The Sweet Spot of Life

Hey, man, thank you, Andrea. Thank you John and praise team

for leading us to lift our voices and praise today.

If you have your copy of God's Word, and I hope you do, make

your way to Ruth, Chapter 4, final chapter in this Old

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

Testament book that we've been walking through together now for

the last several weeks. And we land today on chapter 4

with much ground to cover. And think they got nervous in

the first service. I didn't get to all those blanks

as quickly as they thought I would.

So just hang on. We're going to really give you a

heads up here. We're going to walk our way

through the story for the first portion of our time together.

And we're going to really land on lots of the practical

application of the story and the truth we learned from this story

towards the end. All right, so we're going to

walk through this one verse at a time, and we'll get there, I

promise. So if you're here this morning,

let me just say this first. If you're here this morning and

you would admit somehow, some way deep down, you're

struggling. Maybe you're wondering where

your life is headed. You're wondering what God is up

to, can't really see the destination.

You don't really know what God's writing.

You know, how no, all this is going to come together.

Maybe if you're being honest, you'd say, Kyle, I don't even

know if God's paying attention to me right now.

I'm not even sure that God understands or sees my

circumstances right now. At least that's the way I feel.

I'm not so sure God's writing anything when it comes to me, my

story and my name and direction. If that's you and any former

fashion. I do believe Ruth chapter 4 is

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

something that you'll be encouraged to hear as we walk

through God's word together today.

You do need to remember in Ruth chapter 4, we're still in the

Ruth 4 · chapter mention

days of the judges. Now some of you got my little

review here memorized. All right, I've said this

several times, but if you're new to Ruth or haven't caught all

the messages, this is helpful to know, right?

Because during these days, it's the days of the judges in

Israel. This mean it's pre kings, right?

There are no, there's no king in Israel.

And the Bible says, unfortunately everyone is doing

what is right in their own, in their own eyes, how chaotic life

is. And everybody's just doing what

seems right to them. And it is not going well.

In fact, it's absolute chaos and it's sinful.

They're walking unfaithfully with God.

And God said he would do what they, if they were unfaithful,

God said he would do what he's doing.

And I see as he's not bringing blessing, he's bringing cursing.

One of the things is this famines going on in the land.

They're starving and they're hungry.

And one Israelite man by the name of Elimelech and his two

sons and his wife Naomi moved to Moab.

They leave the promised place where God said to dwell and

where God said he would be with them and bless them.

And in their own initiative, they go off to another land, a

place they worship foreign gods, where they don't know Yahweh.

And they're there 10 years and over 10 years, both boys marry

Moabite women. But after 10 years, all the men

are dead. Elimelech passes and his two

sons. Ruth is now destitute.

She has two Moabite daughters in law.

What's she going to do? She does here.

There's food in Bethlehem. So she decides to move back.

She tries to convince her two daughters in law to stay.

One does. But one comes to this point

where she's learned of Yahweh. She's heard now of the one true

God. And guess what she does?

She says I'm all in. I'm not going back, Naomi, don't

even talk to me about it anymore.

I'm following y'all with all my heart, with all my soul, with

all my strength and all my mind. I'm going to be with you and

where you go, I'm going to go. And where God leads we're going

to be. And where you die, I'm going to

die. And don't try to convince me

otherwise. She vows herself to God.

Does God reward such commitment? Does God reward such faith?

Does God honor when we're walking one way and repent and

turn and start walking the other way by faith in him?

You better believe it and you're going to watch that unfold as we

walk through this story with Ruth and remember right.

So Naomi and Ruth, they get back to the promised lamb and Ruth as

a has a destitute poor widow is having to pick up the scraps of

barley on the edges of a field. But she just so happens under

God's Providence to end up in a field by the name owned by a man

named Boaz. Boaz takes notice of her.

And Naomi takes notice of Boaz and sees a little match

potential going on. And she she comes up with the

plan and tells Ruth the plan. And Ruth proposes to Boaz, like

we talked about last week, says, hey, would you take me under

your wing? You're a kinsman Redeemer.

Would you care for me? Redeem me and take me under as a

Redeemer. And so Boaz says, yes, I will.

But so we found out, even after all that has transpired, after

all that has come to pass, after all that seemed like was

hopeless, and now finally, things starting to go the right

way. There's a closer kinsman

Redeemer. There's a family member that

ought to have the right to redeem first before Boaz.

So what is Boaz going to do? We listen to chapter 3, verse

18. This is to pick up where we left

off, she replied. Naomi replied Wait my daughter

until you learn how the matter turns out for the man that's

Boaz will not rest but will settle the matter today.

All right, so here's what happens.

Chapter 4 verse one and two. Now Boaz had gone up to the gate

and sat down there, and behold, the Redeemer of whom Boaz had

spoken came by. So Boaz said, turn aside,

friend, sit down here. And he turned aside and sat

down, and he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit

down here. So they sat down.

Boaz isn't going. Boaz is gone.

Boaz set his alarm early. He's at the gate before

daylight. Boaz is a man on a mission.

She said he would take care of it today.

That's absolutely what he's doing.

And he goes to the gates of the city.

That sounds odd, unless you understand that the place where

business went down, where civic and social decisions were made

in ancient times, where it's not the city courthouse or the

County Courthouse, but the city gates, this was the place of

decision, of business and transaction.

This is where as goes and sure enough, behold, here comes the

Redeemer again. Sounds like a coincidence, but

are they actually any coincidence in life or is God in

his hand overseeing all things under his Providence and

goodness, it seems just like that.

But no doubt under the Providence of God, here comes

that closer Redeemer. He says, hey friend, hey, so and

so, hey you. Interesting enough to me, his

name is not even mentioned. Boaz knows the guy's name.

He's family, but it's interesting how in the record of

God's inspired record of Book of Ruth, the closest kinsman

Redeemer is not even named. I think that's on purpose.

And he says, hey, come here, I've got business with you.

Boaz takes his man, but he needs 10 men in these times to make a

decision official. And here's what happens.

Verse 3. Then he said to the Redeemer,

Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling

the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech.

So I thought I would tell you of it and say buy it in the

presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the

elders of my people. If you will redeem it, redeem

it. But if you will not tell me

that, I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it.

And I come after you. And he said I will redeem it.

Now, I don't know about you, but in my mind I'm sitting here

thinking, Boaz, time out, dude. What are what are you doing

right? You letting the girl get away,

you giving the land away like you don't have a play call that

you're going to do that maybe somehow get this to work out

after all that y'all been through, after all that Ruth

went through, after the promises you made to her, you're just

going to you're just going to, you know, put this in front of

the guys. A grand financial game.

I mean, think about it, right? Naomi had this land now in her

name that belonged to her husband.

It would have passed to her sons, but their past.

So now Naomi owns it. But guess what?

Naomi's too old to drive a tractor.

She's not bailing barley anymore.

This land is doing her no good. She needs a Redeemer, one who

has the right resolve and the resources to redeem this

property, buy it if you will, to keep it in the family and work

it to provide for her and her family.

All right. And Boaz is serving this up is a

good deed. That's also grand financial

gain. I mean, just think about it,

right? So the guy knows, hey, I'm going

to have to provide for Naomi. But guess what?

The produce of the land is going to take care of that.

And then guess what? Naomi doesn't have any, any

offspring for the land to go to. It's going to remain in my

family. This is more going to pay for

itself. Hey, Boaz, where do I sign?

Boaz, what are you doing? Well, he's smarter than you

think he is, all right? He's got a plan that he just

hadn't revealed yet. Here it is.

Saves it for last, then. Boaz said the day you buy the

field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the

Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name

of the dead in his inheritance. By the way, the land comes with

a wife. That's what he said.

Then the Redeemer said I can't redeem it for myself.

Story change. Let's I impair my own

inheritance. Take my right of redemption

yourself, for I cannot redeem it.

That's what I'm talking about, Boaz.

I mean, you just got to, I mean, I jump up, give him a high 5

right there if I could, right? I didn't see that coming.

You probably didn't see that coming.

But Boaz had a plan. He wasn't just walking into it.

As ill informed as it sounds right now, we don't know exactly

why this closest kinsman Redeemer didn't realize taking

care of Ruth, marrying Ruth, and caring for was part of the deal.

But here's our best guess. She was a what?

She was a Moabite. Now, you don't have to know much

about your Bible to realize why he probably didn't think

marrying her was part of the deal.

All right, I'm not going to get into the details because it's

not all age appropriate, all right?

But you can go back in Genesis 19.

You remember Abraham's nephew Lot, All right, Well, Lot ends

up in an incestuous relationship with two daughters of his that

involved alcohol that produced the origins of the Moabite and

the Ammonite peoples. All right, so it gets worse then

the Moabite peoples once there are people and God's leading the

Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land towards freedom.

You got the Moabites no wanting to curse the Israelites.

So their king hires this, you know, black market prophet to

come out and try to curse them, but God won't let him curse

them. And so then furthermore, he

says, well, if God can't get God to curse them, I'm going to send

all our women in there and get them to seduce them and then God

will curse them then. And sure enough that actually

worked. The Moabite women came among the

Israelite men and they they were involved in relations with him.

And you know how many men, Israelite men, God struck dead

on the spot for their unfaithfulness?

24,000 I don't know how it's to say it, but if you were a

teenager in Israel, you didn't bring home a Moabite to meet

Mama. You just didn't.

No doubt this guy thinks marrying her couldn't be, must

not be part of the deal. But here's the deal.

Ruth has walked away from everything Moabite about her.

Will God honor her desire to follow Him?

Will God honor her repentance to turn from worshiping the way she

used to worship to now worshiping the one true God?

Will God give her His blessing and honor and provision because

she has looked at Him for all of that, for life and more?

You better believe it. So here we go.

Listen to verses 7 and 8 now. This was the custom in former

times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging to

confirm a transaction. The one drew off his sandal and

gave it to the other. And this was the manner of the

testing in Israel. So when the Redeemer said to

Boaz, buy it for yourself, he drew off his sandal.

This is fascinating. Right When you went to buy land,

you didn't get together your real estate agents and maybe

your real estate lawyer to sign the deeds and the deal.

You took off 1 dirty sandal and said here you go like you could

keep that. I just want the land.

But this was symbolic of the fact that the seller is saying

I'm I'm removing my right to tread on this dirt.

Now it's yours and your right. So it's a removal of a sandal

and a giving to the buyer transitioning the ownership of

the property. So Boaz gets his land.

Listen to verse 9 and Tim. Then Boaz said to the elders and

all the people your witnesses this day that I've bought from

the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Limelec, and all

that belonged to Killian and Malon, and also Ruth the

Moabite, the widow of Malon, I've bought to be my wife, to

perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the

name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and

from the gate of his native place.

You are witnesses to this today. Will Yahweh reward faithfulness?

You better believe it, right? And God has done so and allowed

these things to come to success and answer to the people's

prayer. If you remember right, Boaz's

prayer for Ruth back in chapter 2, verse 12 was that she would

find rest and reward under the one whose wings she had come to

take. What refuge.

May God reward her for doing that.

It's God's answering that prayer.

Does God bless those who take refuge under his wings?

Yes or no? Yes, God's answering that

prayer, right? God's answering Naomi's prayer

for Boaz that he would be blessed.

He had gone out of his way to show kindness and provision to

Ruth, and now Naomi's prayed for him that he would be blessed as

a result of blessing others. God y'all is rewarding the

faithfulness of Ruth and Boaz, and he's answering the prayers

of his people. Don't you realize?

Don't you believe God answers prayer?

You better believe it. Now listen and Speaking of

answered prayer, listen to verses 11 through 12.

Three prayers of blessing that are prayed right here.

Then all the people who were at the gate and the elder said we

are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman

who's coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who

together built up the House of Israel.

And may you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in

Bethlehem. And thirdly, may your house be

like the House of Perez, whom Tamar brought to Judah, because

of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young

woman. Three prayers.

Here we see one for Ruth, one for Boaz, and one for their

offspring, right? The one for Ruth is that she

would be fruitful like Rachel and Leah, who were the wives of

Jacob that birthed the patriarchs, the heads of the 12

tribes of Israel. What a prayer for fruitfulness,

right? There's a prayer for Boaz and he

would flourish and become famous and be remembered.

And to just keep that in your mind because his name is going

to be included in a list of names that will never, ever be

forgotten. God answers that prayer.

And then there's a prayer for Boaz, his offspring, that he

would be like Perez. Who was that?

That was the the clan that was the most prominent clan in

Judah. And again, who was Perez?

Though again, this is a head scratcher.

It's like, wow, look at what God's doing in his mercy.

Perez was one of the twins born to Tamar.

You know who Tamar was? She was another Canaanite woman,

non Israelite woman who was married to 1 of Judah's sons.

But after another son, after one died, she married another and he

died. Judah would not give her a third

son, and in spite she actually can.

She she concealed her identity, tricked her father-in-law into

having relations with her, and that was the offspring of the

twins, including Perez. And you thought your family was

messed up somewhere down the line.

Think again. Unbelievable, right?

Look at God's mercy in the middle of all the mess.

The picture of the prayer here is just as God carried on the

line of Judah through Tamar, A Canaanite woman, May God do the

same through Ruth, a Moabite woman.

Do the same thing. God bring blessing where there

once was not. The first thing I want you to

see that you can't miss from these pages is that finally now

in chapter 4, out of all we've seen, I want you to see this in

yours. God redeems Ruth.

Does God honor one who takes refuge under his wings?

Does God honor one who repents from walking their way and turns

to walk his way? Does God honor one who vows

themself to him without turning back and saying, God, I'm all

in. I'm trusting you even if my life

hasn't turned around. If I don't have all I want, if

all's not good right now, God, I'm trusting you anyway.

God redeems, God redeems, and God redeems Ruth.

He's provided her a husband, a home, and a rest.

It gets even better though. Look at verse 13.

So Boaz took Ruth, she became his wife.

He went into her and the Lord gave her.

The Lord gave her conception and she bore a son.

You read this book. There's only two times in the

whole book that explicitly state God's direct intervention.

This is one of them. But don't be mistaken.

God has been the one at work behind the scenes, in every

single detail of these people's lives.

He's the one that allowed Naomi and Ruth to return just at the

perfect timing of the beginning of the barley harvest.

He's the one that opened up Boaz's eyes so he noticed

someone immediately he didn't recognize.

He's the one that allowed Ruth to the kindness of Boaz and for

Boaz to be blessed and for his proposal, Ruth's proposal to

Boaz and Boaz's plan with the first Redeemer to all be

successful. Look at God.

He's the one at work in the details of the lives of these

ordinary people, by the way, in the midst of a lot of mess.

And God in his mercy is not giving up but providing for

them. God redeems Ruth y'all, but what

about Naomi and Boaz? Listen to verse 14 through 17.

Then the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, who's not

left you this day without a Redeemer.

May his name be renowned in Israel.

He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old

age. For your daughter-in-law, who

loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth

to him. And then Naomi took the the

child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse.

And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name

saying a son has been born to Naomi.

They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse and

the father of David. I want you to notice 3 phrases

we see here in this part. The first one is what Naomi's

friends say. Blessed be the Lord.

They're setting the record straight about God.

Did you know that often times we can get things wrong about God

just like Naomi? Did you know when Naomi was

wrong about God? Do you remember what she was

saying about God when she came back to Bethlehem?

Who was she blaming? Who was she saying was at fault?

Who was she griping about publicly for others to hear?

Who did she say when she went away full?

But who has made me empty? God.

But she was wrong about God, wasn't she?

She was blaming God and griping to God, and now all her friends

are publicly setting the record straight about God.

Blessed be God who's not left you without a Redeemer.

Naomi, even when you were blaming God, God never abandoned

you. His mercy was never far from

you. How so?

He never left you without a Redeemer.

Now Boaz is redeeming Ruth, but now the son born to them will

redeem Naomi And Naomi, in case you missed it, even when you

were blaming and griping and calling God guilty, God had

given you a daughter-in-law worth more than seven sons who

never left your side. 7 is the number of completion or

perfection, the ideal number. And, and they're saying, listen,

even when you didn't see what God was doing in your life, God

was providing and blessing you anyway.

Even when you were blaming Him for what you didn't have that

you wished you did. You ever found yourself blaming,

griping and complaining to God about what you don't have, while

what God has given you is right in front of your face and you

can't see it? That's where Naomi was.

Now they're setting the record straight.

Blessed be God, He's not left you without a Redeemer.

So Naomi becomes the boy's nanny.

And by the way, they named him Obed.

And you remember all the meaning of the names in Ruth.

The name of Obed means provider or guardian.

So not only has God redeemed Ruth, but now we see that God

redeems Naomi. Y'all, when you read the book of

Ruth, you start at the beginning.

At some point, you think to yourself, there's no way this

story could end anywhere close to good, right?

I mean, who would have thought who, who would have conceived

that Naomi, 10 years in Moab, losing her family and now

returning with one Moabite widow along with her?

Who, Who would have ever thought that God could take this story

and write anything good? Who would have thought that God

could take the details of these people and their broken lives

and bring anything beautiful out of it, do anything for His glory

out of it, right? No one.

No one would have rightly thought that in their right

mind. And yet, could you imagine God

doing what He's done? No, of course not.

But it gets even better. Did you see the prayer of the

women prayed for Obed in verse 14?

Let me read it again. May his name be renowned in

Israel. Does God answer that prayer?

Well, listen to this verse 17 Speaking of Obed.

He was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David.

You're talking about David. That's the man after God's own

heart, David, Israel's greatest king, David.

David, the one to whom God would covenant and say he would

establish his throne forever. The greatest king, the man after

God's own heart, the one to whom God would bring about the

Messiah. That David, yes, God heard that

prayer, and yes, God answered that prayer in a way that nobody

would have ever imagined or guessed right.

Look at God. Look at the one who's behind the

details, behind the scenes, orchestrating all these things,

taking the pen when they trusted him, and writing something not

just for them, but even bigger than they could never, ever

imagine. Now listen to verse 18 through

22. The Bible says this.

Now these are the generations of Perez.

Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram.

Ram fathered A minidab and a minidab fathered nation, and a

nation fathered Salman. Salman fathered Boaz, Boaz

fathered Obed, Obed Father Jesse and Jesse fathered David.

You say, Kyle, what in the world could there be in a genealogy,

right? We just typically like, hey, I'm

not sure why that's at the end right there.

We just will skip right over that, right?

But if you know your Bible, that phrase, these are the

generations followed by 10 names ought to sound like an echo to

you in your Bible. Because if you go all the way

back to the beginning when the story started going wrong, when

mankind messed up and it looked like there's no way God could do

anything good with this. There's no way God could redeem.

There's no way God could take these pieces and unravel all

these knots and write something, put something together of

anything good. And yet God began to unfold his

plan of salvation for mankind. And Genesis 5, he starts with

Noah, and then we have Noah's name followed by genealogy of 10

names. And then you get to Genesis 11,

he gets to Abraham and we have Abraham's name and genealogy of

10 names. And then we see in Abraham

chapter 12, God says to him, Hey, Abraham, it's through you

and your family that all the families one's going to be born

and offspring's going to come that's going to bless all the

families of the earth. Does God answer that prayer?

Does God answer? Does he fulfill that promise?

You can't make this up, but if you would turn to the first page

of your New Testament, if you have your Bible, why don't you

look at Matthew chapter 1? And you wondered why the New

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

Testament starts with a genealogy?

Because God could not say in a greater way, Hey everybody, I'm

keeping my promises. I'm doing what I promised I

would do. Thousands and thousands and

thousands. Despite all the myths, despite

all the sin, despite all the shortcomings, guess what?

I, God says, am still faithful. Listen to this, the book of the

genealogy of Jesus Christ. The son of who?

David. Does that sound familiar?

The son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac,

and Isaac the father of Jacob. Jacob, the father of Judah and

his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez.

Does any of this sounding familiar?

And Zerah by Tamar, there she is.

And Perez, the father of Hezron. Hezron the father of Ram.

Ram the father of Minidab. And Aminidab the father of

Nation, Nation, the father of Salman.

Salman the father of Boaz. On my goodness, we get even more

familiar by Rahab Boaz, the father of Obed, by Ruth and Obed

the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.

Does God keep his promises? You better believe it.

Can God take a story that you thought could have never ever

ended in any way good? By the way, that's the question

when you're reading the beginning of the Bible.

It's the question when you're reading the beginning of Ruth.

Could God author anything good out of these people's lives?

And look at God doing what only he could do, redeeming Ruth,

redeeming Naomi. But the third thing I want you

to do is all this writing of God has not just been for Ruth.

It's not just been for Naomi. God wants to redeem you.

The story wasn't over when Ruth ended.

The story just continued as God promised Abraham that one would

come through that family line that would not just bless them,

but bless you and me and get to the ends of the earth.

God the Father, his sent his Son Jesus the Christ as the ultimate

Redeemer. Jesus gained the right to redeem

you and me when he took on human flesh and walked in our shoes.

And Jesus gained the resources to redeem me and you when he

lived a sinless life, a life we haven't lived and died in our

place on the cross as a substitute for us.

He had the resources. He had the resolve for God so

loved the world. Now love expressed as Jesus hung

there and said, father, forgive them.

They know not what they do. Jesus Christ was the ultimate

end of the family line that would come as a promised

blessing, not just for these people and Ruth, but for me and

you and every family on the planet as promised through

Abraham in Genesis 12. God has redeemed Ruth, God has

redeemed Naomi. The question I want to ask you

this morning as God redeemed you, the story, the story is

supposed to include you. The point of the book of Ruth is

God wants to write your story into his.

It's never about just them. It's always been about the whole

world redeemed you. Is there come a point in your

life and you trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior?

You've come alive in Him, received hope in Him, given Him

the pen of your life to write your life as only He could write

it, to do with you. What you can never do for

yourself Is God redeemed you. God wants to write your story.

Into his see Pastor Kyle. If that's true, then what do I

need to do? Can I give you?

Six things. You have to write fast because

I'm going to try to move fast. Here's the first one these.

Are all truths we learn. Out of the book of Ruth that I

want to close with #1 God is merciful no matter how messed up

you are. Run to him, run to him, y'all?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out God is

using messed up people to accomplish his plan.

Did you see that? Like I didn't even get in the

details y'all. I kept it kind of 40,000 feet.

God is using messed up people sinners in.

His mercy to accomplish. His will run to Him, and yet

there's still some in the room or under the sound of my voice

that are convinced they're too far away.

They've done too much, they've sinned too much for God to

redeem them, for God to love them, for God to save them, for

God to use them. And you just couldn't be more

wrong. You're just dead wrong, God, His

mercy is bigger than your mess, no matter what it is.

If you will run to him, cast yourself on him just as Ruth did

#2 God is king and He's in control.

Would you trust him in? These days when you open.

Up the book of Ruth, there's no king in Israel.

Everyone's doing what's right in their own eyes.

There's death and destruction and chaos all around.

If God is king and if he's in control, it doesn't look like

it, and it certainly doesn't feel like it to anybody in

Bethlehem. You might say Pastor Kyle.

That's the way I feel right now. If God is king and he's in

control, I don't feel like it. I don't think I'll see it and

I'm not sure I believe it. But did you see what?

Happened when two people decided to trust God is king.

Naomi. When she returned back to the

place God said she was supposed to be.

When Ruth said. I'm going to follow the one true

God is my king. What did God do?

God took them out of a place outside of His will that was a

place of the absence of His blessing.

And when they decided to live like God was King, God began to

bless and provide and write their story because they trusted

that He was truly in charge in King.

But they had to make up their mind before they ever had their

first taste of barley in Bethlehem.

Ruth had. To make up her.

Mind before she knew she'd get a husband and get a child after 10

years of barrenness, she was 10 years barren in Moab.

God is King and in. Control.

You can trust Him. Maybe you trusted him #3 God is

kind and He knows your needs. Pray for His provision.

Pray for his provision. God's kind.

He wants to meet your needs again.

And you don't have to look very far to realize that kindness is

driving this story. And it's in the kindness of the

people to one another. But ultimately, it's the

kindness, the supreme kindness of God through the lives of

these people to them that is driving this story.

He's answering the prayers of his people.

There's not a prayer that goes unanswered in the Book of Ruth.

Do you believe and know that God?

Is kind and wants to meet your needs.

Are you praying and depending on God for provision?

God is kind #4 God is faithful and he rewards faithfulness, so

obey him you all. Despite all the.

Setbacks And despite all the pain in the book of Ruth, you

cannot miss that God is faithful and He's rewarding the

faithfulness of Boaz and Ruth because they made-up their minds

to do what was right and be faithful no matter what.

By the way, this was during a day and time when everyone's not

doing what's right and faithful in the eyes of God, but two

people decide that God is faithful and we're going to be

faithful. And guess what?

God rewards that faithfulness. Say Pastor Kyle.

It's. Not easy to be faithful.

No it's not. It wasn't for them either, but

being faithful is always worth it.

There's a text. And the prophet Hosea, chapter

Hosea 10 · chapter mention

10 that I've been reading, thinking on over and over again

that goes like this. It says sow righteousness like

seed, sow righteousness for yourself, and reap faithful

love. I've just been.

Thinking about that over and. Over again, what the word?

Of God is saying there. Is say, choose to walk in

righteousness, Choose to do what's right, even when it's

hard, when you feel like it may not be worth it.

And guess what? You're going to reap.

Not that everything will be perfect, not that you always be

healthy, wealthy, and prosperous, but guess what?

You're going to reap Faithful love.

Whose love is that? God's faithful love.

You sow righteousness in your life, you're going to reap

faithful love. This is the principle we're

seeing. God's faithful, He rewards

faithfulness. It's always worth it.

So obey him #5 God is writing you into His story, find your

purpose and identity in Him. God is writing you into his

story, find your purpose and identity in Him.

One of the things that kind of shocking to me in some ways to

to think about it like this. Is that Ruth and Boaz?

Never got to see during their lifetime the biggest and best

part of what their story was leading towards.

Do you realize that they didn't get to see the birth of David.

They didn't live to see the birth of Jesus Christ and yet

God was up to something in their lives the whole time they never

fully knew about God was doing something bigger than just them.

Did you realize God wants to take your life and do something

bigger than you? Could we say?

It better than me. Better than you, God is doing

something for the name and glory of his Son, Jesus Christ, for

the sake of the salvation of the nations around the world for

eternity. God wants to write you into it,

but it's bigger and better than you.

And oftentimes, if you're like me, we can be so internalized

and stuck on our own story, our own success, my own pleasant,

you know what's pleasant and pain free and comfortable and

good for me. And I'm so stuck on me.

God's stuck on a much bigger, better plan.

He says, Kyle, will you just will you?

Will you just be a part of what I'm doing?

You may not see it all, but would you trust me?

Find your identity in me, find your purpose in me, and guess

what? One day, no one.

I can't imagine when Ruth and Boaz got to heaven and got to

see the rest of the story. Can you imagine?

Can you imagine one day how God wants you to get to heaven and

realize the rest of the story of how God used you in ways you

never realized? Did things you never would have

conceived off Put your life in a grand story of salvation and

blessing to the ends of the earth, but you never knew what

God was fully up to, would you? Find your purpose and identity.

In him and I got one more #6. God is fulfilling his.

Promise to bring salvation to the nations.

Would you join him? Would you?

Join him. Here's what I.

Mean this book of Ruth is like a a small little stream that flows

into the mighty Mississippi River of God's story and plan of

salvation. This is one part of.

God's plan to fulfill the promise to Abraham and get the

good news of the How is God going to bless all the families

of the earth? How so?

Through his son Jesus Christ and the good news of the gospel that

God so loved the world that whosoever, whosoever is every

family, every tribe, every tongue, every language, every

nation, whosoever would believe in him should not perish, but

have everlasting life. Talk about blessing, everlasting

life, forgiveness of. Sin and hope for.

Forever, this is. What God is doing and.

He invited Ruth in. She was the one who would never

been expected to be participate, a participant in God's plan, and

yet God invited her in. God has invited you in to get

the gospel, to be a part of this plan, to fulfill the promise to

Abraham, to get the gospel and the good news of Jesus to your

neighbor and to the nations. Have you joined him?

Will you join him? God wants to write.

Your story into his. If you're at a spot.

Where you feel like God can't write anything good.

Think again. Think.

Again, the book of Ruth. Proves otherwise.

I'm going. To ask you to bow.

Your head and close your eyes where you are.

John and praise team are going to come out and here's what I

want to do. As they come, would you?

Just quiet your own mind and heart before the Lord and I want

to ask you to consider some things.

Maybe. Life is a little bitter for you

right now. Maybe you feel like.

You're surrounded by disappointment, maybe even

death, loss or destruction. Maybe you feel like.

You're on the edge of a barley field picking up scraps, trying

to eke out an existence that has you.

Hopeless and in. Despair.

In the middle of. Wherever you are, life's pain,

life's setbacks and despair, I want to remind you of these

truths that Ruth teaches US1 More time, and maybe one or more

of them is exactly what God wants you to hear and respond

to. Maybe you want to hear one of

these and come pray about one of these specific things, or ask

God for one of these specific things, or make a decision in

regard to these things in your life.

And here they are again. Are you ready?

God is merciful. Will you run to Him?

Do you need to run to God today? Come talk.

To me and come kneel. At this altar, do you need to

run to Him in His mercy? God is King and He's in control.

Do you need to trust Him today, even if it doesn't feel like

He's in control? God is kind and He knows your

needs. Do you need to pray for His

provision in your life today? God is faithful.

He rewards faithfulness. Do you?

Need to pray and ask God to help you obey Him today.

God wants you to write. Allow him to write your story

into his. Do you need to say God?

It's time for me to find my purpose, my identity in you, not

in this, not in that. And finally, God is saving.

Would you join him? Maybe it's.

Time to say God I've. Realized and now more than ever,

that purpose of my life is not just me, but it's the other

people you want to bless so they can hear the name and good news

of Jesus, so they can see your love and kindness.

God, I want to join you on your mission in ways I've never

joined before. I'm going to pray and then I'm

going to ask you to stand. I'm going to ask you to respond

to what God is speaking to you about.

If you need prayer, you come. If you want to pray at this

altar by yourself, you come. If you want to talk to an

encourager, you come. We're going to wait for you,

Heavenly Father God I. Want to pray right now?

That your truth would penetrate our heart, that your way would

be had in our lives. And Lord, we would be courageous

in giving you the pen and letting you write our story.

God, I prayed that we'd move, we'd respond, we'd believe, we'd

obey. Today, because of Jesus, in his

name I pray. Amen.

Church, would you stand? Let's worship together.

You respond to God's truth as God leads you to do this

morning.