WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.260 Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons Podcast, where you can listen to audio from our most 00:00:09.260 --> 00:00:13.960 recent sermons and more. Thanks for listening, and be sure to add this show to your library 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.880 if you'd like to automatically receive new episodes each week. 00:00:26.880 --> 00:00:32.940 Well, good morning. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in 00:00:32.940 --> 00:00:39.480 Joel chapter 2. Add something a little new. If you don't have your Bible, we do have some in the 00:00:39.480 --> 00:00:45.220 very back here, in this back table, if you don't have a Bible. And we'd love for you to stop by 00:00:45.220 --> 00:00:49.920 after the service is over with so that we could give you one of those Bibles after the service 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:54.420 so that you can have a copy of God's Word. I want to echo what Pastor Dave said. I want to welcome 00:00:54.420 --> 00:00:58.740 our first-time guest. We're so grateful that you were here and that you chose to worship with us 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:03.960 today. If you've got time after the service is over with, I'll be back here at this table. Would love 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:08.940 for you to stop by just to speak. If you have any questions about Willow Ridge Church, would love to 00:01:08.940 --> 00:01:16.840 be able to answer those questions for you. Then also, happy Mother's Day to all of the moms who are 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:22.960 here. My wife and kids are in Jackson, South Carolina. If you know where Jackson, South Carolina 00:01:22.960 --> 00:01:27.300 is, you're probably one of a handful of people here. But they are in Jackson, South Carolina with 00:01:27.300 --> 00:01:35.540 her parents this morning, worshiping Christ there and celebrating with her mom. And so we know that a 00:01:35.540 --> 00:01:40.540 lot of you moms are here. You've got a group with you. We're so excited that you're here. And I hope that 00:01:40.540 --> 00:01:50.940 today is all that you want it to be. I hope every said and unsaid expectation is met. I hope everything 00:01:50.940 --> 00:01:58.560 that you long for and desire happens today. Fellas, get to work. All right. With that being said, 00:01:58.820 --> 00:02:05.620 I say this every year, not because I have to, but because I want to and just what the Lord has impressed 00:02:05.620 --> 00:02:13.680 on my heart. As joyous as today is, and it is a good day. Today is such a good day. But Mother's Day 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:20.100 can be a wonderful day of celebration, but it can always be a difficult day. Growing up for me in 00:02:20.100 --> 00:02:25.900 the Bradbury household, Mother's Day in our family was always a bittersweet day. I've got a wonderful 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:31.060 relationship with my mom. In fact, after the service is over with, I'll be jetting down to North Augusta to 00:02:31.060 --> 00:02:36.700 spend the afternoon with her and my dad and Aaron. The kids will come meet us over there later this 00:02:36.700 --> 00:02:47.060 evening. But just to spend time with her. But growing up, my mother's mom passed away when my 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:53.420 mother was 16. In fact, the fullness of the story that I found out later on, I believe as a teenager, 00:02:54.120 --> 00:03:01.360 is that my mom came home from school one afternoon to find that her mom had passed away. She found her 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:08.680 mom. She died of a massive heart attack at her mid-50s. And so growing up for me, Mother's Day was 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:18.100 always a bittersweet day in our houses. My mom both celebrated being a mom and grieved the loss of her 00:03:18.100 --> 00:03:25.480 mother. When I got married, Aaron and I, and we were looking forward to having kids and having a family, 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:33.520 we also went through about five years where we could mark our struggle as a couple. A struggle with 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:41.480 infertility, a struggle with miscarriages, and we walked through definitely a very difficult and hard 00:03:41.480 --> 00:03:48.480 season before God blessed us with Emma and Grayson. So I say all of that to say this this morning, that 00:03:48.480 --> 00:03:55.160 moms, we're so grateful for you and what a privilege it is for you to be here and your influence and your 00:03:55.160 --> 00:04:00.780 love, and we're thankful for that. But I also know that for maybe a laundry list of reasons, there's a 00:04:00.780 --> 00:04:05.900 group of you here today that today's a difficult day. And if today's a difficult day for you, I want 00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:10.900 you to know that we're, we're praying for you. Another matter of prayer before we get into God's 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:16.720 word this morning, I've had several of you ask me as we partner with, with Pastor Sam and the church in 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:24.300 India and all that has been going on with India and Pakistan and the relationships, uh, that, that are 00:04:24.300 --> 00:04:30.900 there. Um, and so I've been, I've been communicating with Sam throughout the week to see and how we can 00:04:30.900 --> 00:04:35.860 pray and, and checked in with him this morning. We're just like, Hey man, um, just with all the, 00:04:35.860 --> 00:04:41.180 the, the ceasefire and those pieces, like, like, how are you guys doing? And so he asked if we would 00:04:41.180 --> 00:04:46.080 pray for these two things, very specifically with the church. He said, things definitely still feel 00:04:46.080 --> 00:04:52.360 unsettled, uh, and they're waiting for it to kind of, uh, take the next step of hostility. There isn't 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:58.860 the sense that there's peace. He said, so pray for the church, pray for perseverance, that the church 00:04:58.860 --> 00:05:04.420 would, would grow strong through this. And then he said to also pray for the faithfulness 00:05:04.420 --> 00:05:11.520 of the church, that what greater time than right now in these moments of chaos and these moments of 00:05:11.520 --> 00:05:18.200 tragedy to share about the hope in Christ and Christ alone. So let's go, uh, to the Lord in prayer this 00:05:18.200 --> 00:05:23.540 morning. God, I come to you today. Lord, we thank you for the mothers who were here. We thank you for 00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:28.760 the mothers that you've blessed us with. We thank you for those who stepped into our life when we 00:05:29.100 --> 00:05:35.300 maybe did not have a mother to serve as that figure for us. God, we thank you for their, their love. We 00:05:35.300 --> 00:05:40.080 thank you for, for their compassion. We thank you for their work. We thank you for their service. And 00:05:40.080 --> 00:05:45.120 Lord, what a wonderful blessing they are. God, I thank you for my mother. I thank you for my 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:49.240 mother-in-law. Thank you for my grandmothers. I thank you for my aunts. Lord, I thank you for my wife. 00:05:50.340 --> 00:05:56.000 And Lord, I know many of us echo the same sentiments. God, we also lift up those here this morning who 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:02.180 today is a day of struggle for them as they wrestle with the loss of their mother, maybe the loss of 00:06:02.180 --> 00:06:08.280 their child, maybe the inability to, to have children, maybe, Lord, as they've struggled with 00:06:08.280 --> 00:06:15.280 miscarriages in the past. God, we pray for comfort and peace for their heart. God, may they know that you 00:06:15.280 --> 00:06:23.680 hear them. God, may they know that you love them. God, we pray for all of India. God, we pray for the 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:30.740 men and women of the church. God, we pray for their perseverance of faith, their perseverance in the 00:06:30.740 --> 00:06:37.520 strength of the Lord. God, we pray for their faithfulness. May they carry on the ministry, 00:06:37.780 --> 00:06:44.120 Lord, for what you have for them, for your glory, for your name, and for your renown. And God, may we 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:51.460 continually lift up those on foreign soil who are serving you all over this world. And it's in Jesus' name 00:06:51.460 --> 00:06:59.760 we pray. Amen. Well, a question that I have for you this morning as we continue on in our study of 00:06:59.760 --> 00:07:04.780 Joel. We have this week and then next week as we'll conclude it then. But here's the question. Have you 00:07:04.780 --> 00:07:14.480 ever restored something? Have you ever taken something that was a little old and made it something new 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:22.560 or something newer or something that was old and kind of looks kind of new? Maybe you've taken a piece 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:31.300 of furniture and reupholstered the fabric. Maybe you've taken an antique dresser or chest and sanded 00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:41.060 it down and applied new stain or paint or hardware to repurpose and to use. Maybe you've gotten an old 00:07:41.060 --> 00:07:47.440 car with the dents and the rust and the engine that doesn't quite work right and maybe you left a little 00:07:47.440 --> 00:07:55.920 bit of the rust and the age on the outside, but you got that engine maybe not running smooth, but running 00:07:55.920 --> 00:08:07.680 again. Have you ever worked to restore a relationship? A relationship that's had some tension, a relationship 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:16.580 that's had some relational distance that's been created, and you fought to restore that friendship, 00:08:16.580 --> 00:08:21.520 to bring it back where it was or to bring it to a better setting than it 00:08:21.520 --> 00:08:27.620 was before. We might not think about it, but restoring is something that we 00:08:27.620 --> 00:08:34.740 do quite often. We think about that there's whole TV shows and TV channels that are 00:08:34.740 --> 00:08:41.860 that are dedicated in order to see people restore things. YouTube channels that you can subscribe to 00:08:41.860 --> 00:08:52.260 and watch as men and women take that which was broken, take that which others saw as trash, 00:08:52.900 --> 00:08:59.600 and restore it and bring it back to life. My mom's dad, his name was Bill Milford. He passed away 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:05.760 my senior year in high school. Honestly, before, when I was born, he had already retired. 00:09:06.760 --> 00:09:11.060 I don't even know what he did for a living before he retired. I was thinking about that this morning. 00:09:11.800 --> 00:09:15.900 He'd been retired for so long that I don't know, and he never really talked about it, but I know what 00:09:15.900 --> 00:09:23.840 he did after he retired. He ran an antique shop in downtown Augusta, and what he would do is he would 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:29.020 get up every morning. One of the things that he had learned in his years was the trash route, 00:09:30.020 --> 00:09:36.680 and he would get up early in the morning, about 3 a.m., and he would drive the trash route. 00:09:37.580 --> 00:09:43.060 He had an old truck. The best way that I can describe the truck, and this will maybe go over 00:09:43.060 --> 00:09:49.760 the heads of some generations who are in here with us this morning, but he had an old truck that we 00:09:49.760 --> 00:09:56.740 called the Fred Sanford truck, you know, and he would load up in that truck, and he would go out ahead 00:09:56.740 --> 00:10:04.060 of the trash trucks, and he'd drive really slowly, and when he saw a piece of furniture cast to the side 00:10:04.060 --> 00:10:09.640 of the road for them to throw away, he would get out of his truck. He would load it back up. He would 00:10:09.640 --> 00:10:17.200 bring it back to his shop, and he would pride himself on how little he could spend but to pour 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:23.660 his time and his energy and his effort while saving money and take an old piece of furniture and restore 00:10:23.660 --> 00:10:30.220 it and take that which was someone's trash and turn it into what would be someone's treasure. 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:36.500 The Bible talks about restoring. In fact, one of the most common passages of Scripture is the 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:38.480 23rd Psalm, and it says this, 00:10:39.380 --> 00:10:42.640 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 00:10:43.560 --> 00:10:48.520 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 00:10:48.520 --> 00:10:51.440 Here it goes, these special four words. Verse 3, 00:10:51.440 --> 00:11:00.620 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:09.720 In this beautiful picture, David paints a portrait of God as his shepherd, and he talks about how a 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:16.380 shepherd cares for his flock, cares for his sheep in rest, in provision, in leading, 00:11:16.380 --> 00:11:22.940 and guiding. And in the middle of this description, David uses these four words that connect us in 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:34.940 Joel chapter 2. He restores my soul. Here's what I believe David is telling us. That while God saves us 00:11:34.940 --> 00:11:45.600 once and fully, we are in his flock. We are his sheep. But because sin still exists and lives in our life, 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:52.060 and because God loves us in the depth of relationship with which God desires for us, 00:11:52.060 --> 00:12:04.160 that God does something that only God can do. He restores what is broken. He restores what we break. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:14.240 David knows this better than anyone. In Psalm 51, after his affair, his sin with Bathsheba, 00:12:14.820 --> 00:12:23.780 after he's called out, David cries out to God, and uses expressions like this. 00:12:23.780 --> 00:12:41.900 Have mercy on me. Wash me. Blot out my transgression. Cleanse me. Purge me. Create in me a clean heart. 00:12:42.700 --> 00:12:53.100 I love this. Restore to me. Restore to me. Restore to me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. 00:12:54.160 --> 00:13:02.160 These are the words that David uses. In the fullness of faith with God, David knew 00:13:02.160 --> 00:13:11.080 that after his sin, what he needed was not to just make better decisions. David needed to make them. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:17.200 Was not just don't repeat the same action, even though he didn't need to repeat that action over again. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:23.700 Not to just have more discipline. And David definitely needed discipline in his life. But what David needed 00:13:23.700 --> 00:13:37.560 more so as the reflection of Psalm 53 speaks into Psalm 51 was for God to do the miraculous work of restoring David. 00:13:38.660 --> 00:13:48.420 So we looked at week one in Joel. God calls us to repent. We looked at last week that God calls us to return. 00:13:49.380 --> 00:13:57.780 And so this week what we're going to see is that God restores. God restores. So let's read Joel 2, 18 through 32. 00:13:59.220 --> 00:13:59.820 It says, 00:13:59.920 --> 00:14:26.180 And I will remove the northerner far from you and drive him into a parched and desolate land. 00:14:26.180 --> 00:14:31.880 His vanguard into the eastern sea and his rear guard into the western sea. 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:37.640 The stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things. 00:14:38.580 --> 00:14:43.680 Fear not, O land. Be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things. 00:14:44.020 --> 00:14:48.760 Fear not, you beast of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green. 00:14:48.900 --> 00:14:53.440 The tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine give their full yield. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:15:01.580 Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:08.120 He has poured down for you the abundant rain, the early and the latter rain as before. 00:15:08.580 --> 00:15:11.020 The threshing floor shall be full of grain. 00:15:11.400 --> 00:15:15.000 The vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:23.160 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter. 00:15:23.560 --> 00:15:25.980 My great army which I sent among you. 00:15:26.900 --> 00:15:29.260 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied. 00:15:29.820 --> 00:15:34.940 And praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. 00:15:35.380 --> 00:15:38.900 And my people shall never again be put to shame. 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:45.280 You shall know that I am the midst of Israel, and I am the Lord your God, and there is none else. 00:15:46.040 --> 00:15:48.780 And my people shall never again be put to shame. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.620 And it shall come to pass afterwards that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. 00:15:55.520 --> 00:15:57.640 Your sons and daughters shall prophecy. 00:15:58.340 --> 00:16:00.340 Your old men shall dream dreams. 00:16:01.060 --> 00:16:02.920 And your young men shall see visions. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:09.940 Even on the male and female servants, in those days I will pour out my spirit. 00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:16.760 And I will show wonders in the heavens and on earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 00:16:17.520 --> 00:16:24.020 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 00:16:24.880 --> 00:16:30.460 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 00:16:31.160 --> 00:16:35.680 For in Mount Zion and Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the Lord has said. 00:16:36.280 --> 00:16:41.080 And among the survivors shall be those who the Lord calls. 00:16:41.880 --> 00:16:43.580 The background lasts two weeks. 00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:45.960 Really quickly, the locusts have come. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:47.440 They've destroyed the land. 00:16:48.160 --> 00:16:51.200 The coming army, God tells them about. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:55.400 And Joel, at the beginning of Joel chapter 2, will destroy them. 00:16:55.680 --> 00:16:58.840 But God calls his people to repent and return. 00:16:59.640 --> 00:17:05.440 And then we see in this interaction, this case study on restoring and what God does. 00:17:05.520 --> 00:17:07.280 We see that God comes. 00:17:07.360 --> 00:17:09.560 And we'll look at this in verse 18. 00:17:09.740 --> 00:17:12.420 That he's jealous and has pity on his people. 00:17:13.180 --> 00:17:19.320 So God says, in the midst of this chaos, in the midst of this tragedy, in the midst of this trauma, 00:17:19.420 --> 00:17:23.440 in everything that has taken place, God says, but here's what I'm going to do. 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:25.840 God says that God provides. 00:17:25.840 --> 00:17:29.860 He says that he will provide everything that is necessary for life. 00:17:31.220 --> 00:17:33.200 God says that he's going to remove. 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:36.100 God will remove the locust. 00:17:36.300 --> 00:17:37.840 God will move the coming attack. 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:40.300 God will remove the army. 00:17:41.400 --> 00:17:42.800 God says that he's going to sustain. 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:45.600 God says that you're going to live. 00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:48.520 God says that this is going to be a season of life. 00:17:49.380 --> 00:17:51.520 God says that he's going to provide hope. 00:17:52.180 --> 00:17:53.840 God's going to provide prosperity. 00:17:54.060 --> 00:18:00.180 That God will remove from them the fear that is there. 00:18:00.860 --> 00:18:03.780 And that instead, there will be hope. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:08.880 Instead, there will be rejoicing of what was once there. 00:18:09.180 --> 00:18:14.960 God says, because of what God is going to do, because of what God is going to restore, 00:18:15.260 --> 00:18:22.340 because of how God is going to work, what was complete destruction of what's there. 00:18:23.320 --> 00:18:25.160 The tables will turn. 00:18:25.520 --> 00:18:27.100 The page will turn. 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:30.640 Things will become different because God restores. 00:18:31.120 --> 00:18:32.300 And this is what God does. 00:18:33.100 --> 00:18:35.880 And God tells his people, and this is not done partially, 00:18:37.020 --> 00:18:40.660 that when God restores, that God restores fully. 00:18:41.460 --> 00:18:44.060 That God will restore them physically. 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:46.240 When you go back and you look and you see, 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:50.260 remember, this had gone through and not just wiped out, 00:18:50.360 --> 00:18:53.220 not just dealt with a segment or a region, 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:54.840 but this was the whole land. 00:18:54.940 --> 00:18:56.200 This was all of the people. 00:18:56.200 --> 00:18:58.160 So God says he's going to restore the land. 00:18:58.460 --> 00:19:00.000 God says he's going to restore the economy. 00:19:00.340 --> 00:19:02.720 God says he's going to restore the crops, the animals, 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:05.540 people's lives, that when God restores, 00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:09.600 there's not an area left unturned that's going to be forgotten about. 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:10.720 It's not going to be missed. 00:19:12.580 --> 00:19:14.860 God's going to take care of what God needs to take care of, 00:19:14.860 --> 00:19:16.760 and God's going to do what God's going to do. 00:19:17.560 --> 00:19:20.360 God says that he's going to restore, not just physically, 00:19:20.520 --> 00:19:23.700 but that God's also going to store relationally. 00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:29.100 He tells them, like, look, like, in this, as I'm restoring you. 00:19:29.540 --> 00:19:34.380 And we talked about this, we don't 100% know why God's people were found 00:19:34.380 --> 00:19:36.220 in the situation of what led up to that. 00:19:37.260 --> 00:19:39.260 But we know they stand in the path of God's judgment. 00:19:40.500 --> 00:19:42.920 And God says, I'm going to restore you relationally. 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:48.180 And so God's people were welcomed back into relationship with him. 00:19:49.260 --> 00:19:52.420 You see, this just hasn't affected physically around them, 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.420 but because of one of the ways that God's people were called to engage with him 00:19:56.420 --> 00:19:59.680 through sacrifices was through grain offerings. 00:20:00.800 --> 00:20:03.640 So they literally were not able to worship 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:06.560 and to be in relationship with him. 00:20:07.700 --> 00:20:12.600 And so God says, look, as I restore, I'm bringing you back into relationship with me. 00:20:13.300 --> 00:20:15.540 I'm going to take what you see and what you look at 00:20:15.540 --> 00:20:18.300 and what you live in and what you experience and restore it. 00:20:18.660 --> 00:20:22.240 But I'm also going to take this relationship and restore it. 00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:28.420 And then God says that I'm going to restore spiritually as well. 00:20:29.520 --> 00:20:34.400 And the area I think that we miss, God talks about that he's going to pour out his spirit. 00:20:35.700 --> 00:20:39.100 That his spirit's going to fall, his spirit's going to be fresh, 00:20:40.100 --> 00:20:44.440 and that the word of God will come for his people. 00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:49.220 This is what God does. 00:20:50.340 --> 00:20:54.020 God takes what is broken and restores it. 00:20:55.760 --> 00:21:01.400 About a year ago, my mother, when my parents moved, they moved about 10 years ago. 00:21:02.080 --> 00:21:05.520 They moved out of a house that was roughly 3,200 square feet, 00:21:05.620 --> 00:21:06.260 somewhere around there. 00:21:06.780 --> 00:21:11.180 And they moved into a townhome as they're in the retirement years. 00:21:11.420 --> 00:21:12.820 And so they wanted less yard. 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:15.460 They wanted less things to clean, those type things. 00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:21.420 And so they moved from about 3,200 to about 1,100, right, is where they live now. 00:21:21.840 --> 00:21:23.300 And so I got the phone call. 00:21:23.700 --> 00:21:26.500 And I don't know if your parents haven't hit that world yet. 00:21:26.900 --> 00:21:29.380 Let me tell you kind of what's going on at your parents' house right now, 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:30.860 if they're still in the house that you grew up in. 00:21:31.260 --> 00:21:34.960 They probably still have a lot of your stuff that you didn't want, but they kept a hold of it 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:38.060 because you said, hey, I may want that, but I don't want it bad enough to come get it now, 00:21:38.120 --> 00:21:38.880 but I'll come get it later. 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:41.700 And I got that call. 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:46.900 Hey, Bo, you know those things that are in our attic? 00:21:47.260 --> 00:21:50.580 You know those nine million baseball cards? 00:21:50.900 --> 00:21:53.440 You know that old Nintendo that's broken? 00:21:53.860 --> 00:21:57.320 You know that stereo that you have stored away? 00:21:57.520 --> 00:22:00.060 We need you to come and get it. 00:22:01.280 --> 00:22:04.480 And I remember I said to my dad, hey, don't worry about it. 00:22:05.140 --> 00:22:06.660 You can just take that stuff to Goodwill. 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.000 And my dad said, in all the kindness and compassion in his voice, 00:22:11.540 --> 00:22:15.860 oh, it can go to Goodwill, but you got to take it there, right? 00:22:16.060 --> 00:22:17.140 Like, I'm not taking it. 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:18.500 This isn't my things. 00:22:18.540 --> 00:22:19.460 These are your things. 00:22:19.580 --> 00:22:23.500 So we get there, and we're taking stuff, and there's some stuff like G.I. Joe figures 00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:26.480 and Star Wars figures and things like that that now they're in my attic, right? 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:30.020 But there, you know, we took the other stuff, stuff that's worthless. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:31.380 We took that. 00:22:31.480 --> 00:22:33.000 We held on to the priceless items. 00:22:33.900 --> 00:22:35.580 But then there was these other things. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:39.100 And my parents were like, I want you to have this. 00:22:41.560 --> 00:22:44.480 And some of it, I was like, yeah. 00:22:45.600 --> 00:22:50.540 And some of it, I was like, huh, what are we going to do with that? 00:22:51.700 --> 00:22:53.360 One of those things was a chest. 00:22:54.120 --> 00:23:05.460 It was an old, like, trunk, chest that my grandfather had given my parents when they got married. 00:23:07.060 --> 00:23:08.960 And you think, well, that's a gorgeous thing. 00:23:09.080 --> 00:23:10.760 Your granddad, that's the granddad. 00:23:10.820 --> 00:23:11.860 He restores things. 00:23:12.020 --> 00:23:12.700 He brought new. 00:23:12.700 --> 00:23:16.780 Well, my parents got married in 1976. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:25.300 And let's just say that decorations in 1976 do not look like decorations now. 00:23:26.260 --> 00:23:35.420 And he had wrapped this thick, I'm going to describe it as like burlap around this entire chest 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:44.240 and had put, like, a thick layer of glue that was probably, this is probably a slight exaggeration, 00:23:44.380 --> 00:23:46.780 but, like, a half inch thick around that. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:53.620 And it was a color of green that no one has used since 1976. 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:56.080 This is the chest. 00:23:57.420 --> 00:24:02.860 And we get it, and Aaron says to me, what are you going to do with that? 00:24:05.740 --> 00:24:06.600 I don't know. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:10.460 Put it in the garage, and one day I'll deal with it. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:13.040 It sat in the garage for years. 00:24:14.300 --> 00:24:18.200 Things piled up and piled up and piled up both in it and on top of it. 00:24:19.100 --> 00:24:24.700 And then one day, in a moment of being sentimental and connecting with my grandfather and who he was, 00:24:24.700 --> 00:24:28.100 I decided, because my love for him and his love for my parents, 00:24:28.320 --> 00:24:34.920 that I was going to take the time and energy to work and to put the effort into, to take and to restore it. 00:24:35.520 --> 00:24:35.900 Why? 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:37.760 Do we need another piece of furniture? 00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:38.280 No. 00:24:39.040 --> 00:24:42.880 But my heart for my parents and my heart for my grandfather 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:48.020 were my motivation in working to restore that piece of furniture. 00:24:49.060 --> 00:24:57.680 Why do we find, not just in Joel, but continually all throughout Scripture, 00:24:59.040 --> 00:25:04.580 why do we find a holy, powerful God 00:25:04.580 --> 00:25:13.840 desiring to deal in the mess, the mayhem, the chaos 00:25:13.840 --> 00:25:20.120 of groups and individuals of rebellious people. 00:25:21.080 --> 00:25:23.720 And Joel chapter 2 verse 18 tells us why. 00:25:24.460 --> 00:25:25.120 It says, 00:25:25.300 --> 00:25:29.480 Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. 00:25:30.320 --> 00:25:35.260 This, this biblical concept that God is jealous. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:42.100 Numerous times, especially throughout the Old Testament, we see this, that your God is a jealous God. 00:25:43.100 --> 00:25:48.280 And God isn't jealous or envious the way that we are jealous or envious. 00:25:49.440 --> 00:26:01.000 We see somebody with a better house, with a better car, and we're jealous or envious, and we want what they have because we think that's what we need. 00:26:02.060 --> 00:26:06.820 But God is jealous in a different way. 00:26:06.940 --> 00:26:11.580 God's jealousy is not a sinful jealousy, but a holy jealousy. 00:26:11.940 --> 00:26:17.860 God is jealous when someone gives to another something that rightly belongs to him. 00:26:19.240 --> 00:26:25.540 Today we're going to be with my, my wife and kids are with my mother-in-law, and we'll be with my mom tonight. 00:26:26.500 --> 00:26:32.140 So Saturday, traditionally for us, has become Mother's Day for Aaron, and she loves that. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:33.080 It's what we do. 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:38.480 And so last, yesterday, we celebrated Mother's Day with Aaron. 00:26:38.680 --> 00:26:41.900 Now, if you were here a few weeks ago, you'll understand this. 00:26:42.120 --> 00:26:44.580 We went and ate sushi last night, right? 00:26:45.360 --> 00:26:46.180 It's what we did. 00:26:46.180 --> 00:26:48.320 And she still doesn't know his name, you know? 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:51.460 And that's just, but she knows this guy. 00:26:51.700 --> 00:26:52.960 Now, let me ask you this question. 00:26:54.820 --> 00:26:58.440 All week, me and the kids have been talking about where do we want to go? 00:26:58.500 --> 00:26:59.120 What are we going to do? 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:04.160 As we celebrate Mother's Day, what does this need to look at, look like? 00:27:04.900 --> 00:27:10.400 What if the kids and I decided that we were going to celebrate Mother's Day? 00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:20.880 And how we were going to celebrate Mother's Day is instead of taking Aaron out, we were going to take somebody else out. 00:27:22.180 --> 00:27:27.420 We're going to call your mom and take her out. 00:27:28.700 --> 00:27:29.100 Why? 00:27:29.500 --> 00:27:30.900 Well, we need to celebrate Mother's Day. 00:27:31.420 --> 00:27:32.680 We need a mom to celebrate. 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:36.160 So let's get the mom to celebrate, and then let's go celebrate. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:41.160 I wouldn't be here today if that happened. 00:27:41.940 --> 00:27:42.960 Would Aaron be hurt? 00:27:44.580 --> 00:27:44.980 Absolutely. 00:27:46.580 --> 00:27:47.860 Would she be angry? 00:27:49.280 --> 00:27:50.320 You better believe it. 00:27:51.700 --> 00:27:55.700 Would she be justified in these feelings? 00:27:57.640 --> 00:27:58.100 Yes. 00:27:59.660 --> 00:28:00.140 Why? 00:28:01.220 --> 00:28:01.700 Why? 00:28:02.840 --> 00:28:13.540 Because the heart of my wife on Mother's Day is not rooted in her saying, 00:28:13.540 --> 00:28:26.440 I want what someone else has, but in the love for her children and the love that she has for us 00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:37.980 to see and to experience and to be reminded of the love that we have for her. 00:28:38.980 --> 00:28:43.940 You see, God is jealous for you. 00:28:46.180 --> 00:28:49.180 God loves you. 00:28:50.560 --> 00:28:59.060 God loves you more so than any love that anyone else has ever had or ever will have for you. 00:29:00.260 --> 00:29:01.660 God loves you fully. 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:03.680 God loves you completely. 00:29:03.940 --> 00:29:07.460 God's love for you is so great. 00:29:08.820 --> 00:29:12.140 It's so great that it cannot become greater. 00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:16.860 That it is complete and that it's full. 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:33.920 And that's why God takes and loves and works and moves and broken and messed up people. 00:29:33.940 --> 00:29:44.340 People who tend to wander and who tend to pursue and who tend to chase after things that aren't his. 00:29:47.140 --> 00:29:52.700 You may be asking yourself, though, but what about me? 00:29:54.180 --> 00:29:55.480 Am I restorable? 00:29:57.480 --> 00:30:04.040 Occasionally growing up, my granddad, I would go spend the night at his house. 00:30:05.800 --> 00:30:10.180 And when I would spend the night at his house, we'd wake up early that morning. 00:30:11.140 --> 00:30:13.100 We'd go to Hardee's to get breakfast. 00:30:14.360 --> 00:30:17.000 And then we would get out ahead of the trash truck. 00:30:18.600 --> 00:30:29.100 And for my being his assistant on that day, I'd get paid a dollar, which he would then take me and I would go buy baseball cards with. 00:30:30.600 --> 00:30:34.620 We'd stop and we'd see he'd see a piece of furniture on the side of the road. 00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:38.620 And I would grab it and I would bring it up to his car. 00:30:40.300 --> 00:30:43.160 And he would say, ah, that's not worth it. 00:30:44.380 --> 00:30:45.620 So I'd go in and throw it back. 00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:50.160 And then we'd ride down the road and we'd see another piece of furniture and I'd grab it. 00:30:50.220 --> 00:30:51.260 I'd bring it up to his truck. 00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:53.040 Oh, that's worth it. 00:30:53.060 --> 00:30:53.480 Put it back. 00:30:54.100 --> 00:30:54.940 Put it back in the back. 00:30:55.700 --> 00:30:56.800 And we'd load it back in the back. 00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:06.520 You see, when we rode around, he would determine if something was fixable, restorable or not. 00:31:08.300 --> 00:31:15.840 Before coming to faith in Christ, I oftentimes doubted, am I worthy? 00:31:16.280 --> 00:31:18.480 Is God going to be one who would love me? 00:31:19.800 --> 00:31:28.940 There's even been times in my walk with the Lord where I've entered into paths, into seasons of sin and wandering where he is. 00:31:29.080 --> 00:31:30.920 And he graciously loved me. 00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:33.200 And I wonder, God, am I restorable? 00:31:33.420 --> 00:31:34.160 Am I broken? 00:31:34.460 --> 00:31:36.660 Am I capable of being fixed? 00:31:37.700 --> 00:31:43.160 And what I understand is that some of you right now may be walking through that same mindset. 00:31:44.340 --> 00:31:45.940 There's no way God would. 00:31:46.360 --> 00:31:48.000 There's no way God would care. 00:31:48.180 --> 00:31:51.040 There's no way that God is capable to. 00:31:53.300 --> 00:32:00.240 And before we close this morning, if that's where your mind is, I want to do a case study. 00:32:01.660 --> 00:32:07.820 The person in the Bible that we see, a man by the name of Peter. 00:32:09.500 --> 00:32:10.800 The disciple Peter. 00:32:13.040 --> 00:32:15.360 Peter, the one who proclaims the truth about Christ. 00:32:16.380 --> 00:32:17.240 To Christ. 00:32:18.180 --> 00:32:25.140 Peter, the one who stands before the religious authorities and acts and calls them to repentance. 00:32:25.280 --> 00:32:27.780 The same ones who would crucify Jesus. 00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:32.180 Peter, who goes on to plant and pastor churches. 00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:39.280 Do a case study on Peter if you're here today and you're asking yourself, 00:32:39.500 --> 00:32:41.020 am I restorable? 00:32:41.020 --> 00:32:41.640 Am I restorable? 00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:48.960 In John chapter 13, Jesus tells Peter. 00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:52.340 They're in the upper room. 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:56.000 Jesus has washed the disciples' feet. 00:32:57.600 --> 00:33:00.800 Later that night, Jesus will be arrested. 00:33:02.520 --> 00:33:06.940 And Peter, the vocal leader of the group. 00:33:06.940 --> 00:33:13.420 The one who says, this is what I'll always be in the confidence in his relationship with Christ. 00:33:13.740 --> 00:33:17.840 Jesus looks at him and tells Peter, you'll deny me. 00:33:18.800 --> 00:33:20.240 You'll deny me tonight. 00:33:21.700 --> 00:33:23.440 You'll deny me three times. 00:33:26.620 --> 00:33:30.600 Now imagine, for Peter, that hurt. 00:33:32.580 --> 00:33:34.600 He'd given up everything to follow Jesus. 00:33:36.120 --> 00:33:38.820 Where Jesus went, Peter went. 00:33:40.020 --> 00:33:43.980 Who was Jesus to question his devotion? 00:33:45.480 --> 00:33:48.640 Fast forward in John 18, they're in the garden. 00:33:50.580 --> 00:33:55.700 A group of soldiers come to arrest Jesus. 00:33:57.240 --> 00:34:06.440 And Peter reaches out, grabs a sword, attacks the high priest's servant. 00:34:08.100 --> 00:34:10.320 Because he's going to be bold. 00:34:11.600 --> 00:34:13.080 He's going to be brave. 00:34:13.880 --> 00:34:16.300 Doesn't matter how many of them are there. 00:34:18.100 --> 00:34:19.380 Jesus, I'm here for you. 00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:22.880 Swings. 00:34:24.020 --> 00:34:25.280 Cuts off his ear. 00:34:26.940 --> 00:34:28.280 What does Jesus do? 00:34:29.740 --> 00:34:32.260 Jesus doesn't say, attaboy, Peter. 00:34:33.140 --> 00:34:34.280 Maybe I was wrong. 00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:36.400 He didn't say, attaboy, Peter. 00:34:36.780 --> 00:34:38.640 I knew you had it in you. 00:34:40.500 --> 00:34:41.560 He stops. 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:45.460 Jesus picks up the ear. 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:48.280 He heals the man. 00:34:49.600 --> 00:34:51.840 And he commands the violence to stop. 00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:55.940 John 18, verse 15. 00:34:56.020 --> 00:35:03.060 The Bible tells us that Peter continues to follow Jesus as Jesus is led into town. 00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:05.800 Staying a distance back. 00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:05.820 Staying a distance back. 00:35:06.820 --> 00:35:11.540 And as Jesus is led into the courtyard of the high priest. 00:35:12.580 --> 00:35:15.520 As the trials of Jesus would begin. 00:35:16.260 --> 00:35:21.700 That would lead him to the call of crucifixion on his life. 00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:36.340 And it's in these moments that the Bible tells us, that Peter denies, just as Jesus said, three times, that he knows Jesus. 00:35:39.180 --> 00:35:40.800 Do you think you think you're unrestorable? 00:35:42.560 --> 00:35:47.540 You think about the list of sins that you've done. 00:35:47.640 --> 00:35:50.440 You think about the condition that you find your heart in. 00:35:50.520 --> 00:35:52.900 You find the things that you think about. 00:35:53.020 --> 00:35:56.620 You find this peace after this peace after this peace. 00:35:56.860 --> 00:35:59.120 And maybe it's a mindset of too far gone. 00:36:00.120 --> 00:36:02.920 Maybe it's a mindset of God couldn't do this with me. 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:08.640 I find that when we look at in just this evening with Peter. 00:36:09.300 --> 00:36:13.920 That we find a pattern and a trail of sin. 00:36:15.240 --> 00:36:20.860 That seems on the surface to be unrestorable. 00:36:22.300 --> 00:36:23.720 We see attempted murder. 00:36:25.160 --> 00:36:28.340 We see that he challenges the authoritative words of Jesus. 00:36:29.640 --> 00:36:31.620 We see that he rejects Jesus. 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:40.500 We see that he takes, instead of the will of God, that Peter's, what he's pursuing is the selfish motivation of his own heart. 00:36:41.500 --> 00:36:48.380 That he allows not the peace of Christ to consume him, but that the fear of this world to consume him. 00:36:48.380 --> 00:36:53.740 And all through this, what's been building is that even though Christ has been saying, 00:36:54.120 --> 00:36:57.540 this is what must take place, and this is what will happen, 00:36:57.800 --> 00:37:04.440 but the Son of Man will raise again with what the future church would brand as heresy. 00:37:05.860 --> 00:37:06.720 As heresy. 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:11.760 Peter rejects the teaching of the resurrection. 00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:16.960 And the sinfulness of his action. 00:37:18.380 --> 00:37:32.700 Peter's list would leave the logical, worldly mind to say too far unrestorable. 00:37:34.360 --> 00:37:39.380 And if that's where you are, and where you find your list going to. 00:37:41.660 --> 00:37:43.360 But the Bible continues. 00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:46.800 Let's close in reading John 21. 00:37:48.380 --> 00:37:56.240 Christ is resurrected. 00:37:58.060 --> 00:38:00.120 The tomb is empty. 00:38:02.180 --> 00:38:04.140 Easter that we just celebrated. 00:38:05.560 --> 00:38:07.600 And then John 21, verse 15. 00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:15.500 When they had finished eating breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 00:38:16.620 --> 00:38:22.280 Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? 00:38:24.440 --> 00:38:29.320 And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 00:38:31.320 --> 00:38:34.740 And he said to him, feed my lambs. 00:38:36.120 --> 00:38:44.260 He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? 00:38:46.180 --> 00:38:51.600 And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. 00:38:53.240 --> 00:38:55.040 And he said to him, tend my sheep. 00:38:57.240 --> 00:39:05.800 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? 00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:08.660 Peter was grieved. 00:39:08.660 --> 00:39:09.400 Peter was grieved. 00:39:11.160 --> 00:39:14.260 Because he said to him the third time, do you love me? 00:39:17.260 --> 00:39:21.120 And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. 00:39:22.560 --> 00:39:24.640 You know that I love you. 00:39:26.220 --> 00:39:28.320 And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. 00:39:29.820 --> 00:39:38.160 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted. 00:39:39.600 --> 00:39:48.840 But when you were old, you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. 00:39:49.980 --> 00:39:55.700 This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. 00:39:57.260 --> 00:40:02.960 And after saying this, he said to him, follow me. 00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:05.160 Follow me. 00:40:06.660 --> 00:40:08.380 Peter, who's gotten it all wrong. 00:40:09.600 --> 00:40:14.780 Time after time after time again, has an encounter with the Lord. 00:40:15.900 --> 00:40:18.860 He has a faith encounter with Christ. 00:40:19.860 --> 00:40:24.900 In the brokenness of who he is and of what Christ needs to restore. 00:40:25.900 --> 00:40:31.580 And what we see in here is that Peter grieves. 00:40:33.060 --> 00:40:34.060 Peter grieves. 00:40:36.020 --> 00:40:37.920 Peter was grieved. 00:40:38.980 --> 00:40:44.480 The Bible tells us that after the third time when Jesus said, do you love me? 00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:46.480 Three and three. 00:40:48.160 --> 00:40:49.760 Peter's an intelligent guy. 00:40:49.940 --> 00:40:53.600 I think Peter sees and puts the pieces of it together. 00:40:53.780 --> 00:40:55.720 It begins to click with Peter. 00:40:55.880 --> 00:40:58.740 It begins to click with those moments leading up to this. 00:40:58.920 --> 00:41:01.480 The doubt, the struggle, the insecurity, the rebellion. 00:41:01.660 --> 00:41:02.720 All of these things. 00:41:02.720 --> 00:41:09.760 And it says that Peter begins to grieve because of what God is needing to do, of what God is calling him to. 00:41:09.980 --> 00:41:16.200 And notice this, that as Peter grieves his sin, he doesn't run from Jesus. 00:41:17.480 --> 00:41:22.020 As Peter grieves, he draws closer to Jesus. 00:41:22.660 --> 00:41:24.440 You see, guilt will run you away. 00:41:24.780 --> 00:41:26.320 Conviction will draw you toward. 00:41:29.260 --> 00:41:30.000 Peter grieves. 00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:30.260 Peter grieves. 00:41:32.260 --> 00:41:33.940 And then he proclaims. 00:41:34.700 --> 00:41:35.960 He proclaims. 00:41:36.880 --> 00:41:38.420 He will proclaim his love. 00:41:38.500 --> 00:41:39.460 We'll look at that just one. 00:41:39.540 --> 00:41:48.080 But what he does here that I think is important, he says to Jesus, you know everything. 00:41:48.760 --> 00:41:57.420 Now, in our culture, when you look at someone and say, yeah, sure, you know everything, that's not a compliment that you're really smart, right? 00:41:57.700 --> 00:41:59.340 That's not to be received that way. 00:42:00.600 --> 00:42:02.740 That's not what Peter is saying here. 00:42:04.100 --> 00:42:11.540 What Peter is acknowledging is the all-knowing presence of God. 00:42:13.080 --> 00:42:19.340 He proclaims that Jesus is God. 00:42:19.500 --> 00:42:20.200 You know everything. 00:42:21.240 --> 00:42:22.480 Who knows everything? 00:42:23.080 --> 00:42:23.500 God. 00:42:25.320 --> 00:42:26.780 And then Peter loves. 00:42:28.120 --> 00:42:28.960 Peter loves. 00:42:29.880 --> 00:42:38.380 There's lots of talk and conversation about the different words for love that Jesus uses in talking to Peter. 00:42:39.800 --> 00:42:50.840 But each time that Peter responds, our English translations say that he says that you know that I love you. 00:42:52.380 --> 00:42:53.940 You know that I love you. 00:42:54.040 --> 00:42:55.160 You know that I love you. 00:42:55.260 --> 00:42:56.120 You know everything. 00:42:56.380 --> 00:42:58.720 You know that I love you. 00:42:59.580 --> 00:43:06.260 The first two times that Peter used the word know, he uses the word elida. 00:43:07.380 --> 00:43:11.720 Which is to know something intellectually. 00:43:13.020 --> 00:43:21.080 It would be like to say, you know about someone or you know about something. 00:43:22.140 --> 00:43:25.200 Do you know who Michael Jordan is? 00:43:25.760 --> 00:43:27.680 Yes, I know who Michael Jordan is. 00:43:27.760 --> 00:43:28.940 Do you know Michael Jordan? 00:43:29.240 --> 00:43:29.480 No. 00:43:29.940 --> 00:43:31.260 Same word, but different. 00:43:33.480 --> 00:43:34.900 He said, Jesus, you know intellectually. 00:43:36.180 --> 00:43:37.460 You know intellectually. 00:43:37.460 --> 00:43:41.900 I'm stating what is factual to you. 00:43:43.020 --> 00:43:51.980 But the third time, the third time, that Peter in his proclamation declares his love. 00:43:54.260 --> 00:43:58.200 He uses the word ginosko. 00:43:59.340 --> 00:44:00.460 Ginosko. 00:44:00.460 --> 00:44:08.000 And ginosko is to know through experience. 00:44:09.280 --> 00:44:12.500 It's relational knowing. 00:44:13.640 --> 00:44:20.640 See, what is happening in this picture is as Peter grieves his sin, 00:44:21.300 --> 00:44:28.080 as he proclaims about what is true about Christ and his deity. 00:44:28.080 --> 00:44:35.620 He declares not a mental love, not a mental devotion, 00:44:35.620 --> 00:44:42.120 but going all the way back to Joel chapter 2 of what God has called his people to 00:44:42.120 --> 00:44:44.600 is a restoration of their heart. 00:44:44.940 --> 00:44:49.660 And that's found in relationship with God and God alone. 00:44:49.660 --> 00:44:55.360 And Peter here describes an intimacy of relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:44:57.060 --> 00:44:59.360 It's moved beyond my sin. 00:45:00.220 --> 00:45:02.620 It's moved beyond what I know. 00:45:03.360 --> 00:45:05.280 And it consumes who I am. 00:45:07.780 --> 00:45:16.520 And Jesus, Jesus then in this moment, in this beautiful picture before everyone who's there, 00:45:17.760 --> 00:45:18.560 Jesus restores. 00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:20.800 Jesus restores. 00:45:22.840 --> 00:45:26.460 Jesus gives Peter a prophecy about his life, 00:45:27.280 --> 00:45:32.060 about the journey of what will go on and what it will mean to follow Christ. 00:45:33.300 --> 00:45:35.120 And then the very simple words. 00:45:37.960 --> 00:45:38.900 Jesus says, 00:45:40.260 --> 00:45:40.900 follow me. 00:45:42.160 --> 00:45:43.040 Follow me. 00:45:44.240 --> 00:45:45.040 Follow me. 00:45:46.380 --> 00:45:46.820 Follow me. 00:45:46.820 --> 00:45:50.560 Words that I'm sure over Peter's years of being a part of the ministry of Jesus, 00:45:51.080 --> 00:45:54.060 he heard time and time again. 00:45:55.140 --> 00:45:55.940 Follow me. 00:45:56.840 --> 00:45:57.580 Follow me. 00:45:58.480 --> 00:45:59.020 Follow me. 00:46:01.200 --> 00:46:05.560 I don't know what is on your list. 00:46:06.920 --> 00:46:10.560 I don't know this morning what makes you think 00:46:10.560 --> 00:46:12.700 that you're unlovable, 00:46:13.600 --> 00:46:15.280 that you're unfixable, 00:46:16.080 --> 00:46:17.720 that you're in too deep, 00:46:18.280 --> 00:46:19.720 that God doesn't care. 00:46:20.460 --> 00:46:21.940 But here's what I know, 00:46:22.020 --> 00:46:23.660 that God is jealous for you. 00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:29.840 He has a depth of love that you could not even fathom. 00:46:31.240 --> 00:46:34.260 And in our call to relationship with him, 00:46:35.660 --> 00:46:38.720 in the power of the Holy Spirit this morning, 00:46:39.780 --> 00:46:41.100 would you grieve your sin? 00:46:42.020 --> 00:46:43.940 Would you grieve your brokenness? 00:46:44.900 --> 00:46:48.700 And instead of letting that sin push you from God this morning, 00:46:48.980 --> 00:46:51.820 I don't care if this is the first time you've been to church in your life, 00:46:51.980 --> 00:46:53.840 the first time you've been to church in 10 years, 00:46:53.980 --> 00:46:55.980 the first time you've been to church since last week. 00:46:56.980 --> 00:47:00.240 Will you allow that grieving to not push you from him, 00:47:00.300 --> 00:47:02.200 but to draw you closer to him? 00:47:03.380 --> 00:47:15.840 this morning would you declare with your mind and declare with your heart that Jesus is God. 00:47:15.840 --> 00:47:19.120 That he's not a way to God. 00:47:19.240 --> 00:47:21.400 He is the way to God. 00:47:22.960 --> 00:47:24.340 And that he is our Savior. 00:47:24.340 --> 00:47:28.580 And that what you desire from him 00:47:28.580 --> 00:47:35.000 is not just simply for him to take care of a future eternity 00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:38.340 that one day you'll get to, 00:47:39.420 --> 00:47:43.980 but to restore the brokenness of relationship that's there. 00:47:46.040 --> 00:47:52.100 In fact, that is the heart and desire of God. 00:47:53.120 --> 00:47:53.960 Would you pray with me? 00:47:56.400 --> 00:47:58.800 God, we thank you for the truth of your word. 00:47:59.960 --> 00:48:02.400 We thank you for the power of your word. 00:48:03.400 --> 00:48:05.160 God, I thank you for everyone who is here. 00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:08.120 Everyone who is in relationship with you. 00:48:08.980 --> 00:48:12.460 Lord, we did not get here by our means and by our capabilities. 00:48:12.740 --> 00:48:15.160 We did not get here by our righteousness, 00:48:15.520 --> 00:48:16.620 by our holiness. 00:48:16.880 --> 00:48:19.940 We did not get here by our work and by our perfection. 00:48:21.060 --> 00:48:23.440 But we got here through the work and the means, 00:48:24.380 --> 00:48:25.140 through the person, 00:48:25.940 --> 00:48:26.680 through the holiness, 00:48:27.540 --> 00:48:28.380 through the righteousness, 00:48:29.220 --> 00:48:32.580 through the sacrifice of Christ and Christ alone. 00:48:34.800 --> 00:48:36.460 And God, all of us 00:48:36.460 --> 00:48:40.580 who have seen the sin of our life 00:48:40.580 --> 00:48:43.900 come through and wipe out and destroy, 00:48:44.620 --> 00:48:46.360 to kill and to remove, 00:48:46.880 --> 00:48:48.340 to bring us into a void 00:48:48.340 --> 00:48:50.620 and to a separation from you, God. 00:48:53.780 --> 00:48:55.700 God, when we hear and feel 00:48:55.700 --> 00:49:00.380 the sweetness of your voice 00:49:00.380 --> 00:49:06.100 calling us back to you. 00:49:11.400 --> 00:49:14.480 God, in the words that you spoke 00:49:14.480 --> 00:49:17.400 in Joel 2. 00:49:19.440 --> 00:49:21.880 Now, Paul will repeat in Romans, 00:49:23.300 --> 00:49:25.560 that everyone who calls 00:49:25.560 --> 00:49:28.220 on the name of the Lord 00:49:28.220 --> 00:49:29.920 shall be saved. 00:49:34.660 --> 00:49:35.720 God, I thank you 00:49:35.720 --> 00:49:42.540 that we are not a piece of furniture 00:49:42.540 --> 00:49:46.600 cast in the side of the road 00:49:46.600 --> 00:49:50.340 that is unfixable, 00:49:51.180 --> 00:49:54.180 that is too far gone, 00:49:54.680 --> 00:49:57.840 that's lost its beauty, 00:49:59.100 --> 00:50:00.820 and that's lost its purpose. 00:50:03.300 --> 00:50:05.220 that God, as you said to Peter, 00:50:05.360 --> 00:50:05.980 follow me. 00:50:08.460 --> 00:50:09.580 God, it's the call 00:50:09.580 --> 00:50:12.120 that you're calling us to now. 00:50:14.480 --> 00:50:17.000 God, we lift up those who are here this morning 00:50:17.000 --> 00:50:18.840 who have not put their faith and hope 00:50:18.840 --> 00:50:20.040 and trust in Jesus Christ. 00:50:20.720 --> 00:50:21.920 God, we pray that today 00:50:21.920 --> 00:50:23.820 they would put their faith in you, 00:50:25.780 --> 00:50:26.960 admit that they're a sinner, 00:50:29.760 --> 00:50:31.500 to put their belief 00:50:31.500 --> 00:50:34.900 in you and you alone 00:50:34.900 --> 00:50:38.340 and confess you as Lord and Savior. 00:50:40.960 --> 00:50:43.600 But God, so many of us 00:50:43.600 --> 00:50:46.780 find ourselves 00:50:46.780 --> 00:50:49.560 in David's seat 00:50:49.560 --> 00:50:52.620 and David's condition. 00:50:55.140 --> 00:50:56.480 God, we are the sheep 00:50:56.480 --> 00:50:58.340 of your flock. 00:51:01.000 --> 00:51:02.320 God, restore my soul. 00:51:04.520 --> 00:51:05.500 It's in your name we pray. 00:51:06.860 --> 00:51:07.180 Amen. 00:51:10.300 --> 00:51:11.900 That's it for this week's message. 00:51:12.440 --> 00:51:13.880 Be sure to check back next week 00:51:13.880 --> 00:51:14.700 for a new episode. 00:51:15.300 --> 00:51:15.940 And in the meantime, 00:51:16.300 --> 00:51:17.540 you can visit us online 00:51:17.540 --> 00:51:19.480 at willowridgechurch.org 00:51:19.480 --> 00:51:21.580 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church 00:51:21.580 --> 00:51:23.920 on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. 00:51:24.340 --> 00:51:25.320 Thanks again for listening.