WEBVTT 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:08.000 Morning Cornerstone. Kids, you are dismissed 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:09.859 at this time for Kids Church. Junior high and 00:00:09.859 --> 00:00:11.300 high school, you're staying in here with us today. 00:00:11.699 --> 00:00:15.119 But kids, K -5 and under, you are dismissed for 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:18.219 Kids Church. If you are in here with us, let 00:00:18.219 --> 00:00:20.480 me ask you to turn in your Bibles with me to 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:23.500 John chapter 5. We're going to be in John chapter 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:28.140 5, verses 1 -16 today. John chapter 5, verses 00:00:28.140 --> 00:00:30.379 1 -16. And as you're turning there, I just want 00:00:30.379 --> 00:00:33.079 to bring up two things that affect today. I want 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:35.340 to make sure you hear these. First, at 5 p .m., 00:00:35.340 --> 00:00:36.920 we have all of our church committees meeting 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:39.619 here at the church. So 5 p .m., be here if you 00:00:39.619 --> 00:00:42.719 are on any church committee. And 6 p .m., we 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:45.920 have our dessert auction. So 6 p .m., come, bid 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:48.380 on desserts, buy a dessert. I have heard some 00:00:48.380 --> 00:00:51.539 rumors of an Oreo cake. That sounds incredible. 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:54.179 I've heard rumors of some brownies that are going 00:00:54.179 --> 00:00:56.600 to be for sale. I've heard rumors of pies. Strawberry 00:00:56.600 --> 00:00:58.380 pie in particular is the one I've been told is 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:02.049 coming. Make sure you're here 6 p .m. tonight. 00:01:02.289 --> 00:01:04.469 You can pay three different ways. If you buy 00:01:04.469 --> 00:01:06.689 a dessert tonight, you can pay in cash or by 00:01:06.689 --> 00:01:09.409 check or you can give online. All three of those 00:01:09.409 --> 00:01:11.790 work. So make sure you are here 6 p .m. tonight. 00:01:11.890 --> 00:01:14.549 You don't want to miss these yummy desserts. 00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:16.969 So John 5 is where we're at this morning. John 00:01:16.969 --> 00:01:19.489 5, 1 through 16. But before we dive into that, 00:01:19.569 --> 00:01:21.909 let me just open us up with a word of prayer. 00:01:23.409 --> 00:01:27.109 God, thank you so much for today. God, thank 00:01:27.109 --> 00:01:28.870 you for the chance that we have to come together 00:01:28.870 --> 00:01:33.409 this morning to study your word, to dive into 00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:37.170 your word together. God, I just ask that you 00:01:37.170 --> 00:01:43.390 would just quiet our hearts right now, God. God, 00:01:43.430 --> 00:01:46.209 I just ask that you would give me your words 00:01:46.209 --> 00:01:49.790 this morning, God. Would you challenge our hearts, 00:01:49.849 --> 00:01:51.890 God? Convict us of places where we need to be 00:01:51.890 --> 00:01:57.250 convicted, God. Help us to love you more and 00:01:57.250 --> 00:02:00.090 to grow in our relationship with you today. We 00:02:00.090 --> 00:02:04.629 ask this in your name. Amen. Well, John 5 starts 00:02:04.629 --> 00:02:07.329 off right at the tail end of John 4. So let me 00:02:07.329 --> 00:02:09.090 just really quickly give us a little recap of 00:02:09.090 --> 00:02:11.569 John chapter 4. If you were not here last week, 00:02:11.590 --> 00:02:12.909 that's okay. We're going to catch you back up 00:02:12.909 --> 00:02:14.610 to this. So this summer, we're looking at the 00:02:14.610 --> 00:02:17.409 seven signs, the seven miracles that Jesus does 00:02:17.409 --> 00:02:20.370 in the gospel of John. And in John chapter 4, 00:02:20.430 --> 00:02:22.860 we see the second of these signs. John 4 starts 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:24.919 off and Jesus is traveling around Israel. He 00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:27.699 returns from Jerusalem up to Galilee by way of 00:02:27.699 --> 00:02:30.520 going through Samaria and visiting with the Samaritan 00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:33.439 woman by the well. And then he gets back to Galilee. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.500 They welcome him back. He does miracles. He heals 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:39.280 people. And in particular, there's one miracle 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.740 that John focuses on. That's where Jesus heals 00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:44.460 the royal official's son. There's a royal official 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:47.199 who works for Herod. He lives in Capernaum, which 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:49.360 is about 20 miles away from Cana. The royal official 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:51.860 travels all day, all night, shows up in Cana. 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:54.159 And he goes to Jesus and says, Jesus, would you 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:58.139 please heal my son? Please, Jesus, you're my 00:02:58.139 --> 00:03:01.919 only hope. Heal my son. And clearly this man's 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:03.259 thinking, Jesus is going to be like, great, let's 00:03:03.259 --> 00:03:05.800 start walking to Capernaum, and we'll go, and 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:09.199 I'll heal your son. But Jesus doesn't do that. 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:12.180 Instead, Jesus looks at him and just says, go, 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:15.300 your son will live. And the man begins to return 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:17.699 home, and as he returns home to Capernaum, his 00:03:17.699 --> 00:03:19.860 servants meet him on the road, and he begins 00:03:19.860 --> 00:03:22.180 to ask, when did my son get better? And you're 00:03:22.180 --> 00:03:23.900 saying, my son's healed. When did my son get 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:26.699 better? And the father finds out it was at 1 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:29.060 p .m. at exactly the moment that Jesus said to 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:32.280 him, go, your son will live. So we saw Jesus' 00:03:32.500 --> 00:03:35.379 power in that, that Jesus can heal somebody from 00:03:35.379 --> 00:03:39.199 20 miles away. But we also saw Jesus' mercy. 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:42.360 We saw Jesus' mercy as he saw a father who was 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:45.900 hurting, a father who had no hope, a father who 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:49.780 has put all of his faith in Jesus. and saying, 00:03:49.819 --> 00:03:52.840 Jesus, please have mercy on me. And we saw that 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:56.099 Jesus was good and had mercy on the Father. So 00:03:56.099 --> 00:03:58.939 we took that away, that Jesus has mercy. And 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:00.240 each one of these miracles, each one of these 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:02.199 signs is teaching us something about Jesus and 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:05.419 who Jesus is. And so that miracle teaches us 00:04:05.419 --> 00:04:08.139 that Jesus has mercy. And now today, here we 00:04:08.139 --> 00:04:10.620 are in John chapter 5, picking up right after 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:13.039 that sign. And what we're going to see is a little 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.449 different. Our main point today is this. Jesus 00:04:15.449 --> 00:04:18.189 did not come with more rules or with new laws. 00:04:18.470 --> 00:04:21.670 Jesus came with a relationship and with salvation. 00:04:22.389 --> 00:04:25.329 Jesus did not come with more rules or new laws 00:04:25.329 --> 00:04:27.589 for us. Instead, Jesus came with a relationship 00:04:27.589 --> 00:04:33.209 and salvation. It really matters as we start 00:04:33.209 --> 00:04:35.589 to look at John 5 that we recognize that Jesus 00:04:35.589 --> 00:04:40.490 does not just bring a new set of laws. And we're 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:42.149 going to see that really all come to a head here 00:04:42.149 --> 00:04:45.639 between John 5, 1 and verse 16. where Jesus is 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:47.980 going to go against, seemingly, some of the laws 00:04:47.980 --> 00:04:49.199 of the Old Testament. We're going to be forced 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:52.420 to kind of grapple through. What does the law 00:04:52.420 --> 00:04:58.839 mean in light of Jesus? Like I said, the third 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:00.920 sign is immediately right after John chapter 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:03.579 4. And so look at John 5, verses 1 through 3 00:05:03.579 --> 00:05:05.579 with me as we start to look at how we're going 00:05:05.579 --> 00:05:07.860 to see that Jesus brings a relationship and salvation. 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:10.379 So read this with me. It says, After this, a 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:12.560 Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.500 to Jerusalem. There's a pool. called Bethesda 00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:17.819 in Aramaic, which has five colonnades, and within 00:05:17.819 --> 00:05:19.800 these lay a large number of the disabled, the 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:22.399 blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. So after 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:24.259 this miraculous healing in John chapter 4, there's 00:05:24.259 --> 00:05:26.560 this Jewish festival that takes place in Jerusalem. 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:29.439 And if you're following all of the travel from 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:32.060 John 2 to John 5, it feels like Jesus is going 00:05:32.060 --> 00:05:34.519 back and forth, north and south, east and west, 00:05:34.620 --> 00:05:36.180 all over the place, and there's a reason for 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:39.220 that. Jesus is. He is going from the north to 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:41.040 the south, from the south to the north, from 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:44.889 the north back down south to Jerusalem. I mean, 00:05:44.889 --> 00:05:47.430 Jesus, first off, he did travel. That's what 00:05:47.430 --> 00:05:49.790 he did for his ministry. Matthew 8 .20 says this, 00:05:49.889 --> 00:05:52.389 Jesus told him, foxes have dens and birds of 00:05:52.389 --> 00:05:54.050 the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no 00:05:54.050 --> 00:05:55.990 place to lay his head. And that referred to how 00:05:55.990 --> 00:05:58.089 Jesus was traveling around. He was going between 00:05:58.089 --> 00:06:00.629 towns and teaching and healing and calling people 00:06:00.629 --> 00:06:03.649 to repentance. The Son of Man was constantly 00:06:03.649 --> 00:06:07.829 traveling. But also in this very specific instance, 00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:10.740 there's another Jewish festival going on. So 00:06:10.740 --> 00:06:12.839 in the Jewish calendar, there's multiple holidays 00:06:12.839 --> 00:06:14.699 around the Passover, multiple holidays that require 00:06:14.699 --> 00:06:17.399 that you travel to Jerusalem. The first being 00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:19.939 Passover, but then there's another one 50 days 00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:22.100 after, and that's called Shabbat. And Shabbat 00:06:22.100 --> 00:06:23.839 is what we call Pentecost. It's what happens 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:26.139 in Acts chapter 2. It's why everyone from around 00:06:26.139 --> 00:06:30.339 the known world is in Jerusalem. And that's what 00:06:30.339 --> 00:06:33.079 we're seeing here. Jesus has gone down to Jerusalem 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:36.540 in John 2 for Passover. He goes back up to Galilee 00:06:36.540 --> 00:06:38.120 for about the next month, then he comes back 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:41.319 down to Jerusalem for Shabbat. And Shavuot remembers 00:06:41.319 --> 00:06:43.879 specifically the giving of the law to Moses. 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:46.819 That's significant here. Jesus is in Jerusalem 00:06:46.819 --> 00:06:50.079 for a festival that remembers how God gave Israel 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:53.980 the law. The timing of that miracle really matters. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:56.560 The fact that what Jesus is about to do in John 00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:59.339 5, 1 through 16, takes place on a Sabbath, is 00:06:59.339 --> 00:07:01.279 going to be really significant. And so we need 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:03.439 to remember this, that the setting for this really 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:05.879 hinges on us understanding that the people of 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:08.720 Israel at this holiday are remembering the law. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:11.060 They're remembering how God gave them the law 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:13.180 and God gave them instructions for how to live. 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:15.100 So keep that in mind as we keep going through 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:17.660 this. So that's what happened, or when this happened. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.120 Now, where does this happen? So John tells us 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:22.740 that Jesus and his disciples, now remember, John 00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:25.779 is an eyewitness to this, that they go to Jerusalem, 00:07:25.819 --> 00:07:27.759 and specifically they go into the sheep gate, 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:29.860 and it leads them to a pool called Bethesda. 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:32.199 Now, the sheep gate is significant. See, the 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:34.019 sheep gate was the gate that was used to bring 00:07:34.019 --> 00:07:36.649 sheep into the temple to be sacrificed. So you 00:07:36.649 --> 00:07:38.029 know, if you need to have a sin offering, you 00:07:38.029 --> 00:07:40.389 would bring your sheep in through that before 00:07:40.389 --> 00:07:43.670 you would sacrifice them. The gate was so important 00:07:43.670 --> 00:07:45.930 to the religious health of Israel that it was 00:07:45.930 --> 00:07:48.050 rebuilt by the priests themselves in Nehemiah 00:07:48.050 --> 00:07:50.230 3 .1. They wouldn't trust anybody else to do 00:07:50.230 --> 00:07:52.370 it. It was their priority before the walls. We 00:07:52.370 --> 00:07:55.310 have to make sure we rebuild the sheep gate. 00:07:55.529 --> 00:07:57.490 We have to make sure that we can be bringing 00:07:57.490 --> 00:08:02.050 our sheep into the temple. But see, there's something 00:08:02.050 --> 00:08:04.399 more going on. Something more important than 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:05.639 any of the sheep that would be entering in this 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:08.500 gate as Jesus walks in. For a thousand years, 00:08:08.620 --> 00:08:10.360 this gate was used to bring in animal sacrifices 00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:13.720 to cleanse the Israelites, so to speak. But now 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:17.379 here in John chapter 5, the final lamb, so to 00:08:17.379 --> 00:08:20.019 speak, enters Jerusalem through this same gate. 00:08:20.540 --> 00:08:24.379 Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sin 00:08:24.379 --> 00:08:26.959 of the world, enters through this same gate. 00:08:27.529 --> 00:08:29.850 That lamb language with Jesus, that link between 00:08:29.850 --> 00:08:31.870 Jesus and being the lamb of God, starts all the 00:08:31.870 --> 00:08:34.529 way back in John chapter 1, verses 29 and verse 00:08:34.529 --> 00:08:38.070 36, when twice John calls out to his disciples 00:08:38.070 --> 00:08:42.509 in the crowd around him, look, the lamb of God. 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:46.330 And now the lamb of God enters Jerusalem, fittingly, 00:08:46.330 --> 00:08:50.610 through the sheep gate. It comes at a very specific 00:08:50.610 --> 00:08:53.830 time also, at the festival that remembers the 00:08:53.830 --> 00:08:56.679 giving of the law. The very law that Jesus came 00:08:56.679 --> 00:08:59.539 to fulfill, as he told us in Matthew 5, 17. When 00:08:59.539 --> 00:09:01.220 Jesus says, don't think that I came to abolish 00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:03.120 the law of the prophets. I did not come to abolish, 00:09:03.179 --> 00:09:06.220 but to fulfill. So the setting alone for John 00:09:06.220 --> 00:09:08.519 5, 1 through 16, and the setting for this third 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:11.940 sign, there is so much significance of what's 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:14.559 going on. This is no accident. This is no mere 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:17.000 thing that just happened to happen one day. God 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:20.980 was at work in all of these very details. And 00:09:20.980 --> 00:09:23.240 when Jesus goes in, Jesus goes to a pool. This 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:25.370 pool is called Bethesda. Bethesda comes actually 00:09:25.370 --> 00:09:27.129 from Aramaic, which was the most commonly spoken 00:09:27.129 --> 00:09:29.830 language in Israel at this time. And it comes 00:09:29.830 --> 00:09:33.070 from two words, roughly pronounced Be 'et and 00:09:33.070 --> 00:09:35.690 Chesed, which roughly means the house of mercy. 00:09:36.090 --> 00:09:39.090 So Jesus goes to a pool called the house of mercy. 00:09:39.809 --> 00:09:41.809 And at Bethesda, there's these five colonies, 00:09:41.850 --> 00:09:44.389 these five big, massive shades. And underneath 00:09:44.389 --> 00:09:46.629 these shades, Israel's a pretty hot place, so 00:09:46.629 --> 00:09:48.450 underneath these shades, people would gather. 00:09:48.789 --> 00:09:51.210 The disabled people in particular of Jerusalem 00:09:51.210 --> 00:09:54.139 would show up there. John tells us it's the blind. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:56.240 It's people who can't walk. It's people who are 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:59.039 paralyzed. They would gather there. And there's 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:00.580 a reason for that. Now your Bible probably has 00:10:00.580 --> 00:10:02.419 a footnote or some form of a note there at the 00:10:02.419 --> 00:10:04.620 end of that verse. And then you might notice 00:10:04.620 --> 00:10:06.440 if you're paying attention that verse 3 jumps 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:09.480 from verse 3 straight to verse 5. And I don't 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:11.120 know about you, but when I was taught to count, 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:14.519 I was taught to count 1, 2, 3, 4, and then 5. 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:17.440 So let's take a second to see what verse 4 says. 00:10:18.340 --> 00:10:20.730 Verse 4 says this. that they were waiting for 00:10:20.730 --> 00:10:22.409 the moving of the water because an angel would 00:10:22.409 --> 00:10:24.230 go down into the pool from time to time and stir 00:10:24.230 --> 00:10:26.309 up the water. And then the first one who got 00:10:26.309 --> 00:10:28.230 in after the water was stirred up recovered from 00:10:28.230 --> 00:10:30.950 whatever ailment he had. So why does everyone 00:10:30.950 --> 00:10:33.169 gather at Bethesda? They gather because of this 00:10:33.169 --> 00:10:35.409 angel that comes and stirs the water and the 00:10:35.409 --> 00:10:38.110 fact that this pool can heal people. But why 00:10:38.110 --> 00:10:41.690 is that not in John 5? Why isn't it in John 5? 00:10:41.769 --> 00:10:44.710 Well, it's pretty simple. It's not in the oldest 00:10:44.710 --> 00:10:46.830 manuscripts that we have. It was probably added 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:49.830 by a scribe as they were copying the gospel, 00:10:50.009 --> 00:10:52.629 kind of as a sort of commentary to explain why 00:10:52.629 --> 00:10:55.330 this mattered so much. Why was it significant 00:10:55.330 --> 00:10:58.370 to go to the pool of Bethesda? Why was it significant 00:10:58.370 --> 00:11:00.090 that people would be waiting around there? Why 00:11:00.090 --> 00:11:01.529 were there all these disabled people waiting 00:11:01.529 --> 00:11:03.990 there? Well, they were waiting there because 00:11:03.990 --> 00:11:06.009 of this angel who would come and stir the water. 00:11:07.009 --> 00:11:09.210 They gathered at Bethesda, simply put, in hopes 00:11:09.210 --> 00:11:12.330 of being healed. People were waiting there for 00:11:12.330 --> 00:11:15.700 God to take mercy on them in the house. of mercy. 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:18.279 And so let's see what happens when Jesus, the 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:21.700 Lamb of God, and also the perfecter of mercy, 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:24.659 goes to the pool of Bethesda. See this in verse 00:11:24.659 --> 00:11:27.379 5. One man was there who had been disabled for 00:11:27.379 --> 00:11:29.980 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and 00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:31.379 realized he had already been there a long time, 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.700 he said to him, do you want to get well? So the 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:37.019 disabled man answered, I have no one to put me 00:11:37.019 --> 00:11:39.120 into the pool when the water is stirred up, but 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:41.080 while I'm coming, someone goes down ahead of 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:43.500 me. So John introduces us to a man at this pool, 00:11:43.539 --> 00:11:45.669 just a random man. The man's been disabled for 00:11:45.669 --> 00:11:50.149 38 years. For 38 years, he's been unable to walk. 00:11:50.690 --> 00:11:54.509 38 years is a long time. 38 years is a decade 00:11:54.509 --> 00:11:56.850 longer than I've been alive. And this man has 00:11:56.850 --> 00:11:59.889 been disabled for that length of time. This isn't 00:11:59.889 --> 00:12:01.289 just somebody who broke their foot and is waiting 00:12:01.289 --> 00:12:06.629 for a few months. 38 long years of waiting by 00:12:06.629 --> 00:12:11.529 the pool of Bethesda. Waiting, waiting, and waiting, 00:12:11.669 --> 00:12:17.919 hoping to someday be healed. And he lays there 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:21.120 day after day after day. He waits and he waits 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.340 and he waits for God to have mercy on him. And 00:12:24.340 --> 00:12:26.860 now Jesus walks over to him. And Jesus asks him 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:30.820 a question. Do you want to get well? Do you want 00:12:30.820 --> 00:12:33.460 to get well? Simply put, Jesus is meeting this 00:12:33.460 --> 00:12:35.200 man where he is. And let's look at the man's 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.039 response. He says, sir, I have no one to put 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:38.700 me into the pool and the water is stirred up. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.860 But while I'm coming, someone goes down ahead 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:43.120 of me. So this man has no one to carry him down 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:44.879 into the water, no one to help him when he needs 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:46.960 to get down to the water. He's got a problem. 00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:49.340 And see, that's one of the tendencies we see, 00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:50.379 one of the things that we see throughout these 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:52.980 miracles. There's always a problem. Last week 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:55.419 in John chapter 4, we saw a problem. The father 00:12:55.419 --> 00:12:59.019 said, my son is going to die, Jesus. Jesus, there's 00:12:59.019 --> 00:13:01.340 nothing that we can do. My son is going to die. 00:13:02.299 --> 00:13:04.980 And now here in John chapter 5, this man gives 00:13:04.980 --> 00:13:09.159 Jesus his problem. Sir, I have no one to put 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:10.899 me into the pool when the water is stirred up. 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:14.080 But while I'm coming down, someone else gets 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:20.009 down there before me. There's a problem. Before 00:13:20.009 --> 00:13:21.889 we talk about what Jesus does with that, let 00:13:21.889 --> 00:13:23.669 me just take a minute to challenge us on something. 00:13:24.629 --> 00:13:27.509 In John 4, this man comes to Jesus. The royal 00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:30.809 official goes to Jesus. But in John 5, something 00:13:30.809 --> 00:13:34.789 different happens. In John 5, Jesus goes to someone 00:13:34.789 --> 00:13:37.529 in need. He goes to a man who cannot come to 00:13:37.529 --> 00:13:40.509 him. Jesus could have easily walked past him. 00:13:40.870 --> 00:13:43.250 No one would have thought twice about that. Because 00:13:43.250 --> 00:13:44.730 if we're honest, no one really cared about this 00:13:44.730 --> 00:13:47.389 man sitting there at the pool. And that should 00:13:47.389 --> 00:13:48.769 break our hearts if we're honest, but that's 00:13:48.769 --> 00:13:51.809 also just the reality of the situation. For 38 00:13:51.809 --> 00:13:53.210 years, this man's been willing to try to get 00:13:53.210 --> 00:13:56.110 into this pool. And for 38 years, no one's been 00:13:56.110 --> 00:14:01.389 willing to help him. It's heartbreaking. But 00:14:01.389 --> 00:14:04.110 Jesus doesn't just walk past this man like hundreds 00:14:04.110 --> 00:14:08.090 and thousands of other people. Jesus stops and 00:14:08.090 --> 00:14:11.490 Jesus sees this man. He takes the time to seek 00:14:11.490 --> 00:14:14.049 this man out. And that should stir something 00:14:14.049 --> 00:14:17.370 up in us. We should be doing the same thing. 00:14:18.429 --> 00:14:20.110 You know, last week I challenged us to really 00:14:20.110 --> 00:14:23.389 be seeing the people around us. And sometimes 00:14:23.389 --> 00:14:25.629 they might come to you with their issue. Hey, 00:14:25.690 --> 00:14:29.990 I'm struggling with X. And sometimes you have 00:14:29.990 --> 00:14:33.590 to go to them. Sometimes you have to go to that 00:14:33.590 --> 00:14:35.509 person. You have to meet that person where they 00:14:35.509 --> 00:14:37.990 are, not just sit back and hope that they come 00:14:37.990 --> 00:14:40.529 to you. You have to meet that neighbor, that 00:14:40.529 --> 00:14:42.690 friend, that family member in the middle of their 00:14:42.690 --> 00:14:45.480 struggles. Not just hope that they decide someday 00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:49.700 to let you into it. So join me in seeing what 00:14:49.700 --> 00:14:51.759 Jesus does as he goes out of his way to meet 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:55.480 this man. Read this in verses 8 and 9. Get up, 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:58.000 Jesus told him. Pick up your mat and walk. And 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:00.259 instantly the man got well, picked up his mat 00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:03.899 and started to walk. Now that day was the Sabbath. 00:15:04.340 --> 00:15:06.379 So Jesus tells the man to get up and to walk. 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:08.620 Think about that. This is a man who has not walked 00:15:08.620 --> 00:15:10.779 for 38 years. Beyond whatever caused him not 00:15:10.779 --> 00:15:12.360 to be able to walk in the first place, he has 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:15.679 38 years of muscle atrophy. I am not a doctor. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:17.879 I'm not an expert on this. But I did at one point 00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:19.860 in my life break my ankle and end up in a hard 00:15:19.860 --> 00:15:24.919 cast. And I remember so clearly the day they 00:15:24.919 --> 00:15:27.080 took off my cast. I was super excited, way too 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:29.299 excited. So this is going to be incredible. I'm 00:15:29.299 --> 00:15:31.159 going to be like flying around campus, walking 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:35.000 with no problem. This will be great. I might 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:36.159 have also been excited because of the bright 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:39.100 red massive leg cast. Remember, they cut open 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:43.000 the cast. They peeled off the cast. For people 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:45.139 in the medical field, my hat off to you. Those 00:15:45.139 --> 00:15:48.759 saws are super loud. And they told me to get 00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:51.159 up off the table and then to walk to the exam 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:54.799 room. That's only like 50 feet away. How hard 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:58.000 can that be to get up and to walk? After all, 00:15:58.039 --> 00:16:02.179 I'm all healed. I'm better. And I got down off 00:16:02.179 --> 00:16:03.799 the table. I put my right foot down. I was fine. 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:06.679 I put my left foot down, the foot that had been 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:09.120 in the cast. I remember trying to take a step 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:11.700 off of it. And my entire left leg just collapsed. 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:14.600 And I'm sitting there holding onto the table 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:16.299 and onto the nurse. I'm like, I don't know if 00:16:16.299 --> 00:16:18.460 I can get to that exam room. That exam room is 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:21.059 a long way away. Like, what has happened to me 00:16:21.059 --> 00:16:23.559 in the last six weeks? Muscle atrophy has happened. 00:16:23.980 --> 00:16:29.620 And this man has 38 years of that going on. If 00:16:29.620 --> 00:16:32.039 you looked at somebody who for 38 years has not 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:35.879 walked and just said, get up and walk. We're 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:39.559 not expecting that to work, are we? Don, I'm 00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:40.759 going to put you on the spot. We're not expecting 00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:42.419 that person to just get up and walk. No, we're 00:16:42.419 --> 00:16:46.960 not. Recovery takes months from these types of 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:49.519 things. Physical therapy exists for a reason. 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:51.419 We have to rebuild our muscles and retrain our 00:16:51.419 --> 00:16:54.320 body how to move. When I broke my ankle, it felt 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:55.960 like it took almost a full year before I began 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:58.000 to feel normal again all the way, before I could 00:16:58.000 --> 00:16:59.700 really run again with friends, stuff like that. 00:16:59.980 --> 00:17:02.480 No doctor can just make it go away. No doctor 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:04.160 can just wave a magic wand and it's just healed 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:07.480 all of a sudden. But Jesus is no ordinary man. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:10.480 Jesus tells this man to pick up his mat and walk, 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:14.900 and the man does just that. The man does just 00:17:14.900 --> 00:17:16.559 that. He doesn't go stumbling away. He doesn't 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:19.000 need a cane. He gets up, and he's going to walk, 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:21.299 as we're going to see in the next verse. This 00:17:21.299 --> 00:17:25.700 is a miracle. This right here is Jesus' third 00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:27.900 sign, but I want you to catch this part before 00:17:27.900 --> 00:17:30.380 we see this man get up and walk. This happens 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:33.680 on the Sabbath. This will be very important for 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:36.009 verses 10 and 11. this man gets up and walks 00:17:36.009 --> 00:17:40.150 on the Sabbath. So let me read verse 9 through 00:17:40.150 --> 00:17:43.829 11 again. Instantly, the man got well, picked 00:17:43.829 --> 00:17:46.789 up his mat, and started to walk. Now that day 00:17:46.789 --> 00:17:48.890 was the Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the 00:17:48.890 --> 00:17:51.150 man who had been healed, this is the Sabbath. 00:17:51.430 --> 00:17:53.529 The law prohibits you from picking up your mat. 00:17:54.150 --> 00:17:56.430 He replied, the man who made me well told me, 00:17:56.450 --> 00:18:00.269 pick up your mat and walk. So Jesus heals the 00:18:00.269 --> 00:18:01.670 man on the Sabbath, and honestly, people just 00:18:01.670 --> 00:18:03.769 start to freak out. Like, I've tried to come 00:18:03.769 --> 00:18:06.440 up with a good scientific, deep definition is 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:09.660 people are losing their minds at him. And why? 00:18:10.539 --> 00:18:12.359 Not because this man they've known to be a cripple 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:14.720 their entire lives has picked up his mat and 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.000 started to walk. It's not about the walking part 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:18.940 that gets them. It's the fact that he would have 00:18:18.940 --> 00:18:23.259 the nerve to pick up his mat on the Sabbath day. 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:28.960 Now, let's talk about why that goes on. The Sabbath 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:30.839 itself goes all the way back to Genesis 1 and 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:33.019 2 when God created, or when God rested on the 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:35.839 seventh day of creation. See, God makes everything, 00:18:35.940 --> 00:18:38.480 then God stops. God rests. And from that day 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:42.059 on, God commanded mankind to rest. And when God 00:18:42.059 --> 00:18:44.500 gives the law in Exodus 20 and in Leviticus 23, 00:18:44.859 --> 00:18:46.839 two parts of the law that would have been remembered 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:49.400 at Shabbat, God commands the Israelites to keep 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:52.519 the Sabbath. See, keeping the Sabbath was a part 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:54.680 of being different. The Sabbath was a constant 00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:57.460 reminder to a culture full of farmers and shepherds 00:18:57.460 --> 00:19:00.019 and other agricultural -based jobs that God was 00:19:00.019 --> 00:19:03.569 in control and that God would provide. All the 00:19:03.569 --> 00:19:05.109 neighboring countries were working seven days 00:19:05.109 --> 00:19:07.250 a week. They were all weeding their fields on 00:19:07.250 --> 00:19:09.329 the seventh day. But the Israelites only worked 00:19:09.329 --> 00:19:12.549 on six days. And then God provided for that seventh 00:19:12.549 --> 00:19:15.789 day. And that resting seventh day was supposed 00:19:15.789 --> 00:19:18.049 to be focused on the most important thing, their 00:19:18.049 --> 00:19:21.730 relationship with God and knowing who God is. 00:19:22.509 --> 00:19:25.730 But over time, this had changed. It had transformed 00:19:25.730 --> 00:19:28.009 from them focusing on God to focusing on rules. 00:19:28.269 --> 00:19:30.670 There were rules on how far you could walk, on 00:19:30.670 --> 00:19:33.069 what was work and what wasn't work. There were 00:19:33.069 --> 00:19:34.930 rules on what you could cook or could not cook 00:19:34.930 --> 00:19:37.690 on the Sabbath day. Every single thing you might 00:19:37.690 --> 00:19:41.009 do had a rule relating to the Sabbath. You could 00:19:41.009 --> 00:19:42.809 say it like this. The Sabbath had gone from being 00:19:42.809 --> 00:19:45.150 restful and focused on God to being the exact 00:19:45.150 --> 00:19:47.829 opposite of that. It was no longer restful. It 00:19:47.829 --> 00:19:50.549 was stressful. But it was not God. It was about 00:19:50.549 --> 00:19:53.529 yourself and following more rules. Making sure 00:19:53.529 --> 00:19:56.210 that you were perfect. That everything you did 00:19:56.210 --> 00:20:01.329 was totally correct. And in John 5, we see these 00:20:01.329 --> 00:20:05.410 Jewish leaders. come up. Now John just says Jews, 00:20:05.670 --> 00:20:08.869 but John only uses this specific form of the 00:20:08.869 --> 00:20:11.049 word Jew to talk about Pharisees and scribes 00:20:11.049 --> 00:20:13.049 in his gospel. So you know who it is. It's the 00:20:13.049 --> 00:20:15.470 Pharisees and the scribes that come up to this 00:20:15.470 --> 00:20:18.650 man. And they tell him that he's a lawbreaker 00:20:18.650 --> 00:20:20.789 for picking up his man. Understand that the punishment 00:20:20.789 --> 00:20:23.869 for this could be huge. Here he is healed, and 00:20:23.869 --> 00:20:25.250 they could take him outside and go stone him 00:20:25.250 --> 00:20:28.609 outside of the city for breaking the law. He 00:20:28.609 --> 00:20:30.900 could be cut off from all of Israel. for breaking 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:34.660 the law and picking up his map. Because he obeyed 00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:37.079 Jesus, they are accusing him of breaking the 00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:38.640 Sabbath. I just want to give you a really quick 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:41.579 tip here. If you can either follow a man -made 00:20:41.579 --> 00:20:45.940 cultural rule or obey Jesus, always choose to 00:20:45.940 --> 00:20:50.720 obey Jesus. The Pharisees are so caught up in 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.480 their own rules and wanting to protect the Sabbath, 00:20:53.660 --> 00:20:56.160 they have redesigned the law to fit around them 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:00.309 and to serve them and their purposes. See, they 00:21:00.309 --> 00:21:01.690 don't need to worry about that man at the pool. 00:21:02.250 --> 00:21:04.630 After all, it's the Sabbath. They can't do anything 00:21:04.630 --> 00:21:07.470 for him anyway. It takes that pressure off of 00:21:07.470 --> 00:21:09.930 them. The Sabbath no longer was about God. The 00:21:09.930 --> 00:21:12.710 Sabbath was about making them look better rather 00:21:12.710 --> 00:21:15.509 than seeking to follow God through it, rather 00:21:15.509 --> 00:21:18.630 than remembering God's work. These Pharisees 00:21:18.630 --> 00:21:20.690 and leaders had turned the Sabbath into a chance 00:21:20.690 --> 00:21:23.829 to remember themselves and their goodness. So 00:21:23.829 --> 00:21:26.410 look at verses 12 and 13 with me. It says this, 00:21:26.470 --> 00:21:29.700 who is this man who told you? Pick up your mat 00:21:29.700 --> 00:21:32.680 and walk, they asked. But the man who was healed 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:35.279 did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:38.460 away into the crowd that was there. So the Pharisees 00:21:38.460 --> 00:21:40.200 asked the man who healed him, because they want 00:21:40.200 --> 00:21:42.660 answers. After all, someone here is a lawbreaker, 00:21:42.779 --> 00:21:44.039 and I'm going to tell you their suspicion. They 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:46.519 think Jesus is the lawbreaker. After all, he 00:21:46.519 --> 00:21:48.339 told the man to pick up his mat on the Sabbath 00:21:48.339 --> 00:21:51.980 day and to walk. They healed this man. That's 00:21:51.980 --> 00:21:54.579 work. That's working on the Sabbath. Therefore, 00:21:54.839 --> 00:21:57.650 he's a lawbreaker also. Look what happens, the 00:21:57.650 --> 00:21:59.509 man doesn't know because Jesus has slipped away. 00:22:00.789 --> 00:22:02.410 I'll talk about that, but it's a really interesting 00:22:02.410 --> 00:22:04.130 thing Jesus does here he doesn't do in a lot 00:22:04.130 --> 00:22:06.950 of his other miracles. See, every miracle has 00:22:06.950 --> 00:22:09.390 an audience, and some have a huge audience, like 00:22:09.390 --> 00:22:10.990 next week we'll see the feeding of the 5 ,000, 00:22:11.089 --> 00:22:13.089 that has a huge audience, a lot of people see 00:22:13.089 --> 00:22:16.210 that. Other miracles have a very small audience, 00:22:16.529 --> 00:22:19.769 like for instance last week, when we saw the 00:22:19.769 --> 00:22:22.089 royal official's son healed, and the royal official 00:22:22.089 --> 00:22:23.809 knew what happened, and the son knew what happened, 00:22:23.950 --> 00:22:26.009 and the servants in the household knew what happened. 00:22:27.019 --> 00:22:29.319 But it wasn't a huge audience. In this case, 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:31.680 there's kind of two different audiences. First, 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:33.559 only a few people actually saw Jesus talk to 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:35.259 this man and saw this man then stand up and begin 00:22:35.259 --> 00:22:39.980 to walk. But at the same time, every single day 00:22:39.980 --> 00:22:42.619 for the rest of that man's life, many people 00:22:42.619 --> 00:22:44.900 would see that this man who had been lame and 00:22:44.900 --> 00:22:48.779 crippled was now healed. So the larger audience 00:22:48.779 --> 00:22:52.660 of this miracle is huge. So Jesus doesn't stick 00:22:52.660 --> 00:22:55.200 around. He leaves because he knows exactly what's 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:57.359 about to happen. He knows what the heart of the 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:00.380 Pharisees and the scribes is. And so he leaves. 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:02.960 But Jesus isn't done interacting with this man. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:05.740 Let's look at verses 14 through 16 with me. Let's 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:07.700 see how Jesus finishes his time talking to this 00:23:07.700 --> 00:23:10.480 man. It says, after this, Jesus found him in 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:13.920 the temple and said to him, see, you are well. 00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:16.759 Do not sin anymore so that something worse doesn't 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:18.900 happen to you. The man went and reported to the 00:23:18.900 --> 00:23:20.440 Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:23.200 Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:25.880 he was doing these things on the Sabbath. So 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:27.619 after the Pharisees leave this man, Jesus finds 00:23:27.619 --> 00:23:29.640 him in the temple. And Jesus goes up to him and 00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:31.759 Jesus talks to him. And when Jesus talks to this 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:35.839 man, he gives him a challenge. Do not sin anymore. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:40.960 Notice that. It doesn't just say, don't sin on 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:45.599 Tuesdays anymore. It's do not sin anymore. It's 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:49.039 a huge statement. See, Jesus is calling this 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:52.700 man to righteousness and to obedience. Jesus 00:23:52.700 --> 00:23:56.680 is saying, follow me truly. Go and do not sin 00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:58.859 anymore. In Cornerstone, let me challenge us, 00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:02.740 it's the exact same call for us. Go and sin no 00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:06.000 more. When Jesus saves us, Jesus changes us. 00:24:06.119 --> 00:24:09.220 And understand, Jesus has saved this man. See, 00:24:09.259 --> 00:24:11.319 Jesus makes us new and sets us free from sin. 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:14.019 Will we still sin and fall short? Absolutely. 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:17.500 But we are set free from running after sin. Instead 00:24:17.500 --> 00:24:19.180 of seeking out sin, we are called to fight against 00:24:19.180 --> 00:24:21.420 sin. We are called to be pursuing sanctification 00:24:21.420 --> 00:24:26.130 and going and sinning no more. It's kind of like 00:24:26.130 --> 00:24:29.750 this. When we walk with Jesus, sin should become 00:24:29.750 --> 00:24:33.589 less attractive. Sin no longer controls us and 00:24:33.589 --> 00:24:37.450 pulls us around. And that's what Jesus challenges 00:24:37.450 --> 00:24:40.690 us to deal with. Look in the mirror. You are 00:24:40.690 --> 00:24:44.490 well. God has met you where you were. God has 00:24:44.490 --> 00:24:48.049 healed your need. God has made you new. He's 00:24:48.049 --> 00:24:52.109 given you new life and a new hope for life. In 00:24:52.109 --> 00:24:54.319 this case, quite... literally, quite physically, 00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:56.200 he has healed this man and given him new life. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:00.319 Now this man can go and get a job. Now this man's 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:02.920 not stuck laying by the pool every single day. 00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:10.119 Now he can walk and live. But not everyone's 00:25:10.119 --> 00:25:15.579 happy about that. Not everyone's happy about 00:25:15.579 --> 00:25:18.119 that. See, the man finds out that it was Jesus 00:25:18.119 --> 00:25:20.559 and he goes and he tells the Jewish leaders who 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:25.000 it is that's healed him. You know, there's kind 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:28.119 of two ways to look at this. Either this man 00:25:28.119 --> 00:25:31.960 doesn't really understand that these Pharisees 00:25:31.960 --> 00:25:37.420 absolutely can't stand Jesus, or this man is 00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:40.279 afraid of them. And so he goes and he tells them 00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:42.619 to make sure they don't get angry at him. Say, 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:43.980 well, this is the guy who told me to get up and 00:25:43.980 --> 00:25:48.680 walk, so I was listening to this guy. But look 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:55.160 at the response of the Jewish leaders. The Pharisees 00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:59.440 walk by this guy every day. And now Jesus has 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.599 healed them. And their response is to persecute 00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:05.980 Jesus. Their response is to persecute Jesus because 00:26:05.980 --> 00:26:09.019 he healed this man. They've become angry with 00:26:09.019 --> 00:26:12.119 Jesus because Jesus healed someone. Because all 00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:15.140 they want to do is focus on the rules. They just 00:26:15.140 --> 00:26:17.960 want their set of rules. But Jesus didn't come 00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:20.900 to just let them follow their set of rules. Jesus 00:26:20.900 --> 00:26:24.509 came to set people free. Jesus came to save. 00:26:25.230 --> 00:26:26.910 See, the Pharisees have their own version of 00:26:26.910 --> 00:26:29.509 the gospel. The Pharisees' version of the gospel 00:26:29.509 --> 00:26:32.529 is humanistic. It's perfectionistic. We call 00:26:32.529 --> 00:26:35.329 it this. It's humanistic perfectionism. It's 00:26:35.329 --> 00:26:37.450 that somehow we can be good enough and holy enough 00:26:37.450 --> 00:26:40.609 on our own to earn salvation. If we just follow 00:26:40.609 --> 00:26:42.529 all the right rules and all the right laws, if 00:26:42.529 --> 00:26:44.769 we just make all of the right sacrifices, if 00:26:44.769 --> 00:26:47.150 we never do anything on the Sabbath day, then 00:26:47.150 --> 00:26:51.170 maybe we'll be enough to God. But that's not 00:26:51.170 --> 00:26:54.559 what Jesus came bringing. See, instead, Jesus 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:56.680 did not bring this relationship of fear, because 00:26:56.680 --> 00:26:58.660 that's what the Pharisees were. They were living 00:26:58.660 --> 00:27:00.619 in fear that maybe they wouldn't be good enough. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:04.740 Jesus came bringing a personal relationship with 00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:09.339 God and the forgiveness of sin. The Pharisees 00:27:09.339 --> 00:27:12.220 came with their laws and their rules, and Jesus 00:27:12.220 --> 00:27:15.059 came to this man saying, do you want to be made 00:27:15.059 --> 00:27:19.900 well? Do you have faith that I can make you well? 00:27:21.140 --> 00:27:24.089 Notice that difference. It's an opposite thing. 00:27:24.529 --> 00:27:26.329 You can either have your rules or you can have 00:27:26.329 --> 00:27:29.630 your relationship. And John 5 reminds us that 00:27:29.630 --> 00:27:32.250 we don't need to justify ourselves because we 00:27:32.250 --> 00:27:34.809 can't. Instead, we need to be in a relationship 00:27:34.809 --> 00:27:38.769 with the one and the only God. One of the most 00:27:38.769 --> 00:27:41.029 impactful books I've ever read in my life is 00:27:41.029 --> 00:27:43.549 about a 43 -page book. It's about that tall, 00:27:43.690 --> 00:27:46.109 super small. It's called The Freedom of Self 00:27:46.109 --> 00:27:50.220 -Forgetfulness by Tim Keller. I have like 25 00:27:50.220 --> 00:27:52.059 copies of it if anybody wants one after this. 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:56.500 And his entire book is written around this point. 00:27:57.539 --> 00:28:00.380 That sin tells us that we need to justify ourselves. 00:28:02.140 --> 00:28:04.180 That we need to go into the courtroom every day 00:28:04.180 --> 00:28:07.119 and argue with God why we are good enough to 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:10.880 be saved. That we need to be able to tell God 00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:16.539 everything that we're doing right. That we have 00:28:16.539 --> 00:28:21.299 to save ourselves. But then in 2 Corinthians 00:28:21.299 --> 00:28:24.559 4 is John 5. Passages like this remind us of 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:28.299 that's not what it's about. We're never going 00:28:28.299 --> 00:28:30.980 to be able to justify ourselves. We're never 00:28:30.980 --> 00:28:32.319 going to actually be able to look at God and 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:36.400 say, see God, I've worked off my sin. See God, 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:40.380 I'm without sin. Instead, we are reliant and 00:28:40.380 --> 00:28:44.259 in need of a relationship with our Savior. Our 00:28:44.259 --> 00:28:48.640 Savior who died for us. That brings us into our 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:52.720 first point of application. The Jewish people 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:55.099 at this time, the Pharisees and the scribes and 00:28:55.099 --> 00:28:58.180 what we see in John 5, they wanted to pursue 00:28:58.180 --> 00:29:03.039 Jesus through the law. They wanted to earn their 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:06.420 relationship with God. They said, God, we'll 00:29:06.420 --> 00:29:08.299 be in relationship with you if we can earn it 00:29:08.299 --> 00:29:13.099 by the law and by the rules. We know from the 00:29:13.099 --> 00:29:14.440 New Testament, though, that we are called to 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:18.640 relationally pursue Jesus. To relationally pursue 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:28.829 Jesus. So each one of us finds ourselves in a 00:29:28.829 --> 00:29:33.769 spot that's hard. A place of brokenness. That 00:29:33.769 --> 00:29:37.470 the world isn't fair. That at some point in our 00:29:37.470 --> 00:29:39.630 life something has gone wrong. That we've experienced 00:29:39.630 --> 00:29:43.089 loss and hurt and pain. You know, this man at 00:29:43.089 --> 00:29:48.769 the pool has been disabled for 38 years. And 00:29:48.769 --> 00:29:51.250 there's a reason that we experience this brokenness. 00:29:51.509 --> 00:29:54.640 And that reason is sin. Sin is anything that 00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:58.339 is not totally holy. Any action, any word, any 00:29:58.339 --> 00:30:03.460 thought, and we have all sinned. All our sin 00:30:03.460 --> 00:30:05.500 has entered the world like this. This is what 00:30:05.500 --> 00:30:08.200 Romans 5 .12 tells us. Therefore, just as sin 00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:11.359 entered the world through one man and death through 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:14.380 sin, in this way, death spread to all people 00:30:14.380 --> 00:30:18.920 because all sinned. See, Adam and Eve might have 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:20.839 been the first people to sin, but we have all 00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:24.359 sinned. We have all brought that separation from 00:30:24.359 --> 00:30:29.359 God on ourselves. And in that brokenness, that 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:33.740 result of sin, we try to fix it on our own. We 00:30:33.740 --> 00:30:37.119 say, maybe I can do this. Maybe somehow I can 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:39.720 make up for this. Maybe if I'm just a little 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:42.539 bit better. Maybe if I just follow God's laws 00:30:42.539 --> 00:30:45.160 a little more. That's what the Pharisees are 00:30:45.160 --> 00:30:47.220 doing, right? If I just keep the Sabbath a little 00:30:47.220 --> 00:30:49.960 bit better, then I won't be sinning more and 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:53.099 God will know that I'm sorry. If I just do this, 00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:54.619 if I just do a little more of this or a little 00:30:54.619 --> 00:30:57.839 more of that, it'll all be okay. Listen to this 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:00.140 rebuke that Jesus gives later on in John 5. This 00:31:00.140 --> 00:31:02.799 is towards the Pharisees. He says this, you pour 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:04.859 over the scriptures because you think you have 00:31:04.859 --> 00:31:07.859 eternal life in them, and yet they testify about 00:31:07.859 --> 00:31:10.440 me, but you are not willing to come to me so 00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:14.180 that you may have life. See, in our brokenness, 00:31:14.180 --> 00:31:17.259 we try to fix it on our own. We say, I can just 00:31:17.259 --> 00:31:18.779 learn a little more. I can just do a little bit 00:31:18.779 --> 00:31:22.529 more. I'm enough. And that will only lead us 00:31:22.529 --> 00:31:26.849 to failure. Because we can pour over the scriptures 00:31:26.849 --> 00:31:29.750 as much as we want to. But we don't have eternal 00:31:29.750 --> 00:31:31.410 life just because of a few words on a piece of 00:31:31.410 --> 00:31:34.250 paper. We have eternal life because of what Jesus 00:31:34.250 --> 00:31:38.869 did. We have eternal life because we go to Jesus. 00:31:39.710 --> 00:31:44.069 And Jesus is the one that gives us life. We have 00:31:44.069 --> 00:31:46.869 a need for new life. I want to read you another 00:31:46.869 --> 00:31:50.230 verse from Romans 5. A verse that gives us a 00:31:50.230 --> 00:31:53.569 whole lot of hope. See, in Romans 5 .12, we see 00:31:53.569 --> 00:31:55.549 that sin enters through one man and spreads to 00:31:55.549 --> 00:31:59.650 every man. In Romans 5 .15, Paul writes about 00:31:59.650 --> 00:32:02.910 salvation. He says this, the gift is not like 00:32:02.910 --> 00:32:06.170 the trespass. For by the one man's trespass, 00:32:06.170 --> 00:32:09.609 that is Adam, many died. How much more has the 00:32:09.609 --> 00:32:11.529 grace of God and the gift which comes through 00:32:11.529 --> 00:32:14.670 the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflowed 00:32:14.670 --> 00:32:19.279 to the many? In other words, we have hope. We 00:32:19.279 --> 00:32:22.299 have hope because grace comes from God through 00:32:22.299 --> 00:32:26.960 Jesus and what Jesus did. And Jesus' salvation 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:30.160 wasn't just good enough for one person. Jesus' 00:32:30.339 --> 00:32:32.619 salvation wasn't just good enough to, like, cancel 00:32:32.619 --> 00:32:35.380 out half of your sin and leave you on your own 00:32:35.380 --> 00:32:39.180 for the rest of it. Jesus' grace is complete. 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:43.920 The grace of God is complete. So I want to challenge 00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:47.519 you. I want to challenge you with John 540 this 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:53.500 morning. If you're here, if you're here, you 00:32:53.500 --> 00:32:56.579 have to be willing to go to Jesus to have life. 00:32:59.619 --> 00:33:01.599 Fundamentally, it doesn't matter how perfect 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:05.660 you think you are, how good of a person you try 00:33:05.660 --> 00:33:10.539 to be. It doesn't matter how much you try to 00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:14.259 follow the rules or do the right thing. It doesn't 00:33:14.259 --> 00:33:16.880 matter how morally good you feel like you are, 00:33:16.940 --> 00:33:20.470 how ethical you are at work. You have to have 00:33:20.470 --> 00:33:24.650 that personal relationship with Jesus. You have 00:33:24.650 --> 00:33:30.450 to go to Jesus so that you can have life. Please 00:33:30.450 --> 00:33:33.230 hear that this morning and enter that relationship 00:33:33.230 --> 00:33:36.410 with Jesus. Don't try to rely on yourself or 00:33:36.410 --> 00:33:38.569 on some law or something you can do to save yourself. 00:33:38.990 --> 00:33:42.349 Enter that relationship with Jesus. Relationally 00:33:42.349 --> 00:33:47.890 pursue Jesus. Second point of application. Relationally 00:33:47.890 --> 00:33:53.390 pursue your new life. Great, Jesus saved you. 00:33:53.549 --> 00:33:58.250 It doesn't end there. After you're saved, Jesus 00:33:58.250 --> 00:34:00.190 doesn't just say, here's 10 check boxes, just 00:34:00.190 --> 00:34:02.750 check these each day. Read your Bible, check. 00:34:02.950 --> 00:34:07.390 Pray, check. Don't kill somebody, check. I think 00:34:07.390 --> 00:34:09.369 sometimes we want that to be the case because 00:34:09.369 --> 00:34:11.809 it's easy to hit those, right? I didn't kill 00:34:11.809 --> 00:34:14.400 anybody today, great. I'm in the clear. I didn't 00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:16.699 rob a bank today. Awesome. I'm doing great this 00:34:16.699 --> 00:34:21.840 week. But that's not what our new life is. Our 00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:23.699 new life isn't just having a checklist to just 00:34:23.699 --> 00:34:25.900 check off, okay, did this, did this, did this. 00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:32.119 That's not it at all. See, because when we start 00:34:32.119 --> 00:34:34.860 to think like that, we start to put ourselves 00:34:34.860 --> 00:34:37.659 on this idea of somehow being so good or so on 00:34:37.659 --> 00:34:41.989 top of life. That if I can just get my life a 00:34:41.989 --> 00:34:43.530 little more under control, if I can just bring 00:34:43.530 --> 00:34:45.730 my life a little bit more back together, then 00:34:45.730 --> 00:34:48.389 I'll be good enough for God. Let me challenge 00:34:48.389 --> 00:34:51.250 you instead to set yourself free from that. Instead 00:34:51.250 --> 00:34:55.550 of focusing on a rule after you're saved, focus 00:34:55.550 --> 00:34:58.769 on your relationship with Jesus. And here's the 00:34:58.769 --> 00:35:02.409 beautiful thing. As you get to know Jesus more, 00:35:02.489 --> 00:35:05.170 you will find yourself hungering for sin less 00:35:05.170 --> 00:35:08.590 and less. Let me put this in another example. 00:35:10.210 --> 00:35:12.449 There are a few things I do in life that drive 00:35:12.449 --> 00:35:17.230 my beautiful, kind wife insane. She just hates 00:35:17.230 --> 00:35:21.150 them. When we first got married, I would do them 00:35:21.150 --> 00:35:22.869 and I didn't think twice about it because that's 00:35:22.869 --> 00:35:25.369 how I'd always done it. And then she would say 00:35:25.369 --> 00:35:27.550 to me, hey, I really don't like when you do that. 00:35:29.210 --> 00:35:31.829 I didn't keep doing it the same way over and 00:35:31.829 --> 00:35:34.409 over and over again. That would be stupid and 00:35:34.409 --> 00:35:39.519 mean and cruel. You try to change and grow. If 00:35:39.519 --> 00:35:41.880 your friend looks at you and says, hey, I really 00:35:41.880 --> 00:35:45.400 don't like when we talk about this. You don't 00:35:45.400 --> 00:35:47.460 keep talking about it over and over again. You 00:35:47.460 --> 00:35:51.619 stop, you listen. It's the same thing with Jesus. 00:35:53.099 --> 00:35:57.920 Think about it like this. Jesus hates sin. So 00:35:57.920 --> 00:36:00.059 the more that we walk closely with Jesus, the 00:36:00.059 --> 00:36:03.380 less that we will sin. Because we don't want 00:36:03.380 --> 00:36:05.960 to do something that our friend hates. We don't 00:36:05.960 --> 00:36:08.469 want to do something that Jesus hates. pains 00:36:08.469 --> 00:36:13.630 Jesus. See, the law shows us our sin. The Jews 00:36:13.630 --> 00:36:16.909 had that part right. The law shows us where we 00:36:16.909 --> 00:36:20.389 fall short. But the law does not offer the solution 00:36:20.389 --> 00:36:30.429 to our sin. Jesus is the only solution to our 00:36:30.429 --> 00:36:33.369 eternal need. And our solution to fighting temptation, 00:36:33.730 --> 00:36:36.590 our solution to going and sinning no more. is 00:36:36.590 --> 00:36:39.369 to walk closely with the Holy Spirit, to pursue 00:36:39.369 --> 00:36:43.889 more of Jesus and less of ourselves. Please hear 00:36:43.889 --> 00:36:45.730 me, this Cornerstone family. You cannot defeat 00:36:45.730 --> 00:36:49.789 sin on your own, but you can through God. So 00:36:49.789 --> 00:36:54.190 let me challenge you. Pursue a relationship with 00:36:54.190 --> 00:36:57.170 your Savior. Pursue that new life by growing 00:36:57.170 --> 00:37:01.130 closer to Jesus. There's two verses I think of 00:37:01.130 --> 00:37:03.820 often with this. They were the first two verses 00:37:03.820 --> 00:37:05.980 I memorized in my freshman Bible study in college. 00:37:06.219 --> 00:37:08.739 They come to my mind all the time. Hope knows 00:37:08.739 --> 00:37:13.679 what they are. Let me challenge you as a practical 00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:15.320 step when we talk about relationally pursuing 00:37:15.320 --> 00:37:18.440 your new life. Hide these verses in your heart 00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:21.659 today. Let these be a reminder of your new life 00:37:21.659 --> 00:37:23.780 and the new relationship that you have with Jesus. 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:28.480 The first one is 2 Corinthians 5 .17. Therefore, 00:37:28.559 --> 00:37:30.760 if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. 00:37:31.469 --> 00:37:34.650 The old has passed away, and see, the new has 00:37:34.650 --> 00:37:38.949 come. The new has come. Why? Because of Jesus. 00:37:40.949 --> 00:37:45.090 Why? Because we are in Christ. Relationally pursue 00:37:45.090 --> 00:37:48.630 Jesus, because he has made you new. Here's the 00:37:48.630 --> 00:37:52.190 second one, Galatians 2 .20. I have been crucified 00:37:52.190 --> 00:37:55.530 with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ 00:37:55.530 --> 00:37:59.449 lives in me. The life I now live in the body, 00:37:59.530 --> 00:38:02.269 I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me 00:38:02.269 --> 00:38:05.650 and gave himself for me. Relationally pursue 00:38:05.650 --> 00:38:08.969 your new life by remembering and meditating on 00:38:08.969 --> 00:38:11.969 how it's no longer you living, it's Christ living 00:38:11.969 --> 00:38:16.789 in you. We don't live our life by just hoping 00:38:16.789 --> 00:38:19.670 that it all works out. We live our life in faith 00:38:19.670 --> 00:38:24.349 in the Son of God. We live our life being directed 00:38:24.349 --> 00:38:28.230 by Jesus who loves us. who gave himself for us. 00:38:28.949 --> 00:38:32.889 So today, relationally pursue your new life. 00:38:33.769 --> 00:38:37.130 Let Jesus transform you. Here's my final application 00:38:37.130 --> 00:38:39.849 for us this morning. This is probably the most 00:38:39.849 --> 00:38:43.150 Gen Z wording I've ever used. Relationally pursue 00:38:43.150 --> 00:38:46.369 your people. Relationally pursue your people. 00:38:47.550 --> 00:38:50.289 If you are not younger and you're not familiar 00:38:50.289 --> 00:38:52.670 with what your people are, that's your friends, 00:38:52.750 --> 00:38:54.230 that's your family, that's the people who are 00:38:54.230 --> 00:38:57.230 around you. That's your people. The people you 00:38:57.230 --> 00:38:58.869 interact with, the people you go to when you're 00:38:58.869 --> 00:39:02.670 struggling. Relationally pursue your people. 00:39:03.010 --> 00:39:05.210 Listen, if we are truly to be Christ followers, 00:39:05.389 --> 00:39:08.409 then we should mirror what Jesus did. If Jesus 00:39:08.409 --> 00:39:11.510 pursued people relationally, then we must do 00:39:11.510 --> 00:39:16.130 the same. Pursue the people around you. Like 00:39:16.130 --> 00:39:17.690 I said earlier, it's really easy for us to want 00:39:17.690 --> 00:39:19.570 to wait for people to bring their problems to 00:39:19.570 --> 00:39:22.369 us. And sometimes you have a friend who's struggling 00:39:22.369 --> 00:39:24.389 and you know they're struggling. You can just 00:39:24.389 --> 00:39:26.190 tell in their body language, they're not okay. 00:39:27.269 --> 00:39:29.110 I cannot possibly be the only person who's had 00:39:29.110 --> 00:39:31.269 friends like that. But you know they're not okay. 00:39:31.909 --> 00:39:33.710 You know that family member's struggling and 00:39:33.710 --> 00:39:36.630 you don't know what's going on. We've got two 00:39:36.630 --> 00:39:39.530 options. On one hand, we can sit there and pretend 00:39:39.530 --> 00:39:41.989 we didn't notice. And we can just hope that it 00:39:41.989 --> 00:39:44.869 all just kind of works itself out. And I really 00:39:44.869 --> 00:39:47.909 hope they get feeling okay. Or on the other hand, 00:39:47.909 --> 00:39:52.420 we can pursue that person. And what did Jesus 00:39:52.420 --> 00:39:55.739 do? Jesus went and he pursued that person. He 00:39:55.739 --> 00:39:58.239 saw that man by the pool. He didn't just walk 00:39:58.239 --> 00:40:02.539 by that person. He stopped and he turned and 00:40:02.539 --> 00:40:06.119 he talked to that man. I don't have any biblical 00:40:06.119 --> 00:40:09.300 proof of this. That's a dangerous thing to say. 00:40:10.059 --> 00:40:12.940 But I've always thought when I read John 5, 1 00:40:12.940 --> 00:40:15.780 through 16, that Jesus doesn't just stand over 00:40:15.780 --> 00:40:18.340 this man looking down at him, but that Jesus 00:40:18.340 --> 00:40:23.699 gets down on his level. He says, hey, do you 00:40:23.699 --> 00:40:27.440 want to be made well? And friends, if we're going 00:40:27.440 --> 00:40:29.880 to imitate Christ, and that's what we are called 00:40:29.880 --> 00:40:32.000 to be as Christians, is little Christ or little 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:35.239 imitations, reflections of Jesus. We need to 00:40:35.239 --> 00:40:38.019 pursue the people who are around us. We need 00:40:38.019 --> 00:40:40.619 to go to them. Relationally, we need to pursue 00:40:40.619 --> 00:40:45.340 them as Jesus pursues this man at the pool. And 00:40:45.340 --> 00:40:47.159 so let me talk to you about four ways that you 00:40:47.159 --> 00:40:49.559 can pursue somebody. We talk about these pretty 00:40:49.559 --> 00:40:53.550 often here. First, You can pursue them by investing 00:40:53.550 --> 00:40:56.789 in them. You can pursue somebody by taking the 00:40:56.789 --> 00:41:00.230 time to get to know them. Think about it like 00:41:00.230 --> 00:41:02.449 this. You can see somebody at lunch today who's 00:41:02.449 --> 00:41:05.409 clearly not okay. You can tell they're upset. 00:41:06.150 --> 00:41:07.630 And you're probably not going to say anything 00:41:07.630 --> 00:41:10.809 to them because you don't know them at all. And 00:41:10.809 --> 00:41:15.110 they could be absolutely crazy. We have to first 00:41:15.110 --> 00:41:17.190 know people. We have to invest in people and 00:41:17.190 --> 00:41:19.070 build a relationship with them if we're going 00:41:19.070 --> 00:41:21.719 to pursue them. Second, we can pursue somebody 00:41:21.719 --> 00:41:24.539 by inviting them into your life. We can invite 00:41:24.539 --> 00:41:27.139 people in and show them how Jesus has changed 00:41:27.139 --> 00:41:31.039 our own lives. Hey, I used to struggle with this, 00:41:31.059 --> 00:41:35.179 but Jesus has changed my life. Jesus can do the 00:41:35.179 --> 00:41:39.119 same for you. Third, we pursue them by involving 00:41:39.119 --> 00:41:43.179 them, by bringing them to other believers, by 00:41:43.179 --> 00:41:46.519 bringing them to God. Let me give you a very 00:41:46.519 --> 00:41:48.449 practical thing you can do. July 19th, we have 00:41:48.449 --> 00:41:49.989 a big block party. July 20th, we're having an 00:41:49.989 --> 00:41:52.130 outdoor service. That person you're investing 00:41:52.130 --> 00:41:53.889 in, that person that you're inviting into your 00:41:53.889 --> 00:41:56.090 life, involve them by bringing them with you 00:41:56.090 --> 00:42:00.349 July 19th to our block party. Pursue your people 00:42:00.349 --> 00:42:02.809 by bringing them to that. And finally, you can 00:42:02.809 --> 00:42:06.150 pursue your people by igniting with them. Maybe 00:42:06.150 --> 00:42:08.309 that person that's on your heart, that person 00:42:08.309 --> 00:42:10.489 you're thinking about right now is saved. They 00:42:10.489 --> 00:42:13.210 know Jesus. Maybe they've walked away from Jesus. 00:42:13.869 --> 00:42:15.570 They know that their walk with God is not where 00:42:15.570 --> 00:42:18.659 it should be. They've kind of taken some time 00:42:18.659 --> 00:42:21.780 off from it. It's a conversation for a separate 00:42:21.780 --> 00:42:25.960 time. But they'd say, yeah, I'm saved, but I 00:42:25.960 --> 00:42:29.019 don't really do anything with it. Well, let me 00:42:29.019 --> 00:42:31.900 challenge you. Ignite with them. Start discipling 00:42:31.900 --> 00:42:34.059 them. Get into God's Word with them. Say, hey, 00:42:34.099 --> 00:42:36.019 listen, I'm going to be reading the Bible today. 00:42:36.159 --> 00:42:39.579 I would love to read it with you. If that's somebody 00:42:39.579 --> 00:42:41.980 who does not know Jesus, then I would encourage 00:42:41.980 --> 00:42:44.559 you to not move into that igniting stage and 00:42:44.559 --> 00:42:47.349 just to continue to bring them to opportunities 00:42:47.349 --> 00:42:50.250 where they can get to know Jesus, to be that 00:42:50.250 --> 00:42:52.670 light in their life where you can bring the gospel 00:42:52.670 --> 00:42:56.530 to them. Let me challenge you. The reason we 00:42:56.530 --> 00:42:58.269 end with that igniting step is really simple. 00:43:00.730 --> 00:43:02.690 Discipleship is about walking with somebody to 00:43:02.690 --> 00:43:05.730 grow to be more like Jesus. It's not helping 00:43:05.730 --> 00:43:08.429 somebody be more like you or more like me. It's 00:43:08.429 --> 00:43:12.210 helping somebody be more like Jesus. And we want 00:43:12.210 --> 00:43:15.429 to do that. That's how we relationally pursue 00:43:15.429 --> 00:43:17.860 Jesus. That's how we relationally pursue new 00:43:17.860 --> 00:43:20.599 life. That's how we relationally pursue our people, 00:43:20.739 --> 00:43:23.039 by helping them to enter into a relationship 00:43:23.039 --> 00:43:29.539 with their Savior. Let's pray. God, I just ask 00:43:29.539 --> 00:43:32.139 that you would be with us this morning. And God, 00:43:32.179 --> 00:43:33.860 I ask that you would just put people in our mind 00:43:33.860 --> 00:43:37.300 for us to invest in, God. God, would you put 00:43:37.300 --> 00:43:40.800 people in our hearts for us to invite into our 00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:44.460 lives, God? People in our hearts for us to involve. 00:43:49.869 --> 00:43:52.590 God, we just cry out that we need you so much. 00:43:55.349 --> 00:43:59.489 God, we just, we want to serve you. We want to 00:43:59.489 --> 00:44:03.369 follow you, God. And God, we want that to be 00:44:03.369 --> 00:44:07.110 a relationship, not a series of rules. And so 00:44:07.110 --> 00:44:09.389 God, I ask that you help us to relationally pursue 00:44:09.389 --> 00:44:12.190 you. If we're here and anybody here does not 00:44:12.190 --> 00:44:15.849 know you, God, would you give them the boldness 00:44:15.849 --> 00:44:17.769 and the courage to enter into that relationship 00:44:17.769 --> 00:44:20.300 with you today, God? and the courage to tell 00:44:20.300 --> 00:44:25.659 somebody about that. God, would you give us the 00:44:25.659 --> 00:44:30.239 courage to pursue you relationally, having the 00:44:30.239 --> 00:44:35.880 confidence and knowledge, God, that we can pursue 00:44:35.880 --> 00:44:37.880 you, that you're not after a series of rules 00:44:37.880 --> 00:44:42.719 for us just to check off, but that, God, you've 00:44:42.719 --> 00:44:44.860 come with relationship and you've brought relationship. 00:44:47.159 --> 00:44:51.000 And lastly, God, Just ask that you would put 00:44:51.000 --> 00:44:54.320 people on our hearts today. Break our hearts, 00:44:54.420 --> 00:44:58.179 God, for the people around us. Help us to pursue 00:44:58.179 --> 00:45:01.699 our people, God. Help us to pursue the people 00:45:01.699 --> 00:45:07.320 you've uniquely put in our lives, God. So fire 00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:10.460 in our hearts for this, Jesus, we ask. In your 00:45:10.460 --> 00:45:10.780 name.