Genesis Week 34 • Authority Issues

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- If you have your Bibles and I hope you do,

I wanna invite you to join us in Genesis chapter 29.

Genesis 29 · chapter mention

So we are back in our Genesis series

and some of you have started coming here

since we started our Genesis series.

We started our study in Genesis walking through that

in March of 2023.

We've taken some breaks to do a Christmas series this summer

with what we did, different things back and forth

as we move around, but committed to walking through

every verse, every word of Genesis.

And so this is message 34 as we're jumping back in here

in Genesis chapter 29.

Genesis 29 · chapter mention

So a couple of things are happening.

I wanna encourage prayers for me on this Tuesday.

Three years ago, I went to the eye doctor

and I got some news.

So like six years ago, I got glasses for the first time.

I'll never forget, I was laying in bed one night

and I was reading one of the most important things

at the time for me to read.

And I realized that I could no longer read the scores

on the bottom of the screen on ESPN.

I told Aaron, this is unacceptable.

So I went to the eye doctor and I got glasses.

The day that I got glasses, Grayson and I were traveling

to Atlanta for his 13th birthday to watch the Boston Celtics

play the Atlanta Hawks.

And so we drove up there and I realized that billboards

can be read when you can see clearly, right?

And so I did that.

So three years ago, I was going to the doctor

and every time you gotta get new glasses,

get new glasses, get new glasses.

And I go three years ago and the eye doctor looks at me

and he makes this statement.

This will probably be your last pair of glasses

because your next pair will be bifocals.

And I just disagreed with that statement.

So I haven't been back in three years.

And I've now hit the point where in order to read

instructions, because I do believe counter to the stereotype

that everyone, men and women, should read instructions.

And I was making some grits one morning.

And I pulled out my phone and took a picture

and zoomed in so that I could get the measurements right.

As I got ready, I was like, all right, now is the time.

So just pray that it's an okay day, you know,

as we prepare to get bifocals,

but at least I'll be able to see.

Also this Tuesday, and this has nothing to do with anything,

just y'all know me and what I do, right?

This Tuesday, September the 10th,

I don't know if you're aware of this or not,

but what is approaching is a presidential election.

Did y'all know that was happening?

Is there anybody that's caught off guard by that?

And this Tuesday, September 10th,

there will be another presidential debate.

Now here's what we're not here to do this morning, all right?

I'm not here to discuss politics with you, all right?

But what I would like to talk about is this process,

really what will be happening on that night

as I feel like it's very important for our message

and where I feel led for us to go this morning.

If you watch the debate,

what you will find are two individuals

that are going to be making an appeal

for you to vote for them.

They may have different strategies

about how they will appeal to you.

They may appeal to you or try by sharing their plan

and their strategy with you.

They may appeal to you by pointing out

their leadership strengths and their capabilities.

They may appeal to you by pointing out the flaws

of the other strategy, plan, or leadership abilities,

the lack of those.

Either way, their goal, their strategy will be for you

as a voter to choose one of them,

not just as the next president, but as your leader.

It's really interesting.

Sam was here last week, and when you talk to people

who speak of freedom in the United States,

it's hard for us, especially if this is the only

world culture country that you've lived in here in the US,

is that you and I, we live in a culture and a country

that says that you and I get to continually choose

who leads us.

And then for by default, who has authority in your life?

If you don't like the way that the country is going,

then you can elect a new president.

If you don't like the way that your town or your city

is going, then you can elect a new mayor.

If you do not like the authority within your job,

then you can go and find a new job.

Something that hits a little home for us

where we live in our neighborhood right now.

If you don't like the authority of your HOA,

well, there's nothing you can do about that, right?

Now you can move to a new neighborhood.

You can choose.

You and I have this beauty in where we live called choice.

We can make a choice over who has authority over us.

And I love this freedom.

I love it.

I love that I have choice in my life.

But sometimes where our concept of American freedom

begins to murky up the waters with us,

theologically speaking, is we can approach God

with this mindset as well.

We can come before a holy God who is always good,

who is always right, who is always just,

who is the embodiment of love and wisdom,

and go, nah, I know better.

I know better.

So it's been a minute since we've been in Genesis.

Can't recap all of it or we'd be here 'til next Sunday.

But very briefly, what we've seen in Genesis 29,

moving up in just a moment, we're gonna start in verse 31.

There's this guy named Jacob, and he ends up

through some means that aren't necessarily

the most noble, let's see.

He marries two sisters, all right?

Tricked into this by his dad.

These sisters were Leah and Rachel,

and Jacob loved Rachel and there was resentment with Leah.

Here's where we're gonna pick up.

Chapter 29, verse 31, and we're gonna read

through part of verse 30 as well.

So we got a good bit of reading.

So my glasses and my iPad screen

are good enough for that, all right?

See, I'll hang with me.

When the Lord saw that Leah was hated,

he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

And Leah conceived and bore a son,

and she called his name Reuben.

For she said, because the Lord has looked upon my affliction

for now my husband will love me.

She conceived again and bore a son and said,

because the Lord has heard that I am hated,

he has given me this son also.

And she called his name Simeon.

And again she conceived and bore a son and said,

now this time my husband will be attached to me

because I have borne him three sons,

therefore his name will be called Levi.

She conceived again and bore a son and said,

this time I will praise the Lord,

therefore she called his name Judah.

Then she ceased bearing.

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children,

she envied her sister.

She said to Jacob, give me children or I shall die.

And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel,

and he said, am I in the place of God

who has withheld you from the fruit of the womb?

Then she said, here is my servant Bilhah.

Go into her so that she may give birth on my behalf,

that even I may have children through her.

So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife,

and Jacob went into her,

and Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

And then Rachel said, God has judged me

and has also heard my voice and given me a son,

therefore she called his name Dan.

And Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again

and bore Jacob a second son.

Then Rachel said, with mighty wrestlings

I have wrestled with my sister and prevailed.

So she called his name Natali.

There's nine.

Then Leah saw that she had cease bearing children.

She took her servant, Zilpah,

and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son,

and Leah said, good fortune has come.

So she called his name Gad.

And Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son,

and Leah said, happy am I, for women have called me happy.

So she called his name Asher.

In the days of wheat harvest,

Reuben went out and found mandrakes in the field

and brought them to his mother Leah.

And then Rachel said to Leah,

please give me some of your son's mandrakes.

And so this is a root that was believed

to help with fertility, verse 15.

But she said to her, it is a small matter

that you have taken away my husband.

Why would you take away my son's mandrakes as well?

And Rachel said, then he may lie with you tonight

in exchange for your son's mandrakes.

And Jacob came from the field in the evening,

and Leah went out to meet him and said,

you must come into me,

for I've hired you for my son's mandrakes.

So he lay with her that night,

and God listened to Leah and conceived

and bore Jacob a fifth son.

And Leah said, God has given me my wages

because I gave my servant to my husband,

so she called his name Iscar.

Verse 19, and Leah conceived again

and bore Jacob a sixth son,

and Leah said, God has endowed me with good endowment.

Now my husband will honor me

because I've born him six sons.

So she called his name Zebulun.

And afterwards she bore a daughter

and called her name Dinah.

And then God remembered Rachel,

and God listened to her and opened her womb,

and she conceived and bore a son,

and said, God has taken away my reproach.

And she called his name Joseph,

saying, may the Lord add to me another son.

We'll pause here for today.

And this, my friends, is a tangled, dysfunctional mess

that I don't even think TLC would choose

to make a show after, right?

[audience laughs]

You see, one man, Jacob, two sisters, Rachel and Leah,

two servants, Zilphah and Bilhah, 12 sons, one daughter.

To say this is complicated would be an understatement.

But this is kind of the cycle of what we find humanity in

as men and women choose to pursue their own way,

their own purpose, their own reasoning,

and find in the situations what we find.

And the question that I wanna ask to you this morning

based off of this, and to draw from the truth

of God's word is this.

Who or what is the authority in your life?

The word that I wanna emphasize here is the word the.

Who or what is the authority in your life?

I'm not talking that you and I have created

a council of authorities.

But when you look at and you examine your way,

your mindset, your perspective, your point of view,

who or what is the authority that rises to the top?

Who established or what establishes your worldview,

your ethics, your morality, your view on things

like finances, on family, and all to reason of a topic

of what we referenced earlier of politics,

and then we continue on and on and on

of having the authority, the point of truth in your life.

Now, since we're gathered here in church,

I think for most of us, not all of us,

and that's what's great about us gathering here,

but for many of us, if I were to sit down with you

and I know you and you know me,

and we were to talk and I would say this to you,

like, hey, who has this ultimate authority in your life?

The easy answer for us is oftentimes

the correct answer, God.

And if that is your answer today,

if that's where you're at when I say that,

there's kind of this duality in me that's happening.

My reaction to you is encouraging.

It's to praise the Lord that this would be your answer,

but it's also to cautiously ask you to examine your heart

to see, is this really true?

As you and I wrestle with the decisions and the perspectives

and the points that we make,

while the answer that may be in our mind to say

is that God has the ultimate authority in our life,

praise the Lord that that's our answer,

but when we look to the application of that in our life,

is it true?

Is it true?

In my opinion, people, when we look at our lives

and we recognize that there's this struggle

with God actually being the ultimate authority in our life,

it happens for one of two reasons.

The first is what I would just simply call,

I'm like rebellion of the heart.

For people who know, like they're admitting

that there's a gap and a distance between me and God, right?

And I choose my way over the way of God.

People who would not say that they're followers of Christ,

for people who not say that they have surrendered to God.

This rebellion of the heart, like I'm going to,

I acknowledge, I choose, I know,

and I'm being honest with where I am

in my pursuit in my life.

There's people with the rebellion of the heart,

but then I think there's so many of us in here today,

and just as that is sin, like this is sin as well,

one of these is not holier than the other.

There's many of us who are Christians,

but what we struggle with in our heart

is what I would call control issues of the heart, right?

We love God, we love Christ, we worship Him,

we're dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit in our life,

but yet there's just some aspects of our life

that we feel like we would be better of holding on to.

We want to hold on to our way, our understanding,

our process.

We know and we trust.

It's the picture of one foot in and one foot out

of what we see and what we find.

And I think as we work through a lot of this,

if we work through this passage,

we can see this struggle, what's there of God's people then

and what's of God's people today,

entrusting the authority of God.

It's the rebellion of the heart,

but even those so many times who say,

but I want to love and pursue and submit

to the God of the Bible,

there's still some control issues as well.

So this morning, back to our question,

who or what is the authority in your life?

I want to ask you three questions that I believe

will help you answer that question

by looking at the passage of what we see today.

And the first question is this,

do you trust the full truth of God's word?

Do you trust the full truth of God's word?

From Genesis to Revelation.

We were having in our discipleship time this morning,

the group that I meet with,

we're talking through the theology of the Holy Scripture,

who the Holy Scripture is, how he works,

how he moves, the person of the Holy Spirit,

the deity of the Holy Spirit,

all those things, working through that.

And what we were talking about is like when we begin

to sample out bits and pieces of truth

that we want to agree with, that we want to disagree with,

that we want to remove, what we end up creating

is a foundation that will never stand.

So do you trust the full truth of God's word?

As what we see in the life of what is playing out here

in Genesis 29 with Jacob, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, Bilhah,

it is strange to us as Americans in 2024.

That's a different scenario that we just read.

Definitely not mainstream, not a mainstream lifestyle

that we see commonly.

There are, polygamy is a part in the world today,

but not common.

However, these choices that they are making

were very common choices to be made in their day.

And they fell into the cultural norms

of their society at the time.

One man with multiple wives, multiple children

from those wives would be something that we will see,

have seen in Genesis, will see throughout the Old Testament.

And while not overly talked about in the New Testament,

culturally speaking, was still happening

during the time of Christ and the apostles,

and not happening with fringe groups,

but happening in the culture in which they lived

in that day.

And we will see in God's word, men and women

who love God fall into polygamy as the acceptable culture

and custom of their day and practice.

And while during that time it was practice,

it was never the truth of God's word

and the desire of the heart of God.

All the way back to the back, Genesis chapter two,

therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother

and hold fast to his wife singularly.

And they shall become one flesh.

So do you trust in God's word?

Sure, man.

All the ladies in here, like I don't think so.

I don't think so.

And all the guys in here, I don't think so.

I don't think so.

This is not the pursuit of what we have.

But while today, polygamy may not be the rebellious practice

of others who follow Christ, what we see today

are there are many, many, many decisions

that we have taken as people who follow Christ

and morphed with it the cultures and customs

and the practices of this world that are far from him

as we try to keep one foot in and one foot out.

God's got a plan for your finances.

Are you willing to trust him as a sacrificial giver

and as obedient with all that he's left to entrust you with?

The world says that's yours.

God says, no, no, no, it's mine

that I've entrusted you with.

When we look at forgiveness, right?

Oh man, this might be like the sneaky one

for us as Christians.

Right, our culture says you and I,

this is the only place in this topic

where you get to be the judge.

You get to decide if you do or do not extend forgiveness.

But the Bible says that we're to forgive continuously

and to forgive, wait a minute, as we've been forgiven.

Sex and marriage, hadn't changed, hadn't changed.

Hadn't changed, hadn't changed.

The establishment of what God said.

This isn't something to sample,

this isn't something to try,

this isn't something to redefine,

this isn't something to practice,

this isn't a coming into manhood or coming into womanhood.

These aren't the phases of things

that we begin to think through.

God says, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope,

here's what we got, we got one man,

we've got one wife, one man, one woman,

they become united, this is who they are.

This is not something they practiced before,

but this is something that they do together

and it's a beautiful picture as two become one

in the unity of who they are in Christ.

We look at the sanctity of life,

we look at all of God's creation,

we look at men, we look at women,

we look at kids, we look at babies,

we look at people of different races,

of different cultures,

of different socioeconomic backgrounds,

and we, we as believers,

draw the border and the umbrella

that we've all been made in the image of God.

And that we respect and value and treasure all life.

Relationships with enemies, you're like,

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

my relationship is defined because they are my enemy, right?

But yet God's word tells us to pray

for those who persecute you.

That we're to look to do them good.

Not to pay them back, not to ignore them,

but to serve them in who we are.

But when he talks about favoritism,

the list could go on and on and on and on.

Here's the question that I have for you,

if you say that God is the authority of your life,

then in your life is God's standard your standard?

Is it your standard?

Not some hybrid version of what Bo and God can agree on,

but the version of what God says.

And when you fail, when you fail,

when you fall short, when it doesn't happen,

and it happens for me continually,

do we fall in God's standard of grace,

in God's standard of confession,

in God's standard of repentance,

in God's standard of dependence on him

and obedience to who he's called us to be, right?

We see this situation begin to happen and unfold.

And I feel like I told people in my men's group,

I know I said this at my house as well,

it's like we just kind of preach until we stop

and then we pick up back there next time.

And I'll be honest with you,

I'd kind of forgotten where we were,

and then this week I picked it back up

and I was like, oh yeah, all right,

like, hmm, here's where we're at.

This one's gonna be interesting, you know?

They're just following the culture.

They're just following the custom.

Two sisters, two women, the mess of what it creates.

The second thing is this, second question,

who has authority in your life?

Do you trust that God defines you?

Do you trust that God defines you?

With Rachel and Leah especially in here,

there seems to be a lot of them desiring

to find who they are in multiple places in this story.

They find their identity in how they are viewed

ultimately by their husband.

They find their identity about if they are

or are not capable of having children

and what that means.

They find their identity,

they attempt to find their identity in a man and in kids.

Now, a couple things.

Children are a huge blessing from the Lord

and we praise God for 'em.

Two, your spouse, your spouse is a huge blessing

and you should praise God for them.

Daily, daily I pray for my wife and for my kids.

Not just that they will do what God has for them

in that day while I do, I also praise God

and thank God for the huge blessing that Aaron is,

that Emma is, and that Grayson is in my life

and they are a wonderful gift from God.

But here's the thing, kids and spouses make crummy gods.

They make crummy gods.

My identity while Aaron is a blessing is not found in her.

My identity while a blessing that Emma and Grayson are

is not found in them.

Do you trust God that defines you?

Or does something else?

I said who or what is the authority in your life?

Is it your spouse?

Is it your kids?

Is it your job?

Is it your finances?

Is it your achievements?

Is it your intellect?

Is it your career?

Is it your physical attributes?

Here are the problems with all of these things,

these people, these mindsets, these achievements,

is the problem with all of these is we choose these

continually to ultimately define who they are.

The only issue with this is they will end.

They will end.

So in Christ what we have is a new identity.

He defines us.

He defines who we are for now and for eternity.

For eternity, 1 Corinthians 5, 16 through 21.

"From now on, therefore, we regard no one

"according to the flesh.

"Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh,

"we regard him thus no longer.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

"The old has passed away.

"Behold, the new has come.

"All this is from God who through Christ

"reconciled us to himself

"and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

"That is, in Christ God was reconciling

"the world to himself,

"not counting their trespasses against him

"and untrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for God,

"God making his appeal through us.

"We implore you on behalf of Christ,

"be reconciled to God, for our sake he made him to be sin

"who knew no sin, so that in him

"we might become the righteousness of God."

He defines you.

He defines you.

And in him, you're a new creation.

The old has gone.

Your past, your failures, your sin does not define you.

He defines you.

The old is gone, the new has come.

He reconciled us.

The gap that was created, the valley that was there,

the debt that we could not pay,

the overcoming that we were not capable of doing,

Christ did.

We created it.

Christ reconciled us with God.

And then he entrusted us with a message.

A message for pastors, a message for teachers,

a message for students, a message for doctors,

a message for stay-at-home parents,

a message for people who retired, a message for everyone.

And he created within us and called us

to be people of hope, so that in who I am

and where God has placed me

and what God has entrusted me with

and what God has gifted me to do

and what God has called me to be,

wherever I find myself with my finances,

wherever I find myself with my levels of intelligence,

wherever I find myself in social standing,

wherever I find myself in a country,

whatever gender that God gives to me at birth,

wherever I find myself in this,

that God has called and created for me

to be a person of hope.

And that's who I am.

[audience laughing]

Not angry with her sister,

longing for the approval of man,

desiring the competition of the pursuits of the flesh.

Last question this morning.

Do you trust God is working in all things?

Do you trust that God is working in all things?

All right, let's go back to this debate.

Debate's gonna happen.

Everybody's gonna yell at each other.

One news station will say this person won.

Another news station will say that this person won.

Everybody will flood social media again, right?

And then there's gonna come a day

we'll have an election.

And everyone in this room will either like the outcome

or not like the outcome.

But the hope that we have is before the election,

on the election, and after the election, guess what?

Christ is still on his throne.

He's still on the throne.

He's on the throne when George Washington was president.

He was on the throne when Abraham Lincoln was president.

He was on the throne when Ronald Reagan was president.

He was on the throne when Barack Obama was president.

He's on the throne.

And that God is bigger.

I know this is hard for my mind to wrap around,

but God is bigger than anything you and I

could ever possibly imagine.

He's bigger than it.

He's more powerful than it.

He's stronger than it.

He's greater than it.

And I think you and I, we know that.

We know that.

If I said to you, do you know that God is working

in all things, I believe your answer would be yes.

If I were to say to you this morning,

but do you trust that God is working in all things,

I don't know that you'd have the same answer.

Romans 8, 28, and we know that for those who love God,

get these two words, all things,

all things work together for good.

For those who are called according to his purpose.

Let's be honest, this story's a mess.

This story's a mess, but let's also be honest.

So is your story.

And guess what?

So is mine.

It's a wreck.

It's lies, it's deception, it's lust,

it's greed, it's hatred.

That's my story.

But in my story, there's a but God.

In my story, there's this moment where God says,

hey, but, man, you're mine and I'm yours.

And what happens in this, what Paul's speaking of

in the truth of Romans 8, 28,

is that when you love him, he takes your mess

and he makes it a part of his story.

And he uses it, he uses it, every bit of it.

God is always faithful to do what he says.

God is always faithful to fulfill his promises.

All the way back, man, God takes one man,

he takes Abraham.

We saw this at the very beginning, long time ago.

Actually, a man named Abram, a pagan man from a pagan land,

and he called him to be obedient to Go,

and that God would create from his lineage

a great nation where all of mankind would be blessed.

That's what we saw.

And then God's gonna take one man,

and this man that we just read,

about in 29 and 30,

and in Genesis 35, we'll see this in a few weeks,

Genesis 35, he says, "You're no longer Jacob,

"you're Israel, you're Israel."

And then God takes this mess, this mess of 11 sons,

he's gonna add one more,

and we see the 12 tribes of Israel.

And from these tribes, we're gonna see John the Baptist,

lineage of Levi, we'll see the apostle Paul from Benjamin,

and then there's this man named Jesus

from the tribe of Judah.

And God takes a mess, and he makes it a miracle,

and he uses it for his name and for our good.

And you're like, "Bo, I get it, though,

"but this is like biblical messes of what God's doing,

"and how God's working, and what God's doing."

But Bo, that's not my life, that's not my journey,

that's not where I'm at.

But let me tell you what God does.

God takes addicts and makes them pastors.

He takes adulterers and makes them marriage counselors.

He takes liars and makes them people of truth.

He takes thieves and makes them generous,

not because they've changed their mind,

but because a holy God changed their heart.

If you're here this morning, if you can hear my words,

if you've ignored everything else that I say,

I want you to hear these two things.

God's grace is greater than your sin.

God's grace is greater than your sin.

You're like, "Not me, not me, not me."

Trust me, I'm the poster child of not me.

And God's grace is greater than your sin.

And the second thing is this.

God's plan is greater than your sin.

God's plan is greater than your sin.

God's not waking up in the morning

hoping you and I are gonna get it all right

so that his plan will work.

God's so big and God's so great,

when we mess up all of the things

that we're gonna mess up, what the Bible tells us

is that for all of us who love and trust him,

he's like, "All right, here we go.

"This is what you're doing, but this is what I'm doing."

'Cause guess what?

God didn't wake up.

God doesn't clock in.

God doesn't go to work.

God's constantly working.

God's constantly moving.

God's not in the past.

God's not in the present.

God's not in the future.

God always is and always will be.

God's not pausing for a minute.

God doesn't need a day off.

God is working and moving in all of the things

that you and I are messing up continually

in the sin that it is in your life,

in the sin that is in my life,

in the plans that we wreck.

God's like, "I got it.

"I got it.

"I got it."

That's who God is.

Sovereign over Genesis 29

and sovereign over your and my life today.

God is greater.

So I'm gonna ask you the question again.

Who is your authority?

Who is your authority?

Do you trust the truth of God's word?

Do you trust that God defines you?

And do you trust that God is working in all things?

Today, my prayer for you,

if you don't know Christ,

if you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior,

today that you trust to follow him.

You may not know and you may not understand

what that looks like,

but today that you would make the decision

to submit yourself to trust him

as Lord and Savior of your life,

to break from your rebellious heart

and ask him to give you a new heart.

And today, you're like me.

I mean, this whole week was a get kicked in the teeth

evaluation and seeing in my own life

where I wanna keep one foot in one

and one foot in the other.

And here's what God says, man, like,

(chuckles)

keep one leg in the wreck if you want to

or you can come over here and stand

in the goodness of who I am.

And that today, you'd make the choice to stand

in the goodness of God, in the truth of who he is,

in the purpose and plan that he has for you

and do it all with praise and adoration for him.

Would you pray with me?

(exhales)

God, I thank you for the messy truth of your word.

God, it is so encouraging

that when we open your word, God,

it's not filled with men and women

who are just always crushing it

in their falling of you,

that they fall into paths of sin

and rebellion and disobedience.

And God, as their story, as their story changes,

what we find in you is that you don't.

And that God, what is waiting for them in those moments?

What is the grace that you have for them?

The relationship that you desire with them?

The work that you're doing in their life?

And the purpose that you've laid out before them?

God, I thank you.

God, I thank you that just as you were working and moving

in the cultural, sinful mess of what we see

in Genesis 29 and 30,

that you were working it for a greater good.

(gentle music)

God, I pray for everyone here.

Are there things that are going on in our lives

that we don't understand?

We don't know, we don't know what the outcome will be.

We don't understand the point of it.

But God, may you reassure our hearts

for the truth of Romans 8:28.

Romans 8:28

For God, you are working in those who love you,

all things, all things.

And so God, we can trust in that.

God, through the power of your spirit,

would you convict our heart?

Lord, in the areas where we are trusting in ourselves,

in this world, in this culture for things,

and you're saying, "You've gotta trust me.

"You've gotta walk by me.

"Be obedient to me."

And God, would we turn those over to you?

And God, I pray that if there's anyone in here

doesn't know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior,

that today would be the day.

First Corinthians 5, 17,

would ring true in their life.

That today would be the day

that their faith, their hope, their trust in you.

And in that, the old is passed away.

Behold, the new has come.

Is there a new creation in you and in you alone?

God, thank you for your love for us.

Thank you for your patience with us.

God, continue to guide us, continue to direct us,

continue to lead us to follow you.

It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

- Thanks again for listening,

and be sure to check back next week for another episode.

In the meantime, you can visit us at willowridgechurch.org

or by searching for Willow Ridge Church

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