Pastor Brian and Jacque Lother
Jacque: Don't you appreciate these beautiful musicians? You showed that you did. Thank you. Thank you. It's fun to hear those drums today. Aw. Yes, Jack. Oh, it's just so good to have everyone here in the building. Hi Angie. And it’s so good to have you with us online too. It's so good. Today is our second picnic of the summer, and so if you can make it, we are going to the Corcoran Park and just all bringing a little lunch and eating it all together. It will be fun. You know what, if you didn't bring your lunch with you, I had an idea that right, when you take a right on 10 and 50, there is a gas station there that always has lots of good food available. You can just pick up a sandwich on your way. Another tip: on our website it says to take 50, to go to the park. If you take 10 state of the right, you will just have a little less walk, but then walking is good for us. So probably you should go to 50. Yeah. Yeah.
Brian: We didn't like the candle.
Jacque: I know. And you know what? We had a big event, a wonderful Memorial Service here yesterday and everything got changed. I usually go right there and the lighter—
Brian: You have not because you asked not.
Jacque: Okay. Do you know why we love this candle here? Because even at home, we love candles at home and we just see it as just a symbol.
Brian: Of God's presence.
Jacque: Of God's presence with us.
Brian: The light of the world
Jacque: Through the Holy Spirit.
Brian: We know that that's not God, but it reminds us that God's presence is here. I like to have a lot of symbolism because it's some reminder because you know what, I forget a lot.
Jacque: I know. I'm going to put this back where it will be there next Sunday. Okay.
Brian: Okay good. Now you know our secrets. How are you doing?
Jacque: I'm doing great. I'm so grateful. God has just blessed us so much that we can help people go through loss and mourning and hard times. We as have a lot of people who want to be buried in the cemetery at Hope. And then who also want us to put together a service here for them. We have a bigger room and so many people can come and we must have— this place was very full yesterday, honoring Greg.
Brian: Greg Thorn. Yes, a man that diffused Jesus.
Jacque: He did. He did. And it was a beautiful time to honor a life well lived and to bring such honor to God and to show his love to so many people that were here.
Brian: Yeah, I called Greg Jesus in a cowboy hat with a banjo in his hand.
Jacque: He was a bluegrass singer and player.
Brian: He got touched by the Lord very early in his and his wife's marriage and he became a completely different person. That's what Pastor Jeff was actually talking about last week: the transformational love of Jesus and how I grew up in a denomination that— I said something a couple of weeks ago that I should probably qualify because you always help me to qualify things. Yes. Well, it's not so much a correction, but a clarification.
Brian: Yes.
Jacque: The help mates.
Brian: The help mates.
Jacque: I don't always want to ask publicly.
Brian: Yes. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I grew up in a denomination where most, if not all of you here would have been disqualified from the fellowship. I know what I meant by that, but Jacque, wasn't sure that you knew what I meant by that. I just felt like, because we were talking about all the rules that man makes to try and become acceptable to God, and the Pharisees had done that, hadn't they— the rabbinical law had added another 600 and what 13 or 15 or some laws on top of the Old Testament laws. They were oppressive weights and burdens on people. Jesus came and he said, I'm going to bring a new covenant with you. And it's a covenant of grace. But the church that I grew up in the denomination that I grew up in, if any of you women would, when women would have worn colored fingernail polish, or lipstick or makeup or wore earrings, you would have been disbarred from the fellowship.
Jacque: I bet you couldn't color your hair either.
Brian: Yeah. There wasn't very many women with colored hair, especially not blue. And of course the, the, the bigger sins were smoking and drinking, but along with that, we are going to dances and going to the movie theaters, but then also going to bowling alleys because bowling alleys was where they sold beer and people smoked. We weren't to be around any of that. So if you had gone bowling, you were going to be treated with much disdain. I just say all of that to say that I'm glad for the grace of God, because it's not stopping smoking that makes me acceptable to God.
Now I do think that our lives would be better if we didn't do some of those things. I think if you had a ledger and you put on this ledger, all the positive things about alcohol and all the negative things that have happened from alcohol in our world, there would probably be a lot more negative things and positive things, and the same with many things that we do. But when we make those things that criteria for being acceptable or not to God, then we really missed the mark of what Jesus is all about.
Jacque: A lot of the things that really mattered, like not judging or not gossiping, or truly loving and forgiving: those things weren't considered sinful.
Brian: As I've been reading the gospels more and more, and the last probably six or seven years, I really tried to focus on what I call the letters and read the words of Jesus. As I've been reading the gospels in more depth and just really meditating on them, it seems to me that the teachings of Jesus were much less about getting people into heaven and much more about getting heaven into people. Follow what I mean? Obviously, we had a Memorial yesterday, and one of the things that we were able to celebrate yesterday is that our friend Greg is in heaven. He lived his whole life saying, "I know where I'm going. I'm not worried about dying." But his whole relationship with Christ wasn't just about, some having a place to go when he died, but it was a way for him to live while he was here. It was a living while he was here.
Even the denomination that I grew up in had a really big emphasis on going to heaven when you die or not going to hell, an so much of even outreach and evangelism was predicated on the question, “If you died tonight, would you go to heaven or hell type of thing?” I put all the emphasis on something in the future rather than what God wanted to do in our lives right here. Many religions have a tendency to focus on the afterlife. It's not just the segment of Christianity and in many ways it's like, are you ready for that moment that could happen 50 years down the road or 60 years down the road? Are you ready for that moment?
It has led, I think, at times to some disconnects within people on how they are to live right here and what's available for us to live right here right now. Jesus offers us an opportunity to live a heaven life right now as he calls us to live a life of continuity. By continuity, I mean, this, that— I remember I had a teacher that once said that God wants me to live in such a way that when I die, the only place that I would fit would be heaven. He wants me to live that way now. That's that continuity that I believe the scriptures are talking about.
I think a question that we should really ask ourselves is, are we living right now the way we want to live forever? Are we living right now the way that I want to live forever? There is a lot of implications to that question, aren't there? But when I die, I want to keep living in a sense, the way I'm living, obviously not with the fallenness that we struggle with and so forth, but that my heart, isn't going to all of a sudden have this major change, but that I'm going to live for my savior not only in eternity, but live for him here.
Jacque: The first thing I thought of was peace. I'm going to live with that heavenly peace now, and just continue right into that peace in heaven, But to have that peace of Christ.
Brian: That's right. We got a text from AIJ this morning. I may read it here if we have time today. He talks about the very thing about being, living in peace and being peacemakers.
Jacque: I didn't get to read.
Brian: Jesus prayed, his disciples said, "Teach us how to pray." Jesus began to teach them how to pray. And one of the aspects of the prayer was what they kingdom come. They will be done where on earth as it is in heaven. Where will that will be done? In my life. When I pray that prayer, I don't pray, Lord, may your kingdom come in Jacque because I figured if God's kingdom comes in to me, it will help Jacque.
Jacque: For sure.
Brian: Hopefully. As I see it, the emphasis of Jesus was not getting us into the realm of heaven. That really wasn't his emphasis as much as rather getting the qualities of heaven into me, into us so that heaven was the only place that we would really fit and be at home when we died. Right. What kind of life do you want to live for all eternity? What kind of life do you want to live for all eternity? I just say, let's start living that kind of life right now because we have the kingdom right here right now. We will talk about that in a moment. But when we live right now, the way God wants us to live in eternity, we in essence are welcoming the kingdom of God into our lives right here, for the kingdom of God is really not around we enter into when we die. The kingdom of God is not a realm that we enter into when we die, but rather a way of life that we choose to enter into right now. I would like to read a couple of scriptures. The first one is in Luke chapter 13, verses 20 and 21.
Jacque: Again, he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough. What does that mean?
Brian: When we read that, you looked at me and said, what does that mean? It's really this: you and I are the 60 pounds of dough. That's what we are. We are the dough boys or the dough girls and there is this yeast that God wants to get into us. And that yeast is the kingdom of God. That's the aspects of the kingdom of God. It says it's like a woman that took and mixed above 60 pounds of flour. Imagine 60 pounds of flour and make making bread out of 60 pounds of flour. How much work would it take to get the yeast through 60 pounds of flour? A lot. God is working all the time. See, God is working on this 60 pounds of dough all the time. He is working to get his kingdom into me and he is working it and working it and working it and Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God is like that. It is something that has to come into me. When Jesus invited all of the people on the earth to enter God's kingdom, or really maybe I should say invite the kingdom into all these people. That's really what the invitation was: to let his kingdom come into all the people, because the kingdom is the yeast. He was inviting us all to live here and now in a manner with a new about God, a new mindfulness about God's will and the ways that are of God and how his ways should hold sway in our lives. That's what he is trying to do. He is trying to work his kingdom into us, and he is at work all the time. There is another scripture, Luke 17, 20 and 21 says:
Jacque: Once on being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied "The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed.”
Brian: He doesn't mean that when the kingdom comes into you that there is no change in you. That's not what he is saying here. The observation he is talking about is you can't just go to a building and say there is the kingdom. It's not a structure. It definitely is observed. Just like when Greg gave his heart to Christ, Greg Thorn, many years ago, people around him saw a change, a transformation. That was something that was very observable. It was observed. But what Jesus is trying to get at here, he said, the coming of the kingdom is not something that can be observed in the sense of a building being built or some kind of structure going up
Jacque: Nor will people say here it is for there it is.
Brian: Right. Because the kingdom of God—
Pam: Is in your midst.
Brian: It's in your midst or another word here in the Greek is within you. The kingdom of God is within you. A lot of people make a delineation between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, but there really is no distinction. It's just a different way of saying thing. It's kind of like this: It's like saying, what is the difference between the Washington government and the Biden administration? Nothing, nothing. One tells you where the main point of administration comes from; the other tells you who the main administrator is. The main point of administration in our country comes out of Washington DC. At the present time, the main administrator of that government is our president, President Biden. In the same way, the kingdom of God tells us who the main administrator is, and the kingdom of heaven is just another way of saying where the main administration comes from. That's all the delineation there is.
Jesus said the kingdom of God is within you. It's inside of us. The word "you" hear is actually plural in the Greek. It's not an individual it's plural, which means there is a community of faith that is comprised of this kingdom. So Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven is a way of living between relational people. There is this aversion that Jesus has to running away by herself and getting away, so you won’t be tainted by the world. That was never God's goal. God was saying, go into the world. He was saying take the kingdom of God with you and wherever you place your foot, take the kingdom with you. That's this whole aspect of the yeast penetrating us. Jesus virtually launched his ministry by stating that the kingdom of God was at hand. We see this in Mark chapter 1 verse 15.
Jacque: The time has come. He said, the kingdom of God has come near repent and believe the good news.
Brian: The kingdom of God has come near. Another translation says the kingdom of God is at hand. It's right here. The kingdom that Jesus was introducing was an entirely new concept to his listeners. It was an entirely new concept because all of the listeners were Jewish that he was talking to, and because the kingdom was going to look, it was going to operate differently than all other earthly kingdoms. It was going to be completely different than all other earthly kingdoms.
I think we all know that Rome was a pretty oppressive occupying foreign nation in Israel. Israel, including the disciples of Jesus, even at the end of his three and a half years of walking with them, the Jewish people had visions of a Messiah that would be like King David, that he would conquer the oppressors; he would kick the Philistines out or in this case, the Romans out, and he would be a conquering king. The idea was that Jesus was going to be this Messiah or that the Messiah that would come rather that this Messiah was going to lead Israel into battle against Rome and defeat the infidels. When have we heard that term before? That's this whole religious thing: defeat the infidels. Instead of teaching his followers, how to fight against the Romans, what did Jesus teach them?
Jacque: He taught them to give and to love them.
Brian: Yeah, how to love their enemies. That was a new entirely different thing. Maybe sometime in the future I'll get into this in more detail, but that's why earthly governments can't really function like the kingdom of God, because earthly governments need not only an internal enforcement force like police, but they also need an external enforcement force like the military to protect their territories. That's how virtually every earthly government is. They exercise power over other nations. That's what Rome did to Israel. They exercise; they power over and was controlling them, whereas the kingdom of God comes in. Jesus says, “I want you to love your enemies.” Well, if America loved all of its enemies, America would cease to exist in a relatively short period of time. That's why earthly governments can't actually function like the kingdom of God. That's why Jesus didn't come to try and make each government, shall we say, a Christian government. He came to make us as individuals, followers of Jesus, where we would truly love our enemies, where we would truly walk in the ways that he was teaching us. We see this in Matthew chapter 5, verse 41 to 45. Let's read that.
Jacque: Well, a little background to it, because at any moment, a Roman soldier could just commission anybody. What's the word, conscript?
Brian: Conscript, yeah.
Jacque: Could just make them carry their equipment.
Brian: One mile.
Jacque: Yeah, one mile. They would have to drop everything they were doing.
Brian: They could be working in their field. They could be bringing their wife to the hospital because she was going to deliver a baby. Not that they had hospitals back then, but they could be doing anything, and the Roman soldier had the authority to say, carry my equipment one mile. So here is the context of that.
Jacque: If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles, give to the one who asks you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Brian: Here is really another thing that Jesus was saying here regarding being conscripted to carry someone's equipment a mile. The first mile is servitude because you are being conscripted to do it, you are being forced to do it, but the second mile is freedom. It's your freedom. You give that. Now you are free. Now you are operating in freedom, freedom to give. That really is the liberating power of how to love your enemy. In God's kingdom, there are still wars to fight. We sang about that even this morning. Can there be any victories without wrestling, principalities and praying through the night? There really is a liberating power of loving your enemy, but in God's kingdom, there are still wars to fight, but they are spiritual wars. We don't fight them the same way that earthly conflicts take place between either governments or people groups, or what have you.
We are in a spiritual war against a spiritual enemy. We won't read this scripture this morning, but in Ephesians 6, 10 through 18 talks about that. There are even intellectual wars that we are fighting. There are intellectual wars that we are fighting. We fight against bad ideas. How many know there are some bad ideas out there. There are some very destructive ideas out there. We need to, in a sense, in essence, fight against that. A lot of these bad ideas are keeping people from knowing Jesus. We have to war against that, but the way we war against that is not the way that the earthly kingdoms go to battle against an enemy. So we see in 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 verses 3 through 5, one of the things that he is saying about this
Jacque: For though, we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
Brian: Isn't that clear? Even though we live in the world, we do not wage war in the same way that the world wages war.
Jacque: And the weapons that we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
Brian: What are the weapons of the world? Intimidation, power, control: Those are, in a sense, some of the weapons of the world, but on the contrary—
Jacque: On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strong holds.
Brian: The weapons that we fight with have the power to demolish strongholds.
Jacque: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to it.
Brian: So even people who are unloving, people who are unkind, people who are uncaring, and we probably all know people who are like that, as far as Jesus is concerned, are never seen as the enemy. They are never seen as the enemy. And it's really easy for us to look at somebody like that and see them as the enemy, isn't it? Somebody who has a different political view than us that might be, someone who may be pro-abortion in their political persuasion. We would look at them as being uncaring evil. And yet Jesus doesn't look at people who are uncaring and unloving and unkind as the ultimate enemy, but rather they themselves are seen as the victims of the real enemy of the war that we are all born into.
I still remember seeing this image really clearly in the old Terminator movies. We'll go back to a movie reference here. The war with the terminators lasted a long time. There were people who were born into that war, human beings, children who were born into that time period who grew up in this time period, who later became leaders in the human fight against the terminators. They were born into the war. They didn't have a choice, whether or not they were going to be in that war. In the same way, you and I are born into a war. It's a spiritual war that we are all born into and we have to learn how to fight this war, not in human ways or earthly governmental ways, but in spiritual ways. The people that oftentimes we think are the enemy, God doesn't view as the enemy.
Jacque: Oh, I do find it so helpful when I'm in a relational issue to think, who really is my enemy?
Brian: That's right. Who is the enemy here?
Jacque: Who is the enemy?
Brian: Yeah. Human beings, all human beings are really prisoners of the bigger war that we are all born into, who are in need of rescue, not judgment. They are all in need of rescue, not judgment. So when we find ourselves looking at another individual or someone we don't agree with, it could be someone that we know, it could be a politician, it could be a foreign leader, when we look at them and begin to ascribe like evil to them, what we really need to do, what ends up happening is we end up judging them when we do that. What we really need to do is see them in the same way that Jesus sees them, that they are prisoners of wrong belief, wrong thought. They are prisoners of this larger, bigger war that we are all born into and what we all are in need of, and what they are in need of is rescue, not judging.
Jacque: All of those people are somebody God loves.
Brian: Yes. Earthly kingdoms, virtually our earthly kingdoms fight for land or territories and things of that nature, but the kingdom of God really chooses to fight for something entirely different, chooses to fight against unforgiveness. The kingdom of God comes into our lives and he wants us to wage war against unforgiveness. He wants us to, in a sense, wage war against misunderstanding and prejudice. He wants us to wage war against relational tensions between people. When we pray for God's kingdom to come on the earth, we are really inviting God to really rule our hearts and our relationships. In this kingdom, peace is a way of life. Peace not a goal, but it's a way of life.
I want to read this text I got from our friend AIJ this morning from Birmingham, Alabama. He says, "Good morning, peacemaker." I thought, well, how in the world did he know what I was going to be preaching on this one? He said, "Praise be to God, our father, who is the God of peace. And he gives us his peace and bless it are the peacemakers. By definition, peacemakers are used by God to reconcile adversaries to himself, peacemakers make peace: the absence of war conflict. Bless it are the peacemakers. Just like the old covenant Israel, we are presently surrounded by fear by war, by conflict, by instability, by uncertainty, by troubles, by restlessness, and of course, by sin. So God sent the prophet Isaiah as a peacemaker. He sent the prophet, Isaiah as a peacemaker, not as a peace seeker, compromising with enemies, but rather a peacemaker. Isaiah spoke of Christ and his body when he said how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns.
Clearly, Christ is the prophesied messenger of the gospel of peace. As God spoke through Isaiah back then, he speaks through Christ today. Blessed are the peacemakers. As peacemakers, our mission is to see men and women reconciled to God. Blessed are the peacemakers. May God help us to speak for Christ rather than choosing sides. Help us to speak for Christ. Come on, church. God's word says, so we are Christ's ambassadors. God is making his appeal for peace through us. We speak for Christ when we plea come back and be reconciled to God.” Doesn't that go along with my message here this morning? Thank you, AJ. You were in tune. You were in tune.
I'm coming down the home stretch here. We've all seen signs being held by somebody, usually in movies. The sign says repent for the end is what?
Pam: Near.
Brian: Repent for the end is near. But Jesus didn't say that the end was near, but he did say to repent. Here is what Jesus said. He said repent for the kingdom of God is near. Rather than the end is near, the kingdom of God. If I repent because the end is near, then all I'm doing is apologizing for my past just in time to get to heaven. That's all I'm doing. I'm apologizing for my past, just in time to get to heaven because the kingdom and the way of God is near. But then I can actively decide to change my self-centeredness if I repent because the kingdom of God is near.
When I repent because the kingdom of God is near, I am partnering with God to help bring about God's way of love into this world and giving me a future. That's what I'm doing. I repent not because the end is near. I repent because the beginning is near. The beginning of the kingdom of God is here. What is God doing in the world today? I want to repent of whatever is not of God in my life, so that I can partake of what God is doing on the earth and in the earth. I repent not because the end is near, but because the beginning is near and I want to be a part of it. How can I be a part of what God is doing? I ask God that a lot. God, how can I be a part of what you are doing today? Do you have something to say?
Jacque: Just that every day is a new beginning.
Brian: It is a new beginning.
Jacque: Every day is a new beginning. Every minute is a new beginning.
Brian: Again, maybe I'm a little bit sensitive of this because of obviously my spiritual roots of my upbringing, which I'm still very grateful for. I'm very grateful for them in so many ways, but I've had to kind of pick some things out of some of the things. How many of you know that you have to do that at times? Christ’s call for us to repent was never intended to be a command to regret our past. The context of most of the teachings that I've had on repentance is about becoming remorseful and feeling bad about your past so hopefully that maybe your future might be different, I guess. But Christ's invitation for repentance was not a command to regret our past, but rather it was an invitation to help bring about a new future and a new tomorrow for us. It wasn't about reminiscing on our failures.
We have the most wonderful story. We all know it, but I want to read it today. It's in John chapter 8, just verses 6 through 11. We'll talk about this. This of course is the story of the woman caught in adultery, not the man and woman, unfortunately, just the woman. The man was somehow excused, let go, but this woman was caught in adultery and was brought before Jesus. We'll finish with this, but let's read it.
Jacque: Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt.
Brian: Here is the picture: They brought this woman to Jesus. I think they probably kind of dragged her in and maybe even kind of threw her down on the ground. She is lying on the ground and probably in front of Jesus, and I think that's why he was writing in the dirt because that's where her face was, but go on.
Jacque: He straightened up and said the sinless one among you go first; throw the stone. Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
Brian: Jesus bent down; he was writing with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him; they were badgering him. What are you going to do? What should we do? The law says to stone her. The law says to stone her. The Law of Moses says the stoner. He straightened up and he just said, "The sinless one among you, throw the first stone."
Jacque: Hearing that, they walked away one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you? "No one, master," she said. "Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go your way. From now on, don't sin." That was from Message bible.
Brian: Yes. I envisioned what Jesus was saying, and I wonder if he was just writing so maybe only she could see, "I forgive you. You are not condemned. You have a future. There is no shame with me. There is only a future with me.” What appears to be a command, go and sin no more, is not about our past. It's opening up a whole new doorway to our future. It's about allowing his kingdom to come and rule in our hearts so that the only place that we would really fit is in heaven when we die. It's not about condemnation. When Jesus said go and sin no more. This was all about her future. This wasn't about her past. His focus wasn't about her past. His focus was always about her future. He wasn't condemning her. He wasn't shaming her. She didn't need to have any kind of penance. She didn't have to work her way somehow into God's good graces back into God's favor. It was simply an offer for a new future.
That's what we have as ambassadors of Christ, as peacemakers of Christ. That's what we have to give today because everybody has a better future than our past. Some of us might have decent paths, but we have a much better future. Every single one of us has sins in our past, maybe as close as this morning when we got up. And yet God is saying to us, go and sin no more, not as a command to punish us from our past, but to open up the doorway of his future for us. And so when he said the kingdom of God is near, is at hand, it's near, repent for the kingdom of God is near, he wasn't reminding us of our past so we could make it right so if we die, we could go to heaven. He was saying repent for the kingdom God is near so that kingdom would not become part of us, that we would be able to enter into all of those things God has for us.
I find myself praying recently when my heart felt a little bit hard towards an individual or a situation or frustration, or maybe fear was trying to overcome me. All of these things affect my heart and I kind of had a view. I said, Lord, show me my heart. He had showed me that there were like barnacles on my heart. Barnacles are really hard things that grow naturally on the bottoms of ships because of the environment the ship is in. It's not that they are bad ships. It's just the environment that the ship is in. The environment that we are all in can cause our hearts to be hard, can cause our hearts to get barnacles.
I found myself praying, especially in our 15 minute reaching for more prayer time, from 6:45 to 7, I found myself praying, Lord, just clean those barnacles off of my heart. I want to repent, Lord of these things because I want more of your kingdom in me. I want everything that you make available to me, for me to be able to have, I want your fullness. I want the oneness that you have for me. I want that. When he offers us this opportunity to repair for the kingdom of God is near, it's not because the end is near. It's because the beginning is here. The beginning is here. The future is now. I just want to take a moment to pray for all of us, pray for all of you who are watching today, that we would allow God to kind of shift our thoughts from repentance, being for something in our past, to something that opens up a doorway to our future.
So father, I pray today in the name of Jesus, Lord, just like this woman that was caught in something that she shouldn't be doing, it was hurting her. It was destructive to her, and yet when she was on her face, you knelt down and got right into her space. You didn't say for her to go get cleaned up so she could come into your space. You got down right into her space and you wrote something, I believe, that was meaningful to her, something that would give her hope for tomorrow, something that would remind her that she was still someone of value, that she mattered, that even though she had been held in the clutches of the enemy, that you came to bring her freedom, you came to give her a future and a hope.
And so today I pray that Lord for every single one of us, you would give us a greater vision of the future you have for us and the hope that you have for us. May we lift up our eyes, Lord above the mountains, to the creator of the mountains. May we look into your eyes, Lord, in the same way that this woman looked into your eyes, Jesus, when you asked her, where are those who condemn you? Lord, in your presence, all condemnation leads. All stone throwers lead in your presence. Jesus, you never condemned her, and you were opening up a doorway for her future, a wide door where your kingdom could come in, where your kingdom could be within us, Lord, where your rule and reign in our hearts could be what sways our decisions day after day. So we pray today that your kingdom will come and your will, will be done on earth as it is in heaven through our lives. May the way we live, Jesus, be the way we will live in heaven. May the way we live, bring heaven to earth. This we pray Jesus in your name and for your sake. Amen. Amen.
Let me bless you here today. Let's raise our hands together, shall we? Now may the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you his peace and may you know, because the kingdom of God is at hand, we have a future and a hope, a wide future with no mention of the failures of our past. This, we pray in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
God bless you. Have a wonderful day. Hopefully, we'll see you all at the picnic. If you are watching by livestream and you are in the Metro area here in Minneapolis, join us out of the Corcoran Park. We would love to see it today. God bless you. It will be a great day. There is going to be no rain.
Jacque: Okay, good.
Brian: God bless you. Bye-bye.
Transcript taken from the Sunday morning service 6-27-21. If you would like to watch the full service, click the link below.