Dangers of Passivity Luke 12:1-12

Dangers of Passivity Luke 12:1-12

Sun, Nov 24, 2024 11:26AM • 33:52

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

World War Two, Nazi Germany, German Christians, Confessing Church, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, passive lives, active Christians, Luke chapter 12, hypocrisy danger, fear God, live boldly, leaven of sin, leaven of godliness, fear of man, fear of God

SPEAKERS

Josh Slater

Life that has been transformed, for life that has been changed, for a life that has been given a new body, a new heart, a new mind. Thank you, Lord, for what you've given us. Thank you, Lord, for who you are. We pray that you would be honored this morning in Jesus. Name Amen. Alright, go ahead and have a seat. Everybody. I want to start off this morning talking about a something that happened in the 1940s I'm not sure if you're aware, but in the 1940s there was a big war coming on, going on, right? World War Two. And during World War Two in Nazi Germany, one of the things that Hitler and his regime decided to do is they wanted to infiltrate the church. They wanted to get the church on board with all of their rhetoric. They wanted to get the church on board with all of their their ideology. And so what they did was they created a group called the German Christians, and these German Christians were going into churches, and they were teaching about what what Hitler wanted to do. They were teaching their anti semitism. They were teaching their racism. They were teaching about the need to exterminate people. And through this teaching, people were being influenced by them. The church was being influenced. And in fact, the German church would never really recovered from this, this psyop, if you will, and so, but there was a group of people within the churches who saw what Hitler was doing, they saw what the Nazi regime was trying to accomplish, and they decided that they were going to stand against this. They decided they were going to stand against the teachings of Hitler and his regime, and they created a group called, Oh, hold on. What were they called the Confessing Church, and one of their leaders in the Confessing Church was this guy named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Not sure if you've heard of Dietrich Bonhoeffer before, but Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor. He was a theologian. He was part of the Lutheran church, and so he saw what the Nazis were trying to do, and he decided that with this group of people, they were going to combat him. Now, there's danger that happens here. The danger is, is that if you stood against what Hitler was going to do, if you stood against the Confessing Church or the German church, if you stood against there was a likelihood that you were going to be arrested, there was a likelihood that you were going to be taken in, and there was even a likelihood that it would cost you your life standing against those who were oppressing the the people in Germany and oppressing the church could cost you your life. That would have been easy for Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the rest of this Confessing Church, to be passive in their life, right? It would have been easy for them to sit on their hands and just be like, we're just going to try to ride this thing out. It would have been easy for them to not do anything. But instead of being passive, what did they do? They stood up. They fought against it. And in that standing up and fighting against it, they became active. See the dangers of passivity is that if you are passive and you're not participating and fighting against the things that God hates, and you will become part of that group. You are just as guilty being passive, passive against evil as if you were not doing it at all. And so passivity is so easy for us to fall into, I've said this before, and I've said I'll probably say it a whole lot more it is easier to do nothing than it is to do something, and so for us as followers of Jesus, it is dangerous for us if we live passive lives, if we don't fight against the temptation to elevate ourselves, if we don't fight against things that are happening in the culture, if we are passive, then the likelihood of that passivity overtaking us is greater than if we're active in fighting against it. And Jesus doesn't call us to be passive Christians. He doesn't call us to sit on our hands and just wait for things to happen. He doesn't call us to to stand by and just kind of ride out the wave. He wants us to be active in in the life of a Christian. That's what he wants. And so this morning in Luke chapter 12, if you have your Bibles, Luke chapter 12, verses one through 12, this is what we're going to talk about. We're going to talk about the dangers of passivity, and it's going to be broken into three sections. Yes, this is a three point Baptist sermon this morning. Know that y'all aren't used to this, okay? But in the first three verses, verses one through three, we're going to look at at Jesus telling his disciples to be on guard against the trap of hypocrisy. And then the second section is going to be verses four through seven, that tells us to fear God, and then the third is going to Jesus. Going to be Jesus telling us to live boldly. Okay, so we're going to look at Be on guard, Fear God and live boldly. But before we look at the scriptures, let's pray one more time and ask for the Lord's guidance, Father, as we open Your Word this morning, we know that your word transforms hearts, that your word, whenever faithfully preach, impacts those who are listening, those who have ears to hear. And so Lord, I just pray this morning that as we dive into your Word, that we would be changed from the inside out, that you we would know more about who you are and what you have called us to do, that we would be engaged in the beauty of Your Word, that you would challenge us where we fall short, that you would encourage us to continue to be active in our faith, Lord, that's our heart's desire. This morning, we pray all this in Jesus name. Amen. Alright, so Luke, chapter 12, verses one through three. This is what it says. Meanwhile, a crowd of many 1000s came together so that they were trampling on one another. He began to say to His disciples, first, be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing covered that will be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made. No therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light. Whatever you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the house tops. So this first thing that Jesus is warning his disciples about is being on guard. See, Luke gives us an a picture into what Jesus's ministry is looking like prior to chapter 12. Do you remember who Jesus is dealing with, the Pharisees and the scribes? And he's pointing out their hypocrisy. He's pointing out the fact that they are traveling down a road that is not honoring God, and if they continue to travel down that road, then they will face the judgment and the wrath of God, that's what he was telling them about. And it angered the Pharisees, and it angered the scribes, so much so that at the end of chapter 11, it tells us that they were looking for ways to trap Jesus. And they were looking for ways to destroy Jesus because they hated what He taught. They wanted to get rid of Jesus. And so Jesus then, or Luke then, tells us that it doesn't matter what the Pharisees were saying, it doesn't matter what what the scribes were saying. Jesus was becoming more and more popular. Did you see that many 1000s were coming to Jesus? Many 1000s were coming to hear Jesus. So though the religious elite hated Jesus, what do we learn? It's that the common people loved to hear Jesus, at least for now they did. That's not going to always be the case, but at least for now, they love many 1000s came together so much so that they were trampling on each other. I think I used this example the other day, but it reminds me of those Black Friday deals at Walmart, right? That they used to have, where their people are just trampling on each other to get that big screen TV on a discount. That's kind of the image that I get here. And so as there, there's crowd is coming to the disciples Jesus, or to the to Jesus. Jesus looks at his disciples, and He says this, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, for it is hypocrisy. Beware of the leaven of the hypocrisy or of the Pharisees. That's an interesting thing to say, right? What does he mean the leaven of hypocrisy or the leaven of the Pharisees? Why would Jesus want His disciples to beware of this, to be on guard, because hypocrisy is dangerous, and it tends to show its face when we have influence over over other people. Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy shows its face when these crowds are coming and and what happens is these disciples start to believe their own hype as they're following Jesus, they start to look at the disciple or the the people following Jesus are coming to Jesus, the crowds coming to Jesus, they look at him, and they go, man, you know what? We probably are pretty awesome. That's why they want to be here. And so their their hearts can get swollen as they get a crowd. And Jesus says, Beware of the influence that you have on others, because it can lead to hypocrisy. And he does use this, this interesting phrase about leaven. I don't know if y'all remember during COVID, but at the beginning of COVID. One of the most the strangest trends that was happening on social media was people wanted to start having sourdough. They wanted to start baking their own sourdough. Did y'all see this at all? So, so basically what would happen is, like the trends were that people wanted to bake their own bread, because, I guess they didn't want to go to the stores to buy bread. And so one of the most popular bread was sourdough. Now, what do you need to make sourdough bread? You need a starter. You need sourdough starter. Not all of us are bakers. I'm not a baker. I just have useless information in my brain that I never apply. Okay? And so what you do with this? The sourdough starter is a leavener, and you put it into fresh flour and fresh water, and you mix it together. What what happens? Tracy Lynn, it ferments, and all of the plate, all of the the whole loaf, becomes fermented with the sourdough starter, and all it takes is a little bit of that sourdough starter to infect the rest of that flour. And when the rest of that flour is infected, then it can be baked. And now you have sourdough bread. And Jesus is saying beware, because all it takes is a little bit all it takes is a little bit of leaven to cause you to be like the Pharisees. All it takes is a little bit of pride. All it takes is a little bit of being full of yourself to get started, all it takes is just a little bit of you being too big for your britches, and then all of a sudden, it has infected your whole life. So we have to be on guard, which means what we can't be passive. We have to know we were talking about this in Sunday school. We have to know what our triggers are to cause us to sin. We need to know what that leaven is. We need to know what it is that that makes our our whole hearts become full of ourselves and not full of the love of God. We need to know what it is we need to fight against it. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees hypocrisy. What do we talk about when we talked about hypocrisy last or two weeks ago? Hypocrisy is saying with your lips one thing and doing something different with your lifestyle. We have to be aware of that. And why is this a big deal for the crowds? Because it's easier to do, to tell people to do something than it is to actually do it yourself. Corey staring at me because she's saying, you do this with your son all the time. Do as I say, not as I do. Right? That's the danger that we can fall into when we have influence. I don't want to be held to the same standards that I'm holding you to, so do as I say, and not as I do. And that's a dangerous trap for us to fall into. Now this is just for a side note. When we talk about leaven in the scriptures, it usually in the Old Testament specifically talks about the leaven of sin, that sin is a leavener, and so when sin enters the camp, the whole camp will be affected. So this means that that the sin in your lives doesn't just affect you, but it can affect everybody that you have influence on, okay? But there's also a positive spin on leaven two later, in chapter 13 of Luke, Jesus talks about the the kingdom of God being a leavener as well, that all it takes is a little bit so something small becoming something big and and we can see the fruit of that in the world today. Can't we that it is because of the leaven of God's kingdom that the world has been transformed since the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is because of that implant of godliness, that implant of the kingdom of God into the world, that the world has been transformed. And so we see this beauty of the leaven of not just, of love and of goodness the leaven of godliness, which is the same thing in our lives too. So just as easy as the leaven of sin can infect our lives, so can the leaven of godliness. When we practice godliness, when we practice spiritual disciplines, when we practice doing these things that God has called us to do, reading your scripture, praying together, confessing your sins to one another. When we practice those things, godliness springs up in our lives as well. So it's a beautiful thing. So leaven can be both beautiful and dangerous. That's what I'm trying to say. So the leaven of sin infects us negatively, the leaven of godliness infects us positively. So we need to guard our hearts. We need to actively be searching our hearts and our minds to fight against the leaven of hypocrisy, to fight against the leaven of sin. And why do we need to do that? He tells us in verses two and three, there is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made known. Therefore, whatever you say in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetop, no matter how sneaky, no matter how slick you think you are with your sin, Jesus is warning us here that it will be found out we cannot guard against God seeing us. This is a beautiful understanding of God's omnipotence that is his, or that's his all power, and then his omniscience to his all knowing that there is nothing that we can hide from God, all of our sinfulness, all of our failures, will be made known we cannot hide. We may be able to hide it from family and friends for a little while, or even until the day we die. We may be able to hide it, but it will be made known ultimately, we will all stand before the Lord, and we will be held accountable for what we have done. We will be held accountable for the decisions we make, the thoughts we thunk and the deeds we did. Now the good news is, is that for us in Christ, when Jesus, when the Lord, lays bare all of our failures, Jesus says, Don't worry, I got this one covered. I got this one taken care. Of his sins have been paid for. All of his wrongs have been made right because of me. And so yes, we will see all of our wickedness on display. But Jesus has already covered it. We have been forgiven the blood on the cross that was shed now covers our sin, covers our failures. That's a beautiful thing, but not everybody is going to have that same response. Some of them are going to everything's going to be laid to bear, and they're going to be under the wrath of God because they did not believe in Jesus. So my call to you today is that you trust in the Lord. Nothing, nothing we do is outside of the oversight of the Lord. Nothing you do can be hidden from the Lord. In our lifetime, it may not be exposed, but the Lord will reveal it at the judgment seat. And however, sometimes what happens, and this is so broken break. It breaks my heart, because we have seen over the past several years, pastors, teachers, theologians who hid their sin well until they died and then it was made bare. Ministries have been ruined because of secret sinfulness. It will eventually come out. The Lord knows what is good to reveal. The Lord knows what is right to reveal. And so we need to be we need to be on guard against our sentiments. We need to be on guard against the the things that we do that may cause others to stumble. We need to be on guard. We cannot passively live a life of wanting to just do our own little thing. No people are watching us. The Lord sees us, and He wants us to live a holy life. We don't want to be like the Pharisees, clean on the outside, but rotten on the inside. Do we? No, we want to be clean on the outside and the inside. We want to live holy lives. So the question that arises is, what causes us to fall into the trap of hypocrisy? What is the danger? What is the the pit, so to speak, that we can fall into? What happens to get us on that road? And Jesus answered that question in the next verses, four through seven, and it's a lack of the fear of the Lord. This is what he says. I say to you, my friends, do not fear those who can kill the body, but after that, can do nothing more. But I will show you the one to fear. Fear Him who has the authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear. Aren't five sparrows sold for two pennies, yet not one of them is forgotten in God's sight. Indeed, the hairs on your head are counted. Don't be afraid. You are worthy more than many sparrows. So what causes us to fall into the pit of hypocrisy? What causes us to fight or fall into the trap of sinfulness, day in and day out. The thing that causes us to fall into that is a lack of the fear of God. So Jesus says, Fear God here, fear the Lord. See, during Jesus's ministry, many of the disciples witness hostility towards Jesus. They've seen people try to plot to kill Jesus, to try to seek, to trap him out and even try to throw Him off a cliff in Luke chapter four, and Jesus knows that his disciples are going to face the same kind of circumstances when he leaves and living passively, the disciples should try to Avoid, or shouldn't try to avoid this type of of hypocrisy. But when you live passively, what do you try to do? You try to avoid it. And what happens when we try to avoid this type of persecution that Jesus has promises us that we're going to face? We're silent about the gospel. We're silent about our belief in God, and Jesus doesn't want His disciples to do that. So what they what he wants them to do is he wants them to go out and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, and being passive, they would what they do instead of fearing God, they would fear man, and they would fear and submit to the rulership of the Pharisees rather than the rulership of God. Jesus tells them instead to don't fear those who can kill the body, but fear the one who can destroy the soul. Fear the Lord. I want you to think about it real quick. It's actually quite ridiculous to fear man instead of fearing God. The worst thing that a man can do is take your life away. That's the worst thing that he can do. That's what Jesus saying. The worst thing that they can do is kill you, but the Lord can pour out His wrath on you. Now for us, we don't have the same type of fear of consequences that the early church did. We don't have to really fear somebody coming into this building and starting to arrest us and taking us to prison. We don't have to fear real kind of physical persecution on the street. But I will tell you that many Christians are far too easily frightened of things that really aren't that scary. We're afraid to speak up about the gospel because we might look be looked at funny. Oh, here comes that bible thumper again. We're afraid to stand up for the truth at work because it may cost us our jobs. We're afraid to talk about Jesus because we don't want people to think and look at us like we're weird. We're afraid to confront sin because we don't want to hurt somebody's feelings. See that is a fear of man over a fear of God, as those who have been called by Jesus have been saved by Jesus. We should not be afraid to go and tell people about Jesus. We should not be afraid of how people are going to look at us if we tell them about Jesus. Instead, we should fear God and know that God has called us as those have that have been bought by his blood to go and tell others about the good news of the gospel. The fear that we have of man is so temporary that just for disproving glances, we are willing to displease the Lord. I honestly think it comes from a lack of a true understanding of who God is. We don't fear and revere God the way that we should. That's why we fear man more honestly, too often, one of the images that we have of God is very cartoonish and disrespectful. If you view God as like a Santa Claus figure who is just all sunshiny and rainbows, then you have a distorted picture of who God is. If you think God isn't going to judge you because of your sin, that God is just love, then you have a distorted vision of who God is. The picture that that we want to paint about God is that it he is like a father or a grandfather figure who just continues to dote on us. He's always excited and smiley when we see him. We believe that, in his eyes, we can do nothing wrong. Are you that type of grandparent that your grandkids can do nothing wrong? I know you are. Tracy land, all we have to do is show up, and he's just happy that we're here. He's happy that we're at Sunday dinner. And honestly, that's a byproduct of Western Christianity steering us away from the truth about God to only what we what feels good to us, because it doesn't feel good to us to know that God is going to judge the world, it doesn't feel good to us that to know that God demands obedience from us, it doesn't feel good that in our natural state, we are enemies of God, it doesn't feel good that we aren't the center in the scope of all of Christianity. These things don't feel good, and that's okay. The truth doesn't always feel good. We need to know that the truth of who God is surpasses any of the feelings that we may have. The truth of who God is surpasses any of the feelings that we may have. And in order to not be passive, we have to have a true and well rounded understanding of who God is. We have to have a true and well rounded understanding of his character. That's when we will truly understand what the fear of the Lord looks like. That's when we will actually take our faith seriously. That's when we will look at the beauty of God and genuinely understand His grace and His mercy. So I guess a natural question that flows from this is, what does it mean to fear the Lord? What does it mean to fear God? It means that when we look upon God, we look at him with awe and reverence. We look at him like the perfect father figure, who is both full of love and ready to discipline. The fear of the Lord begins with understanding his holiness. It begins with understanding that he is not like us, He is not like you, He is not like me. He's not just a little better than humans, either. He is perfectly holy. He is perfectly just, perfectly loving, perfectly powerful, perfectly perfect, no stain, no arrogance, no pride, perfect in every way. I think I've told you guys before, but I think one of the things that we think about when we think about God is that he's just a little bit better than us. You than us, like he's he's like the Captain America, and I'm just the regular guy, right? But God is completely other than us. He is He He can't even quantify, I can't even quantify how other he is from us, because he's so different. He's so holy, magnificent, full of grace, full of mercy, full of wrath, full of judgment, he's a wholeness of of being, and it's hard for us to quantify that in our minds, but really what we have to understand is we have to read the Scripture and we see who he is, fearing God, or the lack of fearing God stems from our biblical illiteracy, and being biblically illiterate is because of our passivity. Being passive is easy. Not learning about God is easy. God is the same Lord who split the Red Sea in two for the Israelites and then killed all the Egyptians that were following him, they were swallowed up by waves that came crashing down. The Lord is the same one who loves his covenant people, the Israelites, and yet he removed them from the land he promised them because they worshiped idols, they disobeyed Him, knowing God means that he is the one who is going to hold us accountable for what we did with Jesus. You don't get a free pass because you came into church once a month, twice a month, once every Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, you don't get a free pass. You get a free you don't get a free pass unless you believe in Jesus, and even then, it's not a free pass. There are no free passes. Knowing who God truly is leads to a proper fear and reverence for him. So for those, those of us who want to live in a in a healthy fear of the Lord, what does that mean? How does living in the fear of the Lord inform our lives? What informs our actions? First, we will stand on His truth. We will stand against injustices. We will confront the sin in our brothers and sisters. We will proclaim the gospel to those who are lost, regardless of the consequences. Our actions in light of who God is, will show if we actually truly fear him or not. Also our devotion to God reveals if we fear God or not. Is God your number one priority? Is your life centered around who he is and what he's called you to do? Or is he simply a byproduct of your life? Is he simply an accessory I put on my god watch today, I'm good to go. Or is he the center of your life, the number one priority with your checkbook, with your the way you spend your time, the way you treat your family, the way you work at work? Is he the number one priority? Our theology also defines how we fear the Lord, when we let his word define who we are and who he is, rather than our feelings defining who we are and who we think he is, are we running back to the Scriptures so that we can see who he truly is? Because one of the reasons God gave us the scriptures was to reveal who he is, not for us to read into the scriptures, who we want him to be, not for us to read into the scriptures, who how we want him to feel about us, but who he is and who we are. In light of that, knowing His Word will show that and reveal it to us, we're going through the book of Judges on Wednesday night, and it's it's disturbing, because humanity is so corrupt, and we see that time and time again, and yet we like to think. We like to think that we're not as bad as those guys and judges. We like to think that we're not as corrupt as the corruptible people. But all it takes is that little leaven of sin. Then all of a sudden, we become just like and in the eyes of the Lord, all who sin deserve death, all who sin are guilty. And so we need to know that our theology defines what we think about God, and fearing God also tells us, or shows us how we we see ourselves in light of who he is. We can't manipulate God. We can't just kind of coerce him to do the things we want him to do. God does not exist to do our bidding. He isn't there at our beck and call to fear God means that we express loyalty to him in obedience to what He commands for us. We need to know that he is the boss and we are the servants. And what Jesus wants to encourage his disciples here is say, don't let the fear of man. Don't let the fear of man influence you more than who God is, the fear of God, let's not fear me and giving more humanity, giving humanity more loyalty, respect, reverence and we show the giver of life. Let's honor God with our words, with our actions, with our minds and with our lives, fearing him, knowing that he is the one who can destroy both body and soul. But the good news is, is that in the sphere of God, we fear him, but he also for those who truly fear Him, He provides protection and love for us. Jesus tells us that the eyes of God are on the sparrow, just like they are on us now, sparrows in the ancient world were the cheapest things sold at a market for all intents and purposes, they were completely worthless. What does Jesus tell us in this section that two Sparrow or what was it was five sparrows were sold for two pennies. That's that's cheaper than a dime a dozen, right? And yet, God cares about these valueless birds. And he cares about you. He cares about me. Indeed, in verse seven, indeed, the hairs of your head are all counted. Don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. And to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you. Were you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear him.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that. God saw you.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation. into existence, cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own, and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that. God saw you. Over the past.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequa.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on, at least.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasion.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting tell.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me, how much.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me, how much. I have, bless their lives.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me, how much. I have, bless their lives because.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been, I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy, okay. I've been struggling, and on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me, how much. I have, bless their lives because of what God.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that i.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary, my heart.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary, my heart had grow.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary, my heart had grown.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary, my heart had grown, God.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary, my heart had grown. God knew.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary, my heart had grown. God knew I needed.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary, my heart had grown. God knew I needed. to see.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary, my heart had grown. God knew I needed. to see something.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have, bless their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up that is not what I'm trying to do, but I know, but God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary, my heart had grown. God knew I needed. to see something to feel something.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have blessed their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up. That is not what I'm trying to do, but I know. But God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary my heart had grown. God knew I needed to see something to feel something.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have blessed their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up. That is not what I'm trying to do, but I know. But God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary my heart had grown. God knew I needed to see something to feel something. God knew.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have blessed their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up. That is not what I'm trying to do, but I know. But God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary my heart had grown. God knew I needed to see something to feel something. God knew what I needed.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have blessed their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up. That is not what I'm trying to do, but I know. But God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary my heart had grown. God knew I needed to see something to feel something. God knew what I needed and.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have blessed their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up. That is not what I'm trying to do, but I know. But God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary my heart had grown. God knew I needed to see something to feel something. God knew what I needed, and in his power.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have blessed their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up. That is not what I'm trying to do, but I know. But God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary my heart had grown. God knew I needed to see something to feel something. God knew what I needed, and in his power. And in his.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have blessed their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up. That is not what I'm trying to do, but I know. But God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary my heart had grown. God knew I needed to see something to feel something. God knew what I needed, and in his power. And in his authority he.

and to further express what Jesus means, he tells his disciples that the Lord loves and cares for them more than many, many sparrows. The Lord sees us. The Lord knows us. The Lord cares about us, the same God who holds judgment in his hands, the same God who spoke creation into existence cares for those who fear Him, the all powerful, all knowing God looks down on those he calls his own and loves and cares about them. Have you ever had a moment where you knew that God cared about you, where you knew that God saw you. Over the past several weeks, I've been I've been personally struggling with these feelings of inadequacy. Okay, I've been struggling in on at least two occasions that I can think of. I've had two people separate without any prompting. Tell me how much I have blessed their lives because of what God has been doing through me. Now this isn't to boast my puff myself up. That is not what I'm trying to do, but I know. But God knew that I was struggling. God knew that I was I was having a hard time. God knew how weary my heart had grown. God knew I needed to see something to feel something. God knew what I needed, and in his power. And in his authority he ordained.

Acknowledge me. Don't be tempted to deny me. They're going to be tempted to go back to the way things are or were before they follow Jesus. Self preservation is a real thing, isn't it, when confronted with the question of, do you follow Jesus, they will either acknowledge Him before others, or they will deny that they ever knew him. I can't help but think of about an account that Luke records in Acts chapter seven. Acts. Chapter Seven is about this, this man, his name's Stephen, and he is a deacon in the church. And Stephen has this he's arrested for proclaiming Christ. He's arrested for preaching the gospel, and he's taken before this little tribunal. And in this tribunal they ask him, are you going to deny Christ? Are you going to continue? And then, and then, Stephen does what every buddy should do, and he gives a 51 verse sermon over the Prophet's heart and heart over those people's hardened heart, and he sees and he tells them everywhere where they've fallen short. And they he sees and he tells them everything that God was doing throughout all of redemptive history, from Genesis until that time when Jesus died on the cross. He tells them about the good news of Jesus, he didn't back down.

He didn't back down,

and God honors him with this because he acknowledged Jesus. The Lord blessed him. Listen to what happens in verses 55 through 56 of Acts. Chapter Seven, Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He said, Look, I see the heavens opened in the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. He chose to keep his allegiance to Jesus, and he was stoned to death for it. Stephen is the first Christian martyr. He is the first one to die for his faith.

He knew what was on the line, and he stood up anyway, acknowledging Christ. So acknowledging Christ comes down to a choice of allegiance. Who do you align with? Who are you loyal to? Denying Christ isn't simply rejecting him, but it can also be being indifferent towards him. There's no room for neutrality in the kingdom of God. You are either with him or you are against him. You are either love him or you reject him. You are either devoted to him or you stand against him. There is no room for passivity in Christianity. So this currently looks different for our culture than it would have the disciples. Our lives, like I said earlier, are not really on the line when we say we believe in Jesus. We don't really face any intense persecution. So what does acknowledging Christ look like for us today? It means that we cannot be passive in our commitment to him. We need to tell others about Him. We need to tell others that Jesus died for their sins. Yes, you are a sinner. Yes, you have fallen short. Yes, you are. God is displeased with you, that you have the wrath of God hanging over you. Yes, that is true, and yet Christ died for you. I'm not saying that you have to be the perfect gospel giver, but you do need to tell people about Jesus Christ. You do need to tell people about the salvation that we find in the Lord. What else we need to make sure that following Jesus is not just a part of our life, but it is all of our life. One of the things that happens with us as Christians in the modern West is that we are really good at saying we have a personal relationship with Jesus. I've got a personal relationship with Jesus. That's all well and good, but personal does not mean private, right? We can have a personal relationship with Jesus, but he still expects, expects us to live boldly. He still expects us to go and tell people about the gospel. We cannot keep it to ourselves. You have the best news. I have the best news in the world, that God saves sinners, that we have been dead in our sins and trespasses, and Christ makes us or God makes us alive in Christ, I don't know what better news there is that we can have eternal life with the Father if we believe and follow Jesus, is there better news than that? Is a new car, better than that, is a new house. Better than that. Are children? Better than that? Children are great. New houses are great. New cars are great. But is it better news than the fact that God takes those who are enemies and turns them in to sons and daughters. That's the best news we have, and yet we want to go, Well, it's a it's a personal decision. It is a personal decision, but it's not a private decision. We need to tell people our personal relationship with Jesus cannot be secluded and sequestered to only parts of our life where we want to be private. We can't just go to church on the weekend. We can't just be Christians with a select group of friends. So instead of living boldly as followers of Jesus, we compartmentalize our lives where Jesus is only central to some parts of our lives, but not all parts and not in all places. It shouldn't be that way. If we have a an allegiance to Jesus, if we have a loyalty to Christ, then we should carry that badge everywhere we go. May it not be a secret that we love Jesus, that we are committed to following him. We don't deny him. Why? Are some of the reasons that we deny Him? Well, one, we are not truly committed to Him. We're only partially committed to Him. We like the things that he can do for us, but we don't actually like him. We don't like the call of discipleship. We don't like to call to deny ourselves. Secondly, we're afraid of what will happen if we are committed to Him. We may face ridicule, we may have job loss, we may lose friends. Jesus is a greater gift than any of those, so we shouldn't be afraid of that. And finally, we Asha. We're ashamed of Jesus. Can there be any other way, like we're just ashamed of him? Think about it as a denial of him. Means that we are ashamed of him, that we are ashamed that we are committed to the one who died for our sins, that we are ashamed that the God of the universe took our dead hearts and made them alive, that we are ashamed that we have been transformed by the power of God. We are ashamed of the one who sets prisoners free. How shameful is it that we would be ashamed of the greatest gift that we have ever received.

Let us know

that being ashamed of Christ, not acknowledging him, means that we probably truly don't love him. Now I want to let you know that if you have denied Christ in public, there is repentance and there is forgiveness. We see this in the life of one of Jesus's closest followers, Peter, at the trial of Jesus, Peter denied Jesus three times, and yet, because Jesus or Peter had a repentant heart, Jesus forgave him. We can be forgiven for our lack of acknowledging him, but now, with the knowledge that we have that it is not okay to not acknowledge Him, we need to make sure that he is a center point of our life, that he is the son and we are the planets moving around the sun, that he is central to everything that we do now the next thing, just real quick, and then I'll close out. It tells us that we could be forgiven for not acknowledging Christ, but we cannot be forgiven for not acknowledging the Holy Spirit, or for blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. Look, there's a lot of arguments on what that means. What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit look like. There's a lot of of different interpretations of that one. It could be referring to the Pharisees. And the Pharisees saying that the work of the Spirit that's working in Jesus is the work of the devil. Remember that whenever they say he's working through be eligible. That could be one of them. There's, there's, there's others, right? That that denying Christ when we faced persecution, that's another one, but, but I think that here, here's what we have to understand the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit. This is what I believe. Okay, you can do your own research. You can figure it out, but this is what I believe. I believe that a denial of the Holy Spirit is a rejection, a complete rejection of the gospel, that the only thing that we cannot be forgiven for is completely ignoring the gospel until our dying day, that we can be forgiven up until that point, but like once we take our final breath and we have not given our life to Jesus, then we have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit. So there is opportunities for anybody who is not in Christ to become part of Christ up until that time when they die. That's what I believe, and I'm comfortable being wrong, but I just want to let you know that's what I believe. For those who are bought by the blood of Jesus, we are empowered by the Spirit. That's the good news that that we get the spirit right. In verses 11 and 12, it tells us that whenever you bring they bring you before the synagogue and the rulers and authorities. Don't worry about how you should defend yourself or what you should say. The Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said. Okay, so for those of us who don't deny the Spirit, who don't blasphemy against the Spirit, when we enter into conversations about godly things, or when, for the disciples, specifically, when they were persecuted, God would give them the words to say, that's what he's saying here. And we see examples of this throughout the gospel or throughout the book of Acts. You can go and read those where the the disciples are standing before the Pharisees or before religious leaders, and they just the Spirit comes upon them powerfully, and they, they retort, and they they correct everything that the Pharisees believe. It's a beautiful picture of this verse coming into fruition. But here's the other thing, it's like for us, when we have a conversations about Jesus, we're telling people about Jesus. One of the reasons we don't do that is because we feel like we don't have all the right words, that we don't know what to say. But here's the thing, if we pray and we ask, God's going to give us the words to say, God does not need you to be the most eloquent speaker. He does not need you to be able to communicate the clearest. What he needs is your faithfulness. What he wants is your faithfulness. He doesn't need your faithfulness. He wants your faithfulness. Okay, and so when we share the gospel, we just rely on the Spirit to empower us to tell people about the good news of Jesus. It could be as simple as sharing your testimony of who you were before Christ and who you are after Christ. It can also be as simple as saying you're a sinner, you're dead and your sins and trespasses, but God has made a way for you to become alive in Christ. Believe in Him, trust in him. It's not rocket science, guys. It's not rocket science to share the gospel, but it does take an act of obedience. It does demonstrate who we align with. Do we align with Christ? Are we doing what He has called us to do, or are we simply just doing our thing, day in and day out? Do we fear God? Do we love God? Do we love salvation? Are we living passive, or are we living active, sharing the gospel is an active activity. It can't be passive. So don't be passive. Live an active life. Serving the Lord. Let's pray, Father God, thank you so much for your love, for your grace, for your compassion, for your for your just awesomeness, Lord, we're so grateful for who you are. We're grateful for what you've done. We're grateful for who you've called us to be. And I pray Lord that we would live lives of being active in serving you, that we would live lives being active in our communities sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, that we would be active in our devotion to you, that we'd be active in fearing you, that we would be active in serving you and fighting against the sin that wants to trap us. Lord, help us to not be passive. Christians. Help us to go show people the beauty and the grace and the mercy at the feet of the cross. Lord help us to be the men and the women that you have called us to be. And I thank you for those who are here this morning to worship you. And I pray that they are that their lives honor you. And it's in Jesus name, we pray amen. Alright, let's stand up and see.