Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] So we got some really cool decorations.
[00:00:02] I don't know if you noticed them yet, but they're up here.
[00:00:06] What I'm super excited about is what we got coming up this week with Summer Ignite is just really an illustration of the body of Christ because there have been a lot of people over the past few weeks that have stepped in and helped Sarah and Jen out and decorating and setting stuff up, cutting things, tying things, doing a bunch of stuff. And so we're just grateful for the way that you guys have served in that capacity. And then also last week we had many volunteers that helped us out with salt over in Palestine. And it was just awesome just to see God's grace there. And just a variety of people who gave up their week, gave up a little bit of sleep.
[00:00:42] A lot of bit of sleep, A lot of sleep. So it was just really good. So I'm just grateful for that. It's just a great picture of the body of Christ just working together, you know, for the sake of discipleship. So it means a lot to me to be able to witness that. I also want to make you aware of another thing that we can be in prayer about. It's a body of Christ thing.
[00:00:58] So this upcoming Sunday, the 14th, will be the Sunday where we affirm the 2026, 2027 budget. It's our fiscal year starts July of 26 and ends June of 27. And so if you are interested in finding out more information about that as a member, you can go to gcc.org affirmation or look in the Grace app and if you have questions, you can contact the stewardship office and just ask those. Last week, one of the neat things that Brad brought up that was really powerful is that putting together a church budget, especially for a church with five campuses, is not something that's done at random.
[00:01:35] It's very deliberate, prayerful, thoughtful, intentional. And the staff and the stewardship board and the executive elders get together and really pray through those things. And part of what we think about with our budget is the people, the programs and the operations of what we do as a church. And so for the next year, the proposed budget will be 7.6 million. It's a 2.2 increase.
[00:01:59] So just be aware of that 2.2% increase.
[00:02:03] And then here's a cool context piece. Over a year, this makes me excited is over the last year, basically we've grown as a church, as far as people are concerned, 11%.
[00:02:14] The challenge is our giving has only increased 1%. And so I just want to Encourage you. The growth is exciting, it creates some challenges, but one of the things I love is it will take all of us. And it's a body of Christ opportunity. So I want you to be in prayer for that. Be in prayer for what God is doing among our students and our children. And then continue to pray for our country, how the leadership of our country has a call and responsibility. And we pray that God would lead them with his wisdom and discernment. So let's do that together.
[00:02:42] Father, in Jesus name, we are grateful for this moment that we as brothers and sisters get to bring up things that really are part of what we do as the body of Christ, extensions of one another, Lord, where we get to serve you in the way that you've blessed us. And so we thank you for the work that has been done and will continue to happen as a result of Salt last week. We thank you for the opportunity ahead of us with Summer Ignite. That is an incredible thing that we get to see young kids just invested in and pointed to the hope of who Christ is as the light of the world. And Lord, we pray for our budget that you would bless it, Lord God, use it for your kingdom, for your glory, and Father, for our country that you've placed us in.
[00:03:24] Lord, we ask that you would just help us be good stewards of the opportunity. Praying for our leaders, praying for the government and the decisions they make. Lord, we thank you for this time that we've shared through the book of Ruth. And as we close today, Lord, help us see the good news of the gospel in this story and apply it to our lives. Father, we thank you for this. In Jesus name, Amen.
[00:03:46] So if you were just to kind of like stop after reading Ruth chapter one and just see the story of Ruth and Naomi there, you probably would never imagine how the story would turn out, how it would flesh out. And if you were to look at your own present circumstances, especially during your darkest time, it'd be hard to see God moving in a way like he has.
[00:04:10] What if, like the very chapter of your life, the part of the story that you wish you could erase, is the very chapter that God intends to display for his glory, to show his grace more clearly. What if it's that part of your story that you're most embarrassed about is the part of the story that God wants to do something miraculous through?
[00:04:33] And that's what we see in this.
[00:04:35] What I love if you were here a few weeks ago in Ruth 1. After suffering devastating loss of her husband, Ruth demonstrates extraordinary faith and covenant loyalty by leaving her own homeland to follow Naomi, her mother in law, who lost her husband and two sons, and for Ruth to trust in the God of Israel, setting the stage for God's redemptive work.
[00:05:01] And then in chapter two, God providentially guides Ruth to the field of Boaz, where, it says she happens to go to the field of Boaz, where his kindness and generosity toward her reveal God's faithful care for Naomi and for Ruth in their time of need.
[00:05:18] Then in chapter three, following Naomi's guidance, Ruth humbly seeks Boaz's protection, his refuge that he offers, and redemption. And Boaz responds with integrity and compassion, committing to pursue her redemption according to God's law. And then we get to chapter four, and at the beginning we see Boaz is going to the town gate, gathering the nearer kinsman, redeemer and 10 elders as witnesses, and he's convening a formal legal meeting to settle the matter of redeeming Naomi's property and redeeming Ruth.
[00:05:54] The city gate is a place where they would conduct civic and legal just handlings, anything to do with the law, where witnesses would gather, contracts were established, judgments were rendered, and covenant transactions were formally conducted at this place.
[00:06:10] And it's with that in mind that we pick up in verse three of chapter four, look at this with me. Then he said, this is Boaz to the Redeemer. Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.
[00:06:28] So I thought I would tell you of it and say, buy it in the presence of these sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people, if you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not tell me that, I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it. And I come after you essentially in order to redeem it.
[00:06:51] And he said, this unnamed Redeemer, I will redeem it.
[00:06:58] And everybody celebrates, right? If you know the story. Then Boaz said, well, that's cool. That's great, man. Cool, cool, cool. So the day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth, the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance.
[00:07:17] And then the other Redeemer's like, wait a minute, okay.
[00:07:22] Then the Redeemer said, and this is the Redeemer that many of us have been depending on, putting our life and hope into, not realizing that that Redeemer cannot do it. He says, I cannot redeem it for myself.
[00:07:37] Why?
[00:07:38] Lest I impair my own inheritance or lest I impede on my personal dreams, my agenda. So he says, I can't redeem it. Take my right hand, take my right. Redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.
[00:07:55] What's awesome here is Boaz publicly secured the right to redeem Naomi's land and marry Ruth through a legally witnessed transaction. This is public done, ensuring that Elimelech and Mahlon's family line and inheritance would be preserved in Israel. He does this work. The elders and people of Bethlehem blessed Boaz and Ruth. They began praising and blessing them, praying that God would bless the and make their marriage fruitful and honorable like Israel's founding families, and that their descendants would establish a lasting legacy.
[00:08:30] The thing I love here, that we get to see this glimpse of this person and their characteristics is that Boaz bears the cost, despite what it really cost him.
[00:08:40] He restores the inheritance of Elimelech.
[00:08:44] He protects the helpless and acts out of covenant love, willing to do what the other Redeemer would not do.
[00:08:54] What I love in this story is hope is no longer merely possible, it's actually established. It's seen and known.
[00:09:03] And then we get to verse 13.
[00:09:06] So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife and he went into her and the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son. And then the women said to Naomi, blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a Redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel. He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age for your daughter in law. And I want you to see this key statement for your daughter in law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons has given birth to him.
[00:09:42] That proclamation of praise that they give to Ruth here really is powerful.
[00:09:48] They're essentially saying the fact that you seven sons that you could have had that would have done the job of caring for you as a widow, they couldn't do nearly as much as your daughter in law has done for you.
[00:10:01] That's powerful.
[00:10:03] Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, a son has been born to Naomi.
[00:10:14] They named him Obed, which means servant of the Lord. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now these are the generations of Perez. Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon father Salmon or Salmon. It's kind of a fishy name. Whatever. And Salmon. Father Boaz. Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse and Jesse fathered David.
[00:10:44] What I love is that we get to see that God's redemption is never merely a transaction.
[00:10:50] It's restorative. It restores people to their family, community, to one another, and covenant blessing. And this little baby, Obed, which isn't mentioned much in scripture as far as his storyline, he's more than a baby. For Naomi, he's the redeemer of her family line. For Ruth and Boaz, he's the fruit of covenant faithfulness for Israel. He becomes part of God's larger redemptive plan. He's the child that embodies God's provision for both the present and the future in him. As he breathes, every breath he takes is a testimony of God's goodness to them.
[00:11:25] What I love here is we got to see in this story of Ruth that started with famine, that ends with harvest. It starts with death and ends with birth. It started in emptiness and ends with fullness.
[00:11:37] It started with blame towards God and ends with praise for God.
[00:11:42] It started with bitterness and ends with joy.
[00:11:45] And it started with pain and it ends in hope.
[00:11:49] Each of these things beautifully display God's redeeming providence, turning sorrow into blessing.
[00:11:57] I love this because God's providence is most visible. And here's the thing for many of us to think about, most visible when we look backwards, when we reflect and process God's grace in our life. How he showed up in so many other people along the way, how what seemed to be coincidence turns out to be God's divine orchestration.
[00:12:20] God's providence is the dominant theme. We see it all throughout these four chapters. There's no miracles, no visions, no dramatic divine speeches from the Lord.
[00:12:30] Instead, what we see is God working through ordinary decisions and ordinary faithful people.
[00:12:35] Everyday relationships, seemingly chance events. And what's powerful is God is always accomplishing more than we can see.
[00:12:47] Individual acts of faithfulness become part of God's redemptive plan for the world. Think about it.
[00:12:54] Those moments where you and I submit our will to God's will and we obey.
[00:12:59] We follow through on the things that God has called us to do. We need to understand that God, in His grace, uses those moments to do something far greater than we can ever imagine in the lives of other people. Little moments of faithfulness. Little moments where you pause in your day to acknowledge what God's doing in the life of someone else. God is using to transform somebody else's life in a way that you never could imagine.
[00:13:25] Yet think about this. Those ordinary events accomplish extraordinary purposes.
[00:13:32] So maybe as you read this story, you identify with Naomi, your life. You're sitting there and it feels like everything you hoped for has been taken away from you.
[00:13:45] The future you imagine is gone.
[00:13:48] The prayers you prayed seem unanswered.
[00:13:51] You're not asking for a better life anymore. You're just hoping to make it through the day.
[00:13:56] And yet, even when you cannot see God's hand, God has not abandoned you.
[00:14:02] His providence, his grace, is still at work in your darkness.
[00:14:09] Maybe you identify with Ruth.
[00:14:12] Your dreams also have been shattered.
[00:14:16] But people still depend on you. There are mouths to feed, responsibilities to carry out, burdens to bear.
[00:14:23] So in the middle of your own grief, you choose faithfulness over self preservation. You choose love when it would be easier just to withdraw.
[00:14:32] You choose obedience when the path ahead is uncertain.
[00:14:36] And God often does some of his greatest work through your ordinary acts of sacrificial love.
[00:14:45] But maybe you're like my dream kind of person. Maybe you're like Boaz.
[00:14:52] You don't need a spotlight, no applause, just the daily decision to honor God where He has placed you.
[00:15:00] One act of integrity, one step of obedience, one expression of kindness after another. You have no idea how God is weaving your faithfulness into the larger story.
[00:15:12] What seems small to you may become part of God's redemptive plan for generations to come.
[00:15:18] I think about one of the people that have been that way for me in my life as a young man.
[00:15:24] Some of you have been around long enough to hear how hard it was for me and just really hard decisions and things like that that I just made a mess of things. I was a rascal, to say the least.
[00:15:35] I would go to this thing at our church called ras. It's like baptized Boy Scouts, essentially.
[00:15:42] Ras, Royal Ambassadors, if you know what I'm talking about. You know I'm right. Okay, here we are. We had, like, patches and badges and everything, a pledge, whatever.
[00:15:51] But I would go. And some of you know that God has blessed me. And I am a Clemson Tiger fan, right?
[00:16:00] Mixed. Mixed results here.
[00:16:02] And Chris Atkinson was one of the backup players for this guy on the defensive line at Clemson back in the early 80s named William the Refrigerator Perry.
[00:16:12] If you're born in the previous century, you probably have heard of him, probably 80s and 70s and 60s and earlier than that, you've heard of him, the Fridge. And Chris Atkinson, though he never really got any playing time because how great the Fridge was.
[00:16:29] He loved Clemson, and I love Clemson. And he would take me to those games and Chris would bring me over to watch he and Sarah and the way that they interacted with their sons.
[00:16:39] And I'm telling you, I am able to be here before you because of a man named Chris Atkinson who was behind the scenes. No spotlight, no applause, just faithful investing in a little rascal kid that couldn't keep his mouth shut, couldn't keep his hands to himself during ras. But he still loved me.
[00:16:59] So either way, I want you to see whether you identify with Ruth, Boaz or Naomi, God is at work even when you cannot see it.
[00:17:08] He is working through sorrow, through faithfulness, through ordinary obedience, and through unexpected relationships. The God who provided a redeemer for Naomi, for Ruth has provided an even greater redeemer for us in Jesus Christ.
[00:17:23] When your story feels broken, unfinished, beyond repair, remember that God's providence is never absent.
[00:17:32] Never absent.
[00:17:34] Also, since we're doing callbacks to a previous generation, there was this guy, a radio personality named Paul Harvey, anybody.
[00:17:45] And this would be a great place for me to finish this part of the Book of Ruth. But as Paul Harvey would say at the end of every story, he would say, now for the rest, thank you, five people. The rest of the story. Everybody else was born in this century.
[00:18:02] The rest of the story. So let's look at the rest of the story. And to do that, we're gonna look in Matthew, chapter one. So if you have your Bibles, check Matthew one with me. And I want you to see something because Matthew gives a little bit more detail than the writer of Ruth does. So look at this with me. This is Matthew, chapter one. This is part of the genealogy that leads to Jesus starting in verse three, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar and Perez, the father of Hezron and Hezron the father of Ram and Ram the father of Menadab and Menadab the father of Nahshon and Nahshon the father of that fishy guy, Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab Circle and Boaz the father of Obad by Ruth and Obad the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.
[00:18:57] If you have read throughout the Book of Ruth, one of the things you noticed back in chapter four, verse 12, was that the elders and those others, the women, they pointed back to Perez when they praised what God had done in Boaz and Ruth, pay attention to that. He was the son that was born through a complicated story with Judah and Tamar.
[00:19:23] So at first it Seems like an odd choice that the writer of Ruth would include the story to celebrate them. Compare them to Perez.
[00:19:32] I mean, why would he highlight a family marked by failure, scandal, and injustice and shame?
[00:19:39] I mean, he could have brought up Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob. He could have brought up anybody else, Noah, but he brought up.
[00:19:50] Well, Tamar's story was marked by scandal, heartbreak, and shame. Like I said, Judah failed her father in law, failed to do what is right.
[00:20:02] And because we have a mixed audience, I would just encourage you to read Genesis 38 so that you know, it's kind of a powerful story that's interjected in the middle of the story of Joseph.
[00:20:13] Because, like, from the mid-20s chapters of Genesis all the way to 50, it's about Joseph. But right there in the Middle, in chapter 38, it does a pause of that story and it says, meanwhile, back at the bat cave, there's Judah and Tamar. I mean, it just. Not truly, but it links over there just for a second and tells this powerful story. And Judah and Tamar have a son named Perez.
[00:20:38] And here's what's powerful. Even in the midst of that brokenness and embarrassment, God redeemed the story and brought Perez from it. The very man through whom the line of David would come.
[00:20:50] Then back to the book of Ruth. Just for a second, imagine Boaz.
[00:20:55] His mother was Rahab.
[00:20:58] Some of you know who she was. Joshua, chapter two lets us know.
[00:21:02] Rahab was the one everybody knew because she was a prostitute in Jericho.
[00:21:09] Boaz grew up hearing the story of his mom. And rather than hiding that part of his family history, God used it to shape Boaz into a man defined by God's grace, because that was his mama.
[00:21:25] Having experienced God's mercy in his own family, Boaz became a man who extended that same kind of mercy to Naomi and Ruth.
[00:21:36] None of them had a clean, impressive resume. You wouldn't have followed them on LinkedIn.
[00:21:45] Yet God's word does not hide their names.
[00:21:49] He doesn't hide their stories.
[00:21:52] He highlights them.
[00:21:55] And that's the point.
[00:21:58] God's grace, greater than our shame, his providence is greater than our failures. His redemption is greater than your brokenness.
[00:22:11] If God can redeem Tamar's scandal, Rahab's past, Ruth's loss, and Judah's failure, then he can redeem your story, too.
[00:22:21] That's the part that we need to cling to. The enemy wants you to believe that your failures, your family history, your regrets and your wounds disqualify you from God's purposes.
[00:22:34] But if anything is hopeful, here is that even in the genealogy of Jesus, right here, in these first like handful of verses that we see in the genealogy of Jesus, the gospel is preached. Even in a genealogy, it says the exact opposite, that Jesus entered a family line filled with sinners so that he could be the one who would save sinners.
[00:23:01] God specializes in taking what appears to be broken, what appears to be embarrassing, what seems to be hopeless, and weaving it into his story of redemption.
[00:23:13] If there's something that each of us need to hear right now, I know I needed to hear this.
[00:23:18] God's grace is not intimidated by your past.
[00:23:29] God's grace is not intimidated by your past.
[00:23:34] God is glorified through redeeming it.
[00:23:39] The message of Ruth is the message of the Gospel, that God delights in taking what seems to be broken, what seems embarrassing and hopeless and beyond repair and transform, transforming it into something that displays his glory.
[00:23:53] When God writes your story, your deepest shame does not get the last word.
[00:23:59] It becomes the backdrop against which God's grace shines brightest.
[00:24:08] There was this Christian artist, still is, he's still alive, Michael Card.
[00:24:14] And he has a song that, I mean, he's got a bunch of cool songs, but one of them, come lift up your sorrows.
[00:24:25] All the things that you would be ashamed of. Come lift them up.
[00:24:32] And then he says, bring your wounds, for he's wounded too.
[00:24:43] What I would encourage, as your brother, is as we see this story of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz, hopefully you're able to see you that God is able to redeem and ransom all that has gone on in your life and to do something far greater for his glory than you could ever imagine.
[00:25:04] But you've got to be willing to hand it over.
[00:25:13] Many of us are depending on that other Redeemer that doesn't even name his name.
[00:25:19] And he keeps saying, but you keep giving to him, I cannot redeem, but you keep handing it back to him.
[00:25:26] What if you handed it to the Redeemer who wants to redeem you, who desires to take that from you, who desires to change and transform your life?
[00:25:38] What if you did that?
[00:25:40] And so what I want to do is pray for us. Pray that God in his grace would take this moment where we as brothers and sisters get to consider and contemplate his mercy being shown to us through the work of Christ.
[00:25:51] And what if we actually did surrender it to him?
[00:25:54] After the service, our elders are going to be up here. They would love to pray for you if you need it. It would be their joy to do it.
[00:26:01] I just want to take a moment for us to consider and contemplate God's mercy and grace that he's shown us in Christ Jesus. Let's do this together.
[00:26:10] Father, in Jesus name, we thank you for this, for your mercy, for your kindness. For you.
[00:26:27] Lord God, for you not being intimidated by our past.
[00:26:32] Lord, I praise you for the fact that you love us.
[00:26:35] I pray that your spirit would soften our hearts and draw us to a place of confession and repentance where we follow after you completely.
[00:26:44] Lord, I pray that you would use what we've learned today, Lord God, to really affect not just our lives, but the lives of those around us.
[00:26:52] That we would steward this story not just for our own good, but for the good of those that we know.
[00:26:58] Lord, we thank you for this. We trust you. We pray these things in Jesus name, Amen. Please stand as we sing.
