Make Better Choices | The Book of Ruth

[Music] well good morning lighthouse church how are we doing this morning amazing amazing welcome to our lh online family my name is brittany and man we are so excited that you are here with us today over these last few weeks we have just heard story after story of life change happening here at lighthouse church and man we are expecting the same thing to happen this morning so here's the thing i don't know what you came in here with today maybe you're in the fight for your life maybe you're coming out of a battle and you're feeling banged up and bruised up maybe you're about to enter into a fight i don't know where we find ourselves this morning but what i do know is that we were never meant to fight this battle alone that the god of heaven loves us so much he sent his son to come for each every one of us he wants us to come lay everything at his feet and give it to him to fight our battle that's a god worth worshiping amen and that's exactly what we're gonna do so in a few moments jesse and the team are gonna lead us we are going to worship jesus together then pastor john is here he is going to kick us off in a brand new series through the book of ruth so do me a favor this morning lighthouse wherever you are stand up let's get to our feet and worship jesus together [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is a mountain you see a mountain boom and as i walk through the shadows your love surrounds me [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] every fear the battle belongs to [Applause] and if you are for me who can be against me [Music] [Applause] for jesus [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] lay on your feet [Music] if you go before us nothing can stand against the power of our god you shine in the shadows you win every battle nothing can stand against the power of our god [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you in [Music] [Music] nothing can stand [Applause] [Music] with my [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] i'll say [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] amen he's such a good god such a good guy um this this next song we're going to sing is a new one for our night of worship this morning um but really the the heart of the song is is what the heart of the the father is toward us how he views us how he perceives us what the father thinks of us and um and just our relationship with him and um the story that's kind of themed through that is is the story of the prodigal son and um i know all of us each each and every one of us um you know as we really read that story we can relate to that son at times in our lives um where we wander away from the father we we say you know i'm going to take that inheritance i'm going to do it my own way i'm going to do whatever what i want and all of us i feel like are here because at some point we reached that brokenness of i i need to be in my father's house i need to be with my father i'm desperate for him i need to return and the beautiful thing is that um that when we walk that road back to him that is this is a story that jesus himself tells that the father is not just hiding in the house um not not begrudgingly welcoming his son but the father sees his son from afar off and runs sprinting toward him arms open wide to envelop him in a hug puts on his best robe his signet ring and throws a party because he says once uh my son was once lost and now is found was once dead and now is alive and that's the heart of the father toward us that whatever you've done whatever you're you're going through right now you give it over to him you you repent ask ask for forgiveness we can be assured and confident that he's going to come running toward us amen and so as we're singing the song just remember the heart of the father towards you he loves you he loves you desperately and um let's worship him together all right so we're gonna sing this chorus first so you can join in whenever you feel comfortable these scarlets sins had a crimson cost you nailed my dead to that old rug across the empty slate at the empty grave thank god that stone was rolled away [Music] lord i confess that i've been a criminal i've stolen your bread my own soul lord i confess [Music] these shackles i wear [Music] oh [Music] an empty slate at the empty grave thank god that stone was [Music] [Applause] [Music] and then jesus [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] thank god [Music] [Applause] [Music] see bright crooks [Music] the children are singing the father is welcome this is [Music] the father is [Music] the is is [Applause] [Music] was [Music] [Music] is [Music] how amazing is it that while the father's working in us right now while he's with us that that one day we will see him face to face amen one day we'll be with him in paradise will be no more pain no more sorrow only laughing joy and peace and love in his presence thank you lord that that is our story that is our hope that is where we go lord thank you so much for what you're doing in our lives god we worship you jesus we worship you worthy of our worship can we sing that bridge again we're gonna sing that together i see bright crimson roofs i see bright crimson robes draped over the ashes a wide open tomb where there should be a cask the children are singing and dancing in life the father is welcoming this is our homecoming roses and bloom pushed up from the embers rivers of tears flow from good times remember and families are singing and dancing like the father is welcome this is our homecoming is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] in the darkness we were waiting without hope without light till from heaven you came wrong there was mercy in your eyes to fulfill the lord in pride to a virgin came though from the throne of endless praise the father praise the son [Music] glory [Music] to reveal the [Music] [Music] knowing this was our salvation jesus [Music] praise the sun raise the skills [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] held its breath till that stone was moved for good for the lamb had conquered death and the death [Music] and the church of christ was born [Music] [Applause] [Music] in history [Music] [Applause] praise the fear [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] our is praise forever [Music] amen amen thank you worship team i love that song because it is such a reminder um that if you didn't notice that song is kind of the whole history of god's redemptive act in your life in my life in our world and it's such a reminder that this morning we're a part of something that's new and we're a part of something fresh or also a part of something that's so ancient that god's been working with his people and he's been he's been getting us out of hard situations and redeeming and changing lives that is the story of god in humanity and so man there's there's new things we have lights today and we have electric guitars they didn't have that 2000 years ago but it is the same god and he is just as faithful today in your life as he was in the lives of the saints of old and he will be in the saints 100 years from now and so thank you so much for reminding us of that and um if you don't know me my name is john smart i have the privilege of being one of the pastors here so good to be with you thank you so much for joining us online um two things real quick number one who participated in love week over the past week thank you so much we had more than thirteen hundred people serve preach the gospel not just with their words but with their actions in our community serving nonprofits and people that need help all over and so thank you so much for being a part of that i'm sure we're going to have stories coming out for a long time to come second i'm just gonna do one shout out and that is a week from yesterday so next saturday the 23rd we're gonna have our monthly young adult night and so if you're here and you are 18 to 35 we're gonna have worship we're gonna have an encouraging message weather permitting weather permitting we wanna have some fires outside with some s'mores and some apple cider and we wanna have games and all that type of stuff and so if you're here 18 to 35 or you know someone that is we'd love to see you saturday night it's going to be a great time young adults just be not young at heart adults okay that's something different that's a bingo night that's forthcoming uh young adults just kidding i'm just kidding i'm just kidding hey hey the dog that barks is the one you hit with the rock you threw in and so jp that's you um young adults next saturday night love to see you there jp you can come too all right just you let me pray for us today's a big day because we're kicking off a brand new series we're going to be working through the book of ruth and so we're going to be starting in the first chapter but before we do that let me pray for us and then we'll get rolling jesus thank you so much that we can look back on your story and we can see how faithful you've been with your people i pray that would just build confidence in us here and now as we've heard so often over the past two years these are unprecedented times and precedent times and precedent times they're not unprecedented to you and you are faithful and so i pray that we would be strong and anchored in that realization as we gather together today we want to hear from your word we want to try and drum something up we want to hear from your word and we want to be changed and so i asked jesus that you would speak to us pray that we leave here changed more encouraged more built up more in love with you in your name we pray these things jesus amen uh recently i bought my um five-year-old son james i just bought him a bike from uh from walmart and as i'm checking out i went to the little self-checkout thing and i was prompted there was a question that said do you want to buy the warranty with this and uh this is a hard lesson that i always have to relearn over and over again always get the warranty just just if you're buying it from walmart just get the warranty all right if there's nothing else you take from this sermon just get the warranty and i will have done my job in disciplining this church and so um i did not get the warranty i was like ah it's a waste of money you know this is quality stuff and so i took it home and uh uh james loved the bike little bike with a little spider-man helmet and i'm gonna say within the first hour the bike chain fell off of course and i did not get the warranty now the good thing is if for someone who's not uh you know handy like me a bike chain is pretty easy to fix if you know anything about bikes what you do is what happens is you have to make sure that there's the tension between uh where the crank is and then the back with the back tire if there's not enough tension between those two points the chain will fall off and so all you have to do in most cases put the chain back on pull it tight tighten it and it's the tension that actually keeps it in place i say that because as we begin to look into the book of ruth i just want to sort of give us this big idea that there is a tension that runs through the book of ruth there's a tension to be honest that runs through the entirety of scripture there's actually a tension that runs through all of our lives and there's many tensions one of them is the tension between the sovereignty of god and our choices there's a tension between god's plan and our decisions and there's a tension that really comes to the surface in the book of ruth between the decisions people make in the plan and the purpose that god is accomplishing and actually um if you've been in the church for any any length of time you know people christians are very prone to debate these two points of tension um and what can happen sometimes is what you'll see is people will swing too far to one side or the other and they'll lose the tension and so what they'll do is they'll go all the way to the side that it's all my choices it's all my decision and that's a lot of pressure you want to talk about man anxiety and fear and worry if you feel like you carry the whole weight for your salvation and your sanctification your justification you can that can make you a nervous wreck on the other side people can swing to the other side and it becomes all god's plan and all god's purpose and i don't have to do anything and then you can get passive and then you can become cold and then you're not very compassionate and you can become uh the frozen chosen and so what happened in both those scenarios is you lost the tension and all of us i think have a proclivity uh to swing to one side or the other all that to say just like james bike it only works when there's the tension between the two if you swing too far to one side or the other to some degree you've lost the tension that runs through all of scripture that god is sovereign but mankind is responsible and we see this come to the foreground in the book of ruth and so i just want to give us a big lens and then we're going to begin reading starting in verse one here's the big lens two things number one your choices are filled with meaning your choices are extremely important you look at the book of job actually i would say our choices carry much more meaning than we often time even realize you look at the book of job all of heaven is looking to one man to see what's he gonna decide what's he gonna decide and so our choice is sometimes we live in a culture that says hey you know i'm here today i'll be gone tomorrow what i do with my body with my mind with my choice with my life it doesn't matter that's not the biblical worldview your choices are filled with meaning yet at the same time our bad choices cannot thwart god's good plan that's the tension our choices matter but god has a good plan that cannot be stopped by our bad decisions and so i say that because we begin the book of ruth the narrative opens with a man making choices and here we go beginning in verse 1. it says in the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land the days when the judges ruled was a period in israel's history that was chaotic it was violent it was before there was a king in israel and so the the refrain the verse sort of the theme verse of the book of judges uh is in israel there was no king in the land and everyone did what was right in their own eyes it was chaos it was violent there was various religions that would spring up and from time to time god would raise these people these men and women called judges who would set things right get things back in order for a period of time and then it would spin out of control this was a very dark period in israel's history and added to that now there's a famine in the land and the man of bethlehem and judah went to sojourn in the country of moab moab was a country right next door to israel about 50 miles away had totally different culture totally different religion they were they were uh oppositional to israel they were oftentimes enemies or oppressed israel and he and his wife and his two sons and the name of the man was elimelech elimelech in hebrew means my god is king and so here you have in the book of judges there is no king and now here's a potential hero a man by the name of elimelech his name means my god is king and the question is okay this is a chaotic time is this guy going to be a hero in this story goes on to say and the name of his wife was naomi that means either sweet or pleasant like chick-fil-a lemonade and the names of his two sons were ma lon and chileon malon and chileon we believe that means something like sickly or weak or wasting away those two names and so these were probably not healthy guys this is a day and age where you were named either for your physical characteristics or your personality all right so you could be named just for what you look like this was a rough time some of you been born back then your name be big head all right so you should be glad that you're born now not them all right so moulin and chileon and they were ephrathites from bethlehem and judah and they went into the country of moab and remained there they didn't just pop in they lived there but elimelech the husband of naomi died and she was left with her two sons and these took moabite wives and the name of the one was orpah and the name of the other was ruth and they lived there about 10 years and both malone and chileon died so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband let me just say on the front end uh that's actually where we're going to stop in the book of ruth for now let me just say various scholars rabbis commentators have read through that portion of scripture and come to very different conclusions throughout the years um some read that like the ancient rabbis traditionally this has been interpreted um really through a very negative lens of elimelech that the ancient rabbis would go so far as to say that elimelech in moving the moab not only did he disobey god but his death and his son's death was actually god's judgment on him for that decision very very harsh view very very negative view on the other side of the pendulum some read that passage and say well yeah they did experience tragedy but the book of ruth doesn't really blame them for what happened and so you can't really equivocate and say hey that is what happened there it's sort of left open-ended here's what i think let me just tell you on the front end i think that elimelech is extremely relatable and i think he probably wasn't trying to be intentionally either bad or rebellious i think he just made decisions that were bad decisions that he didn't realize at the time that left his family nevertheless alone and desolate and desperate because of the decisions that he made you might say okay that sounds a little bit harsh why are you saying he made bad decisions three things three decisions elimelech made that were bad decisions number one he brought what was that like a chalice did you hear that this is medieval times sorry um it's a serious point like a spittoon um i don't know it's a lot of metal that's all i'm saying three decisions elimelech made number one he runs from god's discipline oh everybody stops laughing now he runs from god's discipline what do you mean by that god had a very special relationship with the nation of israel in the old testament and what essentially what he said is hey israel all right we're going to do i'm going to make you a testimony to the whole world so i'm going to give you you're going to be led directly by god you follow my law and here's what's going to happen i'll protect you i'll provide for you i'll lead you and you're going to be a light to all the nations that they know god is with them in that temple so you follow me i will protect you and it would work for a period of time and then israel be tempted and they'd be drawn away to worship other gods and god would remove his hand of blessing so as to get their attention so they would come back to him there's a cycle you see happen over and over again and so the fact that there is a famine in israel the fact that bethlehem in hebrew means house of bread the original panera so the fact that there is no bread in the house of bread means god is disciplining his people that they have departed from what he's told them to do and and now he's trying to bring them back to him and elimelech says for his family i'm not going to stick around for this in fact i'd rather go to another nation that doesn't even worship my god and not just get food i'm going to live there for 10 years rather than stick around for god disciplining his people and that might we might look at that and go man that's that's that's kind of wild that he would run from god's discipline um but we do that all the time you probably know people probably run into people as a pastor i certainly know people that that we say all the time here at church god loves you just as you are but he loves you too much to leave you that way and that is so true sometimes what we skip over is the way god changes us and molds us and makes us more a person of love conforms us more into the person of jesus make no mistake about it christianity is not just about getting people into heaven it's also about getting heaven into people and becoming more and more like jesus and oftentimes the way god does that is uncomfortable sometimes he brings things to the surface of our heart and the service of our life that that we don't want to deal with this is why hebrews says quoting the book of proverbs my son do not make light of the lord's discipline and don't lose heart when he rebukes you because the lord disciplines the one he loves and he chastens everyone he accepts as a son which means that if god views you as a child he's going to refine you and purify you and raise up things in your life that you may not want to deal with he's going to say i think we need to address this why because more and more he wants us to be and live and talk like jesus and when god begins to discipline us just know i'm saying this as someone who has been disciplined who is being disciplined and refined as you are if you're following jesus when god begins to correct and to raise character issues or assumptions that we have when he begins to challenge us you can receive it or you can run from it if you receive it you go god i i want to be more like you and so i trust you if you run from it if you run from it man you can run physically let me just go to a different church let me go to a different school let me go to a different workplace let me go to a different state let me go or you can run from it emotionally i'm not going to talk about it anymore the problem when you run from it is you take you wherever you go and if you don't address it now it's just coming back later and because god loves us he disciplines us to bring us back to him elimelech runs from god's discipline number two second bad decision that he made he separates from god's people so he's he's not sticking around for god's discipline and then he takes his whole family away from god's people moves to moab they had another god named chamash we believe that this god demanded human sacrifice and so this is totally different culture uh totally sort of antithetical to to following god and worshiping god this is in a day and age by the way there was one place to worship god it was the temple in jerusalem right there's no wi-fi couldn't catch the temple service later on youtube so if you were in a different place you were separated from god's people he's there for 10 years 10 years separated from god's people 10 years his family is doing it on their own they're there so long that his sons actually take wives from this culture that worshiped other gods and just so we're clear the the the heart behind the book of ruth is not that people that are different than us are bad one of the moabites ruth is a moabite she's the hero of the whole story but the fact that he separates from god's people for so long not only was this dangerous physically because you didn't have the same rights that you would have in israel you could be oppressed it was extremely dangerous this is why we're so adamant here man to get into community and to get into church not because of any sort of ulterior motive but because we're people and christianity is a team sport and there's days that i'm weak and i need you to be strong and there's days that i'm strong and you're weak and we balance each other out and that's how you get to the finish line together and so the fact that he goes you know what i'm gonna do it on my own there's such a tendency today to go man i don't need church i don't need small group let me just watch youtube videos i got a sermons on on spotify let me do this and then man i know so many people like that that just drop like flies the scripture says that the enemy of your soul is a prowling lion lions love to find the stragglers that are by themselves and the same thing happens to us and he goes you know what i'm going to separate from god's people and it goes real bad for them three bad decisions number one he he runs from god's discipline number two he separates from god's people and lastly in summary he lives like his own king that his name elimelech means my god is king but the way that he's living he's just sort of making decisions as if he's the king as if he's the one who decides everything as if his his his word is final and again i don't want to demonize elimelech um because ruth does not do that at the same time i find him extremely relatable because he's just sort of making decisions that he feels like a right in the moment his name means my god is king his actions are something different makes decisions makes decisions thinks they're right then at the end of it all his family is broke and alone and desolate alone in a country with no friends with no help all by themselves why because he lived like he was his own king and i just want to say as a pastor and i see a tendency in my own heart and i see a tendency from time to time in other people as you probably do uh as well you meet people that their heart is so right they love jesus man i want to follow jesus and and on instagram they got a little cross next to their name and man everything you they say it's just so clear i want to follow god but then you look at their choices and it's antithetical to everything that they're saying and i don't know you but i do not want to be elimelech i don't want my name to be my goddess king but my life to show i'm actually making decisions and because i made my own decisions now i have nothing to show for it and so what i um want to do because i think this is not just a linolex tendency this is all of our tendency nobody wants to end up like a limelike nobody wants to be hypocritical my god is king but my life does not record that what i want to do in our next few remaining moments is i just want to give us three questions to ask to make better choices three questions to ask so that we you me we do not end up like elimelech with beliefs and sort of verbal aspirations that never our lives never really live up to it three questions that we can ask ourselves to make better more biblical more god-honoring decisions and so we're going to get real practical here the first question and by the way these build on each other the first question if you are facing a decision is it biblical now this is this is the baseline so this question is basically has god expressly commanded it or forbidden it that god had told elimelech and told the people of israel occupy this land possess this land that that was the command that was given this is a command you could argue he disregarded when he went to moab for 10 years and so number one has god expressly commanded it or forbidden this all right now some of these are easy if you're here and you're wondering man i'd shoot should i murder somebody that easy forbidden you're here and you're wondering and should i should i steal i don't know what would god want me to do here what's the best decision to make no if you're here you want to should i lie no why because these are expressly forbidden there's other things that god has commanded and these don't just apply you know to to those sort of ten commandments god has commands about relationships and goddess commands for how we talk to people and got us commands for how we represent him and serve people god has commands for all these various issues and just so we're all clear whenever god commands something or forbids something specifically when he forbids something it's because he has something better in mind for you the original lie in the garden of eden that's the satan told to adam and eve was that god is withholding something good from you and so just just follow your own heart press into your own desires become your own king and then you'll realize what god is holding back from you how many of us may have been there and got the t-shirt that we press into it only to realize god was actually protecting us that that that when god forbids something it's because he loves us now here's the thing here's the catch if we're going to ask the question is it biblical and answer it that means you have to know your bible that's why we're constantly it makes sense right that's why we're constantly constantly saying you have got to get this book into your heart that's why we're constantly saying man a week a one sermon a week it's not enough that's why we're constantly saying man just start reading if you don't know where to start start in the gospels let me tell you something pastors love to hear if you don't know where to start you don't understand something pastors love to hear man i really want to start reading my bible where do i start or hey i've been reading it and i hit a wall and i don't understand this what does this mean or work through this every that everybody when it comes to connecting with god i truly believe everybody is a beginner so there's no shame and saying man i've never done this before i'm going to start this right here right now the only shame is to go man i guess i'm too far behind so i'm never going to do it this is why we're so adam and learn what god says learn his heart so that you can evaluate decisions and go this is biblical this is what god wants me or this is not when you learn what god commands in life then you can echo with david where he says in psalm 119 oh how i love your law it's my meditation all the day how sweet are your words to my taste sweeter than honey to my mouth through your precepts i get understanding therefore i hate every false way what david is saying is i love your law he's saying that see there's in our culture this idea that any type of restriction is is is dangerous and it's bondage the reality is living with ultimate freedom where you have no restrictions you get yourself into bondage all the time all the time which is why david says i am so grateful for your precepts and your law and your scripture in your bible because it keeps me from walking off a cliff it keeps me from walking off the cliff relationally it keeps me from walking off the cliff financially it keeps me from walking off a cliff spiritually i am so grateful for your law so the first question we ask to make good choices is it biblical but that's the baseline there's another level on top of it the second question we ask is not just is it biblical but number two is it wise is it wise you might say i thought biblical is wise no see biblical is just speaking strictly morally did god say yes or no wise is it's not just moral wise is are we thinking short term here or are we thinking long term as well and i would argue the majority of the situations that we find ourselves in in the majority of the decisions that we make it's not just right or wrong black and white the majority are actually is this wise or unwise is this a good decision or a bad decision not just based on has god commanded or not but based on in my thinking short term or long term because for most decisions that you and i are going to make you cannot find a chapter and verse to justify it or to condemn it that's wisdom all right and so uh case in point um is it a sin all right after this service is it a sin to go to taco bell order everything on the menu and eat it within half an hour is that a sin no is it wise no it is not not for you not for your plumbing not wise that's not a moral question that's a wisdom question um is it a sin uh to follow to stalk all your exes on social media is that a sin probably not it's illegal i don't know is it i don't think so we'll answer that after service um is it a sin probably not is it wise no no is it a sin to stay up all night either playing video games or watching netflix when you know you have school or you have work the next morning is that a sin probably not is it wise no is it a sin to flirt with someone that you don't see a future with and you know they're not going to lead you closer to jesus but nevertheless you're still sort of entertaining is that a sin probably not but it's not wise you see what i most of the decisions that we wrestle with are not man is this right did god command this or not because you can't find a chapter and verse for most things most of those are is this wise am i thinking short term or long term am i thinking just immediate gratification or am i thinking that god has made me with a purpose and i want to see that purpose fulfilled is most of our decisions are is this wise and so most of the time i find myself we find ourselves in situations where we're evaluating the wisdom and if you ever wondered man i don't know if this is wise i really need wisdom the good news is that this is what james says if any of you lacks wisdom let them ask god who is stingy when it comes to wisdom [Music] who charges 995 it says let them ask god who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to him generously to all without reproach without reproach means that god will never go you really need help with that gosh okay um it means that god loves when his kids come to him and go hey is this wise is this am i thinking short term here or long term is this a good decision is this a good choice god loves to come alongside his sons and daughters and go i'm so glad you asked why because i love you and i want what's best for you he says whenever if anybody lacks wisdom as i do frequently as i do daily ask god because he gives generously that's just a little bit man it's overflowing he's it's the desire of a good father who wants to bless his kids and he gives it without reproach and he gives it without judgment and he gives it without attitude and james says all you have to do is ask and when you ask believe that he's going to give it to you because he's a good dad three questions to evaluate are decisions number one is it biblical number two is it wise number three is it best and uh is it best that really has the connotation that right now living in 2021 we have more options than ever you can start more things more quickly than ever we are very quick to believe to overestimate our own abilities and our own limitations and our own stamina best asks god you've given me just a little bit of time and a little bit of resources and you've given me your wisdom and i only have 24 hours in a day and so taking all those limitations because you are god and i am not and you are infinite and i am finite taking all that into account is this decision what's best for me in this moment because i can't do everything i can't you can't be a bodybuilder and an artist and a filmmaker an entrepreneur and a parent and a spouse and a scholar and a student and a playground builder and all these stuff you can't do all these god what is this exactly what you've called me to do right now is this best is it that might be a lot of wise things i could do right now but what's happening in my family for where i'm at at school for where i'm at at work for where i'm at in this relationship is this best for where i'm at this is why the apostle paul in first corinthians 3 we actually don't have this verse in there first corinthians 3 he says for some talk about lives he says for some build with wood and hay and stubble he said some people spend their whole lives and they're just doing things that they don't have much value but they're just sort of caught in this motion he says others build with gold and silver and costly gems he said some they're just sort of going through the motions doing things that don't matter some pause long enough to go the way that i'm using my time and my energy in my resources and my life is it what's best for right here and for right now it is this best for long term i i only have so much time is this best three questions to evaluate our choices and our decisions is it biblical is it wise is it best now let me just say this as we get ready to close and the worship team is going to come back out in just a moment in no way is it my intention for those in this room or for those watching online in no way is it my intention to put some sort of guilt trip on you like maybe you came in here heavy and burdened and discouraged and now you feel like leaving okay here's three things i can't do and here's three more things i need to evaluate so that's not my heart in any type of way whatsoever maybe you look back at your decisions and you realize i've never really asked the question is it best and i never really asked is it wise and honestly i haven't even asked if it's biblical i've just lived like my own king or my own queen i've just made decisions as if i'm the sovereign of my own life and now i've got this slew of drama relationally or professionally or whatever financially whatever it would be and and i feel like i can't i've messed up and i haven't made decisions that way here's the deal here's one of the overarching themes of the book of ruth our decisions are extremely important but our bad decisions don't mess up god's good plan and so here's here's why i say that because the story up until this point has been bad decisions took this family into this other country and man now they're in a really rough spot just know this isn't the end of the story because what happens just a few verses later is two courageous women make a different decision in a different choice that naomi goes i'm going back and maybe it's going to cost me and maybe i'm going to be made fun of and maybe i'm going to be mocked because i left with everything and i came back with nothing i don't care i'm going back and ruth makes the choice and i'm going with you and so i it's rough as it is right now i'm starting here and now to make a different choice i'm going back i'm going with you in the story of ruth you probably know this this isn't a spoiler alert not only does ruth become one of the ancestors of the greatest king israel ever knew david ruth becomes the great great great great great great grandmother of jesus himself amen and so you look back and naomi and ruth could go man we're done this is bad there's too many bad decisions let's just give up now not knowing god had an entirely different future an entirely different redemptive story and it started when two women said i'm making a different choice i'm making a different choice regardless of where you find yourself right here right now in the room watching online whether you've made great choices whether you made terrible choices god wants to write your story here and now he's a part of it he's always been a part of it but we can begin to evaluate god i want to make choices that honor you i want to make choices that leave me closer to you i want to make choices that help me point people to you god is it biblical is it best is it wise i want to it's as long as you're not dead god is not done and you can start making different choices here and now this is why jesus said in matthew 11. and i want you to hear this not just as jesus saying to his disciples i want you to hear this as jesus question to you when it comes to your choices wherever you find yourself relationally healthy or relationally distraught financially well up to your eyeballs in debt whether you're here and you've made good decisions that have led you closer to jesus or whether you barely made it into church this morning this is for you are you tired and worn out and burned down on religion come to me get away with me and you'll recover your life i'll show you how to take a real rest walk with me and work with me watch how i do it learn the unforced rhythms of grace i won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly who wouldn't want that and who wouldn't want and that's jesus invitation not just to them but to you and me and from time to time i don't know about you i'll take up that invitation and then i'll forget about it and then i'll end up living not freely and i'll end up living heavy and then i've got to come back to jesus invitation he says hey listen let's do life together let me help you with these choices not saying it's always going to be easy certainly not that is not the christian promise at all what jesus is saying is i'll walk with you and i'll refine you and i'll help you live out the purpose that i gave you so you don't end up like a limelike saying my god is king but living something totally different you'll live authentic and true and light and free and it can start right now so let me pray for us and we're gonna go into a time of worship jesus thank you for that promise thank you for that incredible invitation that you give us and come to me are you tired are you weary are you burnt out by your own decisions come to me jesus we want that we want that so i pray you'd help us to make better choices so we can represent you better so we can love people better so we can be free so we can point other people to freedom jesus help us to be people who walk in step with your word help us to ask is this wise that only comes from knowing you because your wisdom incarnate and not only is it wise is it best we don't want lives filled with meaningless things scrolling through social media only to get the end of our life and realize man what was that all about we want lives that matter and to do that we look to you and so whether it's our first time coming to you jesus or whether it's our hundred and first time we wanna take up your invitation we wanna walk with you we wanna we want you to teach us forgive us as we as we sang that song a few minutes ago man i i stole your breath and sang my own song it's your breath and our lungs and we want to sing your song and so please forgive us of our sin we want to follow you and we know it can start here and now before we even get to the parking lot before we even click out of this video i want to make decisions in keeping with your heart from me because your heart for me is best and it's better than what i would decide on my own help us jesus in your name we pray these things amen [Music] [Music] are you hurting broken within overwhelmed by the weight of your sin jesus is calling have you come to the end of yourself do you thirst for a drink from the well jesus is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] was [Music] [Applause] [Music] leave behind your regrets and mistakes come today there's no reason to wait jesus is calling bring your sorrows and trade them for joy from the ashes a new life is born jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] was [Music] [Applause] [Music] the father's arms [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] christ is [Music] forgiveness was born with all the precious blood of jesus christ [Applause] the was [Music] [Applause] [Music] amen amen hey like i said on the front end of service i don't know where you find yourself today i don't know what you came in here with but like pastor john said i do know we serve a god who invites us willingly to bring our burdens to him every single day and that is good news so if you want prayer if there's something that you've been struggling with if there's someone that you would like to pray with you we don't want you to leave here without taking advantage of that opportunity we're gonna have an incredible prayer team at the front of the stage for lh online fam we've got lh chat available to you take advantage of the opportunity if god has put something on your heart these men and women would love to pray with you hey maybe you're sitting there and and you've never met this jesus that we've been talking about you've never met this jesus that we are singing our praises to because he is so good we would love that opportunity to introduce you to him and help you make the best decision you will ever make so again you can come to the front of the stage join us on lhchat we would love to pray with you individually but before we head out i'd love to pray for us corporately so you join me in prayer god we just thank you for everything that you did through this service today god thank you that um you do not leave us where we are lord that we can come to you no matter where we find ourselves no matter the decisions that we make god and that your mercies are new each morning god i pray as we head out into our weeks lord that you give us time and you show us time to get into your word and that you just pierce our hearts with your word lord that you just give us the wisdom that you so generously give if we ask of it lord to help us make biblical wise best decisions god as you are leading us lord god thank you so much for sending your son jesus to do what we couldn't do and thank you that no matter what we face god we know we can find our strength in you god we love you to the matches name of jesus we pray amen amen man such a great start to this new series ruth i mean everything we hear is always so profitable to hear what the scriptures say to us so i'm grateful i'm excited uh as as britt was saying if you're watching online whether live or throughout the week and you want to pray with someone have someone pray with you pray for you if you want to make a decision i want to start following jesus from this moment jump onto lh chat on the app on the website down the bottom right hand side little icon we actually got the chance to pray with someone this last week who made a commitment to following jesus for the first time if that's you if you're like i want to make that commitment jump on we would love to do that we're both on the chat team you might get one of us or maybe one of the good ones but regardless we would love love love to connect with you yeah absolutely and if you're watching live right after this stream ends we're going to be having that group leader interest meeting if you have that heart for wanting to build community and and help people get connected uh online through a group you just go to lighthouse.church leader group they're going to put that in the chat for you can click that link get all the info for that hope to see you there if you're watching this at some point throughout the week you just jump on lh chat tell somebody you're interested we'd love to have a conversation with you and get you that information as well never too late right never too late chat's always available we love you guys thanks so much for joining us today we'll see you next week for week two of this incredible series you

Channel: Lighthouse Church

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Id: PFhl-Euagj4

Length: 68min 21sec (4101 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 17 2021