There's a Wideness in God's Mercy

Good morning. Good morning. Good to see everybody.

This morning, super, super, super to be with you this morning.

And it's just good. It's just good, isn't it, to have some time.

Life is crazy, man, crazier than ever.

Seems like in so many different ways, stuff going on all over the place,

globally and nationally and locally.

And it's just good, isn't it, just to have a bit of time to come aside, come away.

I love those little passages in the Gospels where Jesus says, come away.

You know, come away with me.

And I like to think that maybe that's what he calls us to do regularly, daily, really.

It's not just Sundays that we come away just regularly every day, every morning.

We talk about quiet time or space or whatever to be with Jesus.

Just so, so precious, guys. Just so, so precious.

Be thankful. Be thankful for what you have.

Be thankful for who you have.

Your church body here, but the head of the body, Christ.

These are precious times. We need them.

We really need them. We need them.

I honestly believe we need these times to live.

I don't know if you think about it that way, but we need these times to live.

We need what we get, and God gives us.

Give us this. What? Give us this.

Give us this. The Lord's Prayer. Give us this.

They are. Man, we need it, guys.

Let him who serves do so as with the strength that God supplies.

So soak it up. All right? You ready?

Soak it up. Well, you've been here already.

Just soak it up. Soak up the songs.

Soak up the fellowship.

Soak up the time in God's presence.

Soak up the prayers.

And pray now that we just soak up a bit of God's Word here.

So just want to try and get our thoughts going a little bit here around just this story.

And I know for you guys, this is...

We're just kind of diving in the middle, really, of a big story that Mark's telling.

We're coming in the middle of a big story that Mark, we believe, who was a good friend of Peter, is telling us.

Peter was there.

Peter saw it.

He heard it.

He heard it.

As John says in his first epistle, touched it.

Right?

Or touched him.

And it's really good to remember that as we read this.

You know, people are writing to us here who are a whole lot closer to the physical nature and the actual appearing of Christ on earth.

And now we're just telling us the story.

And so we're diving in a little bit, I know, in the middle of this.

But I think you'll get the drift.

I'm sure you probably know a bit about the Gospels and the Gospel story.

You'll get the drift here as Mark just continues to try to bring us closer to Christ.

And just kind of do what maybe we're trying to do this morning, which is just kind of stop, look, and listen.

Right?

To what God wants to give us so that we can live.

Just do what He wants us to do in our lives and live the way He wants us to live.

And make the most of the short time, guys.

The short time that we've got in this world.

My goodness.

Yes.

My next birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks.

And I'm old.

I'm a whole lot older than I...

I was going to say I'm a whole lot older than I feel, but not really.

I'm kind of feeling it now as well.

But time is moving on.

Let's make the most of it.

Let's make the most of it.

Okay, so Mark 5.

All right?

Got your Bibles?

Got something to look at?

There, don't look at me.

It's not much to look at.

All right?

Look at your Bibles.

That's a whole lot better to look at.

Mark chapter 5.

Mark 5 · chapter mention

All right?

And I guess I am old enough to remember from years ago a guy named Rich Mullins.

Some of you might know Rich Mullins.

And he came from kind of like an American Indian type background, Midwest American kind of a guy,

and broke into the Christian music scene.

And it was an amazing guy.

He died in a car wreck in 1997.

I think he was 40, just your early 40s.

He was an amazing guy.

He was an amazing guy.

He was a very gutsy kind of Christian music artist, was Rich Mullins.

And he wrote out of the real struggles of his own life.

He was just very, very, very honest.

He never took any money for any of the money that he made on his albums.

And they made a lot of money.

He was a very popular Christian music artist.

And he had a board of guys around him.

And he made loads of money.

He gave them all the money.

He told them, every year, all I want is I just want an average working salary.

And he lived off of that.

And he gave everything else to really to a lot of the American Indian reservations and all that.

But he was very, very aware.

This guy, he had, I think Amy Grant at his tribute service called him the conscience of contemporary Christian music.

The conscience of, just calling people back to the gutsy reality of the Christian life.

You know what I mean?

The gutsy reality of the Christian life.

And don't tell me you don't live it.

Don't tell me you don't live it.

We often get sucked into trying to pretend we don't.

But we do.

The gutsy reality of the Christian life.

And this guy just wrote out.

He was very aware of God's mercy towards him.

And I remember he wrote a song called, There's a Wideness in God's Mercy.

And it came to mind when I was reading this text.

There's a wideness in God's mercy I cannot find in my own.

And he keeps his fire burning to melt this heart of stone.

He keeps me aching with a yearning.

Keeps me glad to have been caught in the reckless raging fury that they call the love of God.

Can you feel it?

Come on, guys.

Wake up.

Can you feel it?

Can you feel it?

Can you get it?

You get it.

But I think that's what Mark is talking about here in this passage.

I think that's exactly what Mark is talking about here in this passage.

As I think he describes just something of the outrageously wide scope of God's mercy for a broken humanity.

It's what Mark's gospel is all about.

It's what he's trying to get at.

It's what he's trying to get us to see and to remember and to savor and to trust and to live.

He's trying to get us here.

He wants us to see Jesus.

Mark does.

It's why he writes his gospel.

He wants us to see Jesus.

Psalm 121 says, I look to the hills.

Right?

I look to the hills.

He doesn't really want us to see the hills.

Look at the hills.

But when you look at the hills, what are you supposed to remember?

I look to the hills.

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker, the maker, the maker.

The maker.

I don't know if any of you read any Paul Tripp.

He's a good guy to read.

Christian Counseling Educational Foundation, Paul Tripp.

And he's constantly writing Paul Tripp.

I love it.

He writes about grace and mercy.

And he's constantly trying to remind us that you're never going to find it here.

You're never going to find the true satisfaction and the depth of the reality of life that God wants you to have by just looking horizontally.

Because you're just looking at the hills.

You've got to remember who made them.

Amen?

You've got to remember, look beyond.

Look at the hills.

But remember who made them.

And so Mark is writing this and he's telling us this.

And so from one end, really, of the spectrum to the other, Mark tells us a story here within a story.

Did you see that?

He tells us a story within a story.

Starting with this Jewish synagogue leader with a 12-year-old dying daughter.

And then before he even finishes that story, he starts another one.

Really interesting.

Passage this.

Really interesting kind of literary technique or whatever he gets into here.

Before he ever finishes that story, he starts another one.

This one about an anonymous woman.

We don't even know her name.

Only that she has a 12-year-old bleeding condition.

And you can see already just some kind of threads that Mark uses here to tell this story.

To grab our attention.

So that we'll see something more of who Jesus really is.

So we can feed our souls and live our lives, guys.

For Christ.

Okay?

So here you go.

Three observations that I think direct our attention here in this story to the vastness of God's mercy.

The vastness of God's mercy.

And by golly, we need it.

Amen?

By golly, we need his mercy.

We need his grace.

Daily.

Daily.

Thank you, Jesus, that it's available to us.

So the vastness of God's mercy and ultimately to the cross of Christ.

We can come to communion here.

So I think this is really good.

It will lead us to thinking about the cross.

The place of God's mercy here.

And maybe we can carry those thoughts into remembering the Lord's death when we get there this morning.

So just three observations here.

First, number one, is that both of these people have a desperate need.

Don't they?

Did you see it?

Both of these people have a...

Marco Stacani goes to lengths here to show us this.

They both have a desperate need, seemingly to the point that nothing else matters to them.

Have you ever had something going on in your life that's so big that really all the other stuff of your life just fades into insignificance?

Anybody?

Anybody?

Occasionally, I get migraines.

Occasionally, I get migraines.

I don't know if you've ever had a migraine.

But occasionally, I get migraines.

And whoop, that's it.

I'm gone.

Forget it.

I'm wiped.

There's nothing else I can do.

I can't read.

I can't talk.

I can't socialize.

I can't do anything.

I just have to lay down, close my eyes, and I'm out for however long it's going to take until I recover.

Right?

And that's just a migraine.

But seemingly, these guys have such a desperate need, nothing else matters to them.

Something's going on here with both of these people that absolutely seems to obliterate anything else that's going on in their worlds.

First, with this dad.

First, with this dad.

And listen, it's just tearing them to pieces, isn't it?

You can see it.

You can feel it.

Read it.

Get with it, guys.

Feel a little bit of it this morning.

This is what I think the gospel, this is what the Spirit of God wants us to do with His Word.

Don't you?

Especially the narrative bits, which were in here.

What God wants us to do is, Lord, help me get into it.

Help me get into it.

I'm not sitting this morning here, Sunday morning, July 7th, Brunsfield Evangelical Church.

I'm not sitting here.

I'm back there with them.

I'm back there with Jesus and this guy.

And I can feel the dust on my feet and taste it in the air.

And I'm here with this guy.

And he's got this need and it's tearing him to pieces.

This ruler of the synagogue, we're told.

You see that?

This ruler of the synagogue.

Here he is, this big shot in the community.

That's who he is.

He's a ruler of the synagogue.

He's in Israel.

He's a ruler of the synagogue.

Synagogues were the big places.

That was the kind of place of worship and gathering and community and everything.

And he's the top dog.

He's the ruler of the synagogue.

Big shot.

One commentator says, this man of prominence, position, prestige, privilege, prosperity, and power.

Right?

Right?

But you listen.

You know what I see when I read this here?

I just see a dad.

I just see a dad.

Don't you?

A dad who seemingly couldn't care less about his prominence, position, prestige, privilege, prosperity, power.

Couldn't care less about that.

Because he doesn't come riding in on his horse.

You notice that?

He doesn't come riding in on his horse.

He comes falling in on his face.

Comes falling in on his face.

Because the only thing that matters to him right now is that his daughter is dying.

And he's desperate.

He's desperate.

And it just grips you.

It just grips you.

You read this, it grips you.

Because you can think of times in your life when things come your way.

And they're big.

They're big.

They're gigantic.

They're overwhelming.

We get this in life.

We get this in life.

People sometimes in their greeting, to me, it was a guy, I remember a guy at the gates of my daughter's primary school.

Years ago.

Years ago.

And this guy used to greet me, at least for a while he did anyway.

He greeted me with, how's life?

Anybody ever say that to you?

They greet you.

Rather than saying hello, they say, how's life?

Anybody say that to you?

How's life?

What's your answer?

What's your answer?

When God says to you, when somebody says to you, they greet you with, how's life?

What's your answer?

I try to be honest in all that I do.

I try to be honest with people.

So somebody says, how's life?

If you're rushing to go somewhere, you'll probably just say, fine, or good, or whatever.

But if you're really honest, come on, guys.

And somebody says to you, how's life?

What's your answer?

So this guy used to ask me at the gate, how's life?

And I'm just thinking, you know what?

I'm a Christian.

I want to be honest.

So I used to tell him, how's life?

And I would tell him in two ways.

He'd say, how's life?

And the first time he asked me, I just said, it's sin cursed.

How's your life?

How are you doing?

It's sin, but you can't stop there.

You can't stop there because that's not the whole story, is it?

But that is the truth, isn't it?

How's life?

Sin cursed.

You got a problem?

I got a problem.

You got struggles?

I got struggles.

Your family's got issues?

My family's got issues.

No?

Anybody?

No?

Right?

That's the way it goes.

How's life?

It's sin cursed.

It's why it is the way that it is.

But it's grace filled.

Or if you like this morning, mercy filled.

Is that not fair?

Is that not true?

Come on, guys.

Somebody asked you, how's life?

Get ready.

Get ready.

Now that guy asked me that same question for about four or five weeks, and then he stopped

asking.

Right?

For obvious reasons.

But I hope he got, I hope that guy remembers this crazy American guy in Scotland who just

tried to be honest with him.

Sin cursed, but it's grace filled.

That's how life is.

That's how life is.

And you feel it.

You feel it.

You feel it.

That's what's going on here with this guy.

He's desperate.

He's desperate.

He grips you.

You can feel the guy's anguish and his pain and his fear.

You can feel it.

And you're just waiting now because he's come to who?

He's come to Jesus.

He's come to Jesus.

And by now in Mark's gospel, we're just diving in the middle.

But by now in Mark's gospel, Mark's got you set up.

He set you up, Mark.

He's bringing you on his journey.

He set you up to know that when somebody comes to Jesus in need, watch out.

When somebody comes with an honest heart, an open heart, a real plea to Jesus, you're

just kind of waiting on the edge of your seat to see what he's going to do.

Right?

So here we are.

We're waiting.

We're waiting.

What's he going to do?

My daughter, what is Jesus going to do?

But amazingly, before Mark can even get around to telling us, you see what happens.

Before Mark can tell us what Jesus is going to do with this guy's daughter, Mark tells

us that Mark starts another story.

Did you see it?

He starts another story.

And maybe you think he's losing his place or something like that.

But I think he knows exactly what he's doing.

I think he knows exactly what he's doing.

And I think he's got a huge point that he's trying to make here.

And this is how he's going to make it.

Because now here comes this woman.

Right?

And man, she's desperate.

Isn't she?

It's like a bit of a theme here.

She's desperate.

And we don't know who she is.

And we don't know where she's from.

But oh my goodness, we know that she's desperate.

Don't we?

We know that she's desperate.

In fact, you can't see this in the English text.

But in the original, Mark gives, it's a bit of a literary technique he uses here.

And he gives this elaborate description of this woman's suffering in seven participial clauses.

Seven participles that he just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

And he just wants us to get enough to feel what this woman is living through.

Seven participial clauses makes this the longest sentence in his gospel.

This one here.

She's bleeding, suffering, spending, not benefiting, worsening, hearing, and coming.

It's incredible.

He just lists it out.

Here's this woman and whoomph, this little snapshot of her desperate life.

And so Mark even writes this in a way that focuses our attention on this woman's need.

Because it wasn't just debilitating for her.

It was defiling.

So what she had wasn't just debilitating.

Somebody, you know, breaks a leg or whatever else and it's debilitating.

It was more than that for this woman.

It was defiling.

Because Leviticus tells us that her bleeding put her in the category of the contaminated.

All right, so it wasn't, it was deeper than just a broken leg.

It was deeper than just an illness.

It was deeper than just a stay in the hospital.

It was deeper than any of that.

It was really deep.

Let's put her in the category of the contaminated, the unclean.

And this woman has had 12 years of it, we're told.

12 years of it.

And so both of these people have a desperate need.

And I would suggest to you that every human being has a desperate need, don't we?

We're all born.

Think about it.

We're all born desperate.

Fair or not fair?

We're all born.

Probably the day we're born, we don't know it.

Right?

And there's some people who live quite the way through their life before they get it.

In fact, sadly, some people never get it.

They feel it.

They feel it.

I often think about this with my neighbors and my unsaved family.

You know, I hear from around the holidays maybe, or I see people in the street in my neighborhood.

And I look at their lives, and of course, you live with neighbors and stuff, and you get to know them.

And you begin to feel and realize that they know something in their life and in their hearts, but they can't articulate it.

Right?

Because they don't know what it is.

They just know that something's not right.

They're desperate.

Okay?

Just think about that.

Okay, number two.

So both of these people are desperate.

Number two, both of these people seem to have at least some understanding that Jesus can help them.

Right?

Some, I don't know how deep it goes or where it goes, whatever.

They seem to have some understanding that Jesus can help them.

And so they approach Him.

They approach Him.

Right?

They don't approach Him because, you know, He's looking good or He's got a great fanfare or whatever else.

They obviously, word is gotten to these guys to know that somehow, someway, somewhere, this guy can help them in their desperation.

He can help them.

And so they approach them.

And you know what?

We're not told how much theology they have.

Not told that.

Don't know how much theology they have or how fully they've put all the pieces of the puzzle together on Jesus.

Because, listen, that's what Mark's trying to do.

You understand that?

That's what Mark's trying to do here.

He's the guy that's pulling all this together for us.

You get it?

This guy's just a part of the story.

And this woman's a part of the story.

And, of course, their story is the story of their lives.

And they're figuring things out just like we do.

And they're putting pieces together of the puzzle of life just like we do.

But Mark is pulling all of this together into his gospel for us so that we will get the picture on Jesus.

So anybody reading his story won't be left in the dark.

That's why we use the Bible, guys.

Particularly the gospels, the story of Jesus' life.

So that we can get a picture of Jesus.

In fact, in the very first sentence of Mark's gospel, he says this.

He says this is the beginning of the good news about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.

Remember that if you've read Mark's gospel.

That's how he starts the whole thing off.

And so, listen, that's what Mark's doing by writing this for us.

But as far as these guys are concerned, they're just hurting.

They're just hurting, desperately hurting.

And they know Jesus can help them.

Because the ruler of the synagogue comes falling on his face.

And the woman comes grabbing at his cloak.

Both in a desperate attempt to somehow get his attention.

Get his help.

Get his mercy.

Get his mercy.

Find his mercy.

And I wonder if Mark's not pressing two massive things out here to his readers in this story.

One, the tragic nature of every fallen human before God's infinite perfection.

I wonder if Mark's not going a little bit deeper than just the physical here.

We know he is.

Because that's the gospel, isn't it?

Gospel's not just Jesus will stop your bleeding.

Or get rid of your migraine.

Right?

Mark's picture is far bigger than that.

Because the issue is far bigger than that, isn't it?

The issue is eternal, guys.

The issue is about eternal life and eternal death.

Huge, huge, infinite stuff.

And I wonder if Mark's not just, he's just not working us together through his gospel.

He's working us together to start looking beyond just the surface to the depths of who we really are in our humanness.

To see the tragic nature of every fallen human before God's infinite perfection.

But two, that the only hope we have in the universe is Jesus.

Amen.

I think he's trying to get us to see that.

I think he's trying to get us to see that.

And maybe you'll agree with me here.

Maybe you won't.

But I think every atom of agony, looking at these people's stories,

every atom of agony, every fragment of suffering that we have in our life,

every tiny fiber of disruption of what Paul Tripp calls our claustrophobic little kingdoms of one that we live in.

You ever feel that?

It's all about me.

Our claustrophobic little kingdoms of one are all just one massive tool of God's infinite mercy.

How's life?

It's incursed.

And when we feel that and we see that and we experience that,

that's actually part of God's mercy because we want to do something about that.

We want to find some help and some hope, don't we?

We want to find some help and some hope.

We're desperately lost.

We're desperately lost.

We need God's mercy because until you and I are convinced of our need for God's grace,

we remain desperately lost.

And so whatever God has to do to open our eyes to the overwhelming need of our hearts,

it's totally worth it, guys.

And often it hurts.

Often it hurts.

What it's going to take for God to open our eyes to the needs of our hearts sometimes hurts.

Is that fair?

Think about it.

Think about it.

He uses, he moves around the pieces of the broken puzzle of the life to accomplish his purposes.

He's infinite in his thoughts and his actions and his providential workings, isn't he?

And he does that in our lives.

That's how he does it.

The psalmist says, before I was afflicted, I went astray.

Think about this.

Before I was afflicted, I went astray.

But now, now what?

Now that I've been afflicted.

You got me, Lord.

You got me.

You got me.

Look up, Sutton.

Look up.

Look up.

Now that I'm afflicted, look up.

Now I keep your law.

Incredible.

And so Jesus says, what does he say?

Come to me.

All you who are, got it together?

Come to me, all you who are weary.

Anybody weary this morning?

Anybody we've seen here getting weary in your preaching here?

Anybody weary?

Feeling it?

Feeling the heaviness of life?

Fair?

It's there, guys.

How's life?

How's life?

It is.

Come on with me.

Who are you going to answer that guy at the gate?

Life is sin, curse, but grace-filled.

You'll get better at that.

You'll get better at that.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest for your souls.

My goodness.

When peace like a river attendeth my way.

Aren't those nice days?

When peace like a river attendeth your way.

Aren't those nice days?

When peace like a river attendeth my way.

Oh, my goodness.

That feels so good.

That feels so good.

Or when sorrows like sea billows roll.

You got those days, too, I bet.

You got those days, too.

Whatever my lot.

You've taught me to say.

What?

It's well.

It is well with my soul.

That's it, guys.

Desperate need.

Approach to Jesus.

And then finally, just here, a wonderfully wide mercy.

It's a big part of this story.

Did you catch it?

It's like from one end of the spectrum to the other.

You have to see this.

Mark doesn't, you know, it's from one.

The guy and the woman.

Boom.

There are totally two ends of the spectrum.

And mercy's in between.

The ends of the spectrum.

You get it.

You get it.

Mercy's for you.

Mercy's for me.

Mercy's for your neighbor, your colleague, your friend, your family.

Wonderfully wide mercy.

These two radical ends of the human spectrum, aren't they?

This leader and this lady.

He's a man.

She's a woman.

He's rich.

She's poor.

He's respected.

She's rejected.

He's honored.

She's ashamed.

He leads the synagogue.

She's excluded from the synagogue.

He has a 12-year-old child.

She has a 12-year-old challenge.

He's had 12 years of delight.

She's had 12 years of despair.

Probably more.

You could just keep going with these guys here.

And yet, despite all of it, despite all of it, guess what?

Jesus meets them both, doesn't he?

He meets them both.

Listen, what a story.

And I think Mark takes this story.

Listen here.

Finishing this up.

Wrapping it up as we come to communion.

I think Mark takes this story of, watch it, of bleeding and dying people.

That's what this story's about, isn't it?

Bleeding woman, dying daughter.

I think he takes this story of bleeding and dying people.

A bleeding woman and a dying daughter.

And I think Mark uses this to point to an ultimate bleeding and dying.

An ultimate bleeding and dying.

Because you know what?

The reason I say you just think, oh, that's a lot of speculation.

Well, wait a minute.

Let me finish.

All right?

Do you know what word he uses, Mark, for both of these deliverances?

It's really interesting.

You don't see it in English.

Do you know what word he uses for both of these?

The both of these deliverances.

When the woman touches Jesus' clothes.

Watch this.

Look at it.

Mark chapter 5.

Mark 5 · chapter mention

When the woman touches Jesus' clothes.

Verse 28.

She says, I'm going to touch his clothes because if I touch his clothes, I'll be.

What does she say?

I'll be healed.

I'll be healed.

You know what word Mark uses for that?

He uses the same word that's used for saved.

Same word that's used for saved in the Bible.

Same in verse 34.

Look at this.

Where Jesus says, daughter, your faith has what?

Same word.

Same word.

And in Jairus, verse 23.

My little daughter is dying.

Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.

Guess what?

Same word.

Same word.

Now, you know, you need to make something of that.

You need to just take that.

Let it rattle around a little bit.

And think about it.

I think Mark is saying more than just Jesus will heal your headache.

I think he wants us to see more than that.

That, yes, he cares for us.

And by the way, every healing comes from God, doesn't it?

Every healing comes from God.

And God's promised to heal every disease.

The only thing that's up in the air is the timing.

Right?

The only thing that's up in the air is the timing.

I want it now.

God just sometimes says, wait.

Or he might just say, I'll give it to you when you come and you're with me.

Right?

So, but it's more than just what we think physical, physical, physical.

Far more than that.

We know that the biggest issue is not physical.

The biggest issue is our eternal destiny.

That's the biggest issue.

Where am I going to be forever?

How am I going to be healed forever?

Same word.

Same word he uses here.

And I'm not saying that eternal salvation was in the minds of either of these two people.

Mark doesn't tell us.

I'm not saying that's what was in there.

All I'm saying that it's interesting that in both cases, verse 36,

when the people come from Jairus' house to tell that his daughter had died,

what does Jesus say to him?

Watch this.

Look, verse 36.

When the people come and tell the guy, don't bother the teacher anymore.

Your daughter has died.

What does Jesus say?

He says, Jairus, don't be afraid.

Just what?

Believe.

Hmm.

Hmm.

I wonder.

Hmm.

Right?

What's going on?

What's Mark?

Where's Mark bringing this?

Just believe.

And then in verse 34, what does he say to this woman?

Daughter, your faith has healed you.

Your faith has healed you.

What might Mark be saying to us?

And so, guys, here's the question.

As we come to the table this morning, here's the question.

The ultimate question is just where do you stand with Jesus?

That's the ultimate question.

Where do you stand with Jesus?

Where are you?

Where are you with him?

What's it all about for you?

What's church all about for you?

What's life all about for you?

Where are you at with Jesus?

Where are you at?

Who is he to you?

These guys had to figure it out.

They had to figure it out.

It wasn't just boom, boom, boom.

What's it?

They had to figure it out.

And even when Peter got it right and he says to Jesus, you're the son of God.

You're the Messiah.

You're the son of God.

He turns around right after that.

He knows who Jesus is, but he completely misses what Jesus has come to do.

These guys had to get it.

We have to get it.

It's a journey.

Where are you?

Where are you?

Keep pressing on, guys.

Keep pressing on.

Where do you stand with his death for your sin and his resurrection for your life?

Where do you stand with his invitation to come and find rest for your soul?

Where do you stand?

Where do you stand?

Because all of us have a desperate need.

All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death.

But listen, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

And so we need to make an approach to Jesus because he's the only hope that we have.

He's the only hope that we have.

But when we do, my goodness, I'll tell you what we'll find.

Is we will find an infinitely wide mercy.

An infinitely wide mercy.

And I pray that we'll all land there today.

And we'll stay there today.

And not drift from there today.

So hopefully keep those thoughts together, rattling around in your head as we come to the table.

Let me just pray here.

Father, thank you for your goodness to us this morning.

Thank you for Jesus.

Thank you that even though it doesn't take rocket science to figure out that life is sin cursed.

We just want to thank you today that it's grace-filled.

It's mercy-filled.

And it's just there for the asking.

It's just that these people just asked you with a humble heart and you gave it to them.

It's there for the asking.

Well, we know that it's there when we need it.

Help us to represent that well to a dying world so that they'll come as well

and find your grace and mercy in their time of need.

In Christ's name, amen.