back to indexFamily Retreat Main Session 1
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And I've got the first leg of what it means to be anchored in Christ as 00:00:13.320 |
And then Pastor Mark is gonna take that baton in the afternoon and 00:00:17.400 |
talk about what it means to be anchored in Christ as a family unit. 00:00:22.800 |
And Pastor Peter tomorrow will be sharing with us about how as a church, 00:00:32.040 |
So why don't we pray and we'll begin just our time of worship. 00:00:41.600 |
Father, we are so thankful that you've gathered us here this morning and 00:00:51.280 |
And I'm sure Lord that there are many of us who really need this time 00:00:59.200 |
And we are so thankful that you give us a church body where we can 00:01:04.040 |
gather together as a family, really to face in the same direction. 00:01:09.640 |
And Lord, I pray that we would all leave here facing God and 00:01:18.120 |
So we pray for your help as we just look at your word, study your word and 00:01:23.160 |
share about how your word is moving in our lives and in our hearts and 00:01:27.600 |
the areas of our lives that we need to bring in submission to your word. 00:01:31.560 |
I do pray that you would help us just to really have ears to hear your truth. 00:01:51.040 |
And just a few premarital counseling sessions as well. 00:01:56.240 |
And when I do premarital counseling with engaged couples or 00:01:59.800 |
talk to just couples that are dating, looking to get married. 00:02:02.800 |
One of the first questions that I ask is this. 00:02:11.880 |
And in each case, there's usually a little bit of a fumbling around and 00:02:15.760 |
a nervous scramble in search for the right answer. 00:02:21.960 |
But it throws people off because when a pastor asks it, 00:02:24.880 |
it almost seems like you have to give a holy answer. 00:02:28.960 |
Usually when a question like this is posed, the couple answers something like, 00:02:34.600 |
well, to glorify God by raising a godly family. 00:02:38.680 |
It always goes up, cuz you're not a 100% sure. 00:02:45.480 |
But this is actually a question that's very important. 00:02:49.040 |
But one that married people seldom ask themselves. 00:02:55.280 |
And because it is not often asked, it is seldom reflected on. 00:03:00.400 |
So most of you guys are familiar with marriage. 00:03:12.080 |
because we're just trying to survive day to day just doing life together. 00:03:17.720 |
And here's another important question that is all too seldom asked. 00:03:26.600 |
Or in other words, to what purpose or for what purpose have I been saved? 00:03:33.880 |
And again, because we seldom ask this of ourselves, 00:03:40.680 |
it's seldom reflected upon and we get in trouble. 00:03:44.880 |
So in scripture, the answer to this question is very clear. 00:03:48.360 |
But what I wanna do is I wanna ask to actually read Genesis 1-1, 00:03:52.000 |
John 17-3, and then we will look into our Ephesians chapter 2 passage, okay? 00:03:59.560 |
If anything, just keep your finger on Ephesians. 00:04:02.080 |
Genesis 1-1, you guys are probably very familiar with this. 00:04:05.720 |
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:04:15.600 |
Usually when people try to read through the scripture. 00:04:17.960 |
So this is probably the sentence in the Bible that's read the most, okay? 00:04:21.040 |
The gospel of Jesus Christ begins with the creator God of purpose, 00:04:30.120 |
So we see in Genesis chapter 1, the word good is used after each of the first five 00:04:36.120 |
days of creation, and the words very good after everything is completed in day six. 00:04:48.560 |
In fact, it's not until Genesis 2-18 where the words not good are used to describe 00:04:53.480 |
man's lack of community, his lack of an equal not only to subdue, 00:04:59.240 |
but to enjoy all the good that God had created. 00:05:04.200 |
So you and I have been created by a very, very good, 00:05:08.000 |
creative God who is longing to be good to us. 00:05:15.440 |
And this good God has given us the gift of eternal life. 00:05:27.520 |
It says, now this is eternal life, that they may know you, 00:05:31.800 |
the only true God, Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 00:05:36.160 |
Eternal life is not just about avoiding hell. 00:05:39.160 |
Eternal life is about knowing for whom you have been created eternally, 00:05:44.440 |
and just being lavished with goodness upon goodness 00:05:55.040 |
So this is where we're gonna be looking at our passage for today. 00:05:57.480 |
You guys, most of you guys probably looked at this or you're moaning emotional. 00:06:04.080 |
then we're gonna work our way from verse 1 after I read to you 00:06:08.640 |
the purpose of our existence and our Christian life. 00:06:12.160 |
Ephesians 2-10 reads, for we are his workmanship, 00:06:21.120 |
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. 00:06:25.400 |
So before all of these things were created, very good, and 00:06:30.800 |
before sin entered the world to corrupt everything, God had ordained an eternal 00:06:35.760 |
purpose for your life, and he's ordained an eternal purpose for mine. 00:06:39.640 |
And it was for the purpose of good works that we would walk continually 00:06:48.920 |
So what is the purpose of our Christian faith? 00:06:57.600 |
And I'm gonna repeat this about 15 times in this sermon, so 00:07:00.720 |
you're gonna remember this and memorize it and 00:07:05.680 |
This is the purpose for which you're created. 00:07:08.000 |
You were created by God and for God to love God and to serve God. 00:07:12.480 |
And I'll say it again, some of you guys are scrambling. 00:07:15.960 |
You were created by God and for God to love God and to serve God. 00:07:26.000 |
You were created by God and for God to love God and to serve God. 00:07:34.000 |
And this is the meta-narrative that begins in Genesis and 00:07:37.960 |
ends with ultimate glory to this creator God in the book of Revelation. 00:07:46.520 |
The purpose of our lives is to know this God and make him known in our lives. 00:07:51.640 |
And it's a privilege that we will spend eternity growing in knowledge of 00:07:55.920 |
this God and giving glory to this great God who is due worship. 00:08:01.920 |
So this is eternal life, that they may know you, 00:08:05.040 |
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you are saved. 00:08:08.920 |
And eternal life, for those of you who have been saved, has already started. 00:08:20.840 |
So you were created by God and for God to love God and to serve God. 00:08:31.960 |
I say it simply as a strategic alliance where two believers join forces and 00:08:40.240 |
become far more useful to this purpose where they come together to do 00:08:45.760 |
far greater things than what they could have done as individuals. 00:08:50.160 |
So the purpose of marriage is to give God even more glory that you can 00:08:58.120 |
You were created by God and for God to love God and to serve God. 00:09:06.440 |
This is something we can all say amen to, but 00:09:09.440 |
we actually have a hard time submitting to this purpose. 00:09:12.560 |
There is a part of us, even if we have submitted to the Lordship of Christ in 00:09:18.800 |
our lives, that remains offended by this purpose. 00:09:22.760 |
And if you've been a Christian for a length of time, 00:09:28.040 |
you've observed seasons of wandering and strain from this purpose. 00:09:31.880 |
And part of this is because our flesh has been so fully corrupted by sin. 00:09:37.280 |
And though sin is dead in us, it is still dying in us. 00:09:45.600 |
So I want us to read Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. 00:09:50.360 |
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked 00:09:59.560 |
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of 00:10:04.280 |
the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 00:10:10.400 |
Among them, we too all formerly live in the lusts of our flesh, 00:10:15.600 |
indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind. 00:10:18.440 |
And we're by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 00:10:23.520 |
So verse 1 says, you were, past tense, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. 00:10:31.760 |
So I have a question that's very important for us to address. 00:10:39.360 |
And this is something you have to be very careful not to misdefine. 00:10:42.520 |
An inaccurate definition of sin leads to a misdiagnosis and a misapplication. 00:11:04.920 |
When we say sin, we naturally think of things like murder, theft, alcoholism, 00:11:09.880 |
pornography, embezzlement, lying, cheating, and things like that. 00:11:13.360 |
And yes, they can be categorized as sins, but 00:11:18.000 |
those things are symptomatic of deeper problems. 00:11:22.120 |
Sin, in the original language, is hamartia, H-A-M-A-R-T-I-A, hamartia. 00:11:28.280 |
And basically, it just means to miss the mark. 00:11:32.760 |
We are created by God, for God, to love God, and to serve God. 00:11:49.840 |
It means living in opposition and outright rebellion toward this purpose. 00:11:54.600 |
Failed, we are to live up to the holy standard that has been set by our holy, 00:12:02.240 |
And sin has so tainted us that we are offended by this purpose when we 00:12:07.920 |
Because in our flesh, we want a God that is a better version of us. 00:12:14.000 |
We want a God who will love us and who will serve us. 00:12:19.320 |
And in our flesh, we absolutely hate our purpose. 00:12:26.480 |
No, we are not created by you and for you to serve you and to love you. 00:12:29.560 |
We are created...you are here for us, is our flesh's natural response. 00:12:34.920 |
Murder, drug abuse, theft, lying, stealing, cheating, idolatry, 00:12:44.360 |
But essentially and basically, these outward deeds are a byproduct of an even 00:12:53.720 |
So we enter the world hostile toward the ways of God. 00:13:01.160 |
We have entered into this world missing the mark from the very get-go. 00:13:12.000 |
In November 2017, three UCLA basketball players were in Shanghai, 00:13:18.800 |
and they were arrested for shoplifting at a Louis Vuitton store. 00:13:22.720 |
One of the three was none other than LeAngelo Ball, brother to the then 00:13:33.200 |
And here's what he said in an interview while he was still in China. 00:13:37.400 |
"We all went out one night, went to the malls, went to the Louis Vuitton store, 00:13:45.440 |
And then, you know me, just not thinking and being with them, 00:13:55.840 |
I didn't realize until I got back to my hotel. 00:14:03.000 |
And then sure enough, the next morning, the police came and got us. 00:14:07.360 |
I feel embarrassed, but I assure you, this is not who I am." 00:14:13.840 |
So basically, he said that his teammates influenced him to do this, 00:14:17.840 |
And then he said that this kind of behavior is not really indicative 00:14:24.240 |
You know what I thought when I read the interview from this press release? 00:14:28.000 |
Initially, because it happens all the time, people blame-shift. 00:14:31.080 |
I thought, "No, D'Angelo, that is who you really and truly are. 00:14:38.520 |
You are walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince 00:14:49.280 |
You are living in the lust of your flesh, indulging the desires of your flesh, 00:15:02.680 |
This is my 19th year of pastoral ministry, so my original youth, 00:15:05.960 |
who are actually in this room now, as old people, okay? 00:15:11.040 |
This is my 27th year as a Christian, and I'm becoming more and more convinced 00:15:17.160 |
that there is absolutely nothing good in me outside of Christ. 00:15:28.200 |
There's nothing good in me outside of Christ. 00:15:33.200 |
In my flesh, I'm going to include you, in your flesh, there is zero good. 00:15:40.160 |
Only in and through Christ have I become a saint. 00:15:43.840 |
Only in and through Christ have I become a saint. 00:15:46.400 |
Sin at its roots is living in rebellion to the God or purpose for which you and I 00:15:53.520 |
Everything that disgusts and discourages us in this fallen world, 00:15:58.200 |
all the stuff that you see on the news, all the just... 00:16:01.520 |
I don't even want to read the news anymore, right? 00:16:03.840 |
All of that stuff is an outward expression of the internal condition 00:16:15.200 |
You were created by God and for God to love God and to serve God, 00:16:19.160 |
and sin is living in hostility toward this divine purpose. 00:16:30.960 |
First one is corruption of the spirit that is now continually working in the 00:16:38.280 |
So, no one, and Pastor Peter's mentioned this before on a Sunday, 00:16:45.120 |
Without the intervention of God, man becomes more and more rotten. 00:16:52.200 |
And as the rotting gets worse and worse, the pain becomes more and more 00:16:56.200 |
unbearable, and sin perverts and corrupts everything. 00:17:01.440 |
And the things that are good in life, sin corrupts it even more to make it worse. 00:17:20.840 |
You guys know this feeling when you're in a sin, you don't want to go pray to the 00:17:39.560 |
Given enough time, sin will cause a rift in every single relationship that you will 00:17:51.600 |
And it says, "And you were dead," past tense. 00:18:00.680 |
So, when Adam and Eve sinned against God, death entered the world and tainted and 00:18:11.920 |
And as a result, death has come to all of us. 00:18:17.920 |
Spiritual death, however, is a much scarier prospect that should make all of us shiver 00:18:27.160 |
Verse 2, it says, "We were once sons of disobedience." 00:18:31.560 |
Verse 3, "We were by nature children of wrath." 00:18:40.120 |
This is one of the reasons I don't like the NIV. 00:18:41.120 |
The NIV has done a major disservice to this verse. 00:18:52.860 |
You were basically the spawn of scum and filth to be immediately and wrathfully wiped out. 00:19:01.080 |
You, by your spiritual DNA, are an object of derision, should be wiped out immediately. 00:19:11.040 |
So, from the day of our conception, Psalm 51, 5, from the very day of our conception, 00:19:21.440 |
we should have and would have been prepared for the full grunt of the wrath of God because 00:19:33.200 |
I do teach to the children, so I can make this a little bit fun. 00:19:42.360 |
I use the word hate seldomly, but for mosquitoes, I will use the H word hate. 00:19:48.840 |
I have yet to meet a single person in my life that loves mosquitoes. 00:19:56.200 |
And one of the reasons I hate them even more is because they love me. 00:20:04.360 |
So, it's a frustrating thing in the middle of the night. 00:20:13.520 |
In the middle, in Korea, we used to have these tennis racket things that would kill bugs. 00:20:17.240 |
We had so many in our apartment on the 18th floor. 00:20:30.440 |
And as I've killed my many fair share of mosquitoes over the years, I've realized one tragic fact 00:20:45.080 |
Because in the middle of the night, when I'm not thinking straight, I've got bumps on my 00:20:49.320 |
I actually want to just catch it and torment it. 00:20:58.840 |
I want to put it in the microwave and let it explode. 00:20:59.840 |
I want to torture it because it caused me so much torment. 00:21:00.840 |
But when I grab the mosquito, it's usually dead and bloody, full of not my wives, but 00:21:16.840 |
Now, I am not the only one who hates mosquitoes. 00:21:22.840 |
If a mosquito were flying around my head right now and I killed it, I doubt that any of you 00:21:31.440 |
If a mosquito was on the wall and you guys killed it, someone next to you killed it, 00:21:40.640 |
Even if a mosquito did not bite any one of us, its very presence would trigger in us 00:21:59.360 |
Because mosquitoes represent disease, corruption, and in some places in the world, death. 00:22:05.720 |
If we were in areas where malaria, Zika, dengue were prevalent, we actually would encourage 00:22:18.880 |
Some people hate roaches more than mosquitoes. 00:22:32.440 |
To remind you that the distance between you and God is infinitely greater than the distance 00:22:42.560 |
There is even less to love in you and me than there is to love in a mosquito or a cockroach. 00:22:51.080 |
We were by nature, tapped on, spawned of wrath. 00:22:58.400 |
See remember I said that we have to be careful not to mystify sin. 00:23:01.880 |
The problem of sin is not primarily an external one, it is thoroughly internal. 00:23:03.880 |
And one of the things that religious people make, the primary misdiagnosis, is in focusing 00:23:04.880 |
on the external, seeking to address the symptoms and not the disease. 00:23:05.880 |
Just as cold medicine does not cure the cold, but rather just temporarily hides the symptoms, 00:23:06.880 |
good effort toward godliness and piety does not cure the cold. 00:23:08.880 |
And I'm not saying that you should be doing that. 00:23:10.880 |
I'm not saying that you should be doing that. 00:27:33.120 |
And on my deathbed, I leave all that I have to Him." 00:27:44.820 |
But it's even sillier that God would make us alive together with Christ. 00:27:54.540 |
See, we serve a strange God, and why do I affectionately call Him strange? 00:27:59.100 |
I don't call Him strange because He chose to withhold wrath. 00:28:03.620 |
I don't call Him strange because He extends mercy. 00:28:06.980 |
There have been wicked leaders in the history of the world that have been occasionally merciful. 00:28:11.020 |
There have been wicked leaders in the world that have just kind of withheld wrath. 00:28:15.660 |
There have been man-made gods who have been known to be occasionally kind. 00:28:22.100 |
I call our God strange because He didn't just not send us to hell, He raised us up with 00:28:30.620 |
Christ, seated us with Christ in the heavenly places. 00:28:36.540 |
And our destiny as children of God is to spend eternity being showered with kindness upon 00:28:49.500 |
He will even let once sin-tainted, fallen, hostile man to see Him face to face. 00:29:00.020 |
First John 3.2, "Beloved, we are now children of God, and He has not appeared as yet what 00:29:06.580 |
we will be, but we know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him 00:29:17.700 |
Absolutely wonderful, absolutely silly, dumbfounding grace. 00:29:23.060 |
I almost want to change that song from "Amazing Grace" to "Dumbfounding Grace" or "Absurdly 00:29:31.500 |
Strange Grace" because "amazing" sometimes doesn't quite cut it. 00:29:39.780 |
So there is now a cure for sin, and you and I have believed and placed our faith in Christ. 00:29:46.140 |
We have been saved, and now we have been restored to the purpose for which we have been created 00:29:54.700 |
for His glory, and as a result, we will experience immense satisfaction and joy. 00:30:07.740 |
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, and whoever believes in Him shall 00:30:23.460 |
I've heard many a sermon that says, "For God so loved the world." 00:30:28.420 |
That's actually inaccurate because the Greek word there is "koutos" which is "thus," like 00:30:33.940 |
this, in this way, in this manner, is the word "so." 00:30:40.380 |
And you have to look at John 3.14 and 15, "For just as Moses lifted up the serpent in 00:30:46.740 |
the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. 00:30:50.380 |
For God in this silly, absurd way loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 00:30:58.100 |
and whoever looks up in faith will not perish but have eternal life." 00:31:06.460 |
We see the people in the wilderness doing what they do best, and we've been in Hebrews, 00:31:12.980 |
Numbers 21, God sends fiery serpents, and in verse 7 of Numbers 21, we see a kind of 00:31:22.300 |
repentance, and they say, "We have sinned, Moses, because we have spoken against the 00:31:29.380 |
Intercede with the Lord that He may remove the serpent from us." 00:31:35.580 |
So God told Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and to raise it up on a staff, and all they 00:31:40.980 |
have to do to be saved from these fiery serpents is just to look. 00:31:52.780 |
He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness 00:31:58.940 |
So the appropriate response when you and I find ourselves drifting as individuals, when 00:32:03.980 |
you and I find ourselves in sin, isn't primarily greater religious effort. 00:32:12.380 |
Sometimes our efforts are based more on superstition than on truth. 00:32:24.460 |
Sometimes we are more afraid of the wrath and the judgment of God who already adopted 00:32:34.660 |
"Oh, my business is going to fail if I don't do this." 00:32:37.660 |
We're more superstitious than we are faith-filled. 00:32:42.220 |
And the appropriate response is not greater effort. 00:32:52.140 |
You know what the people of God were doing to this bronze serpent from about 1500 to 00:32:59.300 |
For 800 years, they saw a mystical power in this thing. 00:33:17.420 |
King Hezekiah, the righteous king, one of the first things that he did was just break 00:33:28.660 |
You see, when we misdiagnose our problem of sin and of our flesh, we naturally try to 00:33:40.740 |
We naturally conform to the church's expectations. 00:33:44.080 |
We naturally just try and get more vital knowledge in our heads. 00:33:49.020 |
But that, in and of itself, those are good things. 00:33:53.140 |
But that doesn't cure this problem of drifting. 00:33:58.940 |
So then the question is, how do we stay anchored in Christ? 00:34:05.940 |
That's actually a misleading question because if you're a child of God, guess what? 00:34:15.980 |
For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. 00:34:21.980 |
It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 00:34:25.780 |
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand 00:34:33.900 |
So if you are a child of God, you are already anchored in Christ. 00:34:34.900 |
Hebrews 6, it says, "These are things God cannot buy," it says in Hebrews 6. 00:34:35.900 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:34:36.900 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:34:37.900 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:34:38.900 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:34:39.900 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:34:40.900 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:34:41.900 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:34:42.900 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:06.740 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:33.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:40.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:46.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:47.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:48.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:49.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:50.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:51.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:52.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:53.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:54.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:55.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:56.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:57.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:35:58.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:05.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:06.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:07.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:08.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:09.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:10.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:11.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:12.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:13.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:14.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:15.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:16.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:17.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:18.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:36:39.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:37:03.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:37:22.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:37:47.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:38:13.620 |
And so we have this hope as an anchor for the soul. 00:38:42.620 |
relationship that we have with Christ. So the application I'm going to leave you 00:38:48.500 |
with is, simply tighten the slack on the anchor. Because at the end of 00:38:58.100 |
the day, too much slack, what happens when a big wave comes? Damage! My 00:39:08.380 |
encouragement and exhortation is simply this. Remember that you are a child of 00:39:19.340 |
God, an heir to the kingdom of God, and that He loves you with an absurd, silly, 00:39:28.220 |
reckless love. And His desire for you is just to understand fully and appreciate 00:39:39.340 |
and be free in His love. That's it. There is no step one, step two, step three to 00:39:50.940 |
having a good relationship with God, just like there is no step one, step two, step 00:39:55.260 |
three to having a solid marriage. There's a constant adjustment that's needed. But 00:40:03.340 |
our anchor that is sure and steadfast on the back of our shirts, what is the 00:40:08.300 |
anchor? What Christ has done and what He is continuing to do now. Jesus Himself 00:40:17.580 |
praised, John 17, 17 sanctified that in your truth, your word is truth. So 00:40:26.020 |
whatever you can do to incline your ear to hear the voice of your Heavenly 00:40:32.060 |
Father, do it. And naturally you will see yourself just tightening that slack. And 00:40:41.340 |
who knows that will impact your family. Who knows you tightening that slack will 00:40:48.620 |
encourage other members of this body of Christ. Religious effort will lead you to 00:40:58.700 |
discouragement. Now that's not, I'm not saying don't try, but don't put your hope 00:41:05.500 |
in yourself because there's nothing good in you outside of Christ. Amen? 00:41:15.340 |
May the Lord remind us of His love afresh in this retreat. And may He astound us 00:41:26.500 |
with more and more truths of how silly His love is that we would respond 00:41:31.860 |
appropriately. Let's pray together. Lord we need you. Lord we so desperately need you. 00:41:43.340 |
We are forgetful, rebellious people and we keep returning to our folly. So we 00:42:01.660 |
pray knowing that the only hope for all of this is Christ. Lord draw near to us 00:42:12.180 |
so that we may see you as you are and be changed by your nearness. We plead with you to draw near.