Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] It's a joy to be with you this morning to dive into God's word together, to study this text.
[00:00:07] Michael talked about Ruth 1 last week and I have been assigned Ruth 2, Ruth 3 and Ruth 4. So we have a lot to cover. We have a lot to cover, but it's family day of worship.
[00:00:21] Everybody's in here.
[00:00:23] I'm glad that you're in the room. The Book of Ruth is Old Testament historical narrative, which means it's a true story of something that happened a long time ago to God's people.
[00:00:34] It's also not just any kind of true story, but it is a true love story.
[00:00:41] And we will read about the love between Naomi and her daughter in law, Ruth. We will also read about the love story between Ruth and Boaz. But there is a secret, hidden third love story that we must pay close attention to.
[00:00:57] We can miss it if we don't.
[00:00:59] It is truly the most important love story of all time. It is the love story between God and his people.
[00:01:08] This morning, my hope, my prayer is as the story washes over you, as this story is recounted and told over you, that it would be a refreshing, restful testimony of God's loving kindness towards his people.
[00:01:26] God's loving kindness towards his people. I don't know what your week or summer or year or life has looked like, but my hope is, as I say, that that's where we're going, that you would feel encouraged that this morning we're gonna hear a story of God's loving kindness towards his people. But we will also be challenged because God's kindness to us is not meant to stop with us.
[00:01:57] God's kindness to us is not meant to stop with us. I want every person in the room to think about that for a second.
[00:02:09] God's kindness to you is not meant to stop with you. God's kindness, his love for you is an amazing encouragement, but it doesn't stop there.
[00:02:20] It pours out of you to others. And as we read about these characters in this story, they're going to represent for us God's loving kindness to one another. And here's what's awesome, is we're invited into that too.
[00:02:32] We are invited to be a reflection of God's loving kindness to others. Because this is Old Testament historical narrative. I'm gonna ask you to keep two things in front of you as we read this. I want you to look out for two parts in this story. I want you to look out for people that remind you of yourself or other people you know.
[00:02:51] So where do you See us in this story. And I want you to look out for things that remind you of Jesus.
[00:02:58] Those are your assignments as we go through this, this story today.
[00:03:02] Look out for things that remind you of your story, someone else's story that you know, and look out for things that remind you of Jesus.
[00:03:10] When we leave this room, having heard this story, I'm praying that we leave with the right ordering of Christian priorities. Let's leave with joy that as we leave the room this morning, we would leave with joy.
[00:03:25] And joy is a word that's going to give us a picture of the right ordering of Christian priorities. So every one of you, if you're coloring right now, look at the screen for me for just a second.
[00:03:36] Joy is Jesus and his kingdom through. First, others next, yourself last.
[00:03:47] It's good, right? Yourself last.
[00:03:50] Jesus and his kingdom first, others next, yourself last. My hope and prayer is as we look at this story. We see a little bit of this in Ruth and Boaz's story as well as Naomi's.
[00:04:04] Ruth, Chapter one Just a quick recap from last week. The story is set in a time when the Judges ruled.
[00:04:12] The book of Ruth is meant to be a stark contrast to the book of Judges. A week ago, Michael talked about this contract and just. Or contrast. And just to be clear, the story of Ruth, the story that we're reading, this story takes place during the time of Judges, not that it was written during the time of Judges. It takes place during the time of Judges. And that's important because this is a tragic time for God's people.
[00:04:39] It is a tragic time for God's people when the Judges ruled God's people had gone from triumph to tragedy. And Ruth is a story of God's people moving from tragedy to triumph.
[00:04:54] Ruth and the relationships around her are a beautiful bright spot of God's people living like God's people.
[00:05:05] Ruth and the people around her are a story of God's people living like God's people and the blessing that comes from it ultimately leading to the family line arriving at Jesus the Great Redeemer.
[00:05:20] Ruth is King David's. Many of you know the character David. King David's. Ruth is King David's great grandmother. And David's line leads to Jesus.
[00:05:31] So let's get into the story. A family. A mom, a dad and two sons leave a town named Bethlehem because the town was running out of food. Ironically, Bethlehem means house of bread and there was none.
[00:05:46] The family goes to the land of Moab, but the dad dies.
[00:05:51] The dad passes away, leaving the mom and two Sons. The two sons get married to women from Moab. And after living there for 10 years.
[00:06:03] This story reads fast. But after living there for 10 years, the two sons die.
[00:06:10] So the mom and wife Naomi is left without her two sons and without her husband.
[00:06:19] It's just her and her two daughters in law.
[00:06:22] And all three of them are grieving.
[00:06:26] They each have experienced great loss.
[00:06:29] I know many of you in the room have experienced great loss.
[00:06:33] Many of you have experienced a time in life that was your Moab. Or maybe you're living in one that is your Moab.
[00:06:41] Many of you have experienced moments where you question, why is God dealing with me in such a bitter way?
[00:06:51] And this is the question that Naomi was asking.
[00:06:54] Maybe you are a daughter in law and you are picturing yourself and your relationship with your mother in law. Those relationships are never easy to begin with.
[00:07:03] But these three are together and at the same time, totally alone.
[00:07:09] Totally alone. I picture my own life. I picture my mom, my dad, my wife and I. My older brother Tyson and his wife. And I picture my dad passing away and then me passing away and then my brother passing away, leaving my mom, my wife and Laura together, but totally alone.
[00:07:33] Naomi decides that she's going to go back to Bethlehem. And she tells her daughters in law that they should return to their homes. She has very kind words for them and she speaks an encouraging prayer over them.
[00:07:45] For them to have rest and for them to find a husband and to continue their life, that God would deal kindly with them. And we get the word Hesed God's kindness that he would deal kindly with them.
[00:08:01] They decide they want to stay with Naomi. But Naomi makes a hard pitch. She says, get out of here. Leave me alone. I'm too old. I can't have another son. If I have another son. You're not going to wait that long anyway.
[00:08:13] Leave. Go finish your life, Find a husband. Get out of here. And one of the daughters in law agrees.
[00:08:21] She says, I will go.
[00:08:23] Which makes sense. We need to be careful not to shame her for this decision. For many of us, if we picture ourselves in that moment, that's a decision that makes sense, to go back home.
[00:08:36] But it does say about her that she will return to her people and her gods. Lowercase g Gods.
[00:08:44] Ruth responds differently.
[00:08:46] She says to Naomi, your people will be my people and your God, my God. She had experienced the people of the one true God. And I believe that she had experienced the loving kindness of the one true God, probably through her deceased husband and his mother, Naomi.
[00:09:09] The people of God being the People of God transforms Ruth's life.
[00:09:18] Ruth fell in love with the God of grace at some point during her time in Moab.
[00:09:27] Have you fallen in love with that God in the midst of your Moab? And whatever it is that makes you to question if God is dealing with you bitterly, have you experienced his grace and his loving kindness? My hope is, as we read this story this morning, as it washes over you, that it would encourage you that God is kind and his love is pursuing you.
[00:09:52] In chapter one, we are introduced to a major theme of Ruth, which is the word hesed, and it could be translated loyalty, faithfulness, devotion, love, kindness. God has said his kindness shows up in many ways at the end of chapter one, but primarily in the form of Ruth's commitment to Naomi, her commitment to go back with her to her people and her God.
[00:10:16] And then we read at the very end that they've returned just in time for the barley harvest.
[00:10:23] It's waiting for them when they get home and they begin to demonstrate how God's kindness is not meant to stop with us.
[00:10:32] I want to remind you of your assignment before we go any further to look for where you see yourself in this story. If it makes you cry, that's okay.
[00:10:41] If it brings you joy, that's okay.
[00:10:45] And where do you see Jesus in this story?
[00:10:48] Have you ever lived in a season of life that felt like your Moab?
[00:10:53] It doesn't have to include literal death.
[00:10:56] Have you ever experienced God's kindness, maybe even through the kindness of another, Maybe even through the kindness of a sacrifice on your behalf?
[00:11:09] The first section of chapter two sees Ruth go to the fields of Boaz, who is a relative of her husband, who of Naomi's husband who passed away. And Boaz is a worthy man. I find the beginning of chapter two a little bit ironic and comical to an extent.
[00:11:27] Naomi must have just plain forgotten when she told Ruth and Orpha to go home because there's nothing for them in Bethlehem.
[00:11:38] Oh, except for a worthy man named Boaz.
[00:11:43] I picture Naomi in a moment of total depression and sorrow, calling her life bitter and totally forgetting that there is any hope ahead of her, completely forgetting that there is any hope that lies ahead in her story.
[00:12:03] Maybe you can relate to that.
[00:12:07] Maybe you can relate to a season of life where you couldn't possibly see something good or. Or worthy ahead.
[00:12:15] But when they get to chapter two, Naomi says, oh, yeah, I must have forgotten.
[00:12:24] I think we would forget too.
[00:12:26] We have our first introduction to the duo of Boaz and Ruth. He's a worthy man and she is a hard working woman who takes initiative on her own to go out in the field and work.
[00:12:40] She shows up to Boaz's field and she humbly asks before she begins to work a section of the crops, which by the way, this section of the crops where she can glean is set aside to help widows and orphans and sojourners in a time of need.
[00:12:58] Ruth gets to Roaz.
[00:13:01] What a duo.
[00:13:03] Ruth gets to glean this portion of the field to maintain dignity, that as a widow, she gets to maintain her dignity as she works the field.
[00:13:17] Those keeping the Torah were supposed to do this, but not everybody would do this with their field because not everybody was living Torah. This was the time of the judges ruling and it was chaos.
[00:13:30] She could just show up and take what's hers and she might have even thought that that it wouldn't risk her being told no.
[00:13:37] But instead she decides to humbly ask before getting to work.
[00:13:41] The story begins to read like things are happening just by chance. But remember that third love story. Don't forget that third love story.
[00:13:51] God is actively providing for his people, even when it is his people who are showing kindness.
[00:14:02] When Boaz wants to know who Ruth is, one of his helpers tells him that she is a young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi and she has been working super hard all day.
[00:14:14] The Moabites were descendants of Lot.
[00:14:17] They were actually banned from entering the assembly of Yahweh because of how terrible they had been to the Israelites.
[00:14:25] We have to keep in mind that Ruth is just trying to put food on the table and Boaz truly has no idea who Ruth is.
[00:14:34] There is a third love story at play. There's a providence from a loving, kind God at work.
[00:14:45] Can you look at your story and see moments when God was obviously at work?
[00:14:51] Just for a second, think about your story.
[00:14:54] Can you think of times or a time when God was so obviously at work?
[00:15:02] For me, my mind jumps to my family before I was even old enough to know about my family. I think about the baby that my parents lost that led them to adopt.
[00:15:15] That adoption story led my life to get flipped upside down to learn something different about a family.
[00:15:23] That adoption story led me to want my family to look similar, led my wife and I to open our home to somebody that was not our family. Whether it was a visitor staying for a little while or someone staying for the long haul.
[00:15:37] I think about picking Texas A and M Whoop as my school of choice. I think about how far I was from going to A and M until my dad and I literally stepped our feet onto the blades of grass of Kyle Field, which sounds like it's about football. But there was an overwhelming sense of peace that hit both of us. We looked at each other at the same time and said, this is it.
[00:16:02] I don't know where that peace came from in that moment, but when I look at my story and where it led, I feel like it is God's provision on my life.
[00:16:10] When I think about coming to East Texas to work at Sky Ranch and all the things that have happened from that, the meeting of my wife, the starting of a family, becoming a member at Grace Community Church, I can look at God's provision in my life.
[00:16:26] Some things hard, some things maybe seem silly, some things I'm living in the midst of that blessing.
[00:16:35] Can you look at your story and see moments where God was obviously at work so we have our first meeting of Ruth and Boaz and the passage that Sakan and Olivia read this morning.
[00:16:46] Then Boaz said to Ruth, now listen my daughter, do not go glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women.
[00:16:56] Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping and go after them. Have I not charged the young men to not touch you, and when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn?
[00:17:09] Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, ruth, in a moment of sensing and feeling God's provision working the truest love story that's at play, she says, why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me since I am a foreigner?
[00:17:30] But Boaz answered her, all that you have done for your mother in law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother in your native land and came to a people that you did not know before the Lord repay you for what you have done and a full reward be given to you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wing you have come to take refuge. Then she said, I have found favor in your eyes. Do you see her begin to turn?
[00:18:02] I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.
[00:18:12] Boaz continues to be incredibly kind to her through the rest of Chapter two and sends her home from that day of work with an abundance to share with her home.
[00:18:23] Both of these characters are consistently hardworking and faithful, which is, again I must remind you, incredibly rare during the time of judges rule of the judge's rule.
[00:18:36] These two are like a road flare in a pitch black room.
[00:18:44] Boaz is a representative of a kind God which is seldom witnessed during this time period. And we finish the chapter with Naomi telling Ruth that Boaz is actually her father in law's close relative. Which puts Boaz in a position to redeem Ruth.
[00:19:06] God is so kind.
[00:19:10] The bitterness that led to this moment, and still God is so kind.
[00:19:15] We begin to see a shift here in their hope.
[00:19:19] And I love this.
[00:19:22] Naomi couldn't even remember Boaz earlier and now she's beginning to plot and plan a possible future for Ruth.
[00:19:32] Can you see hope being restored to Naomi?
[00:19:39] There's a big difference between this love story and the ones that we watch movies about. This one's not written for entertainment value.
[00:19:47] It doesn't skimp on the pain or grief or awkward moments. It doesn't point to something that we all know deep down inside does not work.
[00:19:59] This love story is real and it points to a kind of love that God has for you.
[00:20:06] It's more about provision and care than it is about romance.
[00:20:10] From the moment Boaz meets Ruth, his care for Ruth is over the top.
[00:20:16] She is a foreigner from a people that has cursed God's people.
[00:20:21] But Boaz is beginning to show that he will not abandon Ruth.
[00:20:26] And I hope that you in this room are beginning to be reminded that God does not abandon us.
[00:20:34] God does not abandon us. Galatians 3:13 reminds us that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a a curse for us.
[00:20:47] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. Ruth is beginning to trust Boaz.
[00:20:57] But I'm sure, as many of you know as humans, that there's a long, long road ahead when we question God's love for us. When you question God's love for you, look to the cross.
[00:21:13] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For you.
[00:21:20] When you begin to question God's love for you, look to the cross.
[00:21:25] Not only is the cross something that happened in the past, our sins being forgiven, but they are being forgiven now, and they will continue to be forgiven.
[00:21:37] So when we wonder about God's love for us daily, moment by moment, now and in the future, we can look to the cross of Jesus.
[00:21:50] This chapter seems like coincidence, but it's not. God is orchestrating it all. Even if human action initiates some of it.
[00:22:03] Do we believe that God is the one who is working Ruth is just trying to keep food on the table and look at the plan that God has for her.
[00:22:17] She's just trying to go one more day and look at the plan that God has for her.
[00:22:22] Where are you struggling to trust God?
[00:22:26] Where are you just going one more day? Where are you?
[00:22:30] What are you in that you can only barely see the next step?
[00:22:35] Remember that God's kindness toward us is not meant to stop with us. Could your kindness pay attention to this because we're gonna start to think about others. Could your kindness be an expression of God's kindness to someone else?
[00:22:53] Could your loving kindness be an expression of God's kindness to someone else? Who. Who in this room is thinking about their Moab is praying for God's kindness to be present in their life today.
[00:23:05] Could your kindness be that to them?
[00:23:08] What if you had an opportunity to be a representative of God's kindness like Boaz is?
[00:23:16] What if that was something that you got to do in your marriage today?
[00:23:23] I'm well aware of how challenging that might be to many of the marriages in the room.
[00:23:28] What if you got to be a representative of God's kindness today?
[00:23:34] What if you got to do that in your home to your children?
[00:23:38] How difficult is it to always be kind?
[00:23:44] What if you got to do that today in your home?
[00:23:48] What if you got to do that in your workplace to be a representative of God's kindness? Where you work, when you go to the park later today in your neighborhood, in your family? And maybe it's not just the family that you live under the same roof as, but maybe it's extended family.
[00:24:07] An opportunity to be a representative of hesed God's loyalty, faithfulness and loving kindness.
[00:24:20] This got me thinking about putting on a superhero costume, but here's the catch.
[00:24:29] It doesn't happen when we put on a superhero costume of Boaz.
[00:24:36] I'm not going to be Boaz for Halloween. Boaz is not the hero.
[00:24:43] It's putting on a superhero costume of Jesus that would allow you to be a representation and a reflection of God's loving kindness. It's the only superhero costume that exists at www.bibleherocostumes.com.
[00:25:02] it's just Jesus.
[00:25:05] Chapter three is easy to sensationalize. But remember who Booth that duo, man. God, they're so good.
[00:25:15] I think we got all of them. Now remember who Ruth and Boaz have been introduced to be. Don't forget the character.
[00:25:25] Many women during this time of judges would throw themselves at Boaz, but not Ruth. That's not who she is.
[00:25:33] Many Men would take advantage of Ruth, but not Boaz.
[00:25:37] We're cheering for these characters as we read this historical Old Testament narrative. We're anticipating them being above reproach. We are endearing ourselves to them and rooting for their light to continue to shine.
[00:25:53] Chapter three takes place at the threshing floor, which is an open area outside with a hard bedrock that animals and people would crush wheat on. And then workers would would use the afternoon wind to separate the lighter chaff from the heavier grain that would fall to the ground.
[00:26:11] Boaz works a full day, and then he has some dinner and drinks and heads back to the threshing floor to guard the grain.
[00:26:22] Naomi, who now sees a plan of hope and a future for Ruth, encourages Ruth to clean herself up and go to Boaz.
[00:26:33] And Ruth agrees to do all that Naomi tells her to do as a loyal daughter in law.
[00:26:41] I'm not sure how they thought up this plan. It seems like a strange one. But they're trusting God and we're trusting the character that they have.
[00:26:53] I love to see the redemption in Naomi's story. Here she's beginning to plot and strategize how Ruth might get married without knowing Naomi's intentions. We know. We know that this is risky for Ruth. And it could easily do one of two things. It could either damage or ruin Ruth's reputation to Boaz, causing him to think less of her and asking her to leave his presence.
[00:27:22] Or it could lead Boaz to take advantage of this moment.
[00:27:27] But neither of those things happen.
[00:27:29] They continue.
[00:27:30] These characters continue to exchange character and faithfulness back and forth. And Ruth identifies him. Ruth identifies herself as a servant.
[00:27:43] Boaz is asleep and he wakes up startled. And he says, who is that?
[00:27:49] Who is there?
[00:27:51] He says, who are you? Sorry. Third time's the charm.
[00:27:55] And Ruth responds and says, I am Ruth, your servant.
[00:28:00] Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.
[00:28:06] I imagine that Naomi and Ruth sat down and planned out this moment. And I like to imagine that Ruth had this phrase ready to rock and roll because Boaz and Ruth had talked about this already.
[00:28:20] Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer. They had had this conversation in chapter two about the God of Israel who is Boaz Refuge. Ruth is beginning to trust this and be transformed by this. And she introduces herself with a new confidence of being more than just a foreigner, more than just a Moabite woman. She is a servant living under the wing of Boaz in the refuge that Boaz represents.
[00:28:56] She's living under the refuge that Boaz represents. Think about God's loving kindness and how it's being shown to Ruth.
[00:29:07] It's by another Redeemer.
[00:29:12] Do you know your power of your love for one another church? Do you know the power of your love for one another?
[00:29:25] Do you understand your role in the home, in the workplace, in the family, in this church?
[00:29:31] Do you know that you can be the one that God uses to answer the prayers of someone else that is praying even in this room?
[00:29:40] And you can even be the one to answer the prayers that you are praying.
[00:29:48] Naomi and Boaz both pray for Ruth in this narrative and God uses both of them to answer those prayers.
[00:29:59] Who is God leading you to show kindness?
[00:30:04] Who is it that you are praying for?
[00:30:08] Who is coming to your mind right now?
[00:30:12] Might it be that God wants to use you as a Redeemer? That God wants to use you to answer the prayer that you are praying?
[00:30:23] In chapter four, we start off with this incredible integrity of Boaz to go and sit with the closer Redeemer.
[00:30:33] When Ruth submits herself to Boaz and asks that he would redeem her with this incredible moment of character and integrity, he says, there is a relative that is closer to you than I am and he has first rights to redeem you.
[00:30:50] The next day he goes to the city gates and he sits with this closer Redeemer and and a group of elders. Boaz is not manipulative.
[00:31:01] He's not self serving.
[00:31:03] He has a sacrificial kind of love. And remember our assignment to look for things that remind you of Jesus.
[00:31:12] What is Jesus's love like?
[00:31:15] It is not manipulative. It is not self serving. It is sacrificial.
[00:31:20] Boaz offers to the other Redeemer to redeem the land and he agrees. The other Redeemer agrees to redeem it. And we, as a unified group, gasp.
[00:31:32] The love story appears to be ending. This other Redeemer is going to redeem.
[00:31:41] But then Boaz tells this other Redeemer that he would need to take care of the land.
[00:31:48] And Ruth and this other Redeemer knows that the land would eventually go back to Ruth's children.
[00:31:59] And he decides to give up his right for redemption.
[00:32:05] And this gives Boaz, our hero, the opportunity to do just that. Ruth redeem.
[00:32:15] It'll cost Boaz something.
[00:32:18] It would have cost the other one something. He didn't want to hurt his inheritance.
[00:32:23] The only reason the other one would have redeemed her is just out of kindness.
[00:32:30] And that's our character Boaz, his kindness.
[00:32:36] It is God's Kindness that leads Ruth to Boaz and Boaz to Ruth.
[00:32:43] The chapter finishes with one of the most wonderful provisions.
[00:32:48] Remember that Ruth spent 10 years in Moab married to one of Naomi's sons, and they didn't have a child.
[00:32:58] 10 years and they did not have a child.
[00:33:04] I think it is very likely that Ruth believed that she could not have children.
[00:33:11] But the elders and all the people at the gate pray for them and it says that the Lord gave her conception and she bore a son.
[00:33:23] God's kindness in Ruth's life.
[00:33:29] Next week, Kirk is going to pick up where we are leaving off and he is going to talk about the continuation of that blessing and the great redeemer that we all have in Jesus.
[00:33:42] This is my first time to teach a family day of worship with one of my own elementary students in the room. And it got me thinking about what I hope he walks out of this room with.
[00:33:52] Honestly, it is the same thing that I hope we all walk out of this room with.
[00:33:59] God loves you.
[00:34:03] God loves you.
[00:34:06] All of us have been hurt, we have all been bitter and we are all in desperate need of a Redeemer. Don't miss that.
[00:34:16] That is the darkness. It's the pitch black room that makes this road flare that's coming up so bright.
[00:34:26] God sent his one and only son to be born as a baby, to live a perfect life and to die on the cross for our sins in our place, taking on the curse that we deserve.
[00:34:41] And God invites us to place our faith in that truth, to repent of our sin and give our lives, bow our knees, surrender ourselves to God and a great Redeemer where we can live under his wing in the refuge that is God's kindness and love for us. I hope that this morning, even if you have questions or doubts, you would know that that's okay because his love is strong enough.
[00:35:10] And I hope that you are stirred towards Christ by the story of Ruth and Boaz.
[00:35:17] Remember the assignment that I gave you today as we read the story of Ruth?
[00:35:22] I want to give you that same assignment as we walk out these doors. Are you ready?
[00:35:30] Be looking for God's loving kindness.
[00:35:34] Be looking for God's loving kindness.
[00:35:39] Look for it. Search for it. Ask God, why have you found favor with me?
[00:35:46] Be looking for God's loving kindness. Where do you see it?
[00:35:50] And then remember that God's kindness to us is not meant to stop with us.
[00:35:57] Where can you show that kindness to others as a reflection of God who is our refuge?
[00:36:05] Pray for it and pray for others.
[00:36:08] God loves to answer those prayers and he might even use you to answer that prayer. Let's pray together.
[00:36:20] God, thank you for today.
[00:36:23] Thank you for this story.
[00:36:26] God, thank you that this story is not just a story about Ruth and Boaz, but it's so much more than that.
[00:36:34] God, thank you that this is a story of your love for us.
[00:36:39] God, thank you for your loving kindness.
[00:36:42] God, thank you for your grace, your mercy, your loyalty, your faithfulness, your care.
[00:36:48] God, would you show us that kindness today?
[00:36:54] Would you help us to see it?
[00:36:57] Would you remind us of what we have in Christ, the kindness that is before us, that is in our past, present and future?
[00:37:07] And then, God, would you show us the kindness of your love that's all around us?
[00:37:13] Then God, would you lead us to others?
[00:37:17] Would you lead us to be kind to others, to show kindness to others, that we would have the incredible invitation to be a reflection of you to this world?
[00:37:28] God, help us to be God's people who live like God's people.
[00:37:34] In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
