The Danger of Subjective Faith: Why We Trust Scripture Alone

• Confidence in Jesus [00:36:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts human confidence with confidence rooted in the identity and work of Jesus, introducing 'Emmanuel' as the core answer to who Jesus is.
• Historical Context of Isaiah [00:37:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor provides historical background for Isaiah chapter 7, detailing the political tensions in 734 BC involving King Ahaz, Assyria, and the alliances of Israel and Samaria.
• Trust in God vs. Idols [00:40:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes King Ahaz's failure to trust Yahweh, noting his reliance on Assyrian idols and his refusal to ask God for a sign, despite Isaiah's invitation.
• Trust in God vs. Worldly Alliances [00:40:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts King Ahaz's failure to trust God with his reliance on Assyria ('the 800-pound gorilla'), warning that depending on anything other than the Lord causes believers to become conformed to that worldly power.
• The Identity of Emmanuel [00:47:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor breaks down the titles of Jesus from Isaiah 9:6 (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace) to explain His wisdom, power, compassion, and sovereignty.
• Sovereignty and Peace [00:52:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that because Jesus is sovereign over all global crises and personal details, believers can 'sleep at night' if they fully submit every area of their lives to His control.
• Divine Sovereignty and Trust [00:52:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that anxiety stems from a lack of belief in God's control, urging listeners to let God be sovereign over every area of life, not just spiritual matters.
• Divine Honor [00:53:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using Isaiah 9 and the example of Galilee, the pastor explains that God honors the 'messy' and overlooked by making them springboards for His mission, which compels believers to honor one another.
• Divine Enlightenment [00:59:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor interprets Isaiah 9:2-3 to mean that Jesus brings light specifically to those walking in darkness, such as those struggling with depression or anxiety, who must actively appropriate this light.
• Divine Release from Burdens [01:00:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Drawing on Isaiah 9:4, the pastor describes Jesus shattering the 'yokes' of oppressive habits, cycles, and secret addictions that weigh people down.
• Divine Peace [01:01:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Referencing Isaiah 9:5, the pastor explains that Jesus ushers in a reality of peace where conflict ends, calling believers to invite the 'Prince of Peace' into their relationships and marriages.
• Reliance on Jesus vs. Human Wisdom [01:04:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that believers must cease depending on their own understanding and instead trust in Jesus' presence.
• Child Abuse vs. Christian Nurture [01:06:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between healthy faith formation and the trauma caused by parents forcing children into dangerous missionary work under the guise of religious duty.
• Emmanuel (God With Us) [01:07:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The concept of Jesus as a God who meets individuals in their specific needs and trauma, contrasting with the false security of Ahaz.

• Sermon Illustration [00:32:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells the story of Dr. Mary Neal, an orthopedic surgeon and kayaker who was pinned underwater by a waterfall for 25 minutes. She reports a near-death experience where she met Jesus, felt peace, and was sent back with a mission, which she later validated when her son passed away. He uses this to transition from human confidence to confidence in Jesus.
• Sermon Illustration [00:43:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a scene from the movie 'The Godfather' where an undertaker asks Don Vito Corleone for help. He uses this to illustrate the principle that if you go to the mob for help, you become part of the mob; similarly, depending on worldly powers makes us like them.
• Sermon Illustration [00:46:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references a previous story told at the beginning of the sermon about a woman Jesus predicted would lose her son, using it as an example of a sign given before an event to boost faith, contrasting it with the sign of Emmanuel which confirms prophecy after the fact.
• Sermon Illustration [01:03:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of 'Susan,' a skeptic who emailed him with endless questions about Christianity for months. After he stopped answering and prayed for her, she became a Christian. Later, she revealed her motivation was a traumatic childhood growing up in a violent African civil war with missionary parents who put her in harm's way.
• Sermon Illustration [01:05:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of Susan, a woman who became a Christian after experiencing a traumatic near-death out-of-body experience during childhood. Her parents, who were missionaries in a violent African country, exposed her to executions and bombs, claiming they would all go to heaven if killed. Susan rejected Christianity initially due to this abuse but later sought truth after a terrifying spiritual experience, eventually finding peace in Jesus as Emmanuel.

• Pastoral Charge [00:49:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > Invite Jesus into one's life to receive His wisdom.
• Pastoral Charge [00:53:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > Surrender complete sovereignty of all life aspects to Jesus.
• Pastoral Charge [00:57:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Publicly honor Pastor Paul and Danielle for their 25 years of service.
• Pastoral Charge [00:58:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > Send a text, note, email, or Facebook message to Pastor Paul to express gratitude.
• Pastoral Charge [01:02:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Invite Jesus to rule over marriages and relationships to bring peace.
• Pastoral Charge [01:08:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > To cease relying on other dependencies (friends, family, wisdom) and place reliance on Jesus.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:01:41] Good morning and welcome to Corinth where our mission is to proclaim and worship Jesus as Lord. We're so glad that you're here to worship with us today whether you're joining us online or here in the room. It's such a great thing to be able to worship together. If you're seated along one of the ends of our aisles we've got black folders we call them our friendship pad. We'd love for you to sign that and let us know that you are here. That's for absolutely everybody in the room but if you are new to Corinth there's a blue card in there we call it our visitor connect card. That's a great way for us to know that you are visiting with us today and we'll reach out to you to help you figure out ways that you might connect at Corinth
[00:02:11] fill out one of those i've got a couple of announcements to draw your attention to before we dive into worship the first is that today at corinth we're starting a new sermon series titled hope revealed a journey through isaiah's vision of the messiah so we've got a really short
[00:02:25] video to show you what it is that we're working toward over the summer i want to tell you about

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:02:32] an old-time prophet by the name of isaiah isaiah lived 800 years before the time of jesus christ Now, in Isaiah's time, the wheels had come off for Israel, the people of God.
[00:02:44] They had broken the covenant, and they were under grave existential threat.
[00:02:48] God raised up Isaiah to bring the nation comfort and gave Isaiah glimpses of the Messiah to come.
[00:02:56] And that vision brought hope and comfort and joy to his people.
[00:03:01] This summer, I invite you to come journey through visions of Isaiah with us here at Corinth as we look to the same message of joy, hope, and strength together, because that's what we're going to need to press through to the future. Now, I bet at least a few of you heard that idea about

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:03:27] the wheels coming off, and you thought, that sounds a little bit like my life. The wheels have fallen off for me too. So great news. We're going to look through Isaiah for the next eight
[00:03:34] weeks together, and we're going to be looking at the hope of Jesus and what he offers us. So stay tuned for this sermon series over the summer. A couple of things that I want to point your
[00:03:43] attention to. The first is that right when this service ends, we're going to go out to the courtyard and have a service of baptism by immersion. We've got four people in our church family who are being baptized today, so if you can stick around and celebrate with them, that
[00:03:55] would be so meaningful to them. It's about a 15-minute service once we get started, so it's not going to delay your lunch too much, but the impact is huge. Speaking of huge impact, this past
[00:04:05] week we had 250 kids filling up this whole area, and they were learning about Jesus through Vacation Bible School. So first, I want to tell you VBS was a huge success. The kids had a blast and they
[00:04:16] heard the message of Jesus. And I also want to say a big thank you. We asked you over the last couple of weeks to pray for Vacation Bible School and we've invited you to participate by volunteering.
[00:04:26] The end counts that I saw were we had 85 crew leaders who were running these little rascals around our campus. We had 25 station leaders making sure that they heard Bible stories and did crafts and played games and got hydration because that's really important when it's about
[00:04:39] 120 degrees outside and there were so many other volunteers. So if you are one of our volunteers who helped with Vacation Bible School or you were praying for our kids last week, I just want to
[00:04:48] tell you thank you. Your work was important and we did great ministry together. Another celebration as our volunteers go is that the Hope Garden out behind the Mission House has been hard at work for
[00:04:59] a number of weeks now and they have donated over 400 pounds of produce to the Hickory Soup Kitchen so far this growing season. Yeah, that's a lot of meals going into Hungry Bellies right here in our
[00:05:13] community. You don't need to sign up. If you've got a little free time on a Tuesday, a Thursday, or a Saturday morning, you can show up. You can bring your kids. You don't need to have experience
[00:05:21] or an RSVP. It's a really easy way to make an impact right here. So also coming up a little bit later, I want you to mark your calendars now for Christmas in July Packing Party. That's going
[00:05:31] to be for the Operation Christmas Child effort. The Corinth Adults Over 50 group is sponsoring that.
[00:05:37] they're getting together on Saturday, July 18th in the Student Center. Last year, they packed 110 boxes for Operation Christmas Child. This year, the goal is 150 boxes. So if you're available on the 18th, extra hands would help make that work very possible. And finally, I want to ask you to
[00:05:54] mark your calendars now for August 20th. That's when we're having Dr. Reed Mercer-Schuchart speak at Corinth. His talk, Extending Hope to Parents in the Digital Age, is about understanding how technology shapes the way our children think and learn and communicate and how they see
[00:06:11] themselves and the world around them. It's really relevant. It's really timely. It's going to be a wonderful night. Child care is going to be provided, and if you like, you can scan that QR code for
[00:06:20] more information about that speaker and the rest of our Extending Hope series. So, Stephen, if you can leave that up for a minute, I'm going to invite you all. Go ahead and take a minute to scan that
[00:06:28] and stand up and greet those people around you. Okay, good morning. If you'll make your way back

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:07:40] to your seat. We're going to begin our time of worship. I'm going to start by reading you guys part of Psalm 139. This is verses 7 through 10 in Psalm 139. Where can I go from your spirit?
[00:07:51] Where can I flee from your presence? If I go to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the
[00:08:04] sea. Even there, your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast. So I love how this psalm reminds us that God is with us. Even if we try to flee from his presence, we cannot. God is
[00:08:17] a God who is with us. And so this first song we're going to sing in worship this morning proclaims this truth, declares this truth about who God is, that he is, Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.
[00:08:28] and that, you know, Jesus is not like an earthly king who is walled off and inaccessible and ruling from behind a wall. He is here right now in this room in the midst of whatever battles
[00:08:41] you're going through, whatever feelings, whatever joy, whatever sorrow is in your heart. He is with you. He is with each of us. So will you stand and let's pray together and then we're going to
[00:08:50] declare this in song together. Lord Jesus, we praise you that you are here with us. Thank you, God, that you are not just seated on a heavenly throne far away, but you are near to us. You are
[00:09:01] active and moving in power in our lives. Lord God, will you help us lay hold of this truth today?
[00:09:08] Will you help us grasp the reality of your presence? Lord, have your way in us. We're getting ready to sing. Lord, tear down walls, break chains, move in us today, Lord. We praise you.
[00:09:18] In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, let's sing.

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:09:20] read from colossians chapter 1 starting at verse 15 he is the image of the invisible god

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:17:59] the firstborn of all creation for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in in him all things hold together
[00:18:19] and he is the head of the body the church he is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in everything he might be preeminent for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell
[00:18:31] and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross let's pray father God thank you for being such an amazing creator you know us
[00:18:45] you love us. Lord, without you and your sacrifice, we are nothing. God, I pray that you just speak to these people, this church today, so that they can become the body of Christ, Lord, that we can

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:18:59] share your love and your truth with others. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much for this day.

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:22:55] Thank you for all that you've given us, Lord. Thank you for this time that we get to come and we get to worship you and we get to learn more about you, Lord. I pray that during this sermon,
[00:23:03] lord that you open up every ear and every heart to you lord and that you just allow us to gather in what our pastor amy is preaching i pray for anybody in this room who might be going
[00:23:13] through something said or unsaid lord and i pray that you just place a hand of peace on them and allow them to know that you are walking with them always in your name i pray amen we're going to

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:23:24] turn our attention now to our time of offering so you can take your seat as the band that kind of moves all of their stuff out of the way in the next two minutes or so we're just going to give
[00:23:31] you some music. Information on how to give is up on the screen. Feel free to come forward with your tithes and offerings or give online. Let's pray together. God, we thank you for the many ways that you have blessed us and for the opportunity that we have even now to share our
[00:24:53] tithes and offerings. I pray that in the act of sharing the resources you've given us, that you would deepen our faith and our dependence on you. Would you show us every day that we trust only in
[00:25:04] you, not in the resources that you've given us. Where these gifts and tithes are used, we pray that your kingdom would grow, that lives would be changed, and that people will come to know you
[00:25:12] and follow you, maybe for the very first time. We thank you for the ways that we're seeing that happen right here in our community and around the world already. We thank you for the great
[00:25:21] celebration we got to have today for Vacation Bible School and the 250 children who heard about the gospel this week. That's incredible, and it is fruit that only you could produce, and we thank you that we got to be a small part of that. We thank you for our partners in this community
[00:25:36] who are doing the hard work of transforming lives. We pray for our friends at Forgiven as they shift to new leadership, and we pray for Joey as he takes over the role of executive director, that
[00:25:47] you would empower him to do your work and take the gospel into the prisons. We pray for our friends at the Pregnancy Care Center who just celebrated the opening of their brand new building. We pray
[00:25:56] that more families would be touched and healed through their ministry, that moms and dads would learn about the gift of life and that they would be inspired to choose you for themselves and for their children. We pray for our friends at Safe Harbor who are undergoing new expansion and for
[00:26:13] our friends at Habitat who are rethinking how they use resources well to build things for our community. We just pray for all of these ministries to feel you powerfully and to follow you closely.
[00:26:24] For our friends scattered around the world, we pray for Feral and Raul down in Nicaragua, that you would equip them with everything they need to bring hope into the people of Amadagalpa.
[00:26:34] And we pray that their feeding centers would be overflowing with food, their tutoring centers would be overflowing with resources for education, that the families in their houses would feel hope in a new way and see that it comes not from the Hope Project,
[00:26:48] but from you.
[00:26:49] We pray for our friends over in Moldova, for Fyodor and his work with Doxodeo Church.
[00:26:54] Even now, as they gather to worship halfway across the world, we pray that you would continue to build up new leaders and new missionaries from their church, that you would continue to send them out into their corner of the world where they can do
[00:27:08] incredible work for your name. We pray for our missionaries who are in parts of the world that we can't talk about when we're live streaming. We pray that you would keep them safe as they're
[00:27:17] ministering in countries where it's not safe to say that you belong to Jesus. Would you continue you to equip them, to protect them, to give them comfort. And Lord, the successes that we hear from
[00:27:29] them, we pray that you would keep those going. You give them encouragements every day that you're with them, that you're guiding them, and that you'll never leave them. And we pray for wherever our missionaries are working, that you would do the big work of saving people and changing lives.
[00:27:46] We thank you that we get to be a part of sending folks there, but we know that you're the one who changes them. And right here in our community, we thank you for the work that people are doing. We
[00:27:55] thank you for our MAPS initiatives, for the men's mentoring program that's seen such good success and good engagement. Would you continue to strengthen our men's ministry to give men fellowship and mentorship and unity? Would you work with our Attract program as we've just laid
[00:28:11] out this whole path of speaker series? We pray for you to bring the right people here who need to hear a message of hope. And for our promote team, as they get ever closer to a meaningful
[00:28:21] partnership for your glory, would you direct those conversations? Would you help them to find exactly the sweet spot of where we can promote your kingdom in Hickory? And finally, for our shepherd program, as we look for ways that we can care for our own, would you give us wisdom? Would you give
[00:28:37] us guidance and give us the creativity to know just exactly what it is we need to do to care for our own in a way that pleases you and glorifies you. We pray all this in the name of
[00:28:50] Jesus. As I mentioned earlier, we're starting a new sermon series this summer, and our sermon series is going to walk us through the ancient book of Isaiah. So our scripture reading today comes from Isaiah chapter 7 and chapter 9. Then Isaiah said,
[00:29:16] Hear now, you house of David. Is it not enough to try the patience of humans?
[00:29:24] Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign.
[00:29:33] The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel. Nevertheless, there'll be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past, he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future, he will honor Galilee of the nations by
[00:29:54] the way of the sea beyond the Jordan. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
[00:30:01] On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy. They rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the days of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the
[00:30:21] yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government
[00:30:44] will be on his shoulders, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on
[00:31:00] David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing it and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

[00:31:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:31:24] We're in church. Let's pray.
[00:31:30] Father, as we gather together to kick off this series in Isaiah, I pray for myself that I would simply get out of your way so that you, Spirit, may have your way.
[00:31:42] Father, the truth is that you really want us to pay attention to.
[00:31:46] Would you draw our hearts to that?
[00:31:48] And any distractions, Lord, I just pray you clear that off the table.
[00:31:53] So we give you this time.
[00:31:55] We love you, Lord, and we want you to be present.
[00:32:00] Amen.
[00:32:01] Dr. Mary Neal was a confident woman.
[00:32:07] She was an orthopedic spine surgeon and head of the department at University of Southern California.
[00:32:14] And in 1999, she and her husband and some friends decided to go kayaking together.
[00:32:19] She was also a very good kayaker.
[00:32:22] So they get down to Chile, the Foy River, where there's a lot of white water, and they get in the water, and she's paddling along.
[00:32:33] And just where she and the rest of the team want to go, there's this kayaker who's just kind of there and kind of stuck. And she's like, oh, this is frustrating. I'll just go around this way. So she goes around this way. And as she goes around this
[00:32:48] way, which was not the way you were supposed to go, she realizes that that way took you down underneath the waterfall. So she's paddling through and says, I will just paddle past that waterfall. Go underneath it, but I'll just go right through it. And she's paddling. She comes
[00:33:05] into this waterfall with this cascade of eight to ten feet of water that's a lot of water this force coming down on her and she comes to a stop and she can't move and the force of the
[00:33:20] water actually takes her body and bends it and waves the body but not supposed to go bends her legs at the knees and the waves the knees were not supposed to go all the while holding her face
[00:33:31] underwater and the other kayakers because of the white water they can't get at her fast enough They're just trying to get to her and trying to be safe.
[00:33:42] But this is, woman's face is underwater.
[00:33:46] They know it.
[00:33:48] It took 25 minutes before they reached her.
[00:33:53] And we finally dislodged her, her limp body out.
[00:33:58] And then she flowed down the river.
[00:34:00] They caught her, dragged her to shore, applied CPR just in case.
[00:34:06] And miraculously, she came to.
[00:34:10] But she was in bad shape.
[00:34:12] Now, I've never heard of someone having their head held underwater for 25 minutes and making it through that, but apparently this is what happened.
[00:34:21] They got her back to the States.
[00:34:23] She begins this months-long journey of physical therapy.
[00:34:27] And as she's going through the physical therapy, they said, well, what happened?
[00:34:32] I mean, how did you survive?
[00:34:35] She said, I don't know, but I'll tell you what.
[00:34:37] I never had a moment of anxiety because it seemed like almost instantaneously I was transferred into this other sphere of existence and there was this bright light and though I've been nominally church my whole life I mean I just dropped my kids off at church
[00:34:55] I didn't even go myself I didn't believe that stuff but I met Jesus and I met him and I felt a sense of peace and joy and wholesomeness and everything I wanted to feel and I realized what
[00:35:11] I've been missing my whole life was with Jesus, just being with Jesus. And Jesus said, I'm sending you back. You need to go back. And she said, I don't want to go back. I want to be with you,
[00:35:27] Jesus. And he says, no, I'm sending you back because I have a special mission for you.
[00:35:33] And one piece of that mission is that one of your four children, your son, he's going to pass at a young age, and you need to be there to comfort the family. Now, this is what the vision told her,
[00:35:48] and she didn't share that piece with people. She wanted to keep that to herself, but she shared that she met Jesus, and her life was transformed, and she came into a Christian faith in a whole new way. So what happened is, indeed, years later, her son, when the son was
[00:36:09] in his early 20s passed unexpectedly. It was reverse confirmation that what she experienced really was from God, at least for her. Now, I don't know what you think about near-death experiences, but something happened where she met with Jesus. She was a woman who went on that
[00:36:31] kayak trip very confident in herself and then came back confident in Jesus. Now, as we look at this passage on Isaiah, we need to understand what's going on historically because Isaiah is this book where there's a lot of prophecy, but it's rooted in history. And so this morning, I'm going to
[00:36:51] spend a little extra time on the history so you understand the story. But here's the bottom line.
[00:36:59] It's like we can be confident, not because of who we are, but because of who Jesus is and what he's done for us.
[00:37:08] That's where our confidence is.
[00:37:11] Well, who is Jesus then?
[00:37:15] Isaiah's short answer in one word is this, Emmanuel.
[00:37:21] That's who Jesus is, God with us.
[00:37:24] That's what Emmanuel means.
[00:37:28] Now, let's go to Isaiah chapter 7, verses 13 and 14.
[00:37:33] We're going to spend some time in Isaiah chapter 9, but in order to understand chapter 9, you need to understand what's going on Isaiah chapter 7. It's 734 BC. That's a long time ago, friends. It's two and three quarter millennia ago. Ahaz, who's in his early 20s, has just become king
[00:37:52] of Judah, which is the southern kingdom. You got Israel, the 10 northernmost tribes. You got Judah, the kingdom has split. And then right north of Israel, there's another kingdom, the kingdom of Samaria, all right? Or also, you might call it Syria. Now, Ahaz has three problems. Problem number
[00:38:17] one is this guy named Pul. Pul is the king of the Assyrian Empire, 500 miles to the east, right?
[00:38:24] They are the 800-pound gorilla in the room of international affairs at that time. They are powerful, and they want to get more powerful, and so they start exerting political pressure on all the little nations around them, including Samaria, including the tribes of Israel,
[00:38:45] including the tribes of Judah. So they're doing that. And so the kings of Samaria and the king of Israel get together. Their name's a resident Pekah. And they say, you know what? Let's do this. Let's
[00:38:59] make an alliance. Let's make an alliance. And let's go down to Ahaz, this young kid, and let's get him to join that alliance with us. Because if we don't have him along, then our southern flank
[00:39:10] will be opened up. We want this unified front, and we want to take on the Assyrians, which was a big, big step. So that's what they do. They go down, they visit Ahaz, and say, Ahaz, we'd like you to,
[00:39:23] you know, be one of us. We could be the three musketeers. And Ahaz says, I don't think so, because he had his eye on Assyria and how powerful Assyria was. So then Rez and Pekka,
[00:39:38] the kings of Israel and Samaria said, let's make him an offer he can't refuse. Let's attack him.
[00:39:47] And what we'll do is when we take him out, we'll put a puppet king in there, and that king will do what we say. And that was the plan. So they surround Jerusalem, the capital city, but they
[00:39:56] can't get in there. And they're fighting and fighting. Ahaz is having a tough go. This is quite a way to start off your kingship. And he's thinking like, oh, how am I going to get out of
[00:40:06] this, how I'm going to get out of this. One thing he doesn't do is he doesn't trust the Lord.
[00:40:12] He doesn't turn to God. He doesn't ask God. You see, Ahaz had a grandfather who was also a king.
[00:40:21] Ahaz's grandfather was a pretty good king, about here. Ahaz's daddy was a solidly good king. He was like up here. Ahaz is a bad king. He was a bad king because he didn't worship God. Instead,
[00:40:37] he preferred the idols of Assyria. In fact, he took his own children, sacrificed them in the fire as an offering to the gods of Assyria. That's how committed Ahaz was to the Syrian gods. He wasn't
[00:40:52] committed to Yahweh, the God of Israel. Isaiah the prophet gets in front of Ahaz and says, look, here's what you need to do. You need to turn to Yahweh and whatever you do, don't make an alliance
[00:41:03] with any of those countries, Ahaz already decided, I'm making alliance with the 800-pound gorilla.
[00:41:12] Isaiah doesn't know that.
[00:41:13] So Isaiah comes up to Ahaz and says, now, your faith with God, I mean, you don't have much to go on.
[00:41:22] So here's what we're going to do.
[00:41:23] God's going to offer you to do a sign for you to give you that extra confirmation, that extra backing, that extra push because you need to believe him for this stuff and not rely on any agents.
[00:41:32] Just rely on God.
[00:41:33] He's going to take care of you.
[00:41:35] Put your confidence in God alone.
[00:41:39] Ask him for a sign, whether from the highest height or the lowest depth, whatever.
[00:41:43] Just blank check.
[00:41:44] Think of the craziest thing you can think of.
[00:41:49] And Ahaz says, I will not ask God for a sign.
[00:41:51] I don't believe in putting God to the test.
[00:41:55] Not that he cared about putting God to the test.
[00:41:57] He just didn't want to mess with God of Israel, you see.
[00:42:00] He already had his mind made up.
[00:42:03] So at this point, when we come up to verse 13 and 14, Ahaz has had it.
[00:42:09] And so here's what he says.
[00:42:11] He addresses Ahaz, but not just Ahaz, the whole line of David.
[00:42:15] He says, Hear now, you house of David.
[00:42:17] Is it not enough to try the patience of human?
[00:42:20] Will you also try the patience of my God also?
[00:42:23] Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign that the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel.
[00:42:33] So he approaches Ahaz not as an individual, but approaches him as one of many kings and he says you know what you kings you just worn everybody out you wear out the people you guys ever read the news you ever you read the news and about
[00:42:55] this political leader or that political leader blue or red it doesn't matter you're reading about them and just go i'm so worn out following these guys following like what's going on just wears me out. Not that there's not good people in government, but this stuff, reading this stuff
[00:43:15] can wear you out, right? Well, the people of Judah are worn out, just following their leaders because they're under bad leadership. And Isaiah says, is it enough for you just to wear people?
[00:43:27] Guess what you're also doing? You're wearing God out. God has had enough, and you've already made up your mind not to rely on God. You're going to some other, you're going to the 800-pound gorilla in the room. You're going to the big boy. Well, here's what God's going to do. He's going
[00:43:40] show you a sign you know it's it's kind of like this the other the other night came i watching a movie on netflix and we're what just like about 10 minutes or 15 minutes into it and she says
[00:43:53] guess what this movie was rated on netflix i said okay let me guess i'll say 85 on a scale of 1 to 100 on the audience score that you know 85 people 85 people kind of said yes 85 and and and she said
[00:44:12] yeah, that's right. I said, oh, good. I said, what? Do you know what Rotten Tomatoes, this platform that gauges popularity of movies, for Rotten Tomatoes, what is the number one movie ever made?
[00:44:25] I mean, guys, we've all seen a lot of movies in our time, most of us, right? I know, some of you are not movie watchers. For those of us who are movie watchers, we've seen a lot of movies. You
[00:44:33] know what the greatest movie is ever, according to Rotten Tomatoes? A 1972 movie called The Godfather. And the opening scene of the Godfather is this great scene. Because the Godfather, Don Vito Corleone, is there. And his daughter is getting married. He's sitting in his office.
[00:44:58] He said, Godfather, there's someone here to see you. Guy comes in. It's a guy named Amerigo Buonasera. And he's an undertaker in town, also Italian. He comes. He says, Godfather, I've got a favor for you to ask you. He goes, what's your favor? He says, there's these thugs
[00:45:18] and they hurt my daughter. I went to the police, but the police didn't do anything about it.
[00:45:25] You're coming to me now? You didn't even call me the Godfather? You're asking, you didn't pay me any attention before. And they go back and forth. Godfather, I really need you to do this. I need
[00:45:36] justice. He said, okay, I'll do it. But one day, I might need a favor from you. And later on, Amargo finds out he will need a favor from him. And here's the idea with the Godfather
[00:45:51] and the mob in general, is if you go to the mob for help, you become one of the mob.
[00:45:59] And that's a principle in life. People or things that we depend on, we become like them.
[00:46:04] If you depend on things other than the Lord, we become conformed to that.
[00:46:11] But if we depend on the Lord, we become like him.
[00:46:15] That's why Isaiah gives this sign.
[00:46:17] Now, this is hard to understand because he's given Ahaz this sign.
[00:46:22] He says, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son.
[00:46:25] We'll call him Emmanuel.
[00:46:27] And you say, this doesn't make sense.
[00:46:29] Who is he talking about?
[00:46:30] Well, the answer is he's talking about Jesus being born.
[00:46:33] You say, well, how is that a sign to Ahaz?
[00:46:35] That's 800 years later.
[00:46:37] How on earth is that going to mean anything to Ahaz?
[00:46:39] Well, here's the deal.
[00:46:40] Some signs are given before to boost people's faith.
[00:46:44] This is a sign that happens after.
[00:46:46] Remember the story I told you at the beginning about this woman who was told by Jesus that her son would die at an early age?
[00:46:52] That was a sign for her that it was really God making that prediction.
[00:46:58] In the same way, this event occurs in Galilee where Jesus is born.
[00:47:04] and it confirms that God was really in the prophecy spoken to Ahaz.
[00:47:11] And what was Isaiah's prophecy?
[00:47:12] We don't have time to go into it, but here's the bottom line.
[00:47:15] God says, I'm going to wipe out the Assyrians, problem number one and two.
[00:47:19] I'm going to wipe out Samaria, problem number three.
[00:47:23] I'm going to wipe out Israel, problem number three, but I'm also going to wipe out Judea.
[00:47:29] And you're all going to captivity.
[00:47:32] And the Lord is going to start over.
[00:47:34] Because you were not with me, I'm going to be with you in this new person named Jesus who really is Emmanuel.
[00:47:44] What do we know about this Jesus?
[00:47:46] What do we know about this Emmanuel?
[00:47:48] What's Jesus, Emmanuel like?
[00:47:50] We learn more about that in Isaiah chapter 9.
[00:47:53] And here's the first thing we learn, is that Jesus, this Emmanuel, is wise.
[00:47:59] That's what Isaiah says in verse 6.
[00:48:01] for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor.
[00:48:10] He's a wonder counselor, a supernatural counselor, bringing supernatural counsel in every way. When Jesus taught, when Jesus showed up, he just didn't tell people about heaven. He just didn't tell people about God. Instead, he told parables because he knew that the parables
[00:48:28] would hide the truth from those who couldn't stomach the truth, but invited those who needed the truth to come in. When Jesus came, he saw right into the hearts of men and women. He could
[00:48:39] see what they were struggling with. He could see their animosity. He could see their openness to him because that's because Jesus was wise. And because Jesus was wise, he could confute and refute his enemies who try to trap him at every turn. That's the wisdom of Jesus. There is no one
[00:48:55] more wise than Jesus. Now, do you ever get to a place in life where you say, you get at a crossroads and you say, man, I just don't know what to do.
[00:49:07] I don't know if I should go this way or that.
[00:49:09] I don't know who to, I'm getting conflicting advice.
[00:49:12] Don't you wish you had a friend then who was just super wise?
[00:49:18] You do.
[00:49:20] And that friend is Jesus, Emmanuel.
[00:49:23] But you gotta invite Jesus to be with you.
[00:49:27] And as you walk with Jesus day by day, he imparts this wisdom to you that slowly transforms your life and helps you to see things you didn't see before.
[00:49:38] Here's the second thing we know about this Jesus Emmanuel, that he's powerful.
[00:49:45] And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God.
[00:49:51] And Jesus is the Mighty God.
[00:49:54] He's not just mighty, but he's also God.
[00:49:56] Who else could get out of a boat and walk on water?
[00:50:00] Who else could raise up the crippled?
[00:50:04] Who else could make the blind see?
[00:50:06] Who else could make the deaf hear but this Mighty God Jesus?
[00:50:09] Who else could raise a dead man from the grave but this mighty God Jesus, this powerful God Jesus?
[00:50:18] Sometimes in life, we're at a crossroads where we want people of power in our corner.
[00:50:27] And like Ahaz, we go and we go to people that normally we wouldn't make an alliance with, and we say, hey, I need your help to solve this particular problem.
[00:50:38] And we build this alliance, And all the while, we're not trusting in God's power.
[00:50:44] We're relying on other people to do what God says, I'm going to do that.
[00:50:51] Because Jesus is the powerful Emmanuel, he can be with us in whatever challenge that we face.
[00:50:57] Third thing we know about Emmanuel is that he's compassionate.
[00:51:01] He's not only a wonderful counselor, mighty God, he's also the everlasting father.
[00:51:05] By everlasting father, this isn't talking about a member of the Trinity.
[00:51:09] It's talking about what fathers do.
[00:51:11] What do fathers do?
[00:51:12] Fathers provide.
[00:51:15] They have compassion and they provide as a result of that compassion.
[00:51:19] When Jesus shows up, he shows up as the God of compassion.
[00:51:25] When he sees the 5,000, he has compassion on them and he feeds them.
[00:51:28] When he comes to Lazarus' tomb, he knew how it was going to turn out and yet he wept with them.
[00:51:35] Do you ever wish you had a friend who's going to be compassionate, who understood your pain?
[00:51:39] If other people have only so much time to listen to your problems.
[00:51:43] Jesus is all the time in the world to hear about your pain and hear about your problems because Jesus is all compassion.
[00:51:53] This is the God that's with us.
[00:51:54] But the last thing you need to know about this Jesus is that he's sovereign.
[00:51:59] He's a wonderful counselor.
[00:52:00] He's a mighty God.
[00:52:01] He's the everlasting father.
[00:52:03] And he's the prince of peace.
[00:52:05] He's on the throne.
[00:52:08] And not just is it a throne, it's the throne of the king of kings.
[00:52:13] Whatever else is going on in Iran, whatever else is going on in Europe or Venezuela and all the crises that are happening, Jesus is on the throne far above them and every knee will bow to the King Jesus who is sovereign.
[00:52:28] That means he's in control of every aspect of world and international affairs.
[00:52:31] He's in control of every detail of your life.
[00:52:36] He gives us freedom, but he's in control, you see.
[00:52:39] I don't know how that holds together, but he does.
[00:52:42] And because that's true, if God's really in control, what does that mean for us?
[00:52:48] It means we can sleep at night.
[00:52:52] And if we can't sleep at night, maybe it's because we really don't believe he's sovereign and he's got this.
[00:53:00] Or maybe it's because we're not letting him be sovereign.
[00:53:05] We're letting him be sovereign of some areas of our life.
[00:53:08] You know, we let him be sovereign of our church life, but not my bank account.
[00:53:13] We let him be sovereign of this area of life, but for me to take care of my body, and obviously, Jesus, you're not taking good care of my body, so I'll take care of that.
[00:53:22] And whatever it is, you've got to make him sovereign of everything.
[00:53:26] You've got to put him on the throne for everything.
[00:53:30] And that's what Jesus Emmanuel is like.
[00:53:34] Well, let me just say a couple of things, not just about who he is, but what he does.
[00:53:43] Jesus has done so much for us, amen?
[00:53:48] us, according to Isaiah, Isaiah sees it all ahead. I just want to say four things. One, in his wisdom, he has honored us. In his wisdom, Jesus has honored you and me. If you know Jesus today,
[00:54:01] it's because he's honored you. Let's look at that verse from Isaiah chapter 9, verse 1.
[00:54:10] Isaiah is describing the destruction that's going to happen, because here's what happens. Ahaz calls into Syria. He says, okay, the 800-pound gorilla comes with his army, and sure enough, he starts wiping out Samaria, starts wiping out Israel. The place is devastated. Now, here's what the Assyrians
[00:54:27] did to make sure they really conquered Jewel. They would, they basically say, this house, this house, this house, you're coming with us. We're going a thousand miles away to a different part of the empire, and we're moving other people in. So we're taking some out, putting them far, far away, and
[00:54:45] taking other people from far, far away, i.e. the Gentiles, and we're going to move them in right next door. The reason they would do this is to disrupt things and prevent ethnic solidarity.
[00:54:57] It breaks up group identity. And they know the way to run the empire is if you can get people not to cooperate with each other, you're halfway there. And that was their policy, and it seemed
[00:55:09] to work. So if you ever wonder why Galilee is called Galilee of the Nations, here's why.
[00:55:14] is because people like Ahaz would move in people from all over the globe and they would be there and they didn't know about this Yahweh, they didn't know about this Judaism thing.
[00:55:26] And here's what God does.
[00:55:27] God says, you know that backwoods part of Israel where kind of all those strange people are, people from different parts and, you know, like the rest of Israel would look at that and say, that's not really Israel.
[00:55:39] It's just like this big mess.
[00:55:42] And God says, oh yeah, I'm gonna take that big mess and I'm going to honor it. How does God honor it? Through Jesus. Do you remember when Jesus shows up, where does he start his ministry? In Galilee. Not only does he start his ministry
[00:55:58] there, Jesus said some strange things. He said, you know, the Son of Man is going to be killed, and on the third day, he's going to rise, and he's going to go to Galilee. My ministry is going to
[00:56:10] start in Galilee. Galilee is going to be the springboard, the platform, the launch pad of the mission to the world of the kingdom of God. This tiny backwoods messed up place called Galilee is where God wanted to start. So though Galilee was covered with shame and was considered,
[00:56:27] God says, I'm going to take what the world considers and make it great. And that's what God does for you and me. Because you might look in the mirror and you might go, I'm nothing.
[00:56:41] and maybe you are in the world's sight but god what god wants to do is honor you by making you a springboard for mission if you let him would you let god be the springboard for the holy spirit
[00:56:57] and the lives of the people that you touch he wants to honor you and what greater honor would it be than to be used by god that's the first thing that he does he honors and if god honors
[00:57:11] us, then our job is to honor each other. We honor each other in our marriages by listening to each other, by praying for each other, by recognizing each other. For all you guys, VBS volunteers who
[00:57:22] just killed it last week, you know, you honored the Lord. He honored you by using you. And there's so many roles in this church. And when you do service for the Lord, you know what's happening?
[00:57:35] God is honoring you. But there's someone, you know, there's someone else that we need to honor.
[00:57:41] We need to take a moment publicly in honor.
[00:57:43] And that's Pastor Paul and Danielle.
[00:57:47] You know, for 25 years, those guys, they bled over this church.
[00:57:52] They invested so much.
[00:57:54] And his fingerprints are over every aspect of this church.
[00:57:58] This Corners Reformed Church would just be a shadow of what it is today, apart from Pastor Paul.
[00:58:06] And so what we need to do is we need to honor people like that and say, thank you, Lord, for Paul and for Danielle.
[00:58:15] And just say, wow.
[00:58:18] So one of the reasons I mention this is a brother came up to me.
[00:58:22] We had a funeral yesterday.
[00:58:23] He comes up and says, do you think it would be okay to drop Paul a note?
[00:58:25] I said, yeah.
[00:58:26] You know, I understand if you want to give him space when he first got to the sidelines, but if you want to write him a note, please do.
[00:58:33] And, in fact, I want to challenge you guys.
[00:58:36] If Pastor Paul has touched you in even the slightest way, then please, if you haven't done so already, send him a text.
[00:58:45] Write him a note.
[00:58:45] shoot him an email. Put something on his Facebook page, but just, you know, these guys deserve honor. God honors those he used, and he has used Pastor Paul powerfully, and we should be recognizing that. Here's the next thing that God does. It's in his power he enlightens us. Verse
[00:59:04] two and three, he says, those walking in darkness have seen a great light, and those living in the land of darkness, the light has dawned. This light is the light of salvation. Notice whose light is
[00:59:18] for? Is the light for people who are already in the light? Nope. The light is for those walking in darkness. There are some of you here this morning, and you're like this, and no one knows
[00:59:33] about it but you. Maybe your spouse, maybe your kids, but you're walking in darkness.
[00:59:40] You're just struggling with depression. You're struggling with anxiety. You're struggling with all this stuff and this darkness. But here's some good news from Isaiah chapter nine, verses two and three, is for those walking in darkness, he has brought dawn. It's not for everybody. It's just
[00:59:58] those for walking in darkness. If you're walking in darkness today, I've got good news for you, friends. Jesus wants to bring your dawn. And his light is for you, but you've got to grab that for
[01:00:10] yourself and appropriate God with you because he has the power to break through your darkness if you let him. Third thing we know about this Jesus, what he's done is in his compassion, he's released
[01:00:24] us. As in the days of Midian defeat, verse 4, you've shattered the yoke that burdens them.
[01:00:30] Some of us are under yokes, these oppressive patterns that weigh us down, these habits where we get caught in these cycles or our mind gets caught in the cycles and it's like this yoke that
[01:00:43] we carry and we get in this funk and we just carry it around like it like that something that needs to be shattered and jesus says i can come in and shadow that yoke that is actually my business
[01:00:55] and that's what god with us wants to do for you whatever your yoke is your burden is and it might just might be a secret it might be an addiction that you haven't told anybody about and it's just
[01:01:07] this burden that you're carrying and the guilt gets to you and everything else gets to you.
[01:01:12] And Jesus wants to come and he wants to just take the burden and just smash it.
[01:01:16] But you're not letting him close enough to do that.
[01:01:20] But Jesus comes with us.
[01:01:21] He says, I want to destroy that yoke, that bar across your shoulders because you need to be released to be free if you let him.
[01:01:31] The last thing that he does is in his power he has, in his sovereignty, he has blessed us with peace.
[01:01:41] Verse 5 says that every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning.
[01:01:48] They're going to take all the footwear of all the soldiers, all the bloody uniforms.
[01:01:51] They're going to have this big bonfire in Israel.
[01:01:54] And they're going to throw all the clothes in there.
[01:01:56] Why?
[01:01:57] Because you won't need uniforms anymore.
[01:01:59] You won't need weapons.
[01:02:00] You won't need anything because there's not going to be a conflict anymore in the kingdom of God.
[01:02:05] Jesus brings this, ushers in this new reality of peace.
[01:02:10] And he can do that because he's sovereign.
[01:02:14] So our relationships, if you're in the kingdom of God, means our relationships should be characterized by the peace, same peace as the Prince of Peace.
[01:02:24] And if you're in your marriage or any other relationships, you're struggling with a lot of conflict, then just stop and say, look, can we just invite the Prince of Peace to come in and rule this marriage again?
[01:02:40] Jesus doesn't just rule individuals.
[01:02:42] He rules relationships.
[01:02:45] Is Jesus ruling your marriage today?
[01:02:49] You see what Jesus does for us?
[01:02:52] As Emmanuel, he can give us this whole new life.
[01:02:56] But you've got to be with him.
[01:02:59] I've told this story again, but I'm just going to, before, I'm just going to tell it again.
[01:03:03] It's a story about another woman who had a near-death experience, and I'll call her Susan.
[01:03:12] And I connect with Susan through a pastor friend in Hong Kong. I was a professor up in Illinois, and my friend Greg emails me, said, hey, got someone come to my church. She's not a believer, doesn't claim to be a believer, so she's not a
[01:03:26] believer, but she's got questions about Christianity, and she gets into all this historic detail, and I thought you might be able to help her, and I'm like, I don't know what your time was for this.
[01:03:35] Okay, you know, so yes, and so I started this email correspondence with Susan, and she had, she started off she had all these questions about the resurrection how can we know the history of the resurrection this there's so many ways that this could be made up i'm like okay so i said and
[01:03:53] she said give me something to read you don't have to have all the answers just tell me what to read so i said okay well maybe you should try reading this reading that and i throw in a few comments
[01:04:01] and then she said okay i already read the the next day i get an email from her already read the books that you read that you suggested uh what about this what about the existence of evil. I'm like, oh gosh, okay. So then I said, okay, maybe you should think about
[01:04:16] this, think about that. And we go back and forth, back and forth. And anytime I give her stuff to read, she'd just read it like that. And then she'd just come back with more questions. And I'm like,
[01:04:25] she's wearing me out. But she just, she'd keep going and going. And just when I thought like I answered every possible objection, she'd just come up with this new stuff. And this went on not for weeks and not for months or, you know, it just went on for months. And at a certain point,
[01:04:40] I got an email, and I'm saying, oh, boy.
[01:04:44] I said, okay, dear Susan, my wife and I are about to leave for small group.
[01:04:48] Here's what we're going to do.
[01:04:49] We're going to pray for you.
[01:04:51] I think I've given you as many answers as I can possibly give you.
[01:04:56] And sometimes you have to stop relying on your wisdom or your reason and just put your confidence in Jesus.
[01:05:02] Jesus says he will be with us if you let him.
[01:05:06] And so you have to make that decision.
[01:05:09] So we're going to pray as a small group that that's the decision you make, but it's time.
[01:05:16] Two weeks later, she became a Christian.
[01:05:20] About a year later, maybe a year and a half later, I happen to be in that city.
[01:05:26] I preach, and I do a lecture afterwards, and who's in the audience but Susan.
[01:05:32] So the first time meeting her face-to-face, didn't know what she even looked like, so she introduced herself to me.
[01:05:37] And I said, you know, praise the Lord, but I have to ask, you know, what on earth impelled you to pursue Jesus like you did? You just, I've never met anyone who's like read so much. And she said, you should see my yellow legal pads. They are like this tall
[01:05:52] of the notes I've taken. I said, I believe it. But what drove you? And she said, this is what happened. She said, I grew up in a Christian home, but my parents were kind of crazy.
[01:06:06] And they decided that we would be missionaries in the most violent country in Africa, where there's a civil war going on.
[01:06:13] And they put us in harm's way multiple times because they said if we get killed as a family, we all go to heaven to be with Jesus.
[01:06:22] And she told me about how she saw multiple executions.
[01:06:26] A bomb went off on her house one day.
[01:06:28] She came this close to death on multiple occasions because of the irresponsibility of her parents.
[01:06:34] And I said to her, I said, Susan, that's not Christian nurture.
[01:06:38] That's child abuse.
[01:06:40] And she said it took me years to see that, But I decided right then and there I wasn't going to be a Christian because if this is what Christianity is, it sucks.
[01:06:49] But there has to be an explanation.
[01:06:51] An explanation for what?
[01:06:52] She said, I had an experience.
[01:06:54] And here was the experience is one day when all this trauma is going on around her, she's in her bedroom kneeling on the floor, and she suddenly leaves her own body.
[01:07:05] And she floats up to the ceiling, and she's looking down on her own body.
[01:07:10] And she's like, what is happening?
[01:07:12] and she's trying to get back in her body.
[01:07:14] She's trying to swim to her own body and she can't even move.
[01:07:18] And she said, that was the most, I've been through a lot, that was the most terrifying moment in my life, bar none.
[01:07:24] And I have to understand how reality works.
[01:07:27] And I've been obsessed with this.
[01:07:29] My marriage has almost come apart on this.
[01:07:34] But now I found Jesus.
[01:07:35] And I found like the pieces have come together.
[01:07:40] You see, she decided that Emmanuel could really be her God.
[01:07:44] and could meet her where she is in her need.
[01:07:49] If you're like Ahaz and you're playing a game where you've got other dependencies, you're here because you're just hanging out with your family and you're not relying on Jesus or you're just relying on your friends,
[01:07:59] you've got to come to a place where you rely on Jesus, God with us.
[01:08:02] That's where he wants us to be.
[01:08:04] Let's pray.
[01:08:10] Jesus, you've come to be with us.
[01:08:13] You've made the promise that you'll always be with us.
[01:08:17] We trust you now with that promise and ask you to fulfill it this week.
[01:08:21] Thank you for all that you are.
[01:08:23] Thank you for all that you've done for us.
[01:08:26] And thank you that you are God Emmanuel.
[01:08:28] Help us live that reality out this week.
[01:08:31] Amen.

[01:08:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:08:46] All right, will you guys stand and sing one last song of praise?

[01:09:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:09:47] I'll be, always be, everything else.
[01:10:09] How could I not believe?
[01:10:12] A promise keeper, God, that we can trust you at your word, Lord.

[01:13:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:13:57] I pray you would reveal to us this week, God, the areas where we are not relying fully on you, God.
[01:14:02] Would you help us to put our whole heart, our whole trust in you, God, because you are who you say you are.
[01:14:08] You are faithful and you are good.
[01:14:10] In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

[01:14:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:14:12] Just a reminder, right after the service in the courtyard, we have some baptisms going on.
[01:14:16] If you have a few minutes before lunch, check that out and see the work of God there.
[01:14:20] For now, we'll receive the Lord's benediction.
[01:14:22] May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be on each and every one of you.
[01:14:32] Amen.