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Woe There (Matthew 23) | Louis Azuma
00:00 Introduction to Matthew Chapter 23
02:06 The Pharisees' Hypocrisy Exposed
03:22 True Humility vs. Pharisaic Showmanship
06:55 Serving Others with Genuine Faith
14:09 The Danger of Religious Hypocrisy
20:14 Jesus' Teachings on Hypocrisy
22:34 The Call to Genuine Faith
26:54 The Compassionate Judge
31:52 Jesus' Love and Sacrifice
33:24 Invitation to Embrace Jesus' Love
Transcript
all right, Matthew chapter 23, we're gonna be looking at one of the,
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:one of the wildest passages in the Bible.
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:Um, we're gonna be looking at, at the
finale of Jesus verses the Pharisees.
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:So remember in Matthew chapter 21 and
22, we were looking at, um, Jesus going
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:back and forth with the Pharisees.
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:And now in chapter 23, it, it kind
of comes, comes to a climax here.
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:So Matthew, chapter 23, we're gonna
see Jesus get really, really, really.
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:Emotional, and that's something you
might not have noticed about Jesus, but
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:I want you to think what's the, what's
the, like, what are the peak emotional
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:moments you've had in your life?
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:Like maybe what's the saddest you've
ever been in your life, or what's the
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:happiest you've ever been in your life?
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:Or what's the angriest you've
ever been in your life?
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:The, the, just the most emotion
you've ever seen from yourself.
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:Someone did something to you and
you got so angry, or someone said
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:something about you, or something
happened and you were so happy, or
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:something happened, you were so sad.
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:Think about what.
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:Makes you the most emotional usually
is what matters the most to you.
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:And so when we see in this passage of
scripture, when we see Jesus being,
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:saying really strong things to people
and getting really sad about something
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:and getting really even seemingly
upset about something that's, that
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:means it's really important to Jesus.
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:And what's really important to
Jesus should be really important.
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:To us, your strongest emotions
reveal what you care most about.
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:And what does Jesus care most about?
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:Well, we'll see in Matthew chapter 23,
Jesus really cares about your heart.
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:What gets Jesus the, the most
worked up, the most sad, the most
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:angry, the most happy is your
heart, the state of your heart.
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:How you feel about him, the desires
you have, the values you have,
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:they're all coming from your heart and
that's what Jesus cares most about.
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:So look with me in your
Bibles at Matthew chapter 23.
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:We're gonna start with the first 12
verses, Matthew chapter 23, 1 to 12.
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:And make sure you're bringing
your Bibles to true north.
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:Every week.
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:We, we love the Bible here.
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:Bible is our middle name
here at Compass Bible Church.
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:And so we wanna make sure
that we're using God's word.
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:Um, not just seeing it on a screen, but
learning how to use it for ourselves.
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:So Matthew, through chapter
23, so Jesus, he just finished
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:talking to the Pharisees, right?
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:They had their back and forth battle in
the temple that Pharisees tried to trick
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:him, and he answered all their questions.
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:And now chapter 23, Jesus then spoke
to the crowds and to his disciples, and
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:he says something about the Pharisees.
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:He says that they're in Moses' seat.
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:And what that means is that the
Pharisees, they're in charge of the Jews.
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:They're the religious leaders.
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:They have authority.
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:They're, they're teaching the law.
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:They're the ones that, that say,
okay, here's what the Bible says.
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:They're the pastors, they're
the, the seminary professors.
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:They're the religious leaders of the day.
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:And so he says, verse three.
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:Therefore, do what they tell you to do.
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:Do the things that they say
about God and about his word, but
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:don't do the things that they do.
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:Don't be like them.
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:They know the right things.
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:They say the right things,
but don't be like them.
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:Why?
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:Because they say things and don't do them.
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:They don't do what they say.
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:They just, they, they say
something and they do the opposite.
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:Verse four, they tie up heavy burdens
and lay them on people's shoulders,
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:but they're unwilling to even
help them move them with a finger.
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:So they're, they're making
all these rules for people.
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:They're saying, here's
what God says to do.
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:Here's what we say you have to do, and
we're not even gonna help you do it.
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:We're just gonna come with
all these rules for you to do.
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:But verse five, that's what
I want you to focus on here.
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:Verse five.
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:They do all their deeds
to be seen by others.
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:All the religious things they do, all
their, their Bible reading, they're
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:praying, they're fasting, they're tithing.
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:Everything they do is to be seen.
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:They're trying to get noticed.
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:They want attention from people and
then this, this word you probably
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:have never seen before in your life,
for they make their phylacteries
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:broad and their fringes long.
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:What?
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:What in the world is a fractory?
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:Imagine if I said, Hey, draw
Flac on the plate, on your head.
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:What a fractory is, or a fringe.
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:So a fractory, if you remember from
Deuteronomy chapter six, remember,
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:love the Lord your God with all
your heart, all your soul, your
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:mind, all your strength, right?
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:And then Moses goes on to talk about
having God's word before your eyes.
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:Put it as a front lit for your eyes put.
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:So it was this box that the Jews
would use to, to live out this verse.
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:They would, they would have
something to do with the Bible
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:verse and put it either on their
head or on their arms or somewhere
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:to help them remember God's word.
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:And what the Pharisees would do is they
would like, right, I'm, you know, I'm
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:super, I'm a super godly Pharisee, so
what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna get the
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:biggest box and I'm gonna have the biggest
reminder of God's word to show you that.
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:That's how committed I am.
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:It's a holiness.
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:It'd be like if you, like, let's say you
wanted to show everyone how awesome of
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:a Christian you are, and so you brought
this like massive Bible to true north.
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:You know, like the, the biggest
Bible you could ever find.
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:You brought that to true North.
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:Or like you, you came to school and
you like made sure I'm just gonna
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:carry my Bible around in the hallway
just so people know I'm a Christian,
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:or, oh, I'm gonna wear Christian
shirts only for the rest of my life.
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:Like, that's what the Pharisees are doing.
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:They're saying, look at me.
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:I'm such a good follower of the law.
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:So that's what they do with these things.
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:And then verse six, they love
the place of honor at Feast.
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:They love the attention that comes
from being a religious leader,
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:and they love getting the best
seats at in the synagogues, right?
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:At church, they, they sit in
the front row, they put their
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:hands up in worship, right?
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:They're doing it so that people see them.
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:They want people to notice them.
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:They're like, oh, look at us.
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:We're so holy.
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:And then they get greeted.
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:They get called rabbi, teacher by others.
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:So the Pharisees, they're doing all
this stuff to get attention from people.
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:But Jesus, he contrasts that in,
in verses eight to 10, he, he tells
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:his followers something interesting.
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:He says, he says something about titles.
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:He says, don't, don't be called
these titles like Rabbi or teacher or
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:Father, but instead you should remember
that God is those things for you.
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:You're not to elevate
yourself of above people.
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:But you're supposed to remember
that you know what God is, is
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:really the the one who's holy.
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:God is really the one who is in charge.
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:And then he goes on to say
something that we've heard before.
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:Probably if you've been following
along with us in Matthew, the greatest
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:among you shall be your servant.
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:Whoever, exalts himself will
be humbled and whoever humbles
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:himself will be exalted, right?
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:The person who is, who is humble, who's
focused on other people, who's not
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:worried about what other people think,
who's not trying to get attention.
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:But who's trying to love people?
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:That person, that's a truly great person.
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:This is the question, none of you guys
could get in jeopardy last week, right?
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:What's the greatest human quality that,
that Jesus says humility, humility's the
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:greatest thing that, that you could have.
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:And so what he's doing is he's,
he's setting up this contrast.
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:He's saying the Pharisees are like this,
but you guys, I want you to be like this.
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:If you're gonna be my follower,
I want you to be humble.
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:I want you to use your, your religion,
your, your good deeds to serve people.
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:To love people, not to
draw attention to yourself.
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:Don't be like a Pharisee and do all
these things to gain attention, to
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:look good, to get people to notice
you don't use it to get things.
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:Use it to give things to love to people.
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:So 0.1
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:tonight, use your religion, your good
deeds, your your religious activity.
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:Use it to serve people,
not to impress them.
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:Use your, your religion, your religious
activity, right, your, your church
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:going, your Bible, reading your worship,
singing your small group participation.
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:Use it to serve people,
not to impress people.
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:Jesus says that the opposite of the
Pharisees is a servant, someone who's
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:doing things for, for the good of
others, not for the attention of others.
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:And when I was thinking about
this passage, someone that I, I
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:thought of was actually my brother.
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:My brother, because my brother,
the way he played soccer,
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:reminded me of this passage.
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:See, my brother, he played
center defense, center back.
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:And so if, if you're an athlete, that's
like playing o line in football, that's
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:like playing catcher and baseball.
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:No one's gonna notice
you until you mess up.
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:No one's gonna notice until you,
until you let that guy through for
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:a goal or if you give the ball away.
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:But my brother.
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:Was actually really, really good.
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:But see, my brother,
he was good at soccer.
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:He was good at the things that made people
actually want to play with him, right?
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:I really didn't care how
many juggles he could do.
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:He didn't care how many
fancy tricks he could do.
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:He didn't care if he could hit the
crossbar, you know, crossbar challenge.
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:He didn't care about all the cool
stuff that all the, all the, the
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:fancy soccer players cared about.
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:He didn't have the Ronaldo
cleats or the messy cleats, or
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:the namar cleats or whatever.
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:He, he just was really good at soccer.
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:And you know what?
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:Everyone wanted to play with my brother.
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:Everyone was like, I
want that guy on my team.
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:One.
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:'cause no one wants to play defense.
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:So everyone wants a
defender on their team.
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:But also because everyone's
like, you know what?
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:That guy's actually good for our team,
the things that that guy does, right?
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:That guy, he guards people.
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:He runs, he gets loose balls, he
takes he, he makes good passes.
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:He doesn't hog the ball.
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:The things that my brother does
are actually good for everyone.
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:The things that my brother does as a
soccer player are good for the team.
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:The things that maybe other
soccer players do, right?
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:They, they try to do fancy tricks.
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:They, they're like, oh, I'm, I
can do a hundred juggles without
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:letting the ball touch the ground.
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:My brother would look at those
people and be like, all right,
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:you're not gonna drill past me.
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:I don't care how many juggles you can do.
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:It doesn't matter, right?
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:You're not gonna be able to actually
do anything helpful on the field.
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:He didn't use his skills
to draw attention.
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:He used his skills to actually
help the team and to play better.
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:See, as Christians sometimes.
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:Or maybe even as someone who's not
a Christian and just at church,
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:you can do all your religious
things and not really help people.
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:You can do all your religious
things and just for you, just
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:'cause you want attention.
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:You are like, oh, well I'm
so good at reading my Bible.
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:I, I feel so good about, about
my, my Bible reading streak.
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:Or, I read my Bible every day or whatever.
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:But if you're not actually loving people
with what you've heard from God's word
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:and putting it into practice and, and
serving people and caring about them,
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:that's not really doing you any good.
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:You just have this, this good
feeling, oh, I did my Bible reading.
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:I I'm a good Christian.
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:So it's really about you.
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:It's not about God, it's
not about other people.
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:So I want you, you to think about
why do you do the good things you do?
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:When I say religion, why do
you do the, the good religious
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:church things that you do?
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:Do you do them for you or
do you do them for, for God?
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:Do you do them to impress people
or because you love people?
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:So think about maybe your, your prayer.
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:When you pray, are you praying just
to make your parents happy or are you
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:praying 'cause you actually wanna pray
for people, you actually want to grow, you
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:actually love God and want to talk to 'em.
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:Or maybe when you serve at church, maybe
you serve in kids' ministry on Sundays
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:or maybe you, you want serve on, in,
in the worship team, or maybe you want
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:to serve VBS or maybe you, you want to
help out at the, the church in some way.
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:Is that for you to say, oh,
look at me, I, I get to do all
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:these cool things at church.
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:I'm so good.
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:I can play this instrument really well.
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:Or, or I can, I'm so good with these kids.
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:Or look how involved I am.
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:Or Oh, you can tell your college, on your
college app, you can be like, oh, I look
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:how many community service hours I did.
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:Or Are you doing it 'cause you
actually love the church and you
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:care about people and you're saying,
I, I'm here to serve these kids.
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:I'm here 'cause I love these
kids and I want to teach them and
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:help them learn from God's word.
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:Or I wanna really help
people worship and sing.
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:And that's why I play my instrument is
to, to help people sing to the Lord.
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:Or maybe it's your, your talents, right?
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:The talents that God's given you, the
instrument you play, or the sport you're
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:good at, or the, maybe you do speech
and debate, or maybe you have all these,
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:these, these talents and maybe you're
doing them just so people can look at you.
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:Or are you using your talents
as a way to bless people?
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:So that's, I know that's not a
church activity, but that's still a
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:religious activity because if you're
doing it for the Lord, it should
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:be a, it's, it's religious, right?
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:It's a good thing that you're doing.
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:So, who are you using your good deeds for?
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:Are they about you or
are they about others?
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:Because Jesus would say if they're
about you, if they're trying to
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:impress people and, and gain favor
and, and attention from people,
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:then you're just like the Pharisee.
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:But if you're someone who's, who's
following Jesus, you should be doing
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:them humbly out of love for others.
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:I I'm not gonna try to
draw attention to myself.
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:I don't even care if people notice me.
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:I don't care if people know
how many times I serve.
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:I don't care if people, people can
tell how good I am at my instrument
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:or, or how much I read the Bible.
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:I just gonna do it because I
love God and I love people.
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:So I want you to think about what would it
look like to do those things for others?
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:Maybe what would it look like to
come to True North, to love people?
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:Maybe you come to your small group
instead of coming to your small group
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:saying, I, I'm here to, to have fun and
to make people laugh and to get attention.
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:Or, I'm coming here to show off my
Bible knowledge or show how good of a
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:Christian I am, or impress my leader.
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:Maybe you should come thinking about
how can I love my friend and my small
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:group who's, who's having a hard time?
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:Or how can I be a good example
to people who, who don't
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:follow Jesus in my small group?
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:Or how can I encourage my
leader and, and bless her?
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:Rather than try to just draw attention to
myself with, with how good of a Christian
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:I am or, or how dramatic my problems are.
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:So think about when I come to
True North, what, what would that
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:look like to come to love people
and not to be noticed by people?
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:And maybe some of you, you, you've
never even thought of that before.
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:You've never thought about
how on the way to True North,
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:how can I love someone today?
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:Maybe that's a really good
place for you to start in the
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:car on the way to true North.
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:Maybe even ask your parents, Hey, hey mom.
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:Hey dad.
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:I, I want to think about my small
group on the way to true North.
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:Can we stop and pray on the way to
small group and, and on the way to true
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:north or on the way to church on Sunday?
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:And just pray.
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:God, please help me to focus on
other people and not on myself.
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:That would be such a good place for
you to start applying this point, and
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:maybe you're thinking, okay, well,
doing good things for the wrong reasons.
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:That can't be as bad as,
as other sins, right?
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:Maybe you're thinking, well, I,
I, I know that maybe I'm prideful.
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:Maybe I do some, some church things
for, for myself and draw attention,
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:but it can't be that bad, right?
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:Like, there's, there's people
out there that are doing, they're
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:not even coming to church Lewis.
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:They're doing terrible things.
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:You should see what those
people at school say.
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:You should see what, what those, those
people on my sports team say, you should
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:see what they do, what they talk about.
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:They're, they're not as bad as me.
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:I'm at least at church.
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:Well, I want you to see what Jesus says.
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:About those type of people.
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:So let's keep going in Matthew Chapter 23.
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:All right, look back on your Bibles.
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:This section right here, um, there's
this word that's gonna come up a lot.
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:It's the word woe.
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:WOEI always think of
that scene from ice age.
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:I don't even know which one, where
they come up to the, I think it's
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:ice age three, with the dinosaurs,
where they come through these plates
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:and they're the plates of woe, and
everyone's like, whoa, not that
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:type of woe, woe in, in the Bible.
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:When you see WOE, it's
the opposite of blessing.
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:So when, like, remember the
beatitudes, Jesus was like,
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:blessed are the porn spirit.
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:Blessed are the meek, and it's
this like, blessed means happy.
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:Blessed means joy.
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:Blessed is good.
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:Blessed is, this is awesome.
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:Woe is the opposite, right?
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:Cursed, or sometimes even worse, right?
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:This is God's instead of God's
happiness and God's favor, this
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:is gonna be God's judgment.
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:These people are on the,
the wrong end of God.
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:They're not gonna get
anything good from God.
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:That's what woe means.
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:Okay, so in this section there's, I'm
not gonna be able to read all of it,
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:but there's, there's these, Jesus says,
woe to you, Pharisees, woe to you.
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:He says it a bunch of times here
in this, in this section, and
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:then he calls them this word.
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:He says, scribes and pharisees.
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:Hypocrites.
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:Hypocrites.
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:What does that word hypocrite mean?
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:Well, what it means is it
comes from this idea of someone
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:who's like an actor in a play.
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:Someone who's putting on
a face like a hypocrite.
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:So you think of someone who's
putting on a mask, pretending
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:to be something they're not.
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:They're just playing a game.
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:And so Jesus is getting really
upset and, and really intense about
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:these Pharisees being hypocrites.
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:He really cares about, about the
fact that they're trying to, to
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:put up an, a face or an image.
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:They're, they're trying to look one way,
but really they're living another way.
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:This is one example of that right here.
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:Woe to you, scribes and pharisees,
hypocrites for you are like
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:whitewashed tombs, right?
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:There's dead people inside, but they
look really pretty on the outside.
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:So they're, they're unclean, right?
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:They're gross.
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:You don't want to go in there.
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:They're, they're dead inside,
but outside they look great.
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:And that's what he says in verse 28.
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:Outwardly, you appear righteous.
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:To others, but within, you're
full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
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:So even though you think you're
keeping the law, you're really not.
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:You're really not.
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:Even though you're putting on this face
of, look at all the good things I'm doing.
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:Look at all the, the Bible
verses I've memorized.
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:Look at all the good deeds that do.
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:Look at all the tithing I do.
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:That's what the Pharisees were saying.
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:He says, really?
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:You're not even keeping the law.
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:You're, you're full of lawlessness inside.
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:And what does he say that's
gonna happen to these people?
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:This is what he says in
verse 33, you serpents.
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:That's not a, that's not a compliment.
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:Us serpents, you brew to vipers.
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:Remember John the Baptist said that
in Matthew three, you brood to vipers.
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:How are you two?
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:Escape being sentenced to hell?
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:Jesus is intense.
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:Jesus cares a lot and he's, he's
warning them because he cares.
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:He's not warning them
because he doesn't like them.
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:He's warning them because
he, he loves them.
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:He cares about them.
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:And he's, he's giving the warning, look,
guys, you are, you're on the receiving
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:end of, of God's judgment right now.
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:If you keep playing this game, putting
up this face, living one way with the
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:appearance of one thing, and really
on the inside being the other way,
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:this is where that's gonna take you.
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:Jesus is serious and he's intense
about it, and that's because he cares.
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:He, he loves hypocrites
enough to warn them.
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:And he might be warning
some of us tonight.
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:So point number two, beware the
judgment for religious hypocrites.
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:Beware, right?
396
:Be careful.
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:It's scary.
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:You should be afraid of the
judgment for religious hypocrites.
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:So maybe you are that person
who's saying, well, you should see
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:what, what the other people do.
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:I'm here at church.
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:I'm a good kid, even though I'm maybe
living for the approval of others.
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:But you should see what those people do.
404
:Jesus says, you are still gonna be on
the receiving end of God's judgment.
405
:I was thinking about hypocrisy and
I, I saw this article and it was an
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:article about people, it was a bunch
of college students, and they were
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:complaining that their professors
were using AI to teach the class.
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:And I thought that was, I was
like, that's really funny.
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:'cause you hear about all like,
oh students, you know, don't use
410
:chat GBT to do your homework.
411
:Don't write your paper with ai.
412
:Don't do this.
413
:Right.
414
:You hear all that, don't let
AI do your schoolwork for you.
415
:And then these college students
were like, wait, my professor's
416
:using ai that's not okay.
417
:And they like, were trying to get
their money back from the school.
418
:They were like, we paid, you know,
$65,000 to go to this school for one year.
419
:And now my professor's
not even teaching me.
420
:He's using AI to, to write his lecture
and his presentation, and they wanted
421
:their money back 'cause they felt like
their professor was being a hypocrite.
422
:Right?
423
:The professor, like, you told me not to
use ai and now you're using ai, right?
424
:Imagine if you found out that your math
teacher or your English teacher used
425
:AI to like write all their lectures.
426
:They had done anything all year.
427
:All they had done was just read their
like AI classroom plan for, for the year.
428
:You'd be like, are you serious?
429
:What are you doing?
430
:Like, do you do anything all day?
431
:Like, what are you supposed to do?
432
:You, you would be like, like you sense
something's totally wrong with that.
433
:Like, you're telling me not
to use AI and you're using ai.
434
:That's not cool.
435
:That's not okay.
436
:You'd be so upset.
437
:Now think about just the, the hypocrisy
that you might have in your own life.
438
:You might be just like that professor if,
if you claim to be a Christian or you at
439
:least claim to be a be a good church kid,
you might be just like that professor.
440
:So I wanna ask you, are you a hypocrite?
441
:Am I a hypocrite?
442
:That's the, that's what Jesus is
putting before us right here, because
443
:remember who he started talking to
at the beginning of this passage?
444
:He started talking to the
crowds and the disciples.
445
:He didn't start talking to the Pharisees.
446
:He said, you guys disciples, you
guys crowds watch out for this.
447
:So let's look at one of these
other woes here in Matthew 23.
448
:He says, woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites.
449
:For you, and here's what he, he says,
you tithe mint and dill and cumin,
450
:so some spices and have neglected
the weightier, the maybe even
451
:more important matters of the law,
justice and mercy and faithfulness.
452
:These things like the, the
tithing, tithing, the, the
453
:small, tiny spices, right?
454
:No one cares if you're like,
are you tithing your cinnamon at
455
:home under your spice cabinet?
456
:You're like, well, I gotta give
10% of my pepper to the Lord today.
457
:You're not doing that right.
458
:But the Pharisees did that.
459
:They were like, I wanna make sure
I give 10% of everything to God.
460
:So they're like, imagine that
you scoop like everything out
461
:of your like spice cabinet.
462
:You got like your, your teaspoon
thing and you're like putting it out.
463
:All right, 10%, this is for God.
464
:This is for God.
465
:You'd never do that, right?
466
:You'd be like, that's crazy.
467
:Well, they're doing that 'cause they're
saying, this is how much I love God.
468
:He's saying, you're doing
that, but you missed the point.
469
:Right?
470
:You're not loving people, you're not
compassionate, you're not faithful.
471
:You don't trust God.
472
:He said, you should have done the
small things, but you shouldn't
473
:have neglected the big things.
474
:You guys are blind guides, and I
love this picture straining out a
475
:gnat and swallowing a camel, right?
476
:You're, you're like, oh, did
I imagine you're like eating,
477
:uh, this isn't gonna work.
478
:But imagine you're like eating your
cereal and there's this little tiny
479
:bug in it, and you're trying to get the
bug out and the whole cereal's rotten.
480
:Why do you care about the bug?
481
:The whole cereal's rotten.
482
:Maybe, maybe that's you.
483
:Maybe you're looking down on that person.
484
:You're like, oh, I can't
believe they make those jokes.
485
:I can't believe they say those words.
486
:And in your heart, you're
so prideful about it.
487
:That's being a hypocrite.
488
:That's the type of person
Jesus is talking about.
489
:Or maybe you're saying, oh,
well, you know that person.
490
:You know, they, they don't, they
go to that church, they go to that
491
:youth group, and that church is.
492
:But then you're the one
who's looking down on them.
493
:You're the one talking bad about them.
494
:You're the one gossiping about them,
or, oh, this person, you know, they,
495
:they, they, they play these video
games and in your head, you actually
496
:wish you could play those video games.
497
:That's being a hypocrite.
498
:You're the people that
Jesus is talking about.
499
:So I wanna ask, all of us
are, are you a hypocrite?
500
:There's, there's things in this
passion that Jesus points out about
501
:being a hypocrite, one in them.
502
:Right here, we see that hypocrites,
they, they do the external things right?
503
:The things that people see.
504
:They do those things right, but
their motives are all wrong.
505
:Maybe you do all the church things, right?
506
:If, if, if we ask your parents or
your small group leader, oh, do are,
507
:do they follow the rules at church?
508
:Do they do the good things at home?
509
:Do they, are they a polite person?
510
:Are they, are they doing the
things you ask them to do?
511
:They'd say, yeah.
512
:But in your heart, you're bitter,
you're resentful, you're anxious,
513
:you're angry, you're prideful.
514
:You're being a hypocrite.
515
:Also, what we see as passage is
that the Pharisees or Hypocrites,
516
:they look down on people.
517
:Instead of loving them,
518
:they're saying, oh, why that person does
that, and they don't love that person.
519
:If they see someone sinning,
they're like, oh man, I'm so
520
:glad I'm better than that person.
521
:I'm so glad that person exists
'cause they make me feel better.
522
:Maybe you don't say it like that.
523
:Maybe that's how you really feel
like, well, you know, I, I'm
524
:not like those other people.
525
:I'm not like those people at
school or on my team, so I must
526
:be, I must be good with God.
527
:That heart posture is exactly
what Jesus is talking about.
528
:There's other things in this
passage that we could talk about.
529
:Hypocrites are, are people who cover
sin instead of confessing and repenting.
530
:The Pharisees, we talked about them
being like whitewashed tombs or
531
:people who earlier in the passage,
people who clean the outside of the
532
:cup, but the inside is all gross.
533
:They're covering the sin.
534
:They wanna look like they don't have
sin, but they're not doing anything
535
:about it 'cause they wanna keep it.
536
:So maybe you're in small groups and
you're saying, well, you know, I,
537
:I, yeah, I don't have any struggles.
538
:I'm not really struggling with this.
539
:I don't have this issue.
540
:You don't tell anyone your issues,
but on the inside you love them.
541
:And the reason you're not telling
people is 'cause you wanna keep 'em.
542
:You don't wanna bring 'em to the light
'cause you don't wanna get rid of them.
543
:That's being a hypocrite.
544
:Another thing that, that this passage
will say about being a hypocrite
545
:is that hypocrites care more
about their group than about God.
546
:They care more about being
part of the right group.
547
:Than about being right with God.
548
:Like, oh, well I'm part of
this church so I must be good.
549
:Or, I'm part of, I'm friends with
these people, so I must be good.
550
:Or My parents are, are this
way, so I must be good with God.
551
:Hypocrites also make their
rules more important than God.
552
:Right?
553
:Well, I, you know, I don't, I don't
do these five things, so I must be
554
:a good person or a good Christian,
but really on the, you're, you're
555
:also sitting in these other big ways.
556
:Hypocrites also come up with their
own righteous reasons to disobey God.
557
:Maybe, maybe that's you, you, you
know that you sin in certain ways, but
558
:you're like, well, actually, you know,
it's not that bad because X, Y, and Z.
559
:It's not that bad that I do this because,
well, you know, it's okay for me to,
560
:to, to be with these bad friends because
I'm really trying to to love them, and
561
:you've never said anything about, they
don't even know you're a Christian.
562
:Or maybe you're saying, oh, well
it's okay for me to be mean to my
563
:brother because he's just annoying.
564
:Or all he needs to grow up, so I'm
gonna be mean to him or my sister.
565
:You're being a hypocrite.
566
:You're justifying your sin.
567
:And lastly, we we'd say hypocrites are
are people who are blind to their own sin.
568
:That's what verses 29 to 31 are about.
569
:Hypocrites are people who
are blind to their own sin.
570
:The Pharisees were like, look, if
the prophets, you know, if Isaiah and
571
:Jeremiah and all those people were alive
today, we would've listened to them.
572
:We, we would've listened to 'em.
573
:And we love Isaiah, we love
Jeremiah, we love Ezekiel, we
574
:love Hosea, and Joel and Amos.
575
:We love all these prophets.
576
:And then Jesus comes saying the
same thing the prophet said,
577
:and they're like, we hate Jesus.
578
:And maybe that's you.
579
:You're like, you know what?
580
:If Jesus came back today, if I saw
Jesus, I would become a Christian.
581
:But you don't love the Bible.
582
:You don't love his people.
583
:You don't wanna pray to him.
584
:You don't wanna hear from him.
585
:So what makes you think you'd
love Jesus if you saw him?
586
:If you don't love what he says in his
word, he's not gonna be any different.
587
:So hypocrites are usually blind
to their own sin, and Jesus is
588
:giving these strong warnings.
589
:And maybe you're like, man, Lewis,
this is my first week at your north.
590
:What's happening?
591
:Why, why is this so aggressive?
592
:Because Jesus wants you to see that your
sin is gonna lead you to destruction.
593
:It's gonna lead you to death.
594
:And he loves you too much to
let you keep going that way.
595
:And so he says some strong words to
grab your attention and, and, and shake
596
:you awake and say, I love you too much.
597
:To let you keep doing that.
598
:I love you too much to let you keep
passing over your sin and ignoring
599
:it and sweeping it under the rug
and pretending like it's not there
600
:or it doesn't matter, or you can
hide it or you can get away with it.
601
:Jesus loves you too much to do
that, and so he's gonna tell you,
602
:Hey, there's a big problem here.
603
:'cause I love you.
604
:And that's what we'll see here.
605
:Even though Jesus is extremely, he's
coming down really hard on the Pharisees.
606
:He's not like, oh, I'm so glad I get
to put these Pharisees in their place.
607
:So let's look at this last section here,
Matthew:
608
:Uh, Luke says that Jesus
is weeping in this section.
609
:And so he says in, in verses
37, 39, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
610
:the city that kills the prophet.
611
:And stones, those who are sent to it.
612
:So that's what Jerusalem's known for.
613
:Jerusalem is known for rejecting
God, for rejecting his word
614
:and for killing his messengers.
615
:He's saying that that type of city, right,
the, if you think about it, these are
616
:some, these are the worst people, right?
617
:There's they, they hear God's word
and they say, we don't want it.
618
:We're actually gonna kill
the people who say it.
619
:Then here's what Jesus says about them.
620
:How often would I have gathered
your children together as a hen,
621
:gathers her bro under her wings.
622
:He's like, I, I wish you
guys could come to me.
623
:I would love to embrace you.
624
:I would love for you to follow me, to
love me, to have a relationship with me.
625
:I would love that.
626
:That's how much he cares.
627
:And but you were not
willing, you didn't want it.
628
:I would.
629
:I, I'm standing here with open
arms inviting you to come to
630
:me and you're just like, no.
631
:I don't want to.
632
:And then he, he, he
pronounces some judgment.
633
:Verse 38.
634
:See your house, your, your, you know,
your, your legacy is left to you desolate.
635
:It's gone.
636
:It's gonna be destroyed for I tell
you, you will not see me again.
637
:This is your last chance, Jerusalem.
638
:I tell you, you won't see me
again until you say blessed is
639
:he who comes in the name of the
Lord until Jesus second coming.
640
:Right?
641
:We, people said that at his first
when he walked into Jerusalem
642
:on, um, in, in chapter 21.
643
:When, when Jesus.
644
:Comes or chapter 19 when
he comes into Jerusalem.
645
:Um, and now he's saying, this is it.
646
:You're not like, this is
your last chance, Jerusalem.
647
:There's, there's judgment
coming and I would love for
648
:you to repent, but you won't.
649
:And that's our third point here.
650
:Respond to the plea of
the compassionate judge.
651
:See, Jesus is, is the judge.
652
:He will come back to these
Jews who've rejected him.
653
:He will tell them, I
never knew you, right.
654
:Depart from me.
655
:But he's not doing it like, oh, he's
not excited to send people to hell.
656
:And maybe that's your impression of God.
657
:Maybe you've been like, oh, well God
is just, he's just mad at all the
658
:sinners and he wants 'em to go away.
659
:That's not the Jesus of the Bible.
660
:That's not the God of the Bible.
661
:The God of the Bible isn't like.
662
:Trying to get rid of all the sinners.
663
:'cause he can't, he just doesn't
want anything to do with them.
664
:He's, he gives them more than enough to
come to him, but they were not willing.
665
:See that picture of like a, of a bird
and, and her gathering her chicks
666
:maybe you like, are like, what?
667
:What in the world?
668
:Like why would you pick that?
669
:Jesus.
670
:I never would've pictured
Jesus as a chicken, so I
671
:wanted to give you a picture.
672
:Jesus is not a chicken in that sense.
673
:He's not a scaredy chicken,
but this is what it's like.
674
:See, look at that.
675
:Look how cute these little birds are.
676
:That's the picture, right?
677
:Jesus wants you to be one of these people.
678
:Jesus wants.
679
:Jesus wants to be this for you.
680
:That's what he's saying And
what's the point, right?
681
:Why do these little cute birds come
under here for protection, right?
682
:This, this, this.
683
:Mama chicken cares a lot
about these birds, right?
684
:This, this chicken would die for
these birds, these little chicks.
685
:In fact, I found a news story that
was actually really hilarious.
686
:So this goose, someone set
fire to like this area.
687
:Apparently on purpose and she would
not leave her eggs like geese are mean.
688
:Geese like try to kill me when
I go to the lake with my food.
689
:Geese are mean, but they,
they love their babies.
690
:They will die for their babies.
691
:Jesus is saying, I'm like that.
692
:Or rather those things,
those birds are like me.
693
:He made the, he made mama
birds to help you see how much
694
:he cares about his people.
695
:Jesus loves his people.
696
:He wants his people.
697
:He puts himself out there for his people.
698
:He came and lived a, a regular life.
699
:He left heaven and came and
lived a regular life so that
700
:people could come to him.
701
:And then he, he died on the cross.
702
:He, he endured rejection and, and shame.
703
:And punishment and the wrath of
God because he loves people and
704
:he wants people to come to him.
705
:That's the picture that Jesus is painting.
706
:He has this intense love.
707
:Yes, he has holy, fierce justice.
708
:He will judge sin.
709
:He will come again and there, there
won't be a, a second chance at that
710
:moment, but at the same time he
is, is he deeply cares about you.
711
:He wants you to come to him.
712
:I had another picture about a mama
animal, but really I just wanted to
713
:show you guys these cute puppies, right?
714
:Aren't these, don't you wanna
be one of these puppies?
715
:You could be right.
716
:No, but that's the point, is they,
they care so much about they're
717
:young and if, if an animal right,
if an animal can care that much.
718
:Imagine how much Jesus cares about you.
719
:Jesus wants everyone to come to him.
720
:Even the people who
have been rejecting him.
721
:Maybe you're thinking, well, I've
rejected Jesus my whole life, or you
722
:don't know how big of a hypocrite I am.
723
:You don't know what sin I've been hiding.
724
:Lewis, you don't know what, what
I've been thinking in my head.
725
:You don't know what I've said in my heart.
726
:You don't know what I've said out loud.
727
:You don't know what I've texted.
728
:You don't know what I've.
729
:Thought, you don't know what I've clicked.
730
:You don't know what I've watched.
731
:Maybe that's what you're saying.
732
:You're saying you don't know.
733
:If you found out who I really
was, you wouldn't want me.
734
:Jesus wouldn't want me.
735
:And what Jesus is saying is, is the, the
only thing that's stopping you is you.
736
:He's there.
737
:He's ready.
738
:The only thing that's preventing
you from coming to him is you.
739
:Either you're hardhearted and
you're saying, I don't need Jesus.
740
:I wanna do things on my own.
741
:I wanna live my own way
because I know better.
742
:Or you're saying, I'm too
dirty, I'm too sinful.
743
:I can't come.
744
:The only thing that's
that's stopping you is you.
745
:So Jesus will come again to
judge and he will get rid of sin.
746
:And if you are not covered by Jesus blood.
747
:You will be sentenced to forever apart
from him in hell, but you don't have to.
748
:Jesus is ready and willing to save
and he, he desperately loves his
749
:people and wants them to come to him.
750
:So let's pray and we'll
go to small groups.
751
:God, we're so grateful that you love us.
752
:We're thankful that it's
your idea to save us.
753
:We are so unworthy to be loved by
you, but we're so grateful that you
754
:don't love us because we deserve it.
755
:You don't love us because
we're, we earn it from you.
756
:We don't, you don't love us because
we love you a certain amount,
757
:and then you start loving us.
758
:You love us because you decided
to, because you are a loving God.
759
:And so I pray that for anyone in this room
who feels unlovable by you, maybe they're
760
:a Christian and they just feel like, uh,
as a Christian, they've sinned so much.
761
:I pray that you would encourage them with
your love, that you are compassionate.
762
:God, if there's anyone here who
feels like they can't become a
763
:Christian because you wouldn't want
them, I pray that you help 'em.
764
:See just how much you love them and
how much you, you care about them,
765
:and how ready you are to forgive
them no matter what they've done.
766
:Help us to have a good time.
767
:Small groups help us to focus,
um, and, and be a blessing
768
:to the people in our group.
769
:In Jesus name.
770
:Amen.
