A Contrast of Conditions

If you have Bibles, I want to turn to Genesis chapter 19.

Genesis 19 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 19, I mentioned in a remind message this week a book,

Genesis 19 · chapter mention

and it's kind of just an overflow of something else that's been going on since October.

I meet with men at 6 o'clock and at 9 o'clock on Tuesday mornings,

and we read a common book together and just discuss that book, Bible-themed book.

Right now I'm whooping him like a dog, and he's whooping me too.

A.W. Towser, we'll finish that up this week, take a couple of months off and start back.

And as I began to prepare for the fall and thought about, well, not really fall,

but the end of the summer when we start back and thought about what to read,

this is a book that I had in mind.

I've used it before in that kind of capacity, and as I thought about it,

I thought, no, this might be a good one for everybody to read.

Need something to read over summer that will do us well and maybe open our eyes to some stuff.

And so I bought several copies, and we have them available.

It's called The Unsaved Christian, and interesting work from Dean in Syria.

And I was in a conference last, two weeks ago, and Dean spoke at that conference,

and I went to a breakout session for him, and he spoke again there.

He pastors a church in Tallahassee, City Church, a church he planted,

and reaching a young generation for Christ in a powerful way.

And when I got the case of books in, I took a picture of it and sent him a message on Twitter and said,

Dean direct messaged me, and he did.

And so I said, when we finish this book, is there a possibility for us to get you on Zoom

and have the opportunity to just meet with you and talk to you about what the book is made up of?

So we'll have a special session for that in August or something like that.

And so if you're interested in anything like that, I don't have a dog in a hunt.

Church is paying taxes on it, actually.

So it's $10 a book.

Some guys, when I mentioned it Tuesday morning, they were so excited about it

that they started throwing money at me.

I said, this is not a poker game.

We are buying books anyway.

So they've got some prepaid down here.

If you paid me the other day, I don't know who you are.

I wasn't keeping up.

But if you paid me the other day, it's down here on the front.

If not, Jeff will be in the back and have those books available.

And if we run out, we'll buy some more.

So you won't be tested on it.

I actually thought about what I put in the bulletin.

I told her to put a good slow eye-opening.

It's not really slow.

It's kind of a fast read.

But you can read it slow, is my point, because it's not that big a book.

So enough with the commercial.

Genesis chapter 19.

Genesis 19 · chapter mention

What I love about God's Word, a lot of things I love about God's Word,

but when I'm reading Abraham, what I love about God's Word is

that he gives us so many life stories, biographies in Scripture

that we can learn from these guys, especially in the Old Testament.

And I believe God places those there for us to not only understand how he established what we have in our faith today,

but I believe he also pointed out everything about these guys' lives so that we could learn from them.

The biographies of the men and the women in the Old Testament particularly are placed there so that we can learn from their triumphs,

and we can learn from their mistakes, and we can see how God works and how he moves and how we are to respond to him.

And we get to see family relationships.

We get to see where it goes right and where it goes wrong so that we can learn from those things.

And so we spent some time in Abraham.

I don't apologize for that because I believe there's great significance to this.

I was coming home from that conference a couple of weeks ago in Charlotte,

and one of the guys that spoke there, Dr. Bob Smith, wonderful preaching professor from Beeson Seminary,

he said that one thing he's done, they ask about how you prepare for preaching and what do you do and those type of things.

He said, one thing that I've started doing is I've started listening to Scripture.

I just listen to Scripture, listen to somebody read it, and just take in the text more so and just focus on that.

And so I got an app as I was leaving and put that on Genesis chapter 12,

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

and for one hour listened to somebody with a slightly British accent read the life of Abraham to me.

And it was amazing, although I'm studying it in depth, it was amazing that just by doing that, it helped me to see the intricacies of that.

As well, let me say that we'll always try to post the Scripture that I'm reading from on the screen so that it's there before you and all those things.

But don't underestimate the value of having a copy of God's Word with you.

Sometimes on Saturday night I get to scratching a little bit and changing some things and adding some things and those type things along the way that may not make it to the screen.

And there's some things that in today's passage, for instance, that you might want to underline and to look at.

And so there's great value in having your copy of God's Word as well as I believe it's a wonderful testimony to have it as well.

And so anyway, enough of that.

But I'm thankful for the Word of God telling us the ins and the outs.

And it does tell us that.

And it tells us that way in some ways kind of uncomfortable way, quite honestly.

Today we're looking at Abraham's nephew more so.

His name is Lot.

And if you remember some time ago, we looked at the fact that they, when God told Abraham to leave his family and to travel,

he brought Lot with him.

And that didn't work out so well.

And so they had to split along the way.

Both of them had quite an entourage or a household.

And they began to have some conflicts along the way.

And so they split.

And when Abraham gave Lot a choice of the direction that he would go in, he chose to go east.

Because he saw, he foresaw some prosperity there.

Honestly, the land looked more fertile.

And he headed out toward the most fertile fields.

But what he thought would be promise and would bring promise instead led to much of his demise.

What started as simply devising his own plan led to wondering.

And a lot of times that happens, by the way.

When we devise our own plan, we have a tendency to wonder.

And what starts as little sins leads to great ones.

I just want you to listen how things went south when Lot went east.

It's in Genesis chapter 19.

Genesis 19 · chapter mention

Beginning in verse 1, it says this.

The two angels.

Now the angels that it's talking about, we previously looked at three people, three men that came to see Abraham.

And it was clearly identified to us that one of those men was God.

I believe it was the pre-incarnate Christ in Scripture.

And those other two men, it later said in Genesis 18, went on to Sodom.

Now that we're looking at Sodom, it says the two angels.

So what Scripture has done for us is identified a very unique circumstance.

In the sense that three guys came to see Abraham.

One of them was in fact God incarnate.

And two of them were messengers of God, or angels.

And that's what it's talking about here.

It says the two angels came to Sodom in the evening.

And Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.

When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth.

And said, my Lord, my Lord, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet.

Then you may rise up early and go on your way.

And they said, no, we'll spend the night in the town square.

But he pressed them strongly.

So they turned aside to him and entered his house.

And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread.

And they ate.

But before they laid down, before they laid down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old,

all the people to the last man surrounded the house.

And they called to Lot, where are the men who came to see you tonight?

Bring them out to us that we may know them.

Lot went out to the men of the entrance.

Shut the door after them and said, shut the door after him and said, I beg you, my brothers, don't act so wickedly.

Behold, I have two daughters who've not known any man.

Let me bring them out to you.

And do to them as you please.

Only do nothing to these men, for they've come under the shelter of my room.

But they said, stand back.

And they said, this fellow came to sojourn.

And he's become the judge.

Now we'll deal worse with you than with them.

And they pressed hard against the man Lot and drew near to break the door down.

But the men reached out their hands, talking about the angels, and brought Lot into the house with him and shut the door.

And they struck, talking about the angels, struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house,

both small and great, so that they wore themselves out, groping for the door.

Then the men said to Lot, have you anyone else here, sons-in-laws, sons, daughters, anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place.

For we're about to destroy this place because the outcry against his people has become great before the Lord.

And the Lord has sent us to destroy it.

So Lot went out and said to his son-in-laws who were to marry his daughters, up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.

But it seemed to his son-in-laws to be jesting.

As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, said, up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.

But he lingered.

That's an underline, by the way.

But he lingered.

So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

And as they brought him out, one said, escape for your life.

Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley.

Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.

And Lot said to them, oh, no, my lords.

Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness and saving my life.

But I can't escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I'll die.

Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it's a little one.

Let me escape there.

Is it not a little one?

And my life will be saved.

He said to them, behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.

Therefore, the name of the city was called Zor.

The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zor.

Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

And he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the city and what grew on the ground.

But Lot's wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley.

And he looked, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like a smoke of a furnace.

So it was there when God destroyed the cities of the valley.

God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the mist of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Let's pray together.

Lord, this passage is kind of overwhelming, quite honestly, to me as I read it.

To see that the mess that Lot put his family in,

and the decisions that he made that cost them greatly.

God, I ask that you'll help us to learn from his experience,

so that we don't make the same kind of mistakes.

But instead, Lord, that we follow your plan immediately,

what you would have for us, Father.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Man, there's so much to dig through here.

I don't have time, and you don't want me to take the time to do it.

It is what it is.

It's a sad situation, quite honestly.

There's some mistakes along the way that may have seemed small.

Some of his mistakes might even seem smart to him, quite honestly.

But it got him in a mess that continued to cost him big.

And how he handled it was foolish to say the best.

But what I want to focus on this morning for a few minutes

is to notice the contrast between Abraham and Lot.

Two different dudes doing two different things.

Now, I will say at the beginning,

Lot is called in Scripture later righteous.

So it's not that we're talking about a wicked, horrible person at all.

We're talking about somebody who made bad decisions.

And out of those bad decisions,

we can learn to make good ones.

The first difference that I want you to notice about these men

are their locations.

Abraham was near the great trees of Mamrie

where he built an altar for the Lord.

That he came back and revisited.

And where God met with him.

Lot was in Sodom.

Sodom is the picture of the wickedness of the world in one city.

Chapter 19 is merely an example.

We get the word sodomy from the city Sodom.

My friend, when you sleep with trash,

you smell like trash and you'll become trash.

And so was the case with Lot.

You better be careful where you pitch your tent.

Not only were their locations different,

but their plans were different.

Genesis 18 verse 1 tells us that

Genesis 18:1

Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent.

He was a nomad.

He was a man on the go.

Not just wondering, but being guided by God.

He went when God told him to go.

He went where God told him to go.

And he went how God told him to go.

And he stopped when God told him to stop.

And God's plan for him was his plan.

Hebrews 11 verse 10 tells us this.

Hebrews 11:10

It said,

For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations,

whose designer and builder is God.

In other words, he's looking beyond this world.

He just wanted to follow God.

And Abraham's sights were set on bigger things.

Lot, however,

Genesis 19 tells us,

was sitting in the gateway of the city.

Do you realize what that means?

That when you have a walled city,

the gateway became the lingering place.

It's where the markets were

because everybody had to go through there

if they were leaving town

or if they were coming to town.

It was a busy spot.

But you know who else sat there?

The sages.

Those who led the city.

Those who had strong influence in the town.

And Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city.

Either means he was giving advice to the city

or he was taking it from the city.

One of the others, what that means.

He was a major player in that city.

A town spokesman.

An honoree of sorts.

That's not bad unless it's a wicked city.

And Lot was up to bad stuff.

Self-made stuff is the biggest problem with it.

Self-made and wrong stuff.

I want you to notice

their plans.

The third thing I want you to notice

is their passions.

In Genesis 18,

God appeared to Abraham

along with two of his messengers,

which we've determined are angels from Scripture.

And when Abraham saw

what appeared to be messengers from God,

he hurried from the entrance of his tent

to meet them.

That's in Genesis 18, verse 2.

Genesis 18:2

As opposed to that,

when angels in the form of two men came to Lot,

Genesis 19, 1 tells us

he simply got up to meet them.

Now, there's a difference

in hurrying out to meet somebody

and just getting up to meet somebody.

You want to know the difference in that

is my dog and my kids.

Okay?

That's the difference.

Who wags their tails

and meets me at the door

when I get home?

It's not my kids.

You know?

Men, if you ever wondered

if your dog or your wife

loves you more,

I got a test for you.

Lock them both in the trunk of the car

and see who's happy to see you

after an hour.

Don't do that.

Okay?

That's a joke.

Abraham had such a love for God

every time he felt his presence,

saw a manifestation of him,

he ran to him.

He had a passion.

He had a zeal for God.

I've never met someone

who did not have a passion

for something.

And Abraham had one

for God.

Their passions were different.

Not only that,

but their offerings were different.

When Abraham offered

to host his company,

they were appreciative.

That's in Genesis 18.5.

When Lot gave the identical invitation,

they were first declined.

That's in Genesis 19.2.

But Abraham was much more personal.

He was offering himself

and all that he had.

Lot was simply offering

his possessions.

God's not interested

in keeping company

with your possessions.

He wants you.

He wants you.

And when you draw the lines

in the sand

of what he can have

and what he can't have,

that's not surrender.

surrender.

God wants us.

And when he has us,

our possessions

are his as well

because he's got us.

It's a priority factor

of what's most important to us.

But there was a difference

in what they offer.

Not only that,

but there was a difference

in their families.

Chapter 18 shows us

that Abraham's family

was a household with purpose

and working together

with common priorities.

Lot had to go this alone.

He had a family

but they were not helping.

Genesis 19 verse 3

Genesis 19:3

tells us that.

And then apparently

they were unsettled

and they were unhealthy.

In verse 14,

when he told the son-in-laws

what they needed to do,

they didn't take him seriously.

They thought he was kidding.

Sin always promises

a good time

with fun company

but it's only for a season.

Sin is the loneliest place

on earth

and then if without Jesus

you die,

you go to hell.

And I want to be clear

about something.

You don't go to hell

with a company of friends

to rejoice with there.

Not at all.

We'll look in detail

this fall

on what the scripture

tells us

about not only heaven

but about hell.

But I want you to know

what stands out

about hell so much

is the loneliness

and the absence

of God's presence.

the suffering

primarily

from the absence

of God's presence.

Sin promises

a good time

but it lies to you.

Their families

were different.

Not only that

but their welcomes

were different.

Genesis 18 verse 8

Genesis 18:8

tells us that Abraham

joined them as they ate.

He fellowshiped with them.

They conversed

as they ate.

Lot however

went outside

to turn away

the wicked men.

He shut the door

behind him

leaving his gift

in the house

unattended.

One is sitting down.

The other

is fending off.

Let me ask you something.

What do you do

when God comes

to see you?

When you really

sense his presence

in your life?

When you really feel

like he's speaking

to you about a matter

in your life?

How do you respond

to that?

When God probes

your heart

do you sit down

and sup with him?

Do you fellowship

with him about that?

Are you like

like are you trying

to close out

all the wickedness

in your life

and keep it

away from God?

Do you open

yourself up

to the Lord?

Do you open

yourself up

to him in prayer?

when you read

God's word

do you open

yourself up

to the word

of God

and allow him

to speak

and work

and move

in your life?

Whereas

godliness

opens spiritual

doors

wickedness

shuts them

and what

you'll find

is when

you close

yourself

off

if you

have a

pattern

of reading

God's word

in your life

and I've

encouraged that

and I'll

continue to

encourage it

but if you

have a pattern

of such

like that

but you're

not allowing

the Holy

Spirit

to work

and move

in your

life

you're not

opening

yourself

up to what

God would

have you

to show

in God's

word

you'll

grow less

passion

for reading

God's

word

your passion

for the

Lord will

dull

because you're

not receiving

what he has

to say to

you

you're not

responding

to it

same thing

happens

if there's

sin in your

life and

God reveals

that sin

and asks you

to respond

to it

in obedience

and you

fail to

respond to

that in

obedience

don't you

dare think

that that

don't affect

you in

your personal

relationship

with God

and how

scripture

speaks to

your heart

and life

how you're

able to

worship

not only

privately

but publicly

makes a

huge amount

of difference

there was a

difference

in the

welcomes

to the

Lord

not only

that but

there was a

difference

in their

words

from God

and I

mean the

personal

word that

God gave

them

both got a

message from

the Lord

Abraham

received a

word of

blessing

in Genesis

8 18

verse 10

he tells

in the

blessing

will be

the promise

of Isaac

coming in

about a

year

the long

awaited

promise

would

finally

be

fulfilled

now

Lot

on the

other hand

was warned

in Genesis

19 15

and he

said he

and his

family were

to leave

that city

that city

that he

set out

on his

own

desires

and went

to

it's

interesting

to me

that we

often

seek

what we

do not

need

I want

you to

think about

this for

just a

minute

I hope

you get

this

it seems

in the

times when

we're in

sin

we need

God's

directive

warning

but we

seek his

love

we just

want God

to love

us

in spite of

what we're

doing

we don't

really want to

change what

we're doing

we just want

him to love

us in spite

of that

and get

pretty defensive

about that

sometimes

but when

we're striving

to please

him

and living

for him

we seek

his direction

we want

his direction

and we think

less about

his love

and his

grace

because

we're

seeking

the Lord

and we

want his

direction

and in

reality

it happens

just the

opposite

because when

we're dirty

and we don't

want to hear

it God

gives us

a directive

warning

it's what

he did

a lot

and when

we're seeking

his face

yet

failing

too much

to make

us content

he loves

us

he loves

us

through that

because he

knows we're

imperfect

and he loves

us through

that

he knows

what we

need

whether we're

ready for it

or not

he knows

that

so I

ask you

how is

God

speaking

to you

what are

you looking

for

and how is

he speaking

to you

are you

looking for

some type

warning

the reality

is if

you're seeking

the Lord

with your

life

and there's

not manifest

sin

recurring

sin

in your

life

and you're

seeking

the Lord

and you're

asking God

show me

this and show

me this

and show

me this

I'll tell

you he'll

flood you

with his

love

and grace

is what

he'll do

and if

there's

things in

your life

that you're

trying to

hide from

God

what a joke

that don't

work

but if

there's

things in

your life

that you

want to

hold on

to and

you don't

want to

give over

to the

Lord

and you're

trying to

hide from

God

you just

want him

to love

you in

spite of

that

I mean

I know

I'm doing

wrong

things

but God

I just

want you

to put

your grace

upon me

and love

me in

spite of

that

he'll give

you a

direct

warning

and you'll

feel that

then you'll

get mad

at the

preacher

because

sometimes

it came

from him

and that

ain't the

truth

that ain't

the way

that works

God knew

before the

foundation of

the earth

what people

needed to

hear today

in this

room

and so I

trust him

with that

I had a

preacher one

time tell

me unless

you finish

your sermon

on Saturday

night

you're not

being sensitive

to the Holy

Spirit

because you're

not watching

what's going

on in the

world

and I

said dude

I believe

that for the

foundation of

the earth

God knew

exactly what

I was to

preach when

I was to

preach it

and who I

was to

preach it

to and I

think he

knew what

was going

on in their

lives and

what they

needed to

hear so I

don't have

to figure

out the

world nor

the congregation

I just have

to stick to

God's word

just preach

what he tells

me to

preach

and let

it stick

where it

may

because God

will speak

to you

exactly where

you are

and give

you what

you need

how must

God speak

to you

based upon

your life

right now

there was

also a

difference in

their walks

whereas in

Genesis 18

16 and 17

it shares

with us

that Abraham

walked with

God and

God shared

his plan

with him

in chapter

19 verse

20 lot

hesitated to

walk in

his grace

and God

told him

to flee

and in

verse 16

it said

that he

lingered

God told

him to

flee and

he lingered

there's a

passage in

Joseph's life

where

Potiphar's

wife pursues

him

tempts him

it's very

forward with

him

to ask

him to

be with

her

and scripture

says that

he ran

so hard

he left

his coat

in her

hand

that's what

Lot needed

to do about

Sodom

he just

needed to

get out

but he

didn't

he lingered

some people

are happy

with God

just saving

them from

the pits

just taking

care of

their needs

and they

live their

life like

that

but then

some seek

to walk

with God

and it is

those that

seek to walk

with God

that God

shares his

plans with

he lets

you in

on it

I want

you to

notice the

difference

in their

prayers

in Genesis

Genesis 18:23

18 verse

23

Abraham

interceded

on behalf

of the

whole city

we talked

about that

how he

prayed for

them

diligently

but in

Genesis

Genesis 19:20

19 verse

20

Lot

simply

pleaded

for himself

he simply

wanted a

way out

he was

simply

watching out

for him

let me

escape

let my

life

be saved

what are

your prayers

focused on

are they

selfish

requests

are they

selfless

surrenders

what are

they

because prayer

is really

a surrender

it's nothing

less than

that

it's a

surrender

one more

thing I want

you to see

and it was

their attitudes

their attitudes

were different

Jesus 18

Abraham was

praying

he's seeing

himself as

only dust

and ashes

in verse

27

but in

Genesis 19

Genesis 19:19

verse 19

Lot calls

himself

God's

servant

but when

God told

him to

flee

he said

he couldn't

call

yourself

what you

want to

but unless

you're sold

out to

God

you're not

his servant

and so the

question is

what are the

limitations that

we throw

before God

what are those

areas of our

life when we

don't want him

messing with

and if there's

any of those

we always are

going to settle

for God's

second best in

our life if

we're holding

things back

for being

everything that

we can be

for the

Lord

I will

tell you

that Lot's

life is a

preponderance

of small

mistakes along

the way

it's just a

build up of

small mistakes

as a matter of

fact 2 Peter

2 Peter 2:7

chapter 2

verse 7

and 8

tells us

that he was

a righteous

man that

was distressed

by the filthy

lives of lawless

men and that

he was living

day to day

with them

and it

tormented him

that's what

Peter tells us

about Lot

however he

chose his

course

and it

started small

he just saw

good land

he just thought

he'd take

advantage of a

deal

you go your

way and I'll

go mine and

you pick which

way well I'm

gonna pick the

best you know

and his drift

into the mess

that we see

in 19 that I

purposely didn't

focus on some

of it because

it's sickening

to me honestly

that mess that

he's in

that didn't

come overnight

just a trickle

just a slow

drift

headed the wrong

way

pitching your

tent in the

wrong place

watch the drift

in Genesis

Genesis 13:12

13 verse 12

he pitches

his tent

near Sodom

in Genesis

Genesis 14:12

14 verse 12

he's living

in Sodom

in Genesis

Genesis 19:1

19 verse 1

he's sitting

at the gateway

of Sodom

just slowly

moving in

and destroying

everything that

he knows

it's the

antithesis of

of Psalm

Psalms 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

when Psalm

Psalms 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

says

blessed

is the

man

who

walks

not in

the

counsel

of the

wicked

nor

stands

in

the

way

of

sin

nor

sits

in

the

seat

of

scoffers

but his

delight

is in

the

law

of the

Lord

and on

his

law

he

meditates

day

and

night

he's

like

a

tree

planted

by

streams

of

water

that

yield

its

fruit

and

season

and

its

leaf

does

not

wither

and all

that

he

does

he

prospers

was it

all on

purpose

did he

mean to

live in

a condemned

city

no

he

simply

wanted

the

best

of

both

worlds

that's

what

he

wanted

and

his

sins

although

they

may

be

little

they

cost

him

big

and

the

results

was

disaster

you

see

Abraham

sought

the

Lord

at

all

cost

and

Lot

some

of

God

at

no

cost

is

what

he

sought

it's

contrasting

conditions

God

gives

us

choices

and

the

choice

is

ours

but

so

are

the

ramifications

may

we

look

at

someone

else's

wayward

life

and

learn

from

it

so

we

don't

do

the

same

in

our

own

life

with

every

head

bowed

and

every

eye

closed

if

you're

here

this

morning

and

you've

never

surrendered

your

life

to

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

I

want

you

to

know

he'll

save

you

today

he's

speaking

to your

heart's

life

it's

only

because

he

pursues

you

gives

you

the

opportunity

to

respond

to him

in

obedience

if that's

never

happened

to you

there's

no need

for you

to put

that off

any

longer

love to

guide

you in

that

maybe you're

here this

morning and

and you

have done

that

but

the

reality

is

you're

a

Christian

today

and

like

a lot

there's

some

similarities

in your

life

there's

just

some

slipping

some

stuff

that

you've

handled

yourself

instead

of

handling

God

some

ways

you've

pointed

your

own

direction

instead

of

trusting

God

and

his

you

need

to

get

that

right

whether

it's

publicly

or

privately

you

need

to

get

it

right

whether

it's

at

this

altar

or at

your

church

you

feel

like

the

Holy

Spirit

is

drawing

you

into

this

church

you

want

to

join

us

along

for

the

journey

I

encourage

you

if

God

is

leading

that

come

we'll

talk

about

that

maybe

you're

here

and

you

know

that

you're

a

Christian

but

you've

never

been

baptized

as a

believer

it's

never

happened

that's

the

first

step

of

obedience

that'll

be

a

hindrance

to

you

in

your

spiritual

life

for

the

Lord

we'd

love

to

guide

you

in

that

process

no

pressure

just

conversations

from

guides

Lord

Jesus

thank you

for

showing

us

a lot

it's

ugly

I

don't

like

reading

it

I

don't

like

thinking

about

it

being

put

in

such

a

situation

being

in

such

a

city

but

God

I

pray

today

that

you'll

help

us

to

learn

from

it

and

help

us

to

respond

in

obedience

because

of it

Father

I

pray

in

Jesus

name

Amen