.

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It just knocked him down.

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It was too strong of a force.

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That force is what God says he absorbs into his heart.

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When sin continues to grow, unfaithfulness is running rampant, and idolatry is our focus.

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God is saying his heart goes back into that never ending fountain of love, the fountain of who he is.

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And his compassion grows warm and tender.

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He says he does that because he is a God and not a man.

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When someone comes with force against you, how do you respond?

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If somebody were to come out to me and shove me and force me, and I lose my balance, and it takes me off guard,

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I'm going to come back at you with a different force.

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I'm not going to take that, and then come try and hug you.

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I'm probably going to come out swinging, right?

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Because my anger in that moment will take precedence because of my sin nature.

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God's anger is absorbed in himself.

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And the response is love because that's who he is.

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This is another prophecy of Jesus.

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He will not come and wrath against you, but instead he will come and wrath against himself.

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And the result will be the punishment paid by the broken body of Jesus.

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That's not passive wrath.

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The brutality placed on Jesus is the result of our sin.

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We are no better than the Israelites were.

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We are just as corrupt, just as easily distracted, just as idolatrous, just as unfaithful,

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and God's response to you is not to destroy you, but to love you.

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There's a story of a pastor of a Methodist church who asked one of his members,

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who was a craftsman, to make a cross for the children to carry each Sunday into the service.

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Now, I've never been to a Methodist church service, but I can just imagine kids walking up the aisle with, you know, holding a cross.

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He said he wanted a plain cross that wasn't too heavy, but would symbolize that we are entering into worship under the banner of the cross.

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The craftsman, however, did not follow his instructions.

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The cross was heavy and splintered.

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He painted it to look like he had blood on it.

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He carved this really intricate image of Jesus hanging on the cross with nails through his hands and feet.

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It was a really beautiful piece of art, but it was hard to look at.

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The pastor was furious.

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We can't use that. It's too heavy for the children to carry,

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and people are going to be offended by the grotesque nature of Jesus.

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We aren't Catholic. We don't want to see Jesus on that cross.

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I mean, how telling is that?

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When we look at the cross, we see the finished work of Jesus, right?

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He isn't on the cross anymore.

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He is in heaven with the Father reigning forever.

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That is all true, and all of that should be celebrated.

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But sometimes I think we need to be reminded of the cost of our sin.

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It's ugly and painful and it's offensive.

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It is too heavy to carry on our own.

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But too many times we have the clean version, right behind me.

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We have the clean version of the cross on our minds,

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and we forget about the wrath of God poured out on the cross

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because of his recoil back into love.

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We forget sometimes how offensive our sin is to a holy God.

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We forget sometimes the punishment of being idolaters,

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the punishment of binging Netflix instead of studying the Word.

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We forget about those things.

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When we choose other things before him,

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we forget about the grotesque nature of our sin.

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As ugly as it is, the cross is the greatest picture of love

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that you can ever lay your eyes on.

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Sometimes I think we need that picture of Jesus to remind us

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that God heals people.

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After that, let's see how the people respond.

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Verse 10,

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They shall go after the Lord.

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He will roar like a lion.

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When he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west.

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They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt

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and like doves from the land of Assyria.

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And I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.

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This is another prophecy that God will restore.

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A time is coming when the people of Israel will come to their senses

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and return to the Lord.

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They're going to go through some trials.

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They're going to go through some pain.

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They're going to be uncomfortable for a long period of time,

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but it's a prophecy that they will return to the Lord.

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From all directions, they will come and he is going to restore.

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So even while his wrath is passive at times,

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he never leaves us.

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He is right there waiting for you to hear his voice,

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to hear his roar, and there God will be found.

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He's never left us.

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So is he calling you this morning?

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Is he calling you this morning to return?

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Are you aware of how much you are loved and cared for?

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Was there a time in your life when you were walking closely with the Lord?

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Can you think back to those times when you were walking closely with the Lord?

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You were aware of how much he was providing for you?

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How much he protected you?

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You were aware of how he healed you?

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But lately, you've been so consumed with life

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that you're now walking down your own path.

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He isn't hiding.

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He isn't aloof to your situation.

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Maybe this morning you hear him roaring in your heart

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because he wants to restore you.

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He wants you to return.

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No matter how many times, my children disappoint me.

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I'll never turn my back on them.

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No matter how many times they're ungrateful,

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I'm still going to provide for them.

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No matter how many times they give me attitude,

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I'm still going to feed them and show it, lead them in kindness as best I can.

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Why would God do any less when his love is so much greater than mine?

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He's ready to restore.

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Are you listening for his voice?

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Let's pray.

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Fathers, we get ready to remember your sacrifice for us.

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As we remember the bloody, broken body of Jesus on the cross,

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as we remember those times where you've made our life easier,

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as we remember those times that you've healed us and provided for us

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and sustained us,

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as we remember all those times that we've disappointed you and failed you,

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I pray God that in this moment you will restore

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because that's who you are.

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You're a God of love.

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And so Father, as much as we look down on Israel with judgment,

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thinking how can they be so ignorant,

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I pray God that we will see that in ourselves,

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that we are so much like a naive child unaware of how much you do for us,

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how much you care for us, how much you love us.

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And so Father, right now I pray that many of us in this room will hear your roar this morning.

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That we will hear that still small voice of you calling to us,

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calling to us to restore us, calling to us to return.

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So Father, I pray that you speak.

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I pray that your spirit will move in this place.

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So Father, forgive us.

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Forgive us where we fail to acknowledge you.

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Ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.