Chris Brown | Major Lessons Minor Prophets | Nahum

everyone showed up early it's what you do your first day of work especially when you're trying to impress someone and they all knew the job ahead it was like none other they would experience and everyone knew the man they were working for you get off on the right foot you impress this guy he can make sure you have financial freedom for the rest of your life you disappoint this boss he can have you killed on the spot so everyone showed up early and when the large wooden latch was opened when the doors creaked open the smell of mildew filled their nostrils they saw before them the sight that they realized this isn't going to be weeks but probably months it's become a giant storage unit almost like a locker if you will of things being pushed in and piled and some labeled some mislabeled there's dust on top of dust and in the back corners and the dark and dampness there's mildew that has grown over everything the ceilings are gonna need to be replaced some of the walls are damaged this entire thing is going to be cleaned out and restructured and piece by piece they bring it out into the daylight they start to stack it they start to categorize it all under the watchful eye of a king who had hired him he was different than dad he was different than grandfather in fact he's been different from any King they've had for the past 65 years about the past 120 years if you look at it and this building hasn't been used amazing that Israel the nation of God would have a temple to God that hasn't been used in 65 years and this young King Josiah something in his heart told him it's time to clean it out it's time to come back and start worshipping this God so they start the process and somewhere in the back and we're not told if it's days or weeks into the process under a bunch of junk stuff that's piled dust that had to be thrown and moved they find it they start to read it he runs out into the daylight all the workers stop what they're doing and they run outside and silence as it's starting to be read and they realize to the dismay of everyone they found a Bible in church and none of them had ever seen or heard of a Bible they found the Word of God in the temple what do we do with it and that's when someone realized you better take it to the king and they run in front of the king now it's a different sight completely the large doors are open by those that wear white gloves everything is polished everything glimmers all of the bronze and all of the gold and silver shines you walk in with your head down you drop to a knee and you present it to him and it starts to be read and Josiah realizes hearing the Bible for the first time we've been doing things wrong and he lets the entire kingdom know today is a day of change we're gonna stop worshipping idols we're going to start working where he's going to stop worshipping demons we're gonna stop the Satan worship that we've been doing we're gonna stop the sacrifices that we've been making on hilltops thinking it's closer to the gods of the world and we're gonna go back and follow the one true God and Israel goes through an entire change around 600 BC but not soon long after that the Graydon's a Syrian Empire raises its head and overtakes the people and a young king trying to do the right thing has got to be questioning God for the first time in decades we're following you and this is what happens and we have to have a little history lesson before we jump into the text today because most of us probably haven't studied the Assyrian Empire I didn't until I was told to teach this and I asked what type of church gives a visiting pastor the book of Nahum to teach then I realized the type of church where no one on their staff wants to teach the book of Nahum nice job right and historians will tell us the incredible wickedness of an Assyrian Empire like none the world has ever seen I in no way want to diminish the incredible evil that Germany did under Hitler but that still does not compare to the Assyrian Empire a man named boys who has spent his life discovering these great big stones and pillars that the Assyrian Empire erected to themselves see they didn't just love doing great evil they loved to print it they loved to put it on stone for everyone to see they loved to brag about their conquest many of these in the museum of great britain today boys the one that's translating a lot of these here is some of the stones and monuments that the assyrian generals and Kings set up on their own behalf and what they bragged about one King wrote we cut off the heads of our enemies we formed them into pillars on each side of the city gate dared no man to touch them to let them know Assyria has passed this way another general says I skinned alive the chief men who had revolted I covered their pillar with their own skins many within the borders of that land I flayed and I spread their skins also upon the walls of their city an Assyrian general named Bobo son of Bubba not making this up tells you all you need to know about this family and I'm fine if your name Bubba that's cool it isn't they don't name your kid Bubba so Bubba named his kid Bubba and a general Bubba wrote I skinned their King alive in front of his city of Arbella I spread his skin upon the city wall to let them know they have a new king another rights I cut off the limbs of the officers the Royal officers who had rebelled 3,000 of their people we burned alive with fire their corpses we formed into pillars on each side of their city gates another stone reads from some we cut off their hands and fingers others we cut off their noses and ears and sent them wandering still others their fingers and we put out their eyes to send them away in darkness another monument reads we made one pillar of the living on one side of the road and a pillar of their heads on the other side of the road then we bound their heads to post and set them around the city to let them know Assyria has passed this way it is an incredible wicked Empire and God's people under a king josiah who's trying to do the right things for the first time finds themselves under this oppression and in the midst of this darkness a guy named nae hum steps forward it's two pages in your bible my bet is they're stuck together because you've never pried them apart I mean I'll just ask you how many of you have a favorite verse from the book of Nahum how many of you know any story from the book of nail so we set out and your applause and said what does Bayside know about Nahum and you guys said this hey guys Kyle here I'm here in the courtyard at Bayside Church we are doing a study on the book of Nahum you know not a lot of people know much about the book of Nahum but here at Bayside we know our Bibles which is why I decided to go out and interview some of our base ciders about what the book of Nahum is all about let's go ask can you name one character in the book of Nahum besides Nahum Nahum's brother what's his name so have you read the whole Bible twice read the whole Bible twice have you read the book of Nahum Hebrew Bible yeah but yeah I remember that one you read the book of Nahum what is the book of Nahum about because you read it twice so what is it about I don't know have you read the Bible yes I have calm okay the whole thing yes every single book yes so you must have read the book of Nahum then no let me ask you this is Nathan a man or a woman I would guess woman is Nahum a man or a woman a woman is Nate huh man man or a woman names a boy I think so are you sure she is not now well you better learn Chris Brown's here to teach us you call yourself Christians I tell you if you're a Christian and you don't know the book of Nahum then you qualify to be on this staff is none of them showed up to teach the book of name I'm gonna explain to you why you probably have never read anything in the book of Nahum today it takes five minutes to read the entire book and that's reading rather slowly as I do and yet you're gonna read it and go what in the world do we do with this and so to walk you through it if you brought a Bible today go to the front pages of your Bible and find the table of contents and find what page number Nahum is on because if you like flipping around there's no way you're going to come across this it's two pages stuck together it's in the back of the Old Testament next to like Jeremiah and Amos and Hosea and Joel and Habakkuk and a place where home schoolers find names for their babies and it's in that list of Nahum and I mean that in a great way great biblical names of a name why doesn't the filter work sometimes send your cards and letters to Ray Johnston Nahum chapter 1 we're gonna pick some verses through chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 and you are going to get the broad scope of just a three chapter book may remind you it's written to Israel around 660 BC at a time where they are conquered by the great Assyrian Empire that is basically taken over the known world at this time the capital of this Empire is Nineveh it's got eight miles of a fortified walled city it's complex and it's roadways in its architects but it's a day and age where they don't have Google Earth no one from Israel can click on Nineveh and see the size they just see the horror of the armies and the chariots coming up and down the streets they hear the stories of the piles of severed heads and limbs they see the size and the reach of this great Empire of evil and this little podunk piece of land ray'll knows they have no hope and in that day and age a prophet a simple guy with a message from God named Nahum walks onto the scene chapter 1 verse 1 an oracle concerning Nineveh this is the book of vision of Nahum the ELCA Shai the Lord is a jealous and avenging God the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath the Lord takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies underline this the Lord is slow to anger and great in power and the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished as we jump into this book the introduction those first three verses kind of give us everything we need to know about where these couple pages are going but I want to give you a how-to how to interpret nay hum today because we're gonna read this and some of you are gonna start doing what we do with obscure passages well today who is Israel today who is Nineveh today who is Assyria I mean today Israel is probably the church in America and when he's talking about Nineveh he's probably talking about the Middle East or Las Vegas and he's probably talking about here but let me tell you symbolically what's happening in your notes eat write it down Nineveh and Israel are symbols for Nineveh and Israel stop playing your Bible games when we get to passages this is a real guy Nahum giving a message to a real group of people Israel about a real ferocious evil empire namely Assyrians whose capital is Nineveh real people real time real place sometimes we get to these passages and we start making about well it's this country today it's this part of the world no no it's Israel it's Assyria it's Nineveh we're gonna look over the shoulder of a prophet simply a Messenger of God as he gives a message to a group of people that started following God with a new commitment who came back to the Word of God and instead of life getting better it has gotten worse and Nahum gives hope and encouragement that number one that God has great power verse three I had you underlining the Lord is slow to anger great in power Church let me try to explain this to you if someone is telling you that you serve of God of great power that's bad news and I know you're like mhm you know Grannis that's good news now let me tell you why it's bad news it's good news that we have a god of great power it's bad news that someone's trying to remind you of that because if someone's reminding you that you serve a God of great power it means you must be in a place a time in your life where you are not seeing God's great power and God says you know what print that let people know that my people following me are going to be in times where they don't see my power where they have to be questioning God and I need to send my word my message to remind them you serve a God of great power because I don't know if you've got it yet in your life but being a Christian means there will be days where you doubt this God his existence and his great power because you don't see it in the world around you true me and the three in the front row true the rest of you listen on the rest of you may find a time like this in your life forget liars verse seven we're gonna skip through these chapters verse seven the Lord is good a refuge in times of trouble he cares for those who trust in him but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Nineveh he will pursue his foes into the darkness verse 12 this is what the Lord says although they have allies and are numerous they will be cut off and pass away although I have afflicted you O Judah I will afflict you no more now I will break their yoke from around neck I will tear your shackles away the Lord has given a command concerning you Nineveh capital of Syria you will have no descendants to bear your name I will destroy the carved images the cast idols that are in your temples of your gods and I will prepare your grave for you are vile I think number two nay hum is trying to get people hope and encouragement that God will judge the wicked they're not going to get away with this guys man in a in a room this size I wonder in a room this size I wonder how many of you have a story of how much you've been hurt verbally emotionally physically sexually relationally financially stabbed in the back wounds from a father wounds from hands that those were supposed to love and protect wounds from someone that promised till death do us part and what they meant was until I got tired of you and something better came along and owned a home is screaming into the life of people that are trying to follow God and letting them know God will judge the wicked man this - this - they're not getting away with it it's 50 years after Nahum speaks these words 50 years after Nahum says you will be completely obliterated now understand in that time little podunk Israel is looking at the greatest most evil empire the world has ever seen thinking how in the world are they gonna get torn asunder fifty years after he speaks these words the Babylonians meet with the Medes and they will conquer the Assyrians they will level Nineveh to the ground in such a way where that city will never be rebuilt we've never seen that in history we've never seen a capitol of that size that infrastructure that complexity be so totally destroyed that they don't even rebuild it it was so decimated we didn't find the remains of Nineveh until the 1850s completely obliterated and God says I'm letting my people know oh it may seem like they've gotten away with it it may seem like their evil has gone unnoticed but God says let me promise you God's gonna judge the wicked it doesn't look like he's showing his great power now but let me promise you they will find their day in court and in chapter 2 verse 2 the Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines I think the third thing Nahum gives hope and encouragement that God will bless those who stay faithful he says oh land of Judah Land of Israel hold on to me I will once again restore your friend hold on to me with both hands in the midst of this darkness I promise you God will bless those who stay faithful don't get up I'm following this new Bible that's in your hands don't give up on following this God even though it looks like following God meant life got worse have you been there have you started praying more have you started show up to church more have you started being more committed to God only to find out that cancer kills only to find out that you've lost the home or the marriage did you give God your spouse did you trust him only to find out that they will actually leave have you been there Oh Israel is there we came back to your word we came back to following you instead of life getting better it's gotten worse and Nahum comes in and says o people of God in the midst of darkness God will bless those who stay faithful chapter 3 verse 1 it's the reason why you don't remember this part of the Bible from Sunday School it's PG 13 at the least woe to the city of blood full of lies full of plunder never without victims the crack of whips the clatter of wheels galloping horses jolting chariots charging cavalry flashing swords glittering Spears many casual these piles of dead bodies without number people stumbling over the corpses all because of the wanton lust of a harlot alluring the mistress of sorceries who enslaved Nations by her prostitution and people's by her witchcraft oh I am against you declares the Lord Almighty I will lift your skirts over your face I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame I will Pelt you with filth and your like does that mean he's throwing yes I will treat you with contempt I will make you a spectacle all who see you will flee from you and say Nineveh is in ruins who will mourn for her where can I find anyone to comfort you and these are verses they didn't teach me as a little kid because I read those and go oh that's a loving God that's a loving God that may be the definition of the most loving God I've ever read that is a God of justice that says you look at the world around you and someone better pay for the evil someone better pay for the rape someone better pay for the molestation someone better pay for the slavery someone better pay for the prostitution someone better pay for the child abduction someone better pay for the beheadings someone better pay for the pulling out of eyes someone better pay and that is the God that starts and says I'm slow to anger because I really want to give people mercy but oh Assyria you have gone too far and the greatest empire in the world is never heard of again congratulations you now know the book of Nahum and go what do we do with that give our kids nightmares hey here's what we got to be careful of we got to be careful of doing bad Christianity and bad Christianity happens every time we read about people and places and what God does and we make it about us or we make it ours that can be really bad Christianity because we've made an American Christianity out of a bunch of verses and some pages that make it all about us and we're taking things out of context it's why I ask Christians or people talk about their favorite verse Oh mine's Jeremiah 29:11 I know the plans I've made for you declares the Lord plans not to harm you but to prosper you and make you a success happy fingers my verse church wake up that wasn't written to you that wasn't even written to a person that was written to the nation of Israel when God promised out of you I will create a nation and I will bring my son and we turn on and go put that verse on my mud and we are in danger when we look at what God did does to people and go oh that's what we're supposed to do because the Bible is descriptive and prescriptive in other words many passages describe what God did for them and we turn around to make it prescriptive to us and there are other places where the Bible is prescriptive this is for everyone it's son and I know how to explain this you know okay so some of you follow me on Twitter and so we talked back and forth every time we come to Bayside and if you do follow me you know two things I come up to Sacramento for Bayside and mikuni sushi and not in that order and so it's okay hey you're number two it's cool and I always talk and it pains me it pains a chubby guy from San Diego to ever say publicly that Sacramento has better sushi than we do in our entire county but it's true and so some of you have texted hey when you go because you know when I come up here I go to mikuni Saturday night mikuni Sunday afternoon and mikuni Sunday night and so and some of you're like hey I know you're going and can we meet you at McCune ease and I was your flight no no like ah but I heard you go with friends and like you're not one of them said I don't know who you are stalker and you go but Krista's affair if you say you go with people the mikuni shouldn't we be allowed to go no no there's a group of people of people that have known for years there's people in my life that I've invested in them they've invested in me and we always meet and we hang out and it's not you others of you go hey Chris after the service can I connect with you and I go meet me down in front and there's at least nine of you that I texted or tweeted back meet me down in front I stand in front I don't go to a grain room I hate green rooms I come down from the people I go to the people I stand down in front and I'll talk to everyone after the end of every service to the last persons I'm talking that's open to all of you what about my Cooney's what if I talked you down in front do I get to go to what if I buy at makuu knees no that's weird no no that that's the Bible God says this is what I've done in time and place with a group of people unless you find that to my character for all don't make it about you this book is to Israel at a time of oppression under the Assyrian Empire and it's talking about their capital Nineveh representing their people and you go so none of this applies to us it applies to us if we can find this character of God throughout Scripture different times different place and that's when I start going I'm invited to McCune ease this is for all of God's people we understand this at degrees there's a story about a couple guys that get thrown into a fiery furnace in the book of daniel most of you don't think that we're fireproof as christians well I can walk into Fiery Furnaces see yeah there's a guy named Daniel that got thrown into a lion's den most of us don't go around thinking I'll freeze animals can't attack us you know you stay in the Safari Jeep okay that's what God did in times in place so this is the word mayhem spoke to Israel does it apply to us and here's what I want to show you yeah because what Nahum told the people then it's found in chapter after chapter book after book every time Christians start following God and they say why is it my life better God says let me give you a word and whether it's through Nahum whether it's through Jonah whether it's through Jeremiah whether it's through David whether it's through Jesus whether it's through Paul whether it's through people we get the same word about suffering and trials that life sometimes is he gonna be there and that doesn't mean you're wrong and that doesn't mean God wrong that just means that's life and we've fallen for the lie on page three in the Bible page 1 we are live today in this incredible universe because everything started with a big bang that science can't explain page 1 explains that big bang was the voice of God a creator an unmade maker that spoke things into being page 1 page 2 the pinnacle of creation was male and female man and woman created in the very image of this God not to be equal with anything else in the universe and we are made to have an amazing relationship with God an amazing relationship with each other it's page 2 page 3 we don't have that anymore we screwed that one out Adam and Eve and a Satan that comes and says Eve the fruit looks good Eve that's good for you Eve this makes your life better surely God wouldn't deny you happiness God wouldn't want to deny you pleasure eat the fruit and we've been buying the lie ever since that God wants me to be happy God wants my life to be better God wouldn't want me in this marriage God wouldn't want me walking through this God would want me to happy it's the lie on page three he showed up in a book of Job Satan even told God the only reason Christians follow you is because their life is happy you take away their happiness they won't follow you it's the entire book of Job and God says no no people follow me because I'm God not because their life's going better watch this one it's the same lie that Satan told Jesus at the very beginning of his ministry before he started his teachings and miracles in the wilderness and Satan shows up and says Jesus you don't have to go through suffering you don't have to go through obedience you don't have to go through persecution you can be worship now you deserve to be happy and Jesus showed us that following him is gonna involve suffering and he came and suffered and died not to take suffering away from us so that he can walk through suffering with us but we've taken a bunch of verses and said God wants me happy Christian let me make this clear God does not want you happy God wants you holy and there is a difference holiness it's living a life separated from the world holiness is living a life where we're set apart because I follow a different compass I follow a different set of rules and I don't care if you think it's archaic I don't care if you think it's old-fashioned this is the Word of God and I follow it and sometimes it means I'm not gonna be happy but I'm gonna be with God and Jesus suffered and the disciples suffered and the Saints of the old and new testaments suffered and somehow we've taken a bunch of promises for other people and said I'm supposed to be happy and a yunkai named Josiah finds himself in a place where they're suffering and the people are questioning God and Nahum shows up and that same word shows up in psalms 73 and when it shows up in several places I know this is for us not just them so the last place I want you to look is Psalms it's the biggest book in the Bible it's right in the middle of your Bible it's gonna try to fake you out though it starts with the P so look for peace on P Psalm 73 Psalm 73 seriously that's my time about halfway through you guys are gonna have to scoot in we're gonna make room for another 2,000 people Psalm 73 you guys left but the people backstage are always like we shouldn't have had him back Psalm 73 verse 1 surely God is good to Israel to those who are pure in heart but as for me my feet almost slipped I'd almost lost my foothold I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked thank you thank you oh it's about time someone's honest in church it's about time someone takes the first sentences that we all think what church is about and says but let me tell you what it's really like Oh surely God is good to people who are pure in heart but as for me let me tell you what life's really about I'm in Ving people that aren't following God I'm in Ving their lifestyle I want to do what they do I want to sexually have my own freedom without boundaries I want to financially spend it all on my kingdom I want to make life about me and other people are doing it and they're the ones prospering if your Bible has the author of this under Psalm 73 you'll see this Psalm is written by a guy named what Asaph you know as much about Asaph as you do Nahum I'm like ASAP ASAP writes twelve of these songs I've given you a bunch of verses under how it applies to us today through Chronicles you can go back today and read it and see who this guy was if the people of Israel had to vote who is your most spiritual leader my bet is number one we're ben asaph a Saif is the chief worship director Asaph is the guy in charge of all the Lincoln Brewster's of Israel a Saif is the guy that's in charge of the worship for the entire nation and Asaph gets done playing the last song nobody's like and he walks off stage and he goes right through the green room and he sits in his car and he's done with Church and if his church knew what he really wanted he'd realize everyone would find out this church leaders a hypocrite I know God's good to people that love him but but I want to do what the world is doing they're getting away with it they're the ones that are happy and I don't know about you but it's not panning out for me and how it applies to us today SF's gonna take us down a road and how we have to change that all about me all about now attitude the all about me all about now attitude the live from page three that says Jesus died on the cross to save me and make my life better even though he didn't have a better life even though his disciples didn't have a better life when you and I both know we deserve better than Jesus sounds funny when we say it out loud in church but how I tell you our heart beats it well Jesus had to suffer I'm not going through that I know we're supposed to be followers of Christ but not in that way and Asaph has fallen for the what about me and what about now when is this Christianity going to pay off I've been coming to church for nine months and I'm still single I better get his act together I'll give him another month cuz we've been praying more we've been following God more and tumors grow and cancer kills and the finances have gotten worse and the relationship is cold in depth and he better start blessing me because I want to live how they live and ace FS the guts to say it in church as the worship leader he goes they those that don't know God they don't have struggles their bodies are healthy and strong they are free from the burden coming to man they're not plagued by human ills their pride is their necklace they clothe themselves with violence from their calloused hearts comes iniquity the evil conceits of their minds knows no limit they get to do whatever they want to do they get to live however they want to live they scoff and they speak malice in their arrogance they threaten oppression their mouths lay claim to heaven and yet their tongues take possession of the earth therefore people turn to them and drink up their waters in abundance they are the popular ones the celebrities of our society and they say how can God know anything about this does the Most High have knowledge they mock God with their life and they're getting away with it and Asaph has a huge pronoun problem how it applies to us he shows us that focusing on others will depress us focusing on others will depress us did you catch the pronouns in those verses let me just read you what he's focusing on by reading you the pronouns from 4 to 12 they they're they they they they're they're they they're they they're them they're them they Christian you want to find the quickest way to depression focus on people around you focus on their life because we always think the grass is greener focus on what other people are getting away with and this worship leader is depressed he's tired of playing Church he's tired of following God because everyone else who isn't following God is living the type of lifestyle he wants to live have you been there don't answer out loud it's Church we have to fake it man it's good to be a visiting pastor and look where he goes to now verse 13 he changes from looking at them to himself well surely in vain I have kept my heart dear in vain I've washed my hands of innocence all day long I've been plagued I've been punished every morning because focusing on self will only disappoint us he goes from looking at the world and how they live to look at himself and goes what's the use why am i playing church why am i following God why am I trying to live an obedient life it's not paying off the Assyrians are kicking my butt why are we doing this it's all about me in my life and it's not getting better and God where are you and he focuses on himself and he's disappointed I don't know who he's more disappointed with himself or God but it's the same bad Christianity when we focus on God when are you gonna pay off me instead of what God has already paid for us he goes if I would have said this if I would have spoken this I would have betrayed you the children of God and when I try to understand all this it's just oppressive to me until circle highlight underline until I entered the sanctuary of God then circle highlight underline I understood their final destiny Oh surely God you place them on slippery ground you cast them down to ruin how suddenly are they destroyed completely swept away by terrors as a dream when one awakes so when you arise O Lord you will despise them as mere fantasies he starts focusing on God and focusing on God number one will give us an eternal perspective he says god it wasn't until I came back to your temple it wasn't until I came back and focused on you and then I realized I want to trade this lifestyle for theirs I want to give up my weekends for eternity he goes god it wasn't until I came back to you that I realized what I'm envious of what I'm upset about is my little temporary existence when my life is eternal obey sign if you're a follower of Christ understand this life whatever you're going through whatever you will struggle with is as close to Hell as you will ever get this is it and Asaph realized for people that don't know God better living their lives their way he realizes oh god this life is as close to heaven as they will ever taste he goes and I almost threw in the towel on that one because when I focus on God it gives me an eternal perspective number two focusing on God will show us who we really are he says when my heart was grieved when I thought this way my spirit was embittered I was senseless and ignorant I was a brute beast before you God why are you putting up with me what an idiot I must look like to demand that your son died to save me and my life should be better what an idiot I was yet aren't you glad there's jets in the Bible if there are in a yet in the Bible I was smoked a long time ago yet in spite of who Chris is and what he's done and who have come from yet I'm always with you you hold me by your right hand you guide me with your counsel and afterwards you will take me into glory because focusing on God shows us who he really is God I'm trying to base blessings by what I have and I forgot it's who I have you've been with me this entire time and I've wanted more you've given me your counsel and your word to show me how to have contentment not always happiness but to find joy and suffering whom do I have in heaven but you on earth there's nothing I desire besides you last verse 28 but as for me it is good to be near God I've made the sovereign Lord my refuge see folks there and God will show us who he really is and ASF realized it's not what I have in life it's who I have in life and I forgot it because I've made this about my kingdom not gods and lastly focus on God will show us what we really have he goes what do I have in heaven and earth but you you know for me I choose to be near God whatever life throws at me something to think about do I measure God's blessings by the prosperity of life or my closeness to him are you measuring blessings because you're wealthy because you live in roseville seriously what's that tell every believer in a third world country which they could be as spiritual as you and we have made God's blessings about what we have and a SEFs Eze that's what got me depressed and disappointed all about me all about now when I focus on God I realize I'm blessed because of who I and Jesus suffered and died not so that we would avoid suffering but it so he could walk with us through suffering I'll do a couple DeVos this week for you on that point but when we follow Bad Christianity we're gonna have bad Christianity God thanks for showing us a glimpse of your word to your people when they were in persecution your word to your people in dark times your word of hope and encouragement of who you are and what we have thanks for showing us your word of what it's like when we start focusing that blessings are what we have in life instead of who we have God in a room this size I know there's probably some of us here that I've just never made you lord of our life and today's the day we realized maybe we've just been living bad Christianity and if you're sitting here right now and that's you and today's the day say god I want to come back I'm gonna give you my life maybe for the first time I'm been right now just between you and God just say this prayer just say God thanks for bringing me here I needed to hear this I've been doing life my way today I ask you to forgive me and I realized that you sacrificed your son so he could pay whatever penalty I owe you I don't deserve that but I accept it teach me from this day on how to follow you how to learn to love you regardless what happens in life because of how you love me and let me just ask you if you said that prayer well everyone else is still eyes closed and praying can you just put up your hand so I can pray with you to start this journey yeah yeah yes all over yep god I pray for those right now with their hands raised but today would be a day not a magic Genie God of making life better but today would be a day of surrender because we've been living life by our own desires our own rules God made you change their life from the inside out may you show them how much you love them and what you can do with the new chapter as long as we're surrender dear God may you teach them how to follow you from this day forward in Jesus name

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Keywords: Bayside Church, Ray Johnston, Bible, Hope, Compassion, Love, Book Of Nahum (Religious Text)

Id: _COAWiwZiO8

Length: 44min 44sec (2684 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 04 2014