Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. Our scripture that we're
going to read today comes from the Gospel of
Mark. including four scenes surrounding the events
of Palm Sunday that we have today. I invite you
guys to go along with me as I read. Listen, he
said, we're going to Jerusalem where the son
of man will be betrayed to the leading priest
and the teachers of religious law. They will
sentence him to die and hand him over to the
Romans. They will mock him, spit on him, flock
him with a whip and kill him. But after three
days, he would rise again. Then James and John,
the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him.
Teacher, they said, we want you to do us a favor.
What is your request? He asked. They replied,
when you sit on your glorious throne, we want
to sit in places of honor next to you. One on
your right and the other on your left. But Jesus
said to them, You don't know what you're asking.
Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of
suffering I'm about to drink? Are you able to
be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must
be baptized with? Oh, yes, they replied. We're
able. Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus
and his disciples left the town, a large crowd
followed him, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus.
was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus
heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began
to shout, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on
me. Be quiet. Many of the people yelled at him,
but he only shouted louder. Son of David, have
mercy on me. When Jesus heard him, he stopped
and said, tell him to come here. So they called
the blind man. Cheer up, they said. Come on,
he's calling you. Bartimaeus threw aside his
coat and jumped up and came to Jesus. What do
you want me to do for you? Jesus asked. My rabbi,
the blind man said, I want to see. And Jesus
said to him, go, for your faith has healed you.
And sadly, the man could see and he followed
Jesus down the road. As Jesus and his disciples
approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns
of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives.
Jesus sent two of them on ahead. Go into the
village over there. He told them, as soon as
you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied
there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and
bring it here. Then they brought the coat to
Jesus and threw the garments over it, and he
sat on it. Many in the crowd spread their garments
on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy
branches they had cut in the fields. Jesus was
in the center of the procession, and the people
all around him were shouting, Praise God! Blessings
on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor
David! Praise God in highest heaven! When they
arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the
temple and began to drive out the people buying
and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked
over the table of the money changers and the
shares of those selling doves. And he stopped
everyone from using the temple as a marketplace.
He said to them, the scriptures declare, my temple
will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
But you have turned it into a den of thieves.
When the leading priests and teachers of religious
law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning
how to kill him. But they were afraid of him
because the people were so amazed at his teaching.
Thank you, church. And this is the word of our
Lord. Today is a unique day. Some of you may
not follow the church calendar, but we are right
in Holy Week. This is the launch of Holy Week.
So this Sunday is what we call Palm Sunday or
the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
The kingdom that comes that collides with our
own kingdoms as Jesus comes in and really turns
things right side up, but it feels upside down.
And as we heard from that passage, The religious
leaders are going to condemn Jesus. The crowd
is going to abandon him. His disciples are going
to betray him. And then Jesus is ultimately going
to be crucified. And then next Sunday, we are
remembering and celebrating the fact that he
has risen from the dead. So this week is the
most powerful condensed week of remembering what
it is that shapes and forms our faith. And the
gospels all recount this. All four of the gospels
recount this story of the triumphal entry. But
they all hit it from a different side. And you
might want to think about this almost like a
stereo that's coming at you from surround sound.
Different parts and pieces of it. So if you read
it and you're like, oh, this one's different
than that one. It's intentional. There's a reason
why these gospel writers are doing this. They're
wanting to draw your attention to it in a different
way. This morning, our focus is Mark. Why did
I choose Mark for the passage? Mark is a straightforward,
no messing around, starts right away with Jesus
calling his disciples and just moves along in
action. He doesn't do what John does going into
these deep philosophical considerations about
who God is and all of the implications of it.
But what Mark has done is he places Christ in
the center of the story and then invites you
and me to watch as different disciples come in
contact with Jesus. What do they do when they
come in contact with Jesus? You're invited to
consider that this morning as well as we welcome
in the king. What does it look like for your
heart to turn towards Jesus? So would you pray
for me as we invite the Holy Spirit to move within
us this morning? God, as we have just been declaring
in music, we recognize that you are the reason
that we have gathered. You are the reason that
we have been called back to you. You have done
the heavy lifting of the work to restore relationship
with us. And so this morning, we just want to
say, Holy Spirit, that you are invited to move
within us. Would you open our eyes to see you?
Would you open our ears to hear you? And would
you open our hearts once again to be tender towards
who you are, God? We want to increasingly be
shaped into the image of your son, Jesus. And
we want that to be reflected to the world around
you. So do what you need to do in this time through
your word. We pray this in the wonderful name
of Jesus. This is the beautiful country or city
of Guayaquil in the beautiful country of Ecuador.
My family and I got to live a number of years
there. And in 2016, almost exactly 10 years ago
to this day, we were attending a school drama.
And so we were in the meeting, gathering like
this and watching this drama go on. And all of
a sudden, something disrupted our evening. The
room began to kind of shake. slightly. Now, we're
in Ecuador where earthquakes are quite common.
In fact, somebody came up and they said, hey,
do you remember this is about a year ago that
the earthquake hit Ecuador, the same time. And
so we knew this earthquake was hitting us, but
then it started to get increasingly strong and
violent to the point where everybody got up and
they said, okay, let's make our way downstairs
and outside to the football pitch where there's
a place of gathering out there. So we made our
way out and we gathered there. And it was in
the next hours and days and weeks that we came
to find out that this earthquake registered 7
.8 on the Richter scale, a massive earthquake.
But it was down in the coastal area. And over
700 people lost their lives in this earthquake.
And tens of thousands of buildings were destroyed.
They collapsed. Now, what ended up happening
in this country is people were thinking, okay,
yes, this was a strong earthquake. And those
who understand earthquakes and what they do,
depending on how deep they are and where they're
located, were saying the damage was disproportionate
to the level of shaking. In fact, there should
have been way less damage. It was a strong earthquake,
but not strong enough to knock down tens of thousands
of buildings. Why did this happen? So the people
began to ask this question and people looked
into it. And what they discovered requires you
and I to do a little bit of research. So some
of you may fully understand this, but let me
walk us through this. In order to create or to
build a concrete building, you have to have certain
ingredients that you put together, right? The
cement, you put sand in it and small rocks or
stones, and then you mix water into it to then
cause this chemical reaction that firms up the
concrete. But there's an essential element that
is needed, which is rebar, reinforced steel bars
that go in the inside of it. And this picture
shows it. So on the floor of a cement building,
and as they stack them, they'll put rebar, and
then the cement covers that. Same with the pillars.
There's rebar in the center, and the cement covers
it. Now, we can't see the rebar in these buildings.
We can't see it. But it is absolutely essential
for this. Now, what they discovered in Ecuador
was that most of the buildings that were damaged
were along the coastal area. So what had happened
was those who were building these buildings had
taken sand along the beach because it's readily
accessible. But sand along the beach has what
in it? Salt and water. So they had mixed this
salty sand into the mixture. And that had then
corroded from the inside out the steel bars that
were meant to safely keep the building up. Those
who were living in it at the time had these beautiful
colored houses and it looked fine. But something
was happening on the inside that was not okay.
And it was slowly corroding from the inside out.
And what Palm Sunday is, is actually a response
of Jesus to say, you and I have a problem that
we may or may not be aware of. We journey through
life and like those colorful buildings, it looks
like everything is just fine. But there's something
deep inside that needs addressing. And the king
comes into that and he turns everything upside
down, not because he's punishing, but because
he's helping you and I to understand that something
is deeply broken within us. But how do you receive
something you don't even know you need or can't
see? Well, let's journey forward and look at
these different disciples in the gospel of Mark.
We're going to look at four different encounters
with Jesus, and we're going to ask the question,
what does it look like for you to encounter Jesus
as well? So let's look at these disciples while
you ask that question. Let's pick the easiest
ones, the actual 12 disciples that were following
Jesus. Okay? Do you think they're going to do
a pretty good job responding with the heart of
discipleship to Jesus? They should. They've been
walking with Jesus for three years. They know
what he likes to eat, how he walks, where he
sleeps, where he likes to rest, his teaching
and his stories. They're familiar with this.
There's a proximity that is there. So I'm going
to put my money on this group. They've got the
true heart of discipleship. I'm pretty sure that
they're going to respond correctly, right? These
people know Jesus. In fact, Jesus called them
to follow him. maybe they're going to respond
in a way that is a true heart of discipleship.
But as Polo read that passage for us, it's almost
shocking what happens. So Jesus has taken all
of this time to prepare them for the events of
Palm Sunday. If I called you and said, hey, would
you join me on this week where you and I are
going to suffer, sacrifice, be betrayed, die
on the cross, who's with me? Right? Nobody's
going to follow him. So Jesus carefully, like,
walked them into this. And he says, hey, these
are the things that are going to happen. We're
going to go to Jerusalem where the Son of Man
is going to be betrayed to the leading priest.
And he says exactly what will happen. How do
they respond? Lord, help me to follow you, right?
No. They say, hey, can we ask you something?
When you get into your kingdom, Could you have
a sit on your glorious, or sit next to you in
places of honor, one on your right and one on
your left? I don't think you could miss this
moment worse. This is like two totally different
things happening at the same time. Jesus, who
came and said, I did not come to serve, but to
give up my life. I did not come to be served,
but to give up my life as a ransom for many.
And they're like, hey, can we have special seats?
It's a complete miss in this kingdom. Now, we
laugh at that. And yet you and I have something
within us that moves us towards self -promotion.
But Jesus comes and he gently disrupts. their
journey forward and says, hey, I've got something
that's actually much better for you. I realize
that you really want a place of honor. You really
want to be recognized. You really want people
to think highly of you. And you think I'm the
key to that. But I've got something much better
for you, something internal that I'm going to
come and fix. So let's place the disciples on
the side and let's look at our next group of
people. The next group of people is the crowd.
The crowd that is gathered around. And what are
they yelling out? Okay, a little louder. What
are they yelling out? Hosanna, right? And then
we just did this. We just yelled out Hosanna.
But what does Hosanna actually mean? How many
of you woke up this morning and thought, hmm,
what does Hosanna mean? It actually means, it's
a form of praising the Messiah, but the literal
translation would be, save now. Save now. So
they are, in one sense, they are enacting what
they should be. They know that the Messiah is
coming and they are declaring, hey, Messiah,
would you save us now? Save now. But on the other
side, there's something that is being revealed
in what the crowd is asking for here. And you
begin to realize that this story continues to
unfold because what does this crowd do just a
matter of hours later? Their Hosanna turns into
crucify him. How do you change from Hosanna,
save now, to crucify him? It's about the heart's
allegiance and where our heart is given to. And
so what Jesus does is when he comes to address
the people and bring his kingdom, he helps them
to see that their self -preserving way of life,
their allegiance to self -preserving needs to
be handed over to him, the true king. Now, both
of these things, self -preserving and self -promoting,
are things that we just engage in quite naturally.
But I want you to look at what the implications
of Jesus encountering this kingdom does. He disrupts
it, and he invites them to see that, hey, there's
a deeper thing going on inside of you that I
need to address, and that's why I've come. Well,
let's pick an easier crowd to pick on, right?
These are the religious leaders, and we know
them. But before we even get to them, think about
what it is that they are known for. Their knowledge
about God, they knew the scriptures really well,
as well as their maturity. So they seem to be
pretty good candidates for having a true heart
of discipleship, right? They know a lot about
God and they are mature. Their life has demonstrated
a transformation. So we think, hey, these people
have got to be getting it. But when Jesus comes
in, he does something to rock their world, to
help them to see that they are actually putting
their trust in something that they should not
be putting their trust in. How does he disrupt
their world? Well, he walks into the temple.
And imagine walking into ECB and there's one
of our overflow rooms that is for the nations,
right? This is a special part that has been designated
for the least, the last, the lost to come and
be able to engage and encounter God in that space.
And the religious leaders who are responsible
for caring for this space have allowed people
to set up businesses and markets in that area.
What does that mean for the least, the last,
and the lost? They have no place in God's temple.
They are pushed out of God's temple. Do you see
why Jesus is so angry when he walks into this?
The religious leaders were supposed to be guarding
this space for the nations to come in and then
receive the good news of who God was to the Israelites
passed along to them. And instead they had used
it for their own gain and it was for their own
profit. So yes, they had a lot of knowledge and
maturity, but something was happening inside.
And this is why Jesus, when he walks in and he
turns the tables over and you know this scene
and he's got a whip in his hand, it's like, who
is this Jesus? Where's the guy that was like
sitting with the kids just a couple stories back
and like, hey, let the children come to me. What
has happened in this space? Well, he addresses
it. The scriptures declare, my temple will be
called a house of prayer for all nations. But
you have turned it into a den of thieves. What
is he addressing? He's addressing their self
-protecting way of living. So they have taken
their position as a leader and used it to profit
themselves and to help protect their way of life.
And Jesus encounters them in that space and he
says, hey, I want something more for you. I've
been calling you for all of these years to something
different, something better, something more secure.
And so we look at all of these three different
ways and we say, yeah, to walk in the way of
God, I should be familiar with Jesus and I should
be close to him. Yes, I should praise and have
passion about following him. Yes, I should have
a sense of understanding of his word and I should
have maturity. But these are not necessarily
the signs of a transformed heart. These are like
the outside walls on the building. And so God
instead wants us to get to what is inside. Do
we have anybody left in the story that we can
turn to as an example? Who is left in this space?
The blind man, the blind man. And what does he
do? We have Bartimaeus. Okay, so Bartimaeus is
currently sitting outside of the city of Jericho.
So Jericho is the north part of Jerusalem, just
north of Jerusalem. And you come out of the city
of Jericho and you make your way down and then
back up to the city of Jerusalem. And Bartimaeus
is actually placed right outside of Jericho.
Why? The city is considered the place where everyone
belongs, the place where there's protection,
the place where somebody of significance gets
to live. Bartimaeus is blind. He's a beggar.
He doesn't have a place in the city. He's marginalized.
And he's placed himself on the road intentionally,
hoping that people traveling between these two
cities will help him make it through the day.
And that's where the story picks up. So what
happens with Bartimaeus? Bartimaeus, this blind
beggar, he hears that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby
and he begins to shout out, Jesus, son of David,
have mercy on me. What does the crowd say? Be
quiet. But he only shouted louder, son of David,
have mercy on me. When Jesus heard him, he stopped
and he said, tell him to come here. Look at the
response. It's different. Jesus is not disrupting
what is happening in this point. In fact, this
blind beggar's life has been disrupted from the
very get -go. He has nothing to found himself
on. So he's ready to accept what is actually
needed to transform his life. And then he cries
out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Now,
this is a packed quote. Jesus means what? God
saves or Yeshua, Joshua, God saves. Son of David
is calling back to the last king that came into
Jerusalem on a donkey, which was King David.
And it was out of his generation that there was
supposed to be the Messiah. So this is saying
God and Messiah. And then he says, here's my
heart. Have mercy on me. And it's the combination
of all three of those together that reflects
the posture of true discipleship. And that's
what we see when we encounter Bartimaeus. So
he's undone and he is overcome, but Jesus welcomes
him because he comes with a sense of trust and
dependence. Trust and dependence. My daughter
Maya, when she was two years old, was known.
for as soon as we parked in a parking lot, she
actually had figured out how to undo her own
car seat, which these are supposed to only be
adults that do this, but she had figured it out.
And she would, basically we would park and then
she would get out the door and boom, she was
out of there. So we had to make this agreement
with her where we said, listen, when we park
in a parking lot, wait, wait to hold the hand
of an adult. So it can be dad, it can be mom,
it can be one of your grandpa and grandma's,
uncle's, aunt's, whatever it is. But wait to
hold the hand of an adult. What are we doing?
We're protecting her. We're caring for her. We
know what is the possibility of what could happen
in a parking lot like that. And so we would say,
wait to hold your hand. And so she would wait
and we would hold her hand and walk along with
her. Well, one time I said, hey, Maya, you're
not holding anybody's hand. You need to hold
somebody's hand. And she looks at us and she
goes. Yes, I am. Maya hold Maya's hand. She was
literally holding her own hand at this point.
And she's like, hey, I can figure out this system.
You give me a system, I'll figure out another
system. Welcome to parenthood. I did not read
that in any of my manuals on how to parent. But
in a sense, this is what God does with us. God
is here and he's like, hey, I want to care for
you. I want to protect you. And the way for you
to live in a flourishing way is for you and me
to be so intimately combined that the very breath
that is coming out of your mouth, you realize
is God's work in and through you. And what do
we do? Phil holds Phil's hand. Phil's going to
do what Phil needs to do as he goes forward.
And we forget about it again and again and again.
And God graciously comes to us again and again
and again. And he takes it apart and he says,
you need to hold my hands. I'm going to be the
one who cares for you. This is what it is to
be undone and overcome. And we have the most
unlikely person, this blind beggar, be the one
who actually gets to show us what it looks like
to enter the kingdom in a way of true heart posture
discipleship. So what marks your encounters with
Jesus and his kingdom? And be honest. We all
do this. Even preparing for this sermon, I'm
like, okay, I want to protect myself. I want
to promote myself. I want to preserve myself.
What does it look like for me to take grab of
this? And God is like, no, would you open your
hands and let me do what I need to do in and
through this time? Because I'm more interested
on restoring you in a complete and full way than
what you think you need. And there's the difference.
One is all about me thinking I know what I need.
And the other is about God saying, hey, I'm going
to come and restore things from the inside out
in an upside down way that will last for eternity.
So we may find ourselves participating in life
in ways that look like these beautiful buildings
in Ecuador with painted walls. And we think,
Lord, if I just have something else to add to
my life, it's going to be better. Just give me
that one more thing and then I'll be complete.
Just do this other thing and it's going to be
fine. But God comes and he says, you know what?
There's something that I want to do deep inside
you, which is to restore my own deep personal
love and relationship towards you. And that is
where your complete peace will be found. That
is where your shalom will be found. And so there
can be gentle shakes to help us to identify that
where we realize, okay, Lord, would you do it
again? Have mercy on me. Son of David, have mercy
on me. How do you respond to these disruptions?
Because quite honestly, they're annoying. They're
annoying at best and they're absolutely destructive
at worst. But when these disruptions come along,
you and I have the invitation to either cry out,
Hosanna, or to cry out, have mercy. Save me now
from this. Paint another thing over the wall.
Just cover that crack. I don't want to know what's
going on. Or we can say, Lord. encounter me in
the deepest parts of where I am, and transform
me from the inside out. Now, we may find ourselves
thinking this. We may think, okay, so Jesus came.
We just celebrated Holy Week, and we remember
that he died on the cross, so it's done, right?
He declared it is finished. So you and I say
this prayer and we say, Lord, have mercy on me,
forgive me. And then I just journey through life
thinking that it's going to be okay, right? Well,
Paul here is going to give us a very strong rebuke.
He's talking to the church in Galatia. But you
know what? This is what he's talking about. And
just read it with or listen as I read it over
you. This is Paul talking to the church in Galatia
with the problem that we find ourselves in again
and again. Phil's going to do it. I've got this
covered. I'm going to be the one to make this
happen. So Paul says, oh, foolish Galatians,
who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning
of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear to
you as if you had seen a picture of his death
on the cross. You were staring at the sacrifice
that was done on your behalf that you didn't
have to do it. And yet you go back and you try
to do it yourself. And he goes on and he says,
let me ask you this one question. Did you receive
the Holy Spirit by obeying? No, of course not.
You received the Holy Spirit because you believed
the message you heard through Jesus Christ. It's
that, Lord, have mercy on me. You are the one
who did it. Let me receive that and not try to
do it on my own again. And he continues on. He
said, how foolish can you be after starting your
Christian lives in the spirit? Why are you now
trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
And we do this again and again and again. We
try with our own effort to do that. And God graciously
comes and he says, let me lift that burden from
you again. Let me lift it from you. And the key
to where we find this is at this last part of
this section in Galatians. Have you experienced
so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain,
was it? In the same way, Abraham believed God
and God counted him as righteous because of his
faith. The real children of Abraham, they are
those who put their faith in God, trust and dependence.
So now we need to go back. Hundreds of years
to Abraham and look at his life. What did it
look like for Abraham to be put up as this example
like Bartimaeus of somebody who we are to model
our lives after? Well, it's an upside down way.
It is upside down and it makes us feel disoriented.
And here's why. God encounters Abraham in Genesis
15. And he encounters him in a way that he says,
hey, I want to bind myself in relationship to
you. Because of my great love for you, I want
to bind myself in relationship to you. The closest
thing you and I have to this experience now is
what we would call like a marriage covenant.
So you would have the husband and the wife up
here, and you'd say, until death does us part,
and sickness and unhealth, and you would give
this covenant back and forth with one another.
It's basically promising how I plan to take care
of this other person, and I'm going to love you.
We're going to be connected, right? So God has
made a covenant with Abraham, and he's engaged
in a way of promising with him, but it's a very
strange way. So I'm going to give you a little
bit of context for it before I show the image.
Because the image is quite shocking. So hold
on to that. Here's what the people used to do
back in the ancient Near East to make an agreement
with each other. They would make an agreement
by, they didn't have signed papers or chat GBT
to help them create a lawyer -based document
that could hold this together. And this wasn't
like a marriage covenant. This was something
different. This was two groups of people that
were saying, hey, how does it look like to agree
to one another? So they came together. And they
would take animals and they would cut these animals
in half. Oh, gruesome. Put it on two different
sides. And so there's this trail of animals.
And then the blood would come into the center
of that space. And then the two parties would
walk. I love seeing the faces. The two parties
would walk through the blood. And they would
look to their left and their rights at these
animals. And it was a visual representation of
saying, if I break my agreement with you, may
this happen to me. Whoa, that is a strong agreement.
By the way, if anybody wants me to do their wedding,
we're going to try this one for the next. That's
a strong agreement. So Abraham is called into
this covenant relationship with God. And God
says, okay, I'm going to bring you to this place
and I want you to bring these certain set of
animals. And I want you to cut them in half and
place them next to each other. So Abraham does
this. He puts them there and God says, I'm going
to then fulfill what I've said I'm going to do
with you. But one detail that's really important
at the beginning, God had just promised land
to Abraham and Abraham's like, how are you going
to do this? He's doubting. He's saying, Lord,
you just promised me children, but I don't know
how you're going to make the land possible. So
he brings his doubt to God and he's like, how
are you going to do this? So God calls him to
this covenant, gets these animals, places them
there. And then you know what God does? He puts
Abram to sleep. Genesis 15. You can go back and
read it after the service. He puts Abram to sleep.
It's like this deep darkness comes over him in
the end part of the day. And Abram's sleeping
over there on the side. And who's making his
way through the covenant agreement? One person.
God. Well, three in one. And he's saying, may
I take on the responsibility of the covenant
I guarantee you are going to break. Brothers
and sisters, that is the best news you've ever
heard. That is a deal that nobody will ever make
with you. And the God of the universe, the one
who holds everything in his hands, reached out
to make that deal with you and me. How did he
do that? Well, he didn't call you and do this
animal thing, right? He instead did it in a different
way. And this is exactly what Holy Week is saying.
So Jesus enters into this space and it's horrific.
There's a lot of sacrifice that he's doing. But
the blind beggar, what does it say at the end
of his section? It says his eyes were healed
and he followed Jesus on the road or on the way.
That was the phrase that was used for discipleship.
On the way. I'm a person of the way. So he follows
Jesus on this road as Jesus goes and then ends
up. being sacrificed on the cross and his blood
is spilt. And Jesus in that moment is taking
on the very infractions, the very breaking of
the covenant, the way that you and I again and
again and again turn back to ourself. And we
say, I got this. I don't need you, God. And he's
saying, you know what? I know that you think
you got this, but I love you more than that.
And I'm going to come and keep disrupting your
life to call you once again, again and again
and again. to my deep and profound, unfailing,
merciful love for you. So you might ask, well,
Pastor Phil, what do I do about this? Maybe the
best thing is to go take a nap. Not right now,
please, but maybe the best thing is to go take
a nap like Abram. I know that sounds ridiculous,
but we strive and we try so hard again and again
and again. And I know this, I'm guilty of this.
And what God has said is, I've done this for
you. Would you just soak in my love? And that
love will then change you from the inside out
to fix the problem that you cannot fix. You will
end up becoming more and more like Jesus just
naturally out of it when you soak in what I have
done for you. And that's why the church has taken
this week and said, hey, this is an important
time for us to remember what Jesus has done.
So participate in it. And what I'd like to invite
you and I to do as we close this time is to really
posture yourself like Bartimaeus, to just allow
yourself to look to Christ and say, Lord, this
morning, how did I enter into this day thinking
that I could do it by myself, that I didn't need
your help, that I didn't need your goodness and
your sacrifice for me? How am I doing that maybe
right now as I'm breathing? What does that look
like? And so I'm going to pray a prayer over
you, and I just invite you to listen to that.
If you want, you can undo your hands and lift
them to the side here in a posture of saying,
may my body reflect what my heart and soul desires
from God. And here's the prayer as an adaption
from Psalm 139. Spirit of God, would you search
me and know me? Would you reveal anything within
me that is anxious, that's fearful, or grasping
for control? Would you show me the places where
I am striving in my own strength or resisting
your invitation to trust? Lord, please shine
your light on what is hidden. Heal what is wounded.
Steady what is unsteady in me. And lead me in
the way of Jesus, the way of surrender, the way
of peace, and the way of love. Amen. we welcome
you to engage by sending us an email to office
at ecb .asia. If God is calling you to support
our ministries, you will find giving options
on our website. And remember to join us next
week. God bless you.