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This week has been hard and good.
I think I've cried more this week than I have in a long time.
But God has been good, and God has been faithful.
I want to thank you, church, through your generosity, through your willingness, through the opportunities that God has opened us.
We've been able to minister to families, not just in Lexington, but in Gilbert, in Minetta, in Augusta, in Greenville, in Batesburg,
and in other towns and other cities that I'm not even aware of as you've gone.
This last week, last Sunday, Aaron and I went to Augusta, my hometown, to see my family.
Some of them lost their whole home.
And on the way back, I said, we've got to do something.
So this week was your pastor's very unorganized attempt to do something.
And we want to move together as we go forward.
So in the busyness of this week, we have together a somewhat organized plan so that we can continue to reach and to serve and to share the gospel with others.
So I want to share that with you.
Each Thursday, moving forward, as long as God continues to provide us opportunities, we're going to take Thursdays as an opportunity to mobilize our church.
Each Sunday, I will announce what we will be doing that week.
This week, we have an elderly couple who lives in Lawrence County.
And so we'll be making the roughly one hour, hour and 15 minute drive up to the Lawrence area to serve and to minister to that family with some chainsaw work.
If you would like to be a part of that, you are welcome to join us.
If you have a chainsaw, great.
If you don't have a chainsaw, that's okay.
We still need you when we need you to work with us.
We'll be back in the back after the service.
Please come back and let me know.
I'm going to go old school and write your name down on a piece of paper and give you a call in the morning.
We also have another opportunity this week here locally if we have enough people to divide and do two teams this Thursday.
We will also each Monday email out, so if you're not able to be here, we will email out with more details the specific situation.
And if you've already let me know through writing your name down, coming to the back, or sending me a text message, that's fine.
But if you haven't, you can respond to me and to the email to go and do that.
And the email will have, this is when we meet, and even more specifically, these are the tools that we're going to need as we go through this.
If you are aware of, I want to be careful that we don't overpromise on things, but I want to make sure that we're serving you guys the best that we can,
and we're serving the people that you're loving the best that we can.
If you know of, or as you are made aware of needs, please let us know.
Please let us know.
I know that that takes, for some of us, it's a struggle to do that, but what we've seen and what we've watched as God's worked and moved this week has been phenomenal.
Had the opportunity to pray with a Muslim man this past week.
So God's up to something.
I know for some of you, Thursdays are difficult, and I understand.
But strategically for us right now, that's what we've chosen.
There will be some opportunities for Saturdays.
Jamie Rogers, who many of you, if you've been around Willow Ridge Church for a while, you recognize Jamie's name.
Jamie is originally from South Carolina, but Jamie went and planted a church in New York, and that church is still going, is still thriving.
But Jamie is back here in South Carolina, and Jamie is serving as the associational director of the Columbia Metro Baptist Association.
That is not the association that we are a part of.
We are part of the Lexington Baptist Association, but they're a part of our Southern Baptist Convention of Associations.
This past week, I threw out just on Facebook because Jamie was mobilizing some teams out of Columbia Metro.
This Saturday, they will not have the opportunity to mobilize, but Jamie is hoping to put together at least several times a month on Saturdays to mobilize brothers and sisters in Christ from various churches around the Columbia area to go and to work in some of the hardest, most impacted areas,
not just in our cities, not just in our city, but other places in our state, and maybe even outside of our state.
What I promise to do for you is Jamie's going to let us know that, and as we find those opportunities, we will make you aware of that.
We had one of our church members this past Sunday that was able to hear about that, jump in that, had a wonderful time going to be able to serve and meet some fellow brothers and sisters in Christ from other churches.
We're going to make that aware for the Columbia Metro Baptist Association, so we'll do our best through social media and through email to make sure that we get those out to you as soon as we can.
If you're more involved, Tim Rice is here.
Tim, I'm going to put you on the spot, man, and maybe kind of ask you if you could be around at the back at the very end.
If you want to be more involved, our South Carolina Baptist Convention Disaster Relief is doing projects, and Tim works alongside in the Baptist Convention, and so we can answer some questions and see what we can do for that as well.
But I think here's where my heart lands the most on this, okay?
And this is my challenge to you.
This is my challenge to me.
This is my challenge to my wife.
This is my challenge to my son and my daughter, and I want to share it with you.
There are so many people right now that have needs.
If you see a need and you can meet that need, meet that need.
Meet that need.
It may be you running a chainsaw on someone's property.
It may be you making a meal.
It may be you praying for someone.
It may be you going and picking up some gas and delivering it to somebody for their generator.
If you see a need, meet a need.
If you don't know where to go, trust God.
Get in your car.
Drive to Batesburg.
Drive to Mineta.
Drive to Augusta.
Drive to Greenville.
Drive to Asheville.
Heard instances all week of individuals in our congregation that did just that.
And they never ran out of places that they could go help.
Last Monday, I went and knocked on the door of a lady that I did not know, who did not know me.
And she came to the door, and she looked at me like I was crazy.
And I said, I don't know you.
You've never met me.
But I hear you've got some work that you need to be done.
And she said, absolutely.
And we're able to serve her and pray with her and care for her.
This isn't a normal Sunday, so we'll do things that we don't typically do a lot.
One of the families that we were able to help this past week is the Dennis family.
To know the Dennis family is to love the Dennis family.
It's also, I just want to say this, it's to laugh a lot with the Dennis family.
They were one of the families that God had provided us the opportunity to go help.
In the booming metropolis known as Mineta, South Carolina.
I told them I've driven by their house probably 300 times in my life,
never knowing that that was their house from long before when we lived in Aiken.
They handed me this letter, and I want to read this to you.
I'm giving honor to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Pastor Bo and Pastor Dave, and the Willow Ridge Church family.
We want to express sincere gratitude and thanks
for how you and Willow Ridge responded,
assisting us during the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Without delay, you came and cut down trees that had fallen,
removed tree limbs and debris from the property.
Willow Ridge members of all ages stepped up
and did what we have not been able to do.
A generator with fuel, cooking equipment,
was loaned to us,
and we were given contributions as well.
For all of your hard work, we are truly grateful.
Each day, Pastor Bo ended with a prayer
where he used the word family.
We are thankful because we did not know that we meant that much to Willow Ridge Church.
We love Willow Ridge and could not be part of a better church.
Again, much love, appreciation, and gratitude to Willow Ridge
and to the angels that rescued us when we needed it most.
Our power has been restored.
Love the Dennis family of Mineta.
I love that.
That's it.
Genesis chapter 33, verse 8 says,
Would you pray with me?
God, I thank you so much
for how you work and how you move.
God, today, as we teach your word,
may it be empowered with your spirit.
May men and women and children be drawn to repentance.
And may you be glorified.
It's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
As we continue on in our study in Genesis,
we want to look at and establish some things.
Number one, that God is a God of relationships.
We've looked a lot at the dynamic of relationships,
both functional and dysfunctional relationships,
both toxic and healthy relationships.
But this comes out of the basis of the understanding
that God is a God of relationships.
We see this God is with you.
God is with his church.
We see relationships of God calling us to one another,
and we see and we understand
that God has called us into relationship with everyone else.
So as he calls us into relationship with him,
he forms us into relationship with one another,
and he sends us into relationship with them.
So there's not a person or being
that God is not engaging us with.
There are those that we are saved
and brought into right relationship with him
so that we can have proper fellowship
amongst brothers and sisters of Christ in faith
so that we can go and share the gospel
with those who do not know him.
God is a God of relationships.
And if Satan is the exact opposite of God,
Satan hates relationships.
Satan doesn't want a relationship with you.
Satan's goal, Satan's desire,
what he wants, what he craves
is in the destruction of your life
to destroy the relationships you have.
So Satan hates your relationships.
He hates your relationship with God.
He hates your relationship with your spouse,
with your kids, with your church,
with your friends.
He hates them.
He wants to destroy them.
Look at what he does in the garden with Adam and Eve.
He attacks their relationship with God
and in doing so seeks to attack
their relationship with one another.
But God's so desiring that relationship
that he works to establish relationship
and God works to reconcile relationship.
God takes what is broken and fixes it.
God takes what is dead and brings it to life.
I told this story years ago.
It's my favorite example of this.
God does what we cannot do.
We were living in Aiken.
I had a weed eater.
It broke.
I decided that I was capable
to take it apart and to fix it.
I got my tool set.
I laid out the weed eater.
I had a guy tell me this past week
that it's the most simple tool
to take apart and put back together again.
I said, ha, ha, ha, I beg to differ.
I was out there for hours.
Took it all apart.
Parts scattered all over the garage.
Come walking inside.
Grease and dirt.
Smelling like gas.
Aaron said, well?
I said, well, we're headed to Lowe's.
Right?
I couldn't fix it.
God, God doesn't throw away.
God takes what is broken and reconciles.
God takes what is broken and fixes.
God takes what is dead and makes it alive.
When we see in the dynamic of these relationships
and how they weave and interact through Scripture,
we see that Satan would have loved the dysfunction that exists.
We read about a family where we're lying.
We read about a family with deceit.
We read about a family where we're stealing.
We read about a family where manipulation is the norm
and it creates a playground for Satan.
But what we're going to find as we journey into chapter 33,
what I've had to take some hard looks at myself and my life is this truth.
Sometimes the greatest miracle that God does in your life and mine
is he brings us to a place where we say to him and we say to others,
I'm sorry.
And as we get into Genesis chapter 33,
this is where we find Jacob.
A man once in rebellion,
now seeking to follow the Lord
and has brought him to a point and place in his life
in the relationship with his brother Esau
where he's been prepared,
the heart work has been done
for him to come and say,
I'm sorry.
So let's look at the first three verses,
Genesis 33 verses 1 through 3.
And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked
and behold,
Esau was coming
and 400 men with him.
So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel
and the two female servants.
And he put the servants with their children in front
and then Leah with her children
and Rachel and Joseph last of all.
He himself went on before them,
bowing himself to the ground seven times
until he came near to his brother.
In the restoring and in the moving of this relationship,
what I want us to see and to grasp in our obedience to the Lord is this,
is moving from fear to trust.
Is moving from fear to trust.
Now Jacob was afraid and he should have been.
He was afraid and he should have been.
His brother Esau, tough guy.
He's the hunter.
He's the bigger.
He's the muscular.
He's all of the things.
And he sees the tough guy.
Esau coming.
And it's not just him by himself.
It's him with 400 men.
I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where you realized,
I'm outmatched.
But if the odds are ever 401 to 1, guess what?
Right?
But Jacob in this moment chose not who he was before God,
but he chose who he is in God.
Before, he would have lied, he would have manipulated, he would have run.
Why do we know that's what he would have done?
Because that's what he did.
He would have lied.
He was the deceiver.
He would have manipulated the emotions.
He would run.
He would flee.
This is who he was before.
As he responded to the selfishness and the fear of his heart.
But now, what does he do?
Now God says, I'm with you.
Now God says, go.
And so Jacob in this, sees the reality of what is before him.
401 men waiting on him.
And his choice is to obey, which means his choice is to trust.
You see, those two are always connected.
When we obey God, we trust God.
When we trust God, we obey God.
Tim Scholl, thank you for your testimony this morning.
In that, what God, what Tim was sharing with us this morning,
in what we see is this fine line of walking,
of the steps back and forth,
of the journey that we're on as we're growing,
as we're obeying in our relationship with God.
It's trust and obedience, trust and obedience,
trust and obedience, trust and obedience,
in sync with one another.
And that's what we see here with Jacob.
While fear manipulates us, trust in God motivates us.
Fear will cripple us, but trust with God will move us.
Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 1.
It's one of my favorite books of the Bible.
Paul writes to his son in the faith, Timothy.
Hear what he writes.
For this reason, starting in verse 6,
for a reason I remind you to fan and to flame the gift of God,
which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Verse 7.
I want to say that this verse has been a verse
that has been very popular in culture.
And it's also a verse that oftentimes can be taken out of context.
Paul is writing to Timothy, his son in the faith,
some of Paul's last words.
And he's reminding Timothy, all throughout it,
this is who you are because this is who God is.
Paul, who awaits his execution,
Paul, who knows that this is what is happening within the church,
says to Timothy,
but here's what fear is going to create.
Fear creates chaos.
Fear creates lies.
Fear creates destruction.
But we are not of that,
that God did not give us this spirit,
but God gave us a different spirit.
God gives us the power of God,
the love of God,
and the self-control that comes from God.
And this is what we are seeing in the life of Jacob.
It's not that Jacob wakes up one morning
and says,
it's time to be a man.
It's time to figure this out.
It's time to talk myself up.
It's time to get the pep talk of what I need to do.
But what he does is he responds,
not in his own courage,
but in the courage of God.
You see,
Jacob's ability is not in what Jacob can create in himself.
Jacob's ability is not what Jacob can manipulate in himself.
This is the old Jacob.
The new Jacob's like,
no, no, no.
God's called.
I'm going to go.
God's called,
and I'm going to walk.
God's called,
and I'm going to obey.
And whatever the cost is,
this is what I'm going to do.
I want to ask you this right now.
Right now,
what are you facing in life that brings you fear?
What are you facing in your life that within you,
what it causes and what it creates is the fear that is there?
And in your life,
I want to ask you,
are you pursuing a fix?
Are you pursuing an answer?
Or are you pursuing God?
Are you pursuing God?
I guarantee you,
if Jacob would have pulled his buddies aside,
it would have been like,
hey man,
I get it.
It's really cool that you're spiritual now.
I get it that it's really cool that you've got this faith.
But bro,
401 to one?
I don't think so.
But ahead of all of that,
ahead of all of that is his obedience.
So with what your fear is,
with where you are,
with where you struggle,
and here's what I want to tell you,
that you have a God
who's calling you to obedience.
To obey him
and to trust him.
So verses 4 through 11.
But Esau
ran to meet him
and embraced him
and fell on his neck
and kissed him
and they wept.
And when Esau
lifted up his eyes
and saw the women
and children,
he said,
who are these with you?
Just remind,
he's been gone 20 years.
Who are these with you?
Jacob said,
the children
whom God
has graciously given
your servant.
Then the servants
drew near,
they and their children
and bowed down.
Leah likewise
and her children
drew near
and bowed down.
And last,
Joseph and Rachel
drew near
and they bowed down.
Verse 8.
Esau said,
what do you mean
by all this company
that I met?
And Jacob answered,
to find favor
in the sight of my Lord.
But Esau said,
I have enough,
my brother.
Keep what you had offered.
Let's pause there.
Remember,
Jacob has sent
an offering
ahead of him.
He has sent
a sacrifice
ahead of him.
Esau's like,
nah, brother.
Keep that.
Jacob said,
no, please.
If I have found favor
in your sight,
then accept
my present
from my hand.
For I have seen
your face,
which is like
seeing the face of God,
and you have accepted me.
Please accept
my blessing
that it is brought
to you
because God
has dealt
graciously
with me
and because
I have enough.
Thus he urged him
and he took it.
Wherever we are
in life,
wherever we are
in our journey,
wherever we are,
wherever we find
ourselves this morning,
what we need
is grace.
What we need
is grace.
I don't think
this is what
Jacob expected.
I definitely know
this is not
what Jacob deserved,
but this
is what
Jacob got.
Look back
at verse 8.
He said,
what do you mean
by all this company
that I met?
Like,
brother,
what are you doing?
And Jacob answered,
to find favor
in the sight
of my Lord.
The word favor
in the Old Testament
is grace.
It's grace.
is grace.
Jacob says,
listen,
what I need
is not what I deserve.
And Esau,
you are the only one
who can give it to me.
The one that I've offended,
the one that I've stolen from,
the one that I've abused
our relationship,
the one that I've brought
death and destruction to,
the one that I've violated
in this moment,
you are the only person
who can give me
what I need,
and that's grace.
And here's the beautiful picture
of what God's painting us.
This is our position
when we come to God.
This is our position
when we come before Him.
We are the ones
who broke it.
We are the ones
who violated it.
We are the ones
who destroy.
We are the ones
who kill.
We are the ones
who live in a life
of sin,
and we come to God
not with what we can bring
to the table
to make the relationship right,
but we come to the God
in the desperate need
of grace.
Ephesians 4, 7 says,
but grace was given
to each one of us
according to how good
we've been that week.
All right,
that's not on the screen,
all right?
Nothing's on the screen.
But grace was given
to each one of us
according to the measure
of Christ's gift.
Grace given.
Not because of how good.
Not because of how many works
you did this week.
Not because of how many rules
you've obeyed.
Not because of what you've done,
what you've contributed,
what you've brought to the table,
how talented you are,
how pretty you are,
how wealthy you are,
how well-spoken you are.
But because of the measure
of Christ's gift.
And so what God gives us,
what grace is,
is God's favor
or God's benevolence
to the undeserving.
You're like,
Bo, that seems harsh
to really separate out
and say people,
or some people are deserving,
and some people are undeserving.
Well, if you think
there's two groups of people,
those are the deserving
and those are undeserving,
then you don't understand people.
So let me share something with you.
We're all undeserving.
You,
me,
everyone,
we're undeserving,
but God gives us his grace.
God gives us his favor.
God gives us his blessing
found in Christ
and Christ alone.
So the beauty of grace,
the reason why we sing
so much about grace,
the reason we talk about
the goodness
and the grace of God
is because grace
is this wonderful gift
that you and I
do not deserve.
But God gives it to us.
You see,
grace isn't a loan
that you and I
can pay back.
Grace isn't a gift.
So guess what?
You and I
can't go and buy it.
Grace,
when we receive it,
it is ours to keep.
Grace comes from the heart
of the generosity
of God.
that God gives something up
so that we can have grace.
Because grace,
while free,
meaning you didn't pay for it
and neither did I,
is costly.
Because it demanded
the life of Jesus.
It demanded his death
on the cross.
And grace is undeserved.
Not a one of us
deserved him
to get on the cross.
And the beauty of this
is this is what Jacob asked for.
And this is what Esau gives.
And this is what you need.
And this is what God gives.
It's what Owen needed.
And God gave it.
It's what Caden needed.
And God gave it.
It's what Ellie needed.
And God gave it.
It's what Joe needed.
And God gave it.
Verses 12 through 20.
Then Esau said,
let us journey on our way
and I will go ahead of you.
But Jacob said to him,
my Lord knows
that the children are frail
and that the nursing flocks
and herds
are a care to me.
If they are driven hard
for one day,
all the flocks will die.
Let my Lord pass on
ahead of his servant
and I will lead on slowly
at the pace of the livestock
that are ahead of me
and at the pace of the children
until I come to my Lord and sire.
So Esau said,
let me leave with you
some of the people
who are with me.
But he said,
well, what need is there?
Let me find favor
in the sight of my Lord.
So Esau returned that day
on his way to Sire.
But Jacob sojourned to Succoth
and built himself a house
and made booths
for his livestock.
Therefore, the name of the place
is called Succoth.
And Jacob came safely
to the city of Shechem,
which is in the land of Canaan,
on his way from Padnam Aram,
and he camped before the city.
And from the sons of Hamor,
Shechem's father,
he bought for a hundred pieces
of money
the piece of land
on which he had pitched his tent.
And there he erected an altar
and called it
El Elohe Israel.
So we go through
the journey of life.
As we go through
the ups and downs,
as we go through
all that is happening,
our challenge,
our call,
is to remember
God's faithfulness.
Here we see
relationship is restored.
Esau says,
Jacob,
come with me.
And Jacob says,
it's great,
brother,
that we're here,
but I need to hang back.
And so Jacob stays back
and he prepares
to enter into the land
that God promised.
And on his way,
he stops
and he builds an altar.
Here at this altar,
this is common,
we've seen this
throughout the Old Testament,
throughout Genesis so far,
he worships,
he dedicates himself,
he dedicates his family,
he dedicates his people
to God,
and he gives the altar
a name.
And the name that he gives
is God,
is the God of Israel.
He is reminding
who this is
and what God
has done.
And Jacob says,
our relationship
with God
is what
will define us.
If you can,
turn with me
in your Bibles
to Joshua chapter 24.
Joshua 24.
What we find
is a very similar
situation.
Different,
there's some similarities.
As Joshua,
who has been leading
God's people,
has come to the end
of his life,
and he challenges
the people of God
to be God's people
and to follow God.
And start reading
in verse 14.
Some of you may recognize
some of these verses.
Now therefore,
fear the Lord
and serve him
in sincerity
and in faithfulness.
Put away the gods
that your fathers
served beyond the river
and in Egypt
and serve the Lord.
So if you're not
familiar with the story
of the Israelites,
the story of the Israelites
is so much
the story of humanity
as they serve idols
in spite of
who God is.
And so Joshua says,
put away the gods
that your fathers served
beyond the river
and in Egypt
and serve the Lord.
And if it is evil
in your eyes
to serve the Lord,
choose this day
whom you will serve.
Whether the gods
your father served
in the region
beyond the river
or the gods
of the Amorites
in whose land
you dwell.
And then here's the verse.
Here's the one
that we know.
But as for me
and my house,
we will serve
the Lord.
It's this stamp.
It's this commitment.
It's this decision
that when things
become difficult,
that on the mountaintop
and in the valley
and on the road
in between,
that we'll look back
and we're going to make
a choice.
and the choice
is an easy choice
because of who he is
but it may be difficult
in our circumstances
that we're not going
to revert back
to who we were before
but as for me
and my house,
we will serve
the Lord.
And then verse 16,
then the people
answered,
far be it
from us
that we should
forsake the Lord
to serve other gods
for it is the Lord
our God
who brought us
and our fathers
up from the land
of Egypt
out of the house
of slavery
and who did
those great signs
in our sight
and preserved us
in all the way
that we went
and among all
the peoples
through whom
we passed
and the Lord
drove out
before us
all the peoples
of the Amorites
who lived
in the land.
Therefore,
therefore,
we also
will serve
the Lord
for He
is
our
God.
Joshua
calls the people
to make a choice.
Joshua
calls
the people
to plant
their foundation,
to establish
their life
and above
all
things
to serve
the Lord.
And the people
respond
positively
because they
say this,
we remember,
we remember.
Some of those
beautiful passages
of Scripture
that we find
in the first
several books
of the Bible
is God's people
as they're
brought out
of slavery
as they
wander in the
wilderness,
as they
journey into
the land
that God
has for them.
They look
back.
So many times
you and I
get caught
in this pattern
of looking forward,
looking forward,
God's what's next,
God what's next,
but we don't
stop
and look
back
and remember.
Remember where
we came from.
Remember the cost
that was
paid.
We don't
look back
and remember
our Egypt,
our slavery,
our death,
so that we
can appreciate
and understand
the life
that we now
have
in Christ.
In a moment,
the band's
going to come
up on stage
and we're
going to
take the
Lord's
Supper
together.
This act
that we
will do,
this moment
that we
will have
is not
one that
grants
salvation,
but it
is one
that is
done
by those
who have
been saved
by Christ.
This act
that we
will do
is not
done
because we
have been
faithful
in all
that we've
done,
but it's
an act
that we
will do
because
he is
faithful
and he's
always been
faithful.
You see,
the story
of Jacob
is not
to come
to the
end of
it
and look
back
and say,
Jacob,
good for
you,
buddy.
Look at
what you've
done.
Look at
what you
figured out.
But it's
a story
of God's
faithfulness.
So in a
moment,
we'll have
some time
of response
where we'll
examine
through the
power of
Holy Spirit
our lives
and our
readiness
to partake
in the
Lord's
Supper.
You'll
remove in
a moment
a piece
of bread
from the
top of
the cup
that's
there.
And we'll
remember.
We'll
remember
the body
of Christ
who was
pierced
for our
transgressions.
We'll
remember
the body
of Christ
who endured
a punishment
that we
deserved.
We'll
remember
the body
of Christ
who took
on a
death
that should
have been
ours.
If we
take the
bread,
we'll take
the cup.
The cup
that represents
the blood
of Christ
of what
God's
word
tells us
the new
covenant
is in.
And the
gory,
horrific
picture
that was
the crucifixion
of Christ.
The blood
that was
shed
is the
blood
where we
found life.
The blood
that took
all that
you and
I were
before.
And it
washed us.
And it
made us
clean.
And it
made us
white as
snow.
So now
that the
Bible tells
us that
when God
looks on
us,
washed
and made
new,
that what
he sees
is the
perfection
of the
Son.
And that
our hope
and our
purpose
and our
life
and our
meaning
is found
in him.
And because
of what he did
on the cross
and because
three days
later he
overcame
the grave
and walked
in life,
when your
hope and
your trust
has been
put in
him,
what we
have is
hope for
today and
hope for
tomorrow because
it's found
in him.
And folks,
that's
grace.
That we
have found
favor in
God's
sight.
Not because
of who we
are,
but because
he is.
If you're
here today
and you're
not a
follower of
Jesus,
I want to
say thank
you for
being here.
Man,
I'm so
excited that
you,
you could
have done
a lot of
things today
and you
chose to
be here.
And we're
so grateful
for that.
And you
might be
thinking,
but Bo,
like,
I don't
know enough.
You might
be thinking,
but Bo,
I've still
got this
stuff that's
going on in
my life.
But Bo,
you might
say, but
you don't
know the
things that I
struggle with.
I say, you
know what,
you're right.
I don't.
But God
does.
And in
knowing all
of those
things about
you,
he sent
Jesus to the
cross to die
for you.
Because that's
how much
he desires
relationship
with you.
And you
see, today
is not
about getting
it all
figured out.
But today
is about
coming to
Jesus
and saying,
you have it
all figured
out.
Would you
pray with
me?
God, we
come to
you this
morning.
We're
thanking you
and praising
you for who
you are.
God, I
pray that if
there's anyone
here,
Lord, and
they don't
know you,
they don't
know Jesus
Christ as
their Lord
and Savior,
God, that
today would
be the day
of their
salvation.
God, we
are so
unworthy.
God, you
give us
anyways.
God, you
forgive,
you love,
you bring
dead to
life.
And God, I
pray that we
would walk
in the
goodness of
who you
are.
God, if
there's
anyone here
who does
not know
you,
Lord, I
pray that
today would
be the
day of
their
salvation.
God, I
pray that
there's
anyone here
who does
know you,
God, and
what is in
their heart
and their
desires of
the bitterness
between
others,
God, I
pray that
they would
find it in
their hearts
to forgive
as they
have been
forgiven.
through the
power of
your spirit
would you
draw us
to you
both in
repentance
and confession
and it's in
Jesus' name
we pray.
Amen.
Thanks again for
listening and be
sure to check back
next week for
another episode.
In the meantime,
you can visit us
at willowridgechurch.org
or by searching
for Willow Ridge
Church on
Facebook,
Instagram,
and Twitter.