More Than Crumbs: Finding Fullness in Christ’s Righteousness

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:11:01] Happy Sunday. What a fun day. Believe it or not, there are people here in person. It looks like Davidson College students and App State alumni and those who live within walking distance. So thank you for being here and making the best choice for you and what you needed to do today to stay safe and warm, but also to worship. So thank you for joining us online to worship today as well. For those of you
[00:11:31] the privilege of being on staff with our youth ministry, and I'm excited to just get us started today. Special shout out to our inclement weather serve team called Uber Ice for getting me here today, and ministry partners that truly just step in and stretch wherever needed. So let me get us
[00:11:52] started with a prayer. Lord Jesus, we are so grateful for this opportunity. Lord, whether it is here today in this building or at home or somewhere else on the road in a friend's house we are just grateful that you have called us together to gather that you have provided us
[00:12:12] with technology and safe places to do that lord help us to not take those things for granted i pray for the distractions both in our minds and our hearts and our homes today that we would be
[00:12:25] able to just lay it out there, give you our hearts, give you our minds to worship and to learn.

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:12:33] And it's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Good morning, everyone. Should I look up?
[00:12:39] Good morning, y'all. Yeah, let's join with us and let's worship together.

[00:13:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:13:36] 24 through 30, Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:21:40] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, yet he could not keep his presence secret.
[00:21:47] In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet.
[00:21:56] The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia.
[00:22:01] She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
[00:22:05] First let the children eat all they want, he told her, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.
[00:22:14] Lord, she replied, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.
[00:22:20] Then he told her, for such a reply, you may go.
[00:22:24] The demon has left your daughter.
[00:22:27] She went home and found her child lying on the bed and the demon gone.
[00:22:33] The word of the Lord.

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:22:34] It's sorrow and night, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come Into thy freedom, gladness and light, Jesus, I come to thee Out of my sickness, into thy health. Out of my wanting, into thy wealth. Out of my sin, into thy son. Jesus, I come to thee.
[00:23:37] Jesus, I come By shameful failure and loss Jesus, I come Into the glorious gain of thy cross Jesus, I come to thee Into thy bones and into thy cross To jubilance song Jesus, I come
[00:25:04] Jesus, thank you for this day.

[00:26:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:26:49] thank you for the blessings that you've given us God I pray for those at home enjoying the snow from their couch God I pray that you'd be with them God I pray for those who are here
[00:27:05] enjoying the snow in the circle God I pray that you'd be with us here too God wherever we are whatever place we find ourselves God I pray that we would come to you and reveal ourselves
[00:27:21] ready to hear your voice to receive your word and to sing your songs.
[00:27:31] We pray all these things in your precious and holy name.
[00:27:33] Amen.

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:27:38] You can have a seat.
[00:27:39] Once again, good morning.
[00:27:41] Welcome.
[00:27:42] My name's Gray.
[00:27:43] I'm one of the pastors on staff here.
[00:27:45] And back in November, I left on sabbatical, and this is my first Sunday back.
[00:27:51] Thank you.
[00:27:52] I'll be honest.
[00:27:53] When I left in November, there were a lot more people here, so I'm not sure what y'all did.
[00:27:58] But I had a great sabbatical.
[00:27:59] we I have three little kids and so I didn't write any books I didn't go to any foreign countries mostly we just had a lot of family fun and a lot of time for rest reflection solitude and yeah just
[00:28:11] a lot of fun so I want to thank all of you who prayed for us during the sabbatical again it really was exactly what we needed and also want to thank the elders of our church for supporting
[00:28:22] and believing in the idea of sabbatical for the restoration of our staff and I want to thank all our staff for holding down the fort while i was gone but especially michael mark and lindsay who
[00:28:31] helped carry the load in my absence and speaking of lindsay this is my first sunday back this is her last sunday here lindsay come on up lindsay begins her sabbatical i think tomorrow right lindsay yes so lindsay begins her sabbatical tomorrow yeah and she will be back at the end
[00:28:49] of march i believe and so would invite you to pray for her over these next couple months that this time will be restorative in all the ways that she uniquely needs as again she reflects on eight
[00:29:03] good great years of ministry here and begins to look ahead too so um you can pray for her and also be mindful of the sabbatical boundaries we try to protect so feel free to say hi if you see
[00:29:14] her but maybe don't tell her about the latest things going on in youth ministry at story hill um but uh but we're excited for lindsey i'm very excited for lindsey coming out of sabbatical and
[00:29:25] and again would love for your prayers over the next couple months again that the lord would use this time in the ways he knows she needs whatever that looks like for her and we'd love to pray
[00:29:36] right now for her as we we send her off so would you please join me in prayer for lindsey lord we thank you for Lindsay and the friend that she's been to so many here in our community and the
[00:29:54] ways that she's given of herself. And just like you've given them yourself to us, Lord, the way she's mirrored Christ in her life. And so I pray now that you give her the freedom to receive
[00:30:05] your rest and your care again, Lord, in the ways that you know her heart needs. Would you give her the freedom to rest and find fun in all the ways you're looking to work in her, Lord, would you
[00:30:19] do that these next couple months? And so, Lord, we also pray for the things she's leaving behind, one, that you guide the ministries that she's led so well, but also give her the freedom to trust
[00:30:31] the hands of others to carry the load that she's carried for so long. And so, again, I pray that you would do a work of renewal and restoration in her heart these next couple months i ask this in
[00:30:42] jesus name amen thank you thank you all right so if you're here you can stand and greet someone around you if you're at home maybe great chance to grab a cup of coffee before our sermon thanks

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:30:54] well good morning good morning taniya shea how are you sir good good thanks for braving the snow to come lead us in worship we appreciate that hey everybody i'm michael flake one of the pastors
[00:32:02] here. Now you're meeting some of the other ones, now that they're back from sabbatical.
[00:32:06] Great to be together as a church family, both in the sanctuary today and worshiping online.
[00:32:12] We love being together as a church family. Whether you are cautious about Jesus, curious about Jesus, or committed to Jesus, there is room for you at Story Hill. May this be a place where you can heal,
[00:32:24] grow, and engage. So long as you don't have it all together, you'll fit right in.
[00:32:29] um i do just want to say a wonderful word it's not a it's not like a parting the red sea miracle it's not like a 5-0 rezoning vote in davidson miracle but it's the next tier that we have both
[00:32:42] an associate pastor and a youth ministry director who have been here long enough to be eligible for sabbaticals so gray to you lindsey to you we thank you both for your long and faithful and fruitful ministry at Story Hill and are prayerful for you, Lindsay, that sabbatical
[00:33:01] will be restful and rejuvenating. And when we see Lindsay out around town, as Gray said, we won't say, hey, Lindsay, do you know what happened at church last week? We will wave at her and say,
[00:33:10] we hope your sabbatical is going really, really well. If we had known the number of Davidson students would join us, we would have had our college breakfast table today, but we'll bring it back next week. Don't worry between the services. We always have the breakfast table
[00:33:24] back by the, uh, the fireplace in the back of the lobby. Um, the very last thing I will say to everybody, uh, as you're sitting at home this week, pondering what you want to do next Sunday.
[00:33:36] Um, for the last few Sundays, we have had over a hundred more people at the 11 o'clock service than the nine 15 service. So if you've been coming at 11 and felt cramped by that, what you
[00:33:48] might try to do next Sunday is just try out the 915 and see if that gives you a little bit more of the legroom you were hoping for. But if you can't make it to 915 or you don't want to make
[00:33:57] it to 915, that's fine. Just letting people know that, if that would be a nice change of pace for you. Today, I want to keep us moving through our series of sermons called Blessed. We have a number
[00:34:10] of different voices in our minds and in our world telling us who to be, how to live. And so we want to start off the new year amplifying the voice of Jesus as the most important voice. Specifically,
[00:34:22] we've been looking at Jesus' Beatitudes at the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount.
[00:34:27] The Beatitudes are designed to reorient our reality. Some of them will turn the world upside down. As Jesus shows us, there's a goodness, there's a rightness, there's a blessing in things we might have never imagined. So as we keep working through the Beatitudes, listen for where Jesus is
[00:34:43] going to join a virtue of God's kingdom to a promise of God's kingdom. And we'll say them all this morning together again, but I know some of you are actually trying to memorize all the
[00:34:54] Beatitudes. My request has been that you pick out one to try to memorize so that you carry it with it, you, wherever you go. One of the Beatitudes that really sticks out to you or impacts you
[00:35:05] where you are. But will you join me in reading the teachings of Jesus this morning? Jesus taught this. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who
[00:35:19] mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
[00:35:40] blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven thank you I could hear you all through the camera thank you we want to
[00:35:57] focus this morning on blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled when you or I say that someone is blessed or blessed We are often looking at what they have. They have a lot of money. They have a lot of beauty
[00:36:14] They have everything they could ever want. They are so blessed and Yet Jesus now turns this upside down and says actually in this world There is a goodness a rightness a blessing in our lack
[00:36:31] because lack can produce yearning and specifically Jesus says we are blessed when we yearn when we hunger when we thirst for righteousness and I know what it's like you probably do to the middle of the day you start hungering and thirsting for the Taco Bell for the
[00:36:54] Chili's if you're about to go on a big date with your wife but what does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness what does it mean to yearn for righteousness righteousness means to have a right relationship with God and
[00:37:10] to have that rightness overflow into all areas of life to have a right relationship with God and then to have that rightness overflow into all areas of life so to hunger to thirst to yearn for righteousness is first and foremost
[00:37:25] about yearning to have a right relationship with God and then And secondarily, to have that right relationship overflow into all areas of life.
[00:37:38] So where I see God's absence or where I see the absence of God's work, where I see the absence of God's power, where I see the absence of God's transformation, I yearn to see it.
[00:37:52] I hunger and thirst to see it.
[00:37:55] I yearn for righteousness.
[00:37:59] And we live in a world where folks will stand in line for hours to get to see a blockbuster movie premiere in the theater, where people will camp out overnight to get the newest technological release, where groups of friends will create these intricate plans to get tickets
[00:38:14] to a popular concert.
[00:38:16] We go to incredible lengths to get what we want and we are ready to overcome the unexpected setbacks.
[00:38:25] So what about the things of God?
[00:38:29] that is far more important than a Star Wars movie, or an iPhone, or Taylor Swift tickets.
[00:38:36] I know I've offended the whole congregation here with those three. How often do you and I turn away from the things of God, or how often do you and I deprioritize the things of God at the first sign
[00:38:50] of trouble? Jesus says we are blessed to yearn for righteousness because it will keep us pushing forward. And so to get a better sense of the heart behind Jesus' beatitude, we want to look at the passage that Shannon read for us earlier, Mark chapter 7, verses 24 to 30. Now, there's four
[00:39:15] books of the Bible that chronicle the life of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew also has this account. It's in Matthew chapter 15, starting in verse 21. So I'm going to do Mark seven, but we'll jump over to Matthew a few times. Mark chapter seven begins this way. Jesus left
[00:39:34] that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it yet. He could not keep his presence secret. Now, Mark chapter seven is one of those passages
[00:39:48] that folks often point to in an attempt to sort of rattle Christians, whether it's a provocateur on TikTok or it's a college professor or who knows who, but it's, it's a, one of those rattle
[00:40:01] passages. I know it was a favorite discussion passage when I was at Davidson college, perhaps it still is, but it's certainly, I've seen it used in other university settings as well, where someone will show you this passage in isolation, isolation being a key word and say, Hey, what's
[00:40:19] to deal with Jesus? Is this who you Christians follow? Now in its broader context, I think this is a remarkable passage. It may or may not be your favorite passage of the Bible. Jesus may
[00:40:32] offend your sensibilities here. And we always love it when Jesus offends other people's sensibilities, but it is the same Jesus when it's our sensibilities. But this passage begins by telling us Jesus went to the vicinity of Tyre. Some translations will say the vicinity of Tyre
[00:40:49] and sidon which are really close to each other he he needed a chance for a little getaway a chance to step away from the demands of saving the world and jesus the christ fully god fully
[00:41:02] human the god of all creation wrapped himself in human flesh came to earth on a rescue mission for us dwelt among us even he needed time to get away even he needed time to rest so he goes to the area
[00:41:15] of Tyre and Sidon. Why include this little detail? Did the tourism bureau of Tyre and Sidon pay Mark a little bit extra to make sure this was included? Actually, Mark is trying to point out that Jesus
[00:41:30] is in a pretty rough zip code, spiritually speaking, because there were several prophets in the Old Testament, that first half of the Bible, there were several prophets who predicted the eventual downfall of Tyre and Sidon for what, for the ways that they always seem to exalt
[00:41:47] themselves and oppose God. So for you and me, this would be like saying Jesus went to the vicinity of Las Vegas. Jesus went to sin city for a little rest because surely no one there knows who he is.
[00:42:06] Verse 25. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek born in Syrian Phoenicia.
[00:42:21] She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. So Mark is trying to emphasize here that this woman is not Jewish. She is not a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the lineage Jesus came from. Jesus was Jewish. All his first disciples were Jewish. He came to
[00:42:41] fulfill all that God has been doing throughout history through the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And yet this non-Jewish people, often called Gentiles, were beginning to take a huge interest in Jesus. They didn't know all of this backstory about him and the work that he was
[00:42:58] doing. They didn't know the generations upon generations of work that God had been doing, but something in them was yearning to know God, yearning to be right with God, yearning to have that rightness overflow into their lives and this includes this woman this Greek
[00:43:16] woman this Syrophoenician woman Matthew just calls her a Canaanite woman which is trying to emphasize that she did not just move to the region of Tyre and Sidon her family had been there for generations that she embodies the
[00:43:36] Canaanites who have opposed God's work for generations, have opposed God's people since way back in the earliest books of the Bible. So Jesus has come to fulfill God's work found throughout the pages of the Old Testament. And this woman typifies the opposition to that work,
[00:43:56] that her people have time and again spurned righteousness. But here she is starting to yearn for it Because of her lack because her daughter is possessed by an evil spirit and she asked Jesus to drive out the spirit
[00:44:15] Something in her is starting to turn towards Jesus at some level She believes he has power over the spiritual world that she believes he can tell evil spirits what to do Not because he is evil, but because he is good and powerful
[00:44:30] So she makes her request, but I'm trying to point out to you there is a tension between Jesus primary focus and her requests and Now here comes the verse that gets all the focus. This is Jesus response. He says
[00:44:51] First let the children eat all they want he told her for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs Do you ever have a grandmother who like crocheted Bible verses on a pillow?
[00:45:04] This is like the verse that people hostile to the Christian faith would crochet on a pillow Something like what's the what's the deal with Jesus mean old Jesus talking to this lady like this So let's look at it a little bit. The first thing we need to recognize is that Jesus is not alone with the woman
[00:45:24] Matthew 15 actually makes clear the his first disciples are there as well. So Jesus comment has multiple audiences The second thing we need to be clear about is that as Jesus himself says in Mark chapter 4 verse 11
[00:45:39] Jesus said to them the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you But to those on the outside everything is said in parables This is one of my favorite verses of the Bible because it makes clear
[00:45:53] Jesus essentially says some things I say are hard to understand Let the church say amen in. But that's what Jesus is looking for. He's looking for people who desire God, who desire God's kingdom. Those who desire the kingdom, who hunger and thirst for rightness with God will keep
[00:46:16] seeking, keep seeking to understand. We will let his words guide us, even if they turn our perception of reality upside down. For example, in Mark chapter 5, Jesus approached a dead girl and said, no, she's just sleeping. In Mark chapter six, when there's a crowd of over 5,000 people
[00:46:36] getting hungry, Jesus tells his disciples, hey, here's an idea. Y'all feed them. I'm sure Jesus said, y'all, y'all feed them. Jesus says all kinds of strange things that reveal deeper truths.
[00:46:51] And he's doing the same thing in Mark chapter seven. He says, first, let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.
[00:47:00] now we have to remember that these folks do not live in a country that has a social safety net they don't live in a country that has dozens of ministries birthed out of Jesus call to show mercy remember Caesar's sermon last week
[00:47:14] blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy this woman and the disciples are painfully aware sometimes there is not enough food so the kids eat first kids eat their fill first and Jesus point is clear enough if I Jesus spend all my time healing Gentile people
[00:47:37] I will neglect the very thing I came here to do which is to fulfill the work God has been doing for generations through the descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob For generations you and your people have been opposing God
[00:47:52] ignoring God I've come here to fulfill his work and lead his people back to him I cannot get diverted from that mission now Jesus could have simply stated that in fact Matthew points out he does state it that plainly to his disciples but to
[00:48:09] the woman he shares this reality as a parable he shared it as a word picture he shares it as a metaphor what I learned to pronounce at Davidson as metaphor i grew up calling it a metaphor like when i say i am molasses on a cold winter morning
[00:48:30] that does not mean i actually think i am molasses it does not mean i want you to put me on top of pancakes it just means i'm slow going on a cold morning so when jesus says
[00:48:41] in a family the children have to eat and have their fill before the food is given to the dogs he is not calling the woman a dog he is saying her request is like a dog asking for food before
[00:48:55] the children have been filled but the provocateurs those more hostile to the faith actually that's their argument their end argument is that jesus is calling the woman a dog dog is a derogatory term towards a gentile person so their their ultimate play is that jesus is being racist in
[00:49:15] this passage and i'm trying to point out i i don't think that's a proper interpretation uh it doesn't initially pass the sniff test to me because it sounds like something a modern educated person in the west would say that doesn't make it wrong but at least doesn't pass the sniff test for me
[00:49:36] for that you don't find a lot of people outside of modernity educated in the west saying that interpretation the reason i think it's a flawed interpretation though as i've been trying to point out. I think it doesn't look at the historical context of the passage, the scriptural context
[00:49:52] of the passage. I don't think it looks at the multiple audiences of the passage. And I think it underplays or misunderstands Jesus' use of parable in his ministry. And then the last reason I think it's wrong is, I don't think it understands his actual parable. Because the word Jesus uses
[00:50:11] in the passage for dog is the word for like a little dog, like a house dog, like a pet dog.
[00:50:21] So in his metaphor, he is not picturing opening up the door and throwing out the food for the wild street dogs.
[00:50:29] He is picturing a dog inside the house.
[00:50:34] So in his metaphor, everybody is being put under the same roof, in the same house, part the same family and in fact the woman catches that this is what he is doing because she says lord
[00:50:50] even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs and i just imagine a gentle smile coming across jesus face as he thinks she gets it she understands the kingdom because she's essentially saying remember she had fallen at the feet of jesus at the feet of jesus she is essentially
[00:51:14] saying, you are doing, Jesus, you are doing something so remarkable in this world that even once you satisfy the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, there will be plenty left over for people like me. You will redeem God's chosen people, and then you will choose and redeem people
[00:51:34] like me who have historically wanted nothing to do with God and God's work. And in Matthew, Jesus says this to her, woman, you have great faith. Somewhere in her soul, she knows that Jesus has not come simply to fill the Jewish people. He's come to fill the Gentile people
[00:51:55] as well. He has come to fulfill the work God's been doing throughout the pages of the Old Testament. But in doing so, he will invite all peoples of the world to be part of God's family.
[00:52:07] It's not just people with a certain last name or a certain skin coloration who will be filled.
[00:52:12] anyone who hungers and thirsts for righteousness will be filled. And the disciples of Jesus see this, that there are people here in Tyre and Sidon of all places who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And Jesus did not dismiss her. Jesus actually engaged her. Jesus challenged her
[00:52:36] and Jesus commended her. He brought her under the same roof as them and said, you have great faith.
[00:52:47] so as a follower of jesus or if today or sometime soon you become a follower of jesus it is jesus who brings us into right relationship with god it is not your effort it is not my effort is not
[00:53:01] trying to be a good person it is jesus jesus death in our place his resurrection in which we share he who was without sin on the cross became sin so that we might become right with god jesus brings
[00:53:16] us into a right relationship with God. And we respond to Jesus with faith. Now, faith is another word for trust. We trust Jesus has done everything needed to reconcile us to God. Nothing else is
[00:53:30] needed. Nothing else will do. We trust Jesus to reconcile us to God and to lead our lives now and forevermore. And we, like the woman in Mark 7, can be people of great faith. People of great faith
[00:53:48] who believe that even if all Jesus does is feed us the scraps off God's table, we will be filled.
[00:53:58] Even God's scraps would satisfy. So how much more so his one and only son? The passage concludes this way then he told her for such a reply you may go the demon has left your
[00:54:15] daughter she went home and found her child lying on the bed and the demon gone so in Jesus through trusting Jesus she finds a rightness with God and that rightness overflows into other areas of her life as she finds her child healed I
[00:54:35] I pray that as her years went on, the rightness overflowed into every area of her life.
[00:54:43] I hope she realized that time and again, whether you are the preacher's kid who's at home eating popcorn right now, I've been told, watching daddy on the TV, hello, Indy, hello, Cora, whether you are the preacher's kid or you are the product of Sin City, whichever you are or
[00:55:03] anything in between. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. I hope that sermon was helpful for you, especially if you've ever seen that passage weaponized, or if in the future you see that passage weaponized, I hope that's a useful
[00:55:25] sermon for you. The Christian faith has a robust integrity. Following Jesus is something worth giving your life to the Christian faith is not pointless as some have claimed however thus far this sermon on the other hand has no points and you all
[00:55:45] some of you like trekked here in the snow so you deserve at least a point so what do we learn from this passage and the Syrophoenician woman's faith what do we learn we learn number one number one number number number sermon point number
[00:55:59] one let your lack produce yearning let your lack produce yearning for the woman in Mark 7 is the condition of her daughter. For us, it's typically the condition of our lives.
[00:56:10] When we realize we don't have a right relationship with God, when we realize we don't, we lack the purpose or we lack the peace that overflows from a right relationship with God, when we see gaping
[00:56:23] holes in our character and we realize how they hurt the people we love, don't let that lack produce defeat, let it produce yearning, hunger, and thirst to be right with God and for that rightness to overflow into every area of your life. Let your lack produce yearning. Point number
[00:56:45] two, let your yearning push you to Jesus. That's what happened in Mark 7. That can happen for us as well. If we want to be right with God, if we want to have a rightness overflow into our lives,
[00:56:58] we must decide where righteousness comes from. Can we do it ourselves? In other words, can we be self-righteous or do we need help? Now, if you have ever met a self-righteous person or if you have ever been a self-righteous person, you know the correct answer now, don't you?
[00:57:25] We cannot do it ourselves. Like the woman in Mark chapter 7, we seek out Jesus and find him deeply receptive to our need, deeply receptive to our longing. So let your yearning push you to Jesus. Point number three is to expect resistance. Expect resistance. Almost every
[00:57:50] meaningful spiritual step comes with resistance. Expect it. Expect it. And in the passage today, what's actually interesting is Jesus authored the resistance now Jesus does not always author the resistance sometimes Jesus simply allows the
[00:58:09] resistance but it's a sort of way of saying this is more important than a Star Wars movie or an or an iPhone or a Taylor Swift ticket right like are we looking for something that will deeply satisfy our deepest yearnings or are we
[00:58:30] looking for an easy add-on to an already complete life? Are we looking for something that will deeply satisfy our deepest yearnings, or are we looking for an easy add-on to an already complete life? It is easy to get discouraged when lack is what starts to push you to Jesus, and then you
[00:58:52] start taking steps, like you put your faith in Jesus, you start asking him to change your character, you say a fresh yes to engaging at Story Hill this year. You start to take these steps of faith
[00:59:02] and you encounter resistance. But Jesus, in His grace, shows us in this passage, resistance is natural. In fact, sometimes resistance is needed. It is part of the blessing of hungering and thirsting for righteousness. The yearning helps us respond
[00:59:26] to the resistance. The yearning, the hunger, the thirsting helps us keep moving forward.
[00:59:34] And then point number four, number four, finally, finally, finally, we got to get home before the rain starts again. Point number four, expect Jesus to satisfy. So expect resistance, but don't stop your expectations there. Expect Jesus to satisfy. Because if we trust that he will, he is worth
[00:59:58] seeking. He is worth following. He is worth surrendering every area of our life to. Hear him when he says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
[01:00:18] They will be satisfied. Jesus will see to it himself. So will you reflect on this question with me as we go from our time together? The question is, where have you seen the grace and
[01:00:38] truth of Jesus' beatitude. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Where have you seen the grace and truth of that in your own life? Or you've seen it in the
[01:00:54] life of another person? Or keep your eyes open this week for where you might see that grace and truth in action. Because through the places in our lives where there is lack, through the places of
[01:01:09] lack. God wants to cultivate yearning, a yearning that can overcome resistance, a yearning that actually sees challenge as part of the adventure, and a yearning that ultimately will be satisfied, will find its fulfillment in Jesus. Let's pray together. Let me give you a
[01:01:40] chance to pray, to talk to God, to listen to God about whatever He's stirring up in your heart or your mind, just take this quiet moment for personal prayer. Lord, we come to you as people
[01:02:35] with need in a world that has deep need. And we so desire everybody else to hunger and thirst for righteousness. But Lord, let us begin with ourselves. Are we people who hunger and thirst for righteousness? Are we people who yearn to be right with God and to let that flow into all the
[01:03:12] areas of our lives. Lord, may we not be satisfied with snacks any longer, but may we wait for the great meal you are preparing, which is to be right with your Father and to have that flow into all
[01:03:35] the relationships, all the areas of our lives. Lord, as each of us reflects on our life, perhaps we can even lift up to you a place or a person, a room of our lives, that we need to unlock the
[01:03:57] doors, open up the window, and let you blow through it. We pray specifically this morning for the person who knows that you're at the front door knocking and so far has not let you in.
[01:04:16] In the stillness of this snowy day, in the stillness of their heart, may they pray something simply like, yes, Jesus, you can come in. Yes, Jesus, I will follow you and let you repurpose my life. Whether I'm the preacher's kid or the product of Sin City, I will let you repurpose
[01:04:43] my life. We pray all this in your mighty name. Amen. Amen. Let's worship together.

[01:05:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:05:29] i need to see you breaking through i want to feel you on my skin i'm like a flower to the sun where do i turn until you come you are the light i need the

[01:05:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:05:49] alive you are the well that I'm dry you are the river underground gonna dig until I find

[01:06:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:06:10] the living water deeper down oh I am desperate for a drink I'm in the desert you're the spring

[01:06:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:06:21] You are the life, keep me alive I'm putting on my And when I cannot see

[01:06:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:06:40] I will keep pressing on Still willing to bet my life Whoever seeks will find me I'm gonna seek and find me And as I drift down to the bottom of the swell, forget the daylight as I sit here in the belly of the whale.
[01:07:33] Breathe my feet, I still believe, help me believe.
[01:08:27] Gonna see the end of the living, gonna see it, gonna see it.
[01:10:52] Inches of west, searchable, answers to night, be the glory forever.
[01:11:25] Typically, when we conclude the service, I remind you that the prayer room is open.

[01:11:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:11:49] Since almost everyone is online this morning, I will remind you if you have a prayer need to email at prayer at storyhill.org.
[01:11:57] We would love to pray for you there.
[01:11:59] If you had a tithe or offering you had hoped to give, you can do that on the Give tab at storyhill.org.
[01:12:05] For those in the room, though, Pastor Billy said he would make himself available.
[01:12:09] If anyone desires to pray with someone, have some prayer for something in your life, whether you brought it in here or it got stirred up while we were together, or if you're just looking for a reason to not go back outside for a few minutes, Pastor Billy, where will
[01:12:22] you be, Billy?
[01:12:22] Just, oh, he'll go right up to the prayer room.
[01:12:25] He would meet you in the prayer room and love to pray with you up there.
[01:12:28] Receive the benediction.
[01:12:29] As we've done today, continue to look up, continue to look around that together we might find life as we love God, love people.
[01:12:36] In all things, keep Christ in the center.
[01:12:38] Amen. Amen.
[01:12:41] We'll see you next week.