A House Divided (Mark 3:20-35)

Before we jump into Mark chapter three, this week we had some exciting and shocking news that we weren't quite expecting as a church.

Um Grace North County told us that, you know, when we first came and started using their lawn, that when they would move back indoors, um, that we weren't gonna be able to meet here anymore because they're gonna go back to two services and start using their whole campus again.

We thought we had a little more time, uh, but they let us know that starting on June 13th, they're gonna be opening up their campus again.

Uh so we only have a couple more Sundays left here.

So we're trying to figure out where we're gonna be meeting.

Uh, they did tell us that there is a chance that we might be able to do an evening service here, but the other option that we're looking at is possibly just moving our Sunday morning service to a park somewhere.

We'll just kind of bring all of our stuff with us, set up in a park uh somewhere.

We were thinking maybe even the bandstand uh down at Lake Park as a possibility as well.

But we're trying to figure out what's gonna be best for everybody.

Um, so what we did is we came up with a little survey that we put on the back.

Look, Elder Ben back there, he's got the little survey.

Um so we just asked before you leave, grab that and just check what would be the best for you.

This is not a congregational-run church, but we want to know um what's gonna work best for everybody.

Uh the there's pluses and minuses.

If we go to a park, we can start meeting earlier before it gets too hot, you know, stuff like that.

But then we have to deal with public bathrooms and things like that as well.

Uh if we stay here, uh it would be nice, but then it would have to move to a Saturday night service.

Uh so anyway, before you take off, just let us know.

Just check the box.

If it really doesn't matter to you, then don't bother with the survey.

Um, but please do that and then just drop it in the tithe box when you're done.

And it like I said, it was kind of shocking news to us because we thought we had till August.

And uh so at first it was just kind of like, whoa, this is really, really short notice.

But I'm actually in a weird way kind of excited about it.

I feel like in a way this might be God kind of pushing us into our next season as a church.

Um, and who knows what he's gonna do with it.

But I'm really excited to see what he does.

I know it's gonna be for our benefit because he works all things together for good.

Um, and then along those lines, we're still in a lease negotiation for a building.

And even if the lease goes through and everything, we still have to get a conditional use permit.

So it looks like even if that all works out with the building, that the earliest we would be in there is probably August 1st.

So we just look, we're looking for a temporary home between now and then.

Hopefully, you know, something in there will work out.

So let's pray for that, okay?

Lord, I thank you so much for Grace North County and literally how gracious they've been to us to allow us to meet here and to use this space uh when we get to you.

I pray that you continue to bless them as a church, bless them for their generosity.

And Lord, we're excited to see what you have for us next.

Lord, show us where that is and show us how you want us to grow spiritually and physically uh in that space.

So provide miraculously, we pray, Lord, and uh and we just we come to you as your sons and daughters and say, Lord, please be our provider in this time.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Okay, so we will be in Mark chapter three, and we're gonna be reading through verses 20 through 35.

And my hope is that you'll follow along in your Bible the whole time, that you'll sit there, that you'll mark it up, you'll write in the margins, you'll underline, circle, highlight whatever you do, you'll take notes.

Um, because we don't want to just come and kind of check the box of church and then leave.

Because if I was to ask any of you two Sundays ago, what was the one thing you took away from that sermon?

We're like, I don't remember what first we were even in, you know, at that point.

So the whole idea is next time you come to that passage, next time you're in a home group, next time you're discipling somebody, or just in your personal study, that you're gonna have some notes there to that of things that hopefully you've learned here this morning that you can remember a year from now or 40 years from now, whatever that might be.

So, anyway, let's stand for the reading of God's word.

Mark chapter 3, starting in verse 20.

Mark 3 · chapter mention

Says Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again, so that they were not even able to eat.

When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said he's out of his mind.

The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Belzebal, and he drives out demons by the rulers of the demons.

So he summoned them and spoke to them in parables.

How can Satan drive out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is finished.

But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man, then he can plunder his house.

Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.

But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin, because they were saying, He has an unclean spirit.

His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called him.

A crowd was sitting around him and told him, Look, your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.

He replied to them, Who are my mother and my brothers?

Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers.

Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.

Lord, I thank you so much for your scripture.

Lord, I pray that we would come to you with soft hearts, with open ears and an open mind to the things that you want to teach us, the things that you want to encourage us in, the things that you want to convict us in.

Lord, do that through the power of your word, through the power of your Holy Spirit here this morning, we pray.

In Jesus' name, amen.

You may be seated.

So we're just gonna jump right in to verse 20, and we're gonna take it verse by verse and talk about what's going on in this passage.

So, verse 20.

Jesus entered a house, which was most likely Peter's, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat.

So once again, we see Jesus, we see a crowd, and we see Jesus being inconvenienced.

You know, the introvert and the food lover in me just thinks like, just let the man rest and have a nice meal for crying out loud.

Because wherever he goes, he's being swarmed by all these people.

He keeps trying to get away to be alone, to pray, to rest, to think, to spend time with the father, to eat, and they just keep hunting him down.

Yet the compassion of Jesus keeps shining through, and he keeps ministering day after day after day after day to these people that really need him and are really desperate for him.

Verse 21.

When his family, and in the Greek, the word for family right here really could include close friends as well, but when his family heard this, they set out to restrain him because they said he's out of his mind.

So we're gonna see Jesus say in a few chapters, in Mark chapter 6, verse 4, he's gonna say, A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.

Mark 6:4

And here we see that it's his family, where he's not being accepted, where he's not being honored, and possibly some of his close friends that he maybe grew up with.

And the funny thing is, is these people they don't realize it at the time, but these people are coming to rescue God.

Kind of ironic, isn't it?

When you think about it.

They didn't know at the time, but they thought we need to go and we need to rescue God.

And whenever I come to this story in the Gospels, I always ask myself, why at this moment?

Why did they think he was out of his mind right at this moment?

And why now?

Why are they coming to him just now to save him?

Where are they in their mental state where it was like, okay, we need to go get him?

So I want us to think about this from the family's point of view.

There's no record of Jesus performing miracles before his baptism.

He didn't grow up as a kid doing really cool tricks for his friends.

But you could imagine, you know, it's like, you guys, let me tell you about something.

He's like, well, I can't even explain it, but you know, like, behold, Xbox.

You know, I mean, he could have done stuff like that, you know, but he didn't.

We don't see any signs of Jesus doing those miracles while he was growing up.

So this miracle side of Jesus that we're seeing right now in the Gospel of Mark, this is new.

And it's new for his family, too, that all this is happening, and they feel like they need to get involved because they think something horrible is going on.

And as we're gonna learn in John 7 5, um, his brothers didn't even believe that he was the Messiah until after his death, burial, and resurrection.

And maybe, you know, his family just caught wind that the religious leaders were plotting to kill him.

So they thought, we need to protect him, we need to go after him and remove him from whatever's going on because now people want him dead.

And one commentator joked that maybe his family saw who he chose for his disciples and was like, that's it, he's finally lost his mind.

He just chose Peter, we need to go get him and rescue him.

But when I come to this passage, I also wonder about Mary.

You know, didn't Mary know that this was, you know, going to be a part of what Jesus was doing?

You know, because the angel told her in Luke 132, he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.

So I I will often wonder where was Mary's state of mind at this point, too, knowing that her son is the Messiah.

And I'm wondering if maybe she's starting to doubt.

You know, did I raise him wrong?

Did I do something wrong that led him astray and to go down the wrong path?

You know, we don't know where she was, but I always think about that.

You know, didn't Mary know?

And sorry, now that song's probably stuck in your head, but but you can't blame the family too much for having concern for Jesus.

Because when you think about it, they've never raised the Messiah before.

There's no precedent.

They can't be like, well, you know, the last time we raised the Messiah, when he turned about 30, the miracles started to come on.

So this is actually normal behavior, we're good to go.

There was no precedent for any of that.

But there is a marked difference that we see in Jesus' first 30 years and his last three.

And in these last three is what is really giving his family concern.

And in a way, I feel sad for Jesus because he's not only getting attacked by the religious leaders, but now his family thinks that he's completely off of his rocker.

In Stephen Cole's Bible commentary, he says this, and I want to share it with you.

He says, Jesus constantly faced the rejection of the religious and political leaders of the day, and in a way, their hatred of Jesus made sense.

He actually threatened their status quo.

Undoubtedly, it was far more painful and challenging for Jesus to deal with the way his own people rejected him.

It isn't easy to be profoundly misunderstood as you try to walk with God.

And as we've seen, there's no earthly person or place where peace is being offered to Jesus at this time, at this point in his ministry.

Everywhere he goes, it's crowds, it's demands, it's plotting against his life.

And maybe that's why Jesus keeps getting up early to be with the Father.

You know, we see that multiple times.

That might be the only time and place where Jesus is actually able to experience peace.

So he just figures I gotta either stay up all night or get up really early because these people just keep hunting me down and all these demands are upon me.

And maybe this is what Jesus needs to experience in order to become our compassionate high priest.

Not experiencing peace.

To the point where we can never say, Well, Jesus, you just don't understand the stress that I'm going through right now.

And Jesus can look at us and say, Oh, yes, I can.

I've been through it and even further than anything you've ever experienced.

And he can relate to us in that way as our compassionate high priest.

No joke though, if I was Jesus at this point, I think I just would have completely lost it.

I actually would have been off my rocker, and my family would need to come get me because of the demands and the criticism and the pulling in every direction that he's experiencing in his ministry.

And as we'll see in verse 22, he's dealing with more accusations.

Look at verse 22 with me.

It says the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Bilzebel, and he drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.

So the scribes, who we have affectionately referred to throughout the course of the Gospel of Mark as the naysayers in the crowd, they see Jesus cast out a demon right before this.

We don't see it in Mark, but we see it in Luke chapter 11, verse 14, where Jesus has just cast out a demon, and then the Pharisees come and they accuse him, and they try to plant doubt in the minds of Jesus' followers, and to build their case that Jesus is a fraud and that he should be killed, just as just like they're plotting and trying to do.

Luke 11:14

So they say he does this because he's possessed by Satan.

He's driving driving out demons through the power of Satan.

And their argument doesn't even make sense.

And Jesus is about to completely dismantle it in this parable starting in verse 23.

So follow along with me.

It says, So he summoned them and spoke to them in parables.

How can Satan drive out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is finished.

But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man, then he can plunder his house.

So in this illustration that Jesus is using here through this parable, he's talking about Satan's kingdom.

Now we defined the two spiritual kingdoms that we see in Scripture when we saw Jesus tempted in the wilderness.

That was weeks back.

I think that was week two that we started meeting.

But I want to touch on this real quick, just as a refresher, and for those of you that weren't here for that.

So we define the two spiritual kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.

We define the kingdom of God to be anywhere that God is on the throne.

That is his kingdom, anywhere that he's on the throne.

Whether that be a place like heaven or whether that be a place like in our heart.

And Jesus is the walking, talking embodiment of the kingdom of God.

That's why he keeps saying the kingdom is at hand or the kingdom is near, because he's that embodiment.

Now, similarly, we can define the kingdom of Satan.

It's where he is on the throne.

So obviously, he's sitting on the throne of the lives of the people that he has possessed, like the people we see Jesus driving the demons out of.

But like we saw in chapter one, when Jesus was being tempted, Satan offers Jesus the kingdoms of the world.

If Jesus will only worship him.

He offers him a shortcut to bypass the cross, which would have left us having to pay for our own sins.

But when Satan offers this to Jesus, Jesus doesn't correct him.

He doesn't say, No, those kingdoms aren't yours, those are mine.

That wasn't a part of the conversation.

It's like Jesus just accepted, yeah, the kingdoms of the world, they are not mine yet.

So those are the two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.

And the only thing, the only differential is who's sitting on the throne.

And what Jesus is doing, and what he's talking about in this parable, is Jesus stepped into Satan's kingdom to plunder it.

His main argument to the accusation is that he's driving out demons by Satan's power.

That's the main argument against him.

Which would mean that the devil's kingdom is at civil war.

So Jesus is saying, You think I am driving out demons by the power of their leader?

And he goes on to say in verse 27, but no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man.

Then he can plunder his house.

So just to be clear, in this illustration, in this parable that Jesus is using, Satan is the strongman that's being referred to.

And the house is Satan's kingdom.

Jesus is saying, if I'm working for Satan here, why would I plunder his own kingdom?

It's quite the opposite.

Jesus is binding up the strong man, Satan, and he's plundering his house.

He's plundering his kingdom.

That's why Jesus came.

To offer everyone the option to be a part of a kingdom that is not Satan's.

To be a part of the kingdom of God.

And that's really what the good news is.

The good news of Jesus Christ.

That He's bringing another way.

He's bringing the way that offers hope and a future and an eternal security.

The forgiveness of sins and a direct relationship with God.

The opposite of that is the chaos of the world.

That is what the kingdom of Satan is.

It's just chaos.

And that's what we're seeing all around of us right now.

It's just chaos everywhere.

Jesus is saying there's another way.

There's a better way.

There's the way.

And it's through me.

It's through the forgiveness of sins through me.

I am offering you the kingdom of God.

And that's what we see.

Jesus talking about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God.

And he's just offering it to all of us here today, but to everybody that was following him and listening to him, including the Pharisees and the scribes.

And what an encouragement it should be to us to know that Jesus has absolute authority over the demonic realm.

That he can bind up Satan and drive out demons.

That when we're facing spiritual warfare, to know that Jesus has already won the battle.

And it should be encouraging as well that Jesus doesn't struggle in battle against these enemies.

And the outcome is not left a chance.

To know that Jesus casts out demons and they cower should be a huge encouragement to us.

As we were just singing in that last song, talking about the strength and the power of God and how nothing can stand against him.

This should really add to our faith.

Just knowing that fact.

And this should absolutely change the way that we pray.

And I'm not talking about trying to beat up the enemy with our words.

When we're praying.

I'm talking about praying in the name of Jesus.

And knowing that nothing can stand against him.

That should really bolster our faith.

That he can easily plunder the kingdom of Satan.

Like we see in this scripture here today.

Like we see when he casts out other demons, how they just cower and they flee.

And it's Jesus' habit, he pulverizes the Pharisees' argument with this parable that we're looking at.

You know, at some point you would think that the Pharisees would agree, you know, this isn't going so well for us.

Every time that we bring this argument or we bring a question to Jesus and try and trick him or try to pin him, every time we just end up looking like dummies.

Like we should probably just stop this for a little while.

But they just keep coming at him.

They keep plotting against him.

Now we're going to move on to verse 28, but before we do, at first reading, as you're going through the Gospel of Mark, you may go from this story that we're looking at here and jump into the the part in verse 28 and think that we're changing subjects.

But that's not the what's happening here.

The Pharisees' accusations are done, but Jesus is still responding to them.

And he's talking directly to the Pharisees, and he's not saying that they blasphemed or condemned or that they're condemned to hell.

But he is warning them that if they don't repent, they could be on the way to blasphemy because of the hardness of their heart.

So before we read this, I think it'd be important that we define blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

Because that can sometimes just seem so mysterious.

And like, what exactly is that?

Have I done it?

Have I not?

Am I good?

But blaspheme in Greek, it means to speak reproachfully or to be evil spoken of, reviled or railed at.

So what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit means is knowing the truth about God, knowing the truth about Jesus, knowing the truth about the work of the Holy Spirit and what he wants to do in your life, and then rejecting it.

And not just rejecting it, but actually speaking evil of God or what God is doing.

So it's having an understanding and then having a deliberate rejection of Jesus.

And in this context that we see here this morning, as the Pharisees are doing, attributing the work of the Holy Spirit as to the work of Satan.

Seeing what the Holy Spirit's done and saying that's evil.

So verse 28 says, Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins, and whatever blasphemies they utter.

But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.

Because they were saying he has an unclean spirit.

So as I mentioned, I don't think the Pharisees have committed blasphemy of the Holy Spirit here yet.

Otherwise, I don't think Jesus would take the time to warn them, say, it's too late, you know.

But he's actually giving them this warning.

I think he's warning them that their hearts are hard and they're getting harder, and that they're on their way to committing blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

And at this point, the Pharisees, I don't think they fully understood God, obviously.

They haven't fully understood Jesus, they haven't fully understood the Holy Spirit and how he's working, and therefore they can't purposefully say, I know the truth, I know the work, and I know the testimony and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and I'm going to reject that until death.

So just a few days ago, my son asked me, he says, Dad, what happens if somebody goes to hell and then decides that they want to accept Jesus?

And I'm a little biased, but I think that's pretty good for a nine-year-old.

But I told him, I said, that people that are in hell are there by choice.

They have come to a place of such a hard heart, and they're so settled in their rejection of God that they prefer to be in hell than to be in God's presence.

And my son was baffled as to why somebody would arrive at that conclusion.

And I didn't have a good answer of why somebody would arrive at that conclusion because I don't know how somebody can arrive at that conclusion.

To know the full truth of God and Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit, and then say, I don't want any of that, and completely reject it.

To be able to look at God and say, I know better.

But what I do know is that that sin, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, looking at God and saying, I know better, that is pure pride.

And C.S.

Lewis has that famous quote that he believes that the gates of hell are locked on the inside.

Because of blasphemy.

Because of full-on willful rejection of God.

And I think of it like a wedding engagement.

Engagement is supposed to be, you know, this sweet, amazing, special time where you're supposed to grow together in your relationship with your spouse to be.

And it's time for premarital counseling.

It's time to plan out your wedding day.

It's time to plan out the rest of your life together.

Saying that you want to go to heaven, but you want nothing to do with Jesus on earth.

It's like asking somebody to marry you.

This, you know, this romantic proposal.

And this guy gets down on his one knee and he asks, Will you marry me?

And the woman says, Yes.

And he and then the man follows it up and he says, But I don't want to be around you.

I don't want to talk to you.

And I don't even want to see you until the wedding day.

Let me know how that goes.

It blows my mind.

You know, what makes people think that they don't want anything to do with God now?

But they're going to want to spend eternity with him.

If you don't want him now, what makes you think that you're going to want him then?

That really baffles me.

All that to say, blasphemers are not going to want to be in heaven.

They have come to a resolute decision after knowing the truth that they want nothing to do with God.

You know, over the years, I've discipled a lot of college students.

Actually, two of them are here today.

This one's, this example's not about you guys, though.

But it's funny because I get I got the question a lot, especially from college students, of I'm afraid that I've blasphemed the Holy Spirit.

Or they'll say, you know, how do I know if I have?

Or how do I make sure that I don't blaspheme the Holy Spirit?

And my answer to them is always, if you're worried about it, you haven't done it.

Because it's a willful rejection.

You know, or some think that they may have blasphemed the Holy Spirit before they started following Jesus because they took the Lord's name in vain.

Or they said something terrible against God before they came to the saving salvation of Jesus.

But I want to let you know that any one of us today can be forgiven of those things.

That's not blasphemy.

It's stupid and prideful, but it's not blasphemy.

And I think that's the lesson from this specific section here today that we need to hold on to.

That we just need to keep a soft heart towards Jesus, and you're good.

You don't have to worry about blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

So the Pharisees are put in their place, they're warned, and now we're going to jump back to Jesus' family.

And we're going to take a look as they try to make contact with him.

So look at verse 31 with me.

It says, His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called him.

A crowd was sitting around him and told him, Look, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside asking for you.

So here is his family, and they're coming to him.

The scene was set earlier that they were on their way, but now they're actually reaching out and they're trying to make contact with Jesus.

Verse 33, he replied to them, Who are my mother and my brothers?

Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, Here are my mother and my brothers.

Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.

So Jesus was sitting with his spiritual family.

And he saw his spiritual family as his true family.

Now we can tend to read this and think, man, that just doesn't sit right.

You know, Jesus saying this about his family.

But think about what Jesus is saying in the context of eternity.

Jesus is sitting with the people that he's going to spend the rest of time with.

He's sitting with his long-term family.

And his temporary earthly family shows up.

So we sitting here today, we're part of that spiritual family.

Jesus calls us brothers and sisters.

God calls us his sons and his daughters.

And we're part of a spiritual family in the kingdom of God that's going to last forever.

Amen?

Amen.

Jesus' attitude toward his temporary earthly family is not one of disdain or one of dishonor.

I don't want us leaving here thinking that.

He just realized that this is his earthly family and that they are going to be gone very soon in light of eternity.

And Jesus recognized this at a very young age.

You know, the only story that we have of him between being a toddler and the beginning of his ministry around when he turned 30 is this obscure story of his parents losing him for three days.

You guys familiar with that one?

When his family's making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the festival's over, the family takes off assuming that Jesus is in their traveling party, and they realize after a full day's journey that Jesus isn't with them.

And so they turn around and they hightail it back to Jerusalem.

And they find Jesus in the temple.

And Mary says to him, he says, Son, why have you treated us like this?

Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.

And Jesus responds at twelve years old with, Didn't you know that it was necessary for me to be in my father's house?

And that was pleasing his heavenly father.

And don't think for a second that he didn't honor his mother.

The next verse says that he was obedient to his parents.

They make sure to add that in so you didn't think that he was being disrespectful.

And we know that Jesus didn't disdain his earthly family or his earthly mother because when he was dying in agony in agonizing pain on the cross, he was making arrangements with his disciple, with the Apostle John, for the care of his mother.

But this verse here shows Jesus' eternal perspective.

It shows his heavenly mindedness.

And he wanted to teach the crowd that their first allegiance should be to God and his family before it was toward his earthly family.

Because as we saw earlier, our earthly family might not understand the call that God has placed on our life.

They might try to rescue us from God's plan.

Jesus will always place the kingdom of God above his earthly family, and so should we.

And that's not permission to be a jerk to your wife.

That's not permission for any form of abandonment.

This is an encouragement to not idolize our family and to not place our earthly family before God.

Jesus goes on in verse 35, and he says, Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.

You know, in his mercy, this might be another invitation to the Pharisees and the scribes and those that are sitting around him with hard hearts and saying, I want to call you brother.

Jesus sees the hardness of their hearts, and I think this may be another invitation of, you know what, you can still be a part of the spiritual family that I'm part of.

I can call you brothers and sisters.

He could be saying, It's not too late.

Soften your hearts.

Let me welcome you into the family of God.

You know, and in God's mercy, maybe he's calling you to soften your heart as well.

Whether you've been following the Lord for a long time, or maybe you want to make that decision to follow him for the first time today.

Jesus is calling us into an engagement.

The rest of our time on earth is an engagement with Jesus Christ.

And he wants to do so much with us in this engagement period.

Scripture tells us that Jesus is in heaven right now, preparing a place for us so that we could be with him forever.

So that we could love him and enjoy him forever.

So, for the old grizzled Christian, let's not allow our hearts to harden towards the Lord.

But instead, let's ask him where he wants to soften our hearts.

That's the main takeaway from today's message.

That's the thing I hope that we're thinking about as we're leaving here, as we're fellowshipping, as we're driving home, as we go through our week, that we'll be asking the Lord, Lord, where do you want to soften my heart?

Where it's hard or it's hardening.

And for those that aren't following Jesus yet, ask him to soften your heart for the first time.

To hear his message of salvation, to enter into this engagement relationship, to start enjoying him and getting to know him now.

I think those that take the approach of, well, you know, I'll live my life and I'll get right with God before I die, I think they're really gonna wish that they knew Jesus much better before they die, if they get their life lined up at the end.

I think there's gonna be some regret of wishing that they started this engagement period with Christ far earlier.

So I want to encourage you, if you've never done that before, if you've never asked Jesus to forgive your sins, if you've never asked him to be your Lord and your Savior and authority in your life, if you haven't entered into this engagement with Jesus Christ, he wants to welcome you in.

He wants to cleanse you from your past.

He wants to clothe you in his righteousness.

He wants to give you his wisdom.

He wants to help you say no to the things that are killing you right now, to the sins that are in your life.

So I want to encourage you today to say yes to Jesus.

And if that is you, we're gonna pray here just in a second.

And just pray along.

And then afterwards, just come let me know.

I would love to know if if you've given your life to Jesus Christ for the first time today.

And I'd love to just chat with you about what things are gonna look like for you and encourage you in a few in a few things and then pray with you.

So let's take this time now and let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Lord, again, we thank you for your word.

Lord, we thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ.

We thank you that you love us so much and in every way.

Lord, we thank you that we can gather here, that you are God on your throne, that you have authority over everything.

But Lord, I pray as as we prepare to worship you, as we prepare to leave this place, Lord, that you would show us the areas in our life that you want to soften our hearts.

Whatever that might be.

Lord, I pray that we would just take time for some examination, allowing your Holy Spirit to examine us, to encourage us, to convict us of whatever that change is that you desire in any one of us.

And Lord, I pray for those that have not made that decision to follow you and to give you their their whole life, and to enter into this engagement period uh with Jesus.

Lord, would you convict hearts now, would you encourage hearts now to make that step?

You are the perfect friend, the perfect father, the perfect brother, the perfect companion in every way.

Lord, and you want to bless us in this engagement period.

So Lord, I pray that those people would make that recognition now and would have the courage to pray that prayer of forgiveness of sin, to have that courage to come up and to tell me or to tell somebody that they came with that they're making that decision today.

Lord, we give you all of these things in Jesus' name.