Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Grateful to have the moment that we did yesterday in our, in our country, 250 years of, I believe, grace that God has been working through us to be sovereignly placed here in the United States of America.
[00:00:13] I wanted to call it out specifically because it is a grace.
[00:00:17] It may be imperfect freedom, but it is freedom that we get together and do this each and every week. And I don't take that for granted. The lives that continue to be laid down so we can continue to worship, continue to gather, continue to have freedom here today.
[00:00:31] But ultimately it's something that I feel like we can often say, hey, here are the ills of our country and there are many. But the fact is God has sovereignly placed us here and I'm grateful for this.
[00:00:42] But beyond even that, I'm grateful for the freedom we have because of someone who went before us and died on the cross for us 2,000 plus years ago, where we have a soul level freedom that as far surpasses any temporal freedom we do have here. And so I want to acknowledge the freedom we do have to gather, but acknowledge the freedom that we have in Christ to continue to go deeper and serve this community and share that good news with the world. And so I'm just grateful for where God has placed us. And we better not take it for granted. We have a long way to go. But I'm grateful for where God has placed us as here in the United States, and grateful to worship together each and every week without fear of persecution. And it's just a grace to be here. And so I just wanted to acknowledge that lastly too, it is family month of worship. You might hear some kiddos that are a little bit louder than general. We're all for it. And so first service, we had a good amount of elementary kindergartners and UP and students here in the room. But we are grateful because you are part of this church. You're not meant to be siloed out. You are part of this body. And we are grateful that you're here worshiping with us.
[00:01:44] And so now, diving into the text, I'm sure you have heard the phrase within culture, within your life, seeing is believing.
[00:01:52] Have you not? Like, we grow up in a community, in a culture and really the United States where like we have, if you're in science class and you grow up, what do you have to prove a hypothesis through direct evidence. And so we are formed from young age to now to what we see. We must see it to believe it. I mean, we have shows on TV that are formed around this premise. Here's one for us. Anyone know what this is?
[00:02:19] Is it cake? There we go.
[00:02:21] Is it cake? The whole idea of is it cake? Is to see which one is actually cake, because all of them look real. Like, I cannot even bake a regular cake, let alone this stuff. But you have. The whole premise of the show is to find out, to identify which one is actually cake. And once you're looking at it, you're like, they can't. They're all real, right? But once you pick one, once they slice into it, you. And then you were like, oh, that is cake. And once you see it, you believe it.
[00:02:49] Or if you're a kiddo in the room or student or even an adult that has kiddos, many of you know this show, right?
[00:02:57] Do perfect, right?
[00:02:59] How many of you have questioned whether these shots are actually real?
[00:03:03] Right? I'm just like.
[00:03:05] I'm questioned whether they are real. But there's hundreds and hundreds of attempts before these videos are actually made. I always ask myself, how can they still be so excited at the actual attempt that's made, right? But if we were in the room, we would actually be more believable to see it, to see how it played out, because we are seeing as believing type people.
[00:03:27] Or. My family had the opportunity about a month and a half ago to go to the Grand Canyon, like you can. I had heard about the Grand Canyon my whole life.
[00:03:36] I had heard about the weightiness, the beauty of standing beside it and what you feel and what you experience. But I had heard about it, but until I was actually there, until I saw it and never really understood it. Why? Because I'm a seeing as believing type person. And once you're there, you do feel the gravity of it, and you do feel the weightiness of it. And you're like, this can't just be happened. This is designed. And so you feel the weightiness. But we had to see it to believe it.
[00:04:04] You see, by our default, we are seeing is believing people. In order for us to trust something, understand it, really get it, we often have to say to see it, to believe it.
[00:04:15] You see, with the scripture that the booths just read, in Luke 24, we see two characters that really are coming down saying, hey, we have to see it to believe it. And Jesus on this road, they don't even know it's him comes in and wants to transform them from seeing as believing people to believing leads to true sight people.
[00:04:35] And we need to be those people today. Not just to say, hey, we saw it, then we believe it. No God calls us to deeper, to believe the whole truth of God, God's word, and then become the ones who really actually see.
[00:04:47] Because we're gonna find out on the road to the table how Jesus walks with them, how patient he is with them in their confusion and their disappointment. But how.
[00:04:57] The thing is, they had incomplete belief that he wants to open them up, open their eyes, to truly see through, believing the whole word of God. And so we're gonna unpack that today in Luke 24. So if you have your Bibles turn there. Luke 24:13 through 35.
[00:05:15] Kids, if you are in the room and you have an idea about what the Gospels are, here's a lesson for you if you don't know. There are accounts that tell about Jesus, about his life, about his. How he walked with other people, how they experienced him, but they ultimately tell about his death on the cross and his resurrection.
[00:05:35] And where we find ourselves at in this table series on this day is really at the very first Easter, mere hours after Jesus rises from the grave.
[00:05:48] You see, they had spoken in the scriptures in Luke 24 about a few women have seen him, and word starts spreading around and others come to check out the empty tomb and words, but they don't see that Jesus is there anymore.
[00:06:05] You see, these women saw him, but these other people didn't. Is Jesus actually alive?
[00:06:11] Is this actually true what the women have said?
[00:06:15] Because our friends saw an empty tomb, but not Jesus, they didn't see it. And what we find out is they didn't believe it.
[00:06:23] And so now you have these two characters in Luke 24. One is named Cleopas and one is an unnamed party.
[00:06:31] And they are on the seven mile road from Jerusalem back to their hometown in Emmaus and walking back. And that would be around a two to three hour walk. So that's a lot of talk time, right?
[00:06:42] Just to simply talk on the way back. But as they're walking, what happens? We see that this, we know him to be Jesus walks with them, but they have no recognition that this is actually Jesus.
[00:06:54] God sovereignly works to blind their eyes in that moment. And that's done with purpose.
[00:07:00] And so they're walking back and they're discussing all the things that have happened.
[00:07:06] And then this guy shows up and says, hey, what's going on? And Cleopatra's like, are you joking, right?
[00:07:12] Do you not know what has happened?
[00:07:16] But here are words that really matter in this text. In verse 17, it says, and they stood still, looking sad.
[00:07:25] Why does this matter? Why do these words matter?
[00:07:28] Why are these Words included. And what does Jesus want them and us to understand from this today?
[00:07:34] I think one of the things on the road to the table that we should see is Jesus patiently walks with their confusion and walks with our confusion.
[00:07:42] Jesus walks with their confusion and walks with our confusion. You see, that's why I love Jesus so much. He's teaching in this moment.
[00:07:52] He asks what's going on. Just think about that. Jesus, the one who. The whole story is about, the one who walked through this, walks up to them. They're blinded. But he already knows the whole story, right?
[00:08:02] He already knows the events that have transpired, but he enters into where they are and what they're feeling and what they're experiencing in this moment. And in verse 19 through 21, it states this in the story.
[00:08:18] And he said to them, what things? Jesus said that. And they said to him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. But here is the statement. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
[00:08:51] You see? What do we see from this response from Cleopas to this man on the road who they didn't recognize?
[00:08:59] You see, we know they are sad, but from delivering of this news, we see disappointment in and through Cleopas. We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. We had hoped. Not anymore. We don't have it in the Greek. That's the imperfect tense, which means we had been hoping.
[00:09:18] Our hope was our lives were built around this hope that he was going to redeem Israel.
[00:09:24] But here's the thing.
[00:09:26] Their idea of redemption was based on their vision, not Jesus. The full truth of that vision.
[00:09:33] You see, their hope was built on their idea of what redeeming Israel meant. A freedom from their current circumstance, a freedom from the present struggle they're under and the persecution they're experiencing by the Romans.
[00:09:47] That's like an entirely human response, is it not?
[00:09:51] Like we had hoped freedom from the present trials and hardships and tribulation. Now our hope's dead. It's gone.
[00:09:59] And so they're saddened, they're disappointed, they're confused. Their hope appears to be dead.
[00:10:05] How many of us have had similar moments in our lives outside of Christ, but also in relationship with God, where we had moments of sadness and confusion?
[00:10:16] Students in this room, maybe you thought of and you had seen growing up, parents fighting, and it's like, how does this good Your grandparents that are walking through disease or illness and things, and you're like, how? Like, I'd hoped that I'd get time with them or adults in the room. I had hoped my marriage would be easier than this.
[00:10:41] I thought it was gonna be easier.
[00:10:43] I had hoped that my job would have worked out like this. I had hoped my family construction would have happened this way, and it's not happening this way. I had hoped my children would follow Jesus. And they're not.
[00:10:57] You see how we viewed seeing our circumstance or outcome of what we thought should be shaped our view of Jesus.
[00:11:07] Like, we have all asked similar questions and responded in similar ways as Cleopas did not seeing, which leads to ultimately not believing and questioning God and his goodness. How can God really be good? We had hoped he'd redeem. We thought he was a prophet.
[00:11:26] But don't miss the compassion of Jesus in this moment.
[00:11:30] You see, he already knows their disappointment.
[00:11:33] He already knows their confusion. He even understands their misunderstanding beneath it.
[00:11:39] Yet instead of interrupting them, what does he do? He asks, hey, what happened? Like he already knows.
[00:11:46] Not because he needs more facts, but because hurting people need someone that will listen.
[00:11:52] Jesus is patient in walking with their confusion and with our confusion. And Jesus walks the road to beside them before he corrects them.
[00:12:03] Cheers. The challenge for us in this.
[00:12:07] As we walk through this life, confusion has a way of shaping our view of Jesus.
[00:12:13] When life doesn't unfold the way we had hoped, we don't just question our circumstances, we begin to question Jesus and who God is in his character. Do we not like this didn't happen this way? God, how can you be good?
[00:12:28] God, I'm not seeing this outcome in my life where this is really, really stinking hard. How can you be good?
[00:12:35] But here's the thing.
[00:12:38] We start interpreting Jesus through our disappointment instead of interpreting our disappointment through Jesus.
[00:12:45] And that's where it gets mixed wrong.
[00:12:48] And that's exactly what is happening with Cleopas here.
[00:12:52] You see, Jesus is standing right in front of him, but all he can see is a failed prophet instead of a risen Savior.
[00:12:59] His circumstances have become louder than God's promises.
[00:13:03] But Jesus patiently walks with their confusion. And he patiently walks with us in our confusion and disappointment and sadness, because that's who he is.
[00:13:15] That's this God that we get to serve.
[00:13:18] That's the Savior.
[00:13:20] Jesus patiently walks in their confusion, in ours.
[00:13:25] But even deeper than that, Jesus goes far more deeper.
[00:13:29] He says it says this and we'll unpack this a little bit.
[00:13:33] He loves them too much as to say, hey, you're good in your confusion and sadness. No, he corrects them.
[00:13:39] He corrects them.
[00:13:41] He doesn't simply comfort Cleopas in the confusion. He lovingly confronts the beliefs underneath it.
[00:13:49] And that's where the road becomes a classroom. And the second point I want to put before us in the scripture today is Jesus opens the scriptures so we can truly see. You see, before Jesus opens their eyes, he opens the Scriptures before he reveals his face, he reveals God's plan, and he opens the scriptures so that we can truly see.
[00:14:10] Maybe like some of you or some kids in the audience, while I was growing up, I tested my parents patience a lot.
[00:14:16] I was a rebellious child.
[00:14:19] There's no kiddos in here that ever rebel against their parents whatsoever. Never once, right? Parents are like, please, do you know my children? Right?
[00:14:28] But my parents were incredibly gracious and patient with me.
[00:14:33] But they also loved to not leave me where I was.
[00:14:37] They corrected me.
[00:14:39] Sometimes it was with a conversation.
[00:14:43] Other times they take this thing out called the belt, right? And when I saw that belt, game over. I'm like, yes, ma'. Am.
[00:14:50] Yes, sir. No, I didn't. I was from New York. I didn't say that I lied.
[00:14:56] But I saw that belt or my mom would threaten me with a bar of soap. And it was like, game over. I'm. I'm just going to get in line because I knew correction was coming. Now, CPS would be called if a belt was brought up, you know? So anyways, sometimes it was with consequences, like I said.
[00:15:14] But every correction had the same purpose.
[00:15:18] They weren't trying to punish me for punishment's sake, but to help me see what I couldn't see on my own.
[00:15:25] Like, I thought I was right all the time. And my parents were wrong. Obviously they're wrong as a kid, right?
[00:15:32] And so I thought my frustration with them was justified.
[00:15:36] I thought I could talk any way to my parents and there shouldn't be correction, fact and lie. And I learned that the hard way a lot of times, right? I thought my words weren't a big deal, but my parents knew better because they loved me. They pointed me back towards the truth.
[00:15:55] And that's exactly what Jesus does with Cleopas here. He doesn't just say, hey, guys, see, it's me. He doesn't just reveal himself in this moment to these people travelers. He patiently, compassionately, but intentionally corrects them from their incomplete belief.
[00:16:13] Look at the words in verse 25 of this text, after they get done sharing all these things with Jesus again, they don't know it's Jesus. Jesus says to them, o foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe. All the prophets have spoken.
[00:16:33] You see, now I'm grateful Jesus. We read that and we're like, jesus is harsh. No, he's not saying it in that harsh tone, but he is being direct.
[00:16:41] He's saying, cleopas, you missed it.
[00:16:44] You're missing the point of the whole story.
[00:16:49] You don't fully understand the whole point of the Moses and the prophets.
[00:16:56] And this is what's fun that happens next.
[00:17:00] He doesn't just say, hey, hey, Cleopas, here's one more miracle for you.
[00:17:04] Because that would be seeing, right? That changes sight. Hey, you know, he doesn't say, man. Jesus doesn't say to them, if only I had, you know, fed 6,000 people instead of 5,000, maybe CLEOPAs would have believed more. No, no, he doesn't even say, hey, Cleopas, look at my scars, look at my hands. Like he does with Thomas, right?
[00:17:24] He says in the scripture, it says, what? Slow of heart to believe. All the prophets have spoken. Their problem wasn't seeing or a lack of evidence. It was incomplete belief. They believed some of God's promises, but not all of them.
[00:17:40] You see, here's what Cleopas would have believed.
[00:17:44] They were holding to the Messiah reigning here and now and forevermore, not to face any harsh punishment.
[00:17:52] They were expecting a crown of gold for a king that would usher in their new freedom from Rome. And so they could march with one, march with Jesus over Rome.
[00:18:03] But what did they forget?
[00:18:07] That although the Messiah would reign, they forgot the Messiah would also suffer.
[00:18:13] That although he would get a crown, it would be a crown of thorns and a cross. That that was all he had to go through to be the full on king of kings.
[00:18:24] That they were looking for temporal freedom. And so I don't want you to hold to the freedoms of America here, but hold to the freedoms that is truly found at a soul level through Jesus Christ.
[00:18:38] They had incomplete belief and that hindered them from truly seeing.
[00:18:43] And what does Jesus do to correct them? Does he berate them and say, well, he says, oh, foolish ones. Right.
[00:18:51] Does he show them more evidence? No, but he interprets the scripture so that they can truly see. Imagine that. Like Jesus doing this with these two. Like, that's the best Bible study that's gonna ever happen right there, right?
[00:19:05] It says, from Moses to the prophets.
[00:19:09] He interprets that all the things concerning himself.
[00:19:13] So Moses and the Exodus and how that pointed towards a greater freedom that was just a foretaste of the ultimate freedom Jesus would provide. Or you know, the Passover lamb. Guys, do you understand? Like that is a foreshadowing of me that my blood was spilled so you your sin could be covered by another.
[00:19:30] Or guys, you know Psalm 22 where it says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That would be a prophecy that pointed forward to what just happened at the cross.
[00:19:41] Or Isaiah 53 where it says here he surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, but he was pierced for our transgressions. It goes on to say what Jesus was doing is showing Cleopas and his friend that all of the Old Testament patterns and prophets all pointed forward to Jesus, the one that was walking with them. But they still didn't know.
[00:20:03] You see, these travelers thought they needed to see their preferred picture or their idea of the outcome that then they would believe. But Jesus knew they needed a far deeper understanding of the scriptures that informed their right belief.
[00:20:17] See, the same holds true for us. And it's what my prayer for us is as a people, kiddos that are in the room.
[00:20:27] It's why we want you to hold to the Word and we sing these songs that often come with hand motions. Back in grace kids, right?
[00:20:35] But undergirding all of those songs is scripture that point you back to the greatness and the promises of God and who Jesus is.
[00:20:42] That's why our volunteers and grace kids spend time going through the stuff that we get. So we can point you back towards how the brokenness of sin, but how Jesus has redeemed and rescued you if you trust in him.
[00:20:57] That's why for our students we're continuing to think of how can we disciple you to hold to the word of God and understand its promises, understand the prophecies and what it about Jesus. On Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights, we wanna point you in deeper into the word of God yourself.
[00:21:12] In college and young adults, I love the fact that we have ministries like Boathouse in our community that point you back to Jesus more and more and more.
[00:21:21] And young adults, we're continuing to think of ways to engage you with where you are, but all standing on the word of God and adults. It's why we put so much time and effort in even having men's bible studies at 6:00am I, I lead one at 6:00am I don't know why, but I'm here at 6:00am on Wednesdays. If you wanna join, feel free. We got 15 of us. We wanna welcome you. Right. It's why we have book clubs in the summer. Our women do. Or the Philippian series they're doing in the fall.
[00:21:49] It's why we sing songs based on the word of God, not based on our feeling, but based on the Word of God. It's why we teach each and every week from this book, because we want you to become creatures of the Word yourself, to understand what we are holding to, to understand the promises of God, the character of him. He's a God that can be trusted.
[00:22:13] He's a God of love that pursues.
[00:22:16] It's why we want to put the full word of God before you. We want to help fan belief that leads to truly seeing God yourself and your place in his story.
[00:22:28] And just like Cleopas and this friend, we need the Word that teaches us, that reproves us, that trains us for righteousness, that we may be equipped for every good work to walk in this world, through this world.
[00:22:44] So on the road to this table, Jesus patiently walks in their sadness and their disappointment with them. But he corrects them by opening up the Word so that they can begin to truly see.
[00:23:00] And then they get to Emmaus, they get to the table, and at the table, Jesus opens their eyes and sends them out.
[00:23:11] Jesus opens their eyes and sends them out.
[00:23:16] Verse 28 to 35 says, so they drew near to the village to which they were going.
[00:23:22] He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.
[00:23:32] So he went in to stay with them.
[00:23:35] When he was at the table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
[00:23:41] And their eyes were opened and they recognized him. And I love this part. And he vanished from their sight, right?
[00:23:49] Teleported away.
[00:23:51] They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?
[00:24:00] And they rose that same hour and they returned to Jerusalem and they found the 11. And those who were with them gathered together, saying, the Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared. To Simon and Cleopas and this unnamed person. They told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
[00:24:20] So we're in Emmaus.
[00:24:22] They spent hours with this person they don't know, but now they're at a table they've listened to probably again, the greatest Bible study ever given.
[00:24:32] Jesus acts as if he's going on, but he knows what's gonna come? He stays at the table, eats with them. He breaks the bread, blesses it and gives it to them.
[00:24:41] But what does it say next after he breaks the bread and blesses it and gives it to him? In that moment, their eyes were opened.
[00:24:52] The one they thought was gone had been walking beside them all along.
[00:24:58] The one they thought had failed had actually fulfilled everything. The scriptures that they understood now promised.
[00:25:06] The one they thought had stopped hoping in was Hope himself beside them at the table. And again, Jesus being Jesus, he vanishes.
[00:25:16] Can you imagine that moment for a second eating at that table with Jesus? And that happens.
[00:25:22] Jesus is no longer there. You think the first thing they're saying, hey, man, that was the best. He walked with us. Best sermon ever given, right?
[00:25:31] They don't say, hey, we've got so much more information now.
[00:25:37] They don't even say, hey, now we understand the Old Testament a little bit better than we did before.
[00:25:43] No, they say, didn't our hearts burn within us while he walked with us on the road, while he opened the Scriptures before us? His presence changed the climate of that room and transformed them. In that moment, they started to burn and become alive.
[00:26:06] And here, before I, before we take communion together in a minute church. That's what the word of God should do in us.
[00:26:15] It doesn't merely fill our minds with information. It should set our hearts on fire within us for affections for Jesus.
[00:26:26] It doesn't simply make us smarter Christians and more informed. It should make us worshipers on our knees crying out of, how have we been welcomed in this story we don't deserve?
[00:26:38] Because the Gospel is the only thing that can take confused, disappointed, fearful people and begin to awaken them to the beauty of who Christ is.
[00:26:49] That's what the word of God should do.
[00:26:53] Not our. Our hearts burn within us because the presence of God was walking by them. And we can know a relationship with God because of what Jesus has done. The one who walking beside them, we get to know personally.
[00:27:06] And here's what I love even more.
[00:27:09] The burning heart doesn't just stay at the table.
[00:27:14] It doesn't just stay at the table. Look at what happens next. It says they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.
[00:27:21] They went back. Think about that. Like, they just had gone seven miles and, and they had walked and it's now evening and now they're going back seven miles. Like, I don't know if that's barefoot in their sandals, but they're like urgently running back now.
[00:27:37] They have been set on fire because they've encountered the risen king and they can't do anything.
[00:27:44] They don't say, hey, you know what, maybe tomorrow we'll go back.
[00:27:48] Maybe tomorrow we'll have or, you know, in a day from now, after we've rested and hung out. No, they went back with an urgency to. To share everything that they had experienced and that they had learned and who they had encountered the risen king.
[00:28:02] And they met up with the 11 and said, hey, you saw the Lord risen too? We did too. And they couldn't help but live urgently to share this great news that they served a risen king because they understood something that we need to understand in this room today too.
[00:28:20] Once we have truly seen Jesus, we can't help but tell others what we have found to that's our calling to is the church.
[00:28:32] My heart for us as a. As a body is to pastor you for Monday, to shepherd you with Monday in mind.
[00:28:42] Like, you're not going back to your Jerusalem isn't. Like, it might not be here an actual Jerusalem is. It is your. Your maybe your home, maybe with your family.
[00:28:54] Maybe it's the workplace that you. You go to on Monday.
[00:28:58] Maybe it's if you're a kiddo and you're going to Pine Cove or you're going to these different camps, maybe that's gonna be your Jerusalem that you get to bring this good news to. Maybe it's the classes that you're in or the different spaces, the coffee shops that you.
[00:29:12] You go to. Like, what is your Jerusalem that God calls you back to?
[00:29:18] Because each and every Sunday, my heart is for our hearts to be rekindled by the word of God. Our eyes opened even more to his grace or our need for it. And then our feet should carry us back into the places God has already called us to live.
[00:29:32] We should be ascent people because of the great news of encountering Jesus.
[00:29:37] So practically speaking, what if we lived in response to the gospel and Jesus example this week?
[00:29:45] What would it look like in those spaces in our Jerusalem that we go back to?
[00:29:51] And just like Jesus patiently walks with us before correcting us, imagine if even in our marriages we actually listened to the spouse before trying to fix the situation. Guilty, right?
[00:30:03] What if we listened to our co worker who you've heard 9,000 times, and you walked patiently with them instead of trying to correct them and fix them, what if you got the opportunity to be like, hey, I. I hear you. We've been walking together, but let me show you the word and what God's word says about how to walk through this in a Loving way not to beat them over the head with a Bible, but to bring the one who can fix things into it instead of you fixing things.
[00:30:31] We don't need to have all the answers, but they need to meet the one who does.
[00:30:36] What is taking this patience of God, this compassion of God and opening the Word look like in your Monday through Friday? What does it look like for you?
[00:30:45] And I'm grateful we have a savior that's been patient with me, but also died for me.
[00:30:53] And as I think through the story that I've been, that we are a part of it says the days are evil in the Bible. Right.
[00:31:01] What that means is we don't know the time or the hour that he's coming back. But there is a response.
[00:31:06] God is patient with us to a point.
[00:31:09] And we need to respond to the gospel today. And my heart for you is God has been patient with you, but what are you holding onto that's insufficient.
[00:31:19] That's. Maybe it's your disappointment, maybe it's your sadness.
[00:31:22] Where do you find yourself in the story and how are you submitting yourself to the one who. Who actually went before you, took on what you couldn't and died for you and overcame the grave and is patiently now there. What are you doing with that gospel in your life?
[00:31:39] You see, we are usually on the first Sunday of the month. We did it two weeks ago because we talked about the Covenant table. We are invited to a table we don't deserve to be at.
[00:31:50] We were invited to remember, to be a part of a story that we don't have to perform or earn for, but someone did, and that's Jesus. And so you got these communion cups that we are going to celebrate and be reminded of the table today, reminded of the one who is patient with us, the one who we've been called to be reminded of today. And so what I want to do, the team's going to come out and I want us just to take 30 seconds may feel like an eternity in the space, but I want to take 30 seconds just to remember maybe how in your life Jesus has been patient with you in your sadness and disappointment.
[00:32:26] Maybe you need to be reminded today of how you need to walk with someone in patience and God needs to convict you of that.
[00:32:33] And maybe you don't even know Jesus. And I'm asking you to skip over taking the communion today, but I want us to take 30 seconds just to dwell on the goodness of God displayed in Jesus. And we'll take the communion elements together just to be reminded of the table that Jesus shed his blood and broke his body for us to be a part of. So let us take a few seconds to remember that today.
[00:33:21] Thank you, jesus.
[00:33:26] Paul, in First Corinthians 11, he is writing to these Corinthians who are full of themselves, who are living in this chaotic state and bringing a reminder, remembrance today of what Jesus has done and what he has brought life in order to he calls them to remember the table, to remember what Jesus has done, he says.
[00:33:54] Paul says this in reminding of the Last Supper. It says, for I received from the Lord what I also deliver to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you.
[00:34:12] Do this in remembrance of me. Church, let us take the bread together.
[00:34:20] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:34:23] Thank you. God goes on to say in the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup, this cup is the new covenant, the new covenant that he earns. We don't the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Church, family, let's take the cup today together.
[00:34:59] God, I thank you.
[00:35:01] I thank you that you have been patient with us, that before Christ even came, you were patient and at just the right time. You sent Jesus, the one who patiently walked with Cleopas, who in his patiently walked with us and walked this life. You did it perfectly and you ultimately paid your life for my sin on that cross, our sin on that cross. But you defeated death, sin and the grave, and it couldn't hold you down. And now we get to live in light of that gospel message today. But we must receive it.
[00:35:37] We must submit to it.
[00:35:39] We must understand that this whole world, this whole story, points to you as the hero and not us.
[00:35:47] That though in this world we will have sadness and disappointment, we can take heart because you have overcome the world.
[00:35:54] Let us, our hearts be reminded of that today that you are the King of Kings, you are the Lord of Lords, and we are not.
[00:36:03] And let us not just walk in this life just like this is just a great decision that we made. God fan our hearts, rekindle our hearts, the flame in us. To be reminded that we live as people on fire, on fire of what you have done for us on the cross that we didn't deserve, but on fire to share this great message of hope with a world that is dying and that is lost.
[00:36:26] God, we need you. And apart from you we are nothing. Help remind us of our great need and your great love.
[00:36:34] And God, we thank you that you are King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and we are not.
[00:36:39] And we need you and we love you. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you for walking with us and help us be. Believing is seeing people, not seeing is believing people. And it's only by your Holy Spirit can we do that. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Church Let us stand and sing in response to the word today.
