Worship Service

well good morning church how are you guys doing today man you guys are a lot more energy than the second service i'm really happy about that hey if you can thank you for coming in everyone online welcome in if you can't watch you jump up to your feet we're going to praise god today this morning together amen [Music] and come let [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] and he has done great things [Music] [Music] and break every chain oh god you have done great things [Music] you have done great things [Music] you'll be faithful forevermore you have done great things and i know you will do it again for your promises yes and amen and god you do greatly [Music] oh god you do great things [Music] oh jesus [Music] [Music] hallelujah you have done great [Music] it all in things god unshakeable hallelujah you have done great things you've done greatly hit [Music] and break every chain oh god oh jesus [Music] [Music] won't cause [Music] amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] he's coming on the clouds [Music] as broken hearts declare his praise for who could stop the lord almighty [Music] this our god is [Music] our god is the lamb the lamb that [Music] open up the up the case make way before the king of kings the god who comes the safe is here to set the captain [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we're slain [Music] oh [Music] for who could stop the lord almighty [Music] oh who could stop the lord almighty [Music] oh who could stop the lord almighty [Music] oh who can stop the lord almighty oh who can stop the lord [Music] [Applause] [Music] that was [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] so [Music] if you know these words sing about you give life you give life you are love you bring light to the darkness you give hope you restore every heart that is broken [Music] so we pour out our praise we pour out our praise it's your bread in our hearts so we pour out our praise that you [Music] you give life you are loved you bring light to the darkness you give home you restore every heart [Music] it's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise we pour out our praises your breath in our lungs so we pour out our prey [Music] and all the earth and all the earth will shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones will sing great are you [Music] our hearts will cry these bones will sing [Music] these bones [Music] in [Music] so we pour out [Music] [Applause] [Music] you come hungry are you lord [Music] are [Music] for great is the lord and greatly to be praised god it is a joy to come into the presence of the living god amen it is a joy because you have won us over you have demonstrated such amazing love that you've won us over you've shown us your heart you poured out your grace god be high and lifted up we come into the courts of the lord to magnify your name you are worthy in jesus name and everyone said let's give the lord praise and glory and honor amen amen amen can we say thank you to the worship team also love you guys thank you so much go ahead and have a seat welcome everyone in the sanctuary welcome everyone joining us online hope you're all doing well man what a spectacular weekend don't know how many of these we're going to have left let's enjoy every one of them right hey would you all do this for me would you take your smartphones out please and open the church app it looks just like this if you don't have the app now let me ask you this moment don't wait go to the play store or the app store whichever you have and search for calvary hillsborough there it is first thing you'll see is the app uh please get it we use it for many things those watching online you're gonna need it also let me highlight for example this tab here called cavity updates is where we continually update when we make changes like we have been doing for example now we have brought back our donuts and coffee on sunday mornings how sweet is that yeah so we're excited about that and we just recently started uh back with our wednesday dinners many of you know from years we've been doing these wednesday dinners before the wednesday service that's our uh verse by verse chapter by chapter service but dinner before is a connection it's a way to build some relationship make some friends that's what church is about build some connection be a family soon we're going to be adding our saturday night dinners before the saturday service and then eventually our sunday night dinners as well the reason why we do it in steps is because uh we need to rebuild our volunteer teams and this is where you have a part so for example go down to this tab here called serving opportunities and notice that we are highlighting this week our koine cafe team greek it means fellowship our cafe is where you get the specialty drinks and whatnot so if you've ever had a desire in your heart to be a barista for the lord today's your opportunity sign up by this is how you do it notice this line you click on that line there's the form opens up once you fill it in the submit button will light up click on that off it goes we'll get you connected and trained and all that sort of thing super easy we're going to get that team filled up and then we're going to move on to the kitchen teams as we can rebuild those as well so help us out love to have your uh your servant heart scroll down to this tab now called growth groups we just added that tab because now as we go into the fall we're launching all of our small groups which we call growth groups there's all kinds available there some for the ladies some for the guys some together and great ways to build connection fellowship be part of each other's lives pray encourage get involved and i want to encourage you growth groups is a great way to do it now go over to highlighted events several things to mention first of all for the women there's going to be a women's fall kickoff breakfast and get this lady's new york steak and egg breakfast finally it's your turn to have a steak and egg thing right and it's only ten dollars that's the other thing ten dollars and uh teenage daughters are free we want to encourage the teenage gals be part of the life of the ministry of the what god is doing in the women right so they're free uh and we uh invite you to come bring a co-worker it's going to be a big crowd for it we know already my wife is speaking and it's a building god's wisdom in your life so i encourage you ladies but you're going to need a ticket right you can get it right on the app right by clicking on the event uh you can get the ticket right through that or the website but do that right away because it's just coming up on saturday september 18th that's just two weeks and at 8 45. you need a ticket make sure you do that right away next thing is for all of you parents of middle schoolers and high schoolers i'm just excited about this next event there's going to be a parent student night of worship and prayer i just love this we got a a youth ministry that is so dynamic right now it's just awesome to see and so we're going to gather the parents and the students together let and we're going to pray over our kids for the school year coming up and just have a night of worship together we're going to have food we're going to serve dinner i love this and so i encourage you sign up parents for it because we're going to serve you dinner we got to know how many are coming and that's going to be friday night okay friday night september 24 6 o'clock parents sign up right away and the big part of it god is doing a great thing i encourage you next thing many of you have been seeing in the news about hurricane ida and the devastation that has hit the louisiana area and we have direct connections there and so uh we are making an impact uh i'm asking if you could partner together now in helping we have already sent just on faith that you would help us i sent them a large uh gift so that they can buy generators uh water supplies all manner of things and they sent pictures back pallets after pallets of generators and water and so this is all devastating to them and many have lost their lives it's tremendously impactful would you partner with us there's a relief fund uh there's a little agape box there's two of them in the lobby after the service if you could stop by and make a donation that would be awesome uh and help us to to stand with them in a time of devastation that's what brothers do amen so i encourage you that way next thing is uh all our children's ministries is asking for teachers and helpers and volunteers as we launch into the fall we want to make sure every class has all the teachers they need so you have a part our philosophy our way of looking at it is like this hey being in the family is a huge blessing we all receive that blessing but we all have a part in the family and the part to help out right and so um this is a great way to do that the kids will bless your lives and light up your life we got everything you need curriculum crafts and all just sign up let us know you're interested in helping just a small background check and we love to get you connected so sign up for that right away next thing to mention is pastor mike dodd is speaking tonight at the six o'clock service out of proverbs 3 his message is the coachable christian come tonight be blessed at the service this evening now uh before the um i talk about tithes and offerings i do want to mention that we're going to be receiving communion today after the message if you did not get a communion pack then please do so even right now feel free to get out of your seat and go back and get one they're at the back of the sanctuary at the ushers table so please do that right away we want to make sure everyone has a communion pack those watching from home i want to mention it also so that you can have the elements there in your home be be ready to be part of communion also after the service all right now our ushers are not coming to receive ties and offerings but instead we have these boxes there you'll see in the back of the sanctuary we call them agape that's greek it means love place to bring ties and offerings but let me suggest also the app is convenient secure great way to bring tithes and offerings and those watching online of course that's a super easy way for you because you can go to this tab here called give donate online for one-time donations or scroll down here to log in to your account then you can set up regular uh gifts and all that if you don't have an account there's a tab right there to create one please do please have that account because it's our connection you get the updates and you can connect to others those watching online you are also going to need an account be part of the life of the church and having that account is a great way to connect also you can go to our website looking at the camera there you can go to calvaryhillsborough.org click members up there everything i mentioned you can do on that page also so again everyone i say thank you for standing with us it's so very much appreciated all right church that's all i have would you all take your bibles please and open the 2nd samuel chapter 14 beginning in verse 1. the title of our message beautiful reconciliation oh what an important message of god's heart found in beautiful reconciliation let's pray lord we want to receive from your word so we open our heart now to receive from you pour out your spirit of life draw us to yourself and reveal the heart of god to us now we ask that in jesus name amen one of the things we appreciate about the word of god is how honest it is about the people in the bible in other words it doesn't just speak about their great victories it also reveals their defeats and their faults in other words god does not gloss over their failures and then you look at the life of david he's no exception god gives a portrait of david you might say warts and all now that phrase by the way warts and all actually comes to us out of history out of the 1600s the story is that oliver cromwell who was lord protector of england in the 1600s hired the king's artist lately to paint a portrait of him now of course you know in the 1600s there was no photography so if you wanted to be remembered in history you had to have your portrait painted now it was common practice at that time for an artist to let's say flatter the one being painted royalty especially expected portraits to show them in the best possible light even if the artist had to be outright fanciful you with me on this kind of like the modern day glamour shots i don't do they still have glamour shots you know it's like these glamour things oh slice of heaven right there you know it's like oh wow and uh cromwell sat down for his portrait and he said famously these words mr laylee i desire that you would use all of your skill in painting my paint portrait in the true likeness of me do not flatter me at all remark all these roughnesses warts flaws and everything just as you see me otherwise i will pay nothing for it he wanted history to remember him flaws in all now you're going to appreciate something about that because you know when you look today for example that facebook and instagram you see everybody else's life and it just seems like everybody's life is so amazingly perfect in every way everyone's kids are so amazingly well behaved and then everything we do is just like oh so wonderful and then you look at your life and you think well i i got flaws but they don't well the scripture makes a point of showing the other people's flaws so that you can relate and you can understand god's honest about me because he's honest about others so the king of israel david his flaws and his failures become inextricably linked to his reign as king he committed adultery with bathsheba we saw this last week he arranged for her husband to be killed in battle he set orders that the her husband be sent to the front and then the men withdraw and then he took his wife to be his own wife now as we saw in the story god would forgive him but there would still be consequences and that itself is a life lesson god forgives but there are still consequences now many of you know my story and and many of you are aware that at the trial for the murder of our daughter that my wife and i forgave the man who killed her yet we asked the jury to give him life in prison now afterward a reporter asked how could that be how can both be true i i responded i forgave him that is between him and me he owes me no debt however there is a breach of trust women are not safe around this man there must still be consequences this is an important life lesson when we sin and we ask god to forgive god most certainly does forgive he forgives because the condemnation for that sin fell upon his son when he died on the cross at calvary and took our sins upon himself but there are still consequences there is still the need to rebuild the life there is still the need to restore that which was broken but the good news is that god will walk with you in the rebuilding god will walk with you in the restoring of your life because he is a good good father he will not cast you off he will not send you away he will walk with you through it all in the rebuilding and the restoring of your life let's give the lord praise and glory so the consequences in david's life are going to be seen for years in his life and in the life of his children so that brings us to chapter 14. now the backdrop or background of the story is that one of david's sons amnon by name had a wrongful desire a sexual desire for his half-sister tamar so he pretended to be sick as a ruse to get her to come into his room he then forced himself on her against her strong protest now afterward he despised her send her away in disgrace but when absalom her brother found out he brought tamar into his own care and then waited for david to settle the matter but david did not settle the matter this great man of action did nothing why and it is a very important part of the story why finally after two years of waiting for david to take action absalom took matters into his own hands and had amnon killed afterward then he fled to gesher home of his mother's family and was banished there for three years estranged from david now there's a breach in the relationship but this is a story of reconciliation of beautiful reconciliation so let's read it second samuel 14 we begin reading in verse 1. now joab remember he is the commander of the forces of david very close to david joab the son of zariah perceived that the king's heart was inclined toward absalom okay here's a breach relationship is broken he's been estranged for three years but joab could see his heart is inclined toward his son absalom so joab devises a way of letting david see this from a different perspective so joab sent her to koa brought a wise woman from there and this is what he said to her please pretend to be a mourner put on morning garments now do not anoint yourself with oil which is to say don't look good look like a woman who has been mourning for the dead many days look all disheveled have your makeup be running all of that then go to the king speak to him in this manner so joab put words in her mouth now when the woman of toccoa spoke to the king she fell on her face to the ground prostrated herself and she said help oh king help and the king said to her what is the trouble and she answered truly i'm a widow my husband is dead your maidservant had two sons but the two of them struggled together in the field and there was no one to separate so one struck the other and killed them now behold the whole family has risen up against me your maidservant and they say hand over the one who struck his brother that we may put him to death for the life of his brother whom he killed and then destroy the air also thus they will extinguish my coal which is left so as to leave my husband neither name nor remnant on the face of the earth so the king said to the woman go to your house i will give orders concerning you but the woman pressed further and the woman of toccoa said to the king oh my lord the king the iniquity is on me and my father's house but the king and his throne are guiltless okay she's leading up to something so the king said whoever speaks to you you bring him to me and he will not touch you anymore but she presses him still further then she said oh please let the king remember the lord your god so that the avenger of blood may not continue to destroy lest they destroy my son and david said as the lord jehovah lives not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground so then the woman said this please let your maidservant speak a word to my lord the king and he said speak so the woman said why then have you planned such a thing against the people of god for in speaking this word the king is the one who is guilty in that the king does not bring back the one who is banished and then she says this this is really an amazing speech right here verse 14. for we shall surely all die and we are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again yet god does not take away life but plans ways so that the banished one may not be cast out from him that's like that's like the gospel in the old testament now would you jump down to verse 18. so then the king answered and said to the woman please don't hide anything from me that i'm about to ask you and the woman said let the lord the king please speak so then the king said is the hand of joab with you and all of this and the woman answered and said well as your soul lives my lord the king no one can turn to the right or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken indeed yes it was your servant joab who commanded me and it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your maidservants in order to change the appearance of things your servant joab has done all these things but my lord is wise like the wisdom of the angel of god to know all that's in the earth then the king said to joab behold i will surely do this thing go therefore bring back the young man absalom now verse 23 so joab arose and went to gesher and brought absalom back to jerusalem ah reconciliation but not quite however the king then said let him turn to his own house and let him not see my face so absalom turned to his own house and did not see the king's face jump down to verse 28. absalom left two full years in jerusalem and did not see the king's face so then absalom sent for joab to send him to the king but joab would not come so he sent again a second time but job would not come therefore he said to his servants see joab's field next to mine he's got bali there yeah go set it on fire so absalom's servants set the field on fire that would surely get attention so joe alba rose came to absolute matters house and said why did your servant set my field on fire absalom answered and said be cold because i sent for you saying come here that i may send you to the king to say this why have have i even come from gesher it would be better for me to still be there now there let me see the king's face if there's iniquity in me then let him put me to death so joab came to the king spoke all these words to him and then david called for absalom thus he came to the king prostrated himself on his face to the ground before the king and the king kissed absalom this is the way in that day for affection for relationship for the fullness of restoring now we have beautiful reconciliation and it's a great story and there's much for us to apply and learn to our lives let's look at david let's understand why david the great man of action did nothing there's a tragedy befalding in his family why did david do nothing i suggest to you because he is spiritually weakened and this is important point don't stay in a place spiritually weakened don't stay there don't say no there's no question that sin diminishes the authority see it diminishes moral authority to stand god wants us to be a people of authority but sin diminishes moral authority to lead something had to be done to break david from his spiritual weakness or slumber why was david taking no action because david was paralyzed because of his own sin in other words sin weakens the soul now there's something we know anyone who's been in a place of doing something tragically sinfully shamefully wrong they know it's it's it weakens the soul how can david take action against his son when he's guilty himself he had a he had an adulterous relationship with bathsheba took the life of of her husband through arranging the the the battle so how can david stand how can david take action he's guilty himself psalm 38 verse 3 speaks to it there is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation we know this many have been there they understand it there's no there's no health in my bones because of my sin there's an inner anguish psalm 40 verse 12 my iniquities have overtaken me so that i'm not able to see they are more numerous than the hairs of my head my heart has failed now parents sometimes today struggle with this they they fail to discipline their children because they look at themselves and say how can i discipline them when i did the same things myself like i was a you know tough kid i was a difficult kid i was rebellious i was i was i did all that now how am i supposed to discipline my kids when i did it myself they think but i suggest that's even more reason to discipline your kids because you know that those consequences are consequences that you don't want them to have in other words you want to spare them from that pain and that shame and those consequences so therefore you want to raise up your kids in the fear and the instruction of the lord that they might have a foundation on which to build their lives and to do well in this life stand on that which god has shown to you learn from those things that you have done that they would not repeat them in their lives amen let's give the lord praise for a great truth so david is paralyzed he has no moral authority he has got no ground to stand on or does he i said yes he does because he could have treated his son amnon the same way that god treated him with mercy with forgiveness habakkuk 3 verse 2 lord i've heard the report about you and i fear oh lord revive your work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make it known but in wrath remember mercy let's we love this about the lord he's a merciful lord he's a merciful god ephesians chapter 4 verse 30 to 32 do not grieve the holy spirit of god let all bitterness and wrath and anger and slander be put away from you these things are grievous but be kind to one another be tenderhearted to one another forgiving each other just as god in christ has forgiven you in other words has gotten god not forgiven you abundantly can you not then forgive you have received so much forgiveness can you not give it david you receive so much forgiveness can you not extend it david you've received so much of mercy can you not extend it david should have confronted the problem straightforwardly and then brought mercy to ammon that's what god did to david he should then have brought the consequences because that's what god did to david he would have been seen as the righteous and just king because this is what god's word says to us hebrews chapter 12 verses 6 to 7 for those whom the lord loves he disciplines god deals with you as the sons what son is there whom his father does not discipline that's one of the ways you know that you are in fact the son of god by adoption because he disciplines he demonstrates it because he wants to correct the way the path in which you're walking god demonstrates his love by even the discipline that he brings that's a good thing but and we see this in the story it's a tremendous insight to take hold of god desires mercy more than sacrifice very important god desires mercy david took no action regarding his son and then for two full years absalom waited and waited while nothing was being done meanwhile his heart is growing bitter finally he waits no more takes action takes matters into his own hands arranged for ammon's death and then escapes to gesture here again david takes no action spiritually weakened he wanted to uphold the righteous demands of the law but he loves his son his heart longs for his son he's in a dilemma and i suggest that there are many people in a very similar place today perhaps they've been hurt somehow someone has offended and in their heart they long they want reconciliation but they also insist that justice must be done i submit that god is in the same dilemma he is the king that stands for justice and righteousness but he longs for a relationship and we see a beautiful example and picture of this in jesus jesus demonstrates the heart of god and it speaks volumes to how god deals with us and how god wants us to relate to others also comes to us out of matthew chapter 9 verses 9 to 13. great story jesus saw a man named matthew or levi sitting in a tax collector's booth now you might know tax collectors in that day were despised by the jews they were considered like betrayers of israel like they're they're like taking taxes for the roman government how could you do this and and they were hated so jesus sees a tax collector in his booth and he comes and he says to him follow me and he got up followed him and left everything i just love that right there he just left everything of his old laugh behind and followed jesus then it happened that as jesus was reclining at the table in his house behold many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with jesus and his disciples i love this picture jesus says to him come follow me first thing he does he goes and invites all his sinner friends to come and meet jesus and they have a dinner in his house with all these tax collectors and sinners and jesus and the disciples are all having dinner with his sinner friends now i love this because we we're a part of this inner friends like we're very thankful that god invited center people like us to sit at the table and have a relationship with him because god seeks sinners to draw them to himself but it tells us that when the pharisees saw this they said to the disciples why is your teacher eating with tax collectors and sitters you can just see them wagging their fingers but when jesus heard this he said it is not those who are healthy who need a physician but those who are sick so go and learn what this means now that i'll tell you is a strong corrective word when he says this go and learn what this means he's speaking to jewish like professors of the law they're like experts at the law yeah and jesus says yeah and you miss the heart of god go and learn what this means i desire mercy and not sacrifice learn what this means i desire mercy and not sacrifice i didn't he says i didn't i come to call the righteous i've come to call sinners to be reconciled right because god's heart is for reconciliation it's one of the beautiful aspects of this story brings us to second samuel 14 and this message from this woman david promised mercy for the woman's supposed son even saying as the lord lives that a hair of your son will fall to the ground she then brings it right back to david why is it then that the king does not bring back the one who is banished in other words you show mercy to someone you don't know but you also show mercy to your own son so she brings up a great point and it can be summarized like this life is short man life is short value relationships you know they said you can't take it with you well there is something you can't take with you and that's relationships and life is short she says it's like our lives are like water poured out that cannot be taken up again life is short psalm 39 verse 4 to 5 lord make me to know my end and the number of my days let me know how fleeting life is you know when you're young you don't think about that you think oh my goodness you know you got a whole life ahead of you you can't even think about you know getting old and fleeting life until you get older when you get older you come to realize how fleeting life is and you begin to number your days you begin to recognize that there is a sense of urgency in how you live psalm 90 verse 12 teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom because i tell you there are many people today broken relationships life is short relationships are a great treasure what a waste not to seek reconciliation because that's god's heart romans 12 18 is another great verse i love the quote which speaks to it if possible so far as it depends on you be at peace with all men now i am thankful he put the words if possible in there because frankly there are some people who are impossible i understand that but then he says so far as it depends on you which means you go as far as you can go as far as it depends on you you go as far as you can to be at peace now many many families have stories of family divisions and one of those family divisions came to my wife's family many many years ago and we were the ones being banished now you might say how can that be pastor you're such a wonderful person i know that's that's exactly what we thought how could this possibly be well i will explain what happened was someone in the family was offended as somebody else so the person that was offended offended decided to rally everybody together and banished the one who did the offending now my wife and i were on vacation we're actually vacationing in mexico i think and so we came back to all this family drama it's like what happened well so-and-so is offended and we're all banishing so-and-so and so you joined the group of banishing people and i said i'm sorry we we don't banish people we're not banishers is that a word that ought to be a word we don't do that we don't banish we're not banishers i'm sorry we cannot do that well if you won't join us in the banishing then you are banished yourself we were on vacation no how did this happen but we were we were banished and this went on they even convinced the dad that we ought to be banished so our kids we had three girls uh of course be adopted later at the time we had our three girls they had no grandparents for seven years this went on but uh you know our view was look they banished us we didn't banish them so you know christmas comes we're going to buy their gifts and their cards and everything and bring them to their house and leave it on their porch birthdays come whatever you know we're going to come live look we're we didn't banish you you banished us we're still loving you we're still standing where we're supposed to be standing because we love you and so we kept doing the seven years went by finally dad got cancer cancer of the throat and he was going to get a uh a tracheotomy a whole you know in the throat he would never speak again so i i said to to my wife this is very traumatic what he's going to experience right now is traumatic he needs love he needs support he needs people standing with him i'm going to the hospital and i'm moving into the hospital so i said to the team here i'm taking time off i'm going to be in the hospital and my wife said oh [Music] they're going to be so offended at this i'm already banished what what are they going to do to me right so i go to the hospital i packed my bags and everything i go to the hospital i stand there at the door and i said uh hi george i'm your new roommate i'm moving in he starts crying i brought him a whiteboard with some things you know so he could write to the doctors and i knew his heart so i tried to intervene with the doctors and him and i shaved him and and brushed his hair and you know and and these days went on finally he got out of the hospital i helped him to find a device a little thing you know that he could hold up here and then you know talk this way you know and then a couple of months later uh this went on for quite some time i gave him uh you know we worked together on this device you know practicing and a couple months later i brought him a big bowl of clam chowder i love cooking because i brought him that thing and clam chowder i was in the chowder at the time and i gave him this big thing and he said can we can we sit down for a minute i want to talk and i said sure and he said i misjudged you i listened to others i should never have listened i'm so sorry could you forgive me i said of course i'll forgive you and then he stood up he amazed me he stood up he walked over and gave me a kiss oh beautiful reconciliation is beautiful for love wins the day amen love wins the day you know we oftentimes think in terms of justice no they did this to me and i'm not going to reconcile until there's justice we think oftentimes this but god desires mercy god desires mercy rather than sacrifice one day again many years ago i was we had a missionary here and i was driving him to the airport and we were talking you know chit-chatting intensely as we were going and the exit for the airport was coming and so i looked and saw oh there's somebody there you know i couldn't get over so i sped up and he sped up so i thought okay i'll slow down and he slowed down he's doing this on purpose he's deliberately not wanting me to get in so i just slow down really slow down and let somebody else between us and then i went over and then i kept on talking and the missionary said now wait why doesn't that bother you i said because i'm getting old and i've learned my lesson just because he's having a bad day doesn't mean i have a bad day and just because he's got a bad heart doesn't mean i should have a bad heart amen oftentimes it's that demand for justice i'm going to get even i'm going to cut him off because he cut me off see a demand for justice but god desires mercy if we would have a heart of mercy i'll tell you what to be a whole lot more peace in this world and there has to be peace in our lives and then we see this out of the story god has made a way for you to come home this is a powerful speech that this woman gives it's one of the best gospel texts in the old testament i tell you verse 14 she says for we shall surely all die we are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again god does not take away life but plans ways so that the banished one will not be cast out from him that is a great verse god has a plan god has a plan for those who are far to be reconciled to him and that plan is found in his son it's found in christ jesus second corinthians chapter 5 verses 19 and 20. god was in christ reconciling the world to himself this is the gospel message god was in christ reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them that is mercy and then it says and he has committed to us this word of reconciliation therefore we are ambassadors for christ it's like in other words god sent his son to reconcile sinners to himself and then commissioned called enabled authorized you to be ambassadors of reconciliation now that's a great thought right there you have been called of god to be an ambassador of reconciliation therefore he says we are ambassadors for christ as though god were making an appeal through us therefore therefore we beg you on behalf of christ to be reconciled to god paul an ambassador of reconciliation is speaking the very word the very heart of god here that's why he says i'm begging you in behalf of christ to be reconciled to god now whenever i think of this word i have to think of i'm reminded of an occasion many many years ago of one of my friends who was witnessing to a fellow in his home and they got to a point where they were kind of stuck and asked me if i could come and so i i said yes and i came and i said what you know what is the obstacle and and the fellow his friend said my objection the reason i i don't believe that i can come to faith is because i think that god has put my name on the list of those whom he has rejected i i responded that's a lot of theology for someone who doesn't yet believe and then i said listen uh i don't believe for a moment that god has put your name on a list of those whom he has rejected in fact i have a word of god for you and then he kind of looked at me like oh really are you one of those weird people and i said no i have a word of god to you it's direct god has given me a word to speak to you and he said really what is it i said this is the word that god has given to me to speak to you i beg you in the name of jesus christ to be reconciled to god i said let me show you this is in fact god's word and i gave him the bible and read these very verses this is the heart of god and later his friend said that he got to lead him to faith in jesus christ what a great story god's heart is to reconcile because the story of redemption is all the way through the bible it is the grand story of the whole thing from genesis to revelation it is the great story of the bible man was banished from god's presence because of the sin of adam in the garden of eden that they might not eat of the tree of life you then you follow the story of redemption after the whole bible until you get to revelation where you see that god has reconciled people to himself and then even brought him into the presence of the living god whereas the tree of life is present revelation 22 verses 1 to 2. he showed me a river a river of the water of life clearest crystal coming from the throne of god and of the lamb in the middle of his street on either side of the river was a tree of life and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations god reaches out it's the story of the whole bible god's heart is for sinners to be reconciled to him and he uses many ways to reach he uses the word of god for example the word of god is sent in power to reach people to be reconciled to him isaiah 55 11. so will my word be which goes forth from my mouth and it will not return to me empty without accomplishing what i desire and without succeeding in the matter for which i sent it he sends his word with his heart that we might see his desire that he's calling us to re reconciliation the ethiopian eunuch in acts chapter 8 was reading isaiah 53. now you might know isaiah 53 is one of the most amazingly clear prophetic words that reveals jesus christ many jews today as a matter of fact it's very interesting many jews don't don't don't don't want to read isaiah 53 but when they do many eyes are open to see that jesus christ is the fulfillment of it and is the redeemer and messiah of israel many are coming to faith today in israel because of this saul was blinded by light knocked off his horse peter was disowned by peter just on jesus and then jesus brought him back over and over he uses all things because god's plan is loving and just he takes our sin upon himself and pays the penalty for that sin on the cross of calvary that's the justice part but he does it as a demonstration of his love because he wants relationship that's the loving part and then lastly we'll close with this that those who are reconciled draw near all right when david agreed to bring absalom home to jerusalem that sounded like reconciliation but it wasn't reconciliation just yet because david refused to see his face only partly reconciled absalom waited two more years and still had not seen david's face so he appealed to joab took extreme measures but he appealed to joab in other words god reconciles us to himself that we might have a full reconciliation not part way but the fullness of reconciliation for there are too many people who accept the offer of reconciliation but they only come so far they see they stay too far from the presence of god they don't feel worthy i've done so many things in my life i have such shameful things in my past you have no idea what i've done i'm just so thankful just to be inside the door they say but god didn't just save you to be inside the door he saved you for the fullness of reconciliation that you would draw near because if you stay just inside the door you're missing out on all that god has for you one of the most beautiful pictures of this has to be the prodigal son found in luke 15. what a great story many of you know the story jesus told that there was a boy a young man who asked for his inheritance early he took a vast sum of money into the city spent it on wild living parties women you can imagine all spent all that he had a great fortune was spent on the world and then when he had no money left the tragedy struck further and that a famine hit the land he had no money he had no job and couldn't get a job finally he got the worst job a jew could ever have feeding swine one day it occurred to him that these swine have food and he does not and then it says luke 15 verses 17 and 24 but when he came to his senses i love that line right there for when a person comes to his senses there's a holy moment right there there's a holy moment when someone comes to their senses when the light dawns in their heart when they see and they finally see he came to his senses and then he said how many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread and i'm dying here with his hunger i will get up i will go to my father and i will say to him this father i have sinned against heaven and in your sight you please note this then he will say to his father i am no longer worthy to be called your son i'm just asking for a job take me as one of your hired men i i'm not worthy to be a son i i've done shameful things i i just need a job that's all i'm asking so he got up and he came to his father but while he was still a long way off his father saw him i love this part of the story because you know the father in the story is a picture of god the picture of god's heart toward us because it says that he saw him felt compassion and he ran down the road and embraced his son and kissed him there he saw he looked down the road you have to wonder how many times had he looked down the road there he saw his son dirty disheveled dragging his pig smelling self down the road and the father sung him and ran ran down the road this is the father's heart the father's heart is for reconciliation runs down the road falls upon his son kisses him embraces him and then of course you know the son has his speech already father i have sinned he's just going to ask for a job but the father he said to his servants bring the best robe and put it on my son put a ring on his hand sandals on his feet bring the fattened calf let us eat and celebrate for this son of mine was dead and has come back to life again this son of mine was lost but has been found this is a great story for many people can relate to this story they they reconcile only so far they just come to the door i've i've done shameful things and they just come to the door i i'm not worthy to be any nearer i'm not worthy to be a son i i just i just i just want to come into the door here's the thing that we have to know god has no employees god has sons god has daughters god does not hire people he has sons he has daughters and with god it's all it's all with him it's everything with him he says to the one who just stands in the door you're standing too far you're too far come nearer you say i'm not worthy to draw neighbor i know all about what you've done i know all about it and i paid the penalty for it all [Music] i love you and i know that if you stay that far away from me you are missing all that comes with being a son and a daughter you come near i'll rebuild your life you come near i'll restore your life i will do something beautiful i will do something marvelous but i'm asking for the fullness of reconciliation you come all the way you come all the way home because god wants revival god is serious god wants revival god wants reconciliation in the fullness of everything it means to be a son of god father thank you so much for your heart in pursuing us in revealing to us your desire for the fullness of relationship and god i'm praying for everyone who is standing too far off [Music] come nearer you come nearer you say i'm not worthy of being nearer i have things in my life i'm quite ashamed of oh i know he says i know all about that my love for you will not fail i'll not cast you off look you come nearer i'll rebuild your life you come near i'll restore i'll walk with you to the fullness of what it means to be a son or a daughter but you got to stop walking out there you got to walk nearer come come in the fullness of reconciliation come church how many today would say that to the lord i want to walk in the fullness of what it means to be a son or daughter i want to walk in the nearness of god i want to walk in the fullness of reconciliation because that's the beautiful life that you have for me that's what i want would you just say that to the lord by raising your hand to the lord i'm asking that's what i want i want the fullness of that relationship and the fullness of that life and the fullness of reconciliation that comes by being a son or daughter father thank you for everyone who stirred of the lord you are moving by your spirit to being true revival and we honor you as as you move upon us we give you thanks and glory in jesus powerful name and everyone said let's give the lord praise and glory and honor amen amen church we're going to receive communion today and i'm so thankful because you know it speaks of the great price that god has paid through his son that we might have the fullness of that reconciliation so if you would would you take the the communion elements those watching at home that you would then also take the bread let's remove the top seal and take the bread and let me read to you what paul wrote to the church at corinth he wrote this i received from the lord that which i deliver to you that the lord jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body given unto you do this in remembrance of me this bread pictures the body of christ the holy righteous lamb of god given unto you it's given to you to partake of you must partake of it there is no mental ascent that anyone can ever achieve that would bring salvation it's only when you partake does it transform the life father we thank you for what this bread represents the body of christ oh father oh how amazing is this we honor you and thank you for it all in jesus name amen let's receive together this bread this picture of the body of christ in the same way he took the cup also after supper saying this cup is the cup of the new covenant initiated in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim the lord's death until he comes the cup pictures for us the the the blood of the son of the living god poured out that day the very life of the son given that you might partake remembering his death and partaking of that death means that you can also then partake of his resurrection for he did not remain in the grave but rose from the dead on the third day defeated death that we might have the promise of eternal life that is love for he wants the fullness of relationship for all eternity that is love so father we thank you for what this cup represents payment in full for every sin we've ever committed we thank you we honor you as we now partake of it in jesus name amen let's partake together of this cup amen church we're going to worship a church that is alive is a worshipping church because it is an expression of the nearness of god he says draw near and worship is an expression of that nearness of heart let's all stand to our feet let's worship let's give him glory with our hearts open wide to the king of kings and lord of lords church i love you may the holy spirit bless you may he fill you with joy may his favor be yours god bless your church [Music] and in the darkness we were waiting without hope without light till from heaven you came running there was mercy in your eyes to fulfill the law and prophets to a virgin came though from a throne of endless glory to a cradle praise the father praise the father raise the sun praise [Music] praise forever to the king [Music] to reveal the kingdom coming and to reconcile the lost [Music] you did not despise the cross and for even in your suffering you saw to the other side knowing this was our salvation jesus for our sake it is [Music] praise [Music] again [Music] for the lamb had conquered dead and the dead rose from their tombs and the angels of all [Applause] [Music] [Music] now this gospel truth of all [Applause] [Music] for the love of jesus christ who has resurrected me [Music] oh praise the father praise the son oh come on [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] come on [Music] amen and amen church go out be blessed have a wonderful sunday we can't wait to see you at our sunday evening service thank you so much [Music] set up

Channel: CC Hillsboro Stream

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Id: fXN71_emW8g

Length: 77min 36sec (4656 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 06 2021