Joel • Week 1

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Good morning. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, I wanted to invite you to join us in Joel.

Joel is where we are going to be over the next four weeks. In like typical dad joke fashion,

I've had a lot of fun with that around here. With our staff, we're talking about the upcoming series,

like we're gonna be studying Joel, not that Joel or that Joel, but that Joel, right? With having so

many Joels around here. So we're gonna be in Joel for the next four weeks. I want to say it's about

six or seven years ago. We started, you know, during this time after Easter, before we get into

our summer series, walking through some of these minor prophets that have some major things to say

for us. And so it's exciting to be here and to go through this. If you're a first-time guest,

I want to echo what Pastor Dave said. We're so glad that you are here and that you're worshiping with

us. After the service is over with, I'll be back here to my left with my wife, Erin. We would love

just to meet you and to thank you for being here and for worshiping with us. And then if you happen

to have any questions about Willow Ridge Church, we would love the opportunity to answer those for

you. So thank you so much also for being here. I also want to echo what we just saw with one of

our videos that Kids Camp is coming up. It's going to be in June this year, where it's been in July

in the past. And so we're a little change of date, which also means the deadline will be coming up at

the end of May. I just want to make sure that that's out there for all you parents, for those that will

be having a child finishing between kindergarten through fifth grade. It's going to be an exciting

week. It's going to be an energetic week. Excited to see all the prep and all the planning, the games,

the activities, the lessons, the food, all of that that's going to be packaged up for your children.

A wonderful, wonderful time. And we would love to have them join us. It is probably the most

exhausting week that I have of ministry. And I'm not really sure that I do a whole lot while I'm here,

but it wears me out. And it is good, good time with your kids, and we look forward to it.

So with that said, I want to read Joel 1, 14 through 15, before we go to the Lord in prayer.

It says, consecrate a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the

land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. Would you join me in prayer?

God, we thank you for your word. God, we thank you for every word in your word.

We thank you for the power of your word. God, today, as we study a book, we're probably that many of us

have bypassed, have skipped over, have not spent time in. God, we anticipate for you through the

power of your spirit to teach us, to draw us closer to you, to bring us to repentance.

And it's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen.

I don't know if you have daily goals, things that you like to do. Some of you maybe like to

read every day. Some of you may like to exercise every day. Some of you like maybe different things

that you want to accomplish over the course of the day. One of the things that I like to do every day,

and I've been this way since I was a little boy, I might not always like schoolwork and studying,

but every day, I enjoy learning something new. I like the useless trivia aspects. I'm a good guy to

take to one of the wing places on a Thursday night when it's random 80s hairband trivia night or

random 90s sitcom trivia night. Like, I'm a guy that likes to know things. I like to know the why of

things. It's how my mind works. It's how I live. Every day, I want to learn something new.

Well, sometimes as I'm learning new things, certain truths hit me to a point to where I remember every

detail, not only of the truth, but the environment in which I learned the truth, the details surrounding

me when I learned this truth. And sometimes it doesn't have to be super powerful or super profound

in the truth that I learned, but I want to learn something new about myself, about the world around me,

about God, about you. I want to learn something new every day. And sometimes the events of that

stick with me. Here's an example of one of the silly things maybe that has stuck with me that I'd like to

share with you. I remember the day that I tried a food that I'd heard of that I'd never had.

I remember what it looked like, what it tasted like, and I remember falling in love with sushi.

How many of you like sushi? How many of you do not like sushi? Raise your hand. How many of you have

never tried sushi and you will never try sushi? Raise your hand. You are the category of people that I fell

into. Like to me, like I knew what that looked like, and I would usually put that on the end of a hook to

catch a fish. And I didn't understand why people would pay not just money, but a lot of money to eat

something that in my mind, nothing had been done to prepare it.

There's more preparation that goes into a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli than into a sushi roll.

Aaron and I, we met when we were in college. We met on December 15th. We got engaged on April 15th.

My daughter tells me that it's kind of cringy that we met that quickly and got engaged that quickly,

but you know, it's what happened. We went to the same college together, but we didn't meet at college.

Aaron consistently went to class, and I consistently took naps in the library,

and our paths did not overlap at that point in time. I'd never seen it. We actually, we met at

church through a mutual friend. Well, that spring semester, Aaron and I were dating. I was in love

with her. She was in love with me, and we were walking on campus. I would meet her every day in

between class, and I'd walk her to her next class because she always needed to be on time, and I just

always needed to be with her, and as we're walking across campus, there was a guy that was walking

toward us, and I see him smile. Now, by process of elimination, I don't know him, and so he's not

smiling at me. He's smiling at Aaron, and in my mind, I'm thinking, we got a problem.

Now, I say this in all form of confidence in who I am. As he got closer, I began to realize

this fella's kind of pretty. A little insecurity begins to flare up, so we stop, and Aaron and him

speak for a few moments, and she introduces me, and I'm like, that's right, you know, like a little firm

grip on the handshake, you know, and then we walk off, and as every insecure 21-year-old does,

I say, so how do you know that guy?

And she said, oh, don't worry. He's just a friend. We took a class together. We had to work on a project

together, and in doing that project. We found out that we both like sushi.

Now, I did not know that my wife, I did not know you could come from Lauren, South Carolina, and like sushi.

She did. You see, my culinary taste buds at the time were limited. I come from North Augusta, a little bit of a redneck,

not exposed to a lot. The three restaurants that impacted my taste buds growing up, number one was a restaurant

called Poe Folks on Peach Orchard Road, specialized in fried chicken. They brought out your plate. It already had the

dividers in it, right? That's what we ate. I remember what I like to do is I like to put a little bit of

ketchup on my plate and dip my roll into the ketchup, right? That was for after dinner. You just kind of

settle everything. Poe Folks, we ate at Pablo's on Washington Road. I did not know that there were other

things outside of tacos until we were opened up to Pablo's, and then at Pablo's, I learned about things

like quesadillas and burritos and enchiladas and taco salads where you could actually eat your bowl.

It's profound to me. But then our home restaurant in North Augusta was a place called S&S Cafeteria.

I don't know if y'all had those style cafeterias. I know the K&W and the different ones that have been

around at malls, but we did not have one in a mall. We had one in a strip mall, S&S Cafeteria.

It's where we would go after church, right there on Martintown Road, and you would walk through,

and it was always looking at my mom and dad and saying, like, can I get something else? Can I get

something else? Can I get something else? And you know it was good payday if you were able to get fruit,

a salad, an entree, two sides, and then at the end they had their strawberry shortcake, right? And if

you could get that, and then a sweet tea right there at the end. And that's what I ate growing up.

So I'm at a, I'm at a junction in my life where this beautiful girl that I'm in love with

likes sushi. And in the, she goes and she has been eating sushi literally with the prettiest

guy that I've ever seen on campus. And I said to her, let's go get some sushi.

Now, we go, if you haven't tried sushi, let me say this. Here's what no one tells you.

It's not the taste that gets you. It's the texture.

There's an amen from the back. All right. It's an amen. And here's the texture part that gets you.

It's the seaweed. It's the seaweed. So we go there, they hand you this menu that might as well be

written in Greek because I can't read any of it. I don't know what any of it's talking about. And so

I looked at her and said, what do you get? And she said, I get a spicy shrimp roll and a tempura roll.

What is that? Well, the shrimp is cooked and it's fried. Now you're talking my language, right?

So let me get what she's got. So they bring it out. Now I'm thinking, you know, when you were little,

and your mama made you eat something you didn't want to eat, you would eat it quickly, right?

So I thought, I'll just eat this as fast as I can. I did not realize that in order to chew up seaweed,

it takes about 10 minutes of violently chewing to get there. So my first bite, chopsticks, like this is

finger food, right? So I grabbed that spicy tuna roll, popped that in my mouth.

And that piece of seaweed untangled and stuck from like right here to right here, right?

But I kept eating. I got through it. And I'll be honest with you, I love, I love sushi.

If you ever want to go eat sushi, like I'm always in the mood to eat sushi. I fell in love with it on that day.

And I remember the details of that story. And I'm so glad. And by the way, like six months ago,

we were talking and laughing about that story again. And my wife, who's never given me any reason

not to believe every word that she's ever told me, I asked her like, hey, what was that guy's name?

She goes, you know what? I honestly, I don't even remember. I'm like, yeah, that's right. You don't,

right? This guy, right? This week, there was one day I learned a lesson. I learned a lesson that we'll

incorporate within the details of God's word this morning. This week I learned something that I maybe

knew, but I, but I had not learned and that I had not, um, accepted. And, and, and this is what we're going to

get to this morning. I'm going to give you a little bit of where we're going. Okay. It's this.

When something tragic happens,

it's tragic. You see, it happens in my life. It happens in yours.

Even as followers of Christ, like we're, we're, we're not removed from the tragedies of this world.

When, when something tragic happens, as a Christian, we often, or even those of who aren't Christians,

right? We want to ask the question, why? That's a good question. It's not a bad question.

Why? Why did this happen? Why did this take place?

But here's a lesson that I learned, but a better question, especially if you're a believer,

a better question, if you love the Lord Jesus Christ and you trust God and you understand

that he, that he holds you in the palm of his hand is, is when tragedy happens.

Ask what now?

What now?

It's, it's the tragedy and then it's the come.

And now that I've experienced this, now that I've walked through this,

Lord, what now?

What now?

What do you have for me now?

Join me, we're going to read the first four verses.

We'll cover all of chapter one this morning, but we're going to read the first four verses.

The word of the Lord came to Joel, son of Pethul.

Hear this, you elders, give ear all inhabitants of the land.

Has such a thing happened in your days or in the days of your fathers?

Tell your children of it and let your children tell their children and their children to another generation.

What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten.

What the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.

Let's pause there for a moment.

What you and I are going to look at this morning, what you and I are going to understand is,

what do we do when tragedy hits?

What do we do when tragedy hits?

I want to give you a little bit of background of what is happening, what is taking place in this minor prophet in Joel as he writes.

The writer is Joel, and the Bible does not give us much detail about him.

We find out his dad's name, and that's about it.

We know that the recipients are the southern kingdom of Judah, and we think this is around 835 B.C.

This is what biblical archaeologists, biblical historians kind of point to is what they think the evidence of this time frame

with understanding the events, historically speaking, points to.

Now, this is very significant.

If this happened in 835 B.C., and it's significant, but because Judah has been under the leadership of a very wicked and evil queen,

and coming to the end of her reign, and we see the beginning of the reign of King Joash.

And so we're brought into this tragedy, we're brought into this event in history,

and we see in this a little bit different pattern than how God normally uses his prophets.

Normally, when God's using his prophets, it's to speak of a judgment that is to come.

But God is going to use Joel to speak of this time of tragedy, this time of judgment,

this time of hardship that has already come upon them.

And it's already come upon them in the form of locusts.

Now, I don't know if you're gardening, farming, those type things, but we garden, we garden a lot.

We worked out yesterday, and I'll tell you, like a lack of rain, we can overcome.

A lot of sun, we can overcome.

Like too much sun, too little sun, like we can battle through that.

But when you start dealing with an infestation of insects within your crops, it's a problem.

And so you try to prevent, because there's so many insects that once they get into your crop,

once they get, there's an infestation that is there, you might as well just burn it all up,

because all they're going to do is continue to spread and spread and spread.

And one of the most, if not the most destructive, is locusts.

In 1915, there was a devastating plague of locusts that covered what is modern-day Israel and Syria.

I want to explain to you the process so that you can kind of see what happened and took place.

The swarm, the first swarms came in March.

Historically, it said that the clouds were so thick that it blocked out the sun.

Female locusts immediately began to lay eggs, a hundred at a time.

Witnesses are given accounts that said in one square yard, there would be as many as 65,000 to 75,000 eggs.

In a few weeks, they hatched.

And the young locusts would resemble large ants.

They couldn't fly yet.

And they moved by hopping.

And they marched 400 to 600 feet per day,

devouring every speck of vegetation along the way.

After two more stages of molting,

they would become adults, which could fly.

And the destruction would continue.

You see, we're not talking about some pesky ants or worms that have gotten into a garden bed.

We're talking about the devastation of a food system.

We're talking about the devastation of an economic system.

We're talking about the continual destruction of what's there.

And so when we look back and we think of the southern kingdom in 835,

and we think with Joel, with the situation of what they're facing,

we're not talking about an inconvenience.

We're talking about complete devastation.

We're talking about economic destruction of an agricultural society.

We're talking about religious destruction.

We're talking about religious destruction.

And we'll look at parts of these pieces.

Because they were not able to worship God in the way that God had commanded them to as a result of what had taken place.

And we're talking about the destruction of life.

People died as a result of this.

You see, the significance of what has happened and has taken place is verse 3 tells us that this destruction is so great that your kids need to hear about this and the generations to come need to hear about this as well.

The only thing that I can compare to is those stories of sitting down with my grandparents and hearing their stories of the Great Depression.

That while I never stepped foot into that environment in my life to the best of the limited understanding of the suffering that they went through,

I can relate and understand about the destruction and the hopelessness in that time that they felt.

This is what they are encouraged to make sure that generations know.

But they're God's people.

So why?

You know, just because you and I are God's people does not mean you and I are free from the tragedies, the calamities, the sufferings of this world.

We come back to these pieces of what do we do, where do we go, how do we respond when these things happen?

That's a good question, an acceptable question, and an okay question is to ask why.

Think about times that you've been through.

God, why does this happen?

God, why does this take place?

When we ask God why, when I ask God why, let me talk about my heart.

When I ask God why, more times than not, in complete transparency,

it's God you owe me an answer.

God, if you're good, why?

If you're loving, why?

You see, I found that within myself when I ask God why.

And I'm not putting this on you.

If you feel this is you, then that's the Holy Spirit working in you.

This is me.

I feel like an angry, entitled child who feels like they deserve an answer that maybe they don't deserve.

God, why?

This is what you owe me.

But when I start to ask the question, the truth through life experience and the truth through this, through God's word.

What now, God?

What now?

You see, the position of my heart is different.

I've moved from God, you owe me an answer to God.

Now that this has taken place, how do I obey you?

How do I glorify you?

How do I honor you?

God, what now?

When we ask the question, what now?

The glimpses of what we can see in the plan of God is how God is working in the situation.

Why take care of the past and what now?

Why tries to take care of the past, but what now looks at the present and the future?

What now responds through faith, not through circumstance?

Faith in God says, what now, God?

What do you have for me now?

What are you drawing me closer to you now?

So that I can obey you now.

Not because, but oftentimes in spite of, God, what now?

God's people have experienced a devastating situation.

And God's going to give them the what now.

God's going to give them the what now.

Look with me in verse 5.

It says, awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine because of the sweet wine,

for it is cut off from your mouth.

For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number.

It's teeth are lion's teeth, and it has the fangs of lioness.

It has laid waste of my vine and splintered my fig tree.

It has stripped off their bark and thrown it down, and their branches are made white.

Verse 8.

Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.

The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord.

The priests mourn the ministers of the Lord.

The fields are destroyed.

The ground mourns because the grain is destroyed.

The wine dries up.

The oil languishes.

Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil.

Wail, O vine dressers, for the wheat and the barley, because of the harvest of the field, has perished.

The vine dries up.

The fig tree languishes.

Pomegranate, palm, and apple.

All the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man.

Put on sackcloth and lament, O priest.

Wail, O ministers of the altar.

Go and pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God.

Because the grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.

Probably not the passage of Scripture that you're going to put on a t-shirt.

Right?

Not a pretty situation of what we see.

So it's some language in our day that may be a little bit difficult for us to understand and apply and to look to.

But God responds to them.

God's response to them is in the what now.

You see, this event has happened.

So here's what must take place.

God says, run to me.

Run to me.

Run to me.

God uses very aggressive language.

He addresses four groups of people so that his message will land amongst all of them.

He says, for the drunkards, weep and wail.

He says, for the general public, there should be godly sorrow.

He says, for the priests, mourn.

He says, for the farmers, be ashamed.

What he means is, think about it, like if you're a farmer in this town, there's, you look out into a field and it's gone.

And this meaning of be ashamed is be disappointed.

It's grief.

As we look at these four, it's a snapshot for the drunkard, for the priest, for the farmer.

And if you don't fall into those, you're included in the public.

And here's what God is saying.

Repent.

Repent.

Repent.

When we look at repentance, I think you and I see repentance oftentimes in a very shallow perspective.

We see repentance as, I'm caught.

Sorry.

We see repentance.

Hey man, I'll do better next time.

But when we see the language of what God does, of what God uses, of what God calls people to.

Weep.

I want you to think about the time, a time in your life where you heard someone, not cry, not get sad.

But I want you in the words that were used here to think of someone, the picture in your mind,

where you hear from the depth of their gut, weeping, wailing, mourning, sorrow.

It's an explosion of the senses.

It's a brokenness that cannot be prepared for.

It is a depth where there's literally begins to feel like pieces of you, if not all of you,

are dying because of the reality that's before you.

And this, this is the repentance that God calls his people toward.

Oh, church.

Church.

This week.

This week.

God's word reminds me.

Bo, your shallow sorries are not what I'm calling you to.

That I can't experience the grace of his love until I experience the brokenness of the situation

that I find myself in.

Weep.

Wail.

Mourn.

What does repenting look like?

God's word continues.

Joel 14 through 20.

He says, consecrate a fast.

Call a solemn assembly.

Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God

and cry out to the Lord.

Alas for the day.

For the day of the Lord is near.

And as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Is not the food cut off before your eyes joy and gladness from the house of our God?

The seed shrivels under the clods.

The storehouse are desolate.

The granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up.

How the beasts groan.

The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them.

Even the flocks of sheep suffer.

To you, O Lord, I call.

For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness

and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.

Even the beasts of the field pant for you

because the water brooks are dried up

and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

In the 20 years that God has given me

the joyous privilege to serve in ministry.

I've noticed we can categorize people.

Right?

Extroverts, introverts.

Wealthy, poor.

Right?

We can categorize people into different ones.

And I've found that there's these two categories

that seem to ring true

from people who call themselves Christians.

Whether they are or not,

they refer to themselves as Christians.

When tragedy hits,

is there's one of two reactions.

And they're almost instant.

One reaction

is to run from God.

To run away from Him.

Because we're confused.

Because we're mad.

Because we don't understand.

Because we feel like we should know.

Because this is a mess.

Because God, how could you?

And so we run from.

And then there's another group

that says,

no, no, no, no.

Because I don't understand.

Because it is devastating.

Because it is painful.

What I choose

is to run to.

You see,

what I've experienced

and the people

that I've observed

and what I've experienced

and the truth

of God's word

and what I've experienced

as I've walked through this

and seen this

in my life

that when I run

to God

there's the goodness

of His grace

in spite of all

that has happened

and in spite of all

that has taken place

in spite of the devastation

in spite of the tragedy

in spite of the perceived

hopelessness that's there

when I run to God

there is the goodness

of His grace

because He is the what now.

And when I run from Him

all that's left

is more destruction

than despair.

When I run from Him

all that is found

is hopelessness.

And so what does God do?

God calls

His people

to Himself.

Verse 14

consecrate a fast

call a solemn assembly

gather the elders

and the inhabitants

of the land

to the house

of the Lord your God

and cry

out

to

the Lord.

We are not

in a plague

of locusts.

We are not

in 835 B.C.

But I believe

that the truth

of God's Word

continues to be

the truth of God today.

And I believe

while this tragedy

may be different

than where we find

in our reality

of what God

is calling

us to

in the

what now

of our life

is to come

to Him

and very

specifically

to repent.

The lesson

that I learned

this week

did not appear

to be

anything

that had

anything

to do

with my

brokenness

and repentance

before God.

But as God

in His goodness

revealed to me

the conditions

of my heart

the tragedies

and the issues

of this world

brought me

to the sweet

place before Him.

God gives

five steps

for them

to do.

Five steps

to prepare

themselves

for repentance

before Him.

The first thing

He says

is consecrate

a fast.

Consecrate

a fast.

Why?

A fast

should be easy.

There's no food.

Everything's

been destroyed.

We're already

fasting, God.

He's saying

I want you

to get your focus

off of you.

How often

when we're

walking through

these

like we can't

see farther

than six inches

in front of our

face.

Because I get

your focus

off of you

and put your

focus on me.

He says

call a solemn

assembly.

Come together.

The commonality

of the brokenness

of this world

affects you

and I.

It affects

God's people

that we are here

that there is

beauty.

For so many

of us

like churches

what can

be convenient

for me today?

Instead of the

beautiful picture

of the

beautiness

of God's

people

who walk

in this world

together

coming together.

He says

put your focus

on me.

Get everyone

gathered together.

And he says

gather the elders.

Because you see

repentance

is not

simply a

I guess

I need to do

this today.

It's a

spiritual

work

that God

wants to do

with spiritual

importance.

And then he

says come

to the

house

of the

Lord.

I love

this.

When you

go to

someone's

house

this is an

obvious statement

right?

Like

you're going

to their

house

because you

expect them

to be

there

so that

you can

interact

with them.

come

to the

house

of the

Lord

with an

expectation

to

interact

with

the

Lord.

Not

so that

I can just

sing some

songs.

Not so

that I can

just check

some boxes.

But we're

coming

with an

expectation.

Can you

outside of

here?

Absolutely.

And you

should.

Every moment

and every

day.

But the

special

time that

we gather

together,

we don't

just gather

because of

us.

We gather

for him.

And then

lastly,

something that

I think

that we

do a

terrible job

of as

Christians,

cry out

to the

Lord.

Be

desperate

for him.

Long

for him.

I'm going

to ask

if Isaac

will come

on stage.

We're going

to do

something a

little

different

this morning

before we

go into

our time

of

worship.

I'm going

to invite

you.

We're going

to walk

through

together

a time

of

repentance.

We're going

to walk

through you

and I

right where

you are.

Don't worry,

man.

like,

we're not

calling you

up here

one at a

time.

All right.

What was it

this week?

You know?

For all you

introverts in

the room,

calm down.

We're not

going to ask

you to share

anything with

anyone that's

sitting beside

you.

So many

times,

and I know

that I'm

guilty of

this,

we come

to church

and we

get caught

up in

all the

stuff.

And if

I believe

that God's

word teaches

that God

is continually

calling his

people to

repent,

then we

need to do

that.

We need to

do that

here and

away from

here.

But

some of

us may

say,

like,

but I

don't know

what that

looks like.

I don't

know what

to do.

So what

we want

to do is

we want

to do

this

together.

So I'm

going to

ask,

we're going

to dim

the lights

with every

head bowed

and every

eye closed.

I want

to walk

you through

if you'll

allow me

a conversation

of repentance

between you

and the

Lord.

There's

not going

to be any

raising of

hands.

There's

not going

to be any

you must

come forward.

There's

not going

to be any

share with

me or

share with

the people

around you.

This is

just you

and God.

and I

want to

lead you

in a

conversation

and a

prayer

between

you

and

him

where we

repent.

First

thing I

want to

ask you

to do

before

God

is ask

God

through

the power

of his

Holy

Spirit

to

reveal

to

you

the

sinfulness

of

your

life.

God's

love.

As you

talk with

him

absolutely

behaviors

matter

but I

want you

to focus

on your

heart.

It's not

about

changing

simply what

we do.

but it's

about

changing

who

we

are.

Focus

on the

condition

of your

heart.

continue.

continue

between you

and the

Lord.

What I want

you to do

is I want

you to

take

your

sin

and move

away from

that fleshly

desire to

blame

someone or

something

else

and

own

God I

did

this.

Accept

your

brokenness

of who

you are

and what

you've

done

before

him

now.

God I

do.

as you

continue

before

him

I know

that all

too often

in my

life

repentance

happens

because of

the consequences

that are

coming my

way

and selfishly

I want to

avoid them.

you come

to the

Lord

and

come to

him not

because of

the consequences

but come

to him

because of

the condition

that there

are things

in your

heart

and in

your life

that do

not glorify

him

and do

not honor

him.

these

conditions

may be

tucked

away

they

may be

hidden

they

may

surprise

those

who

know

you

best

but

they

do

not

surprise

God

come

to him

because

of the

condition

of your

heart.

and

lastly

would you

be

desperate

for God

I know

in my

life

I want

to put

the five

new

practices

in place

that I

can do

so I

do not

do the

sin

anymore.

I can

change

the

outside

I can

polish

it up

I can

make it

look

better

than it

did

before

but if

my

heart

is going

to

change

it's

because

God

has

changed

it

and

that's

the

desperation

we're

looking

for.

Ask

God

not

to

just

simply

forgive

you

but

to

work

to

move

to

sanctify

to

transform

to

change

who

you

are.

Ask

him

and

only

how

he

can

to

take

away

the

desires

of

your

flesh

to

give

you

the

desires

of

his

spirit.

God

may we

be

a

people

of

repentance

coming

to

you

day

by

day

moment

by

moment

God

so

many

times

if not

every

time

the

what

now

should

bring

us

to

reflection

of who

we are

before

you

the

what

now

in

triumph

the

what

now

in

tragedy

the

what

now

in

sickness

the

what

now

in

health

the

what

now

in

poverty

the

what

now

in

wealth

the

what

now

in

have

and the

what

now

in the

have

not

God

repentance

will

teach

us

that

it's

not

just

about

what

I

need

to

do

different

but

Lord

it is

about

a

dependence

on

you

so

God

I

pray

for

us

I

pray

for

me

I

pray

for

my

family

I

pray

for

my

friends

I

pray

for

my

church

I

pray

for

brothers

and

sisters

in

Christ

all

over

this

world

that

God

whether

in

tragedy

or

triumph

that

there

would

be

a

desperation

of

your

people

before

you

a

desire

for

your

holiness

and

your

righteousness

a

desire

that

we

would

be

willing

to

leave

all

behind

in

pursuit

of

you

a

desire

to

move

from

god

lessness

to

godliness

and

knowing

and

singing

your

praises

that

if

there

is

anything

that

is

good

lord

it's

from

you

and

so

our

repentance

moves

us

to

praise

so

god

we

thank

you

we

thank

you

that

you

forgive

thieves

and

murderers

and

adulterers

and

idolaters

we

thank

you

that

your

grace

is

like

an

ocean

consuming

us

it

never

runs

out

it

never

comes

up

short

it

is

never

incapable

it's

always

sufficient

god

i

pray

for

our

marriages

for

our

families

pray

for

health

lord

the

conditions

that

we

find

ourselves

in

may

we

live

for

your

glory

and

your

name

and

it's

in

jesus

name

we

pray

amen

that's

it

for

this

week's

message

be

sure

to

check

back

next

week

for

a

new

episode

and

in

the

meantime

you

can

visit

us

online

at

willowridgechurch.org

or by

searching for

willowridgechurch

on facebook

instagram

thanks again

for listening