Willow Ridge Sermons

Sunday, January 31st • Beau Bradberry

"Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God." — Luke 8:1

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Show Notes

Sunday, January 31st • Beau Bradberry

"Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God." — Luke 8:1

–
Podcast: https://pod.link/willowridgechurch
Website: https://willowridgechurch.org
Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowridgechurch
Facebook: https://facebook.com/willowridgechurch
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@willowridgechurch

Creators and Guests

Host

Beau Bradberry

Senior Pastor

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

Sermon audio from Sunday services at Willow Ridge Church.

Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

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We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear

the latest message.

Thanks for listening.

Well, good morning.

I just want to share with y'all, because I feel like everyone just saw something.

Let me clarify real quick.

One of my fears in life almost just happened right before all of you.

Hopefully, you were all watching the screen, but I have a feeling that we have some personalities

that are like me, which whatever you're supposed to do, you're going to find something else to do.

And as I'm walking across the stage, my foot catches this right here, and I have this.

Play it off really cool as we come back over here.

So, if you saw me stumble, yeah, that was it, and it was about to be ugly in front of everybody.

But God, in His grace, allowed me to catch myself.

So, thank you all for being here this morning.

If you've got your Bibles, going up to Luke chapter 7, as we continue on in our study of

the Gospel of Luke.

Friday, I had the opportunity to go to one of our Baptist colleges in our state and meet

with a group of college leaders there on their campus and talk to them about authenticity in

our relationship with Jesus.

Now, I want to be honest with you.

I told them, I said, you know, all of you who are sitting here in this room chose this school

because it was a Christian university.

I said, now, for me, this is the second time that I've ever been on the campus of this university.

And when I was in high school, I wasn't looking for colleges based off of their statement of

faith in God, okay?

I wasn't saved.

So, you're sitting in a spot as a 18, 19, 20-year-old that for me who didn't get saved

until I was 20, I can't understand.

I said, but I do have something that I want to kind of address as we get to go into this

this morning, and it is this.

If you are unwilling to be authentic, real, and open about your walk with Jesus,

if within you is some sort of Pharisee that says, as I move and interact in this college

campus that's filled with 100, so in order to go, you've got to say that you're a Christian

whether you are or not, all right?

And so, for you to kind of be here, like I understand this is going to be difficult for

you, and then let me also kind of talk about this, like if you confess some things in here

and someone snitches, you could get expelled.

So, I get all of that.

I get all of it.

But I also need for you to understand, if we're going to look at what it means to be a follower

of Jesus and to be discipled into being a growing follower of Jesus and disciple others to be

followers of Jesus, you have to understand that it's got to be okay to not be okay.

It's got to be, you've got to have a place, you've got to have a posturing within yourself

internally that recognizes that I don't have it all figured out, and in the things that I don't

have all figured out, and listen, like I'm not talking about like theology, I'm talking about

application of theology, that within my life that I don't have all of these things figured

out, and I've got to have men and women of faith that can surround me, and that it can

be okay that I'm not okay.

And what I feel like we're dealing with, and we talked a lot about this, I had eight in my

little group that I was leading there of these campus leaders.

All of them are heading into vocational ministry once they graduate.

And so what we talked about is that at this school, if we're not careful, what this school

is, is a picture of the church where it's not okay to be okay.

And what we're really going to, what I want us to kind of dive into this morning, and we're

going to kind of begin with this and just have a moment of honesty for us, and I'm hoping

that this can take us to another step in our walk with the Lord, okay, is a question that

we have to wrestle with and that we have to answer, but if we're just going to be the Pharisee

that has it all figured out, the Pharisee who we're good, then we're never going to go there,

we're never going to get there in our journey with the Lord.

And so here's what I want to say to you this morning.

As I am where you, I don't want to say I've been where you've been, here's what I'd like

to say I am where you are.

I am where you are.

Is that if we are honest with one another, as spiritual as we want to be, as much as we

love Jesus, as much as we desire to follow Him, as much as we proclaim our faith in Him,

as much as we trust Him in our lives, there are oftentimes moments in your life and in mine

in our journey of obedience with Christ where Jesus does not meet our expectations.

And it leaves us in a sense, in a feeling of sadness, of anxiety, of bitterness, and of questioning

our faith.

Like, is that fair?

Like, I hope that you're at a spot this morning where we're like, we're not saying stand up

and tell everybody else what's going on, but that there's been points and times in your

life where Jesus does not meet what you and I believe to be the reasonable expectations of

our life.

So I'm not talking about like, you're not a millionaire, so Christ has failed you.

What I'm talking about is, is Jesus takes us down a path in life that we would have not

chosen for ourselves.

That His timing and His delivery in something is not the logical timing that we would have

chosen for ourselves.

That Jesus allows someone who is, and I'm going to use the quotes, good to suffer while He allows

someone who's not good to prosper.

There's a good friend of mine yesterday who lost his brother to COVID, his younger brother

who leaves behind a young wife and young kids who are all believers.

But could we acknowledge that that wife probably woke up this morning feeling as if Jesus did

not meet her expectations?

Is it fair to acknowledge that that little boy and that little girl wake up this morning

wondering, God, why have you failed me?

Is that fair?

I think it's fair.

So the question that I have for us this morning, if it is going to happen, what happens when Jesus

doesn't meet your expectations?

Look in your journey of faith, and if you're a follower of Jesus, let me tell you, it's going

to happen.

Like, it was not my expectation that my wife would miscarry, yet she did.

It was not my expectation that we would go through a battle of infertility, but we did.

It was not my expectation that I would have twins, one who would suffer with health issues, and

we would struggle through that.

And while building medical debts, Aaron and I would both be without work, but we did.

And we could continue on and on and on and on and on.

Those weren't my expectations, but yet that's the path that God brought me down.

And I want to be very clear.

God has never failed me.

He's never, not one time.

He has always been faithful to me, and He's always been faithful to you.

And He did not fail that family who lost their dad and their husband, but it is fair to say

that in all of those instances, expectations were not met.

And so if we're going to walk in our journey with the Lord, if we're going to grow in spite

of our circumstances, if we're going to take suffering on the chin and persevere through

it, then what you and I have to really wrestle with at our core of who we are is what do we

do when Jesus does not meet our expectations?

In Luke 7, as we open it up, we're going to find that there's two instances where Jesus

meets expectations.

Jesus is going to meet a stated and an unstated expectation.

Jesus is going to fulfill and bring in hope into real and tangible scenes of what happens.

The first deals with a Roman centurion.

Now, a couple things about this guy, right?

He's an outsider.

He's a Roman.

He's not Jewish.

He's a military leader.

He's a military leader that has power, that has influence, that has money.

He's a military leader who has done influential and good things in the world in which he's

lives for the Jewish people who are there, but he is still an outsider.

And he has a servant who is sick and who is dying, and we're not going to fully get into

the story, but he sins in hopes that Jesus will come and heal him, and Jesus is coming

to his house to heal him.

And he sends more that says, hey, hey, look, you don't have to come.

You have power.

You have authority.

Roman soldiers say in this, you can do it.

And Jesus does it without even being there, and Jesus fulfills the expectation.

Like, chalk one up.

Like, walk out of here excited.

Like, we can misinterpret that passage of Scripture, right?

And we can say, whatever you have that's going wrong, just proclaim it in the name of Jesus,

and it's going to work out all right, right?

There might be a lot of people who are actually saying that today.

There's another instance right after that where Jesus is in a small town, like small, podunk,

nothing town, and there's a woman, a widow, and her son has died.

And as Jesus enters into this town, he is greeted, right, by the funeral procession.

And he encounters her, and she has no influence, she has no power, she has no money.

So in the culture, she's a widow, which means her husband is not there to provide for her.

And so, sorry, ladies, if this is the world in which you live, right, like, you don't have

your own retirement plan, right?

It's based in your husband.

Well, if your husband dies, then that's going to fall to your sons.

Well, she has a son, and he dies.

And so, everything in her life, her provision has been lost.

And so, Jesus encounters her on this funeral procession, and he tells her, he says, hey,

now, think about the craziness of Jesus' words here for just a moment.

He says, hey, don't weep, don't weep.

And then he reaches out and touches the cart that her son is being carried on,

tells him to rise, and he begins to speak.

So we can take that passage of Scripture, and we can misapply that and talk about all the things

that we need to lay on the cart, and that God, in his faithfulness, absolutely will fulfill

the desires of your heart in this moment, right?

But, but, Jesus did, but that's not always the case.

You see, during the time of Christ, blind people still remained blind,

dead people still remained dead, and sick people died.

Jesus healed some, but Jesus didn't heal all.

And so we take that, and we apply that to our lives, and we hear those mountaintop stories

of these great and wonderful things, physically speaking, within our world of what God is coming

and what God is doing.

And if we're, and then in that, right, like, we do the compare and contrast to our life,

and we're saying, man, great, like, Jesus, you restored that marriage, but mine's still falling apart.

Jesus, you healed them, but yet someone's still on a ventilator.

Jesus, you pulled them out of the financial pit of debt that they're in,

but yet I still find myself just being overwhelmed by all of this.

And if we're not careful, we can begin to have this sense of,

God, I just don't understand.

Why did you do this for them, but yet you didn't do this for me?

And so, again, I want to ask the question to you.

What happens when Jesus doesn't meet your expectations, right?

What happens when the struggle is still remaining and the struggle's there?

We're going to read in just a moment, starting in verse 20.

Jesus is going to heal the centurion's servant.

Jesus is going to raise the widow.

And all this gets back to John the Baptist, a man of faith, a prophet.

Go all the way back to our Christmas series, right?

Like, his mom and Jesus' mom are cousins.

And when Mary comes to John the Baptist, Elizabeth's mom,

and to tell her that she's pregnant, like, when she walks in,

remember, John the Baptist is the one cutting cartwheels, right?

In her womb.

Because the Messiah is there.

If there's a guy who gets it, it's John.

Let's just say, like, let's be honest.

Like, we see people in faith, in the gospel, in the Bible, right?

Like, they're varsity-level faith.

Like, John the Baptist, Paul, David.

Like, they're clicking at it, right?

They're varsity.

You and I are just trying to make the JV team, all right?

And this is where they are.

And this is John.

But here's the thing.

John's in prison.

And word gets back to John of all of the things that Jesus is doing.

So look at verse 20.

And when the men had come to him, they said,

so this is a group of men, followers of John the Baptist, his disciples.

They come to Jesus, and they said,

John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying,

are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

Now, let's pause, right?

Remember, like, John has baptized Jesus.

John's been there.

John knows.

But here, we get this, like, what's going on here?

In that hour, he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits,

and on many who were blind, he restored sight.

And he answered them,

go and tell John what you have seen and heard.

The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear.

The dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.

So they come to Jesus, and they say,

hey, are you the one?

And Jesus just starts working.

And Jesus starts working.

And Jesus starts healing.

And Jesus starts teaching.

And then Jesus looked at him and says,

hey, hey, go and tell John what you've seen, what you've heard.

The blind receive their sight.

The lame walk.

The lepers are cleansed.

And the deaf hear.

The dead are raised up.

The poor have good news preached to them.

You see, John's ministry in his life had been based in the reality that the Messiah would come,

and that in the coming of the Messiah, there would be justice, would be restored, and there'd be punishment for sinners.

John's whole message, right, is repent, repent, because the Messiah is coming.

All of these things are true.

All of these things are right.

This is what God had called.

This is the message that John received from God in the wilderness to do.

And so Jesus comes, the Messiah that he longed for, the Messiah that he is waiting for.

But instead of Jesus coming in and, like, kicking the doors down and bringing justice and bringing wrath and pouring it out on the sinners,

Jesus is moving around from, like, small town to small town, healing a bunch of people and doing preaching.

And John's like, whoa, whoa, time out.

Jesus, this is not my expectation.

And it's based in Scripture.

It's based in who I understand you to be.

And I've been obedient.

I've done all the right things.

But yet, Jesus,

I'm in prison.

And you're blessing the Roman.

What's up with that?

What's up with that, Jesus?

Now, I want to be honest with you.

In my life,

there have been spiritual moments

where I say, Jesus,

spiritually, I feel like I'm in prison and I'm looking around and you're just blessing a whole bunch of Romans.

And I don't get it.

I don't get it.

Who are you and why am I where I am?

Jesus isn't supposed to heal the enemy, but he is.

Jesus isn't supposed to bring life to the insignificant, but he is.

Jesus isn't supposed to show mercy to the undeserving,

but he does all of these things while John rots in prison.

And here's the thing, church.

If we're not careful,

as we are on our authentic,

real,

working,

moving relationship with Jesus,

right,

there are going to be times where you find yourself in the prison cell of your life,

and the news that you get from others is God's blessing on them.

And God has not failed you,

but he's not met your expectations either.

So how do we deal with that?

How do we process that?

How do we not come out of this bitter?

And how do we dive deeper into who he is?

Jesus,

I want us to look at his words

and understand what Jesus brings.

You see,

because Jesus says some things that are very significant.

Jesus does before them some significant things

that are going to point John's disciples

to a better understanding of who he is.

He's going to continue to do in front of them what he's always done,

but he's going to speak to them what they've already heard,

but in this to begin to bring some understanding

of the process of fully who he is.

Because in it all,

Jesus is going to look at them and say,

because I do these things,

I am the Messiah.

And it is who I am.

And so Jesus says,

yes,

what I bring in my life

is what I bring in my person of who I am.

And so I bring healing.

I bring healing.

We're going to click through these pretty fast.

We're like,

Jesus,

I get it.

Yeah,

you've healed the blind.

Jesus,

you've restored sight.

Jesus,

the lame has walked.

The leopards has been cleansed.

But Jesus,

you're healing.

And so you're sitting here today

and you're like,

well,

Jesus,

that's what I'm praying for.

That's what I'm here for.

But here's what I want to get us

to begin to understand

and understand

and grasp

and the miracles

that we looked at several weeks ago.

That just in the moment

where Jesus is implementing these

in this physical life

that we know

and that we understand

and let's be honest

that we sometimes get lost in.

Like you and I

and the feebleness of our mind

cannot begin to grasp

what eternity is

and what eternity means.

And so Jesus says,

when I heal,

what I'm doing is

I'm giving a glimpse

and a picture

of what this looks like

for all.

For all who receive me

in giving freedom from sin.

Right?

That's what everybody gains

in the moment.

What caused you

to not be able

to live

your blindness.

What caused you

to not be able

to walk

he heals.

And then what we gain

from that

is the same thing in life

of what's pulling you

and what's holding

you and I down

the sins

of what we consume

and what Jesus brings

is he brings healing

in that

which means he gives freedom.

That Jesus

not only brings healing

but he brings life.

That just as Jesus

touched the cart

or made the word

or spoke the word

and what come from that

was life in the individuals

that Jesus does that.

But not only just

in the physical sense

but Jesus saying

hey eternally

that's what I'm working

to do.

I'm restoring

the brokenness of life

and engaging

for who we are

and that's what we can

work toward

and what we can have

that I bring life.

Jesus says

but also

bring hope.

I bring hope

in Jesus' words

he says

he says this

the poor

have the good news

preached to them.

The poor

have the good news

preached to them.

Jesus doesn't say

the poor

handed

bags of gold.

Right?

Jesus doesn't say

the poor

have their poverty

walked away from them.

He's saying

what happens

is the poor

what they find

what they're granted

what they're given

is hope.

Here's the thing

about hope.

Hope isn't manifest

right now.

Right?

Hope is always

at a future

of what we can look to

and what we can long for.

Hope is what keeps us

in the midst

of the storm

of knowing

what the tomorrow

or the next week

or the next month

or what the next year

can look like.

And Jesus says

so the poor

they have the good news

preached to them

the good news

of the gospel

the hope

that you and I have.

You know

that's a clean

easy way

to kind of skirt

where I am.

Right?

That's a really

Baptist-y way

of saying

get over yourself.

Right?

I won't admit that

for a second.

Okay?

Like hey

it doesn't matter

where you are

God wants

to give you healing.

It doesn't matter

where you are

God gives you life.

It doesn't matter

where you are

God gives you hope.

Now go out

and suck it up.

It's hard.

It's hard

to suck it up.

So what do we do

in the moments

of this

when we're broken?

here's what we have

to do.

Here's the peace

that God has given me

in my suffering now

in my suffering then

and what I want

to cling to

in my future suffering.

In the moments

where my expectations

aren't met

and the only thing

that can remind me

of where they are

and is found

in the words

of Apostle Paul

in 2 Corinthians 12

starting in verse 9.

As Paul is going through

a man who is beaten

because of the gospel

a man who is imprisoned

because of the gospel

a man who will lose

his life

because of his gospel

and here's what he said

in the middle

of all this

he says

but he said to me

God speaking

to the heart of Paul

my grace

is sufficient

for you

for my power

and if you're

an underliner

in your Bible

like this is underlined

like highlight

like go write it

on your mirror

at home

so you see it

every morning

my grace

is sufficient

for you

for my power

is made perfect

in your perfection

in your strength

in your ability

in your weakness

God says

when the world

sees me

manifest

is not

in the moment

we're spiritually

speaking

like you

in your own

ability

is bench pressing

that weight

off of you

that you

in your own

ability

is overcoming

every battle

that you face

that in that

moment

where my grace

is sufficient

for you

where my power

is made perfect

it is found

in your weakness

and so look at

what Paul says

therefore I will boast

all the more gladly

of my weaknesses

so that the power

of Christ

may rest

on me

for the sake

of Jesus Christ

then I am content

I'm content

with weaknesses

I'm content

with insults

I'm content

with hardships

I'm content

with persecutions

I'm content

for calamities

for when

I am weak

then I'm strong

and I'm strong

and it's in those moments

when everything's

falling apart

it's in those moments

where the suffering

is too much

it's in the moments

where you feel

alone

where you feel

beaten down

where you feel

that your integrity

has been challenged

it's in those moments

when we can say

but Jesus

you're enough

but Jesus

you're enough

so what do we do

when Jesus

doesn't meet

our expectations

Jesus is enough

this is the Messiah

that he is

so what happens

to us

when things stay bad

what happens

to us

when the struggle

continues on

what happens

to us

when we

continue

to experience

hurt

jump down

to verse 36

Jesus

is going to have

another encounter

with not a theological

giant

Jesus is going to

have an encounter

with someone

who doesn't have

it all figured out

Jesus is going to

have an encounter

with an outcast

who's done

a lot of

bad things

and is

paying

the consequences

for who she is

and the decision

that she's made

verse 36

one of the Pharisees

asked him

to eat with him

and he went

into the Pharisees

house

and reclined

at the table

and behold

a woman

of the city

who was

a sinner

alright

so like

let's just go ahead

like this lady

is a prostitute

and when she learned

that he was reclining

at the table

in the Pharisees

house

brought an alabaster

flask of ointment

and standing behind him

at his feet

weeping

she began to wet

his feet

with her tears

and wiped them

with the hair

of her head

and kissed

his feet

and anointed

them with ointment

now when the Pharisee

who had invited him

saw this

he said to himself

if this man

were a prophet

he would have known

who and what sort

of woman

this is

who is touching him

for she is a sinner

and Jesus

answering him

said

Simon

I have something

to say

to you

now

a couple

things

let's just

real quick

he said it

to himself

and Jesus

answered him

we could spend

weeks on that

right

so just

if you're

thinking it

right

that phrase

like think

before you speak

so please

continue to

maintain that

right

but here's

what I do

want to say

be willing

to be

vulnerable

enough

with God

to understand

that he

knows

your

thoughts

right

we can't

fake it

verse 41

Jesus tells

him a story

a certain

money lender

had two

debtors

one owed

500 denarii

and the other

and when they

cannot pay

he canceled

the debt

of both

now which

one of them

will love him

and Simon

answers

the one

I suppose

who canceled

the larger

debt

and he said

to him

you have

judged

rightly

then turning

toward the

woman

he said

to Simon

do you

see

this

woman

entered

your

house

and you

gave me

no water

for my

feet

but she

has wet

my feet

with her

tears

and wiped

them with her

hair

you gave

me no

kiss

but from

the time

I came

she has

not

ceased

to kiss

my feet

you did

not

anoint

my head

with oil

but she

has anointed

my feet

with ointment

therefore

I tell

you

I tell

you

her sins

which are

many

are

forgiven

for she

loved

much

but he

who is

forgiven

little

loves

little

and he

said to her

your sins

are forgiven

then those

who were at

the table

with him

began to

say to

among

themselves

who is

this

who even

forgives

sins

and he

said to

the woman

your faith

has saved

you

go in

peace

heard

a guy

speak

about

this

passage

one

time

and he

titled it

the faith

of a

prostitute

and he

challenged

the church

right

to be

her

and here's

what we

see

we see

what is

manifest

differently

in the

woman

who is

sinful

and the

Pharisee

what Jesus

points to

are their

greetings

how they

welcome

Jesus

and so

for you

and I

with where

we find

ourselves

in answering

the question

of right

now

Jesus

where are

you

in meeting

expectations

Jesus

where are

you

in this

pit

with where

I'm at

the one

that I

want to

be careful

is this

that our

heart

does not

become

hardened

like the

Pharisee

but that

our heart

remains

tender

and what

we can

see from

her

is who

she is

in that

today

the

greetings

of faith

the

greetings

of Christ

look what

she did

she

she welcomes

Jesus

right

if someone

came to your

house during

this time

what you

would do

is you

would offer

them a spot

to wash

their feet

I don't know

about y'all

but since

COVID hit

like right

when you

come into

our house

you kind

of walk

down a

little hallway

that's there

and then we

have this

island that's

in our

kitchen

and you

know what's

there on

our island

in our

kitchen

is like a

350 ounce

bottle of

hand sanitizer

right

so you

come in

our house

and we're

like hey

you want to

get someone

out for me

real quick

like gotcha

love you

glad that

you're here

let's kind

of wash

up a little

bit

all right

so during

the time

of Jesus

right you

would come

in and

they would

wash your

feet but

but he

doesn't do

this

and so she

wants to

wash her

wash his

feet

and so she

washes them

with her

with her tears

and in

doing so

she welcomes

him

and here's

what she's

saying to

Jesus

think about

when you

welcome someone

in your

home

what are you

saying man

I'm glad

that you

are here

right

and Jesus

looks at

her

in her eyes

what she

communicates

that I'm

glad that

you are here

and I don't

get to watch

TV very much

anymore

but I used

to right

do y'all

I don't even

know it's still

a TV show

but do you

remember the game

who wants

to be a

millionaire

is that

still a

thing

anymore

is it

maybe not

all right

so there was

this game

show if you

don't remember

who wants

to be a

millionaire

you had to

answer a

bunch of

questions

and if you

needed help

you could

get help

and one of

the options

was a

lifeline

if you didn't

know the

answer you

had a

lifeline

and this

lifeline

you could

reach out

and call

someone that

you know

who may

know the

answer

for you

so they

would reach

out and they

would help

you

in fact one

of the ones

that I

remember

I think

it was

from the

very first

season

is there

was this

guy on

there and

he had

made his

way to the

million dollar

question and

they give him

the question

and he says

yes I'd like

to use

my lifeline

and then in

the most

awesome thing

that I've ever

seen on a

game show

I believe it

was his

wife answered

the phone

and Regis

goes through

his whole

spiel right

about he's

down to the

last question

to win a

million dollars

and he

wants your

help in

this question

and so he

hands it

over to

this contestant

and he

doesn't ask

a question

he lets

his wife

know that

they're about

to be

millionaires

because he

knows the

answer

right

I thought

that is

awesome

in that

moment

well I

heard someone

say one

time

that Jesus

is like a

lifeline

that he's

there for

you to call

him when

you need

help

and here's

what I want

to say

can you call

Jesus when

you need

help

absolutely

but let's

do not

see

Jesus

simply

as a

lifeline

dangling

out

that only

in moments

of help

do we reach

out

that in

his spirit

that he

sends us

and that he

gives us

with who

he is

that he

is more

than that

so here's

what I want

to ask

you in

your moment

of where

you are

where you

find yourself

right now

as a person

of faith

are you

simply

welcoming

Jesus

the second

thing that

we see

here

she

enters

into

relationship

with

Jesus

she

begins

kiss

him

she

kisses

his

feet

now

you're

man

that's

weird

that's

not what we

would do

and you're

right

that's not

what we

if you

come

into

house

don't

that

all

right

but

Jesus

says to

Simon

hey

you

didn't

greet

with

a kiss

but she

hasn't

stopped

kissing

now

first

let's

think

about

this

all

right

before

judge

others

think

about

the

character

and

integrity

of a

woman

who's

kissing

Christ

and he

welcomes

the beauty

of the

gospel

that he

welcomes

she

kisses

him

and

this

she

enters

into

relationship

with

Jesus

right

want

you

get

picture

culturally

speaking

let's

look at

what

even

understand

kiss

it's

defining

moment

the

intimacy

the

relationship

I'm

talking

about

physical

intimacy

I'm

talking

about

relational

intimacy

where

she

says

Jesus

want

know

you

and

who

you

are

right

some

y'all

came

this

morning

typically

try to

greet

you

with

how

you

greet

those

you

that

come in

for a

hug

I'll

give you

a hug

back

I'm

alright

with that

for those

of you

that

want

handshake

I'll

give you

handshake

for those

of you

who

want

I'm

back

there

with

you

right

some

of you

don't

want

the

fist

bump

I'm

there

with

you

well

here's

what

think

some

of us

need

stop

fist

bumping

Jesus

and

need

start

kissing

his

feet

right

we're

walking

Jesus

hey

what's

man

I'm

going

there

you

there

you

there

you

there

you

and

the

reason

why

we're

struggling

at the

bottom

the

pit

the

reason

why

we're

struggling

in that

moment

right

it's

because

the

intimacy

there

has

been

lost

don't

confuse

and

think

that

intimacy

with

Christ

going

gained

through

the

spiritual

works

that

you

but

the

intimacy

with

Christ

going

found

the

depth

your

relationship

with

him

right

the

intimacy

that

wife

and

have

together

found

the

mingling

our

souls

and

the

time

that

spent

and

the

understanding

that

have

with

each

other

right

don't

miss

that

with

Jesus

and

the

last

thing

she

honors

him

she

honors

him

she

anointed

his

feet

with

oil

here's

what

she's

saying

all

that

mine

yours

all

that

mine

yours

all

that

mine

yours

and

I'm

putting

your

feet

with

you

please

right

the

depth

the

level

trust

she

honors

Jesus

want

ask

you

question

your

life

what

are

you

holding

that

valuable

you

but

needs

splurged

Jesus

that

needs

just

wasted

him

this

year

family

and

took

challenge

and

our

challenge

was

all

got

the

same

chronological

Bible

and

the

challenge

was

that

were

going

read

through

the

Bible

together

family

and

then

continue

have

discussions

about

what

read

and

the

good

news

for

family

we've

got

two

rule

followers

who

are

every

day

they're

trying

get

ahead

they're

trying

work

toward

that

and

then

have

I'm

kind

journaling

some

things

through

and

want

read

you

what

happened

January

the

11th

January

the

11th

the

chronological

Bible

that

I'm

reading

brought

Genesis

Abraham

and

Isaac

the

son

that

had

longed

for

the

son

that

God

had

promised

him

the

hope

everything

that

had

and

that

moment

want

honest

with

you

moment

transparency

opened

that

morning

and

thought

man

read

this

before

probably

preached

this

story

than

any

other

Old

Testament

story

God

said

dummy

read

and

here's

God

gave

it's

question

was

this

with

what

sacrifice

are

you

trusting

God

not

with

what

convenience

but

what

sacrifice

God

looked at

Abraham

and he

said

everything

that

you've

hoped

for

everything

that

you've

been

promised

everything

that

you

and

your

wife

have

prayed

for

found

Isaac

giving

the

give

your

weakness

he's

made

strong

right

I get

I'm

there

with you

on the

personal

battles

and the

things

that we

face

and what

we're

going

through

I get

it'd be

easy

to say

we walk

out of

here

and we're

all going

to be

the Roman

centurion

and God's

going to

do that

it'd be

easy

to say

hey

we're

all

the

widow

whose

son

has

died

and as

walk

out

here

it's

all

going

happen

that

pit

that

you

find

yourself

but

the

truth

the

gospel

the

defining

moment

who

Jesus

our

life

for

this

moment

scripture

and

for

grace

sufficient

for

you

grace

sufficient

for

you

for

power

made

perfect

weakness

would

you pray

with

God

just

pray

for

people

Lord

for

myself

through

seasons

and

moments

and

days

life

where

Lord

feel

and

I'm

wrestling

because

what

hope

for

what

long

for

God

all

that

want

Lord

all

that

need

all

that

feel

that

needs

bring

happiness

here

this

earth

Lord

all

that

feel

deserve

what

I've

done

I've

poured

out

prayers

and

done

religious

works

and

I've

given

offering

and

laid

down

sacrifice

Lord

and

all

these

things

and

God

feel

that

Lord

you

owe

this

and

God

I'm

not

anger

and

frustration

God

your

love

for us

allows

weaknesses

your

love

for us

allows

insults

allows

hardships

allows

persecution

allows

calamities

Lord

because

for when

I am

weak

and

I'm

strong

for

when

weak

there's

longer

who

depend

but

you

who

press

into

for

God

when

weak

you

are

glorified

Lord

just

come

you

this

morning

thanking

you

for

the

suffering

that

brought

thanking

you

that

don't

always

get

our

way

thanking

you

for

the

hardships

that

come

because

Lord

you're

refining

and

you're

working

praise

you

for

it's

Jesus

name

pray

amen

we're

going to

stand

just a

moment

respond

and

worship

want to

encourage

you

maybe

you've

got

that

battle

you've

got

that

situation

that

you're

facing

maybe

you need

to come

down

front

this

morning

maybe

you need

to line

front

the

stage

maybe

you

need

to kneel

down

your

seat

maybe

you

just

need

have

your

moment

with

the

Lord

here's

I'll

say

there's

that

peace

you

that

says

not

wait

till

you

get

home

don't

wait

don't

wait

lay

the

altar

what is

closest

what's

most

value

where

all

your

hope

and

all

your

joy

this

earth

found

let

say

God

you

have

you

have

maybe

you

need

come

down

front

maybe

you

kneel

right

where

you're

I'll

the

very

back

maybe

you

need

come

pray

with

just

respond

the

Lord

God

thank

you

for

this

opportunity

God

thank

you

for

this

moment

time

where

can

come

before

you

and

thank

you

for

who

you

are

Jesus

and

pray

amen

thanks

again

for

listening

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Church

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