GOD’S WAYS ARE BIGGER - Habakkuk 1:5-11

All right. Hey, if you have a Bible or

an app, meet me in Habach chapter 1.

Habach chapter 1. It's absolutely okay

to use your table of contents so you can

discover where it is. If you go just a

little bit past the halfway point in

your Bible, you'll come to the area just

about where it is. Habach chapter 1,

we're going to be looking at verses 5

through 11. Last week, we began a brand

new series called Faith in the Waiting.

And over the next couple of weeks as we

prepare our hearts for Easter, we're

going to be looking at the story of the

prophet Habach. And here's what's

interesting. This is what we learned

last week. As opposed to the other major

and minor prophets that we see in the

scripture, Habach doesn't address the

people.

Habach has this conversation with God.

He has this dialogue with God that

begins in the form of a prayer. And he

begins his prayer not in a stereotypical

way. He begins his prayer, the scripture

tells us, with a burden, with a weight

that he's been feeling. And he asks God

a question. Do you remember what that

question was?

His question is, "How long?"

He begins to look at everything that is

happening around him. Uh the kingdom of

Israel had split already in two. They

were not in a good position. They had

rebelled against God years before King

Josiah had instituted reforms over the

southern nation of Judah. And for a

minute, it seemed that that all was

going well with the nation of Judah.

Israel had already been conquered. The

northern kingdom, they had been taken

into exile. Judah stood alone.

And rather than continuing to pursue and

lean into and press into who God is and

what he desires for the life of his

people, they rebelled and they pulled

away. It's a familiar story to us all. I

think we go through peaks and valleys in

our relationship with God. It's easy to

honor God when things are going well.

When we're on the top of that mountain

and we can see things a lot clearly,

we're above the clouds. There's nothing

distorting our vision. We can see life

is great. Life is good. And it's easy to

praise God on the mountaintop.

But where faith is tested, where we

experience the tension of a genuine and

authentic relationship with Jesus is in

moments when we walk through the valley.

Reminds me of what King David would

write in Psalm 23

as he reflected on his life as a

shepherd boy. As he reflected on his

life as the shepherd king, he begins to

expound upon what it looks like to walk

through darkness and you remember it.

You should. He says, "Though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of

death, I will fear no evil for you are

with me. Your rod and your staff, they

comfort me." He goes on to talk about

how God prepares a banquet, a feast, a

table with David invited in the presence

of his enemies. He talks about goodness

and mercy following him all following

him all the days of his life. And it's

interesting that that David recognizes

the reality of the valley.

But in recognizing the reality of the

valley, he recognizes the reality of the

shepherd that's leading him.

And and and this is where Judah was

mistaken.

They were in the valley and and rather

than looking towards the shepherd, they

began to look inward.

And if all we ever do is look inward in

the midst of our problems, guess what?

We only get more problems

because we are not the salvation we

need. We're not the answer to the

problems that we've created. We're not

the answer to the rebellion that we

intentionally engage and walk in.

And so what does Habach do? He

recognizes

idolatry is common place among God's

people. From the religious system to the

government system, it's all corrupt.

From the top down, there is violence.

There's injustice.

The truth of God's word is being

distorted for personal gain. The

government system is not serving the

people of God for personal gain.

And so what does he do? He cries out

and he asks, "How long?

How long must I cry out to you, God, and

you don't answer?

How long must I seek you and and pursue

you? H how long must I crucify the flesh

and chase after you?" And you remain

silent. And last week, we discovered

that that God never truly remains

silent.

that that even though there is a

perceived silence because remember this

is all from Habach's perspective.

God is constantly moving and working

behind the scenes, God is constantly

filling us and and dwelling within us in

the Holy Spirit to guide us to to help

us pursue his path, his will, his

purpose, all under this sovereign plan

that he has for creation.

And this is what begins to unfold

as we tackle verses 5 through 11. God

finally responds

to Habachok.

But God's response is not what Habachok

wanted.

It's not what he even anticipated.

Have you ever prayed a prayer

and God answered in such a way that it

only left you more confused?

I think if we're not careful, often

times uh our prayer can really be laced

with preference.

And there's nothing wrong, hear me,

don't hear what I'm not saying. It's not

wrong to pray for some desires. It's not

wrong to pray for some goals and some

dreams and some ambitions that we have.

So long as all of that is rooted in an

overflow of a deeper worship and a

deeper connection and and a deeper

desire to serve the Lord Jesus. There's

nothing wrong with those things, but we

have to remember we serve God's will and

God's purpose, not our own. We're living

under his rule and his authority, not

our own. So, what the king says shall be

done. We see this pattern all throughout

the story of scripture from Genesis to

Revelation. You see it in the very

beginning. What God declares, "Let there

be," creation responds. And there was

what? what God declares shall come to

pass. This is what's confusing.

Habach.

And here's what we'll discover this

morning.

That throughout this response,

God is laying out this picture not just

before Habach, but before his people.

And even though we're centuries removed,

millennia removed from when Habach had

this conversation with God, God is

laying something out that should appeal

and be relevant to us today. That God's

ways are bigger than our own. And let me

tell you, though that can be confusing,

why that's good news?

Because it means I don't have to figure

it all out.

The scriptures talk about a specific

type of liberty and freedom that exists

within the life of the believer.

Some of that deals with purification and

ceremonial laws that were fulfilled in

the life ministry and death and

ascension of Jesus Christ. And so

there's liberty from certain dietary

laws. There's liberty and freedom from

certain restrictions that are exclusive

to the Old Testament that did not

transition into the New Testament

because Christ has fulfilled them. But

then there's also another side of that

freedom and liberty.

That that freedom and liberty extends

into my perspective into how I operate

in this world because what am I doing?

I'm following the shepherd. And so he's

figured it out. He's figured it out and

he lays the path before us. And so right

here in verse 5 is God begins to respond

and this will go back and forth.

A and what will have happened here just

like last week, Habach's prayer doesn't

end with resolution.

God's response from Habach's perspective

is still not going to bring resolution.

Once we get to the end of this book in a

couple of weeks, from Habach's

perspective, there still won't be

resolution,

which flies in the face of what this

culture tells us.

Because we thrive on convenience,

if we want something, we get it. We can

run to the store and get it. We can

order it online, two days later, it's on

our doorstep. We thrive in this culture

of convenience. And so resolutions being

immediate are something that we are used

to. And so when we don't get a

resolution that's immediate, it creates

confusion. And this is the confusion

that we see here. So verse five, we'll

throw it up on the screen.

Here's God's response.

Look,

I love that. I love it.

Habachok, if you remember, his prayer

was, "God, how long? How long must I

wait and pray and press in and you don't

answer? How long must I look at the

injustices and the violence that is

taking place all around me, from

religious people to government officials

to the very own people who call upon

your name but truly are not serving you?

How long

must I see the wicked restrict

righteousness?"

And God tells Habach, "Look,

sometimes you and I need to hit the

pause button in our life."

And in the midst of our complaint,

we need to be still and know that he's

God

and recognize how he's moving and how

he's working. Because what we'll see in

our passage here in just a moment, God

is revealing, "Hey, I've always been at

work.

Even before you uttered your first word

in this prayer, things have been set up.

I have decreed allowed and set things in

motion through my sovereign purpose and

will for the good of my people and the

glory of my name." So you need to be

still, Habachok, and you need to look.

Look at the nations and observe.

Be utterly astounded.

For I am doing something in your days

that you will not believe when you hear

about it. Look, I'm raising up the

Calaldanss, that bitter, impetuous

nation that marches across the earth's

open spaces to seize territories not its

own. They are fierce and terrifying.

Their views of justice and sovereignty

stem from themselves.

Their horses are swifter than leopards

and more fierce than wolves of the

night. Their horsemen charge ahead.

Their horsemen come from distant lands.

They fly like eagles swooping to devour.

And if you're Habach, you're hearing

this and you're saying, "What?

Who's coming to conquer us?

Who's coming to take us over?" And so

questions begin to stir in Habach's

mind. And if you already read through

the book, it's a very short book, then

you know what's going to take place next

week. We'll look at Habach's response.

And God continues, "All of them in verse

9,

come to do violence.

Their faces are set in determination.

They gather prisoners like sand. They

mock kings and rulers are a joke to

them. They laugh at every fortress and

build siege ramps to capture it.

Then they sweep by like the wind and

pass through.

They are guilty. That's key. That's key

because next week as we look at Habach's

response back to God, Habach's going to

be confused. And his confusion is going

to stem from the very fact that that God

would use a pagan enemy and sinful

nation to bring justice on his own

people. We're going to dive into what

that really looks like. What are the

parallels today here in just a moment.

And God says, "Yes, they are guilty.

Their strength is their God." And all

God's people said, "Lord, bless your

word. Holy Spirit, would you stir our

hearts this morning?"

This is a lot to take in,

particularly when we understand that

Habach has been crying out to God. He's

been asking why the Lord seems silent

while wickedness seems to flourish. And

maybe you picked up on this last week.

There is a parallel that we experience

in our world today.

Not just in our own communities and and

and even in our own families,

but in our country, in our world. We see

that that evil and chaos seems to thrive

and people pursue that. They embrace it.

They celebrate it.

And our prayer goes up to God. And we

say, "Why?

Why does it have to be this way?" But

did you notice God's response in all of

this?

Though confusing,

God is demonstrating something about his

character, about the nature of who he

is, that he's always been at work, that

he's not passive.

Does he say here in verse 5? Look at the

nations and observe. Be utterly

astounded for I am doing something in

your days. Let me just tell you this.

Let me assure you of this. Son of God,

daughter of God,

God is actively moving in the midst of

your prayer. Though from your

perspective he seems silent. Though from

your perspective the answer doesn't make

sense. God just as he declared to Habach

is declaring to you look and observe and

be astounded. I am working. I am doing

something right now in the midst of you.

But Roland, I don't understand what God

is doing.

I can't perceive how how this would

actually be for the glory of his name

and the good of his people. How can any

good come out of this? I think if we're

honest, we have a hard time, I'm

speaking for myself specifically, we

have a hard time really looking at the

truth that Paul declares in his letter

to the Roman church about how all things

work for the good of those who love God.

This is one of those moments.

All things working for the good. Now, we

know not all things are good.

We walk through pain. We walk through

the valley. We walk through some

confusion. We walk through doubt. Maybe

because of all of that, we walk through

some bitterness and anger that is aimed

at the Lord. And just like we learned

last week, some of that is okay so long

as we take it to the Lord and pursue him

with it. That it draws us closer to him

and not further away from him.

Here's the tension.

The tension is how does a sovereign God

allow injustices to continue

to rise to the top

while his people continue to suffer?

Or maybe you've heard it this way. Why

do bad things happen to good people?

Now, I understand what we're saying when

we say that,

but we want to be theologically correct.

We want to be informed by the

scriptures. And the truth of the matter

is there is no one who is good. Not one.

There is no one who is righteous.

The prophet Isaiah said, "On your best

day, you're still filthy rags before the

Lord." Like, that's a powerful

statement. It's even more powerful when

you understand the cultural imagery that

Isaiah is painting there. We're not as

good as we think we are. And anybody who

is self-aware of their own vices and

their own temptations and the secret sin

that you think no one else knows about

knows the truth of that statement. There

is no one who is good. We rebel before

the Lord and our sin is an affront to

his holiness. And I'm going to say

something that'll make us very

uncomfortable. The judgment that is

passed on us because of our sin is right

and just.

But this is what makes the gospel so

beautiful.

This is what makes the life, death, and

resurrection of Jesus Christ

such an amazing, glorious, majestic, and

miraculous thing. That he takes the

judgment on our behalf. This is what

Sister Lacy shared in her testimony.

It's a recognition that that's who God

is and he's demonstrated that in his

son, Jesus Christ.

So while confusing the way the judgment

is coming upon God's people, it is holy

and just in accordance with God's

sovereign will, God's sovereign plan,

and the nature of his perfection and

holiness.

And so God's not ignoring the prophet's

prayer.

In fact, God is already moving and he

has been moving even on the scale that

Habach cannot see. And maybe that

resonates with some of us today. So, so

here's what we want to do. We're going

to go back to our passage and we're

going to draw out some truths

about what does it mean for us today

that God's ways are bigger? What does it

mean for us today that God often times

can answer our prayers in ways that we

didn't expect and in ways that may even

leave us confused?

How do we navigate that tension? If God

indeed wants the good of his people and

the glory of his name, how do we

navigate these moments of tension in

scripture?

And what we'll recognize is that God

reveals something profound in every

moment and in every situation.

And what we learn is that his ways are

infinitely bigger than we expect.

And because God is good and God is holy,

we can trust his ways even if we don't

understand it.

Do you know the Bible calls us to trust

more than it calls us to understanding?

That doesn't mean that, let me just be

transparent for a moment. I've always

had an issue with the term blind faith

because it's not like we're stepping off

the cliff with no sense of is God gonna

be there or not. No. The scripture says

that faith, the faith that we have,

Hebrews declares, is the evidence of

things, the evidence of things in the

unseen realm. And how God reveals

himself to his people. We don't step

blindly

into our walk with Jesus. We step

confidently into our walk with Jesus.

Now we understand what we mean when we

say blind faith in that there are things

that we may not understand that we won't

understand inside of heaven.

But despite the misunderstanding or

despite the unknown, the mystery, we

step in trust. So if you're taking

notes, let's go to the first thing that

we see. Number one, God's ways are

bigger than what we see. All right,

let's go back to verse five

again. God's response to Habach. Look at

the nations and observe.

Be utterly astounded,

for I am doing something in your days

that you will not believe when you hear

about it. God's first response is for

Habach to focus,

to recognize.

But notice that it's not just to look,

it's to observe.

When you look at something, you you

might recognize some movement that is

taking place around you and near you.

But to observe means to step in, to be

engaged. And God's not just calling us

to hit the pause button and to recognize

who he is and how he works. He's calling

us to step into what he's doing.

And this is what God is calling of

Habach Church. This is what God is

calling of us.

God is doing a work and he's calling you

and I to step into it. Now, here's the

kicker.

Judgment is still going to come.

The Babylonians, the Calaldanss, which

in the scripture are used

interchangeably, they're going to come

and conquer the nation of Judah and they

will take them into exile. This story

does not end on a good note,

but it always ends on a good note. Why?

Because God is still in charge.

So even though life doesn't go my way,

that may not be good,

but it's always good because God is

still in charge.

There needs to be a perspective shift.

There needs to be a way in which we look

at the scripture and understand who God

is, how he's moving, and how he's

working. So the Lord says, "Look among

the nations,

observe, wonder." Some translations say,

"Step into what I'm doing." And not only

that, be astounded by it.

Be so in tuned and and so engaged that

you recognize this is a work of God. And

if it's a work of God, then I can trust

this.

I can believe in this.

And the Lord wants us to recognize that

while we pray, he's always been working

when we can't see it. And and we talked

about this last week. From our

perspective, the silence of God doesn't

equal the absence of God.

God is always present. God is always

moving. And the Lord is always at work,

even in ways that might seem hidden from

us. And let me tell you why this truth

matters.

It matters for us because there are

moments when we look around the world

and we ask the question how long or

maybe you look around the world and you

ask the question where is God and all of

this

and what we need to do is not ask where

is God. What we simply need to do is

stop and look towards God

and wonder and be astounded and observe.

Our responsibility in those moments,

church, is never to panic. Easier said

than done,

but it's never to panic. It's to lift

our eyes towards the heaven, towards the

maker of heaven and earth.

The psalmist says, "That's where my help

comes from from."

But here's where the tension in this

passage becomes clear.

Because while God is doing this work,

we understand that God's ways are

bigger. That's the second thing. That

God's ways are bigger than our

expectations.

When you pray, what are you expecting?

You're expecting God to answer.

And let's be honest, we're expecting God

to answer in the affirmative.

Give me what I want. Give me what I

desire. And maybe maybe you've been in a

season or you've gotten caught in the

trap of trying to bargain with God. God,

if you'll do this, I'll do this. If

you'll answer my prayer, my life will be

different. I'll serve more. I'll give

more. I'll attend more. Listen, you

can't bargain with God.

The devil wants us to believe that we

hold the type of power that bends the

will of God to our desires.

Now, I hope you know this just as well

as I do that if we ever possess that

power, we would not use it for the good

because there's a nature that exists in

all of us

that craves and desires evil and sin.

You don't have to teach humanity to sin.

It's natural.

What you have to do is teach humanity to

crucify the flesh, to silence the flesh,

to use the words of Paul, beat the body

into submission, figuratively speaking,

so that it creates room for the spirit

to thrive.

And we pray for wisdom and we pray for

discernment so that we can better serve

the Lord. Let's go to verses 6-10.

Again, God says, "Look, I'm raising up

the Calaldanss,

that bitter and impetuous nation that

marches across the earth's open spaces

to seize territories on its own." Here's

what I want us to recognize. What was

Habach uh Habach's issue

in terms of violence, oppression, and

injustice. That that's what he saw among

his people, among God's people. And it

isn't supposed to be that way because

we're supposed to be those who have been

set apart for good works. Paul tells us

in Ephesians chapter 2:10,

we're God's workmanship. We've been set

apart to honor the Lord, to shine our

light so that others would see the

change in our lives and give honor and

glory to our father who is in heaven.

But if we just look like the rest of the

world, then we do a disservice to the

kingdom. We do a disservice to the

gospel and we don't represent the Jesus

that we proclaim.

And so what brings confusion to Habach

is after in his prayer telling the Lord

the violence and injustice and the

perversions of righteousness and

wickedness that exist, God says, "I'm

sending judgment from a people who are

far worse than you are." Which is why we

have this list of how violent and

oppressive the Calaldanss are. They see

spaces that are not their own. Verse

seven, they are fierce and terrifying.

Their views of justice and sovereignty

stem from themselves. Their horses are

swifter than leopards and more fierce

than wolves of the night. Their horsemen

charge ahead. Their horsemen come from

distant lands. They fly like eagles

swooping to devour. All of them come to

do violence.

Their faces are set in determination.

They gather prisoners like sand. They

mock kings and rulers are a joke to

them. They laugh at every fortress and

build siege ramps to capture it.

evil,

though the devil knows he's on the

losing side,

stops at nothing to rob you of God's

plan in your life.

And when we continue in our sin and

rebellion against his holiness,

we give ourselves over to the very thing

the devil wants to accomplish.

And so, this raises Habach's concerns.

And the shocking reality, the shocking

reality for Habach again is that God

would use a wicked nation to discipline

his own people.

And it reminded me as I was just

studying the history, the cultural

context of of all of this. Here's here's

where we see some modern day parallels.

And I want to be careful how I phrase

this. In Romans chapter 1, three times,

Romans 1 · chapter mention

three times

Paul says, "God gave them up."

Around this time last year, we walked

through a certain series over Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. And what did we learn

throughout that series? That in our

continued rebellion against God, if if

if we don't repent of our sin, if we

don't turn to faith in Jesus Christ,

there is there is a theological term

called God's passive wrath.

And what God will do is God will give us

up. Not that God gives up on us, but

it's like a parent telling a child, "If

that's the path you want to be on,

go ahead and walk it."

Because you're not listening to my

wisdom.

You're not coming into the safety and

security that is my home. You're

rebelling. And if you're rebelling, walk

that path. Three times Paul says that in

describing

rebellion of God's people before the

Lord, God gives them up. And so what

does that mean? What does that term

mean? That that God gives us up. It

means that sometimes God allows

your life to run the course of its own

rebellion.

When truth is exchanged for lies and we

replace creator with a worship of idols,

what happens? Society begins to unravel.

And God says, "The choices of your own

life are going to lead to your own

unraveling." This is what is happening

here. God did not create

the wicked nation

of of Babylon. God did not stir them up

and say, "I want you to be sinners."

That's a result of the broken world. But

in that, God allows and God decrees

judgment to come upon his people. So, so

let me paint some two parallels that we

we see today. Th this will put us in

Habach's shoes to recognize this. This

would be there's a lot going on in Iran,

in the Middle East, and with America.

And by the way, can can we just hit the

pause button and we can say regardless

of how you feel about that? Whether you

think we should go in, whether you think

maybe we should just stop and not worry

about it, can we just agree that that

let us pray.

Let us pray for the people in Iran. Let

us pray for the people of those American

soldiers that have lost their lives. Let

us pray for the salvation of people.

God does not desire that anyone should

perish, but that all would come to

eternal life. And we understand that

sometimes justice needs to be served.

But

let me throw this at us. This would be

like God telling us America today, I am

raising up the Iranians

to come and conquer America

because you can't get it together.

Because you've destroyed the family

unit.

because you persecute and oppress the

poor.

Because you've taken sexuality and

gender which I decreed as holy and made

in my image and you've distorted it.

Because you've taken the issue

and and the covenant of marriage

and intimacy that's reserved for a man

and a woman after they've covenanted

with each other. and you've adulterated

and perverted how I created it to be.

And so now judgment is coming your way.

I'm not saying that's what's happening,

but it is interesting

to think about it. If you look at our

world today from government down,

the corruption that exists, and this is

not a left or right, this is not a blue

or red argument. This is the reality of

what we see from the top down. We see

corruption, we see sin, we don't see

God's name being the first thing that we

pursue.

And so it makes us think,

are some of the issues and difficulties

and valleys that we experience as a

nation, is it because we have rebelled

corporately

against the name of the Lord?

And now the result of all that is wrong

is God letting our own rebellion run its

course

because we refuse to honor God. And you

can take this down all the way down to

the micro level in your home, in your

marriage, at work, in your

relationships.

Are you experiencing the judgment of God

because you have refused AND REJECTED

GOD'S hand over your

life.

Now, the reason I say I want to be

careful how I mention that because

sometimes

sometimes we're pursuing the Lord and

we're honoring the Lord and we're

chasing after him and we're abiding in

him and yet we deal with the valleys and

the darkness

and the results of the broken world that

we live in. But other times, it's a

result of our own sin before the Lord.

our refusal to seek him, our refusal to

repent. And again, if I haven't been

clear, when we look at the world around

us today, we see echoes of this same

pattern

across generations. There's a steady

decline of faithfulness among God's

people.

The older generation can see this.

What was not accepted in your day is now

celebrated today.

My generation will get there one day and

I'll look at my grandkids and my

great-grandkids and I'll say the same

thing. What was rejected in my day is

now celebrated today.

But let me jump ahead. Let me jump ahead

for where we're going because we're out

of time.

Habach and his people, they will go into

exile. And while they're in exile, there

will be a remnant of people that cry out

to God.

a remnant of people that are still

pursuing, that are still seeking, that

are still honoring. And it's that

remnant of people that God uses to bring

revival.

Revival doesn't mean that evil is

disbanded. Evil will never be fully

dispanded this side of heaven. But what

revival does, revival calls people to

the gospel in the midst of evil.

And maybe we're the remnant.

Maybe we're the remnant for this

community. Maybe we're the remnant for

this state. Maybe we're the remnant for

this world.

How will we fully know? It doesn't

matter as long as we continue to press

in and pursue the Lord.

Here's the last thing that we see. God's

ways are bigger than our understanding

of judgment.

Right? The final verse says, "Then they

sweep by like the wind and pass through.

They are guilty. Their strength is their

God. Notice that the the Calaldanss, the

Babylonians.

Where are they looking? They're looking

inward.

And so, here's where we see the

contrast, right? Here's where we see the

dichotomy here. What does God tell right

here at the beginning of verse 5? Look,

observe, wonder, be astounded. He's

drawing Habach's focus to his glory, to

his majesty, to his kingdom. Whereas the

Calaldanss

look to their own strength. That's their

God.

So here's a question. What God do you

look to? The God of self, the God of

creation?

Because the greatest danger

is not simply a culture that declines in

its morality. The the greatest danger is

a people that just reject Christ.

Because for some, watch this, their

perspective is things are going great.

Life could never be better. I'm enjoying

every dream and goal I've ever had. I'm

living it up all the while rejecting

Christ.

Don't be blinded

by a life of happiness

at the expense of a life that rejects

Jesus.

Which is why throughout the scriptures

we'll read that people rejoice in their

suffering. Not because suffering's good,

it's not good, but because what

suffering results in and it results in a

deeper connection with the Lord.

So what was God doing through all of

this? God was orchestrating events on a

scale that Habach could not understand,

could not see. And even when the plan of

God was confusing, God's purposes were

still unfolding.

Now, now this is corporate, right? This

is for the people.

Let's personalize this.

If you continue to live in rejection of

Jesus,

you live in the danger of that final

judgment coming your way.

And when you draw your last breath,

if you continue to live in rejection,

continual rejection,

then that judgment is eternal.

You either pay for your sin for all

eternity and condemnation

or you turn to Christ who has paid for

our sin on the cross of Calvary.

And that's available freely available to

anyone who would call upon his name.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your

word.

We thank you that through the prophet

Habach, you can speak a word today.

And Lord, I pray that that in you and

and and through you,

Lord, that there would be a stirring of

lives and hearts today,

even in the midst of how we pollute and

adulterate, your commands, and your

goodness, you're still merciful to draw

us in. And Lord, I know I know that

there are some of us here this morning

who are dealing with present sin.

And that's a sin that we need to repent

of. Maybe it's multiple sins in whatever

form, whatever addiction it comes in.

May we bring that sin before the foot of

your throne. May we genuinely repent

from it. And may we turn in faith to

your mercy and your grace.

And may we leave here different,

changed, and transformed, empowered by

the Holy Spirit to live a life that's

pleasing to you.

Lord, bless us. We love you. It's in

Christ's name we pray. All God's people

said, "Amen." Hey, would you stand to

your feet with me? We're going to close

our service. We're going to sing

together. Let be your prayer unto the

Lord. Our altar is going to be open.

This is a time for you to respond. If

you want to come and have some personal

prayer time with the Lord, you can come

and do that now. Or Pastor Eric and

myself will be available. If you would

like someone to pray with you, we'll be

available to pray with you as well. If

you have questions about salvation or

maybe today in the service you have felt

the Holy Spirit stirring you and

awakening you out of death and sin and

calling you to life everlasting. Come

and tell Pastor Eric and myself about

it. We'd love to celebrate with you. I

love you, church.