[0:00] This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:20] We will rejoice and be glad in it. If any of the kids would like to come up and join us singing, they're welcome to do so. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:40] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[0:54] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made.
[1:12] We're the Fish Fry Cleanup Group. Fill out your friendship card to get on the mailing list, sign up for activities, list any prayers or concerns, and any notes for the staff.
[1:24] A welcome gift is available for new visitors and can be picked up at the connection site in the back of the sanctuary following worship. Welcome to our church. I know you're thinking, what's that fish right business about?
[1:36] That's in the spring. No, we're doing three in October too. So we'd love to have you come out and help us with that. It's a great time of fellowship and food and opportunity to get to know each other better.
[1:48] We also are having a marriage enrichment class that's starting this Wednesday. We'd love to have you come down for that or any of our other Wednesday programs. There are a couple of sign-up sheets around the church for various activities.
[2:02] The youth are going to the zoo today. The children are going to the corn maze. There's some guys who are arranging a golf tournament. They've got the prayer vigil. So look around and you can find them.
[2:13] Because after church, we're also having a homecoming celebration. So go out to the fellowship hall. Have a little, what do they call that stuff? Apple cider. Apple cider.
[2:24] Maybe a donut. And if you haven't had your picture taken for our board, I know they're going to be doing that as well today. Let's take a moment and turn our hearts to the Lord in prayer, shall we? Dear Lord, we do thank you for the great blessings you give to us.
[2:36] The blessing of a sun-shining morning. The blessing of the people that love us and that we can love in return. The blessing of gathering in this place that we might experience you.
[2:47] Pour out your spirit into our hearts this morning as we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I'd like to invite you, if you're able, to stand as we sing together where charity and love prevail.
[3:09] Let charity and love prevail, where God is never found.
[3:20] Brought here together by Christ's love, by love are we thus found. Forgive we now each other's faults as we our faults confess.
[3:36] Let us love each other well in Christian holiness. Let joy among us be unknown, let all contention cease.
[3:54] May Christ, the glory that we sing, be ours his holy peace. Let us recover in our midst, well as God's begotten song.
[4:12] As members of his body joint, we are in him in war. Let the Lord be with you.
[4:25] Take a moment, if you will, and greet your neighbor with the peace of the spirit. I'd like to invite any of the kids who want to come up and join me this morning.
[4:45] Any kids who want to come up, they're welcome. Come on up now. Come on up now. Come on up now. Come on up now. Many other kids who want to come up, they're welcome to join me.
[5:07] So this is a stuffed animal, but what does it look like? A dog. A dog. Yeah, it looks a little bit like a wolf. Actually, I had one of these and he was part wolf. Yeah. You know, dogs are great creatures.
[5:19] You know what dog spelled backwards is? God. Yeah. God. D-O-G-G-O-D, right? Because dogs love us sometimes no matter what we do.
[5:31] Because they just love us because that's what they do. Just like God does. But you know, if you have a dog that you've never met, you've got to be careful around them, right? Because they might do what?
[5:43] Bite you. Yeah. I've learned something about dogs, though. First of all, you check with the adults around to see if they're friendly. But even if they're friendly, you always go up to a dog like this.
[5:54] Because you know why? They think that you've got food in your hand and they like that and they smile and they go, ha, ha, ha. Never go up to a dog like this. You know why? Because a lot of dogs, people have hit them.
[6:06] And so when you go up to them like that, they think you're going to hurt them. So the best thing is to go up to them like this. You know, that's true with people, too. If you're nice to people and you go up to them with a smile on your face, then they're probably going to be nicer to you than if you go up and you're mean to them, right?
[6:20] It just works that way because we all like people that smile at us and they're nice to us. What are you guys thankful for? If you want to share something, raise your hand. My family. Other and most.
[6:34] Family and friends. My brother. Anybody else? Lord, we do thank you for the blessings you give to us and we pray that you'll watch over us, care for us, love us, and help us to be loving towards others.
[6:51] And help others to love us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, you guys can all go out to church school now if you'd like to. All the kids are welcome to go out to church school. Good morning.
[7:25] This morning I am thankful for some great youth. We had a wonderful experience with a confirmation retreat this past weekend.
[7:36] We all arrived back quite late last night. It was a great experience. And I am just thankful that we have so many youth who are excited about learning about God and that this church supports and encourages their growth.
[7:52] I am just thankful for the opportunity to be able to work with them. And I am thankful for the Lord. And I am thankful for you. So as we reflect on just how good God is in every area of our lives in this wonderful church, let's return our gifts, tithes, and offerings to the Lord.
[8:08] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[8:19] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[8:37] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[8:52] I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He meets my every knee. He is my rock. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
[9:03] He hears my every plea. He is my God. And in those times when my feet start to stumble, His word supports me and helps me to stand.
[9:22] And in those times when I walk through the valley, He goes beside me, His arm will guide me.
[9:36] He is my shepherd, I am His lamb, I am His lamb, I am His lamb.
[9:47] I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, He meets my every need, I can do all things through Christ.
[10:03] If God's before me, who can be against me? Nothing can separate me from His heart of love.
[10:17] His word of promise will prevail, His mercy will endure, His grace is ever sure.
[10:31] God never fails, God never fails. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, He meets my every need, He is my rock.
[10:55] I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, He hears my every need, He is my God.
[11:09] God never fails, He is my God. And in those times when my feet start to stumble, His word supports me and helps me to stand.
[11:24] And in those times when I walk through the valley, He goes beside me, His arm will guide me, He is my shepherd, I am His lamb.
[11:44] I am His lamb. I am His lamb. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, Yes Lord I do believe.
[11:58] I can do all things through Christ. I can do all things through Christ.
[12:12] I can do all things through Christ. I can do all things through Christ.
[12:26] Yes. Don't forget to forget to know each other. It's time for everything out there. You are blessed, so you can do all things through Christ. You are blessed, so you know life and your doubts and your time.
[12:52] Lord, we thank you and we praise you for your goodness and your many blessings.
[13:14] And as we offer back to you this gift in response to your great love, we pray that it will be a blessing in this world. We pray this all in Jesus' name.
[13:27] Please be seated. Thank you.
[13:58] And so I wanted to share with you a couple of concerns in our church family. I know there are many on people's hearts that I'm not going to be sharing, but just a couple to point out.
[14:09] Richard Gondek, that's Jim's brother. He's cancer-free, which is a great blessing, but he's still having significant health issues. So please keep him in prayer. And then Jim's wife, Lori, is going in for some medical testing and needs to have prayer for that as well.
[14:27] And then Dan Putney is going for major shoulder surgery tomorrow. So he's going to be out of commission for a while. So let's keep him and the family all in prayer.
[14:40] So as we take some time to reflect on God's goodness, let's also turn to the Lord. It's mercy. Lord, we come to you this day, praising your name, and yet our hearts are troubled.
[14:59] There are people in our lives who are struggling, hurting. And we know you are the great physician, and we know that you heal.
[15:12] Lord, we pray that your healing touch will be upon them, that the issues within their body, the brokenness, the sickness, the pain, will all be wiped away.
[15:25] Wash over them, Lord, with your healing power. That their bodies will be made whole. Be with doctors and nurses and guide their hand and give them your vision.
[15:38] And give them skillful hands, skillful minds in the treating of your people. We pray, Lord, for those we love who are struggling with their minds and their hearts, their spirits, Lord, are troubled.
[15:56] And for those going through anxiety and depression. We come to you asking that you heal them.
[16:10] Give them your comfort. Give them your peace. Give them your joy. We pray, Lord, thanks to you for the healing you are doing in your people.
[16:23] And we pray that you will be surrounding the people that care for them, those who support them all. Help us, Lord, to be people who are loving and giving.
[16:35] We pray that you will offer support for all of the families. That families will draw closer to one another, seeing one another through your eyes.
[16:50] That what we say and what we do will be actions and words of love and grace. May our homes be places of forgiveness, mercy, joy.
[17:05] May we grow closer to one another as we grow closer to you. Bless our families, Lord. We pray for this church family. That this church may be blessed to be a blessing in this world.
[17:19] Help us to have your vision. And may each and every one of us be inspired with your word. That we may go out and have a great impact. For name. We pray for our nation.
[17:35] It's political season, Lord. We're troubled by choices. And we pray for godly leaders. May all of our leaders feel your conviction if they're making wrong choices.
[17:49] And have them be led by your spirit. We pray that you will guide each one of us in our decisions. And we pray thanks to you for taking care of our nation.
[18:02] We are trusting in you for the healing of this nation. May its direction be focused on you. May our lives be focused on you for the healing of this nation. We pray for the world that is struggling with so many things.
[18:14] People are hungry. Help us to feed them. Not only with food, but with your word. People are living in war-torn lands.
[18:25] Help us to be peacemakers. And in all things, help us to trust in you. To lean back in your loving arms.
[18:36] Knowing that you are there for us. we are placing our lives, our world, in your hands.
[18:49] For we know you are a good, gracious, redeeming God, and we praise your name. Let's hear the word of the Lord.
[19:09] Let's hear the word of the Lord.
[19:39] Good morning, everyone. Today's reading is from 1 Samuel 26, verses 7 through 18, and then 21.
[19:53] So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground near his head.
[20:11] Abner and the soldiers were lying around him. Abishai said to David, Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands.
[20:25] Now, let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of a spear. I won't strike him twice. But David said to Abishai, Don't destroy him.
[20:40] Who can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives, he said, The Lord himself will strike him, or as time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.
[20:57] But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord's anointed. Now, get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let's go.
[21:07] So David took the spear and water jug near Saul's head, and they left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up.
[21:21] They were all sleeping, because the Lord had put them into a deep sleep. Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the hill some distance away.
[21:34] There was a wide space between them. He called out to the army and to Abner, son of Ner. Aren't you going to answer me, Abner?
[21:46] Abner replied, Who are you who calls to the king? David said, You're a man, aren't you? And who is like you in Israel?
[21:59] Why didn't you guard your lord the king? Someone came to destroy your lord the king. What you have done is not good. As surely as the Lord lives, you and your men must die, because you did not guard your master, the Lord's anointed.
[22:17] Look around you. Where are the king's spear and water jug that were near his head? Saul recognized David's voice and said, Is that not your voice, David, my son?
[22:30] And David replied, Yes, it is, my lord the king. And he added, Why is my lord pursuing his servant? What have I done?
[22:41] And what wrong am I guilty of? Then Saul said, I have sinned. Come back, David, my son. Because you considered my life precious today, I will not try to harm you again.
[22:54] Surely I have acted like a fool and have been terribly wrong. This is the word of the Lord. Thank you, Jelaine.
[23:06] This morning we're continuing this sermon series about King David, about his life and his times and how he can teach us how to face the fears and the struggles that we have in life.
[23:19] Not last Friday, but the Friday before, about a week ago, this little section of the sanctuary was filled up with little girls about this big. So I came up and I said, This is only for little kids, right?
[23:34] And they said, yeah. So I got down on my knees and said, Can I be here now if I'm this short? They said, One of the girls says, No, you've got to lay down flat on the ground. She laid on her belly.
[23:45] I said, Well, if I did that, I don't know if I could get back up again. She said, My 94-year-old grandfather can get down like that and get up again. Right?
[23:57] Right? So I laid on the floor and I said, Okay, now come out, be up. It's hard. It's hard.
[24:09] When we feel things are slipping away. Saul is a king. But he sees David. And David's popular. And David's handsome.
[24:19] And David can sing. And everybody likes him. And he's a great warrior on the battlefield. And even though David in no way has threatened Saul, he feels threatened by his mere presence.
[24:33] So Saul has gone after David. He decided he was going to kill him. David ran away with actually the help of Saul's son, Jonathan, who was David's best friend, and Saul's daughter, Michal, who was David's wife.
[24:49] And they helped David against their father because they knew their father was wrong. But he's pursuing David. But he's pursuing David because he feels as if he's trapped.
[25:02] He feels as if he's stuck and he doesn't know what to do with it. We face a lot of fears. One of them is a fear called claustrophobia.
[25:12] Have you ever been in a situation where it's so tiny and small you feel closed in? In our closet of phobias, we've got a tiny little tunnel down here.
[25:26] You know, I have a nightmare that I'm back in my school days. Well, I'm actually back in my school days, but I'm in my body now.
[25:39] And there was this little tunnel they had that was about this big that went underneath one of the buildings in our school. And when I was a little kid, I could actually crawl through it, and I remember doing that.
[25:49] But I know that if I got in that tunnel now, I would not get out. I would be stuck under a concrete and brick building. And so in my dream, I'm halfway through that tunnel.
[26:03] There's nobody around. It's nighttime, and I'm stuck. Oh, I don't like that feeling. Feeling like you're trapped, like you're helpless, like you don't know what to do, like you're out of control.
[26:19] We can feel that way in life. We can feel as if somebody else is pulling the strings, our boss, our teacher, our parents, our kids, the folks around us that just somehow make us feel like we're out of control and we're afraid.
[26:41] It makes us feel like we have to protect ourselves. Saul is chasing after David, and David one night snuck into his camp, and he's standing next to King Saul, who's sleeping on the ground.
[27:01] Saul's spear is right there. And Abishai, his servant says, let me kill him. Let me just take the spear out, just one shot, boom, I'll take him out.
[27:14] We could probably kill him and get out of here. Nobody will know. What would be the smart thing to do? What would you do if you were caught in a position where someone who's been chasing after you, you've got the ability to kill him.
[27:30] The temptation is the quick, the easy, the obvious solution. But David knows it's wrong. In verse 11, he says, it's wrong to kill a king. Do we choose what's wrong when it seems like it'll fix all our problems?
[27:49] Do we do what we want to do, what our emotions tell us to do? Or do we do what God wants us to do? There's a passage in the book of Michael where they have one verse that sums up everything God wants from us.
[28:03] That's pretty amazing, isn't it? It says this in chapter 6. Has God not shown you mortal what is good? And what does the Lord require of you?
[28:14] To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with the Lord. To act justly.
[28:24] Some things are just wrong. David knows that it's wrong to kill an anointed king of God. And even though Saul has done something wrong, David knows that that doesn't excuse him doing something wrong.
[28:41] Do you follow the problem? We think there's some sort of moral equivalency balance thing that if somebody did something wrong to us, it's okay to do something wrong to them. If our spouse commits adultery, it's okay for us to commit adultery now.
[28:56] If our friend cheated us, it's okay to cheat them. If somebody's hurt us, it's okay for us to hurt them. We are justified. It's okay. It's all right. It's not right to do wrong.
[29:08] It is never okay to do what God considers wrong. And just because somebody else has taken the low road doesn't mean that you should crawl down in the mud with them.
[29:19] We have got the wrong idea of how God looks at things. God wants us to act justly, to set an example for ourselves and for others.
[29:34] David knows that killing a king is wrong. And by the way, he also knows that he's been anointed to be what? King. So if he goes around killing a king, then that just tells everybody else, if he got the right excuse, the right reason, kill David.
[29:50] Do you see how that works? I don't know if you're aware of it, but the murder rate is higher in every state that has a death penalty than in the states that don't.
[30:03] Did you know that? A lot of people think that we should have the death penalty because that will keep people from committing murders. But the truth is, wherever we have the death penalty, the murder rate is higher.
[30:18] Doesn't make sense, does it? And we know that the Bible says, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. But that was for a day when there was no way to lock up somebody who was harmful and could kill somebody.
[30:29] They didn't have jails or prisons back then. They just had to figure out a way to keep these people from doing hurtful things to their neighbors. But in our culture, once our government comes up with a reason why it's morally all right to kill someone, not for protection, to kill them, crazy people believe they have a moral right to do it too.
[30:57] Do you see how that works? Once we start equivocating our morality, once we start putting it on a scale, everybody makes up their own scale, and the scale that God uses is it's right or it's wrong.
[31:12] Not it's right sometimes, or it's sort of right, or it's kind of right, or it's kind of wrong, or it depends on what they've done to you. It's better to live as a righteous saint than an immoral king.
[31:27] And David knows that. What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world and they lose their soul? To love justice, to walk humbly, we have a real problem with humility in our culture.
[31:44] We don't understand what humility is. We tend to think that humility means that we have to lower ourselves in some particular way. It's just to recognize that each person is a child of God.
[31:55] And sometimes to do that, we have to look at each other from a different perspective. It says, Paul writes to us in the book of Philippians, in chapter 2, Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and one in mind.
[32:11] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves. We cannot understand what other people are like until we walk in their shoes and still we start considering who they are, what they are, what they're going through.
[32:28] Humility says that we understand that we're all in this together. Not necessarily one's better than the other, but sometimes we have to have humility.
[32:41] Even when it might seem like it's not merited, David calls Saul the king. He refers to himself as Saul's servant. He takes away the threat that Saul is feeling by putting himself under him.
[33:00] In the book of Proverbs, it says that pride goes before a fall. You can't do that to me. I have my rights. I deserve better.
[33:11] How dare you talk to me that way? We have this sense of ourselves. Somehow, we're the center of the universe. We're everything. We're everybody. We are all that there is.
[33:24] And the world revolves around us and we deserve something for simply being us. God calls us to humility. There's only one that's above everybody else and that's God.
[33:38] And the rest of us have to have some humility. Have to understand. We're just people, all of us. And to love mercy. Oh, this is a hard one.
[33:51] Love mercy. Not even just do mercy, but love mercy. It's hard to be merciful. Because we see our world is too small.
[34:05] And in this small world, we're frightened. Can you imagine doing what this guy's doing? This is called no-mount diving. Basically, they're pushing their air tanks in front of them through the path that they're trying to go.
[34:20] The other crazy part about this is there's a photographer down there shooting all this. His name is Richard Dreher. He is the photographer taking video of these guys. Watch this part.
[34:31] This face gets so small, he has to take off his helmet to get through. Are you kidding me? How do they get out? How do they turn around? You can't turn around.
[34:41] You're just in there and you're stuck and it's small and there's water. I'm freaking out here. Hello? What are they doing? You know, if they said there was a small child in there and they're going for a rescue, we'd all be like, wow, how brave they are.
[34:56] In this case, we're all going, what are these people just like? I don't know what word I'm allowed to use anymore, but you know what it is, right? There are some things you just don't do.
[35:09] Don't crawl into a tiny little cave like that. Don't crawl in a tunnel under the school. Don't put yourself in such tight little spaces that there's no way out.
[35:21] Don't have a worldview that's so small that you make yourself trapped, squashed, crushed into the place where you feel that there's nothing left to do but lash out.
[35:38] Don't go into the tunnel. Consider, what are the consequences of your decisions? David has an opportunity for vengeance, but vengeance, vengeance is a losing game.
[35:52] It creates a circle of violence. If David kills Saul, he will have every person from the tribe of Benjamin out to kill him. He will start a war that will never end.
[36:06] His own wife and his best friend will hate him for killing his father. It seems like the quick, easy, simple answer, but oftentimes the quick, simple, easy answers to difficult situations are not the right ones.
[36:24] we need a bigger worldview. We turn away from mercy because our world is too small. Our idea of life is too small. And so we get ourselves into a cycle of vengeance and pain and a circle of hurt returned by hurt, returned by hurt.
[36:45] in the newspapers and on TV now we're hearing about this struggle between police officers and people from the African-American community.
[37:00] This idea that police officers are out to kill people who are African-Americans and African-Americans hate the police and are trying to do all the crimes.
[37:11] And what happens is when we racially profile someone we put them in a little box and they feel like they're always threatened and in danger and they want to lash out.
[37:24] On the other hand, if you live your life, your world, going out into dangerous situations again and again and again and you see the same people attacking and hurting you, you're naturally going to be feeling like you have to be protective.
[37:44] And so we have this cycle going around. One hurts the other, the other hurts the one and it goes again and again and again. I could be talking about Germany after World War I as compared to after World War II.
[38:00] We can talk about the Middle East. My gosh, they've been doing this cycle of violence for 3,000 years. Again and again. and again and again.
[38:11] You hurt me, I hurt you. Because we live in a small world where we think the only answers are the obvious answers and the answers we've heard from our world and our culture around us.
[38:24] But God calls us to repent, which means to change, to turn around, to live to a different way of being. We're supposed to live as Christians.
[38:36] Not as just other folk. Anybody can live as other folk. God calls us to something more. Something greater. First, God says that we should have an eye on eternity.
[38:49] The purpose of this life is get to the next one. But we forget that. We start thinking the purpose of this life is this life. It's not. It's not.
[39:00] And so, we feel like we're stuck in some broken situation and we'll never get out. One time, I had to crawl under our cottage, put in a heating pan.
[39:13] The space was like this. It was such that when I got to the farthest reaches of this, I had to hexale to make my chest small enough to slide under another one of the joists.
[39:31] And there I am thinking, I could get trapped under here. I might get stuck. You feel the world closing in and like there's no choices and like you want to freak out.
[39:44] I'm out of control. But the heating vent needed to get done. So I kept going. And I also knew my father was at the other end of where I was going looking through a hole in the floor watching to see if I made it there safely.
[40:03] And I also know that if somehow I got stuck under that cottage, my father would rip the floor out to get me out. And I trusted that. And your heavenly father is waiting at the other end of the line for you.
[40:21] And I really believe that if you get stuck in this life, he'll rip the floor out to get you through the next. Do we really trust God? Do we really believe in God?
[40:32] Do we really understand what the goal is? Or do we get stuck in the journey and trapped in the small spaces of our lives thinking that's it? And we give up. And we get scared.
[40:45] And we lose control. And we create more trouble than if we just trusted in God. Being patient.
[40:56] 1 Corinthians says this to us. Brothers and sisters, the time is short. From now on, those who have wives should live as if they don't. Don't read that the wrong way.
[41:09] Remember the justice, righteous part, right? Those who mourn as if they did not. Those who are happy as if they were not. Those who buy something as if it was not theirs to keep.
[41:20] Those who use the things of this world as if it was not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. As Christians, we're supposed to have an eye to eternity.
[41:31] The real goal. The real purpose and not get stuck in the in-between. Be patient, David said to his assistant. Be patient. God will take care of things.
[41:43] If Saul needs to die, God will take care of that. That's not for us to worry about. God is good. And all the time. And you're not.
[41:58] You're not. I know that comes as a great disappointment to you. I know that people have told you you have to somehow be perfect. And I know you children have been told you have to get better grades in school than your parents could do.
[42:11] Think about it. And that we think that everybody has to be a success and everybody has to be able to do everything just right and everybody's got to get things. You're not that good.
[42:22] Really, get off yourself. Only God is good. And I'm not either. Well, I'm not picking on you. I'm just recognizing who we are.
[42:34] We're a bunch of imperfect creatures wandering around, messing up all over the place. And that's why we say that prayer, right? Forgive us our sins.
[42:45] But we want it to stop right there, don't we? We hate that next line. We really do. Forgive us our sins. Okay, we're done. We're done here. I want to say that next one.
[42:57] As we forgive those who sin against us. Ouch. You see, loving mercy and living and righteousness means recognizing we're not good.
[43:16] Only God is good. And if we want to receive mercy, we have to give mercy. Jesus said in chapter 5 of Matthew, Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy.
[43:30] If you want people to be merciful towards you, share mercy with them. If you want to be seen as a child of God who represents Jesus, who forgave your sins, love mercy.
[43:49] Not just for yourself, but for others. God calls us to something different. So David calls out to those who should have protected the king and says, You do realize you're guilty of dereliction of duty.
[44:05] We snuck into your camp and could have killed your king. You're on the battlefield. You should be executed. But what's implied is, but we're not going to call for your execution.
[44:17] So why are you coming to kill us when we haven't even done anything wrong? You want to be forgiven for what you do wrong. But we want to hold a grudge against people who may not have done as much wrong as we have ourselves.
[44:31] And we're people of the Holy Spirit of God. We're people of the Holy Spirit of God.
[44:42] Eternity, God the Father living forever and ever. Mercy, God the Son reaching out on the cross to save us. And the Holy Spirit of God that dwells within us that gives a peace which passes understanding.
[44:57] And so Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers. They will be called the children of God. Anybody can start a fight. Anybody can start a war. Anybody can throw a punch.
[45:09] The brave ones are the ones who actually work towards peace. Dave knows he hasn't done anything wrong. But he takes the high road and he reminds Saul of who they are.
[45:24] He calls them Father. Saul says, Oh, my son. This is his father-in-law. This is a family squabble.
[45:35] And they're ready to kill each other over a family squabble. That's a big problem, isn't it? We need to learn how to practice justice, mercy, and humility in the relationships that are most important and are closest to us in our families, in our work, with our friendships so that this becomes a natural thing for us.
[46:05] I've never been a police officer. But I can tell you, if I were, I imagine going out on the streets every day knowing I may face life-threatening risk.
[46:20] it would be hard not want to reach out and punch somebody. Lashing out to try and project this image that you're strong and tough and nobody's going to take you down so that you can stay safe.
[46:38] I can imagine that. You know, the amazing things about police officers is not that a few of them make a mistake, it's that most of them don't.
[46:51] I mean, around the world, we have these kind of people, they call police and they're vicious. Protect that image of strength. Our police officers again and again and again and again practice restraint.
[47:06] They try not to react. they're taught how to hold back when most of us would want to lash out. Don't you think we Christians should do that too?
[47:22] Don't you think that we should do that in our own relationships, in our own worlds, in our own lives? Don't you think that when you come home and you've had a really rough, hard, miserable day and you want to just kick the dog and yell at somebody that you should stop for a moment and say, wait a minute, this isn't what God would want me to do.
[47:47] And instead of escalating the situation, we offer love. And we walk in the door, hey, how you doing? Oh, I've had the worst day of my life!
[47:58] Oh, why don't you tell me about that? Right? Our problem is that we don't even practice this with our own people we love.
[48:13] You know, every couple has a nuclear button. If you've been married any length of time, you know what it is.
[48:24] I know what I can say to my wife that will not only win the argument, it will destroy her. And by the way, she's got those buttons on me, lots of them.
[48:39] Not the things that win an argument, the things that crush a person and destroy them. I don't ever want to do that to my wife. I don't ever want to get to the point where I'm so, so upset that I push that button and destroy our relationship because really, the goal is to be in love with each other, not to win.
[48:59] I mean, I hope you hear that. You know? The goal is to stay with this person that you said you wanted to live in love with all your life.
[49:10] Not to win. And our problem is we have to practice mercy and humility and righteousness until it becomes natural.
[49:25] Proverbs says, a gentle answer turns back wrath. Are we the person who lowers anxiety and fear or increases it?
[49:36] I saw this little video. Now, there's no audio with this video because, well, see, what this guy does is he goes around and gives hugs to the police officers.
[49:48] I want you to know that police officer, the big guy, he's from Western New York. It just happens to be, okay? And anyways, the reason I had to turn the audio off is because there's guys in the crowd screaming at him and yelling at him for doing that.
[50:04] Calling him a traitor and saying he's a coward and saying he's terrible. Which do you think took more courage? To walk across that line and give each other a hug or to haul off and smack each other?
[50:22] Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid somebody's going to say you look weak or you'll lose or you'll be out of control or you might make the wrong decision.
[50:33] David, David wasn't weak. He was no wimp. He was a giant slayer. He was a guy who won on the battlefield. He was a battle hero. He was prepared to fight Saul but he thought let's try something else first.
[50:50] David wasn't foolish. Did you notice it said he put a big distance between him and Saul before he yelled out to Saul. He didn't like standing in the camp and saying, hey dude, got you, don't I?
[51:01] That's not smart. You know, somebody's got a spear and wants to kill you and a whole army around you. You don't yell at him in his camp. Alright? David wasn't foolish because sometimes this doesn't work.
[51:18] Sometimes mercy doesn't work. Some people are hurtful and hateful and evil and will lash out with pain and they need to be contained and they need to be controlled and I do understand that.
[51:33] I am not that foolish. foolish that I always put my hand in the mouth of a dog. Sometimes you have to be wise. Remember we had a president.
[51:44] He said, speak softly and carry a big step. Not yell as loud as you can and run away if you have to. You follow? Because you don't know when this thing might actually work.
[51:59] Saul stopped chasing David. Saul pulled back the soldiers and that day instead of hundreds of people dying on the battlefield including possibly David and possibly his father-in-law and creating a cycle of violence for years to come David brought the problem down.
[52:35] When I was a teenager they had a song All we are saying is give peace a chance. Just give it a chance.
[52:46] I was listening to a guy talking about electrical circuits and he said you know there's transformers that transform the electricity down and then there's some that transform the electricity up.
[52:58] Immediately I knew he wasn't an electrician. There are no transformers that transform the electricity up. But there are some that transform the electricity down. You know what would happen if you plug your cell phone directly into 110 current?
[53:11] You blow this sucker up. Okay? God isn't calling us to be transformers that accelerate that make the situation worse.
[53:25] We're not supposed to be people pouring gasoline on the fire. God wants us to transform this culture by bringing it down.
[53:36] Bringing that heat that fire that anger that frustration down. Not pushing the nuclear button. not even pushing any buttons.
[53:50] Somebody strikes you on one cheek turn to them the other and see what happens. If they hit you on that cheek maybe you'll smack you between the eyes I don't know.
[54:06] There's a reason for the big step. Don't make it your first option. don't let people call Christians the ones who are the bench seekers and the haters and the hurders.
[54:19] Let's be the children of God. What does the Lord require of us? Act justly. Love mercy. And walk humbly with the Lord.
[54:32] And if we're really truly going to be God's body on this earth we have to start that with everyone we meet. This isn't just about the people on TV. This isn't just about politics.
[54:44] This isn't which isn't worth the fight by the way. I'm sorry. I know I'm supposed to be somewhere else. I had a father and son the other day ready to fight each other. I mean really ready to punch each other. The father was going to kick the son out of the house because he was going to vote for a different presidential candidate.
[54:58] Really? You live in New York. This isn't Florida. It really isn't going to make any difference. You do realize this? You're not going to kill your son over this issue. Really?
[55:09] The people who sit next to you. God calls you to love them. The people who walk in the door. God calls you to love them. Give peace a chance. man..
[55:21] papi heteen two hundreds of those colleaguesと思います departure.
[55:32] And she's dancing Hiding to fade into the faces The girl's teasing laughter is scary Fatherland may know Fatherland may know But in the body Why our tears are sweet too Why our tears are sweet too Why our tears are sweet too And here we are dying Why our tears keep going Why you see the road not slowing And there is a way There is a way The traveler is far away from home
[56:37] The chance is gone And quietly sinks into the background And the weight of that God's mental ransom Tells him that his chances Are better out on the road And we are dying Why our tears are sweet too Why our tears are sweet too Why our tears are sweet too And here we are dying Why our tears keep going Why you see the road not slowing When there is a way When there is a way Jesus made much too high and bright For us to pick and choose to come We are the valley of pride
[57:40] Why our tears are sweet too Why our tears are sweet too Why our tears are sweet too Why our tears aren't hurting Why our tears are sweet too Why our tears are sweet too Why our tears are sweet too Why our tears are breaking and夠 Why is this love not showing?
[58:06] And there is a way. Jesus is a way. You are good.
[58:35] You are good. When there's nothing good in me. You are love. You are love. I'm just safe for all to see. You are light.
[58:45] You are light. When the darkness closes in. You are hope. You are hope. You have covered all my sins. You are light.
[59:00] You are peace. When my fear is crippling. You are true. You are true. Even in my wandering. You are joy.
[59:10] You are joy. You're the reason that I see. You are light. You are light. Even death has lost its name. Oh, I'm running to your arms.
[59:27] I'm running to your arms. The riches of your love will always be enough. Nothing compares to your own embrace.
[59:39] Light of the world will forever reign. You are more. You are more. You are more. You are more. And my words will ever stay.
[59:50] You are Lord. You are Lord. You are Lord. Our creation will proclaim. You are here. You are here. You are here. You are here. You are here. In your presence I'm made whole.
[60:01] You are God. You are God. You are God. You are God. While all else I'm letting go. You are God. You are Lord. You are God. You are God.
[60:12] You are God. You are God. You are God. I'm running to your arms. I'm running to your arms. I'm running to your arms. The riches of your love will always be enough.
[60:23] Nothing compares to your embrace. Nothing compares to your embrace. Nothing compares to your embrace. Nothing compares to your embrace. The light of the world will forever reign. My heart will sing no other name.
[60:43] Jesus, Jesus. My heart will sing no other name. Jesus, Jesus.
[60:57] My heart will sing no other name. Jesus, Jesus. My heart will sing no other name.
[61:12] Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus.
[61:24] Jesus, Jesus. The truth is, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus. Everything compares to your embrace. Jesus, Jesus.
[61:35] To your embrace, light of the world, forever reign. But you are good and your mercy, endurance forever.
[62:17] But you are good and your mercy, endurance forever. We hope from every nation and time, from generation to generation, we worship you.
[62:35] Hallelujah, hallelujah, we worship you. We worship you.
[62:49] Hallelujah, hallelujah, we worship you. You are good.
[63:05] You are good and your mercy, endurance forever. You are good and your mercy, endurance forever.
[63:17] We hope from every nation and time, from generation to generation, we worship you.
[63:29] We worship you. Hallelujah, hallelujah, we worship you. You are good.
[63:43] Hallelujah, hallelujah, we worship you. You are good.
[63:56] All the time.
[64:10] All the time, all the time, you are good, you are good. All the time, all the time, you are good.
[64:22] Ready, here we go. We worship you, hallelujah, hallelujah. We worship you, you are.
[64:34] We worship you, hallelujah, hallelujah. We worship you, you are.
[64:49] You are good. Praise God. God is good. And all the time.
[65:02] And you are not. Did you get that? You're not. You mess up, make mistakes all over the place. And by the way, so do I. So do I.
[65:13] We know that. So as people who need the forgiveness of God, we need to be forgiving people too. And we need the forgiveness of God.
[65:24] So that's why we confess before God. God, you are good. We're not. We need your forgiveness. And we need your power. Get your broken, crazy, angry word.
[65:37] It drives us on every corner. Shall we pray? Dear God in heaven, I'm not good. I've sinned. I've done things wrong.
[65:49] I lose my patience. I get afraid. I strike out. When I should offer mercy. Forgive me, Lord.
[66:02] Give me a heart of mercy. A life of righteousness. And help me come humbly before you. In Jesus' name we pray.
[66:16] Amen. God wants to make us good for this life for all eternity. And he wants us to live that for a world that needs it.
[66:28] If we ever needed Christians to be Christians, it's today. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.
[66:40] Glory to God. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[66:56] Our hearts in praise can find The fellowship of children That is the year that we have Before our fathers grow With hope for our heart and friends Our fears, our hopes, our aims, our love Our comforts and our cares Lord be with you Lift up your hearts Let us give thanks to the Lord our God It is right and a good and joyful thing
[67:57] Always and everywhere To give thanks to you, Father Almighty Creator of heaven and earth You formed us in your image And breathed into us the breath of life When we turned away and our love failed Your love remained steadfast You delivered us from captivity Made covenant to be our sovereign God And spoke to us through your prophets And so with your people on earth And all the company of heaven We praise your name And join their unending hymn Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might Heaven and earth are full of your glory Hosanna in the highest Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest Holy are you and blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor To proclaim release to the captives
[68:59] And recovering of sight to the blind And to announce that the time had come When you would save your people He healed the sick Fed the hungry And ate with sinners By the baptism of his suffering Death and resurrection You gave birth to your church Delivered us from slavery to sin and death And made with us a new covenant By water and the Spirit When the Lord Jesus ascended He promised to be with us always In the power of your word and Holy Spirit On the night in which he gave himself up for us He took the bread And he gave thanks to you, Father Almighty And he broke the bread And he said, this Is my body Broken Given For you Eat of this often Remembering me
[69:59] And so And so in remembrance Of these Your mighty acts In Jesus Christ We offer ourselves In praise And thanksgiving As a holy And living sacrifice In union With Christ's offering For us As we proclaim The mystery Of faith Christ has died Christ is risen Christ will come again Pour out Your Holy Spirit On us gathered here And on these gifts Of bread and wine Make them be for us The body and blood
[70:59] Of Christ That we may be For the world The body Of Christ Redeemed By this blood By your Spirit Make us one with Christ One with each other And one in ministry To all the world Until Christ comes In final victory And we feast In his heavenly banquet Through your Son Jesus Christ With the Holy Spirit In your Holy Church All honor And glory Is yours Almighty Father Now and forever Amen Now as confident Children of God Let us pray The prayer That Jesus taught us Saying Our Father Who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done On earth As it is in heaven Give us this day Our daily bread And forgive us Our trespasses As we forgive those Who trespass against us And lead us not Into temptation But deliver us From evil
[72:00] For thine is the kingdom And the power And the glory Forever and ever For those who are serving Please come forward Oh Amen Hallelujah Amazon Atlanta În familiar Thank you.
[73:07] Thank you.
[73:37] Thank you.
[74:07] Thank you.
[74:37] Thank you.
[75:07] Thank you.
[75:37] Thank you.
[76:07] Thank you.
[76:37] Thank you.
[77:07] Well, I'm going to invite you to stand as we sing together, let there be peace on earth. Thank you.
[77:41] Thank you. Thank you.
[78:41] Thank you.
[79:41] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.