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One Hope Church is all about Jesus. Every week, we come together to remember and celebrate Him. Jesus is our one hope. We are about Him and the things that matter to Him. We are on His mission, and He is changing everything for us.
Marcus: Alright, good morning
and thank you for being with us.
We're so glad to have you here and online.
Whether a member of One Hope
Church or a guest, come to spend
your Sunday morning with us.
What a privilege it is to get
to study and share the word
of God with you this morning.
Amen.
Before we begin looking at God's
Word, let's bow our heads and ask His
blessing and favor over our service.
Heavenly Father, we come
to you humbly and grateful.
We thank you so much for your great
love for us and your kindness to us.
Thank you for the cross.
We thank you for Jesus Christ and
for the love that He displayed and
the sacrifice on the cross for us,
that we can have fellowship with
you, we can be made right with you.
Thank you for your word and the truth
in it that we can know you, that you've
made yourself fully known to us, that we
may know you well and walk with you well.
We pray this morning for your provision
over our work, over the word, that your
words would be spoken, that the truth
would shine bright and that our hearts
would be soft and humble, willing to
receive it, that you would help things
penetrate our hearts well so that
we can walk more holy lives and walk
closer to you as we grow in fellowship.
With our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Amen
If you have your Bibles with you
this morning turn with me to Luke
chapter 12 as we continue our study
of Luke's gospel Last week, we looked
at verses 13 through 34 this morning.
We'll be covering 35 through 48 But
to give us a complete picture of
today's message, we need to have
a proper contextual foundation
before proceeding And that actually
begins in verse 13 of chapter 12.
So this entire lesson from Jesus
begins in verse 13, where someone asks
Jesus to arbitrate between him and his
brother over dividing their inheritance.
Jesus knows this man's heart and
can see his covetous desires.
He takes the opportunity to
tell a parable about a rich man
who had an abundance of crops.
who planned to build bigger storehouses
so that he could enjoy the rest of
his days without obligation or worry.
But what he did not know is that he would
die that very night he made the plans, and
his possessions would no longer be his.
He wouldn't even get to enjoy them.
Following this parable, we
have verses 22 through 34.
Jesus gives us this, this
exhortation to his disciples.
Let's read.
Verse 22, chapter 12, And he said to
his disciples, Therefore I tell you,
sorry, Therefore I tell you, do not worry
about your life, what you will eat, or
about your body, what you will wear.
For life is more than food,
and the body more than clothes.
Consider the ravens.
They do not sow or reap.
They have no storeroom or
barn, yet God feeds them.
And how much more valuable
you are than birds.
Who of you, by worrying, can add a
single hour of life to your life?
Since you cannot do this very little
thing, why do you worry about the rest?
Consider how the wildflowers grow.
They do not labor or spin, yet I
tell you, not even Solomon in all his
splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the
grass of the field, which is
here today and tomorrow is thrown
into the fire, how much more?
Will he clothe you, you of little faith?
And do not set your heart on
what you will eat or drink.
Do not worry about it, for the pagan
world runs after all such things, and
your father knows that you need them.
But seek his kingdom, and these
things will be given to you as well.
Do not be afraid, little
flock, for your father has been
pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your possessions
and give to the poor.
Provide purses for yourselves
that will not wear out.
A treasure in heaven that will never fail.
Where no thief comes, comes
near and no moth destroys.
For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
So first Jesus tells us, through the
parable, to not be focused on storing
up wealth for ourselves, and investing
our lives and plans into building
up material things for ourselves
that we may not even get to enjoy.
Do not focus on obtaining things that are
here today and can be gone in a moment.
His lesson is deeper than just the
material, but where your focus is,
where your plans are, his lesson
is deeper than just the material.
It's on what you would have
your, you set your mind on.
It is also a lesson to show us that as
much as we like to control our future,
it's not really something we can do.
For in a moment, our lives could
be over, and all that we had
planned and worked for, gone.
But then, Jesus shifts and
tells his followers not to worry
about what the future may hold.
Not to be anxious.
about what the next day will bring.
For on one hand, worrying doesn't
lead to anything good or productive.
And on the other hand, we can
trust God to care and provide
for all the needs of his people.
He is the good shepherd
and we are his flock.
In John 10 verse 11, Jesus
says, I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down
his life for the sheep.
And in 14 and 15, he says,
I am the good shepherd.
I know my sheep and my sheep know me.
Just as the Father knows me,
and I know the Father, and I
lay down my life for the sheep.
Do you know Jesus this morning?
Are you part of his flock?
Is he your shepherd?
So we have the parable about the
rich man focusing on the future
and making plans to build his
wealth so that he may have peace.
This man placed his
trust in his own power.
In His own perceived control, and
in the end, it cost Him dearly.
It cost Him eternally.
And then you have Jesus promise to those
who follow Him, to those who place their
trust in Him, those who find their peace
not in what they can control, not in
their possessions or wealth, but in the
goodness of a loving, heavenly Father.
The goodness of a good shepherd.
who loves his flock so much that
he lays his own life down for it.
It is clear that if you place
your trust in Jesus, you can trust
that he will provide for you.
The responsibility to take care of
your future is placed in the hands of
the Almighty, who knows the future.
And there's the choice, right?
There's the choice.
Who do you trust most to
provide for your future?
Yourself or God Almighty?
And beyond that, who do you trust
to provide for your eternal future?
Will you trust in your own good works,
your own goodness, or in the love of a
good and gracious Savior, Jesus Christ?
You know, there is nothing my children
can do, speaking from personal
experience, there is nothing my children
can do to increase my love for them.
There's nothing they can do
to make me love them more.
And there's nothing they can do that will
ever make me, make me love them less.
There's nothing they can do
to make me love them less.
I love them no matter what.
They don't have to earn my love.
This is the proper way of
parents with their children.
The love exists no matter the
actions or deeds of the children.
And when children recognize this, when
they begin to trust their parents,
Trust in this, in the love of their
parents for them, that their parents
have what's best in mind for them.
They begin to walk in peace and believe
it or not, they have more freedom.
They're released to flourish
and grow and find joy in all the
little things that children do.
All they must do, if you will, for
lack of a better word, is trust
in the love of their parents.
Trust their parents.
It's like this with God.
That is why he calls
himself the heavenly father.
That's why he uses that
to help describe himself.
There's nothing we can
do to earn his love.
He shows this to us in the life,
death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Scripture tells us God demonstrates
his own love for us in this.
While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
And for it is by grace you
have been saved through faith.
And this is not from yourself,
it is the gift of God.
Not by works, so that no one can boast.
Our responsibility is to accept
the free gift of salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
And in so doing, we
become children of God.
He says in the Gospel of John, chapter 1.
To all who would receive him, who
would believe in his name, he gives
the right to become children of God.
Children not born by blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but by the will of God.
All we must do to become children of God
is believe in the name of Jesus Christ.
Believe in the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, and
trust in the Father's love, And
find freedom from worry and anxiety.
Find freedom from both strife
and fear of the future.
And take these words that we are
studying to heart and trust in the
love of our good Heavenly Father.
Now, I suppose if we are powerless to
control the future and we don't have to
worry about it, because God will provide
for us, I guess we can just sit around
and do nothing all the time, right?
We can just chill because God
will take care of everything.
Of course not.
So what are we supposed
to do with our lives?
Where is our focus?
Where should our efforts be?
True faith in Jesus Christ doesn't just
end with our adoption into God's family.
It doesn't just stop there.
It begins the process of developing
into what a child of God looks like.
It just begins.
It's the start.
When we place our faith in Jesus,
He begins to shape us into what
Christian, a Christian should
look like, or what little Christ.
Um, that's the word Christian
means, little Christ.
So just like, you know, going back
to the analogy of a parent with
a child, I'm trying to teach my
children what it is to be a McQueen.
Like McQueens have, you know, little
things about us that we do, and you
know, certain character I want to build,
certain habits I want to build, certain
things I want to instill in them.
And my role as a father is to teach my
children how to be a McQueen, right?
But again, they can never not be McQueens.
They are McQueens.
They can never not be my children.
But, as much as they are my children,
they also need to develop more into
what a McQueen should look like.
And that's a process over
long periods of time.
Just like that.
Just like that.
Our salvation.
Our adoption as children of Christ
just begins the journey of being
shaped into what a Christian should be.
In our section this morning, Jesus
tells us what we are to do once we
trust him to provide for the future.
Let's read, starting in verse 35.
Stay dressed for action and
keep your lamps burning.
And be like men who are waiting for their
master to come home from the wedding
feast, so that they may open the door
to him at once when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants whom the
master finds awake when he comes.
Truly I say to you, he will dress himself
for service and have them recline at
table, and he will come and serve them.
If he comes in the second watch
or in the third and finds them
awake, blessed are those servants.
But know this, that if the master of
the house had known at what hour the
thief was coming, he would not have
left his house to be broken into.
You also must be ready, for the Son of Man
is coming at an hour you do not expect.
So Jesus gives us another parable here.
He tells his followers to be ready for
action, or to be watchful for their
master's return from a wedding feast.
The servants don't know when the
master will return to his house.
They don't know how long
the wedding feast will be.
This is one of those parables that
isn't actually hard to understand,
but because of our culture and our
technological advances might actually
seem not so straightforward because we
have these little things called cell
phones and we can basically get in
touch with anyone at any time, anywhere.
So, We usually know when to
expect just about everything.
In fact, we now have so much information
at our fingertips so quickly that I
think it actually adds to our illusion
of control over our circumstances.
However, believe it or not,
phones did not always exist.
They didn't.
And up until recently, really, really,
in the big scheme of history, up
until recently, People didn't even,
didn't always know when to expect
someone at their house or their job.
Like, they didn't know immediately that
that was going to happen or at what time.
To put this story in a modern context,
though, is actually pretty simple.
But it does take a little work, so
bear with me here and try and do this.
Imagine a friend or a spouse, whoever,
whoever you're close to that you
might, you know, want to hang out
with, that you might have plans with.
Imagine they went to a wedding.
We'll use the exact same analogy
or parable that Jesus did.
Imagine they went to a wedding and
this friend or spouse has absolutely
zero details except what time
the wedding is and where it is.
Other than that, they
don't know anything else.
They have no idea how long the reception
is going to be, how long the celebration
is going to last, but they are committed
to being there in its entirety.
But they have no plans over.
They have no idea how
long it's going to be.
You plan for them to come over to
your place after the celebration.
Easy, right?
That's easy to fathom, right?
Now, imagine that scenario,
except you have no phones.
You have no cell phone, you have no
email, you have no means of communication.
Zero.
So think, just like, try and wrap
your mind around that for a second.
Because we, in our culture and society, we
don't live in a society like that at all.
So it does take a little bit of mental
effort to realize that like, you don't,
you don't know when they're coming over.
But you're supposed to
be prepared for them.
You're supposed to expect them.
But, you know, especially in this culture,
wedding celebrations could be days long.
Like this is not like a three hour,
okay, weddings are usually, you know, I
don't know, three hours reception, you
know, 45 minute, hour long ceremony.
So wedding was at six, they'll
be here around 11, right?
No, this could be like, all
right, wedding starts at six.
They might be here tomorrow morning.
They might be here in two days.
Nobody knows, right?
So wrap your mind around that situation.
And that is what Jesus is talking about.
And what Jesus is alluding
to here is his return.
It's his second coming.
Scripture tells us that
Christ will return again.
He will come again.
The first time Jesus came, He
came humbly to dwell among us.
He came to offer grace and salvation.
John 3, 17 says, For God did not send
His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but in order that the
world might be saved through Him.
The second time Jesus comes,
He will come in glory.
And in power to judge the people
of the world Jesus says in Matthew
24 30 Then will appear in heaven
the sign of the son of man.
The son of man is a reference to christ
himself Then will appear in heaven the
sign of the son of man And then all the
tribes of the earth will mourn and they
will see the son of man Coming on the
clouds of heaven with power and great
glory So be assured this will happen.
Jesus will return in power and glory And
when he returns, how will he find us?
Will he find us seeking our own comforts,
our own pleasures, our own desires?
Will he return, or will he return
to find us faithful, diligently
taking care of the kingdom?
Just a few verses prior to
this, Jesus tells his followers
that it is your father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom.
He has entrusted his kingdom to us.
God has given us the kingdom
through Christ and entrusted
its stewardship to us.
And he tells us to seek
first the kingdom of God.
I don't speak, obviously, of a physical
kingdom yet, but a spiritual one.
We just got done talking about not
putting your trust in material comfort
and not worrying about material needs.
We should be diligently seeking to
grow our faith in Christ, to care
for others, and to spread his word.
And we'll have more on this later.
Jesus's lesson here though, is
not that he's returning again.
I mean, that's important for this message.
We know that it is happening and Scripture
tells us a lot more about his return,
his second coming, and other places.
His lesson here is on how we, as
servants of Christ and his kingdom,
should be anticipating his return.
Blessed are those servants whom the
Master finds awake when he comes.
We don't know when he is coming
back, but we should be living each
and every day looking forward to
his return and preparing for it.
Just like if your friend went to a wedding
that had no end, or no end that you knew
of, and no way to communicate, that they
might show up at your door at any moment.
Just like that, we don't know
when Christ is returning.
But this is an exciting thing that
we get to look forward to, whether
He returns in our lifetime or not.
This is something we get to
anticipate and to look forward to.
Just like, and he says here, just
like the owner of a house has no
idea when a thief is going to break
into his home, this We have no idea
when the Lord Jesus will return.
But it will be that sudden.
It will be in a moment just like that.
And as he says here, the Son of Man is
coming at an hour you do not expect.
And look at the reward here.
He says that here that the master in
this parable will serve his servants
who he found awake awaiting his return.
Christ will provide for
the needs of his servants.
He will take care of those who
are eagerly, eagerly awaiting his
return and being faithful to be good
stewards of their responsibilities
as servants in Christ's kingdom.
Now, this takes us into the next section.
Let's read verses 41 through 48.
Peter said, Lord, are you telling
this parable for us or for all?
And the Lord said, Who, then, is the
faithful and wise manager, whom his master
will set over his household to give them
their portion of food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master
will find so doing when he comes.
Truly I say to you, he will set
him over all his possessions.
But if that servant says to himself, my
master is delayed in coming and begins
to beat the male and female servants,
and to eat and drink and get drunk.
The master of that servant will come on a
day when he does not expect him and at an
hour he does not know and will cut him in
pieces and put him with the unfaithful.
And that servant who knew his
master's will but did not get
ready or act according to his will
will receive a severe beating.
But the one who did not know
and did what deserved a beating
will receive a light beating.
Everyone to whom much was given
So, Jesus elaborates more on this parable,
emphasizing the servant who is faithful
with his obligations, and issuing a
severe warning to those who are not.
So we see here three different servants.
The servant who is faithful
while the master is away.
This servant follows the master's
will and is ready for his return.
He is given more responsibility
to be faithful with.
Then we have the second servant, who
knew the master's will, but chose to
ignore it and did whatever pleased him,
taking advantage of his authority for
personal pleasure and personal gain.
This servant will be cast
out with the unfaithful.
And then lastly, you have the
servant who did not know the master's
will and did whatever pleased him.
His punishment will be less severe than
the one who did know the master's will
and still chose to do his own thing.
Now, before we go any further, I want
to help us think about this passage
the right way and hopefully help clear
up any possible misunderstandings.
At the beginning of this section,
Peter asks the Lord Jesus if this
parable is just for his disciples,
or is it meant for everyone?
Jesus doesn't even answer him,
but continues with his lesson.
'cause these two are connected.
If Peter had to ask this que uh, if
Peter had to ask this question, then
it is likely that others who were ni,
who were not disciples were present.
'cause if it were just Jesus and
the disciples, then obviously
the answer would be obvious.
Right?
Like, Peter would never even ask the
question, because the lesson would
have been clearly for the disciples.
So, if Peter's asking this
question, then more than likely,
there are others present.
And just a few sections before, we
see Jesus was addressing the crowd
when he spoke about the parable of the
rich fool, who we discussed in brief
at the beginning of this message.
And if he turned to his disciples to
tell them not to be anxious in the
next section, I believe that Jesus
was telling this to them, to his
disciples publicly before others.
He was telling his disciples not to
be anxious and there were other people
who were not his disciples present.
So that means that there were
unbelievers and believers present
when he was saying these things.
The believer is the, um,
the believer is the one who does not
have to worry about what tomorrow
will bring because the Lord takes
care of his children, right?
So those who have not yet placed
their trust in Jesus do not have this
great comfort until they believe.
And so here, Peter feels like he
has to clarify whether or not these
parables are for disciples of Christ
or the crowd of people around him.
The answer is both.
The answer is both.
Jesus is always aware of his audience.
He is always aware of who is
around him all through scripture.
When you look at what Jesus says,
oftentimes, if it seems confusing, you can
oftentimes find the answer in who he is
speaking to or who is listening to what
he is saying, because sometimes Jesus
may be directing conversation towards
somebody, but if he knows there are
others present, he is also saying things
for those other people who are present.
That is very clear in scripture.
So the answer is both.
Jesus is always aware of
who is in his audience.
Always.
And while the lesson is directed towards
believers to be faithful with what God has
given them, it is also an encouragement
for those who do not yet believe to
become faithful stewards of God's kingdom.
Because when we consider the three
different servants in this parable,
only one has a positive outcome.
The servant who is faithful
to his master's will.
I also want to clear up another possible
misunderstanding, one that's actually
really common in passages like this.
This is not a lesson on how a believer
can possibly lose their salvation.
This is not, that is totally
out of context here, that
is not what this is about.
That is not the point of this message.
And to read that in here is
to be unfaithful with the
lesson Christ is teaching.
Furthermore, we know, as we discussed
earlier, that salvation is not a
production of works, but of faith.
Faith is the only
requirement for salvation.
Trust in the Lord Jesus is the
only requirement for salvation.
And genuine faith produces good works.
just like a good fruit
tree produces good fruit.
The core of the tree must be healthy
before it can produce quality fruit.
The core of the, the core of the tree must
be healthy before it can produce quality
fruit actually reminds me of a, reminds
me of an actual like, I have a real life
situation like this where our old house
when Michelle and I used to live, um, when
we moved in there was a pear tree in the
backyard and It never produced any pears.
It was really confusing because
we knew it was a pear tree, but
we never got anything off of it.
And so one day I was like, you know,
it's right in the middle of the yard.
Let's get rid of this thing.
So I cut it down, which
Michelle's laughing because I
tend to cut everything down.
And I cut this pear tree down
and the thing was hollow.
It had rotted on the inside.
There was nothing there
except like the bark.
It was actually really cool
to see, but it was crazy.
That's why the pear tree
was producing no fruit.
So just like that, if the core
of a tree is rotten, it's not
going to produce any good fruit.
But if it does produce this
fruit, the fruit will be rotten.
You know, tiny, inedible,
not good for anything.
We are all plagued with a rotten core.
All of our fruit is waste.
The only way to have a good core
is to trust in Jesus saving grace.
Once he replaces our rotten
core with a good core, only
then can we produce good fruit.
We as humans have no way of knowing
from the outside of the tree whether or
not someone's core is good or rotten.
Just like I had no way of looking
at that pear tree and knowing if
it was a good pear tree or not.
The only thing I could see from that pear
tree is that it wasn't producing fruit.
And that is the only way that I
determined that it was a bad tree.
Until I, you know, chopped it in half.
We can only know this by the
quality of the fruit produced.
We can only know the quality of the corn
by the quality of the fruit produced.
But God does know the quality
of the cord, even if we do not.
And once God has made the cord good,
it can no longer be made rotten.
I'll say this part another way.
I quoted verses out of John earlier
about Christ as the good shepherd
and how he knows his flock
and his flock know him.
He takes care of his flock and does
not allow one of them to go astray.
Our salvation, if genuine,
is secure in Christ.
So, if the second servant we discussed,
the one who knows the will of the Master
but chooses to do his own will, is cast
out with the unfaithful, it is because
his core was rotten from the beginning,
and he was never really
faithful in the first place.
So, We have the faithful servant
who is a believer and thus is
faithful to the will of the Lord.
We have the unfaithful servant
who knows the will of the
master yet does his own thing.
This servant is the unbeliever who has
heard and knows God's truth yet never
actually puts their trust in Christ.
They cannot be faithful to God's
will because they never took the
first step to trust in Jesus.
These are those people whose
fruit might look good, but in
reality But it's actually rotten.
These are also those who have not trusted
in Jesus as their Lord and Savior,
but have heard the gospel and know
the truth, but choose not to believe.
And lastly, we have the servant who does
not know the will of the master and thus
cannot do his will out of ignorance.
These are people who have not yet
placed their faith in Christ and
have not even heard the gospel.
Now, though this is important to
understand, None of this is the
main point of Christ's lesson here.
The point of the parable is that we
should be like the faithful servant,
who, even though he did not know when the
master would return, was faithful with
all the things that he was entrusted with.
For those here who have not yet
placed their trust in Jesus, the
first order of business is to
learn what the master's will is.
And that is to believe in Him, to
place your trust in Jesus Christ.
Only then can you begin to
actually, faithfully do His will.
And once you choose His will
over your own, a new world of
blessing and joy are open to you.
You become part of His flock, and
therein are provided all the spiritual
blessings and protections afforded
to those the Good Shepherd protects.
You begin to build for yourself
eternal wealth, an eternal
retirement, if you will.
What is important to you will shift
from what is physical and fades
to what is spiritual and eternal.
And for the Christian, for the believer,
we should first live our lives with
expectation of Christ's return.
I know you've probably heard it before,
but I don't want you to look at this
from the big doom and gloom perspective
that so many people preach today.
Look forward to your meeting of
Christ with great anticipation.
It's going to be glorious.
Our lives are short and our
days are already numbered.
We'll either meet Christ when He returns
in glory or when He calls us home.
Either way, glory awaits.
It is going to be a beautiful
engagement with our Lord and Savior.
And when it is time May we be
like the good servant, faithful
with all that he has entrusted us.
For the eternal honor and glory of
our master and savior Jesus Christ,
who is a master who rewards lavishly.
Take your faith seriously.
What you believe is important.
It will determine where
you spend eternity.
Because everyone is an eternal creation.
Everyone will spend eternity
in one place or another.
Take your faith seriously.
We should be at least as devoted to
our walk with Christ as we are to
our careers, to our education, to our
families, to our hobbies, anything.
All of these things should be
second to our walk with Christ.
And really, all the things
actually benefit if we do that.
They actually benefit.
Seek first the kingdom of God, and
all these things will be added to you.
Devote yourself to Scripture.
Read it.
Study it.
Know it.
We have the will of God spelled
out for us in Scripture.
You must know the Scripture
to know your Master's will.
All Scripture is God breathed and
is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting, and training in righteousness,
so that the servant of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
That's 2nd Timothy 16 and 17.
Set aside time to talk with God.
Don't just squeeze Him in
when it's convenient for you.
While you're doing whatever
your obligations call you to do.
Spend time with him in conversation.
Only by walking with him can you
be guided by him and taught by him.
The Apostle Paul tells us to rejoice
always, pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances.
For this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you.
I'm gonna read that again.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances.
For this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you.
And he also says in another section,
devote yourselves to prayer,
being watchful and thankful.
Do not be distracted by
the cares of this world.
Keep your eyes focused on
Christ and His purposes.
Make sure that your priorities
are in the proper order.
Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewal of
your mind, that by testing you may
discern what is the will of God, what
is good and acceptable and perfect.
It's Romans 12, 2.
And Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 says, Therefore,
since we are surrounded by so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside
every weight and sin which clings so
closely to And let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us, looking
to Jesus, the founder and perfecter
of our faith, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is seated at
the right hand of the throne of God.
And lastly this morning,
do not be discouraged.
Do not be discouraged.
No matter what comes.
If you are found in Christ, no
matter what comes, you have eternal
security and the hope found in Jesus.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and
sisters, whenever you face trials of many
kinds, because you know that the testing
of your faith produces perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its work
so that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything.
Trials and challenges are opportunities
to prove and nurture your faith.
Therefore, having been justified by
faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we
also have obtained our introduction by
faith into this grace in which we stand.
And we celebrate in hope
of the glory of God.
And not only this, but we also
celebrate in our tribulations.
Knowing that Tribulation brings about
perseverance and perseverance, proven
character and proven character,
hope and Hope does not disappoint
because the love of God has been
poured out within our hearts through
the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
I'm gonna read that again.
Romans five, one through five.
Therefore, having been justified
by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus.
Jesus Christ, through whom we also have
obtained our introduction by faith into
this grace in which we stand, and we
celebrate in hope of the glory of God.
Not only this, but we also celebrate
in our tribulations, knowing that
tribulation brings about perseverance.
Perseverance brings proven character.
Proven character brings hope, and
hope does not disappoint, because
the love of God has been poured
out within our hearts through the
Holy Spirit, who was given to us.
Hold tightly to these
verses, and stay the course.
Persevere through anything that comes
your way, clinging to the truth of Christ.
Written out for us in the Holy
Scriptures, and displayed by His
life, His death, and His resurrection.
And when we see Him, face to face,
we can receive the most glorious
reward we could ever receive.
The words from our master, well
done, my good and faithful servant.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we
worship you this morning.
We praise you for your word.
We praise you for your truth.
We praise you for your lessons
that you give us so that we
can walk closely with you.
Thank you for the encouragement
for us to be faithful with the
responsibilities that you've given us.
Help us to look day in and day out.
To serve you, to trust you,
and to follow you each and
every day, each and every step.
Help us to be present in our
circumstances, present in our home,
present in our jobs, focused on
what you would have us do that day.
And let us let the rest be trusted to you.
God, we praise you this morning.
We praise you for your word.
We pray that we would go forth from
here this week and give you the honor
and glory and be faithful stewards
of the gifts that you've given us.
The gifts of family, the gifts of job, but
also the gifts, the spiritual gifts you've
given us, the talents you've given us.
All of these things help us to
be good stewards, to use them
to serve you for your glory and
for your honor and for our good.
Jesus name.