Transcription downloaded from https://services.pcumc.org/sermons/27452/why-did-god-command-the-israelites-to-kill/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. If any kids would like to sing, they're welcome to come join me. This is the day that the Lord has made.

[0:18] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.

[0:36] Let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made.

[0:50] Thank you guys, we'll see you in a minute, okay? Hello, hello, hello. Hello.

[1:02] Hi, welcome to Pendleton Center Church. We are the Menahem. If this is your first time here, be sure to pick up a welcome bag at the connection site or the welcome and information desk. I hope everyone will put their name on the friendship card that is in their bulletin.

[1:15] If you would like to receive the church newsletter or need to update any information, be sure to fill out your address and phone number. On the back, you can write prayer concerns, blessings, or notes to the staff.

[1:27] Please enjoy the service and have a good day. We are glad to have you here in church this morning. A couple quick things I wanted to share. First of all, we are doing the 30-hour of famine.

[1:38] This is an opportunity for the young people to learn more about hunger in the world. They are going to actually not eat for 30 hours. I have a 16-year-old teenage grandson.

[1:49] I can't conceive of that. That is just 30 minutes maybe, but not 30 hours. So that is quite an effort they are making. If you would like to sponsor one or if you would like to help with that effort, there are clipboards for that ministry opportunity.

[2:02] This Saturday is our first softball game, so you are welcome to join in that. If you want to know more about it, talk to Pastor Suzanne. If you would like to order carnations for next week, talk to Pastor Lisa about softball.

[2:25] Don't talk to Pastor Suzanne. She is going to say, what? And I would also like to invite you, if you want to order your Mother's Day carnations, you can do that for next week.

[2:36] White is for those who have passed on to glory. Pink is for those who are still alive. Shall we turn to the Lord in prayer? Dear Lord, we thank you and pray that you'll bless us, be with us, and help us to experience your wonder in this place, your glory, and your grace.

[2:52] Be our presence. Be our worship. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Hi, everyone. This is Ann Marie Zahn.

[3:03] I'm your missionary Nicaraguan conglomerate here, and I'm home from Nicaragua now, and so happy to be with you now. You know, coming from Nicaragua, I have a lot of time to think.

[3:14] Airline travel is long. And I think of the people in the mountains, especially in the mountains, how peaceful they are. And I think about it, why?

[3:24] Why is it that way? And perhaps it's because their life is so uncluttered. They don't have a lot of stress. They are uncomplicated in their life.

[3:37] Maybe the little less that we have, our stress level is lower. And I see that in some of our people. Granted, they don't have electricity.

[3:48] Granted, some don't have water. But they don't have the bills to pay for them either. Another thing I notice with them is their gratitude.

[3:59] When they receive something, they're so very sincerely grateful. And I have to pass that gratitude on to you. Because, you know, over the years, you've been very, very, very faithful to us, with us, and for us.

[4:15] We've been able to put roofs on schools, to help build clinics, to put up water tanks. And the people who receive that are there with us helping to put that up, knowing that this did not come from us.

[4:26] It came from others. Others who were so willing to share their funds. Were able to send children to school, take care of the elderly, the sick. Our Lord says, whatever you do for one of these, you did it to me.

[4:39] Those aren't just words. It's something we should think about, whether we're touching people here at home, in our church community, in our family, in our neighborhood, or as far as Nicaragua.

[4:52] Thank you for bringing joy to my people. Thank you for bringing that happiness. And may it return to you a hundredfold. God bless. And this morning, we do have a mission moment offering in your bulletin for Nicaragua.

[5:06] We have been supporting Nicaragua for a long time. We do a lot of great things in ministry down there. One of the things we do internationally the most as a congregation. So I do encourage you in those gifts.

[5:17] We're talking about all sorts of needs today. The 30-hour famine. There's kids going around with little name tags. If you want to sponsor one of those. We're talking about Nicaragua. And we're going to talk later about children's ministries.

[5:28] The blessings that we can give to others. If you're able, I'm going to invite you to stand as we're going to sing our opening hymn, O Spirit of the Living God. O Spirit of the Living God, O light and fire divine, We send upon thy church once more and make it truly thine.

[6:07] Fill it with love and joy and power, with righteousness and peace. Till Christ shall dwell in human hearts and sin and sorrow cease.

[6:25] Teach us to honor living words of truth which all may hear, The language all may understand when love speaks loud and clear, Till every age and race and clime shall blend the creeds in one, And earth shall form one family by whom thy will is done.

[7:00] So shall we know the power of Christ who came this world to save, So shall we rise with him to life which soars beyond the grave, And earth shall win true holiness and makes thy children whole, Till perfected by thee we rage creation's glorious goal.

[7:36] The Lord be with you. Take a moment, if you will, and greet your neighbor with the peace of the Spirit. Amen. And I would like to invite the children to come up and join us now.

[7:52] The kids want to come and join us. Any kids want to come on up?

[8:08] Come on up, guys. Come on up, guys. I know, there's more coming. They're just waiting for somebody to be brave.

[8:30] See? You started it. Very good. Thank you, guys. All right. What is this? Two to one. Do you ever use one? Yeah. Like once every year?

[8:41] No. No? You use it every day? Yeah. Wow, you're obsessive. That's good. That'll keep your cleats strong and good. You have to because your parents tell you to?

[8:52] If your parents ever said, did you brush your teeth today? Yeah. Yeah. What would happen if your parents said, don't brush your teeth today? What would you do? You wouldn't brush your teeth?

[9:06] Yeah. Some kids told me last night they'd brush their teeth anyways. Yeah. Maybe your parents might know something you don't know. Like maybe the water has gone bad or something.

[9:18] Or maybe there's some reason that you shouldn't brush your teeth. Maybe there's just something you don't understand, right? I... Yeah. Yeah. Wow.

[9:28] Yeah. But, you know, a lot of times our parents know things we don't know. And so we got to trust them to take care of us and do the right thing for us. And so just because we don't always understand what our parents are telling us doesn't mean we shouldn't listen, right?

[9:42] That's the same way with God. We don't understand everything God says either. Your parents don't understand everything God... I don't understand everything God says. But I know God wants to take care of me, right?

[9:54] Yeah. But sometimes if you listen real hard, you can hear them. What are you guys thankful for? Raise your hand if you want to share something. My family. My family. God.

[10:05] My family. Okay. Let me step back here. Let me see. Friends and family. Friends and family.

[10:18] Friends and family. Friends and family. Okay. Anybody else? One right up front. Here you go. God. Great.

[10:28] All right. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for you. We thank you for the blessings you give to us. We thank you for our friends. We thank you for our families. We thank you for all the good things in our life that we know come from you.

[10:39] Bless us today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay. You can now go out to church school now. The kids are all welcome to go out to church school. I'm going to invite Karen to come up and share with us her thankful moment.

[11:03] Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Karen Mihalski and this is my husband, Sean. It's so great to see everybody here this morning.

[11:14] We would like to thank all of this staff for allowing us to present today and to the men of him for the song that they're going to do and to Adrian for all of his audiovisual help. Today is Compassion Sunday.

[11:27] Today churches across the country are joining together to speak out on behalf of children living in poverty. We want to share a quick video that shows the life of a child in poverty, Hilda from Peru, as well as the life-changing impact of Compassion International Sponsorship.

[11:45] When I was five years old, my dad broke his leg and he couldn't work.

[11:59] We didn't have money for food. I was very scared. Near our home, bad people would be out at night and there was always trash everywhere.

[12:10] I felt like no one cared about me and I didn't matter. When I was nine, one of my neighbors told me about compassion.

[12:22] I didn't know what it was about, but I liked it because I received a lot of help. I was fed there at the church and I learned how to take care of myself.

[12:33] I learned that I was special and that God loved me and that he had a plan for my life. And I learned that I could ask Jesus into my heart.

[12:45] And when I did, I was so happy. I was waiting to get a letter from my sponsor. And when it finally came, I felt very happy and special.

[12:56] They were very loving in their letters. They loved me so much, even though we never met in person. At 15, I remember being so thankful for my sponsors and everything they did for me.

[13:13] I will remember them until the last day of my life. Without their help, my life would be so different. All I can say is thank you for so much love that showed me God's love.

[13:27] Now, I know I have value and I know I have a future. Childhood poverty is overwhelming.

[13:39] This video showed the reality of poverty that affects millions of children around the world. Sponsorship can make a huge difference in just one child's life. For about a dollar a day, you would provide quality education, nutritious meals, much-needed health care, Bible teaching, and more.

[14:00] Through sponsorship, many kids meet Jesus, and those who already know him deepen their faith. Matthew 25, verse 35-36 says, For when I was hungry, you gave me something to eat.

[14:15] I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in. I needed clothes, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you looked after me.

[14:27] This is what Jesus calls all of us to do. You and I have so much to share. Our love, our prayers, and our letters to these special children.

[14:38] The impact of sponsorship is real. Compassion, I'm sorry, sponsorship can change your life and the life of your sponsored child. We've been sponsoring a five-year-old boy named Carlos in Columbia for about a year now.

[14:55] We do believe in this organization. The thing we love most about being Compassion sponsors is teaching our children to be joyful givers to those in need.

[15:06] We pray every day, immediately after grace at dinner time, together as a family, for Carlos and his family to be safe and to feed not only food to sustain them, but also to receive God's grace and love.

[15:21] You and I have so much to share. If God is calling you to sponsor a child, we encourage you to come see us at the sponsorship table in the fellowship hall after service.

[15:35] If you are unable to sponsor a child, please include us and them in your prayers for all those stricken by extreme poverty. There is a child waiting for you.

[15:47] Please consider starting your sponsorship experience today. Thank you for your time. Thanks very much, Karen and Sean.

[16:02] God loves us so much and pours out so much abundant blessing into our lives. When we return some of that back to the work that God has called us to, we are blessed and so are those that God is blessing through our work.

[16:17] We have the support before us of our Nicaragua mission that has been something we've done in this church for many years. And as God would lead you, we ask that you would support that work.

[16:30] And also, if God is putting it on your heart to support a child or to find out more about compassion, you can go see Karen afterwards. Let's bring our gifts, tithes, and offerings before the Lord in worship and celebration of all God is doing in us and through us.

[16:46] Can you hear the prayer of the children?

[17:10] See you. See you. In the shadow of an unknown room Empty eyes With no more tears to cry Turning heavenward For the light Crying Jesus help me To see the morning light Of one more day What if I should die Before I wake I pray my soul to take

[18:11] Can you feel The hearts of the children Aching for home For something of their very own Reaching hands With nothing to hold on to But hope for a better day A better day Crying Jesus help me To feel the love again In my own land But if unknown roads Lead away from home

[19:14] Give me loving hearts Way from harm To feel the love again I pray my soul to the Lord I pray my soul to the Lord I pray my soul to the Lord I pray my soul to the Lord O da, da, da, da, da, no Can you hear The voice of the children Softly pleading For silence in their shattered world

[20:18] Angry guns Send a message full of hate Blood of the innocent On their hands Trying Jesus Help me To feel the sun again Upon my face For when darkness clears I know you're near Bringing peace again Can you hear

[21:26] The prayer of the children Praise God from whom All blessings flow Praise Him all The creatures here below Praise Him above The heavenly home Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost Amen Dear Heavenly Father

[22:27] We do give you thanks and praise For this day That we may gather together And worship you Lord God That we may lift up Our offerings before you Knowing That you are the one Who will take them And use them For your good purpose Lord, we pray That many will come To salvation in Jesus Christ Through the work That you have given This church to do Through the blessings You have poured out Into our midst We ask Lord God That you bless the offering Especially for Nicaragua We ask that those children Would be touched Through that ministry That all those Who are leading In that work Would be blessed And empowered To do what you Have called them to do Just receive our offering Of love Lord God And help us to know How to further your kingdom In Jesus name we pray Amen Please be seated And I'd like to invite

[23:27] Our lay leader Jan Hodge To come on up With our candidate For membership And her sponsor Brothers and sisters In Christ Through the sacrament Of baptism We are initiated Into Christ's holy church We are incorporated Into God's mighty acts Of salvation And given new birth Through water And the spirit All this is God's gift Offered to us Without price As a representative Of this congregation I present Pam Fowler For membership In our church As Pam takes Her membership vows We invite our members To also renew their vows

[24:28] Some of you might notice A little change To fit with the themes That we've been talking about For about 10 or 15 years So will you accept Jesus Christ As your savior and lord I believe No We're going to do The apostles creed Let's do the apostles creed We can do the apostles creed This is good Do you believe in God The father almighty I believe in God The father almighty Creator of heaven And earth Do you believe In Jesus Christ I believe in Jesus Christ His only son Our lord Who was conceived By the holy spirit Born of the virgin Mary Suffered under Pontius Pilate Was crucified Died and was buried He descended to the dead On the third day He rose again He ascended into heaven Is seated at the right hand Of the father And will come again To judge the living And the dead

[25:28] Do you believe In the holy spirit I believe In the holy spirit The holy catholic church The communion of saints The forgiveness of sins The resurrection of the body And the life everlasting Amen Amen And now Where our membership bows Will you accept Jesus Christ As your savior And lord I accept the grace Of Jesus Christ As my savior And acknowledge My need for forgiveness I reject the power Of evil Repent of my sin And promise To serve Jesus As lord Will you love the lord With all your soul I will love the lord With all my soul By paying Attending worship Regularly And supporting the church Financially With a goal Toward tithing Will you love the lord With all your mind I will love the lord With all my mind By committing To reading the bible

[26:29] And growing in my understanding Of the christian faith I will participate In opportunities For learning about god Through the church Will you love the lord With all your heart I will love the lord With all my heart By caring for others At pendleton center United methodist church I will make an effort To be involved In groups And activities To get to know people And develop friendships At the church And will you love the lord With all your strength I will love the lord With all my strength By serving in the ministries Of pendleton center United methodist church Using the gifts God has given me And by sharing about jesus With others Pamela Fowler May the holy spirit Work within you That having been born By the water And the spirit You may live as a faithful Disciple of jesus christ Amen

[27:30] Amen We do welcome to Pamela to our church Shall we greet her Into the community of faith And i must say That there is a cake And punch And celebration Out there All for pam So join in greeting her After church this morning Thank you Bless you God bless you We have had members We have had members Joining for the last Like three weeks It's been amazing What a blessing it is When god adds to the church Daily Those who have been saved As the scripture says As we come to our time Of prayer You're welcome Of course To join me From your seats Or to come forward And kneel at the rail Or stand at the rail With me We want to remember This morning Dick anderson Who is improving He's got a long recovery Ahead of him But he's hanging in there And doing much better And dave johnson

[28:30] Who is at roswell He is in need of our prayers As is his family With these concerns And those that are On your hearts Let's turn to the lord In prayer Gracious heavenly father What a blessing it is To come before you You have called your church To pray And thereby to invoke Your power Into this world So that your purposes May be accomplished In all that we do Lord God We just pray In Jesus name now That you would touch Those who are sick And infirm Who are in need Of a healing touch From you We pray for those With physical ailments With surgeries coming up With sickness and diseases We pray with those

[29:30] For those lord god Who are not only Suffering in their bodies But also those Who suffer in their hearts In their souls In their minds We pray especially Lord God For people who are Afflicted by depression We just ask In Jesus name Lord God That you touch them And make them whole In their spirits Their souls And their bodies Be with them And help them lord Father we pray For those who are Grieving losses Of all kinds We just ask In Jesus name That you would Comfort them And bring them Peace by your spirit That you would Give them an outlook Of hope Let them know That they have The hope Of eternal life In you Let them be content In their day to day Life As they walk With you As they trust you Help them lord Lord we pray

[30:32] For all of those In our communities In our state In our nation And in the wider world Lord God Wherever they may be These people Who are poor People who are hungry People who have Nowhere to live Nowhere to be Clean and safe We just ask Lord God In Jesus name That you would Put it on each One of our hearts What it is That we are to do To minister With the abundance You pour out Into our lives We can pray We can give We can care Show us lord What it is That you would Have us do To make a difference In this world Give us the boldness We need To share Your love To share

[31:32] The message Of your salvation To share Of our substance Lord as we Hear your word Now and continue To sing songs Of praise To you We just ask In Jesus name That you would Wash over us And transform us Empower us Give us the ability To do all That you have Called us To do Be with Pastor Thomas He delivers The message That you've Given him For us This day May it be A blessing To him And to us Make all Of our worship To be a blessing To you That we may Carry all That you have Blessed us With out Into the world This week And share Your blessings Wherever we go In Jesus name We pray Amen Shall we hear From the word Of the lord婚

[32:43] Wom Wom Wom To himALK Wom Wom Wom Wom Wom Wom Wom Wom Wom Wom Good morning.

[33:15] Today's reading is from Romans, chapter 2, verses 1 through 11. You, therefore, have no excuse. You who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

[33:34] Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?

[33:50] Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

[34:00] But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

[34:13] God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life.

[34:26] But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

[34:42] But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. This is the word of the Lord.

[34:54] Thanks be to God. Thank you, Elizabeth. Did you notice a few weeks ago we fired off about 49 cruise missiles as a country and dropped the mother of all bombs and a whole lot of Americans were going, yeah!

[35:10] Kind of an interesting reaction, isn't it? It's like when you're watching one of those movies, you know, and it's like, get up, Rambo! No! There's something inside some of us that just makes us feel like if we could just drop a couple of strategically placed nukes, we could take out all these bad guys and the world would be good again.

[35:31] I know, I said it, I shouldn't say it, right? There's something inside us that wonders, could we just wipe out the evil once and for all? We're looking at difficult questions that we would ask God.

[35:47] These actually came from people in the church. And the question today is, why did God command genocide? In Deuteronomy chapter 20, we read God saying, In the cities of the nations that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.

[36:09] Completely destroy them, the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites, Mosquito Bites, as the Lord your God has commanded you.

[36:20] I think the Mosquito Bites should be obliterated. But it is troubling, seriously troubling that God commands them to destroy everything that has breath.

[36:36] So it raises questions within the questions. Why is there judgment in the first place? And what about the children? Somehow we feel better when soldiers are fighting soldiers.

[36:49] But what about the children? And why did God use people? Why didn't he do it himself? Now to start with, of course, we don't understand all the ways of God.

[37:04] And we don't understand all the ways of other people either. This passage starts by saying, You therefore have no excuse who pass judgment on someone else. For whatever point your judgment comes to another, you're condemning yourself.

[37:20] Because you, who give judgment, do the same things. We know we all have problems. And to judge people from 4,000, 5,000 years ago on the ethical values and standards of today is a pretty tough thing to do.

[37:39] We're struggling with that, trying to live in the cultural change we're in. What I knew as right and okay and being appropriate to say and do 40 years ago does not exist in the world today.

[37:57] But what about God? What does this say about Him? Now we all want evil wiped out. Amen? Nobody wants evil.

[38:07] We don't want bad things. We look forward to the day it talks about in Revelation 21 where it says, God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

[38:19] For the old order of things will have passed away. Evil will be eliminated. God will respect our decision to no longer have evil. A new creation.

[38:29] But the problem is that Judgment Day will bring about the end of all that's evil. And the difficulty is that even though that's good, we know that we're not.

[38:47] And if God wipes out and eliminates everything that's evil and only good remains, which is the just and right and loving things to do, what does it mean for us?

[39:00] Because you see, we want to see that everybody's sort of good. Have you ever listened to some report about someone who just killed some folks?

[39:12] And they'll talk to the neighbors and the neighbors will say, Yeah, but they were a good person. No! People that go kill people are not good people! By definition! Right?

[39:24] But we want to think that there's got to be some good in everyone, because otherwise, what does it mean for us? Because unfortunately, we all fall short.

[39:35] We're all evil. And we all deserve judgment as well. We know that deep down inside. We all are under the same judgment, as it says in the third verse of this.

[39:50] So we don't want to pass judgment on anyone else, because we're all under God's judgment. Romans chapter 3 says, No one's good. No one's righteous. Not one person.

[40:05] But are some worse than another? Are some just so bad that there's no room for redemption? What about the Canaanites?

[40:18] Maybe you don't know anything about the Canaanites, and just assume they were regular folks. They were some nasty, nasty people. They thought that the way to worship God was to take their children and place them on a hot, burning altar, and watch their bodies melt away and celebrate.

[40:37] They believed that the way a woman should come to adulthood is to be taken to the temple when she reaches that age and used by some old man as an act of worship.

[40:53] They were profaned. They were abusive. They took advantage of the poor and the weak and the hurting. They were bad people.

[41:06] What do we do when we're faced with these decisions? You see, we want to believe that every decision we have is between good and bad. But sometimes we're stuck. There's a law that says, Thou shalt not kill, but Jesus says, Love your neighbor.

[41:20] But what if your neighbor wants to kill everybody else? And the only way to stop them is for you to kill them. What's the right thing to do? There is no right thing to do.

[41:32] Do you understand? If you kill, you're still killed. But if you let them kill, you've done wrong too. That's the trouble a soldier has.

[41:44] They have to decide what they're going to do. If they don't fire their weapon at the enemy, the enemy will kill the person sitting next to them. All these decisions are not always simple and easy.

[41:59] They're hard. There was a pastor many years ago named Diedrich Bonhoeffer in Germany. He grew up in the destruction after World War II, World War I rather, which was known at the time as the war to end all wars.

[42:14] Okay? And in the midst of all that destruction, Germany was a mess. They had no infrastructure. It had all been destroyed. They were in the middle of a world depression that we went through, and they were spending money to us because we won the war.

[42:32] So we were getting money in our depression from them. Imagine how desperate they were. And Diedrich Bonhoeffer tried to preach about the grace of God and the love of God and the peace that God wanted in a country that was getting angrier and angrier.

[42:47] Eventually, he watched his country lead the world into war. And he knew the people at the head of this. He knew what was going on in the concentration camps, and so he became someone who became part of a plot with, believe it or not, the secret service of Germany to assassinate Hitler.

[43:09] The secret service of Germany was trying to assassinate their leader. And Diedrich Bonhoeffer, even though he believed in peace, decided it was better that this one man die than millions continue to die.

[43:23] And so he became part of this conspiracy. And five days before the Allied troops liberated the camp that he was held in, he was hung and executed for trying to kill Hitler.

[43:39] Was he right or was he wrong? Sometimes it's all wrong. Sometimes it's difficult. What do you do when you've got a problem you need to get rid of?

[43:52] Has anybody ever had grubs in their lawn? You know, we're doing advice, and today we're going to talk about lawn care a little bit. Listen to this fellow. What we have here is a classic example of sod that is being utterly destroyed by beetle larva.

[44:07] Now, when you flip this piece of sod back, what you may expect to see when you see beetle larva are these big honking white grubs. Okay?

[44:19] But I want to show you something that is easy to miss. As we look through this soil here, what you don't really easily see is where the real infestation lies.

[44:31] And I want to show you where that is. Right here. Take a look at the difference in size. Look at these little tiny newly hatched larvae are completely and utterly destroying this sod.

[44:49] And it's almost on an epidemic proportion. And you could easily overlook these. Here they are in the soil, and here they are next to an adult grub that is ready to turn into a beetle.

[45:02] There's a big difference. They are annihilating the lawn. They are an infestation. Did you hear that? We have a grub right here that we had made for us.

[45:15] Don't you like that? They don't get that big. Don't worry. They really don't. They're kind of small. They look a little bit like shrimp, but don't put them on the barbie. They don't taste very good. Grubs.

[45:27] Interesting, by the way, they show in there that the patches of soil that were ruined, that the lawn looked like straight lines. This is a setup. They don't do that.

[45:38] It's not that obvious. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether it's just a weak lawn or a real problem with insects. What do you do when you have a problem that needs to be dealt with?

[45:52] Judgment is not an easy thing, and God doesn't like judgment. People have some kind of crazy idea that God wants to hurt people. God wants no one to go to judgment.

[46:04] In 2 Peter, this is what he actually says, the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some of you understand slowness. Instead, he's patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, not wanting anyone to perish, but for people to come to repentance.

[46:22] Or it says in this verse, do you show contempt for the riches of God's kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.

[46:34] What God wants is God wants people to just change. God wants them to change directions. That's what repentance means. Stop living for evil. Stop living for good.

[46:46] God doesn't want to bring judgment on anyone. God just wants people to seek the good and change their direction. And then he says he can give peace, and he can give glory and honor and eternal life.

[47:03] In the book of Acts, it says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. He's trying to make it as easy as he possibly can.

[47:16] And what God wants is everybody to get on the right side of judgment. Everybody to get into the place where they're not living in danger. God wants no one to suffer.

[47:33] But some people refuse to repent. Some people refuse to leave sin. Some people refuse to live into any goodness, and all they do is live for pain and hurt.

[47:45] And as it says in here, selfish living, anger, that is destroying people around them. Is it fair to let the grubs eat the grass?

[47:56] Something's going to die. And not only that, if you don't deal with them, then you get the moles. Anybody ever get the moles going around under your ground? All these piles of mud.

[48:07] And then you want even worse, you know what really likes to eat grubs? Skunks! They will tear your lawn apart going after those things. They don't tunnel underground.

[48:18] They rip your lawn out. Sometimes you've got to deal with it before it gets too bad. And sometimes God makes a decision to bring judgment.

[48:34] Sometimes God decides people won't change. They're stubborn, and as it says in the fifth verse, they come under God's wrath.

[48:46] How do we know? It says by their fruits, by their actions, you'll know what these people are like. The Canaanites were not good people. And if your lawn has grubs, it won't be in straight lines.

[49:00] They're in patches, usually under the tree, because the adult beetles, you know, the ones that eat your bushes, so if these things actually become adults, they'll eat your bushes, right? They hang in the trees, and when they're ready to lay their eggs, they dive bomb into your lawn.

[49:16] So that's how you can find them, because they're usually around trees. Not always. In little patchy areas where they're eating the roots out. And if you pull it up, you'll find those babies. You can put them on the barbie, but I don't recommend it.

[49:30] Now what God said is that he wanted to drive out the nations before the Israelites. He was trying to show to the Canaanites that they would lose their blessing, and they would be replaced by the people who were faithful to God.

[49:44] He didn't say to annihilate them first. He said drive them out. But if they refuse to leave, then we have no choice.

[49:56] Because if we mix the good and the bad, things can get even worse. In 2 Corinthians, it says, Do not be yoked together with unbelievers, for what does righteousness and wickedness have in common?

[50:09] Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? Now this doesn't mean you shouldn't have any friends that aren't Christians. Good Lord. That's crazy. How would you even, if for no other reason, how would you ever share Christ with anybody?

[50:22] Not all people who don't believe in God are awful evil people. A lot of them are people that need you to talk to them and be with them. But if you mix evil with good, believe it or not, the good usually doesn't triumph.

[50:36] You know why we have separation of church and state in this country? To protect the church. Not to protect the government from our invading their world. It's because if they get in our world, we're done.

[50:50] Do you understand that? We're trying to keep them from messing up what we do for God. That's what the law is about, just in case you wonder.

[51:01] Somewhere along the line, if God doesn't bring judgment, God doesn't love good. If God doesn't bring judgment, God doesn't have any sense of justice. God has to bring judgment. I hate to say it, but it's true.

[51:14] But why? Why the innocent ones? Why the little babies? Why the little children? I can't tell you I have a satisfactory answer, but I will tell you this.

[51:27] What age do you start? You know, the book of Proverbs, it has a wonderful line that says, raise a child in the way they should go, and even when they're old, they will not turn from it.

[51:37] The monks used to say, give me the boy till they're five, and I'll have the man for the rest of their lives. Do you know that most people learn who and what they're going to be before they turn five? Think about it.

[51:49] Before they turn five, they're set into what they're going to be. Kind of puts a whole lot on you who've got those little ones, isn't it? What age would we choose?

[52:01] When do they become enculturated into the thoughts and ideas of the people around them? And what's going to happen to those kids? You know they're going to be outcasts.

[52:14] Who wants a Canaanite kid? And if they did happen to survive, they'd be saying, you know, I'm not taking food from my kid's mouth to feed you.

[52:27] Take care of my kids first. Maybe there'll be something left for you. And the snow flies on a cold and gray Chicago morning another little baby child is born in the ghetto.

[52:42] People don't understand. Child needs a helping man. He'll grow to be an angry young man someday. What would have happened to these kids?

[52:54] You think they would have grown up in loving households? You think they would have been happy to have seen their parents die? I don't know if you all know why we support Nicaragua, how that even got started.

[53:09] It started because the lady who cleaned our church, Peggy Hartman at the time, had a friend named Anne-Marie Zahn. And what happened to us is that there were landslides in Nicaragua.

[53:21] And while the kids were up on the hill at school, the mudslides killed their parents and grandparents and buried everything and everyone they ever knew. And so, these kids were left without anybody.

[53:36] Peggy heard about it and bought a chicken. It became the start of the Peggy Hartman Chicken Farm. And Peggy'd buy a chicken whenever she could afford it. And she got us to start buying chickens and cows and cattle and then houses and water towers.

[53:50] Why? Because these kids had nothing. And somebody had to show them some love. I don't know what would happen to these Canaanite kids if they were just tossed out.

[54:05] And you know, we have a real different idea of it anyways. And this does not make it easier, but it does help for me a little bit. And that is that I know that the innocent children go right to glory.

[54:16] They don't go through the struggle with evil that we have. They go from innocence to glory. So God knew that they weren't going to hurt. They were actually going to receive the blessing and the wonder that only God can give.

[54:33] It doesn't make it better to me. But it doesn't mean we have to do something to make sure we don't make angry young children either. You see, this is about what's our part in it.

[54:49] And I guess one of the things that bothers us the most about this story is that God used people to bring judgment. We seem to be okay about God making a flood.

[55:00] I don't know why we sing it with the kids, you know. God made a flood and all the grandmas and grandpas were floating in the water and it's okay. I don't know why we do that. I really don't. When you think about it, that's a pretty rough story that we teach our little children when God killed everybody.

[55:17] We're all right with angels coming down and wiping out Sodom and Gomorrah. We figure, okay, that's divine judgment. Maybe at the end time angels coming but using people is scary. It's frightening.

[55:29] What does it mean? Does God use people to bring his judgment? And the truth is he doesn't very often. In fact, in this book it happened in one tiny little space in history.

[55:42] 3,000 years of history are recorded in this book and it happened in one tiny little instant with these people in this one time frame when the Israelites moved into Canaan.

[55:55] And this one small group of people, not all the nations of the world, as bad as they were, this is one little piece. It's rare.

[56:07] If you think God is telling you to go kill somebody, please come talk to me and some other people because he's not. Most likely he's not. Romans chapter 12 says, don't take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath.

[56:23] For it's written, it's mine to avenge, I will repay, says the Lord. This was a decision of nations and that's way above most of our heads and not saying that people should go and bring death and destruction and hurt in the name of God.

[56:39] And by the way, even the nations that fight wars in the name of God, most of those holy wars don't end very well. World War I was fought as the war to end all wars.

[56:50] Can you imagine such a thing? The war to end all wars, it killed 15 million people. And 15 years later, it led to the next war in the whole world.

[57:07] Holy wars usually don't do a very good job. Sometimes when we need to bring necessary measures, we need to consider how much.

[57:18] Now, I didn't put this out because it kind of freaked people out in front of the church, but do you know what this is? This is called a hand sprayer. With this, you can spray the insecticide that will kill the grubs.

[57:31] You can do it. This is what you should use because it will spray an area big enough for almost all the grub infestations that you ever have in your yard. I worked in the lawn care industry.

[57:42] You know how they dealt with grubs? They sprayed everything because it was cheaper. It was cheaper to spray that insecticide on every single thing in the world than to take a measured approach.

[57:57] There's something called chloridane. Maybe you've never heard of it. I hope not. It's illegal now to use. It's an insecticide. Actually, the lawn care industry thought it was a way to kill crabgrass.

[58:09] But it was an insecticide. They sprayed it on lawns. And they sprayed it on lawns year after year after year. If you live in Williamsville in the right zip code, you've had it sprayed on your lawn.

[58:20] And you know how you can know? If you've got this stuff called thatch, like this heavy thick layer of thatch, because all thatch is is dead grass blades and things.

[58:31] You know, plants give those off. In a typical yard, little microbiotic activity and the bugs and such eat that, and it's perfectly in balance. But in a yard where they've sprayed chloridane, you know how long chloridane lasts in your soil?

[58:47] 50 years. 50 years. They sprayed it year after year. That stuff will be in there for hundreds of years. There is no insect activity, no microbiotic activity.

[59:00] It has been obliterated, and now they have a bigger problem. Don't use chloridane. All right? You've got an old jar of it somewhere. A careful treatment is the way you want to deal with that.

[59:14] Just as a careful treatment is the way in which we should be looking at these issues. We don't need to bring destruction on everyone with the belief that somehow we're going to save the world by taking care of that.

[59:30] The Israelites were ordered by God to bring judgment. I think some of the reason was is God wanted them to see what judgment was like.

[59:42] Because then they wouldn't want it to happen to their own. Soldiers who have been through the horror of war don't really want to see it happen again. It's not fun.

[59:54] It's not glory. It's bad. I think maybe God thought that if they went through this they would never want to do what the Canaanites did.

[60:05] And yet they did. They turned to evil anyways. So God went in a different direction. God died to his righteousness so that we could live.

[60:25] And he turned to grace. He turned to forgiveness. He turned to hope. He turned to a different way of doing this. You know the best defense against grubs or any insects or any problems in your lawn is a healthy lawn.

[60:40] Feed it. Take care of it. Nurture it. Cut it right. Three and a half inches in the middle of the summer. As high as your grass grows is as far as your roots go down. You make it that short you got that much roots.

[60:52] Okay? And a healthy people fed on God's love and nurture and grace will bring peace.

[61:03] Peter talks about it and he says this. Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. The more we can bring the knowledge and the wonder of God the more we'll bring peace.

[61:16] The more we'll bring grace. The more we'll bring love. Brackets won't save the world. If we want the peace and the glory and the eternal life it's talking about in here it's not going to come through war and I'm not saying war will never happen.

[61:34] This isn't against our military or anything like that. I'm just simply saying it will not bring peace. I know you think if we could just get rid of that little crazy guy in North Korea.

[61:47] We could take out ISIS. If we could get rid of the people that belong to the other political party. You know? If we get that guy at work that's so annoying or maybe that uncle that believes the wrong way.

[61:59] You know what I'm talking about. Or even those churches that don't think like us. Or maybe we could just get the person next to you to stop being such a You see?

[62:13] It never ends. It never ends. World War I is one of the most evil wars that ever was fought because it was fought between Christians.

[62:24] Both sides of this battle were Christians fighting a war for no good reason. To end all war. Is it not the craziest idea for Christians to fight a war to end wars?

[62:40] Changed the world. What if we gave a war and the soldiers decided not to fight? It actually happened one Christmas Eve during World War I.

[62:53] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[63:05] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[63:36] Handsome. Join us. Thank you. Thank you.

[63:47] A British! A British! A British! A British! A British! Jim!

[63:59] Don't do it! Stop! He's not being attacked! No, Otzo! No, Otzo! He's not being attacked!

[64:11] No, Otzo! No, Otzo! Jim! I'm not being attacked!

[64:23] I'm not being attacked! No, Otzo! No, Otzo! No, Otzo! My name is Jim. My name is Otto.

[64:35] Pleased to meet you, Otto. Like me. Rose, she's calm. Rose, she's calm. Soon. Soon.

[64:47] She's not being attacked. It's almost like me. It's always being attacked! It's always being attacked... ...and it's always being attacked! Nobody really knows how it happened, but it happened with thousands and thousands of troops, And the truth went for days when somebody started singing a hymn that the other side knew.

[65:14] When somebody decided to offer love instead of hate, judgment belongs to God. Our job as Christians is to bring the peace and the glory and the wonder and the possibilities of hope that this book talks about to the world.

[65:30] We start changing lives and changing hearts. We don't have a reason to fight. And it doesn't begin somewhere out there. It begins with our neighbors, with our friends, with the people we work with, with the people in our church.

[65:47] Stop fighting about stuff that doesn't matter. And start living for the grace and the wonder and the glory that God wants. You know, some people think God just hated the Canaanites.

[65:58] Listen, Rahab was a Canaanite. She was a prostitute. And she turned to God. And not only did she live, not only did she live, she gave birth to Boaz, who gave birth to Jesse, who was the father of King David, who is a descendant of our Lord Jesus.

[66:23] God doesn't want to bring anyone to judgment. It's our job to change our lives and change the world by bringing grace.

[66:33] I believe God does not want to bring us. Yes. I believe God is a female. Amen. So far, I want to be blessed. I love you, God. I love you, God. I love you, God. You're so just being a playing plan, But then Jesus.

[66:44] But then Jesus is weary during a passage. I love you, God. His father is spirit, God.

[67:01] Amazing praise, how sweet the sound, and saved a rat like me.

[67:12] I once were lost, but now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see.

[67:24] Was grace that brought my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.

[67:39] How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.

[67:50] My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior, has ransomed me.

[68:04] And like the blood, His mercy remains. Unending love, amazing praise.

[68:15] The Lord has promised good to me.

[68:33] His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be.

[68:46] As long as life can be yours. My chains are gone, I've been set free.

[68:56] My God, my Savior, has ransomed me. And like the blood, His mercy remains.

[69:10] Unending love, unraising praise. Unending love, amazing praise.

[69:42] Unending love, even more.

[69:54] Unending love, amazing praise. Unending love, as long as life is small. Unending love, as long as life seeks. Unending love, all in more.

[70:06] One of the things like a day. Unending love, zalaxe is zalai, rai, rai yamoo. You'll be forever mine.

[70:18] You'll be forever mine. You are forever mine.

[70:35] Please be seated. God calls us to be people of peace and grace, but it starts by getting our lives turned around.

[70:46] None of us are perfect. All of us need to confess our sin, that we might have the forgiveness of God, to live as God intended.

[70:57] So I invite you to pray with me. Dear God in heaven, I have sinned. I have sinned. I've been part of the brokenness. Forgive me, Lord.

[71:11] Cause me to turn around. To repent. To change my ways. Teach me to love.

[71:23] To lift up the broken. To help the children. To make a new world. A world of grace.

[71:34] And peace. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God has decided a new beginning for all of us today.

[71:47] Not just us, but those all around us that we can share that message of hope with. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.

[71:59] Glory to God. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Every moment we can make, every prayer and step of faith, every difference we will make, will glorify this praise.

[72:47] Every mountain we will climb, every ray of hope we shine, Every blessing left behind Is only by His grace Grace alone which God supplies Grace alone we will provide Christ in us, our border stone We will go forth in grace alone From every soul we long to eat Every heart we hope to teach Everywhere we share His peace

[73:52] Is only by His grace Every loving word we say Every tear we wipe away Every sorrow turned to praise Is only by His grace Grace alone which God supplies Strength of no, He will provide Christ in us, our border stone We will go forth in grace alone We will go forth in grace alone God shows us His grace and shares His love with us through all that He has done for us to bring us back to relationship with the Father

[75:05] We see this in the bread and in the juice as we celebrate Holy Communion God wants to invite you God does invite you to come to the table to receive that grace to receive that mercy to receive God's love If you love God repent of your sin and seek to live in peace as a disciple of Jesus Christ you are welcome to come to the table this morning and receive all that God has for you when you come you're accepting Christ you're accepting what God has done for you and promising to live with God and to walk with Him so come to the table this morning you don't have to be a member of this church you don't have to be a member of any church if you have seen something in Christ today that is calling you that you want to give your heart to Christ if you want to give your heart to Christ for the first time or as a recommitment or as an ongoing walk you come to the table this morning because God wants to meet you here the 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 always and everywhere to give thanks to you

[76:37] 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 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 by your great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of your son from the dead and to an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled and unfading on the night in which

[77:51] Jesus gave himself for us he took bread and he gave thanks to you he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples saying take and eat this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me when the supper was over he took the cup and gave you thanks and praise he gave it to his disciples he said drink from this all of you this is the cup of my blood the blood of the new covenant poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me 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

[78:51] 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 of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by his 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 at his heavenly banquet through your son Jesus Christ with the holy spirit and your holy church all honor and glory is yours almighty father now and forever amen shall we pray together the prayer Jesus taught us 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 for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen will those who are serving please come forward and be going to until we go and that

[80:27] Thank you.

[80:57] Thank you.

[81:27] Thank you.

[81:57] The Lord invites you, no matter who you are, where you come from, whether you belong to our church or not, you're welcome to the table of God. We'll be blessed by his blessing. Come and join us. Thank you.

[82:08] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[82:19] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[82:33] Thank you. Thank you.

[82:47] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[83:01] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[83:12] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[83:26] So I can stand on mountains You raise me up To walk on stormy seas I am strong When I am on your shoulders You raise me up To more than I can need There is no life No life without its hunger Each restless heart Be so imperfectly But when you call

[84:27] Then I am filled with wonder Sometimes I think I glimpse eternity You raise me up So I can stand on mountains You raise me up To walk on stormy seas I am strong When I am on your shoulders You raise me up To more than I can be You raise me up So I can stand on mountains You raise me up To walk on stormy seas

[85:28] I am strong When I am on your shoulders You raise me up To more than I can be You raise me up To more than I can be You raise me up You raise me up You raise me up You raise me up You raise me up You raise me up You raise me up I am strong I can stand on mountains I am strong You raise me up I am strong I am strong You raise me up You raise me up So I am strong I have strong You raise me up

[86:29] I am strong You raise me upcommendas You raise me up I am strong You raise me up Thank you.

[87:11] Thank you.

[87:41] Thank you. Thank you.

[88:13] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. May God bless you. May God fill your life with his Holy Spirit.

[88:24] May God lift up your souls. And may God make you instruments of his peace. Go in his grace. Amen. Amen. Thank you.