Ep. 22: The Curse

All right. We are in Episode 22 of this sermon series. The rain called flan episode is called the curse and this is perhaps, arguably the most important event to happen in the Old Testament is, certainly the event that is talked about the most in the Old Testament. But before we get to this very important turning point in the story, The Bible we need to remind ourselves of what we've been doing. We've been working to tell the story of the entire Bible from beginning to end as one story with one, plot and a plot that we've identified as unifying. This whole story is is the story of God's plan, to establish a Place full of people who live out their purpose in his presence. That's how God made things in the beginning and made the world to put people in it to rule the world on his behalf. And he came down to live with them and then they messed it up and we keep messing up this Arrangement that God has made and the Bible is the story of God putting it, right again. And that's important to us because we are part of that story. And this plan, then is God's plan for our lives. What our lives are supposed to look like and the cause that we are working toward as Christians. Now the way God has chosen to restore, his plan has been to work through one particular. People called Israel and use them as kind of a display model of his plan. So he gave these people, a particular place, the Kingdom of Israel. He gave them his present in the temple and he gave him the law of Moses to, to outline their purpose of how they can show, who God is to the communities around them. And unfortunately, the Israelites have not been any better. I were living out that planned. The rest of humanity has been at, living out, loving it out from the beginning. And at this point in the story, The Kingdom because the king is not good at obeying God, the kingdom split and the top ten tribes, the Northern Kingdom of Israel continue to rebell against God, more and more until God. Finally destroyed the kingdom. The series came in, and wiped it out and deported, most of the people in that kingdom is gone. Last week. We talked about the kingdom of Judah, which is two tribes, and at the southern end and that's where Jerusalem is and how they became a facile. Assyria and Hezekiah was a very Godly King, but when he rebelled at Syria came in and destroyed all of Judah, except for Jerusalem and God save Jerusalem, because Hezekiah was obedient servant. God, but that's all he saved. All that's left, is Jerusalem it. So as we pick up the story, we're picking it up in a Judah that has been devastated and and has been left with very little going for it. All they really have is Jerusalem and a and a wasted Countryside as well as we go into the story. Today. We actually have a lot to cover for some very interesting reasons. But what I want you to keep in mind the way we keep our bearings and these stories as we watch for people, who is the story about place is, where is their home presents? We keep track of how they can meet with God and purpose. What did God tell them to do. So here's our transition passage. It's very short. This week Hezekiah rested with his ancestors and Manasseh. His son, succeeded him as king. If you've been through this series with us and you already know enough to fill in the the rest of this, first of all, who is the story about there for you, but first offer and the Giudice the do diets are all? That's left of God's people and Manasseh is their King. So he is responsible for leading them. Where is their home? The vassal Kingdom of Judah. The vassal Kingdom of this last week. That means that they are a little little country on the edge of a big Empire, and they're supposed to do what that Empire tells them to do. Now, throughout the story that's going to shift, its going to start out being a Syria, is the bully in town? And then it's going to be easier for a little while, but ultimately, it's going to end up being Babylon. But the point is Judah, is expected to do whatever the biggest country around tells them to do. That's their status. At this point in the story, how can I meet with God? Well, this is the one thing that Judah has going for them. Is that God's presence, the creator of the universe, his presents rest in the temple in Jerusalem. That's the best thing about being a part of the kingdom of Judah. Even though you're part of this little country that doesn't have much influence the God who created everything lives in Jerusalem with you.

Finally, what did God tell them to do was long as we've been talking about the Kings, which is been a while. Now. We've been emphasizing, the fact that the Kings job is to obey God. The King has been invested with special authority over. Got people in. That is a special responsibility, then to lead them in obeying God and fulfilling his plan in in fulfilling their purpose. So they're the ones who are responsible for making sure that Judah live without the law of Moses and actually does behave in ways that reflect got into the cultures around them. Now for Manassa. This is actually probably he's got it easier than a lot of others because all he has to do is follow has a guy's example. And it's very likely that Hezekiah and Manasseh were actually they overlap. Cuz it was common for a king to Crown his son, while he was still King, so he could do on-the-job training. So manasa learn from the most righteous King that Judy had had to this point. All you had to do is keep doing what is right. Accept that as we go into the story, Manasseh has a choice to make as every child of a Believer has to make his. Does he want to be the kind of Kings at his father was this? Here's the thing we say, yeah. Hezekiah was great. He was righteous. He did all the right things. You should be Hezekiah, but, Manasseh looks around and says, what did Hezekiah get for his effort. He got almost completely destroyed.

So if following God means that I might be almost completely destroyed. And my big victory is the fact that we did the Assyrians didn't destroy the capital. Maybe that's not the kind of victory that I want. NASA has to decide you. I want to follow God's path, which might leave me in places that I don't want to go or do I want to strike out on my own path? Let's see what Massachusetts. Manasseh did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Following the detestable practices of the nation's, the Lord had driven out before the Israelites, you rebuild the high places. His father has a guy who destroyed the also erected altars to bail and made an asherah pole. As a have king of Israel had done. You bow down to all the starry host and worship them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord of which the Lord has said in Jerusalem. I will put my name in the two courts of the Temple of the Lord. He built altars to all the story host. He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practice divination, sought elements, and consulted, mediums and spiritus. He didn't much evil in the eyes of the Lord are roused, his anger. Sometimes you read the Bible in, and they can seem almost, like comic book characters to Hezekiah come out. Just so completely one-dimensional, e, evil, but you can actually tell by the common threads of what he did. What his motivation was, the common Trend in all the choices that he made was, they had to do with knowing the future and controlling the future. You consulted spiritus and mediums. He doesn't, he consulted? The Stars whenever they talk about the starry host. The stars is supposed to tell the future. So, he did, whatever he could to know the future and then he did, whatever he could to control the future. All the sacrifices building the altars. You can buy off pagan gods until he's doing a sacrifice to try and make things go the way you want and the bigger sacrifice you make, the more powerful the offering is and so sacrificing, his child was a way of offering the most potent sacrifice he could, so he can get the best results that he possibly could. So, what's happening in God's plan and he sought power through other gods. He doesn't want to end up like Hezekiah with just this little tiny devastated country. He wants to be powerful, he's going to do whatever it takes to get that regardless of whether it's part of God's plan or not. The master has chosen to build his kingdom this way. It's the same thing that they have did and it's similar to the choice that Solomon made the difference between him and Ahab. Is that when Manasseh start doing this is doing this to the temple of God, where God actually lives Ahab couldn't corrupt the temple cuz it wasn't part of his kingdom. But manasa is corrupting the temple in the place of God's presence. So, how does God respond? His response is as strong. We might say the Lord said through his service. The prophet, Manasseh, king of Judah has committed these detestable since he has done more evil than the amorites who preceded him and his leg Judah into sin with his idols. Therefore. This is what the Lord. The god of Israel says. I'm going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judea that the ears of everyone who hears of it will take single. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes, a dish wiping it and turning it upside down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. Philly, looted and plundered by all their enemies. They have done evil, in my eyes, and arouse my anger. From the day. Their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day. Do this point God decides? That's it. That's enough. I'm destroying them. Jerusalem is done. And if we've been trying to think of the Old Testament, God is angry than this might play into that. They sent. The God is just so Furious that. He's just, he just can't control it anymore. He won't control anymore. He just has to let loose and just destroy people. Cuz this is what happens when you step far enough out of line. Just loses it. That's not, what's going on. At this point. In fact, God is being very methodical. I was following the contract that he signed with Israel back in Deuteronomy. We've been referencing Deuteronomy a lot pretty much every week we go back to what God Said in Deuteronomy because that lays the expectations for Israel. And the last section of the Covington is in Deuteronomy is three chapters about blessings and curses. And the idea is their job is to to show the world who got it is and they show the world who God Is by their relationship with God and how God responds to what they do. So when they obey God God blesses them, and that shows the goddess endorse any Behavior. Yes, these people are doing it right, be like them. But what happens when Israel disobeys and they do things wrong if God continues to bless them that he's telling the world. Yes. Be like when they should not be like Israel. So instead there are curses in a covenant so that if they break the Covenant, God brings those curses to say, hey there doing it wrong. Do not be like them. Cuz either way, they're going to show the world what God wants from people, either. As a positive example or a negative example, So what you got is describing here is exactly what the Israelites were told. What happened, way back during the time of Moses, Moses said the Lord will bring a nation against you from far away from the ends of the Earth, like an eagle swooping down a nation whose language. You will not understand a fierce-looking nation without respect for the older. Pity. For the young, they will they cease to all the cities throughout your land until the high for 25 walls. In what you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land. The Lord, your God is giving you, then the Lord will scatter. You among all nations from one end of the Earth to the other. Why is it going to do this? Because all the nations will ask? Why is the Lord unto the land? Why this Fierce Burning Anger? And the answer will be, it is because this people abandon the Covenant of the Lord there for the Lord's, anger burned against this land, so that he brought onto it all, the curse has written in his book. So, what's happening? As we read the story of Manasseh? Is that God, that he's basically invoking. The breach of contract clause that's in the Covenant. When Israel break the Covenant, this is what must be done. So, God declare the Covenant broken and he invokes the Covenant curse.

But here's the interesting thing and this is what's made this sermon, a bit of a challenge to put together is that this curse doesn't come during the reign of manasa. Manasa. In fact, has the longest reign of any King in the history of Israel, and he dies in peace. And his son rains over and it's actually going to be a while before this judgment happen. In fact, it's going to be so long that I have to use show you a chart to keep track of the Royal Line, cuz it's going to get weird complicated here. So here is Hezekiah and manasa. Manasa dies in his son. Asia becomes king and he gets assassinated after two years until Asus son becomes king at 8 years old, and his name is Josiah. Now here's the interesting thing. God has already decreed that Israel. Jude is going to be destroyed and yet Josiah turns out to be an incredibly righteous King. Because he decides that he's going to worship Yahweh. And so the first thing he does is he decides to renovate the temple that has been left in complete disrepair. And while they're renovating the temple, they find a copy of, probably of the book of Deuteronomy. It's a book of the law which probably means they found Deuteronomy and they read it to the king and the King freaks out because he had no idea what the law said. He would wait a minute. That's what we were supposed to be doing all along. We are in major trouble. Cuz they have completely forgotten what was even in the law it. So he reads this and realizes we are in serious trouble of breaking the Covenant, we need help and so he sends Messengers to a prophetess and ask her. What do we do to prevent this from happening?

I'm so sorry. So he sends the messengers. And here's how she responds. She said to them. This is what the Lord says. I'm going to bring disaster on this place and its people according to everything written in the book, The King of Judah has red. It's already decided, it's going to happen. It's too late. However, because your heart was responsive and you humble yourself before the Lord. When you heard, what I have spoken against this place and its people that they would become a curse and be laid waste. And because you tore your robes and wept in my presence. I also have heard you declares the Lord. Therefore, I will gather you to your ancestors and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see the disaster. I'm going to bring on this place. Oh Josiah because he you wish they could go back in and undo. This this Disobedience. He gets a pass for his Reign that it's not going to happen during his reign. But the question is interesting. Question answer is, what would you do if you were just Sia? Thanks, because you know, Judas fate is sealed. And you know, you can't really stop it. And, you know, you get to rain in peace. Are you, what are you going to do that? I've been make sense to me to be tempted to just kind of keep your head down and just trying to get through your rain and as easily as possible, don't take on anything too ambitious, cuz it's not really going to make much of a difference. And yet Josiah weeks, very different decision. The king called together, all the others of Judah in Jerusalem. He went up to the Temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, you right in there. All the words of the book of the Covenant, which have been found in the temple of the Lord, the king stood by the pillar and renew, the Covenant, in the presence of the Lord, the follow the lord, and keep his commands statutes and agrees with all his heart and with all his soul, that's confirming the words of the Covenant, written in this book than all the people pledge themselves to the Covenant. Now just so you know that this is not going to change their faith has been told flat-out and yet he is still so intent on obeying God. That he still calls the people back to the Covenant. He still goes through this major Reformation. This were major Revival a reform in order to get the nation back on track, even though he knows that he can't stop what's coming because it just matters to him that he and his people follow God. So, even though he knew that you was fate was sealed, Josiah did everything he could to serve God's plan. Because he cared about serving God. Even if you couldn't change the results.

But Josiah's Reign is too, little too late. So the Assyrian Empire begins to crumble so that the Egyptians come up to kind of give him the coup de gras and Josiah decides to stop trying. Stop them and it doesn't go. Well, he dies in battle against the Egyptians and Egyptians come up after defeating Josiah. And by the time they get to Jerusalem, Josiah's oldest son. Jehovah has has been made King, but usually what happens when you conquer a city is, you don't write that name down. You don't need that name. Did Halle has his King with the Egyptians get there? But usually when you take a city, what you'll do is Yul depose the king and put someone else on the throne because then they owe you the fact that their King. So they depose Jehovah has and they put his brother, Joe Hayek in a joey Keen. Sorry to Hakeem on the throne. So now we're looking at your holy Hakeem. Hakeem is responsible for leading. God's people was so ingrained in their society that when Josiah dies in his son's take over they go right back to what they were doing before. Israel is back in her belly, has gotten these kings are his, his own sons are disobedient to God. So during the high King's Reign Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon invaded. The land and jehoiakim became his vassal for 3 years. So now the big guy on the Block is Babylon, they defeat knocked out of the game. So he he's a vassal of Babylon for three years, but then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled. The Lord sent Babylonian are man moabite. An ammonite Raiders against it. Destroyed you. Unicorns with the word of the Lord. He proclaimed by his servants, the prophets rebelled against Babylon, but in the middle of the Rebellion, he dies. Do his son, Joshua Chen becomes think but don't write that name down. Because what do you what what do you think happens when the king of Babylon gets to the city of Jerusalem? Where you haul? Your chin is getting He departs he deposes him and takes him to Exile in Babylon and he makes his uncle King and he renamed him zedekiah. So now the third son of Josiah is King zedekiah and he is the last king of Israel of Judah. I do all that cuz later on, you're going to need to know who Jehovah kitchen is.

So, how does that akaya do? What's his thought? What is he learned from his predecessors on doing the 9th year of his reign in the Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, marched against Jerusalem, it with his whole Army, encamped outside the city, and built siegeworks around all around at the city was kept Under Siege from The Eleventh year of King. Zedekiah. What why did he do this? Why is that a guy and not learning from past experience? This is the fourth time since Hezekiah that that Drew has rebelled against their their overlords and it's never worked. Why do they keep doing this? Why didn't they learn from Hezekiah? Hezekiah was righteous and it didn't even work for him. Well turns out they did. Learn from Hezekiah, they just learned the wrong lesson. What they learned from Hezekiah? Was that no matter what? God will never let his Temple get destroyed? Jerusalem will never fall because God lives there. We can tell that this is what they were thinking. Because Jeremiah the prophet that God Called to confront these things that we've been looking at and he was a famous sermon in the temple. Grounds. Will you steal murder, commit, adultery and perjury for an incense, the bail and follow other gods who have not known. And then, stand before me in this house. Which bear is my name and say we are safe safe to do. All these detestable, things has this house with bears. My name become a den of robbers to you, but I've been watching declares the Lord. You probably heard another famous Prophet perhaps more than a prophet stand in the temple grounds and say, it talk about a den of robbers. He's referring to this. So what den of robbers means is that they would go out and sin and do all these horrible things, but then they would come and hide in the temple because God will never let the temple get destroyed and that way they can get away with anything. Do they can take any risks? They can do any damn thing they want and God will never let Jerusalem fall. And let the parents will never let their child get punished and will always get their kid out of any night. Like that's what they think about God. Until Josiah sons rebelled against Babylon because they assumed God would always protect them.

But this time they're wrong. As the book of Kings, has already prepared us for this pattern is important because this pattern is going to come back. Of this Rebellion against the Empire's because you think God will let you twill just protecting let you do whatever you want. That's going to come back. What happens? This time? Is it on the 9th, by the 9th, day of the fourth month of famine, in the city become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. Then the city wall was broken through the Babylonians. Kill the sons of zedekiah before his eyes than they put out. His eyes found in with Ron shackles and took him to Babylon. The Babylonian Commander Set Fire to the Temple of the Lord, the Royal Palace and all the temples, all the houses of Jerusalem every important building. He burned down the whole Babylonian Army under the commander of the Imperial Guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem, the commander carried into exile to people who are made in the city, along with the rest of the populace. And those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. Instead of instead of protecting them, God allowed Babylon to destroy Jerusalem, demolished the temple, and Deport the people. And this is really important for us to understand the significance of this event. Because if we keep playing in mind, what just happened, The entire plan just got revoked.

God's presence is gone. In fact Ezekiel. The prophet Ezekiel live in Babylon at this point has a vision of God withdrawing his presence from the temple before it gets destroyed. God's presence is gone. The people have been deported from their place and you can't actually enforce the law of Moses and fulfilled. The purpose of Israel. If you don't have a nation where you can enforce those laws, you have to have a kingdom in order to enforce all the laws of Moses at the very least. You have to have the the Ark of the Covenant. Remember we talked about it again.

So, every single part of the plan has been taken away. It is getting completely revoked because the Covenant is broken. That's it.

Because Israel has has rebelled continually against God. Everything is over for Israel.

Set for this weird little, will it reared? Little story at the end of Kings? You're so cute in the book of Kings ends in the 37th year of the Exile of jehoiakim. King of Judah. That's the nephew like that. The youngest one in the year of our. Well, here are Walmart, it became king of Babylon. He released your Voyage, in King of Judah from prison. He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of Honor higher than those of other kings were with him. In battle, on the kitchen, put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life, eight regularly at the king's table.

The weird little detail to add at the end. Here's what it means. While we watched as the City was destroyed, is the door on Israel's place in God's plan being completely slam shut. That's it. Done. And then it creaks open just a little bit. Because the king of in Babylon like the king of Israel, just disappeared the king of the northern kingdom. When he was thinking. This is gone. What king of Judah is shown some honor, some respect some protection? What that shows this is just this little glimmer of hope. Or what if you know the story of the Bible or the fact that we're not done with the series today, you know, that there is hope coming. So even though the Covenant was broken, God continue to watch over his people.

In fact, in the Covenant, in in Deuteronomy in Chapter 30, it says that after the blessings and the curses. When you return to me, I will restore you. And that is a story that we're going to be following that restoration is going to lead us through the New Testament.

But this is as far as we're going with the story today. So what are we going to learn from this, this this was some heavy stuff but the struggle that I had it first with telling the story was there. So similar to the ones we've been looking at because they did you guys just keep doing the same thing. Are they keep getting pulled back into the same sins? The same mistakes, which is the same for the rest of us, right? We we all know that creative and the ones that we always have a weakness for the same thing here. So why the things I was originally going to say or things. We've said that I said last week, but the challenge for the sermon was how much time it covered because Manasseh is the one who breaks the Covenant. It's under his reign of the come is broken and it takes so long for it to actually happen. And that was a challenge and that got me thinking. I think a big thing that we can learn from this story. Is actually about the role that culture plays in our relationship with God.

The thing about culture is culture is like traffic everybody participates in it and contributes to it, but nobody really controls it. Human behaviors, add up to a dup. I make a decision, you make a decision. We'd make our decisions in the sum total of that creates a culture and a culture. Like traffic is a force, that is powerful because culture, you like we contribute to culture within culture, influences us. And if it's hard to work against and something is really, really hard to control. It's easy to contribute to culture, but it's really hard to control it. So for instance, manasa had the longest and most evil rain in Jewish history. He built up a lot of momentum because he trained people for 55 years to disobey God to do all these other evil things. And then Josiah comes in and he works this reform for asking for 18 years. And as soon as he dies, the people go back into those deep-seated have it because there was so much momentum built up in their culture from those years and years of Disobedience. And from those Decades of making choices to disobey God, and to live out a different purpose, Josiah couldn't hold it back. And so what happened to Jerusalem in when went through? Some got destroyed is very much because of that momentum, that was created under the reign of Manasseh. That's one of the scary things about culture is that the consequences of culture are often delayed by decades?

and so, the other thing that this story teaches us about culture is that god holds his people responsible for the kind of culture. They create. It matters, what culture we create an end, what we as Christians contribute to our culture.

And God will hold us. Responsible for that. Cuz I think personally, what I see is that a lot of the people attacking the church today are the people that church was attacking 10 and 20 years ago.

And the people that are mistreating Christians today are often the people that were mistreated by Christians 10 in 20 to 30 years ago. And the interesting thing about God's judgment is it usually looks like the natural consequences of what you did? Cuz he told God in the Bible says God sent the battle O'Neill's right, but he didn't do it super naturally because you can also easily explain why the battle of the Jews kept rebelling against Babylon. So it's not a surprise that the Babylonians are there. He didn't like teleport them there or something like that. It makes sense, the consequences of the sin and God just didn't hold it back. And so, what we see is that we are held responsible for the content for the culture that we create. And for what we added into culture. It's important for us as Believers to make sure that our contribution to the culture around whether it is our church culture that Christian culture or American culture that our contribution is Godly. It's not enough to say, well, I was just going with the flow. Because God, judges the direction of the flow.

But as I observed, as we saw at your side, no one, actually controls culture, the king of Judah could not work for 18 years to change the direction of Judah, and he couldn't, what can I do? Fight as one person was so little influence. But I think it's important for us to learn from two size example. First of all, the Josiah knew for a fact that he wouldn't change the course of Judah. And he did it anyway because that's his purpose. His job as king is to is to lead Israel early Judah to obey God. So first of all, it's his purpose, the second of all, it turns out that was Josiah did was not for nothing. On one hand, Josiah's reforms inspired a generation of prophets, two of whom turned out to be a major prophets. In terms of the books. They wrote Josiah Ezekiel.

Sorry, I did Jeremiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel inspired by the reforms and also, it's almost certain that major portions of the Bible were, preserve simply because of Josiah's Reign, and because he preserved them book of Deuteronomy, either with the fact that they still had the records of Israel, the records of the Covenant when they went into Exile was probably because Josiah reformed them. Just before they were destroyed. Why else would a rebellious people have the contract. They broke? So what that story teaches us is that even when we can't change culture, God can still use our obedience to accomplish his plan. They'll tell you, you cannot change the culture. I cannot change the culture. I might be able to change the filter in my family and my home. If I work really hard family, might be able to change the culture in a neighborhood, you really important. So I'm not going to be able to change a culture on any real size right responsibility.

Anytime we obey God. We serve him that matters and God can use that to do amazing things. Just Sia. Never knew. The affected his obedience is going to have. But he was obedient anyway, and as we look at will work hard to do in a world where we can't control the culture, will probably not very happy with where the culture is going, what we do, still matter. And God can still use that, make a difference. Is ultimately, we find Our Hope and what we do find its purpose in the same place. They would just sighted Finds. Its purpose is Josiah, is part of a link in a chain of a story that light up to a person, a prophet who stepped out of the Wilderness, 500 years later and said, things are changing. God is doing something new to Cody more precisely. He said, the time has come the kingdom of God has come near repent and believe the good news. What Jesus said. When he said the kingdom of God has come near is he saying that God is stepping into history and he is changing things. He is creating his own culture in this world and it is going to overcome all of the sin and the destruction that human beings. Create Josiah contributed to the story that led up to Jesus beginning that and we contribute to the story of how that Kingdom. Tried throughout the world. God sent Jesus to overcome the tide of human rebellion, and establish the true kingdom of God. Easier to think the power of culture in the use for the good of the Kingdom, as well and in a way, that's what the kingdom is. The kingdom is individual lives. Being changed and massing that changed as the church as the body of Christ to create transformation in their families transformation. Their neighborhoods transformation in their counties, in their states, in our nation and it has transformed the course of human history. And it continues to transform the course of human history because when God gets involved, when his Spirit fills our culture, when his Spirit fills a group, everything can be different and that's what Jesus started. And that continues today and we are apart of it. Now.

Twas me close. I want to ask you. What is God calling you to do today? Maybe you have not become a part of that culture, become a part of that Kingdom. And today is the best day to give your life to Jesus to be transformed and become part of the plan that God has for restoring all of humanity. Today is the best day to do that and you can you can come forward during the final song. If you want to give your life to Jesus. You can talk to one of our staff members after the service, or if you're online, contact the church office, talk to a Christian that you trust. Do it today.

Maybe you've given your life to God, but you have found that you have gotten pulled back into culture. You gotten pulled in the wrong direction. You been going with the flow too often. Maybe today what you need to do is rededicate your life to following God, to be part of the culture of Jesus Christ. Going against that flow. Today is the best day for you to make that commitment.

And I don't actually do this for a scientific fact, but it's just the analogy of Pops in my head. I imagine it's easier for fish to swim against the stream in a school, right? In a group feels like it would be right. I know that it is working with the point that I'm making it easier for us as Believers to go against the way culture is pushing us to push toward the kingdom of God when we do it together. It. So if you want to be a part of a group of people who are swimming against the current who are working to follow, Jesus Christ, no matter which direction were pushed. That's who we are as a church. And you can get involved by joining a small group for service team knows our ways to farm community with a small group of friends. That's what a small group of four is four or to serve others to our service teams, or you can place your membership with our church and can do that by signing up for a connect class. That's what the connect card is for. You can check if anything you're interested on there and and we'll set it up with you, but I ask you now to consider what decisions God calling you to make. I just calling you to pursue his culture to pursue his kingdom to push against all these forces are leading us another Direction.

Final song.