Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.
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Thanks for listening.
Well, good morning.
Glad that you are here with us.
It is cold and wet and nasty outside, but glad that you guys are gathered in here today
with us.
And if you're online, thank you for joining us as well.
If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Luke chapter 2, as we're going to
talk about the birth of Christ today.
As you turn there, I want to remind you, we have the announcements to place.
I want to remind you of a couple of announcements.
The first one is our Christmas Eve service.
We will be having a Christmas Eve service.
This is the first Christmas Eve service that we've had in a COVID world, right?
We're kind of getting used to how we can navigate through our normal Sunday mornings, but this
is going to be different for us.
And so we're doing some things different.
We're going to have, instead of one combined Christmas Eve service, we're going to have
it at 4 and 515.
Now, if you're planning on attending here with us on campus, here's what we need from you.
Please go and register, okay?
Normally, that's the largest attended service that we have of the year, as far as everyone
being face-to-face.
And we hope we can accommodate everyone by doing two services.
And the only way that we can ensure that and that we can know what we're going to have
is for you to come and register.
So please do.
Please still.
We've had people ask, can we invite people?
Can we bring our friends and our family with us?
Absolutely.
Just register them with you, and we'll get everybody taken care of and get y'all there.
All right.
So if you're going to watch us online, we are going to stream the 515 service.
And so if you're staying at home still, or if you can't make it that day, then please
join us online.
And we will be taking the Lord's Supper together.
So if you're going to be watching, then please make sure that you have that and have it all
taken care of.
And so we'll worship together that way.
Also, at the end of the service today, Pastor Dave's going to come up on stage and take us
into our business meeting, where we will vote on the budget and the trustees.
And so after the last song, please don't start heading out.
You want to make sure that you're around for that.
So I want to ask you guys a question as we get started today.
When was the last time someone humbled you?
Think there was a moment where you thought something of yourself, and someone through what
they did or what they said humbled you a little bit.
Maybe they humbled you a lot.
I want you to think about that.
For me, the last one that I can remember, I've got to think all the way back to yesterday.
All right?
Yesterday, we got together with Aaron's family for Christmas.
We typically get together the Saturday before Christmas with them.
And so it's Aaron's mom and dad, and her brother, his wife, and their daughter, and our
crew are there.
And so we're there.
And Lily, that's my seven-year-old niece.
Every time we're around each other, we like to spend time together and have some really
good conversations.
And I like to pick at her a little bit, right?
Like that's the relationship that we have.
I don't even really call her by her name.
I just call her Felicia.
And so that's the relationship that we have.
And so we're sitting there yesterday, and we're talking about school.
And we're having lots of conversations about school.
And she begins to tell me about her boyfriend.
Now, now she's seven, okay?
And she's telling me about her boyfriend at school, which you can ask Emma.
I take a stand on that.
I tell Emma all the time.
She's allowed to start dating three days after I'm dead, right?
That's when she can start.
Let the body get good and cold and in the ground, sweetie.
And then you can start dating, all right?
And so, but Lily tells me she has a boyfriend.
And I begin to tell her that this is nonsense.
Like you shouldn't have a boyfriend.
And she begins to give me all the ins and outs of the drama that has taken place at her
first grade Ben Lippin class, right?
And so we're talking, having a good time about that.
And I said, well, why do you like him?
She's like, well, but I like him.
Like, why do you like him?
And she said, well, because he's cute.
Okay, all right.
And I said, well, I bet he's not as cute as me.
She kind of looks at me like I'm crazy, which is probably accurate, right?
And I said, Lily, do you think I'm cute?
And she kind of gives me this look like I don't quite know how to answer this.
And I said, well, let me ask you a different question.
Do you think that your Uncle Bo, who loves you, who cares for you, who's brought gifts
for you, do you think he's handsome?
She looked at me and she goes, no, not really.
To which my father-in-law, sitting on the opposite side of the room, says this.
Here's the humility, right?
Here's where I got humbled.
He said, you got to love seven-year-olds.
They speak the truth.
Here's what he's saying, I'm ugly, right?
Like my father-in-law affirmed that there in that moment.
But there's like this humility that in that moment that she spoke something that maybe that
I want to deny, but to establish what's there, right?
So a lot of times when we think of humility or being humbled, like we think of taking someone
who elevates themselves and knocking them down a few notches to get them back to where
they are, right?
Now, everything yesterday was in good fun and we got to laugh about it.
But when we look at Scripture, it's got to be very clear and very evident to you.
And this is going to really connect with us a lot.
What we talked about last week is that God loves humility.
It's a characteristic and a trait that we see throughout Scripture.
And so what I want to do, I want to read very quickly.
These aren't even going to be on the screen.
There's, I think, nine verses from Scripture that show God's heart for the humble, that show
God's heart for humility.
So we're just going to go quickly, speed read through these.
Psalm 18, 27.
For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.
Psalm 25, 9.
He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way.
Proverbs 3, 34.
Toward the scoffers he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.
James 4, 6.
But he gives more grace, therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Proverbs 11, 2.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
Proverbs 15, 33.
The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
Matthew 18, 4.
Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
In 1 Peter 5, 6.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
So what we find in Scripture, and this is just a small sampling of when humility is used and
described by God as an attribute that should be possessed by his people.
Just in this sampling, we see that humility is connected to salvation, to guidance from God,
to grace from God, to wisdom, to honor, and to greatness.
So humility should be something that you and I can not only see in our life,
but it is something that we are pursuing.
Now, as we look through this, we started with it last week.
As we look through this early birth narrative of Jesus Christ found in Scripture all the way back
to Mary finding out that she'll be the mother of the Lord, to the song that she sings,
we see that humility fills the pages of this narrative.
And here's why I think this is so important.
Go all the way back to our first week and remember that the setting in which, or I'm sorry,
the audience into which Luke is writing.
The Gospel of Luke and the Gospel Acts, both written by Luke, written to Theophilus.
And he tells Theophilus that he is writing them so that he may know Jesus, that he's heard.
Like Theophilus, this isn't his first introduction to Jesus, but that he's heard about Jesus,
but that his friend Luke is writing these things to him in order to confirm in him accurate belief.
And so as Luke is telling this narrative to someone that he deeply loves,
woven into this under God's inspiration is this concept of humility.
All right, so what is humility?
Because humility has got to be different than you and I seeking to knock each other down a peg,
to picking at each other.
And I'll say this, that spiritually speaking, concerning Scripture in the heart of God is this,
that the heart of humility is seeing yourself accurately.
Like, humility is not thinking less of yourself, okay?
Humility is not beating yourself up.
Humility is not this punishment that you and I have to take on.
Humility is not a sign of weakness, all right?
Jesus is humble.
Jesus has lived his life, embraced humility.
But humility is seeing yourself accurately, right?
And that's kind of hard for us to do sometimes.
And as we read through this morning, the first part of chapter 2,
what I want us to see is the humility that's found in this story.
So we'll start reading in verse 1.
It says,
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus,
that all the world should be registered.
And this was the first registration when Canarius was governor of Syria.
And all went to be registered, each to his own town.
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth,
to Judea, the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and lineage of David,
to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son,
and wrapped him in swaddling cloths,
and locked him in the manger,
because there was no place for them in the inn.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
And the angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them.
And they were filled with great fear.
And the angel said to them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy
that will be for all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you.
You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and line in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts,
praising God and saying,
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.
And when the angel went away from them into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has made known to us.
And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.
And when they saw it,
they made known the saying that they had been told them concerning this child.
And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
But Mary treasured up all these things,
pondering them in her heart.
And the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen
as it had been told to them.
And what I want us to do in this story that,
let's be honest, for many of us,
we've heard multiple times.
For many of us, the story, the narrative,
we can find in our nativity scene
that's placed at our house this time of year.
We can see the story told in a Charlie Brown cartoon.
And what I want us to see,
what I want us to focus in on
is the humility in the story.
And then what is the humility drawing us toward?
What does the humility point us toward?
And so the first thing that I want us to look at
are the places.
The places that we find in this story.
Yesterday, Erin and I on our drive there,
I just asked her.
I said, you know,
I've really been thinking about this this week
as we've been seeing different things
that are going on in the news.
She and I are listening to a couple of podcasts
that are dealing with different areas in Syria.
and what's happening there.
And I said, do you ever just wonder why
God in his sovereignty,
the creator of the world,
who knows every mountain peak in every valley,
who knows every square inch of this planet,
that why God chose this area of the world
for all of this to take place
and for all of this to happen, right?
From Genesis all the way through
when we are associated with biblical areas, right?
It's been areas marked of turmoil
and fighting and strife and struggle
time and time again
that why in the world
would God choose these places
in order to reveal himself, right?
We just read in this passage of scripture
within it the connection to Syria that's there.
And it got me even thinking more
of the locations in the places now
because they all matter.
They're not chosen by random circumstance
that God in his purpose,
that God in his time,
that God in his will made these choices.
And for us,
we hear these names in scripture a lot,
but we don't understand the impact of what's there
because we're not from that time,
we're not from that place,
and so you don't know what it's like
until you walk through that
and you get to experience that.
Well, the first place that we hear in this
that helps us understand the story is Nazareth,
that this is where they're going to come from
to Bethlehem.
This is where Jesus is going to live
much of his childhood.
It's why he's referred to as Jesus of Nazareth.
So let's talk about this place for just a second.
Let me describe it this way.
Nazareth is kind of the tough area.
Nazareth is the difficult area.
Nazareth is the hard to live in area.
Like Nazareth is not a place
where people of influence come from there.
Nazareth would never be a place
that you would go to or vacation.
It would probably be a place
where you could get land really cheap
for a really good reason
because you can't give it away
kind of Nazareth place.
This is where we find
and this is where Jesus
is going to be associated with.
So I want us to think about this.
As Jesus is walking
and as Jesus is being identified
in all of the sovereignty
of all of what God could have chosen,
of where God could have placed him,
he labeled him with this type
of rough place
where he would be from
that people would associate him with.
He was from the wrong side of the tracks,
the bad side of town.
And this is where we find
that Jesus will be from.
But God in his sovereignty
didn't have him born there.
Instead, he had him born in Bethlehem.
And this was intentional by God
as revealed in Micah 5 too
when it's declared
that this is where the Messiah
will come from.
Now, Bethlehem is different
than Nazareth.
It's got some importance.
You hear the name
and it's associated with royalty.
Bethlehem is called
the city of David for a reason.
It's where great King David,
the one who slayed Goliath,
the father of Solomon,
it was where he would be anointed king.
It's where Ruth and Boaz
would call home.
So when you hear Bethlehem,
you can think back
to some Old Testament days
of the royalty
and of notable people
from Scripture who was there.
It's an important known city.
And so if Jesus is going to be
from Nazareth,
then at least God, right,
gives him some notability,
some notoriety,
and has him born
in this noble town.
But let's begin to look
at the pieces
as God orchestrates this, right?
So God had Joseph born
in the lineage
that would bring them
through Bethlehem
in order to make this happen.
God willed and purposed Mary
to get engaged to Joseph.
And then through something else
that we can talk about
at a much different time
as God even works
and orchestrates
in the hearts
and in the lives
of non-believers,
takes a pagan ruler
and Caesar Augustus
and has him declared
that the whole world, right,
not just a group of people,
but God says,
we're going to declare
that the whole world
must be registered
so that they have to journey
into this town
where I said
that Jesus would be born.
And so we look at that
and we're kind of blown away.
Like, wow,
like God has handled
all of these details.
God has worked this all out
that God knew
that this person
needed to be empowered
to make this decision
that they would have
to come here
and do this thing
so that Micah 5, 2
could be fulfilled.
But if you know the story,
you know there's one part
in the logic
of working everything out
that's been left out.
There's no place for them.
So why would it be
that God could purpose
and will
and to set in place
in his sovereignty
that this carpenter man
from this town
through this lineage
would make this journey
with his wife
and they would head
into this town
so that the prophecy
could be fulfilled
but God missed out
on the detail
to make sure
that there was just
one room open
at the inn.
And here's the whole point
of the humility.
God never missed it.
Because in the telling
of the narrative
and the humility
that is found
that the Savior
of the world,
the Messiah,
the King
would be born
in this town
but not in a hospital,
not in an inn,
not in a home
but that he would be born
in a cave
where livestock
were kept.
And so in the filth
and in the dirt
and in the nastiness
that was there
and the smells
is where Jesus
would be born.
And we continue
to see
the humility.
You see,
Jesus was not going
to be a man
from Jerusalem
born in Rome
that would take place
in a palace.
But he would be
this little boy
from Nazareth
who his parents
would have to journey
and be told,
no,
you're not valuable
enough
for someone else
to be moved out.
Instead,
let's move you
where the animals live.
and when you're born
will place you
literally
in the trough
that they eat from.
It's in the very beginning
of the narrative
of the life of Christ
and God's desire
to bring about us
a sense of humility.
We see the places
in which Jesus
is going to be from,
the places in which Jesus
is going to be associated with
or filled
with humility.
But it's not just
the places,
it's also the people.
Talked about her
last week, right?
Mary,
somewhere between the ages
of 12 to 14 years old,
little Jewish girl
from nowhere,
and she was chosen
by God.
She wasn't chosen
by God
because of the claim
that she had.
She wasn't chosen
by God
because people said,
you see this girl,
we can follow her,
she's got great leadership.
She was chosen
by God
because of her humility
and obedience
because she lived
her life
to not do
what she wanted,
not to assert herself
to be the strong personality,
but she lived her life
in humility
out of obedience.
And so that's
the mother of God.
But within this,
there's also
the earthly father,
Joseph.
Now,
we don't know
a lot about Joseph,
all right?
Here's what we do know,
that he's a carpenter.
We don't know
if he's a successful carpenter
or not a successful carpenter,
but that's what he does
for a living,
which means this.
He's not in politics.
He's not in power.
He doesn't have authority
and he doesn't have influence.
And so in the lineage
that you would find
from King David,
this has not been
passed down to him.
This is not
where we see Joseph.
So the earthly parents
of Jesus
are just going to be
your regular,
everyday,
average people.
And this is who God
chooses.
The humble people
that will come
in their obedience
to be the earthly
parents of Jesus.
But at least
the audience,
right?
Like God could do
something different
in the audience.
God could choose
kings and queens
that night
to come celebrate.
God could choose
religious leaders
in this narrative
to be able to
point us to.
God could choose
people of power
and people of authority.
but he chooses
shepherds.
Shepherds.
Now,
shepherds live
their life
basically by camping.
All right?
Now,
my family,
we love to camp.
Here's what I want
to tell you guys
about camping.
We got any campers
in here?
Raise your hand
if you like to camp.
All right?
Here's what I want
to tell you
about those of us
who like to camp.
When you go camping,
there's something
that happens
between here
and there.
It's a level
of you stop caring
what you're going
to look like
for as long
as you camp,
right?
Like everybody's camping
and you're like,
yeah,
that's kind of
what we do,
right?
Like you get there
and you go camping.
Now,
your depth of camping
will affect that greatly,
right?
So if you go tent camping,
like I can sometimes
convince my wife
to go do,
right?
Very quickly,
it's like we're just
going to be covered
in dirt
and bug bites
for the next two
or three days,
right?
And that's what
it's going to be.
Now,
when we go glamping
in the big old camper
where there's showers
and all that,
that kind of looks
a little different.
But if you're going
to camp,
you kind of,
it's not the same thing
as staying at the resort
or going on the cruise ship,
right?
Like leave those clothes away.
So you look a little rougher
when you get back,
at least I am.
The thing that I like to do
when we get back camping
is I like to take
the longest shower
of the year for me,
right?
I just let it all
get off of me.
Now,
here's the deal.
Shepherds live
their whole life camping.
This is who they are.
They were dirty.
They smelled bad.
They live nomadic lives.
And like when I say
camping for them,
it would be
they kept their cloak
with them.
They laid their head
down on the rock.
They laid in the same area
where their animals were.
they began to smell like them
and this is the life
that they lived.
They typically didn't have families.
They typically were strangers
out in the wilderness.
And most times,
I read a guy
that just said
the politest way
that it could be
that basically shepherds
were not known
for what he called
their depth
of thinking abilities,
right?
Like this is who they are.
But God
in his sovereignty
who could have chosen
anyone
on that first
Christmas night
sends them.
The outcast.
The least of these.
And so what we see
in this Christmas story
is humble people
from humble places
and this is where
God brings in
the Savior
of the world.
Not born
to a virgin queen,
to a father
who rules nations,
to be celebrated
by those
who live in power,
but humble people
in humble places.
So the question
that I have
for us this morning
is why?
Why?
God wrote the narrative.
God set it all
into place.
God in his writing
of history
chose this setting
for the Messiah
to come.
Why?
Here's the only thing
that I can come to
because it fits
the message.
It fits the message
that God
who created
and who wrote
the story
with humble people
in humble places
is calling
to himself
humble people
from humble places
to respond to him
because what he needs
is people
who have
an accurate
picture
of themselves.
Mary knew
who she was.
You heard it
in her song.
Joseph knew
who he was.
He stood
alongside Mary
the shepherds
knew what they
were
and they were
willing to obey
that the message
of God
drawing
humble hearts
to himself.
Look at the
declaration
that the angel
gives
to him
in Luke 2
verse 10.
And the angel
said to them
fear not
for behold
I bring you
good news
of great joy
that will be
for all people.
for unto you
is born
this day
in the city
of David
a savior
who is
Christ
the Lord.
That from the
very first
proclamation
of what's
publicly
going to be
made known
that the hope
of Jesus
who comes
and what
he is coming
to do
Jesus is going
to do a lot
of things.
Jesus is going
to heal.
Jesus is going
to restore.
Jesus is going
to teach
about relationships.
Jesus is going
to work through
all of these
things but that
in and who
he is
from the very
meaning
of his name
he is a savior.
And so Jesus
didn't come
to make you
and I feel
better about
who we are.
Jesus didn't
come to make
us feel better
about the bad
decisions we've
made.
Jesus came
because the
world needed
to be saved
from themselves
and only
he can do
it.
As we begin
to understand
as we begin
to process
through an
accurate picture
of ourselves
and God
helps us do
this.
God doesn't
say go be
humble and
not begin to
birth within
us the
ability to
see within
ourselves who
we are.
the depravity
that fills
us the
sin that
consumes us
and one of
the most
gracious things
that God
does is he
gives us
the law.
Now growing
up when you
walked into
the house
which we
lived in
you walked
into our
front door
and I'll
never forget
on the wall
as you saw
it as you
were coming
in my mom
had ordered
from the
home interior
company right
this wooden
brass
declaration right
of the ten
commandments so
that when we
walked in
that's what
we saw on
the wall
and that's
what marked
us and for
for so many
people when
they see the
ten commandments
what they see
it as is a
is a standard
at which to
live by and
that by looking
at that standard
we can set the
goal for
ourselves of
what we're
supposed to do
and what we're
supposed to be
and I don't
want to take
away from that
right like
like everything
within there
is the truth
of god's word
that we push
at and as we
pursue as to
the power of
the holy spirit
he transforms
that but have
you ever taken
an honest reading
of the ten
commandments and
then compared
yourself to it
have you ever
had an honest
conversation within
who you are by
holding yourself
up to the
standard of god
if you haven't
let's do that
real quick
now I want
to tell you
I want to
leave out some
of the really
bad stuff
we're going to
keep this g-rated
for the audience
today and I'm
going to be a
little gracious to
us because I
got to beat
myself up this
week by going
through this
we're going to
kind of eliminate
the first handful
that deal with
idolatry not
that that's not
important but that
would take us way
too long to
navigate through
all that so
we're going to
pick back up a
little bit farther
down and kind
of work through
some of these
so I want to
ask you this
question oh and
by the way
we're going to
let your answers
be between you
and the lord
all right so
no showing of
hands or anything
like that all
right number
one have you
ever taken the
lord's name in
vain so let's
let's talk about
that for a second
keeping this
like I said a
little g-rated
so here's what
I want to say
here's what that
means have you
ever in a moment
through the words
that come out of
your mouth used
God or the name
Jesus flippantly
God I hope not
we say
Jesus not in the
context that we're
talking to him
and in those
moments we use it
in a way that
you're not bringing
glory the standard
says remember the
sabbath have you
ever taken what's
precious to God in
the time that he
longs to spend with
us and he used
it selfishly in a
time that's been
taken away from
him God's word
says and parents
if you're in here
you love this one
right I do honor
your father and
mother but let's
be honest God
never sets an age
limit on that so
I don't care if
you're one or
you're 100 God's
standard says honor
your father and
mother and have
you ever done or
said anything that
brought attack or
disgrace onto your
parents and this is
the standard that we
accept not just if
your parents are
believers do not
murder thinking well
I'm good at that
one but Jesus's words
are very clear have
you ever hated
someone have you
ever hated someone
says do not commit
adultery and we can
break this down
multiple ways but
we'll just kind of
go into at the
easiest way maybe
maybe the less
aggressive way and
say this do not
commit adultery what
does your thought life
look like if you're
married have you ever
wish that your spouse
was a little bit like
someone you worked
with and your heart
began to kind of like
that aspect of them more
than the commitment to
them do not steal
all right maybe we have
no bank robbers in
here that's good but
have you ever stolen
time from your
employer showed up
five minutes late and
then lied about it
have you ever taken
credit for something
that someone else has
done or maybe just
not refuted when
someone else praises
you when you know you
had nothing to do with
it have you ever
just fudged a little
bit on your taxes
right like you drop
off that bag of nasty
tore up clothes at
Goodwill and they give
you the blank receipt
and you come home and
now you've given like
ten flat screen TVs to
them like have you ever
done that
Bible says do not bear
false witness
have you ever heard
information about
someone else that's
negative and you don't
know whether it's true
or not but you repeated
it to someone else
I didn't know it's just
what I heard
do not covet
have you ever seen
something that someone
else has that you
don't have and you
felt more deserving to
have it than they did
it's the standard
now here's the thing
scripture is clear
if you've only done
one of these one time
in your life just one
just one time then
you're guilty
and the standing
that we have
before God
says that we're
not worthy
of him
and so God
appears
in humble places
to humble people
to show us something
powerful
that when we come to
him
it's not what we
can bring to him
it's not what we
can do
for him
that the heart
of the gospel
for you
and for me
says that we've
broken
and we've offended
God
more times
than we know
but that not only
that
but in
and of
ourselves
when we do
good
when we do
these things
and we say
but God
I can do
this
but God
I did
this
but God
I did
this
that God's word
says that our
righteousness
that comes from
within ourselves
of all that we
can muster
is like filthy
rags before him
and so what we
need
is exactly
what the angels
come to say
I love their first
two words
fear
not
right
sitting in this
room
watching online
is a bunch
of guilty
people
who all
deserve
wrath
who all
deserve
hell
but in the
proclamation
of all
that we've
done
the word
of God
comes before
us
and says
fear not
because I bring
good news
of the gospel
to you
and that as I
bring this
as I project
forth about
the savior
of the world
that there's a
positioning
found in God's
people
to receive it
and it's
not one
that says
look at me
it's not one
that says
well I deserve
to be saved
it's not one
that says
I know
it's one
that says
I bring
nothing to
you
but instead
you give
this to me
humility
an accurate
picture of
who we are
completely
lost without
Christ
and an
accurate picture
of who he
is
completely
holy
and just
and good
and loving
and so that's
why
God reveals
himself
to humble
people
in humble
places
because it
helps us
understand
the message
of the gospel
would you pray
with me
Lord we thank
you so much
for who you
are and for
what you've
done
your word
is very
clear
Lord
that you
have a
standard
that we
cannot
fulfill
that we
cannot
uphold
that we
cannot
see through
as much
as we
may try
to be
religious
as much
as we
may try
to be
good
we can
never
be
religious
enough
we can
never
be
good
enough
and so
Lord you
come to
us
to save
us
Lord those
who are
saved
need to be
saved
because they
cannot save
themselves
and that's
where you
appear
and that's
where you
reveal
and that's
what you
show as
you draw
hearts
to yourself
because of
who you
are Lord
and what
you've
done
God I
pray that
this morning
if we
walked into
this room
with any
sense of
self-righteousness
if we walked
into here
with any
sense of
saying that
we deserve
anything
from you
anything
Lord can we
take that
part
of our
sinful
heart
and lay
it down
and repent
so that
we may
experience
the joy
and the
life that
comes from
you
may this
be our
posture
of every
day
of every
moment
of every
hour
of what
it means
to show
fear of
the Lord
humility
before the
Lord
who you
are
what you
done
so Lord
I thank
you that
you come
to
weak
dirty
outcast
shepherds
like us
and you
speak the
joy
of salvation
into our
lives
Jesus we
love you
we praise
you
it's your name
we pray
thanks again
for listening
to the
Willow Ridge
Church weekly
podcast we
hope that you
enjoyed listening
to this week's
message if
you'd like to
learn more
about who
we are or
explore additional
resources visit
us online at
www.willowridgechurch.com
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