WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:47.200 Well, good morning. 00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:52.640 If you've got your Bibles, open them to Psalm 107. 00:00:53.680 --> 00:00:55.400 That's where we're going to be this morning. 00:00:55.400 --> 00:00:57.780 It is good to be back with you guys. 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:00.720 I'm on the, I feel like, the summer tour. 00:01:01.100 --> 00:01:02.980 It was youth camp a couple weeks ago. 00:01:03.260 --> 00:01:07.940 My family had the opportunity to get away this two weeks ago, so we went with you last Sunday 00:01:07.940 --> 00:01:15.520 to head to the beach for vacation, where it rained four out of the seven days that we 00:01:15.520 --> 00:01:22.240 were there, which normally that is a downer for your beach trip, but it was wonderful because 00:01:22.240 --> 00:01:28.940 I took more naps during those four days than I think I have in my entire life, which what 00:01:28.940 --> 00:01:36.520 that communicated to me as a 43-year-old senior pastor coming out of taking the kids to youth 00:01:36.520 --> 00:01:42.300 camp was, I know you're starting to realize you're not as young as you used to be, but you're 00:01:42.300 --> 00:01:45.180 really a whole lot older than you would like to admit, right? 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:50.500 But it was a good time of rest, a good time with the family, but it is fantastic. 00:01:50.660 --> 00:01:55.740 It was wonderful to be back with you guys this morning and open as we look at Psalm 107. 00:01:55.880 --> 00:01:58.320 Well, a couple of changes that we've had to make. 00:01:58.340 --> 00:02:02.140 We had a lot of things going on today, so we had to make some adjustments. 00:02:02.800 --> 00:02:04.740 How many of you have enjoyed the rain? 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:06.060 It's been good, right? 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:07.320 Your yards are looking good. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:11.420 Yards are looking real flush, thick. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:12.300 It's perfect. 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:18.220 The downside is part of Building 2 flooded on Friday with all that wonderful, wonderful rain. 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:20.800 So we're going to still continue to count it as a blessing, though. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:26.220 So we're not using part of Building 2 until we can get some of the things taken care of 00:02:26.220 --> 00:02:26.660 over there. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:32.280 So we do have a meeting for the parents who have middle schoolers going to Black Mountain, 00:02:32.600 --> 00:02:35.060 and we had communicated that it was going to be in Building 2. 00:02:35.220 --> 00:02:39.940 It will not be in Building 2 after the service today, and instead it'll be right over here 00:02:39.940 --> 00:02:40.920 in room 102. 00:02:41.420 --> 00:02:45.880 And so all the parents of middle schoolers who are going on the Black Mountain mission trip 00:02:45.880 --> 00:02:50.380 or who are interested in going, y'all can head over to room 102 after the service is over 00:02:50.380 --> 00:02:50.600 with. 00:02:50.900 --> 00:02:54.740 And then as the announcement said, we're going to be meeting with Rick and Tina Nolan tonight 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:58.780 to hear all that God's done and look forward in hearing about what they feel like God is 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:03.360 leading them to do next in ministry as they continue to follow Him. 00:03:03.640 --> 00:03:06.880 And we were going to do that in Building 2 tonight at 6 o'clock. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:12.060 We will still have light refreshments time with Rick and Tina, but we will also meet in 102-104 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:12.740 here. 00:03:12.860 --> 00:03:14.860 So we'd love to have you all there. 00:03:15.340 --> 00:03:20.340 Lastly, and definitely important, this week we're going to be leading a team. 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:24.420 My wife and I will be on that trip with some other adults leading our high schoolers 00:03:24.420 --> 00:03:28.420 to do VBS for Hope Valley Church in Salt Lake City. 00:03:29.100 --> 00:03:32.080 And so we're excited about being able to go and to do that. 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:34.580 Pray for us as we're on this trip. 00:03:35.300 --> 00:03:36.980 I'll talk to Lisa Van Ham this morning. 00:03:37.140 --> 00:03:41.540 Lisa's our VBS director, served wonderful with us this year in our VBS. 00:03:41.880 --> 00:03:46.740 And then she's going to be leading the VBS in Salt Lake as well this summer. 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:50.420 And I said, all right, how many volunteers did we have to do our VBS? 00:03:50.420 --> 00:03:55.460 And she said, well, we had 88 volunteers, even more volunteers than that, that were working 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:59.880 for months to create the design, the stage, all of those kind of things. 00:04:00.180 --> 00:04:04.880 So, and if you were here for our VBS, you saw how absolutely wonderful it was and God glorified 00:04:04.880 --> 00:04:10.040 and so grateful for all of those volunteers and the families that were part of that VBS for us. 00:04:10.300 --> 00:04:16.140 The change, and this is the prayer, we're moving from 88 volunteers to 21 volunteers, all right? 00:04:16.260 --> 00:04:24.700 We're moving from months to get all of the stage and everything ready to like three hours before the VBS starts, all right? 00:04:24.940 --> 00:04:27.980 So we just want you to pray for us as we're, as we're doing all this. 00:04:28.060 --> 00:04:33.860 We know that God is in control and we are absolutely excited to see all that the Lord is doing. 00:04:34.180 --> 00:04:38.880 I talked to Dustin Stopman, who's the pastor there a couple of weeks ago. 00:04:38.960 --> 00:04:45.200 And when we first heard about this opportunity, it was just going to be us doing a VBS four nights throughout the week. 00:04:45.200 --> 00:04:48.640 And I say just a VBS and you guys know how much that's included. 00:04:48.640 --> 00:04:52.140 And he said, well, I've got some other opportunities for you guys to do. 00:04:52.440 --> 00:04:57.800 And so what's changed through all that is on Saturday, we'll be hosting two different block parties, 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:02.340 as well as canvassing a neighborhood to let them know about the work that's being done. 00:05:02.400 --> 00:05:04.800 If they want to be a part of the VBS, please to do that. 00:05:05.020 --> 00:05:08.400 But then also we're doing an evening VBS Monday through Thursday. 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:14.080 And in the morning, he asked us if we'd be willing to do a park ministry that morning where we go out into these parks. 00:05:14.080 --> 00:05:17.720 And if you're not aware, Salt Lake City is less than 2% evangelical. 00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:23.460 So more than likely, every person we talk with not only does not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, 00:05:23.640 --> 00:05:28.040 but more importantly, hasn't probably even heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:30.280 And so we'll have those opportunities to do that. 00:05:30.540 --> 00:05:32.500 Here's why I'm telling you our schedule, all right? 00:05:32.780 --> 00:05:34.500 Here's why I'm letting you know all the things that we are doing. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:43.040 If you're awake during that week, chances are we're interacting with someone who is far from the Lord, 00:05:43.100 --> 00:05:46.700 who does not know him, and it may be the first time they're hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:05:46.960 --> 00:05:49.580 So if the Lord lays it on your heart, just pray for us. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:57.480 We're excited to see that 14, 15, 16-year-old, 18-year-old kids are going to be the ones who are doing all the worship, 00:05:58.200 --> 00:06:00.140 who are teaching all of the Bible passages, 00:06:00.660 --> 00:06:05.160 who are doing all of the skits and all of the projects and all of the games and everything that is going on. 00:06:05.440 --> 00:06:09.440 We as adults will be there to support and encourage, but they're running with this. 00:06:09.700 --> 00:06:15.260 And so I want to encourage you to pray for them as they do what the Lord is calling them to do. 00:06:15.660 --> 00:06:17.600 Well, this morning's message, I'm excited about it. 00:06:17.780 --> 00:06:18.960 We're about to jump right in. 00:06:19.880 --> 00:06:21.560 I realized this, taking notes. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:25.860 I got a journal that I journal all my notes in for every message that I've ever written, different ones. 00:06:26.200 --> 00:06:31.660 And I went back and looked over, and I believe these are the most handwritten notes that I ever started with. 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:38.240 Now, I can dense them down, but the most notes and excited to look at this as we continue to look at the fruit of the Spirit. 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:42.040 So Galatians chapter 5, starting in verse 22, says this, 00:06:43.340 --> 00:06:51.860 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:55.260 Against such things there is no law. 00:06:55.440 --> 00:06:59.200 So this morning, what we're going to look at is we're going to look at and understand this word goodness. 00:06:59.340 --> 00:07:04.300 Now, this word goodness is only used in the form goodness four times in the New Testament, 00:07:04.440 --> 00:07:08.400 but the word that it comes from, the word for good, is used way more than that. 00:07:08.860 --> 00:07:17.580 So as we look through and understand what goodness is, we're going to look at this and understand what does it mean for something to be good. 00:07:18.540 --> 00:07:25.940 Now, I want to ask you this, how do you, as an individual, define what is good? 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:36.100 Whether it be a good act that someone does for you, whether it be a good TV show that you watch, whether it be a good day outside. 00:07:36.740 --> 00:07:39.360 Like, I know some of you are loving the heat, right? 00:07:39.700 --> 00:07:45.320 And I can't wait for January to get here where we have those two weeks where it's cold. 00:07:45.400 --> 00:07:46.820 Like, that's what I'm living for, all right? 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:50.220 Like, how do you define what is good? 00:07:50.260 --> 00:07:54.060 Because we can all disagree on what is good, right? 00:07:54.880 --> 00:07:56.600 I was thinking about this this morning. 00:07:57.220 --> 00:07:58.040 Let's think about food. 00:07:58.700 --> 00:07:59.980 Everybody's got their favorite food. 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:01.880 Everybody thinks about what foods are good. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:04.660 Well, we've got four individuals in my family. 00:08:04.760 --> 00:08:07.640 Me, my wife, my daughter, Emma, my son, Grayson. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:09.820 We eat most of our meals together. 00:08:09.940 --> 00:08:11.320 We cook them all in our kitchen. 00:08:11.400 --> 00:08:13.600 The restaurants we go to, we go together. 00:08:14.320 --> 00:08:18.360 We've gone through these last 14 years of trucking right along with this. 00:08:18.580 --> 00:08:26.540 But if you were to ask us, right, what food is good, there's going to be some agreement, but there's going to be some disagreement as well. 00:08:26.780 --> 00:08:34.820 Several years ago, we were down at the beach, and we'd gone to a restaurant, and I posted this video on Facebook years ago, and it cycles through. 00:08:34.880 --> 00:08:37.060 And every time it cycles through, I share it again because I love it. 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:43.240 But I ordered a big plate of raw oysters, and I love them. 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:46.620 And we're sitting there, and Grayson's like, I'd like to try one of those. 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:47.960 I'm like, absolutely. 00:08:48.500 --> 00:08:49.580 So I doctored up, right? 00:08:49.640 --> 00:08:54.020 I had to get it out there, get it on the cracker, get some cocktail sauce, hit it up with some hot sauce, hit it with a squirt of lemon. 00:08:54.280 --> 00:08:54.900 I handed it to him. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:56.000 He popped that thing in his mouth. 00:08:56.280 --> 00:08:58.820 And for about a second, he wasn't sure, right? 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:01.600 And then he went, oh, that's pretty good, right? 00:09:01.920 --> 00:09:05.600 And he gave me, and he helped me eat most of the rest of them. 00:09:06.060 --> 00:09:08.140 And so Emma, right, brothers tried something. 00:09:08.180 --> 00:09:09.020 I want to try something, too. 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:10.440 So she said, I'd like to try an oyster. 00:09:10.580 --> 00:09:11.400 I was like, yeah, absolutely. 00:09:11.540 --> 00:09:13.620 So I doctored hers up exactly the same way. 00:09:13.740 --> 00:09:18.180 And she puts that thing in her mouth, and as fast as it went in her mouth, it came back out of her mouth, right? 00:09:19.060 --> 00:09:22.580 She took it out, and she handed it to me, and just in reaction mode, I was like, I'll eat it, right? 00:09:22.580 --> 00:09:27.000 So, like, no oyster gets wasted, right? 00:09:27.780 --> 00:09:28.740 But we disagree on what's good. 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:30.540 Emma says oysters are bad, right? 00:09:30.760 --> 00:09:32.840 Grayson says broccoli is bad. 00:09:32.900 --> 00:09:34.400 He doesn't like broccoli. 00:09:34.660 --> 00:09:38.580 But he knows that if his mama fixes it, he's got to eat at least one, right? 00:09:38.680 --> 00:09:40.220 So we call it the thank you bite on the plate. 00:09:40.260 --> 00:09:41.700 And he puts it on the plate and eats the broccoli. 00:09:42.020 --> 00:09:43.860 But Emma, oysters are bad, not good. 00:09:44.100 --> 00:09:45.740 Grayson, broccoli is bad, not good. 00:09:45.940 --> 00:09:47.820 And Erin, I don't understand this, right? 00:09:48.040 --> 00:09:49.780 Y'all seen, some of you have seen our garden. 00:09:49.880 --> 00:09:52.300 We like to garden, we like to grow stuff, we like to can stuff, right? 00:09:52.300 --> 00:09:54.960 We got all that stuff in our house, and she grows cantaloupes. 00:09:56.220 --> 00:09:57.500 I love cantaloupe. 00:09:58.300 --> 00:10:02.720 And she pulled a cantaloupe out of the garden the other day, and it was perfect, and I put it in the refrigerator overnight. 00:10:02.980 --> 00:10:07.300 And Saturday, I sat down and ate that entire cantaloupe, and I asked her, do you want a piece of it? 00:10:07.300 --> 00:10:09.700 And she said, no, cantaloupe is nasty, right? 00:10:09.700 --> 00:10:11.260 She doesn't like the cantaloupe. 00:10:11.900 --> 00:10:18.020 Now, I love oysters, I love broccoli, I love cantaloupe. 00:10:18.160 --> 00:10:24.060 If you can figure out a dish that has all three of those ingredients in it, I'd probably be okay with that. 00:10:24.780 --> 00:10:26.660 But do you know what I think is disgusting? 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:33.220 I mean, just like the food, that if you tell me I've got to eat this, I just can't. 00:10:35.060 --> 00:10:37.840 It's raw carrots. 00:10:39.280 --> 00:10:40.180 I know, right? 00:10:40.220 --> 00:10:40.720 You're like, what? 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:41.760 Like raw oysters? 00:10:41.900 --> 00:10:44.820 But no, like the snap of them drives me crazy. 00:10:45.040 --> 00:10:46.020 The taste of them? 00:10:46.220 --> 00:10:54.840 Like every piece and part of a raw carrot is just nasty, unless it's on a salad with about three pounds of ranch dressing. 00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:56.480 Like I can run with that, right? 00:10:57.060 --> 00:10:58.200 But that's it. 00:10:58.740 --> 00:10:59.300 That's it. 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:03.000 But the rest of my family, right, they would say, no, raw carrots are good. 00:11:03.040 --> 00:11:04.200 We love raw carrots. 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:07.680 Raw carrots are good for you, the way they taste, like every part of that. 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:20.520 You see, when it comes to talking about the word good, when we talk about goodness, we need to understand that we all have different standards, and we all have different preferences. 00:11:22.660 --> 00:11:24.560 Well, I was raised with sports. 00:11:24.760 --> 00:11:25.480 I love sports. 00:11:25.540 --> 00:11:26.380 I think sports are good. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:28.460 I was raised in the arts. 00:11:28.560 --> 00:11:29.360 I love arts. 00:11:29.420 --> 00:11:30.940 I think arts are good. 00:11:31.580 --> 00:11:34.060 I was raised reading, and I love reading. 00:11:34.160 --> 00:11:35.540 I think reading is good. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:36.360 Right? 00:11:36.400 --> 00:11:38.980 We all have different standards. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:42.640 We all have different preferences based on who we are. 00:11:42.940 --> 00:11:51.260 And so oftentimes, our definition of good, and this is neither a negative or a positive statement, is based on self. 00:11:52.540 --> 00:11:55.260 I think that's good. 00:11:56.180 --> 00:11:59.420 And you think that's good. 00:12:00.680 --> 00:12:11.120 But today, what we're going to do is we're going to look at a biblical standard of not just what is good, but better, who is good. 00:12:12.340 --> 00:12:13.200 Who is good? 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:18.500 And that he is our standard of goodness. 00:12:19.680 --> 00:12:19.780 Right? 00:12:19.780 --> 00:12:22.740 So goodness is the state of being good. 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:30.800 And Paul, as he walks through this with us, is saying, display the good that is in you. 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:32.800 All right? 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:41.440 So, number one, and we'll get to Psalm 107 here in just a little bit, but I want to kind of walk us through, get us all on the same standard of what we mean by good. 00:12:41.520 --> 00:12:44.020 Number one, God alone is good. 00:12:45.140 --> 00:12:46.060 God alone is good. 00:12:46.060 --> 00:12:48.960 Mark 8, I'm sorry, Mark 10, verse 17 and 18. 00:12:49.420 --> 00:12:57.860 And as he was setting out on this journey, this being Jesus, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:12:57.920 --> 00:13:00.220 And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? 00:13:00.300 --> 00:13:02.360 No one is good except God alone. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:03.460 Right? 00:13:03.620 --> 00:13:07.640 So, this rich young ruler, this is the story of it in Scripture. 00:13:08.060 --> 00:13:13.060 He runs up to Jesus, and he addresses him as an earthly teacher. 00:13:13.060 --> 00:13:16.940 And what Jesus is saying is, we know, like, Jesus is good. 00:13:17.020 --> 00:13:18.060 He's the embodiment of good. 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:21.800 His very character is the fullness of God and the goodness of God. 00:13:21.960 --> 00:13:28.100 But Jesus says, if you're going to address me in an earthly manner, don't you need to understand that only God is good? 00:13:29.100 --> 00:13:30.220 Only God is good. 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:31.200 Right? 00:13:31.280 --> 00:13:36.420 As we were a little kid, maybe even before we learned John 3, 16, right, we learned that prayer. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:37.760 God is great, right? 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:38.940 God is good. 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:41.400 God alone is good. 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:44.260 And God has no evil in him. 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:47.960 There's not one part, no, one attribute. 00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:49.560 There's not one moment. 00:13:49.760 --> 00:13:56.080 There's not one fleeting second in the existence, the eternal existence of God that God is evil. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:04.800 That God in very, his character and his nature and who he is to the fullness of it is fully good. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.360 He has no evil in him. 00:14:08.580 --> 00:14:15.920 And the opposite of that, you and I, in and of ourselves, right, apart from the goodness of God, 00:14:15.920 --> 00:14:17.720 the Bible tells us that we are not good. 00:14:17.800 --> 00:14:19.100 This is what Ephesians 2 tells us. 00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:21.000 This is what Romans tells us. 00:14:21.240 --> 00:14:21.380 Right? 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:22.840 We are not good. 00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:29.260 While I was on the beach this past week on the days that we could be there, I went total like pastor nerd 00:14:29.260 --> 00:14:31.960 and just listened to sermons all week long. 00:14:32.040 --> 00:14:34.780 And listened to a guy who's preaching through the book of Genesis. 00:14:35.060 --> 00:14:36.160 And here's what he says. 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:37.180 He was talking about the fall. 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:41.380 And he's talking about the depravity that fills man and consistently with man. 00:14:41.380 --> 00:14:47.240 And the fact that man in and of ourselves left our own vices like we are evil short of the goodness of God working in and through us. 00:14:47.580 --> 00:14:48.380 And here's what he said. 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.320 He goes, so many people want to argue about the goodness of man. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:53.920 Even Christians want to argue about how we are good. 00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:57.160 And he said, the only problem I have with that is the Bible. 00:14:58.400 --> 00:15:03.260 That we've got like one page, the beginning of Genesis where we get it right. 00:15:03.260 --> 00:15:13.600 And then the rest of it is because we're not good in the full display of God from the beginning to the end and continuing on to the day of his goodness. 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:18.020 God alone is good. 00:15:18.420 --> 00:15:24.060 The second thing as we go through this before we jump into Psalm 107 is God's plans are good. 00:15:24.980 --> 00:15:25.760 God's plans are good. 00:15:25.820 --> 00:15:27.000 Romans 8, 28. 00:15:28.280 --> 00:15:32.420 And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:36.380 For those who are called according to his purpose. 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:37.940 All things are good. 00:15:38.900 --> 00:15:39.500 All things. 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:41.160 All God's plans are good. 00:15:41.660 --> 00:15:45.980 Now what God has planned for your life and my life is good, but that doesn't mean that it's easy. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:49.560 It doesn't mean that there's not moments of difficulty. 00:15:50.100 --> 00:15:51.840 It does not mean that there's not pain. 00:15:52.100 --> 00:15:54.240 It does not mean that we don't need to fight to endure. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.880 In fact, the exact opposite of that. 00:15:57.560 --> 00:16:00.600 But God's plans are good. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:06.320 All things work together for good. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:09.640 And the joy in that means this. 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:17.100 Every moment of pain, every moment of suffering, every moment of difficulty, every moment of persecution, 00:16:17.100 --> 00:16:26.040 every tear that you've wept, every hurt that you've felt that God is using that in a particular way in your life 00:16:26.040 --> 00:16:33.240 that is not logical to man to create within you a deeper level of faith and goodness for your life. 00:16:34.020 --> 00:16:44.520 Every moment of it, every moment of from cancer to criticism is a moment of God working in you and through you to do good. 00:16:45.520 --> 00:16:46.380 All of it. 00:16:47.580 --> 00:16:48.520 And his plans are good. 00:16:50.020 --> 00:16:51.360 And then also God's work is good. 00:16:52.260 --> 00:16:52.960 God's work is good. 00:16:53.040 --> 00:16:54.620 Genesis 1, 31, the first part. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:56.480 This is a repeat verse. 00:16:56.780 --> 00:17:01.600 And God saw everything that he made and behold, it was good. 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:03.520 It's very good. 00:17:04.420 --> 00:17:05.520 It was very good. 00:17:05.520 --> 00:17:10.960 We just saw that God will do is good, but also what God has done is good. 00:17:11.040 --> 00:17:12.760 And that means you. 00:17:14.180 --> 00:17:15.560 And that means me. 00:17:16.580 --> 00:17:21.520 And the work that God has done in you and with you is good. 00:17:21.740 --> 00:17:26.640 I read an author this week, and this is right before we jump into Psalm 107, so if you want to start jumping there. 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:27.860 And here's what he wrote. 00:17:28.860 --> 00:17:37.260 That God is the final standard of good, so all that God is and all that God does is worthy of approval. 00:17:37.580 --> 00:17:47.400 That if God is the final standard of good, then what he is, who he is, is good, and what he does is worthy of our approval. 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:52.740 Like, you and I are not quality control that come in afterwards and say, well, you should have done it differently. 00:17:53.740 --> 00:17:57.800 We're not upper management that says, not your plans, but my plans. 00:17:57.800 --> 00:18:05.060 God is the final standard of good, so all that God is and all that God does is worthy of approval. 00:18:05.060 --> 00:18:09.140 So what we're going to look at it in Psalm 107, and we're going to read all the way through it. 00:18:09.280 --> 00:18:16.520 But what we're going to look at here is we're going to look at and see how do we view God's goodness in our life. 00:18:17.100 --> 00:18:27.200 How do we look at these moments that can seem painful, these moments that can seem hurtful, and understand that they are good in what God is doing. 00:18:27.340 --> 00:18:32.380 So we're going to move quick, stay with us, jump in Psalm 107, verses 1 through 3. 00:18:33.060 --> 00:18:41.280 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:53.320 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble, and gathered in from the lands, from the east and the west, from the north and from the south. 00:18:53.540 --> 00:18:55.180 I want to begin with this this morning. 00:18:56.040 --> 00:18:58.440 We praise because he is good. 00:19:01.020 --> 00:19:14.260 I hope we aren't here worshiping because we just like the song, because we like the message, because the building is comfortable. 00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:15.880 I know it's a little hot, right? 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:19.320 Because you got your friends here. 00:19:20.080 --> 00:19:29.320 But we are here in the display of what we just sang because we testify to, we speak to the goodness of God. 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:32.460 Because I am a recipient of that. 00:19:33.080 --> 00:19:34.080 And I understand. 00:19:34.520 --> 00:19:41.000 And so I declare, even on my bad day, even in that moment of the goodness of God. 00:19:41.060 --> 00:19:45.900 Sometimes, sometimes I'm standing here and I'm worshiping it and I see the tear in your eye. 00:19:47.740 --> 00:19:49.760 And experience that within myself. 00:19:51.360 --> 00:19:56.280 And what we're doing is we're not worshiping because everything around us is good. 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:02.840 We're worshiping because the one who's in us and who's the object of our worship is good. 00:20:04.460 --> 00:20:05.380 And that's it. 00:20:07.260 --> 00:20:12.940 He says his steadfast love endures forever. 00:20:13.700 --> 00:20:16.160 And let the redeemed say so. 00:20:17.040 --> 00:20:18.300 Let us say so. 00:20:18.300 --> 00:20:21.880 So, the psalmist here, which most, a lot of people think it's David. 00:20:21.980 --> 00:20:22.920 I don't know that it's David. 00:20:23.300 --> 00:20:25.060 But he's going to give us some illustrations. 00:20:26.340 --> 00:20:28.320 Some pictures that we can see. 00:20:29.120 --> 00:20:32.580 Of events that would be common in the life of Israel. 00:20:33.100 --> 00:20:37.120 And what we will notice, while the settings may be different, are common in our life. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:41.180 Now, I was telling Berger this morning, talking through this message. 00:20:41.180 --> 00:20:43.920 I was like, you know, I feel like we've got to rush through this. 00:20:43.980 --> 00:20:46.800 But I promise you, we're going to come back at some point in time. 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:48.880 And we're going to take several Sundays. 00:20:49.060 --> 00:20:56.320 And we're going to walk through each one of these scenarios in Psalm 107 to fully understand the goodness of God. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:02.000 So, I apologize that this is going to be a Cliff Notes overview of these as we work through this this morning. 00:21:02.360 --> 00:21:04.220 But Psalm 107, starting in verse 4. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:05.380 The psalmist writes, 00:21:06.020 --> 00:21:12.640 Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in. 00:21:13.360 --> 00:21:16.820 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:19.220 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble. 00:21:19.220 --> 00:21:21.560 And he delivered them from their distress. 00:21:21.880 --> 00:21:26.260 He led them by a straight way until they reached a city to dwell in. 00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:32.460 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man. 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:37.080 For he satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul. 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:39.040 He fills with good things. 00:21:39.800 --> 00:21:42.880 So, the psalmist writes, and we get a picture of the desert. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:46.520 Now, it may feel like we're in the desert right now, right? 00:21:46.620 --> 00:21:49.300 But we understand we're in the tropical desert, right? 00:21:49.340 --> 00:21:51.860 With the humidity that we experience, right? 00:21:52.060 --> 00:21:59.060 Now, the desert, it may be a nice place to visit, but it's not where you want to stay. 00:21:59.940 --> 00:22:07.720 Now, I know we've got some families here recently that have come to our church who have moved here from the great state of Arizona, right? 00:22:07.900 --> 00:22:13.440 And so, what happened in the great state of Arizona is something called technology, right? 00:22:13.520 --> 00:22:16.760 Where they built houses with air conditioners, right? 00:22:16.800 --> 00:22:17.820 And running water. 00:22:17.820 --> 00:22:25.940 Because without that, right, Arizona would not be considered one of the top states to move to in the United States, would not be one of those today, right? 00:22:25.980 --> 00:22:28.640 Because it is a desert state that's there, right? 00:22:28.660 --> 00:22:32.800 You don't want to just go out into the desert and say, I'm good. 00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:34.400 You're not. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:39.460 The desert's a place to die, right? 00:22:40.120 --> 00:22:42.300 So, it might be a nice place to visit, but it's not where you want to stay. 00:22:44.080 --> 00:22:51.860 And in the Bible, the desert is often associated with a place where people go because of their rebellion and running from the Lord. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:54.020 And so, what does the Lord do? 00:22:54.780 --> 00:22:56.640 He graciously turns them over to the desert. 00:22:57.900 --> 00:22:58.460 Do you want to go? 00:22:58.940 --> 00:22:59.620 Do you want to run? 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:00.680 Do you want to rebel? 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:02.120 Go. 00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:03.660 Then go. 00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:09.040 And the word that's used is wander. 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:13.220 They wander in the desert. 00:23:14.080 --> 00:23:20.220 One day, we were at the, I think it's the first day that we were at the beach this past week. 00:23:20.420 --> 00:23:25.800 And Emma had left her shoes at the end of the boardwalk as we walked out onto the beach. 00:23:25.880 --> 00:23:31.440 And then we got out to that beautiful South Carolina sand that absorbs every bit of the heat, right? 00:23:32.500 --> 00:23:35.660 And her bare feet touched the sand. 00:23:36.180 --> 00:23:40.120 And immediately, she looked like an NFL running back, like high-kneeing through it, right? 00:23:40.580 --> 00:23:41.600 Because it was hot. 00:23:42.500 --> 00:23:47.060 And so, where she needed to go, she didn't zigzag. 00:23:47.980 --> 00:23:50.880 She straight-lined it to the water, right? 00:23:51.380 --> 00:23:55.860 Because in that, in the straight line, is where we go. 00:23:55.980 --> 00:23:56.820 And here's what we see. 00:23:57.120 --> 00:24:01.560 That God, in his goodness, he takes the wanderer and he sets their path straight. 00:24:03.060 --> 00:24:05.240 I don't know about you, but have you ever had a spiritual time in the desert? 00:24:06.040 --> 00:24:06.720 I have. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:08.760 I have. 00:24:09.860 --> 00:24:16.100 Through my fault, through my decisions, through my choices, through my rebellion, through my sin, I bring myself into the desert. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:23.280 And what I do is I wander through it, zigzagging, trying to figure out how I'm going to get myself out of it. 00:24:24.380 --> 00:24:30.840 And in the moment that I cry out to God, submit my way to his, what does he do? 00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:32.940 He makes my path straight. 00:24:34.080 --> 00:24:35.940 And takes me right where he needs me to go. 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:37.120 Right? 00:24:37.740 --> 00:24:38.620 And that's what we see. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:39.540 That's in God's goodness. 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:42.660 He takes the wanderer and sets their path straight. 00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:44.060 Let's look at verse 10 through 16. 00:24:45.060 --> 00:24:50.560 Some sat in darkness, in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons. 00:24:50.980 --> 00:24:55.060 For they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. 00:24:55.320 --> 00:24:57.560 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor. 00:24:57.880 --> 00:24:59.980 They fell down with none to help. 00:25:00.340 --> 00:25:01.780 Then they cried to the Lord. 00:25:01.880 --> 00:25:02.680 This is going to be a theme. 00:25:02.940 --> 00:25:07.080 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 00:25:07.080 --> 00:25:12.620 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and burst their bonds apart. 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:18.660 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:23.380 For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts into the bonds of iron. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:26.460 So now we've moved from the desert to the prison cell. 00:25:28.140 --> 00:25:33.720 Both, both brought there by the choices and the patterns of the sins of their heart. 00:25:34.260 --> 00:25:37.020 Now let's just all agree, amen, on this. 00:25:37.280 --> 00:25:41.960 That one of the things that we can draw from the psalmist is our sin is going to take us to some bad places. 00:25:43.120 --> 00:25:48.860 That's where our, that's where your sin, you may think your sin is taking you the easier route. 00:25:49.780 --> 00:25:52.600 You may think your sin is going to take you the more pleasurable route. 00:25:52.600 --> 00:25:59.020 But I can tell you from God's word and from experience that our sin just takes us to bad places. 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:05.620 And what the psalmist says is they rebelled against the words of God and they spurned his counsel. 00:26:05.900 --> 00:26:12.720 But what we see from this, the beauty of this, is that God disciplines and sets free. 00:26:13.760 --> 00:26:15.560 God disciplines and sets free. 00:26:16.840 --> 00:26:20.380 Oh, I love my kids deeply. 00:26:22.380 --> 00:26:30.140 I love my kids in a way that I didn't think that I could ever love anyone. 00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:32.640 I love my wife. 00:26:33.420 --> 00:26:36.520 The day that I met her, I shared the story, I got a long way to go, so I'll cut that short, right? 00:26:36.580 --> 00:26:42.720 But the love for her, the love that I have for them, I didn't know what it would be like to look at them as their dad one day, right? 00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:46.560 And I love them too much for not to discipline them. 00:26:48.180 --> 00:26:51.100 I love them too much for there not to be consequences to their actions. 00:26:52.460 --> 00:26:54.360 And God is our heavenly father. 00:26:55.260 --> 00:27:00.580 He loves you and I too much to not give us consequences for our sins. 00:27:00.820 --> 00:27:02.560 But it's not to punish us. 00:27:03.560 --> 00:27:05.160 It's to discipline us. 00:27:06.300 --> 00:27:08.240 That's what he does. 00:27:08.360 --> 00:27:12.880 That's what he's doing as our sin leads us in bonds and shackles. 00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:17.900 What we choose, but he sets us free. 00:27:19.980 --> 00:27:23.220 What we choose, and then he sets us free. 00:27:23.700 --> 00:27:24.740 They choose their sin. 00:27:24.840 --> 00:27:26.160 They choose their bondage. 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:30.440 They choose this and they cry out to the Lord and he sets them free. 00:27:31.540 --> 00:27:32.060 Think about this. 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:34.860 God, I'm going to do marriage my way. 00:27:36.280 --> 00:27:38.260 I'll choose my way. 00:27:39.360 --> 00:27:44.260 And God, in his grace, in his kindness, in his goodness, he disciplines. 00:27:45.160 --> 00:27:46.060 We cry out. 00:27:46.140 --> 00:27:46.600 We repent. 00:27:47.340 --> 00:27:47.980 And what does he do? 00:27:48.040 --> 00:27:48.820 He sets us free. 00:27:49.540 --> 00:27:50.240 Verse 17. 00:27:50.360 --> 00:27:51.420 Continue in God's goodness. 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:57.460 Some were fools through their sinful ways and because of their iniquities suffered affliction. 00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:01.580 They loathe any kind of food and they drew near to the gates of death. 00:28:01.900 --> 00:28:05.760 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress. 00:28:06.220 --> 00:28:10.940 He sent out his word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction. 00:28:11.400 --> 00:28:18.480 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man. 00:28:18.680 --> 00:28:24.060 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of his deeds and songs of joy. 00:28:24.060 --> 00:28:31.760 What we get here is the picture of someone who is sick and nearing death and what God does. 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:38.180 And we can take that biblically and begin to understand that God saves us from our sin. 00:28:39.360 --> 00:28:39.900 He's good. 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:46.520 The Bible tells us that not only are we sick because of our sin, but that we're actually dead in our trespasses and sin. 00:28:46.520 --> 00:28:51.600 But God, because he's good, loved us. 00:28:52.080 --> 00:28:53.160 Ephesians 2 tells us. 00:28:53.560 --> 00:28:54.280 Ephesians 2.8. 00:28:54.840 --> 00:28:57.360 And made us alive with Christ. 00:28:58.540 --> 00:28:58.760 Right? 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:00.940 Your sin and my sin, they're a death sentence. 00:29:01.960 --> 00:29:03.160 They're a death sentence. 00:29:03.620 --> 00:29:10.120 But Christ, through his sacrifice, heals, delivers, and sets free. 00:29:10.520 --> 00:29:14.900 Not because we're good, but because he is. 00:29:15.800 --> 00:29:16.720 Because he is. 00:29:17.280 --> 00:29:17.660 Let's keep going. 00:29:17.740 --> 00:29:18.280 Verse 23. 00:29:19.280 --> 00:29:25.120 Some went down to the sea and ships, doing business on the great waters. 00:29:26.080 --> 00:29:29.440 They saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. 00:29:30.080 --> 00:29:36.920 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. 00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:38.840 They mounted up to heaven. 00:29:38.840 --> 00:29:39.420 They mounted up to heaven. 00:29:39.420 --> 00:29:41.260 They went down to the depths. 00:29:41.260 --> 00:29:44.800 Their courage melted away in their evil plight. 00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:49.600 They reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wit's ends. 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:54.680 They cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 00:29:55.120 --> 00:29:57.120 He made the storm be still. 00:29:57.480 --> 00:30:00.240 The waves of the sea were hushed. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:05.800 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. 00:30:06.160 --> 00:30:11.520 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man. 00:30:11.740 --> 00:30:18.660 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of elders. 00:30:18.820 --> 00:30:32.900 Here's what we're going to understand, in our life, in our evil that we choose, in our paths that we determine, in our life as we just walk through, in our best abilities, right, to be obedient to the Lord, that doing life comes trouble. 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:39.680 The very first verse here says people are doing the business, and they get onto these boats. 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:42.380 And what happens, look at verse 25. 00:30:43.960 --> 00:31:01.220 I don't know if you've ever been in a boat when a storm comes, but a small wave can feel like a skyscraper. 00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:11.100 And what the psalmist says is he takes the waves up to the heavens and then brings them down into the depths. 00:31:13.100 --> 00:31:27.480 And I don't know about you, but I've never been on a boat when that happens, but I've been out there in life when all of a sudden the storms of life begin to surround me and consume me. 00:31:28.740 --> 00:31:35.400 And it feels like from the top to the bottom, from the top to the bottom. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:37.120 And here's what I want us to see. 00:31:37.140 --> 00:31:40.120 Here's where I think the big idea is from this, about God's goodness. 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:55.860 That in those moments of your life, whether it's on the quiet glass of the water or the rough storm of the sea, that God holds us in his hand and he gives us hope. 00:31:56.720 --> 00:32:05.400 There is not a moment in your life, and I don't care how out of control you think your life is, your life and my life, we are not in control of it. 00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:08.700 But there's not a moment where he is not in control. 00:32:09.840 --> 00:32:19.500 And in the seasons of life, of the storms, what he's doing is building a firm foundation of hope. 00:32:20.300 --> 00:32:23.020 And reminding us in reminding us of who he is. 00:32:23.820 --> 00:32:34.920 And when we've walked through the fire, we've walked through the storm, we know even more and at a greater depth of the goodness of his love. 00:32:37.800 --> 00:32:39.420 Let's look lastly, verse 33. 00:32:39.580 --> 00:32:43.460 Before we look at how we're going to display the good of God, let's look at verse 33 through 42. 00:32:45.460 --> 00:32:59.960 He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, a fruitful land into a salty waste because of the evil of its inhabitants. 00:33:01.280 --> 00:33:06.620 He turns a desert into pools of water, a park's land into springs of water. 00:33:07.840 --> 00:33:12.800 And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in. 00:33:13.900 --> 00:33:18.640 They sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield. 00:33:20.080 --> 00:33:22.220 By his blessing, they multiply greatly. 00:33:23.260 --> 00:33:25.460 And he does not let their livestock diminish. 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:32.020 When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow, 00:33:33.120 --> 00:33:40.180 he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes. 00:33:40.180 --> 00:33:48.560 But he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks. 00:33:49.360 --> 00:33:57.020 The uprights see it and are glad, and the wickedness shuts its mouth. 00:33:58.580 --> 00:34:04.260 Lastly, what I want us to see in the goodness of God is that he's working. 00:34:05.500 --> 00:34:06.220 God is working. 00:34:07.460 --> 00:34:12.160 These verses list some works that don't really seem to make logical sense, right? 00:34:13.260 --> 00:34:17.840 Rivers into desert and springs into dry ground. 00:34:18.980 --> 00:34:29.580 But what I want you to be reminded of and know this morning is that God is always working. 00:34:31.020 --> 00:34:41.560 When our kids were little, really little, toddler little, vacation was a great idea that very rarely played out well. 00:34:41.820 --> 00:34:43.040 You were there with me on that, right? 00:34:43.400 --> 00:34:45.400 Parents of toddlers, like, I get it, that's the struggle. 00:34:45.500 --> 00:34:46.820 That's why we bring grandparents, right? 00:34:46.820 --> 00:34:49.920 Like, grandparents, we know what we're doing, right? 00:34:50.560 --> 00:34:53.280 You are instant child care on the beach. 00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:54.640 That's what you're there for, right? 00:34:54.800 --> 00:35:01.240 But I remember when our kids were little, we would take them out into the beach, 00:35:01.860 --> 00:35:11.260 and we would play, all four of us together as a family, and we'd build sandcastles, and we'd play games, and we'd go out into the water, and we'd go on walks, and we'd pick up seashells, and all of those kind of things. 00:35:11.540 --> 00:35:17.140 And then Aaron and I would have to look back and forth to each other, like, all right, whose turn is it? 00:35:18.080 --> 00:35:19.260 Oh, it's your turn. 00:35:19.900 --> 00:35:24.360 Go sit under the umbrella and just don't do anything, right? 00:35:24.900 --> 00:35:26.300 And that was so good. 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:29.420 And it lasted for about five minutes, right? 00:35:29.480 --> 00:35:34.060 When one of us yelled, like, help, because the kids have gone that way, you know, right? 00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:37.000 But for us, we're like, I got to stop. 00:35:38.240 --> 00:35:39.380 I got to rest. 00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:42.660 I don't know what to do in this moment. 00:35:43.520 --> 00:35:46.260 I don't know how to figure out this season of life. 00:35:46.940 --> 00:35:48.060 I've got to take a break. 00:35:48.120 --> 00:35:49.820 I've got to have somebody come in and help me. 00:35:50.600 --> 00:36:00.800 But what we look at and what we see is that in all of these circumstances, in all of these moments, we see the very working hand of God that while we rest, He's working. 00:36:01.060 --> 00:36:03.240 While we don't understand a plan, He's working. 00:36:03.480 --> 00:36:06.940 While we don't know how tomorrow will turn out, He does, and He's working. 00:36:06.940 --> 00:36:16.540 That in this and through this, through the prison, through the desert, through the sickness, through the storm, through it all, God is working. 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:20.280 And in that is the definition of His goodness. 00:36:21.600 --> 00:36:24.620 As we see the work and the plan of God. 00:36:26.020 --> 00:36:28.120 And the psalmist writes in verse 43, 00:36:29.120 --> 00:36:33.300 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things. 00:36:34.080 --> 00:36:38.360 Let him consider the steadfast love of the Lord. 00:36:39.020 --> 00:36:41.600 To be wise, we put our house on the rock. 00:36:41.740 --> 00:36:43.800 To be wise is to trust. 00:36:44.100 --> 00:36:47.140 To be wise is to remember the goodness of God. 00:36:47.960 --> 00:36:51.740 Let me wrap up this piece, and then I promise this is going to be quick for us. 00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:54.520 About God's goodness. 00:36:55.980 --> 00:36:57.720 And I was reading an author, his name is Wayne Grudem. 00:36:57.920 --> 00:36:59.600 He's a theology professor. 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:01.800 And he wrote this. 00:37:01.860 --> 00:37:02.940 I'm going to have it on the screen. 00:37:04.060 --> 00:37:07.000 Just stuck with me, and just hit with me, and reminded me this week. 00:37:07.880 --> 00:37:11.200 That God's mercy is His goodness toward those in distress. 00:37:12.040 --> 00:37:16.720 His grace is His goodness toward those who deserve only punishment. 00:37:17.480 --> 00:37:24.100 And His patience is His goodness toward those who continue to sin over a period of time. 00:37:25.300 --> 00:37:27.140 I think we can all say amen. 00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:28.800 To God's goodness. 00:37:28.800 --> 00:37:28.920 To God's goodness. 00:37:30.300 --> 00:37:38.860 God's goodness to you is in our eyes displayed to us through His mercy, through His grace, and through His patience. 00:37:39.860 --> 00:37:41.340 So how do we show God's goodness? 00:37:41.340 --> 00:37:43.420 So how do we show God's goodness? 00:37:43.420 --> 00:37:48.260 I can't calm the waters, and neither can you. 00:37:49.220 --> 00:37:52.520 I can't set the captive free, and neither can you. 00:37:53.140 --> 00:37:58.120 I can't get myself out of the desert, and neither can you. 00:37:59.120 --> 00:38:03.940 So how do we display this goodness? 00:38:03.940 --> 00:38:10.720 I don't think this is an all-encompassing, but it was just three things that I was reminded of this week. 00:38:11.520 --> 00:38:12.460 And we'll close with these. 00:38:12.560 --> 00:38:13.760 Number one, choose Jesus. 00:38:14.760 --> 00:38:15.720 Number one, choose Jesus. 00:38:15.820 --> 00:38:19.720 Luke 10, 41 and 42, the story of Mary and Martha. 00:38:20.560 --> 00:38:24.260 If you've raised in the church, you've heard this so many times, right? 00:38:24.580 --> 00:38:30.780 Martha's been running around, getting everything done, getting everything taken care of, but Mary has been just sitting at the feet of Jesus. 00:38:31.980 --> 00:38:39.220 The Lord answered her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. 00:38:40.120 --> 00:38:41.740 Get this, underline it in your Bible. 00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:47.440 Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken from her. 00:38:48.820 --> 00:38:51.340 It's not just that the world wants you to choose bad. 00:38:52.460 --> 00:38:59.680 I think at some point in time, for the most part, you and I are pretty good at not choosing the very bad. 00:39:01.520 --> 00:39:08.940 But what God desires for us is not to choose the lesser good, and to choose him. 00:39:10.600 --> 00:39:12.940 He's our portion. 00:39:14.560 --> 00:39:20.960 So this week, in your life, in my life, the choice is choose the good portion. 00:39:22.020 --> 00:39:22.620 Choose Jesus. 00:39:23.340 --> 00:39:25.200 Number two, very simply, do good for others. 00:39:25.900 --> 00:39:26.620 Do good for others. 00:39:28.160 --> 00:39:29.160 Galatians 6, 10. 00:39:30.680 --> 00:39:41.680 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially those who are of the household of faith. 00:39:42.660 --> 00:39:43.800 Do good for others. 00:39:45.340 --> 00:39:46.520 This isn't complicated. 00:39:48.340 --> 00:39:49.720 Choose good, not vengeance. 00:39:51.140 --> 00:39:52.400 Choose good, not hate. 00:39:53.440 --> 00:39:58.260 But you're like, but you just established, you just said at the very beginning that good is based in preference. 00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:02.920 If we take the world's, but what we understand through this, that good means to do the godly. 00:40:05.020 --> 00:40:15.080 And so to do the godly, to do the good, may be a difficult conversation that you have with a brother and sister in Christ to draw out a sin that you see is headed into a desert. 00:40:16.940 --> 00:40:23.840 To do the good may be to serve when you don't really want to serve, right? 00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:25.240 You want to be served. 00:40:26.120 --> 00:40:29.500 But Jesus says that he came to serve. 00:40:30.520 --> 00:40:32.000 So, do good. 00:40:32.800 --> 00:40:33.860 What does that mean? 00:40:34.860 --> 00:40:37.480 Well, in that moment, do the godly. 00:40:38.600 --> 00:40:39.780 So we're going to choose Jesus. 00:40:39.920 --> 00:40:41.700 We're going to do good for others. 00:40:41.840 --> 00:40:43.640 And then lastly, and we'll end on this. 00:40:44.800 --> 00:40:45.500 Share the gospel. 00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:47.960 Romans 10, 15. 00:40:49.620 --> 00:40:52.440 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? 00:40:53.520 --> 00:41:01.100 As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. 00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:04.340 Gospel means good news. 00:41:05.660 --> 00:41:08.820 Church, we are not a faith of works. 00:41:10.660 --> 00:41:16.760 We don't settle just simply for the display of good. 00:41:17.560 --> 00:41:18.640 Our works. 00:41:19.620 --> 00:41:21.740 The works are good. 00:41:21.900 --> 00:41:23.400 The works are a part. 00:41:24.420 --> 00:41:25.920 But it's got to be with. 00:41:26.780 --> 00:41:29.780 It's got to be with the reason for the good. 00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:31.900 And it's Jesus. 00:41:34.500 --> 00:41:36.920 So we don't scatter all over the world. 00:41:38.360 --> 00:41:40.640 We don't scatter into our homes. 00:41:41.760 --> 00:41:44.320 We don't scatter to our places of work. 00:41:45.160 --> 00:41:49.300 To build up the name of the church, the name of the pastor, the name of yourself. 00:41:49.620 --> 00:42:00.480 We go and we serve and we do good and we proclaim the name of Jesus. 00:42:01.840 --> 00:42:18.040 Lord, we thank you so much for your goodness. 00:42:18.040 --> 00:42:31.100 God, I thank you for your grace given to me this morning in the Bible that is filled with so much more about the goodness of who you are, Lord. 00:42:31.160 --> 00:42:35.120 That it could not be wrapped up into one message this morning. 00:42:35.220 --> 00:42:39.940 But God, in your goodness and your kindness, Lord, I thank you for your word that you give us this morning. 00:42:42.160 --> 00:42:50.440 Lord, I thank you for your goodness to us as through our sin we've wandered through the desert. 00:42:53.160 --> 00:43:03.080 Lord, I thank you for your goodness to us as we've been enslaved and imprisoned to our sin, Lord. 00:43:03.080 --> 00:43:10.000 And in that, you discipline and you set free. 00:43:13.440 --> 00:43:23.940 Lord, I thank you that in your goodness, as we were dead and lost in our trespasses and sin, you healed us. 00:43:25.520 --> 00:43:27.020 And you made us alive. 00:43:29.500 --> 00:43:40.700 You took these dead bones, Lord, and you made them purpose to live for your name and your renown. 00:43:42.980 --> 00:43:54.360 Lord, we thank you for your goodness that while the storms of life approach and they consume us and they take us, 00:43:55.940 --> 00:44:00.620 Lord, there's never a moment where your children are not in your hand. 00:44:03.060 --> 00:44:07.500 And, Lord, the storms are for a purpose. 00:44:09.020 --> 00:44:15.080 They strengthen our faith, make our foundation more firm. 00:44:17.300 --> 00:44:22.160 And, Lord, remind us of the goodness of your continual work. 00:44:24.180 --> 00:44:25.740 We thank you and praise you, Lord. 00:44:27.380 --> 00:44:28.840 And it's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:44:29.680 --> 00:44:30.120 Amen. 00:44:33.060 --> 00:44:47.940 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:44:48.400 --> 00:44:50.560 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:44:51.160 --> 00:44:54.580 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, 00:44:55.160 --> 00:44:59.620 visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:44:59.620 --> 00:45:03.180 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.