WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:03.009 So in the season of Lent, which I'm not terribly 00:00:03.009 --> 00:00:05.150 liturgical, at Naples Community Church, we of 00:00:05.150 --> 00:00:07.429 course recognize Advent and Lent, but otherwise 00:00:07.429 --> 00:00:11.429 we're all over the place. But Lent is that time 00:00:11.429 --> 00:00:15.130 where we commemorate the 40 days of Jesus in 00:00:15.130 --> 00:00:18.989 the wilderness, suffering temptation. And as 00:00:18.989 --> 00:00:22.269 has been said, he knows temptation unlike any 00:00:22.269 --> 00:00:26.230 of us because he withstood it for 40 days, where 00:00:26.230 --> 00:00:29.440 we cave in after 40 days. Minutes or four minutes. 00:00:30.300 --> 00:00:33.219 And so we know only a little bit of what he knows 00:00:33.219 --> 00:00:37.259 about being tempted. But then also, it is that 00:00:37.259 --> 00:00:39.579 period of time when we acknowledge that Jesus 00:00:39.579 --> 00:00:46.320 set his face for Jerusalem and the cross. So 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:49.740 Jesus, with his disciples, as he was approaching 00:00:49.740 --> 00:00:54.159 that time, took them up to, of all places, Caesarea 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.960 Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was in the way northern 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:03.619 region of Galilee, and it had shrines to every 00:01:03.619 --> 00:01:07.900 conceivable God in that entire region. And in 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:10.920 the temple, they partook of some of the most 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:16.519 vile behaviors and practices. And so Jesus takes 00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:20.079 them there. It's kind of the Las Vegas of the 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:23.379 ancient world. I remember at UC Santa Barbara, 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:25.239 some of the guys talking, hey, we're going to 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:27.939 go to Las Vegas. And I never went with them because 00:01:27.939 --> 00:01:29.739 I was like Brian. I didn't want to submit to 00:01:29.739 --> 00:01:32.799 that kind of those bad influences. But Jesus 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:37.780 takes them to Caesarea Philippi. And it's in 00:01:37.780 --> 00:01:40.920 that setting, after they have seen all of this, 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:45.280 Canaanite, Greek, Roman gods, that he says, who 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:50.010 do people say the Son of Man is? You know what 00:01:50.010 --> 00:01:52.769 they say about those gods. What do you say about 00:01:52.769 --> 00:01:58.390 who I am? And it was at that time, one of them 00:01:58.390 --> 00:02:03.510 got it right. The apostle Peter said, you are 00:02:03.510 --> 00:02:07.510 the Christ, the son of the living God. On the 00:02:07.510 --> 00:02:11.009 basis of one confession of faith, Jesus goes 00:02:11.009 --> 00:02:16.099 to the cross. If it were not for that confession, 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:19.180 Jesus could very well have perhaps taken one 00:02:19.180 --> 00:02:21.419 step further north and stepped off the stage 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:28.919 of history. But instead, he goes and begins his 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:34.680 walk to the cross. Now, the anticipation was 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:38.400 that they would have a king like David, and there 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:40.580 were all kinds of messianic figures that were 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:44.139 claiming to be the son of David. that they would 00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:47.960 be the next king like David. And all of these 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:51.900 so -called messiahs were political messiahs. 00:02:51.900 --> 00:02:53.419 They were going to throw out the Roman government, 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:57.639 set up a first century state of Israel. But all 00:02:57.639 --> 00:03:01.099 of them, one after another, claimed to be the 00:03:01.099 --> 00:03:04.439 reincarnation of that kingship that David had. 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:10.819 When we think about David, what do we remember? 00:03:13.649 --> 00:03:17.909 David was no perfect person. In what way was 00:03:17.909 --> 00:03:22.210 David a man after God's own heart? It's often 00:03:22.210 --> 00:03:24.270 difficult for us to discern what that really 00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:28.530 meant. Hear the word of God as it comes to us 00:03:28.530 --> 00:03:36.789 from 2 Samuel. In the spring of the year, when 00:03:36.789 --> 00:03:40.719 kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.080 and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:47.240 And they destroyed the Ammonite army and laid 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:50.620 siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed 00:03:50.620 --> 00:03:56.639 home in Bethlehem. Late one afternoon, after 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:01.139 his midday rest, David got out of bed and was 00:04:01.139 --> 00:04:04.780 walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:07.340 out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:12.879 beauty. taking a bath. He sent someone to find 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:18.079 out who she was and was told she is Bathsheba, 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:21.660 the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the 00:04:21.660 --> 00:04:25.680 Hittite. Then David sent messengers to get her, 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:31.300 and when she came to the palace, he slept with 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:41.000 her. David. King like David? That's David. Up 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:46.319 to this point, David had had a remarkable career. 00:04:49.620 --> 00:04:53.319 When Samuel was looking for the next king because 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:57.360 Saul failed, David was out working, watching 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:01.180 the sheep. All of the other boys were paraded 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:04.920 by Samuel, and Samuel said, is there anyone else? 00:05:05.540 --> 00:05:07.680 David was out doing what he was supposed to do. 00:05:07.740 --> 00:05:10.220 He was taking care of the sheep. They brought 00:05:10.220 --> 00:05:13.019 him in and Samuel anointed him at that point 00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:16.620 to be the next king. But that didn't really affect 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:19.860 him. Saul wanted him to come in and start playing 00:05:19.860 --> 00:05:22.879 for him and writing poetry for him. But when 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:25.160 he wasn't there in the palace of the king, he 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:28.220 was back out watching the sheep. He was doing 00:05:28.220 --> 00:05:33.680 what he was supposed to do. And then he was called 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:38.639 forth to the, field of battle where this awful 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:43.279 guy, Goliath, was taunting the people of God, 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:47.480 and David did what he did there. Then he went 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:52.319 back. Time after time, David was not affected 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:57.920 by what he had accomplished, and yet I begin 00:05:57.920 --> 00:05:59.959 to wonder, when he killed Goliath, I wonder if 00:05:59.959 --> 00:06:02.259 he really gave God all the credit, or he thought, 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:06.060 you know, I really am good with the slang. I 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:10.680 really am good at writing music and writing poetry. 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:13.439 I wonder what happened. At what point was there 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:18.439 a shift? And David then succeeds Saul, and he 00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:21.899 starts gathering all kinds of things to himself. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:26.519 He builds a huge harem to himself. He started 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:30.040 gathering money to himself. Now, he was still 00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:32.459 going out and fighting the battles with the men 00:06:32.459 --> 00:06:38.699 of Israel. But what happened that he stayed home? 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:46.939 What on earth was he so full of himself? What 00:06:46.939 --> 00:06:54.079 had happened? Did he become prideful? Was it 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:57.959 all about him? Did he get to the point that because 00:06:57.959 --> 00:07:00.879 he was the, we'll baptize that one again too. 00:07:04.990 --> 00:07:08.110 Did he get to the point where he began to think 00:07:08.110 --> 00:07:10.089 that because he was the king and because he was 00:07:10.089 --> 00:07:12.529 so successful, he had the right to define reality? 00:07:14.949 --> 00:07:19.290 Something happened. And then the men go off to 00:07:19.290 --> 00:07:21.689 war again, and he says to Joab, his commander, 00:07:21.790 --> 00:07:26.230 you know, I'm going to sit this one out. He stays 00:07:26.230 --> 00:07:32.279 home, takes a nap, goes out onto his porch. and 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:35.639 stands as the Mediterranean air comes off the 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:42.240 sea. And then he sees this woman. And she is 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:49.660 beautiful. And he sends someone to get her. And 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:55.459 you know what happened. She comes to the house, 00:07:55.480 --> 00:08:00.759 to the palace, and one thing leads to another. 00:08:02.610 --> 00:08:09.290 Sometime later, two Hebrew words are carried 00:08:09.290 --> 00:08:17.329 to the king. I'm pregnant. This set in motion 00:08:17.329 --> 00:08:23.769 David's effort at covering up. Certainly it had 00:08:23.769 --> 00:08:30.029 to be her fault. So often is the case. The men 00:08:30.029 --> 00:08:34.889 blame the women. Always a way to squirm out of 00:08:34.889 --> 00:08:40.370 this kind of a situation. So he calls, he sends 00:08:40.370 --> 00:08:43.149 message to Joab to call Uriah back from the front. 00:08:44.570 --> 00:08:47.049 Believing that Uriah, all he had to do is get 00:08:47.049 --> 00:08:49.929 Uriah to come home exhausted from fighting that 00:08:49.929 --> 00:08:53.769 war and go home and spend the night at his home. 00:08:54.149 --> 00:08:59.230 And then when he's gone, everything will be... 00:08:59.909 --> 00:09:04.590 above any kind of consideration or gossip. But 00:09:04.590 --> 00:09:07.990 Uriah was a man of great honor. He was a man 00:09:07.990 --> 00:09:12.250 of valor, a man who understood his relationship 00:09:12.250 --> 00:09:16.629 with his men, and he would not enjoy such a time 00:09:16.629 --> 00:09:19.909 when his men were out in the field. And so he 00:09:19.909 --> 00:09:22.769 chose on his own to sleep just outside the palace 00:09:22.769 --> 00:09:29.320 door. So David tried again. Next night, got him 00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:37.460 pregnant. Got him drunk. And thought that maybe 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:41.399 then with his compromised state that he would 00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:44.960 go home, but he didn't. Once again, he stayed 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:48.179 outside the palace door and then went back to 00:09:48.179 --> 00:09:56.240 the field of battle. And so David prepared a 00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:02.610 note. gave it to Uriah to carry back to Joab. 00:10:03.210 --> 00:10:07.669 That note that he gave to Joab was Uriah's own 00:10:07.669 --> 00:10:11.669 death warrant. And that was that he was to be 00:10:11.669 --> 00:10:15.230 put in the harshest place of battle, right under 00:10:15.230 --> 00:10:19.029 the wall, where he would most certainly be killed, 00:10:19.190 --> 00:10:32.710 and he was. Sometime later, David, acting honorably, 00:10:32.789 --> 00:10:37.970 brought this woman into his home to become his 00:10:37.970 --> 00:10:42.090 wife. And certainly the people would think, oh, 00:10:42.169 --> 00:10:47.970 what a good man he took this dear woman in. And 00:10:47.970 --> 00:10:52.850 she gave birth to a little boy. And David loved 00:10:52.850 --> 00:10:59.399 that little boy. He adored that little boy. But 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:03.879 then on the very day before that little boy was 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:08.840 to be circumcised into the people of God, he 00:11:08.840 --> 00:11:20.179 died. And David's own conscience, world, sense 00:11:20.179 --> 00:11:25.720 of self began to cave in upon itself. He realized 00:11:25.720 --> 00:11:30.950 that what he had done was so wrong and so bad. 00:11:33.090 --> 00:11:36.649 And I believe it was in that time that he wrote 00:11:36.649 --> 00:11:38.389 those words that were shared with us earlier. 00:11:38.649 --> 00:11:42.070 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted 00:11:42.070 --> 00:11:46.230 away. And I groomed all day long, day and night. 00:11:46.429 --> 00:11:51.029 Your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength 00:11:51.029 --> 00:11:54.129 evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, 00:11:54.190 --> 00:11:59.320 I confessed all my sins to you. and stop trying 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:02.879 to hide my guilt. You forgave me, and my guilt 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:10.759 is gone. But that was preceded by a visit from 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:14.740 the prophet Nathan. Nathan came in and told David 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:19.139 a story about a man, a poor man who had a little 00:12:19.139 --> 00:12:22.269 lamb, and he loved that little lamb. And then 00:12:22.269 --> 00:12:24.909 some rich, powerful guy came and took that lamb 00:12:24.909 --> 00:12:28.269 from him and took that lamb for himself. And 00:12:28.269 --> 00:12:34.610 David said, that man needs to die. And then with 00:12:34.610 --> 00:12:39.850 two terse Hebrew words, Nathan pointed at him 00:12:39.850 --> 00:12:47.870 and said, you are the man. You are the man. David 00:12:47.870 --> 00:12:57.070 was convicted of his action. David isolated. 00:12:58.169 --> 00:13:01.529 He wrote the 51st Psalm. He wrote the 32nd Psalm. 00:13:02.590 --> 00:13:05.769 He tried to incorporate what he had done. He 00:13:05.769 --> 00:13:12.210 had no way of dealing with what he had done except 00:13:12.210 --> 00:13:15.649 that he be forgiven. And in the midst of it all, 00:13:15.690 --> 00:13:18.110 the Lord God had communicated to him in some 00:13:18.110 --> 00:13:22.820 manner that yes, he was indeed forgiven. But 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:26.100 still the consequences of his choice unfolded 00:13:26.100 --> 00:13:29.379 and his family began to fracture and fall apart. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:36.100 One of his sons raped the son's half -sister, 00:13:36.220 --> 00:13:41.419 one of his stepdaughters. And then another son 00:13:41.419 --> 00:13:43.940 tried to kill and ultimately did kill that boy. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.399 And then the boy who killed that boy was killed 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:53.259 in battle by Joab the commander. And David saw 00:13:53.259 --> 00:13:57.759 all of this, and he had no way of incorporating 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:03.879 it into his own sense of self. And the man became 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:10.460 profoundly, deeply humble. He became humble. 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:14.399 C .S. Lewis says, the essential vice, the utmost 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:20.240 evil, is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:23.529 and all... and all that are mere flea bites in 00:14:23.529 --> 00:14:26.889 comparison. It was through pride that the devil 00:14:26.889 --> 00:14:29.950 became the devil. Pride leads every other vice. 00:14:30.129 --> 00:14:36.549 It is the complete anti -God state of mind. And 00:14:36.549 --> 00:14:42.149 so the question is, the Messiah was to be a king 00:14:42.149 --> 00:14:48.870 like David. David pre -Bathsheba or post -Bathsheba? 00:14:49.799 --> 00:14:52.519 All of those false messiahs were claiming to 00:14:52.519 --> 00:15:00.940 be David the victor. But Jesus came as a king 00:15:00.940 --> 00:15:05.580 like David, the humble king, the king that would 00:15:05.580 --> 00:15:09.259 lay down his life, the king that would endure 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:14.720 much suffering on behalf of his people. A king 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:18.600 that I believe when that woman was dragged and 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:21.419 front of a crowd of people because she was caught 00:15:21.419 --> 00:15:23.279 in the very act of adultery. And it was those 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:25.480 denominational officials that did this to her. 00:15:26.179 --> 00:15:30.340 And there she is on the dust. And Jesus, I believe, 00:15:30.419 --> 00:15:37.820 was in the dust with her, weeping with her, and 00:15:37.820 --> 00:15:41.940 said to them, if you're without sin, throw a 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:46.399 stone. Get in touch with the reality of who you 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:52.950 are. The real you. If you're without sin, throw 00:15:52.950 --> 00:15:57.350 a stone. And then Jesus said to that woman, is 00:15:57.350 --> 00:15:59.110 there no one here to condemn you? Well, neither 00:15:59.110 --> 00:16:05.210 do I. Go and sin no more. Was that Jesus who 00:16:05.210 --> 00:16:07.850 was willing there with that woman to bear the 00:16:07.850 --> 00:16:14.350 stones himself? G .K. Chesterton says that nothing 00:16:14.350 --> 00:16:18.480 great happens without humility. We tend to think 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:22.080 the opposite, just humanly thinking. And when 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:25.399 we achieve much, when we rise to the highest 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:28.899 positions, etc., then we can do great things 00:16:28.899 --> 00:16:33.340 and accomplish great things. Not if we're self 00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:37.039 -satisfied. Not if we're happy with ourselves. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:43.259 Just a quick account. I work at St. Matthew's 00:16:43.259 --> 00:16:46.559 House as a, I'm on the board and it's a huge 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:49.539 nonprofit in Naples. And we were looking for 00:16:49.539 --> 00:16:52.220 a new CEO and I was one on the search committee. 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:57.259 And the chairman of the group, as we were interviewing 00:16:57.259 --> 00:17:00.360 with search firms, chairman of the group introduced 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:03.419 himself after I had and a couple of other people 00:17:03.419 --> 00:17:07.819 had. And he said, yes, my wife and I split our 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:09.900 time between Naples and Bentonville, Arkansas. 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:13.920 And we love both communities. And I had done 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:18.680 some greeting at Walmart. He was a former CEO. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:24.839 But that was his humility. That was a man, a 00:17:24.839 --> 00:17:30.799 truly great man of faith, of humility, who was 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:33.380 the CEO of the largest retailer in the world. 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:37.690 But he didn't lead with that. He lead with that 00:17:37.690 --> 00:17:40.130 which meant most to him, and that was the people 00:17:40.130 --> 00:17:43.970 on the floor and the staff. He loved to go incognito 00:17:43.970 --> 00:17:47.230 into the stores and greet people and just talk 00:17:47.230 --> 00:17:51.230 to them. That's after the example of Christ. 00:17:53.829 --> 00:18:00.970 So the example of Christ is an example of humility 00:18:00.970 --> 00:18:05.450 that leads us to the truly great things of life. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.400 Interestingly, he took then the disciples to 00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:13.480 the Mount of Transfiguration. And there was Moses 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:18.160 and Elijah transfigured with Jesus. They were 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:24.200 there with a magnificent heavenly glow. And somebody 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:28.500 had asked me if that was the reincarnation of 00:18:28.500 --> 00:18:34.119 Moses and Elijah. And the reality is, no, it 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:37.680 was the... pre -incarnation of what awaits us. 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:41.160 They got a glimpse of glory. They got a glimpse 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:46.740 of what God has in store for us. But that was 00:18:46.740 --> 00:18:52.779 accomplished for us by Jesus going to the cross. 00:18:53.619 --> 00:18:59.160 But that glorified consequence comes when we 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:01.920 put our trust and our faith in Jesus Christ who 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:06.930 gave himself up for us. So I went down to St. 00:19:06.950 --> 00:19:12.349 Matthew's House a couple weeks ago. And St. Matthew's 00:19:12.349 --> 00:19:15.549 House is known for its recovery programs, drug 00:19:15.549 --> 00:19:19.849 and alcohol rehabilitation. And we just had a 00:19:19.849 --> 00:19:24.369 graduation this week, about 60 men and about 00:19:24.369 --> 00:19:30.130 12 women graduating after a full year of rehabilitation 00:19:30.130 --> 00:19:35.230 and restoration from drugs and alcohol. And when 00:19:35.230 --> 00:19:37.150 they enter this, they think that they are going 00:19:37.150 --> 00:19:40.210 into exile of some sort. When in fact, when they 00:19:40.210 --> 00:19:42.369 go in and after a while, they realize they had 00:19:42.369 --> 00:19:45.009 been in exile all this time and now they're finding 00:19:45.009 --> 00:19:49.630 their way home. And so I stopped, I cleared out 00:19:49.630 --> 00:19:52.029 the garage of some stuff and stopped at St. Matthew's 00:19:52.029 --> 00:19:54.170 house to donate it for their thrift stores. And 00:19:54.170 --> 00:19:58.549 when the man came to my car window, I put it 00:19:58.549 --> 00:20:01.029 down and I said, so are you going to the graduation 00:20:01.029 --> 00:20:05.190 next week? And he said, I'm a graduate of the 00:20:05.190 --> 00:20:10.269 program. And he was so happy. He was so thrilled. 00:20:10.829 --> 00:20:13.910 And he was there working then for St. Matthew's 00:20:13.910 --> 00:20:16.109 house as a man whose life had been made new. 00:20:16.630 --> 00:20:24.009 And he said, I met God there. And I met myself 00:20:24.009 --> 00:20:30.609 there. And I'm so happy. He was smiling from 00:20:30.609 --> 00:20:36.029 here to here. And I was so impressed, I wrote 00:20:36.029 --> 00:20:38.509 a note down to myself as soon as I got in my 00:20:38.509 --> 00:20:44.970 car. That was the transformation. When we have 00:20:44.970 --> 00:20:49.589 that one who was the king, like the real David. 00:20:50.650 --> 00:20:53.190 Not a king like the prideful David, but a king 00:20:53.190 --> 00:20:55.849 like the real David. The king who found himself 00:20:55.849 --> 00:21:00.569 because he was confronted with the reality of 00:21:00.569 --> 00:21:03.690 his brokenness and his sin. and came to realize 00:21:03.690 --> 00:21:06.930 that the only way he could be made whole was 00:21:06.930 --> 00:21:12.549 by putting his faith and trust in God. And so 00:21:12.549 --> 00:21:18.009 it is for us. And when we have eyes to see, we 00:21:18.009 --> 00:21:20.509 see the glory in the faces of our neighbors, 00:21:20.750 --> 00:21:26.289 in the faces of one another. C .S. Lewis says, 00:21:26.369 --> 00:21:32.150 you have never met an ordinary individual. next 00:21:32.150 --> 00:21:35.009 to the Blessed Sacrament, nothing is more sacred 00:21:35.009 --> 00:21:39.049 presented to your senses in all of life. Nothing 00:21:39.049 --> 00:21:43.869 is more sacred than your neighbor for whom Christ 00:21:43.869 --> 00:21:53.210 died. Will you join me in prayer? And so, Lord, 00:21:53.349 --> 00:21:59.670 you came in a manner that we did not expect. 00:22:01.640 --> 00:22:03.720 You came in a way that nobody was looking for. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:10.279 You came not as a king to conquest and set up 00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:15.319 a first century state of Israel. You came to 00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:18.940 conquer the reality of sin in our hearts that 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:22.559 you might set up a kingdom that will last forever. 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:27.920 We give you thanks and praise in Jesus' name.