From Outsider to Insider: The Radical Welcome of the Gospel

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let's pray.

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
... ... ... ...

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Good morning.
[00:02:39] Welcome everyone to worship this morning at Prospect Presbyterian Church.
[00:02:43] Glad everybody's here and we pray as always this be an opportunity for all of us to worship our Lord in spirit and in truth.
[00:02:50] The announcements and schedule are there for your consideration so please attend to those as you see fit and let us now prepare our hearts and minds for the worship of our Lord.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.
[00:03:50] Let us pray.
[00:04:53] Let us pray.
[00:05:39] Let us pray.
[00:06:04] Let us pray.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
We'll now have the lighting of the second Advent candle.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
We continue our Advent journey today with the lighting of the Hope Candle and the second candle, the Candle of Peace.
[00:06:56] Let the gentle glow of these candles symbolize the tranquility we seek in our hearts and homes, fostering sense of peace that transcends the chaos of this world.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
A candle of peace lights the way
[00:07:18] As we look for the signs of the promised birth, the Savior who brings heaven to earth.
[00:07:46] Lord, we are waiting for peace to reign.
[00:07:47] Lord, we are listening
[00:07:53] For hope, peace, and joy, and love to unite In the beauty and wonder of Advent's holy light

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
We continue our Advent journey today with the lighting of the Hope Candle and the second candle, the Candle of Peace.
[00:08:31] Let the gentle glow of these candles symbolize the tranquility we seek in our hearts and homes, fostering sense of peace that transcends the chaos of this world.
[00:08:43] In a world filled with conflict,
[00:08:47] and Confrontations we humbly seek the gift of peace.
[00:08:52] For the storms that sometimes rage within us, we humbly seek the gift of peace.
[00:08:59] As we rush and hurry our way through busy lives, we humbly seek the gift of peace.
[00:09:07] And for those around us we know are carrying heavy burdens, we humbly seek the gift of peace.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Gracious Creator, in the quiet moments may we find solace in your presence, and in the noisy chaos of life may your peace prevail.
[00:09:31] Calm the storms that rage within and around us, and may we be instruments of your peace, fostering understanding, compassion, and harmony in our hearts.
[00:09:42] Amen.

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Lord, we are waiting for peace to reign.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Lord, we are listening for love's refrain.

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
For all peace and joy and love to unite in the beauty and wonder of Advent's holy light.
[00:10:48] Let's pray together.

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Almighty God, as we gather, may your Holy Spirit be with us to lead us into worship in this hour and in this week that we might be salt and light in the world and bring praise and honor to you.
[00:11:16] We gather and know that we are sinners, so please have mercy on us, make us hate our sin, change us into the people you want us to be, and enable us to show our gratitude for your forgiveness by obedience to the commandments, to love you with all our heart and mind and soul, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
[00:11:37] Make that happen and enable us to forgive as we have been forgiven.
[00:11:44] Receive now our worship.
[00:11:47] We thank you for the privilege of carrying your name.
[00:11:50] We pray in Jesus' name.
[00:11:51] Hear us now please as we pray together the prayer he taught his disciples.
[00:11:58] Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[00:12:03] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:12:10] Give us this day our daily bread.
[00:12:13] And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
[00:12:18] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[00:12:24] For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
[00:12:31] Amen.
[00:12:31] Our opening hymn for the morning is 131.

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
The angels from the realms of glory came and plied for all the earth.
[00:13:12] They who said creation's story now grow
[00:13:17] of Christ Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
[00:13:42] is now residing, yonder it shines in the end of time.
[00:14:09] Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.
[00:14:10] Sages, lead your contemplations, brighter visions,
[00:14:14] Sin the great desire of nations, He hath seen His fatal star.

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ the newborn King.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Saint before the altar bending, watching
[00:15:01] We are lowly standing in His temple shall appear Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the new

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Let us pray together.
[00:15:34] Almighty God, thank you for your great blessing of us.
[00:15:39] Our cups overflow.
[00:15:41] Help us notice that, remember that, embrace that, appreciate that, and cause us to know you bless us, that we may enjoy it for sure, but in order that we might be a blessing to other people.
[00:15:56] And so that is...
[00:15:58] The focus of this prayer and this part of our worship to remind us and to lay our hearts before you on how we may be servants of other people.
[00:16:09] Help us enjoy being servants.
[00:16:12] We're serving you first.
[00:16:15] And in that process, we're serving the lost.
[00:16:20] So we pray this church and your church throughout the community and the world
[00:16:26] Could be getting the gospel out in a way that pleases you.
[00:16:29] We pray for our good friends at St. Mark's Lutheran Church this morning.
[00:16:33] Bless them, prosper them.
[00:16:36] And for our missionaries, Justin and Kristen, Rob and Sandy, among others on the mission field, we pray that each of us would have an explanation for the hope that is in us and be ready to give it when asked.
[00:16:49] And that we could live as salt and light in the world and draw people to you.
[00:16:56] And we pray that we could bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.
[00:17:02] That's within our families, that's within this church family, that's in the community, that's in the world.
[00:17:10] You have lifted from us the burden of having to be good enough.
[00:17:15] You have brought us in.
[00:17:19] And so now we have extra time and money on our hands.
[00:17:25] Extra love on our hands, extra energy on our hands, where we don't have to justify ourselves.
[00:17:32] Cause us to remember that you have freed us up, that we might help other people in their burden.
[00:17:41] And that we follow Jesus Christ, who took joy in taking on burden.
[00:17:50] Cause us to know when we yoke up with him,
[00:17:55] He will do most of the work.
[00:17:59] He will give our souls rest from their weariness and give us purpose and meaning in life when we connect ourselves and when we link ourselves to Him, when we yoke up with Him.
[00:18:13] So enable us to embrace that work.
[00:18:14] Help us love being generous.
[00:18:16] Help us love being servants.
[00:18:18] Help us love working hard for You.
[00:18:20] And cause us to trust that when we
[00:18:25] Put our lives in service to you and live in the way you want us to live.
[00:18:30] We'll find a joy and a happiness and a lightness.
[00:18:36] We'll find a strength and a contentment for which you have made us.
[00:18:41] Cause us to trust it and do it.
[00:18:45] We pray humbly through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[00:18:48] Amen.

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
I'm going to tell you who they are.
[00:19:24] This is Tripp, Charleston, William, Jacob, Shelby, and Eli, and Luke, and Allison.
[00:19:34] And they are your children.
[00:19:36] These are the children that you have dedicated some time and some life to raising up in this church.
[00:19:46] Let me thank you for that.
[00:19:47] One of the things we talk about a lot is
[00:19:53] So, we've studied about joy, and we've talked a lot about it, and we've learned some points as well.
[00:20:05] Even though today is the
[00:20:15] One of the things we learned is something the Bible says about joy because it comes from another word that we often read in the Bible.
[00:20:28] What does the Bible say about joy?
[00:20:32] Rejoice in the Lord always.
[00:20:46] It kind of means get excited about it, right?
[00:20:50] Alright, so they're going to first play a political song and then they're going to discuss it.
[00:23:44] We're going to sing this for you now, and we would like for you to join us on the chorus.
[00:24:01] Our pastor emphasized over and over again that we can't have this or not this day.
[00:24:03] What we discovered was that we never can have true happiness if we begin with joy.
[00:24:23] The things that we learn that bring us both complete happiness is that joy of the Spirit of Christ.
[00:24:33] What does the J stand for?
[00:24:35] Jesus.
[00:24:36] We put Jesus first and O?
[00:24:39] Others.
[00:24:42] And?
[00:24:43] Yourself.
[00:24:44] And if we can follow that word,

[00:25:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
I'm found in my heart, found in my heart, found in my heart, found in my heart to stay.
[00:25:29] I'm so happy, so very happy, I have the love of Jesus in my heart.

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
The love of Jesus, love of Jesus, down in my heart Down in my heart Down in my heart The love of Jesus, love of Jesus, down in my heart Down in my heart And I'm so happy, so very happy I have the love of Jesus in my heart And I'm so happy

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
So very happy I have all the pieces in my heart I got the pieces of taxes and they're standing down in my heart

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
I've got the peace that passes understanding down in my heart Down in my heart And I'm so happy, so very happy I've had the love of Jesus in my heart And I'm so happy, so very happy I've had the love of Jesus in my heart

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Very good team.
[00:27:34] Thank you very, very much.
[00:27:36] Very, very much.
[00:27:37] The kids who would like are welcome to join in the vestibule for Children's Church.
[00:27:41] Our ushers will now come forward to collect the morning offering.
[00:27:44] As they do, we will all give an opportunity to consider all our many blessings and how we may use them all in the service of our Lord.

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Let us pray.

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:30:20] Amen.

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Please be seated, friends.
[00:30:48] Scripture reading for the morning will be taken from the Gospel according to Luke chapter 4.
[00:30:53] We will read verses 16 through 30.
[00:30:56] Luke 4, 16 to 30, which we began discussing last week.
[00:31:04] This is Jesus' first presentation of what he's about publicly in the Gospel according to Luke.
[00:31:13] And so we will read that story.
[00:31:16] As we continue to prepare for his coming, the Christian faith says if you want to know what God likes or what God is like or what God wants or how you should view things, then the primary thing you do is look at Jesus.
[00:31:29] Christmas is about God coming to us and speaking to us in a language that we can understand.
[00:31:36] Coming face to face.
[00:31:38] Christmas reminds us that we are not primarily about a set of teaching or about a set of rules, as helpful as those may be.
[00:31:46] We're about a person.
[00:31:49] We're committing to a person, we're following a person, we're emulating a person.
[00:31:54] We have been invited into a personal relationship.
[00:31:57] And here's one of the things that we know in our lives.
[00:32:00] When we have been on both ends of this situation,
[00:32:04] You cannot have a real relationship with someone if they come to you and say, this is who I am, this is what is important to me, and then we ignore it or twist it to fit what we want it to say.
[00:32:21] You have been on both ends of that.
[00:32:24] You have been on the end of a relationship where you have said, this is who I am, this is what I want, this is what is important to me, and the person with whom you're interacting says, I don't care, I want to do it my way, or I'm going to take your words and twist them to become what I want them to become.
[00:32:39] That kills your relationship.
[00:32:44] And Christmas is a time to remind ourselves that we should not be surprised if our relationship with Christ is not as deep as we would like if we are not striving to find out to listen to Him and listen to what He says and then let that shape us.
[00:33:02] Jesus Christ comes to us and wants to have a real relationship with us but He says, you gotta listen to me, you gotta do it on my terms just like you want to be heard.
[00:33:12] In any friendship, in any relationship you have, you want to be heard.
[00:33:16] And you don't want to be twisted.
[00:33:18] And you don't want them to take it and use it the way they want to.
[00:33:24] It's the constant challenge of the Christians, the constant challenge of the reading of the Scriptures.
[00:33:28] So as we pray over this word, we're going to...
[00:33:31] Pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to enable us to hear what Jesus says through our reading, through the humble efforts of the preacher, through our meditations later, through our trying to apply it to our lives.
[00:33:45] What does Jesus say?
[00:33:46] Are we going to have a relationship with the real Jesus?
[00:33:50] So in Luke 4, beginning to read at verse 16, it says, He came to Nazareth.
[00:33:56] Where he had been brought up, and as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and there he stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.
[00:34:07] He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, Isaiah 61.
[00:34:12] The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, and we will talk for a moment today about who the poor is.
[00:34:21] He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
[00:34:32] He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.
[00:34:36] And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon him, and he said, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
[00:34:44] And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.
[00:34:48] And they said, is this not Joseph's son?
[00:34:50] This guy's claiming to bring the year of the Lord's favor, the release to the prisoners and the captives.
[00:34:56] And here is how they heard it.
[00:34:59] Here I would suggest is how they heard that.
[00:35:02] This is for us.
[00:35:05] We are the good and right people of God showing up to synagogue.
[00:35:09] We're the Jewish chosen people of God.
[00:35:12] And this year of the Lord's favor, this is for us.
[00:35:15] And this Messiah who's coming, he is for us.
[00:35:17] This son of David who is coming, he is for us.
[00:35:21] And we are the oppressed.
[00:35:22] We've got these pagan Romans who are awful.
[00:35:26] They've got their foot on the back of our neck.
[00:35:29] And the Messiah is going to come and kick them out and restore us to our rightful place.
[00:35:37] Didn't know it was going to be Joseph's son.
[00:35:38] You know, may have some reservations about that, but we'd love to hear this word.
[00:35:42] We love to hear this word.
[00:35:46] The scriptures continue in verse 23.
[00:35:48] Doubtless you will quote this proverb, physician heal yourself.
[00:35:53] You did what you did in Capernaum.
[00:35:54] He'd done a bunch of miracles or do this in your hometown as well.
[00:35:59] And he said, truly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own town, in his own hometown.
[00:36:06] Jesus knows this is about to get ugly because of what he's about to say next.
[00:36:12] And here's what he says next.
[00:36:16] In truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah.
[00:36:22] If you may or may not remember, your little handout about the timeline of the Old Testament.
[00:36:28] After the kingship of Solomon in roughly 930 B.C.,
[00:36:33] Israel split into two different kingdoms, and the history of those kingdoms is noted in 1 and 2 Kings, and so the first great prophets were Elijah and Elisha.
[00:36:46] He tells two relatively famous stories from their time.
[00:36:53] And these stories are told from times when Israel was not being faithful.
[00:37:02] There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah.
[00:37:06] There were widows who were experiencing a famine because God had sent a famine to Israel to discipline Israel for their bad behavior.
[00:37:16] The heavens were shut up for three years and six months, and a great famine came over the land.
[00:37:20] Verse 26, And Elijah was sent to know none of them, but only to the city of Zarephath in the land of Sidon, a Gentile place.
[00:37:31] To a woman who was a widow.
[00:37:33] That is, there were plenty of Jewish widows that could have used it, but God sent Elijah to a Gentile, to a pagan, to an outsider.
[00:37:43] And Elijah did various miracles and saved her.
[00:37:47] Likewise, in verse 27, there were many lepers in the time of the prophet Elisha, but none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.
[00:37:56] Again, Naaman is a war leader.
[00:37:59] He's a general in the army of Syria, which is oppressing Israel because of their sin, sent by God to discipline Israel in their sin.
[00:38:09] And so Jesus is pointing out
[00:38:16] This God that you're so excited about coming, this Messiah that you're so excited about coming, He's for you, but He's not just for you.
[00:38:24] And these stories remind the people of Israel of their great sin and their great need.
[00:38:32] And Jesus, I would argue, is coming to them and saying, You think you're good and ready and perfect and just waiting for the Messiah to come to come reinstitute you, to come take care of you, and that's it.
[00:38:44] He tells these stories to say two things.
[00:38:46] One is, you are sinners in need of reform, and this God that you're waiting for is bringing other people in too.
[00:38:58] Verse 28, the crowd did not like this.
[00:39:02] When they heard these things, the synagogue was filled with wrath, and they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built so they could throw him down off the cliff.
[00:39:15] But passing in their midst, he went on his way.
[00:39:19] He walks right through them, some sort of Jesus power that allows him to do that.
[00:39:24] But don't worry, they'll get him eventually.
[00:39:29] The angry, sinful crowd will get him eventually.
[00:39:34] But we'll talk about that more on Good Friday.
[00:39:38] That ends the reading of God's Word for the morning.
[00:39:40] Let us pray together.
[00:39:43] Almighty and everlasting God, we are humbled and privileged as always to be before the Word, even when it seems a bit odd to us.
[00:39:53] We pray now that your Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that inspired the recording of these words, we pray your Holy Spirit would now be in our hearts and minds and souls to teach us what the Word has to say and to enable us to live as the Word teaches.
[00:40:08] Focus us then not on our flesh,
[00:40:10] But upon your body and our place in it, we pray humbly in Jesus' name.
[00:40:21] Amen.
[00:40:31] And here's one of the things that I'd like to turn you loose as a Christian.
[00:40:34] If you're reading the Bible and you don't get mad all the time, excuse me, if you don't get mad every now and then, you're not reading it.
[00:40:40] We're not reading it.
[00:40:42] The Bible's gonna make us mad.
[00:40:46] The Bible should be making us mad sometimes because it's gonna do two things.
[00:40:49] One is, it's gonna point out that we're more sinful than we thought we were.
[00:40:55] That we're more needy than we thought we were.
[00:40:58] and that God is doing things to other people that we don't think they deserve.
[00:41:03] These are some of the things that consistently make the people around Jesus get mad.
[00:41:07] You remember, like, thinking about Holy Week, you know, on Palm Sunday, when we get the kids up here and they're waving their palms and everybody's pumped, everybody in the crowd was excited about Jesus.
[00:41:16] This Jesus, he's great.
[00:41:19] And then five days later they're like, give us Barabbas, this Jesus is not who we want.
[00:41:24] Jesus gets used to this, I would imagine.
[00:41:26] Here is something that we see in the stories and that we have to watch in ourselves.
[00:41:32] That underneath the surface of religion is a bunch of anger.
[00:41:40] Jonah.
[00:41:43] Jonah, go preach to Nineveh and tell them to repent.
[00:41:46] He doesn't like the Ninevites, they're his enemy, but he goes anyway after the fish vomits him out on the beach after he tries to escape.
[00:41:54] And he preaches and tells them that God is going to judge them and they repent and they are saved and Jonah gets mad and he says to God, I didn't want to go and I didn't want to say these things because I knew you were like this.
[00:42:04] I knew you would forgive them and I don't want them to be forgiven.
[00:42:07] Underneath all of Jonah's religion is a bunch of anger at them.
[00:42:10] At them who don't deserve it.
[00:42:16] The prodigal son
[00:42:19] Where the first son goes and takes his share of the inheritance and squanders it in loose living and comes back and says, I'm not even fit to be your son.
[00:42:27] I'm not fit to be your son.
[00:42:30] Just hire me on as a servant.
[00:42:32] And the father runs down and embraces him and kills the fatted calf.
[00:42:35] And they had the biggest party.
[00:42:37] To celebrate that one who was lost is now found.
[00:42:40] This is what your God loves to do.
[00:42:42] To take the lost and to bring them back in.
[00:42:44] And the older son is angry.
[00:42:47] He says, I've been here the whole time.
[00:42:50] I've been being good the whole time.
[00:42:51] And you take this guy in.
[00:42:54] Underneath his religion is anger.
[00:42:59] And I want to praise y'all.
[00:43:00] I want to praise all of y'all for being here.
[00:43:03] You know, we're all here.
[00:43:03] We're all doing our best.
[00:43:05] Here's one of the things that the Bible is telling us to watch.
[00:43:10] We've got to keep focused on Jesus and who he says and who he is and what he says and what he wants us to be because when we get into, as the people in this reading, when we get into religion, it builds up anger.
[00:43:25] Whereas focusing on Jesus Christ enables us to be full of love and joy and the kinds of things he wants us to be full of.
[00:43:33] The people like the sermon because they say, yes, finally, we are the oppressed, we are the good, we are the chosen, we are the ones who kept showing up, and now we're going to get set free.
[00:43:46] Finally, our goodness is going to be recognized.
[00:43:51] And what Jesus says is, I'm coming for y'all.
[00:43:54] I'm just coming for a bunch of other people too.
[00:43:59] And I want you to know about your need.
[00:44:00] I opened this sermon, Jesus said, with, I've come to proclaim release to the poor.
[00:44:09] Now, later on in Matthew, he'll say, Blessed are the poor in spirit.
[00:44:15] The poor in spirit are those who know they have need.
[00:44:20] We don't like to talk about being needy.
[00:44:24] We don't like to talk about how, as Paul would say in Romans, our sin has made us enemies of God.
[00:44:32] Our sin has made us outsiders.
[00:44:36] We don't like being outsiders.
[00:44:38] And as a matter of fact, and by the way, this doesn't just happen in high school and middle school, it just seems to be exacerbated in high school and middle school.
[00:44:47] We are constantly trying to figure out
[00:44:49] Where do I want to be inside?
[00:44:54] Where are the group or groups that I want to be inside?
[00:44:57] Who are the people that I want to be inside with?
[00:44:59] It is one of the great drivers in our lives if we will be honest.
[00:45:06] The desire to be inside.
[00:45:10] And in the world, here is how you define being inside.
[00:45:16] We're not them.
[00:45:19] We're not outside.
[00:45:21] As a matter of fact, in the worldly sense, you can think about clubs, you can think about groups, you can think about who's at this lunch...
[00:45:28] This is not your lunch table, this is our lunch table.
[00:45:33] And on and on and on and on.
[00:45:38] Those who are inside are defined by being not outside.
[00:45:47] The cliques, the groups are defined in the worldly sense.
[00:45:51] There's all kinds of things inside, but one of the main things that makes us inside is we're not outside.
[00:45:56] And here's what Jesus says.
[00:45:57] You guys are plenty, and he said, hey, synagogue, you guys are plenty, so I came for y'all.
[00:46:02] Didn't y'all hear the sermon last week where, you know, the year of Jubilee, you're good to go?
[00:46:05] I just want you to understand, you've got to get over the world's understanding of defining you being okay by them being not okay.
[00:46:15] And so he tells these stories of these two pagans, these two foreigners, these two gentiles, and said, God left all those insiders, all of y'all, to go take care of them, because he wants them to.
[00:46:33] And there's an anger.
[00:46:37] Now, I'm going to break it up with just a little thing today.
[00:46:40] We may say, okay, there's the story.
[00:46:42] That seems a little odd.
[00:46:43] I don't know what that means.
[00:46:44] Yes, you do.
[00:46:45] Some of you do.
[00:46:46] Some of you have talked to me about it.
[00:46:48] And here's what it is.
[00:46:49] I am joking, but I'm only half joking with this little story.
[00:46:55] You know a tinge of this anchor, and I'm going to describe it to you right now.
[00:47:01] You come to church, you come to this church, and you've come to this church for a while, and you sit, and you sit, and you enjoy worship, and you come, and you get up, and you could be doing any number of other things, and you get up, and you come to church, and you get dressed up, and you come to church, and you come to the sanctuary, and someone is in your seat.
[00:47:25] A stranger is in your seat.
[00:47:32] I'm not saying it's exactly the same.
[00:47:34] Do you feel the tinge?
[00:47:36] I've heard some of y'all talk about it.
[00:47:38] Alright.
[00:47:41] An outsider is in my seat.
[00:47:46] And look, usually, you'll notice, I hope you notice, that most of the times when I use examples of myself, I'm like the goofy, stupid one.
[00:47:54] That's how I usually like to do my examples.
[00:47:56] But every now and then there's an example where I get to play a larger role, a better role.
[00:48:00] So in this example, I am like God.
[00:48:02] So y'all know better than that, but this is just an example.
[00:48:05] You know, when people come and complain to me about, they were in my seat, you know what I say?
[00:48:11] Great!
[00:48:13] Great, they were here!
[00:48:14] There are new people here!
[00:48:16] There are strangers here!
[00:48:17] There are people that may be lost!
[00:48:18] They're here!
[00:48:19] Isn't that great?
[00:48:22] Okay.
[00:48:23] That's how God thinks.
[00:48:26] When the strangers get in.
[00:48:30] And almost all of y'all are good and decent people and you sit somewhere else grumblingly, begrudgingly, alright?
[00:48:39] Some of you joyfully.
[00:48:41] Isn't it great that there's a stranger here?
[00:48:48] And you say, that's easy for you, preacher.
[00:48:49] Nobody comes and sits here.
[00:48:50] I just wait for somebody to sit in your fancy blue chair, all right?
[00:48:52] Let's see what happens when somebody comes and sits in your fancy blue chair, all right?
[00:48:57] That's why we have three, all right?
[00:49:04] You know, here, I'll get back to being stupid.
[00:49:06] Stacey's all the time, we all have things, and Stacey all the time, we want to invite more people over.
[00:49:11] And I'm like, well, I just like to hang out with our little family.
[00:49:15] And she always invites people over, and you know what?
[00:49:17] She's right.
[00:49:17] It's more fun.
[00:49:18] That's how God thinks.
[00:49:21] That's what Jesus is after.
[00:49:25] The more, the merrier.
[00:49:29] We have been trained...
[00:49:33] To want to be inside.
[00:49:36] And here is the fantastic good news of the gospel.
[00:49:39] Jesus Christ was in heaven.
[00:49:42] He was inside.
[00:49:46] And he came down here to the stable.
[00:49:49] They don't have room for him in the inn or whatever.
[00:49:51] He's in the stable.
[00:49:52] He's in the cave.
[00:49:53] He's in whatever it is.
[00:49:55] and he comes and he lives outside for decades and he goes to the cross and my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
[00:50:03] He is on the outside.
[00:50:07] Why?
[00:50:08] To get you and I on the inside.
[00:50:13] Christian, you are inside.
[00:50:17] Your sins are forgiven.
[00:50:21] You are part of the family.
[00:50:24] You are no longer square or uninitiated.
[00:50:26] You are sitting at the cool kids table.
[00:50:31] And we fight this flesh.
[00:50:35] We fight this flesh that say, in this world, the inside is defined by who's out there.
[00:50:41] And if you've ever noticed, if you've ever fought to do that, where you really don't, you know,
[00:50:51] There's all kinds of things we want to be part of.
[00:50:53] Hey, I'd like to be part of this group because they do music or they do sports or we have similar interests or whatever, or at work or whatever.
[00:51:00] That if you want to be part of something because it makes you a better person, it makes you, you know, you're like growing together and doing good together, that never gets old.
[00:51:11] But if you just want to be in so you're not like them, out,
[00:51:17] As soon as you get in, pretty soon, like cheap bubble gum, the sweetness wears off.
[00:51:25] Because all you wanted to be was in, not out, but now that you're in, it's just kind of boring because you're looking for another place.
[00:51:33] Because if that's what's making you somebody, it's going to wear out.
[00:51:39] The gospel is, Jesus Christ has come while you were an enemy to pull you in and invite you in.
[00:51:48] and make you assured and confident.
[00:51:53] But you know what it's like when you finally want something and you want it for all the good reasons and you want it because you can make a contribution and you want it because it will make you better and you want it because you will enjoy it and you will enjoy being part of it.
[00:52:06] You know that when you get in, you have this incredible sense of appreciation and this incredible sense of, I want to give this my best.
[00:52:18] Whereas if you're just in to be in, there's entitlement, there's expectation, there's a smallness to it, there's a fear to it that I'm going to be exposed or the fates are going to kick me out or something.
[00:52:38] The confidence and assurance of the gospel is you're in and you can't lose it.
[00:52:45] And the joy of the gospel is this God who brought you in, He just wants you to move over and let some other people in too.
[00:52:54] And He wants you to see the people that are out as people you want in.
[00:53:01] In your flesh and in the world, the exclusion is not a bug, it's a feature.
[00:53:06] The exclusion is what makes me something.
[00:53:11] In the kingdom, the inclusion is what makes you something and the bringing in of more makes you more.
[00:53:20] That is what Jesus is after in this passage.
[00:53:24] To embrace the outsider.
[00:53:27] To know that we were once outsiders and now we have been brought joy of being included.
[00:53:33] And that other people get to come in does not devalue you.
[00:53:39] So the Christian is always looking for the people who don't know and the people that are weak and the people that are lost and say, come on in.
[00:53:49] When we get into the prophets and all that, one of the things we're going to find is that all these countries thought their God worked for them.
[00:53:55] That when Egypt beat Assyria or Assyria beat Egypt, that means Egypt's God beat Assyria's God.
[00:54:02] And our God is just for us.
[00:54:05] And those people hearing that sermon, they thought our God is just for us.
[00:54:09] And Jesus said, I'm about to make you mad.
[00:54:13] Your God is for everybody.
[00:54:16] And he likes y'all plenty.
[00:54:17] And he likes them too.
[00:54:20] That's what made them mad.
[00:54:21] Because they were brought up in the world of them.
[00:54:25] Them being out there is what makes me.
[00:54:29] The Christian understanding is, the grace of Jesus Christ bringing me in is what makes me.
[00:54:34] And then my love for them, like he had for me,
[00:54:40] is also what makes me.
[00:54:45] Jesus says you're going to have to share this God because he shared himself with you first and he wants to share himself.
[00:54:55] And the poor in spirit who know they are needy and know they got in not because they were great but because they were loved, they have an assurance, they have a confidence,
[00:55:09] Jesus went to the cross for you.
[00:55:10] You are that loved.
[00:55:12] But they also have this kind of gratefulness and this appreciation of being brought in and they love to see it shared and they love to see it spread.
[00:55:23] You are saved because Jesus Christ left being in, came down and got you, said, come on in.
[00:55:30] And then he said, go make disciples of all nations.
[00:55:32] He said, go understand that I'm here for the poor and I'm here for the weak and I'm here for the outcast and I'm here for the other.
[00:55:41] and that is your God and if you want to have a relationship with the real God you and I will hear him and you and I will be glad that we were brought in and you and I will be glad to welcome anyone who wants to come in and they can sit wherever they want and he will be glad and you will be too let's pray together
[00:56:13] Almighty and everlasting God, follow then please the preaching of your word with the blessing of your Holy Spirit and where if because of human error in the preacher, there may have been something false or misleading in the preaching, cause that error to be quickly forgotten and do no harm, but if because of your grace working alone, there may have been some truth in the preaching.
[00:56:36] May that truth be burned into our hearts and minds and souls that your truth might lead us in the everlasting way.
[00:56:41] We pray humbly in Jesus' name.
[00:56:44] Amen.
[00:56:46] Will the elders who are serving communion please join me at the front of the church.
[00:57:21] Friends, on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he was having a meal with his friends, and at that meal he took the bread he broke, and he said, This is my body which has been broken for you.
[00:57:30] And likewise, after suffering, he took the cup, and he poured it out, and he said, This is the cup of the new covenant, which has been poured out of my blood.
[00:57:36] And he said, Every time you eat of this bread and drink of this cup, do it in remembrance of me.
[00:57:40] Paul said, Every time you eat of this bread and drink of this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again.
[00:57:46] The great good news of the gospel is, we all need it.
[00:57:51] The widow was incredibly poor.
[00:57:55] Naaman was incredibly rich.
[00:57:58] They were both poor in spirit in that they knew their need.
[00:58:03] Everyone who knows their need is welcome to receive salvation, to receive the gospel, to receive hope and power, to be brought in.
[00:58:13] And it's interesting that the great ritual of the Christian church is some remembrance of a meal taken together.
[00:58:20] The more the merrier.
[00:58:23] So as we enjoy our place at this table, let us seek ways that we might show other people that they have a place at this table and make them feel welcome to the gospel.
[00:58:37] Let's pray together.
[00:58:39] Almighty and everlasting God, we pray humbly that you would enable us to take this supper in the right manner.
[00:58:44] To do that, we need two things, so we pray for that right now.
[00:58:47] First, we pray that we would
[00:58:49] Be reminded of our need of a Savior.
[00:58:50] We thank you that Jesus Christ has died on the cross, paid the punishment, absorbed the punishment that our sin deserved, paid the penalty we deserve to pay.
[00:59:05] We take him on as Savior.
[00:59:07] And secondly, we need to follow a Lord.
[00:59:10] Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead to show that he is the King and Lord of all time.
[00:59:15] All places, all creation and beyond enable us to follow him well.
[00:59:22] So as we eat of this bread and drink of this cup, enable us to recommit ourselves to our Savior and Lord, to your glory, to the blessing of the people around us, and to our own joy, we pray humbly in Jesus' name.
[00:59:35] Amen.
[00:59:37] Friends, everyone in this room who professes that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior is welcome in this place to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
[00:59:44] It doesn't matter what church you're from, denomination you're from, things of that nature.
[00:59:49] Everyone who professes Jesus Christ as Lord is welcome to eat of this bread and drink of this cup.
[00:59:52] Just understand that if you do eat the bread and drink the cup, you are professing Jesus Christ as Lord with all the great privileges that come with that and the great responsibilities.

[01:00:13] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let's pray.
[01:00:41] Let's pray.
[01:01:09] and more.
[01:01:47] In Jesus' name, Amen.
[01:02:18] In Jesus name we pray.
[01:02:40] Amen.
[01:02:54] Let us pray.

[01:03:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
This is the body of Christ which has been broken for you, Jesus said, do this remembrance of me.

[01:04:21] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In Jesus' name we pray.
[01:04:29] Amen.
[01:04:56] Let us pray.
[01:05:29] Let us pray.
[01:05:40] Let us pray.
[01:05:48] Let us pray.

[01:07:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
The blood of Christ has been shed for you.
[01:07:07] It's the cup of the new covenant.
[01:07:08] You may have an everlasting relationship with God Almighty.
[01:07:12] What an amazing thing.
[01:07:13] You may have an everlasting relationship with God Almighty characterized by peace and joy and love because of your faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.
[01:07:21] Jesus said do this in remembrance of me.
[01:07:29] Let us pray together.
[01:07:31] Almighty and everlasting God, thanks for bringing us in.
[01:07:35] We were out.
[01:07:35] You brought us in.
[01:07:36] Thanks for inviting us.
[01:07:38] Thanks for making it possible.
[01:07:40] We pray we can enjoy it and learn more of you and be who you want us to be and enjoy watching you work in the lives of other people and using us to work in the lives of other people.
[01:07:57] Holy Spirit, enable us to enjoy our blessings and share them
[01:08:02] Enjoy the word and share it.
[01:08:04] Enjoy the way and share it.
[01:08:07] Thank you for coming and getting us.
[01:08:10] Enable us to make disciples of all nations and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
[01:08:15] The blood of Jesus Christ, cover us and fill us with the power to do such things.
[01:08:19] We pray in Jesus' name.
[01:08:21] Amen.
[01:08:24] Our final hymn is 141.
[01:08:26] Let's stand together as we sing that hymn.

[01:08:50] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
All of thy deep and real estate
[01:09:39] All these parts together proclaim the Holy Ghost

[01:10:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[01:10:47] Amen.
[01:10:48] The Holy Child of Bethlehem He sent to us, we pray Cast out our sin and

[01:11:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
My friends, go forth from this place into the world this week with the assurance and the confidence of people who have come and been found and brought in.
[01:11:51] He left the 99 to go find you.
[01:11:54] He brought you in.
[01:11:55] And you are in.
[01:11:57] Let us have assurance and confidence.
[01:12:00] Let us have an overflowing joy.
[01:12:02] Lord, enable us to have an appreciation.
[01:12:05] Friends, have an appreciation for being brought in.
[01:12:09] Share that joy.
[01:12:10] And know this God wants to be shared.
[01:12:14] And there's room.
[01:12:16] As you go from this place, know that you're loved that well and know that you have great work to do.
[01:12:21] Embrace both.
[01:12:23] It's part of the joyful life.
[01:12:26] And as you go, may the grace, mercy, and peace of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, may these rest and remain with each of you this day and always.
[01:12:33] Amen.

[01:12:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
The Lord bless you and keep you.
[01:12:47] The Lord lift his countenance upon you and give you peace.
[01:13:01] and give you peace the Lord may give his grace to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and be gracious the Lord be gracious
[01:13:29] Amen.

[01:13:58] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.
[01:13:58] Amen.

[01:14:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Amen.
[01:15:06] I was like, no, she's gone to see the Lord.
[01:15:28] I was like, no, it's not fair.
[01:15:28] My face is in trouble because I'm disappointed.
[01:15:33] And I was over here like, I was smiling like, yes it's okay, you sing like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that did great.

[01:16:22] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Okay?
[01:16:26] I'll let everybody else go.
[01:16:50] I want you to stand up and you can ask me if you don't mind me asking you a question.
[01:17:09] If you don't mind me asking you a question.

[01:17:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
If you don't mind me asking you a question.
[01:17:10] Yes, I'm going to start playing.
[01:17:17] ... ... ... ...

[01:17:40] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Are you up to it?

[01:17:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
I mean, we can wait until later in the week if you want.
[01:18:03] I just didn't know if you came over at all to practice this week.

[01:18:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
We can play and practice on Saturday.

[01:18:23] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
That would smell good.
[01:18:24] Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy

[01:18:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
What time do we come over?

[01:19:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Oh, okay.
[01:19:03] I'm not going to give you a chance to practice, although I can't find my way.
[01:19:05] I know you can.
[01:19:05] But I can't find it.
[01:19:05] No, no.
[01:19:06] So I'll just come over.
[01:19:06] You let me know what time you're coming over Saturday.

[01:19:07] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
I'm going to look at the end of it, and that way you don't have to make it out.
[01:19:09] And will she ask you now to play the personal game?

[01:19:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
.

[01:19:22] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
.
[01:19:22] .
[01:19:22] .