WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.100 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.220 --> 00:00:46.080 Good morning. 00:00:47.400 --> 00:00:50.740 If you will, take your Bibles, turn to Galatians chapter 4. 00:00:50.800 --> 00:00:54.000 We're going to be looking at verses 8 through 20 together this morning. 00:00:54.380 --> 00:01:00.060 We're continuing our series in Galatians, as Pastor Bo's been walking us through the book 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:00.840 of Galatians. 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:03.560 Pastor Bo's not here today, as you can tell. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:05.000 He is in Haiti. 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:09.240 He is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Alex's House Orphanage. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:15.140 Alex's House has been a mission partner of ours for many, many years, 10 years to be exact. 00:01:15.520 --> 00:01:21.020 And so he is there today as they continue to celebrate this through the weekend, the 10th 00:01:21.020 --> 00:01:21.520 anniversary. 00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:28.540 I also want to remind you, too, as we're talking about missions, come March the 15th, it's a 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:31.060 Sunday, we're going to have our church-wide picnic. 00:01:31.240 --> 00:01:32.960 This will be the third time we've done this. 00:01:33.360 --> 00:01:38.320 We're actually going to have it that evening at 5 o'clock instead of right after the service 00:01:38.320 --> 00:01:39.360 like we've done in the past. 00:01:40.100 --> 00:01:41.260 But you can get your tickets today. 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:42.080 The tickets are $10. 00:01:42.540 --> 00:01:47.660 But if you have a family of five or more, we'll cap it right at $40 and you get as many 00:01:47.660 --> 00:01:48.980 tickets you need for your family. 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:52.700 We've got marinated pork, green beans, slaw, all that good stuff. 00:01:53.100 --> 00:01:55.040 And we do this together for two reasons. 00:01:55.440 --> 00:01:57.560 One, we do it to come together as a church family. 00:01:58.260 --> 00:02:02.400 Actually, the Hispanic congregation or Hispanic congregation is going to join us in that as 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:02.620 well. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:08.600 We also do that so that our student ministry and our Hispanic ministry can raise funds for 00:02:08.600 --> 00:02:11.880 the upcoming mission trips that they've got coming this coming year. 00:02:12.060 --> 00:02:13.300 So be a part of that. 00:02:13.380 --> 00:02:14.240 Get your tickets today. 00:02:14.380 --> 00:02:20.060 We'll have them again next Sunday as we gear up together just to continue our one family, 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:23.960 kind of why we initiated this one service once a month. 00:02:24.160 --> 00:02:25.840 We've got kids in here this morning. 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:29.780 We've got our students in here and we've got all our families as well. 00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:36.780 Well, if you remember our study of Galatians, Paul begins in Galatians, not really so he starts 00:02:36.780 --> 00:02:40.860 with a greeting, but then he really jumps right into why he's writing them. 00:02:41.480 --> 00:02:46.940 And as you and I see in that first chapter, it doesn't sound in this opening of a letter 00:02:46.940 --> 00:02:49.780 a very nice thing when you look at it. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:54.940 Instead, Paul is approaching them with this idea and this thought of, listen, you're not 00:02:54.940 --> 00:02:57.400 doing what I know you should be doing. 00:02:57.700 --> 00:03:03.100 You're not following God the way I showed you the example and the way I taught you to 00:03:03.100 --> 00:03:03.720 follow God. 00:03:03.860 --> 00:03:09.620 Matter of fact, he uses these words in chapter one, verse seven, he used the word because you're 00:03:09.620 --> 00:03:12.120 seeing that the gospel is being distorted. 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:14.680 The gospel of Christ is being distorted. 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:20.560 And then in chapter three, verse one, he also uses the phrase that these false teachers have 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:21.300 bewitched you. 00:03:21.760 --> 00:03:24.720 So he begins by really just honing in and pointing into them. 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:29.680 Listen, you have allowed false teachers to enter into your world, enter into your church, 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:31.700 and you're beginning to listen to them. 00:03:32.320 --> 00:03:35.360 And that's not how I left you when I first visited with you. 00:03:36.900 --> 00:03:39.160 Kids and students, you might recognize this. 00:03:39.900 --> 00:03:44.980 Have you ever had your parents come to you and they've got to point something out in your life? 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:49.020 Maybe they've seen something that you've done or they need for you to do something. 00:03:49.500 --> 00:03:51.740 And so they begin to tell you a story. 00:03:52.460 --> 00:03:56.340 And in that story, they begin to point out the things to you that you need to learn or that you 00:03:56.340 --> 00:03:57.500 need to be aware of. 00:03:58.020 --> 00:04:01.660 And maybe they seem that you're not getting it on that first go around. 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:07.020 So they go a second time around, right within that same moment, and they begin to bring the same 00:04:07.020 --> 00:04:11.580 point to you, but they share it with a different story and with some different details. 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:13.920 Have you ever had that experience with your parents? 00:04:14.220 --> 00:04:16.060 I know I've done that with my sons. 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:21.620 I've said something to them, and I followed up with another example in hopes that the point 00:04:21.620 --> 00:04:22.240 would stick. 00:04:22.940 --> 00:04:26.440 Paul kind of uses that same approach here with the Galatians. 00:04:26.640 --> 00:04:32.460 What we're going to see in Galatians 4, 8 through 10, that Paul gets down to really honing 00:04:32.460 --> 00:04:37.000 in on what has taken place in their life and making them aware of what's taking place in 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:41.700 their lives in hopes that they'll get back to where he left them on his first time, his 00:04:41.700 --> 00:04:42.840 first visit with them. 00:04:43.520 --> 00:04:44.960 So if you will, take your Bible. 00:04:46.780 --> 00:04:47.740 Let's read together. 00:04:47.860 --> 00:04:49.760 I'm just basically going to walk through this together. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:52.740 Paul says there in verse 8, 00:04:54.800 --> 00:05:01.700 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:06.100 So in his first visit with them, they didn't know who God was. 00:05:06.220 --> 00:05:08.060 They didn't have a relationship with God. 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:13.360 And what he points out to them is what they were doing was worshiping all kinds of gods. 00:05:14.100 --> 00:05:19.480 And he was pointing out to the fact that these gods have no divineness in them whatsoever, 00:05:20.180 --> 00:05:24.980 that they're false gods, and that these gods will not lead them in any way whatsoever. 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:27.100 And he goes on to say, 00:05:27.100 --> 00:05:33.640 But now that you have come to know God, there was a time and a place that transformation took 00:05:33.640 --> 00:05:34.120 place. 00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:39.680 You heard the gospel of Christ, you received the gospel of Christ, and your life has changed. 00:05:40.960 --> 00:05:45.820 Now that you have come to know God, or rather, to be known by God. 00:05:46.700 --> 00:05:51.160 You might want to underline that part right there, to be known by God, because that's more 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:54.400 important than what the fact of them knowing God. 00:05:54.960 --> 00:05:57.220 Because God knows who they are. 00:05:57.760 --> 00:05:59.300 God knows all about them. 00:05:59.700 --> 00:06:04.620 And he wants them to realize the importance of the fact that God knows them. 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:13.180 And he continues on by saying, How can you turn your back again to the weak and worthless elementary 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:15.180 principles of the world? 00:06:15.760 --> 00:06:17.640 How can you turn back again? 00:06:18.380 --> 00:06:20.160 So it's already happened in their life once. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:23.260 And now Paul's saying, Listen, it's happening again. 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:25.300 And how can you let this happen? 00:06:25.700 --> 00:06:27.280 Why are you letting this happen? 00:06:28.900 --> 00:06:31.160 And he points out what they're turning their backs to. 00:06:32.200 --> 00:06:36.260 It's so important that we pick up on the specifics in God's word. 00:06:36.620 --> 00:06:40.900 It's so important that we look at all the words that God shares with us in his word. 00:06:41.340 --> 00:06:43.300 Because it's so important right here what Paul says. 00:06:43.580 --> 00:06:45.400 He says, The weak and worthless. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:52.000 It doesn't read the same if we just simply say, The elementary principles of the world. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:58.700 But by Paul sharing there that they're weak and worthless, it sends home a deeper understanding 00:06:58.700 --> 00:07:00.740 of what they've given their life into. 00:07:01.520 --> 00:07:03.120 Principles basically don't matter. 00:07:03.520 --> 00:07:04.080 They're worthless. 00:07:04.660 --> 00:07:05.800 So why live by them? 00:07:07.820 --> 00:07:12.160 He goes on to continue to say, Whose slaves you want to be once more. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.540 You say you're turning back to these things. 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:22.280 And now the things that enslaved you before you knew God, these gods that you worshipped, 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.540 now you're becoming a slave to them all over again. 00:07:26.620 --> 00:07:31.140 And you molded and you shaped your life around things that you believed about these gods. 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:33.160 And look what's happening to you. 00:07:34.260 --> 00:07:35.580 You've become slaves. 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:38.840 He follows that up in verse 10. 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:42.900 He says, You observe days and months and seasons and years. 00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:47.800 He says, You've gone back just to following all the festivals and all the ceremonies. 00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:49.920 He said, That's what you're focused on. 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:52.660 You're not focused on that relationship. 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:55.440 You're not focused on the grace that God has given. 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:58.060 And then verse 11. 00:07:58.840 --> 00:08:03.220 He says, I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:07.320 I kind of see that as just a sad moment for Paul. 00:08:08.340 --> 00:08:12.660 A moment where he's just, you know, he's scratching his head as he's writing this letter. 00:08:12.740 --> 00:08:15.060 He says, I spent time with you. 00:08:15.580 --> 00:08:18.080 You saw who I was. 00:08:19.180 --> 00:08:21.780 You got to do life with me. 00:08:22.440 --> 00:08:26.840 And now you're turning your back just because you're listening to others. 00:08:27.960 --> 00:08:29.180 He continues on. 00:08:30.540 --> 00:08:32.520 He says, Brothers, I entreat you. 00:08:33.300 --> 00:08:34.560 Brothers, I beg you. 00:08:34.640 --> 00:08:35.640 I plead with you. 00:08:36.740 --> 00:08:38.300 Become as I am. 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:41.460 I don't think Paul's being boastful here. 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:43.900 I don't think he's saying, Look at me. 00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:45.020 I've got it all together. 00:08:45.180 --> 00:08:45.740 Follow me. 00:08:45.820 --> 00:08:47.180 I don't think that's what he's doing. 00:08:47.920 --> 00:08:52.460 I think he's recalling back to them that time that he was with them. 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:56.260 And he showed them his relationship with God. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:59.900 He says, Now you've gotten to a point in your life where it's clouded. 00:09:00.300 --> 00:09:02.220 You don't know how to follow God anymore. 00:09:02.540 --> 00:09:04.240 You want to listen to the false teachers. 00:09:04.400 --> 00:09:06.000 And that's the direction you want to go. 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:11.620 He says, Look at me so that you can help get back on the right track. 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:18.080 He even says to him, he says, For I also have become as you are. 00:09:19.040 --> 00:09:21.240 Not that he did everything that they did. 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:23.800 He didn't worship the false gods. 00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:28.640 But yet he did some of the things culturally that they did. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.400 He took up maybe some of the customs that they did. 00:09:31.660 --> 00:09:35.320 But he didn't have a change in his life, in his relationship with the Lord. 00:09:36.160 --> 00:09:39.220 And he was trying to make an identity with them that they would say, 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:42.120 Okay, we understand what you're saying, Paul. 00:09:44.340 --> 00:09:47.740 He goes on to say, You did me no wrong. 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.160 When I was with you, you didn't treat me badly. 00:09:52.540 --> 00:09:57.560 You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first. 00:09:58.680 --> 00:10:01.920 You see, it wasn't in Paul's plan to be there. 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:06.660 It wasn't a part of his original missionary journey to be in Galatia. 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:12.220 But yet, because of a sickness that he had, he found himself in the midst of these people. 00:10:12.780 --> 00:10:14.980 And in the midst of these people, they took care of him. 00:10:15.980 --> 00:10:22.240 They went out of their way to make sure that they provided for him in one of the hardest times of his life. 00:10:22.340 --> 00:10:27.100 You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first. 00:10:27.900 --> 00:10:34.800 Paul took advantage of the moment that he had with those people to share the gospel of Christ with them. 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:40.140 And though my condition was a trial to you, it wasn't easy. 00:10:41.900 --> 00:10:49.860 You know, when I get sick, I don't know about you, but when I get sick, just put me in a room and leave me there. 00:10:50.560 --> 00:10:52.160 I don't need any pampering. 00:10:52.540 --> 00:10:57.620 If I got the flu, and thank goodness I haven't had it in a few years, I just want to lay there. 00:10:58.280 --> 00:10:59.560 That's all I want to do. 00:11:00.280 --> 00:11:05.580 And Paul's saying here, in the deepest and the hardest time of my life, you ministered to me. 00:11:05.780 --> 00:11:07.660 He's saying, do you remember who you were? 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:16.940 Do you remember the fact that your personality, your character was a character of giving and ministering to me? 00:11:18.740 --> 00:11:22.160 And though my condition was a trial to you, he knew it was hard on them. 00:11:23.800 --> 00:11:26.140 You did not scorn or despise me. 00:11:27.380 --> 00:11:30.020 And they did it with a cheerful heart, apparently. 00:11:31.460 --> 00:11:34.860 You did not scorn or despise me, but receive me. 00:11:34.940 --> 00:11:35.560 Listen to this. 00:11:35.680 --> 00:11:39.020 But receive me as an angel of God. 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:42.360 You looked at me as if I was somebody special. 00:11:42.680 --> 00:11:44.160 You looked at me with honor. 00:11:44.820 --> 00:11:48.280 He even goes beyond that, and he says, as Christ Jesus. 00:11:48.420 --> 00:11:52.540 As if Christ was in your midst, is how you treated me. 00:11:54.160 --> 00:11:59.500 And then he says, what then has become of your blessedness? 00:12:00.460 --> 00:12:01.280 Where did it go? 00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:04.820 Where's that kindness that I received? 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:07.700 Where is that people that had care? 00:12:08.100 --> 00:12:09.000 Where did it go? 00:12:09.640 --> 00:12:10.580 What happened? 00:12:12.020 --> 00:12:18.300 For I testify to you that if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. 00:12:18.940 --> 00:12:23.640 I mean, that's the extent that he recognized the care and the love that they showed him. 00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:27.940 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:35.620 He has noticed the fact that their relationship and how they receive him and perceive him has changed. 00:12:36.880 --> 00:12:39.580 And it's no longer the Paul that they once knew. 00:12:39.700 --> 00:12:41.080 Now they're feeling defensive. 00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:45.840 Because Paul is doing exactly what God would intend for him to do. 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:51.540 And that is point out to them the blind spots of where and how they're not relating to the Lord. 00:12:53.580 --> 00:12:59.380 It goes on to say, they, they meaning the false teachers that have filtered in to the church. 00:12:59.380 --> 00:13:03.440 It says, they make much of you, but for no good purpose. 00:13:03.540 --> 00:13:04.380 They build them up. 00:13:05.660 --> 00:13:08.660 They build them up, but there's no reason behind it. 00:13:08.940 --> 00:13:12.360 They want to shut you out that, that you may make much of them. 00:13:12.460 --> 00:13:20.160 The whole purpose behind why they build them up is to bring glory and honor to themselves as those of leadership in their presence. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:21.480 He said, that's the whole reason. 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:26.420 It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose. 00:13:26.420 --> 00:13:37.440 And not only when I present with you, or I am present with you, my little children, for who am I again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ. 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:40.020 Now that phrase struck me. 00:13:41.420 --> 00:13:48.360 The reason it struck me, when our son, our first son was born, I remember standing beside my wife's bed. 00:13:49.100 --> 00:13:52.520 She had been given her epidural hours ago. 00:13:53.260 --> 00:13:56.420 It took him forever to come into this world. 00:13:57.380 --> 00:14:01.120 And I stood there and I watched her anguish. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:02.660 I watched her pain. 00:14:02.660 --> 00:14:09.280 And I was so close that at one point she grabbed a hold of my jeans and she pulled me with force. 00:14:09.380 --> 00:14:11.980 And I thought I was going to flip over to the other side of the bed. 00:14:13.020 --> 00:14:16.320 I knew at that moment she had hit her peak of pain. 00:14:16.660 --> 00:14:26.440 And so when I see Paul say, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. 00:14:27.300 --> 00:14:37.300 It is paining Paul to know that the Christians in Galatia have started to turn their backs on their faith. 00:14:37.900 --> 00:14:46.960 It is paining him to the point where he recognizes that they need to get their life back in relationship with the Lord. 00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:49.280 They need to turn back to God. 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:52.560 And he says there, this stands out to me. 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:56.280 He says, until Christ is formed in you. 00:14:57.100 --> 00:15:00.580 If you've got a pen, if you've got a mark or whatever, I would highlight that. 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:07.060 Because to me, that's one of the most important elements of this particular part of Paul's letter. 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:15.220 Is he saying, the desire that I have for your life is that Christ and all about him is formed in who you are. 00:15:16.040 --> 00:15:18.060 That who you are fades away. 00:15:18.460 --> 00:15:25.080 That who you are is no more recognizable because what I want to be seen in you is who Christ is in you. 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:30.060 He goes on to say, I wish I could be present with you now. 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:31.760 And change my tone. 00:15:31.820 --> 00:15:34.200 Even he recognized his tone was a little bit different. 00:15:35.880 --> 00:15:37.960 For I am perplexed about you. 00:15:39.140 --> 00:15:40.600 I am perplexed. 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:45.560 Paul finds himself back at that spot going, I just don't get it. 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:52.980 I don't get how I could spend my life or my time with you and pointing you to Christ. 00:15:53.680 --> 00:15:58.280 And you allow some other teaching to come in and take your focus off of me. 00:15:59.160 --> 00:16:04.880 There are some very important things that I pick up on when I look at this passage of scripture. 00:16:05.180 --> 00:16:06.160 The first is this. 00:16:07.920 --> 00:16:10.140 You are known by God. 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:13.100 You are a follower of Christ. 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:13.100 You are a follower of Christ. 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:14.200 Don't ever forget that. 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:17.080 You are known by God. 00:16:17.420 --> 00:16:20.020 He knows everything about you. 00:16:21.160 --> 00:16:23.400 There are several of you in this room that I know. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:27.160 Some of the kids, some of the students, a lot of the adults. 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:28.360 I know you. 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:30.180 You know me. 00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:34.000 But my wife knows me best. 00:16:35.100 --> 00:16:37.980 My wife knows when I get upset. 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:41.200 She knows when things are bothering me. 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:44.660 She knows when I'm happy. 00:16:45.160 --> 00:16:47.380 And she knows what brings me happiness. 00:16:47.980 --> 00:16:49.420 She knows all those things. 00:16:50.780 --> 00:16:54.360 Back in January, we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. 00:16:54.740 --> 00:16:56.740 And we normally don't give each other gifts. 00:16:56.860 --> 00:16:59.000 We stopped doing that a few years ago. 00:16:59.780 --> 00:17:07.500 But on this particular time, she wrote out 25 notes that basically said, I love you and this is the reason why. 00:17:08.560 --> 00:17:11.400 And as I, I didn't, I wanted to read them all at once. 00:17:11.460 --> 00:17:14.040 But I was like, yeah, I'm going to let this stuff pace out a little bit. 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:16.240 You know, I'm going to go to the 25 days at least. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:19.560 I read about three that first time. 00:17:19.660 --> 00:17:20.860 And then maybe the next day I read three. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:21.820 And then I slowed down. 00:17:22.600 --> 00:17:26.780 But as I read each one of those, I knew she knew me. 00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:28.040 There was no doubt. 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:32.380 Because I would read it and I'd go, oh, okay. 00:17:33.740 --> 00:17:35.580 She knows how I treat our sons. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:37.340 She knows how I treat her. 00:17:39.340 --> 00:17:41.440 Those are the things she knows about me. 00:17:41.780 --> 00:17:50.400 But above all that, God knows me better than anyone that has ever come into my life. 00:17:51.140 --> 00:17:58.020 God knows me better than my parents and the 21 years that I lived with them before going out on my own. 00:17:59.560 --> 00:18:01.440 God knows me better than my wife. 00:18:01.640 --> 00:18:03.520 God knows me better than my sons. 00:18:04.300 --> 00:18:08.140 God knows me better than the staff that I serve with here at Willow Ridge Church. 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:16.180 God knew who my wife was going to be. 00:18:18.360 --> 00:18:23.040 God knew that our first child was going to be a miscarriage. 00:18:23.760 --> 00:18:26.420 God knew that our second one was going to be a son. 00:18:27.080 --> 00:18:29.620 God knew that our third one was going to be a miscarriage. 00:18:30.140 --> 00:18:32.420 God knew that our fourth one was going to be a son. 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:34.920 God knew we were going to stop after that. 00:18:37.980 --> 00:18:40.720 Not because there was anything wrong with them. 00:18:41.220 --> 00:18:42.400 But God just knew. 00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:53.400 Ten years ago, God knew that I would be placed in the hospital for five days because I had a DVT in my left leg. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:58.440 And I had multiple, multiple blood clots in my lungs. 00:18:58.800 --> 00:19:01.020 It gives me chills right at this moment saying that. 00:19:01.320 --> 00:19:02.540 And I've thought about it quite often. 00:19:03.080 --> 00:19:05.780 And I laid that in the emergency room. 00:19:07.980 --> 00:19:11.260 And the doctor wouldn't even give a number on how many. 00:19:11.360 --> 00:19:12.560 He said, you just got a lot. 00:19:15.060 --> 00:19:17.400 God knew that God knew that was going to happen. 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:19.260 It did not surprise God. 00:19:20.540 --> 00:19:28.300 And I knew that God knew too that what caused that was a blood disorder that I never knew I had. 00:19:29.380 --> 00:19:36.380 Until being in the hospital that I had a blood disorder known as factor V Leiden. 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:42.060 Named after this little country in Europe somewhere of this people. 00:19:42.760 --> 00:19:45.400 But then my blood has a tendency to clot. 00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:46.940 God knew that. 00:19:48.360 --> 00:19:51.320 God knew that I needed to get to hospital. 00:19:51.360 --> 00:19:52.900 I was a little stubborn on that one. 00:19:53.820 --> 00:19:56.520 Because my nephew was graduating on a Friday. 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:01.160 I had shortness of breath on a Wednesday, I think. 00:20:01.180 --> 00:20:03.580 And I thought to myself, I'm not going to tell my wife. 00:20:04.280 --> 00:20:05.000 That was bad. 00:20:07.380 --> 00:20:09.440 And on Thursday, I'm like, this ain't right. 00:20:10.020 --> 00:20:11.000 I went to my doctor. 00:20:11.080 --> 00:20:14.160 My doctor, all he checked was my oxygen in my blood. 00:20:14.620 --> 00:20:15.920 He said, you're going to the hospital. 00:20:16.300 --> 00:20:19.940 It still didn't hit me that I might have a blood clot, even though he said the words. 00:20:19.940 --> 00:20:22.280 It still wasn't a big deal to me at that point. 00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:24.540 And he says, you're going to go. 00:20:24.620 --> 00:20:25.480 I'll get my wife on the phone. 00:20:25.560 --> 00:20:26.440 Hey, sweetheart. 00:20:27.260 --> 00:20:30.940 Dr. Smith wants me to go down to the hospital, have some scans done. 00:20:31.020 --> 00:20:32.120 So I'm going to head down there. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:33.440 He thinks I might have a blood clot. 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:34.940 What? 00:20:35.580 --> 00:20:37.280 You're not driving yourself down there. 00:20:37.340 --> 00:20:38.900 I said, what's the big deal? 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:41.640 So anyways, goes the story. 00:20:43.140 --> 00:20:46.180 God knows me better than anyone. 00:20:46.960 --> 00:20:51.200 One of my favorite passages of Scripture is found in Psalms 139. 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:58.460 I'm actually going to read that entire psalm or majority of that psalm to you because it paints 00:20:58.460 --> 00:21:02.160 the picture of God knowing you, God knowing me. 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:06.500 Oh, Lord, you have searched me and known me. 00:21:07.500 --> 00:21:11.900 You know, when I sit down, when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar. 00:21:12.040 --> 00:21:17.380 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:23.600 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, oh, Lord, you know it all together. 00:21:24.260 --> 00:21:27.680 You hem me in behind and before and lay your hand upon me. 00:21:28.100 --> 00:21:30.120 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:31.260 It is high. 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:32.700 I cannot attain it. 00:21:33.360 --> 00:21:36.740 Where shall I go from your spirit or where shall I flee from your presence? 00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:38.920 If I ascend to heaven, you are there. 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:41.240 If I make my bed and she-hole, you are there. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:45.460 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea, 00:21:45.840 --> 00:21:49.940 even there your hands shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me. 00:21:50.980 --> 00:21:55.580 If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me and the light about me be night. 00:21:56.020 --> 00:21:58.360 Even the darkness is not dark to you. 00:21:58.360 --> 00:22:03.560 The night is bright as the day, but darkness is as light with you. 00:22:05.560 --> 00:22:09.000 Very important words, 13 and 14. 00:22:10.040 --> 00:22:15.640 Side note, if you're struggling with value in your life, 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:19.560 if you're struggling with purpose in your life, 00:22:20.800 --> 00:22:22.500 say this verse. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:25.080 Commit this verse to memory. 00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:27.160 Come back to this verse. 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:29.860 It says here, 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:34.980 For you, meaning God, you, formed my inward parts. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.620 You knitted me together in my mother's womb. 00:22:39.540 --> 00:22:46.220 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:22:47.140 --> 00:22:50.500 If you doubt for a second that God does not know you, 00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:55.000 if you doubt for a second that you don't have value in this world, 00:22:55.280 --> 00:22:58.020 regardless of what a parent may have said to you, 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.000 a coach, a teacher, a co-worker, a boss, 00:23:01.320 --> 00:23:02.640 regardless of all that, 00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:04.480 God who created you, 00:23:04.900 --> 00:23:09.320 God who has given us his word for us to know him and to know ourselves, 00:23:09.800 --> 00:23:11.240 God says to you and I, 00:23:11.580 --> 00:23:14.500 you are fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:23:14.900 --> 00:23:15.380 Period. 00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:15.480 Period. 00:23:18.860 --> 00:23:20.160 David goes on to write, 00:23:20.280 --> 00:23:21.360 Wonderful are your works. 00:23:21.460 --> 00:23:22.940 My soul knows it very well. 00:23:23.020 --> 00:23:24.820 My frame was not hidden from you. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:27.240 When I was being made in secret, 00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:29.560 intricately woven in the depths of the earth, 00:23:29.620 --> 00:23:31.980 your eyes saw my unformed substance. 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:35.280 In your book were written every one of them, 00:23:35.360 --> 00:23:40.640 the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them. 00:23:41.120 --> 00:23:42.780 How precious to me are your thoughts, 00:23:42.860 --> 00:23:43.220 O God. 00:23:43.700 --> 00:23:45.340 How vast is the sum of them. 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:46.960 If I would count them, 00:23:47.380 --> 00:23:48.680 they are more than the sand. 00:23:49.100 --> 00:23:51.060 I awake and am still with you. 00:23:51.740 --> 00:23:52.280 Search me, 00:23:52.340 --> 00:23:52.760 O God, 00:23:52.820 --> 00:23:53.960 and know my heart. 00:23:54.580 --> 00:23:56.080 Try me and know my thoughts, 00:23:56.080 --> 00:23:59.080 and see if there be any grievous way in me, 00:23:59.600 --> 00:24:02.140 and lead me in the way everlasting. 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:07.400 There is no doubt that you are known by God. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:11.680 Another thing that I see in this passage is this. 00:24:12.540 --> 00:24:15.920 Guard yourself against the principles of the world. 00:24:16.900 --> 00:24:18.840 The world in which we know it, 00:24:18.900 --> 00:24:20.280 the world in which we see it, 00:24:20.280 --> 00:24:21.800 the world in which we hear it, 00:24:22.040 --> 00:24:24.440 is opposite of who God is in this word. 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:26.640 It is not truth. 00:24:26.900 --> 00:24:28.520 No matter what you see on TV, 00:24:28.660 --> 00:24:29.440 you're reading a book, 00:24:29.540 --> 00:24:30.780 you hear people talking about, 00:24:31.220 --> 00:24:33.820 you've always got to measure it against God's word, 00:24:33.940 --> 00:24:34.740 God's truth. 00:24:37.980 --> 00:24:39.640 Coach Bush is sitting in the room. 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:41.160 I told him I was going to say this. 00:24:42.140 --> 00:24:44.420 I'm alumni of Columbia High School. 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:47.300 Jason is the head coach of the football team. 00:24:47.300 --> 00:24:49.940 I played three years at Columbia High. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:53.800 I was an offensive guard my senior year in high school. 00:24:54.840 --> 00:24:58.640 An offensive guard's responsibility during a pass play, 00:24:58.660 --> 00:25:00.600 is to basically clog up the middle. 00:25:01.080 --> 00:25:04.400 Do not let a defensive player get through and get to your quarterback. 00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:06.220 That is your role. 00:25:06.600 --> 00:25:07.080 Protection. 00:25:08.140 --> 00:25:09.280 I wasn't very good at that. 00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:12.840 Halfway through the season said, 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:13.200 David, 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:14.560 we're going to try you out of defense. 00:25:16.360 --> 00:25:17.840 Got my clavicle cracked, 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:19.160 snapped. 00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:21.840 So much for that football season. 00:25:23.100 --> 00:25:24.040 But the point is, 00:25:24.140 --> 00:25:25.720 the role there is to protect. 00:25:27.400 --> 00:25:34.460 Our role as followers of Christ is to guard our hearts against the things that the world wants to throw at us. 00:25:35.460 --> 00:25:41.500 It's our responsibility to be in God's word so that we know what God desires for us to do in this life. 00:25:41.500 --> 00:25:45.300 So we know how to conduct ourselves in this world. 00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:48.360 Protect your heart and mind. 00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:52.720 Part of that protection is watching what comes into your life. 00:25:52.820 --> 00:25:54.440 Be careful of what you see. 00:25:55.420 --> 00:25:58.780 Be careful of what you place in front of your eyes. 00:25:59.620 --> 00:26:01.480 Be careful of what you listen to. 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:05.660 Because all those things will have an effect on who you are. 00:26:06.220 --> 00:26:10.660 The more you pour God and allow God to pour himself into you, 00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:14.760 the more you are formed by God and into the image of God. 00:26:15.300 --> 00:26:18.600 We have to be careful to protect and to guard. 00:26:19.380 --> 00:26:21.480 Proverbs 4.23 says this, 00:26:21.980 --> 00:26:26.220 Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:28.960 Philippians 4.7 says this, 00:26:29.120 --> 00:26:32.920 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:36.960 will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:40.960 The other thing that I see here in this passage is this, 00:26:41.600 --> 00:26:43.340 be an example for God. 00:26:44.020 --> 00:26:45.820 Just as Paul said, Paul says, 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:47.820 Become as I am. 00:26:48.780 --> 00:26:50.080 Not a prideful thing, 00:26:50.620 --> 00:26:53.500 but if you've got to look at somebody, look at me. 00:26:54.140 --> 00:26:56.580 Watch how I relate to the Lord. 00:26:57.020 --> 00:26:59.500 Watch what the Lord is doing in my life. 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:03.700 My wife and I have said to our sons multiple times, 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:05.760 When you leave this house, 00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:07.760 remember who you are, 00:27:08.340 --> 00:27:10.620 and remember whose you are. 00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:12.500 Remember who you are, 00:27:12.760 --> 00:27:14.300 and remember whose you are. 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:16.040 You are an Allen, 00:27:16.280 --> 00:27:17.460 and that should mean something. 00:27:17.980 --> 00:27:20.360 That should mean something when you're out and about. 00:27:20.940 --> 00:27:22.020 But more importantly, 00:27:22.700 --> 00:27:24.040 you are a child of God, 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:27.460 and that means you should conduct yourself accordingly. 00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:30.400 It's so important that we set an example 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:32.520 for who we are in Christ. 00:27:33.580 --> 00:27:36.700 It's one thing for us to speak about our relationship with Christ 00:27:36.700 --> 00:27:38.160 and to share with others, 00:27:38.360 --> 00:27:41.460 but it's another thing how we live our life in Christ. 00:27:42.440 --> 00:27:45.700 Sometimes our actions speak a lot louder than our words. 00:27:46.460 --> 00:27:50.080 And God desires our words and our actions to be the same, 00:27:50.460 --> 00:27:51.600 to not be different. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:56.700 In Ephesians 5, verses 1 through 2, 00:27:56.780 --> 00:27:57.620 we see these words, 00:27:57.780 --> 00:28:00.820 Therefore, be imitators of God. 00:28:02.220 --> 00:28:04.680 Kids, y'all know how to be imitators, don't you? 00:28:05.620 --> 00:28:07.860 You ever kind of see your mom say something, 00:28:07.940 --> 00:28:09.020 or your dad say something, 00:28:09.120 --> 00:28:11.520 or a brother or sister say something, 00:28:11.620 --> 00:28:12.980 and you kind of, you mock them, 00:28:13.100 --> 00:28:13.320 you go, 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:14.980 la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. 00:28:15.120 --> 00:28:16.320 You know, you do something like that? 00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:16.980 You done that? 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:18.020 I've done that. 00:28:18.460 --> 00:28:21.260 I've done that as a 53-year-old adult sometimes. 00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:22.760 You know, that's not very good, though, is it? 00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:25.560 But that's about being an imitator. 00:28:26.280 --> 00:28:29.620 But the scripture's talking about you and I are imitators of God. 00:28:30.280 --> 00:28:32.500 As beloved children, and walk in love, 00:28:32.600 --> 00:28:36.040 just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, 00:28:36.520 --> 00:28:41.120 an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. 00:28:42.100 --> 00:28:44.240 Be imitators of God. 00:28:46.080 --> 00:28:51.360 And then lastly, God will be formed in you. 00:28:52.180 --> 00:28:53.640 God will be formed in you. 00:28:55.120 --> 00:28:57.620 Before God led me into the ministry, 00:28:58.120 --> 00:29:01.320 I was planning on being a graphic designer. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:05.320 That was the direction that I had in my mind that God was going to do. 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:08.540 My junior year of college, God changed all that. 00:29:09.040 --> 00:29:11.360 So I got a little bit of artsy in me. 00:29:12.180 --> 00:29:14.880 And one of the things that I had to do in getting my degree 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:17.000 was I had to take some sculpture courses. 00:29:17.360 --> 00:29:20.480 And one of that was messing with clay and messing with acrylic, 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:23.080 you know, where you cut it and shape it and sand it down 00:29:23.080 --> 00:29:24.200 and make it all shiny. 00:29:24.860 --> 00:29:30.440 But I am fascinated with a person who is able to take a lump of clay, 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:34.020 throw it on a potter's wheel, 00:29:34.800 --> 00:29:38.460 and begin to take their hands and water and apply pressure 00:29:38.460 --> 00:29:44.640 and to begin to shape that lump of clay into a vessel to be used. 00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:47.500 If you've never seen it, YouTube it. 00:29:47.540 --> 00:29:50.200 I did it yesterday just to make sure I was going to say the right thing. 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:54.140 It is so incredible to watch that. 00:29:55.080 --> 00:30:00.520 And we even see that picture spoken of in the Old Testament 00:30:00.520 --> 00:30:04.660 where the potter is at the wheel and he is shaping and molding. 00:30:05.780 --> 00:30:08.060 Think of your life as a believer in Christ, 00:30:08.740 --> 00:30:10.660 as clay in the hands of God, 00:30:11.060 --> 00:30:13.480 where God is wanting to shape you 00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:18.100 and will shape you into the very person that he desires for you to be. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:23.120 Every lump of clay that the potter puts on the wheel and shapes 00:30:23.120 --> 00:30:25.220 will not be the same as the next one. 00:30:25.480 --> 00:30:26.120 It's different. 00:30:27.220 --> 00:30:28.060 You're different. 00:30:28.560 --> 00:30:29.280 I'm different. 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:31.380 Everyone in this room, we are different. 00:30:31.540 --> 00:30:32.760 God has made us that way. 00:30:33.040 --> 00:30:34.040 We're not the same. 00:30:34.740 --> 00:30:38.420 But God will take each of us and form himself in us. 00:30:38.520 --> 00:30:39.780 He will form his attitude. 00:30:40.260 --> 00:30:41.380 He will form his heart. 00:30:41.700 --> 00:30:46.120 He will form his characteristics in you and in me. 00:30:46.120 --> 00:30:49.500 That is God's desire to do in our life. 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:56.440 So when we see this whole idea of Christ being formed in us, 00:30:56.800 --> 00:30:58.700 literally the Greek says this, 00:30:59.400 --> 00:31:02.680 until a mind and life in complete harmony 00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:05.160 with the mind and life of Christ 00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:07.920 shall have been formed in you. 00:31:08.920 --> 00:31:11.920 Your mind, your life, 00:31:12.580 --> 00:31:15.680 completely formed to become and to look like 00:31:15.680 --> 00:31:18.320 Christ's life, Christ's mind. 00:31:19.280 --> 00:31:21.960 That's the whole idea behind that verse there. 00:31:22.580 --> 00:31:23.580 So important. 00:31:25.080 --> 00:31:28.840 In Colossians chapter 1, verses 27 and 28. 00:31:29.080 --> 00:31:32.860 To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles 00:31:32.860 --> 00:31:35.220 are the riches of the glory of this mystery, 00:31:35.800 --> 00:31:38.400 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 00:31:39.500 --> 00:31:42.520 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone 00:31:42.520 --> 00:31:45.260 with all wisdom that we may be present, 00:31:45.260 --> 00:31:49.580 that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 00:31:50.180 --> 00:31:54.580 As we're formed by God, in God, we mature. 00:31:55.560 --> 00:31:56.900 Then in Romans 12, 2, 00:31:56.980 --> 00:31:58.900 and do not be conformed to this world, 00:31:59.120 --> 00:32:02.080 but be transformed by the renewing of your mind 00:32:02.080 --> 00:32:05.300 so that you may prove that the will of God is, 00:32:05.360 --> 00:32:06.540 what the will of God is, 00:32:06.780 --> 00:32:09.380 that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 00:32:10.120 --> 00:32:11.760 And then in Galatians 2, 20. 00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:13.760 I have been crucified with Christ. 00:32:13.900 --> 00:32:15.560 It is no longer I who live, 00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:17.820 but Christ who lives in me. 00:32:17.940 --> 00:32:18.900 I have changed. 00:32:19.540 --> 00:32:21.340 In the life I now live in the flesh, 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:23.060 I live by faith in the Son of God 00:32:23.060 --> 00:32:25.860 who loved me and gave himself for me. 00:32:26.700 --> 00:32:27.860 Galatians 2, 20. 00:32:28.660 --> 00:32:31.160 And then finally, Philippians 1, 6. 00:32:31.660 --> 00:32:32.780 And I am sure of this, 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:35.120 that he who began a good work in you 00:32:35.120 --> 00:32:36.820 will bring it to completion 00:32:36.820 --> 00:32:38.840 as a day of Jesus Christ. 00:32:39.580 --> 00:32:42.600 When God begins to form himself in you, 00:32:43.040 --> 00:32:44.440 he will complete it. 00:32:45.180 --> 00:32:46.680 He's not going to leave you hanging. 00:32:46.800 --> 00:32:48.260 He's not going to leave you half done. 00:32:48.500 --> 00:32:53.080 He's going to complete his transformation in your life. 00:32:54.080 --> 00:32:57.240 Allow God to finish the good work that he has begun in you. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:01.020 Resist turning back to old ways and old habits. 00:33:02.220 --> 00:33:04.660 Allow God to be formed in you. 00:33:06.020 --> 00:33:08.520 In a moment, we're going to share together communion. 00:33:09.400 --> 00:33:12.480 It's a time where we come together as believers in Christ. 00:33:12.600 --> 00:33:14.060 So if you're a Christian, 00:33:14.060 --> 00:33:17.460 but you're not a part of the family of Willow Ridge Church, 00:33:17.600 --> 00:33:20.100 you're invited to take communion along with us. 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:23.760 Because we recognize what Christ has done for us, 00:33:23.860 --> 00:33:26.840 that he sacrificed his life and died on the cross, 00:33:27.260 --> 00:33:28.340 forgive us of our sins 00:33:28.340 --> 00:33:30.240 so that we could have a relationship with him. 00:33:31.080 --> 00:33:33.060 And so when we take communion together, 00:33:33.600 --> 00:33:37.240 it is us as believers recognizing that his body was broken 00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:39.020 and that his blood was shed 00:33:39.020 --> 00:33:41.300 in order for us to have forgiveness of sin. 00:33:42.220 --> 00:33:43.640 So we're going to pray together 00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:45.620 and we're going to serve the elements together 00:33:45.620 --> 00:33:47.980 and we're going to betake of the Lord's Supper. 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:49.060 Will you pray with me? 00:33:52.380 --> 00:33:54.180 Father, thank you always 00:33:54.180 --> 00:33:57.580 that your word is clear, 00:33:58.180 --> 00:34:00.060 that your word is truthful, 00:34:01.120 --> 00:34:03.740 that your word opens up for us 00:34:03.740 --> 00:34:05.460 our relationship with you. 00:34:06.300 --> 00:34:08.800 It shows us, Lord, how much you love us, 00:34:09.100 --> 00:34:12.160 how much you desire to mold and to shape us, 00:34:12.220 --> 00:34:13.320 and more importantly, 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:14.720 to mold and to shape us 00:34:14.720 --> 00:34:17.760 and to form us into who you are in us. 00:34:19.500 --> 00:34:21.160 Father, we are grateful to you 00:34:21.160 --> 00:34:22.400 that through your love, 00:34:22.540 --> 00:34:23.880 you provide us that grace, 00:34:24.380 --> 00:34:26.980 that grace that oversees our faults, 00:34:27.120 --> 00:34:29.220 that grace that oversees our failures, 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:32.380 that grace that oversees our shortcomings. 00:34:34.460 --> 00:34:37.740 Lord, it's only you that can love us in that way. 00:34:38.220 --> 00:34:40.320 It's only you that can forgive us. 00:34:40.840 --> 00:34:43.560 And it's only you that can draw us into a relationship 00:34:43.560 --> 00:34:44.980 that we can have with you. 00:34:45.640 --> 00:34:48.560 And to know that constantly as we relate to you 00:34:48.560 --> 00:34:50.480 and as we love you, 00:34:51.860 --> 00:34:56.200 that Lord, you continue to love us no matter what. 00:34:57.940 --> 00:34:59.460 So, Lord, we give you thanks. 00:35:00.940 --> 00:35:02.600 We thank you for who you are 00:35:02.600 --> 00:35:04.380 and your love for us. 00:35:05.300 --> 00:35:06.840 We ask this prayer in your name. 00:35:07.540 --> 00:35:07.860 Amen. 00:35:25.860 --> 00:35:27.900 Thanks again for listening 00:35:27.900 --> 00:35:29.820 to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:31.660 We hope that you enjoyed listening 00:35:31.660 --> 00:35:32.640 to this week's message. 00:35:33.240 --> 00:35:35.040 If you'd like to learn more about who we are 00:35:35.040 --> 00:35:36.660 or explore additional resources, 00:35:37.240 --> 00:35:41.700 visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:35:41.700 --> 00:35:43.920 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church 00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:45.240 on Facebook and Instagram. 00:35:45.240 --> 00:35:46.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:46.240 --> 00:35:46.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:46.240 --> 00:35:46.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:46.240 --> 00:35:47.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:47.240 --> 00:35:48.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:48.240 --> 00:35:49.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:49.240 --> 00:35:50.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:50.240 --> 00:35:51.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:51.240 --> 00:35:52.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:52.240 --> 00:35:53.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:53.240 --> 00:35:54.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:54.240 --> 00:35:55.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:55.240 --> 00:35:56.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:56.240 --> 00:35:57.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message. 00:35:57.240 --> 00:35:58.240 We hope that you enjoyed this week's message.