Responding to the Call of Mercy

Well, good morning. let me have you guys, turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 8. I want to take a few minutes to, introduce what we're going to, be doing today, which is, different than anything we've ever done. So if you're visiting here today, this is not our normal, way that we format our, service, but I want to begin in Nehemiah 8 to, Serve as a, as an explanation for what we're going to do.

In Nehemiah 8, this is really, the Book of Nehemiah is a fascinating book. In this book, we, read the story of the Jews return from their 70 years of captivity in Babylon. They had been in captivity because of the judgment of God upon them for disobeying God's law. And but after 70 years had gone by, the Jews began to return to their homeland in the providence of God, largely and partly through Nehemiah and the leadership of men like Nehemiah and also Ezra.

But in Nehemiah chapter 8, there is many of the Jews have returned to Jerusalem, returned to their land in fulfillment of the promise of God. And we read in Nehemiah 8 of a time of worship that they had. Here in chapter 8. If you look in chapter 8, verse 1, it says, and all the people gathered as one man at the square, which was in front of the Watergate, and they asked Ezra, the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel.

So the people actually asked for this. They, they came to Ezra and said, Can you go get the word of God? Can you go get the scriptures? Can you go get the book of the law?

And so Ezra went and got a copy of the scroll in which the law was contained. And look at verse 3. He read from it before the square which was in front of the Watergate from early morning until midday. So they had a wooden platform that had been built for such a purpose, and Ezra stood on this platform and he read from the law from morning till midday.

So this is at least a 4 to 6 hour scripture reading that is taking place on this occasion. And I want you to imagine, if you can imagine coming to Cornerstone on a Sunday morning. And to your surprise, we have extended our service to where it's a 4 hour service. And the only thing we do is read.

From the Bible. That's it. Very little preaching, maybe an occasional word of explanation thrown in, but it's basically 4 hours of scripture reading. If that were to happen, what would your response to that be?

Would you be like, oh, man, I wish I would have known they were going to do this. I would have gone to harvest this morning. What would your response have been? And if we were to say, by the way, we're going to do the same thing tomorrow, Would you show up tomorrow?

How interested would you be in just hearing the scripture read, especially for that length of time. But look at what it says. He read from it before the square, which is in front of the Watergate from early morning until midday in the presence of men and women, those who could understand and look at the response of the people, and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. They actually paid attention.

They were enrapt attention. To the reading of the word of God. Well, Nehemiah then begins to re-narrate what he's just said in a more detailed fashion, showing us sequentially, how things would have happened. And look at verse 5 where he breaks it down, chronologically.

What happened was Ezra would have, come up to this platform. And it says in verse 5, Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. So he opens the law, and the people see him opening the law, and everyone stands up in unison.

Then verse 6, Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, amen. So Ezra just prays a brief prayer where he extols the mightiness and the greatness of God. The people respond by saying, Amen, amen, while lifting up their hands, and then it says they bowed low, and they worship the Lord with their faces to the ground.

And then we have the names of the people that were standing up on the platform with Ezra, and it says that they were doing some explaining of the law which needed to be done. They've been in Babylon, so that most all of these people have grown up learning and knowing Aramaic, whereas the law was being read in Hebrew, and there's a lot of similarities between the two languages, but, but for it to be read in Hebrew required some explanation. Of what was being read in addition to the reading, and then verse 8, they read from the book of the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.

So we see that they're not just hearing the scripture being read, but they're hearing the scripture being read in a fairly unfamiliar language.

And then it has to be explained to them. So imagine that extra complication. Imagining, imagine listening to the scripture being read for 4 to 6 hours in a language where you understand some of the words but not all of the words, and then it has to be explained and translated. But the people were into this.

They were completely into this. In fact, when you look at the end of verse 9, it says all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. They were moved with conviction over their sin and over their failure to live up to God's word, and so grieved were they over their sin and the sins of their forefathers in falling short of obedience to the law of God that Nehemiah has to come along and encourage the Levites and some of the others to encourage the people. And he's like, go to the people, tell them, man, have a great meal, eat the fattest portions of your food and drink the sweetest of wine that you have and, and celebrate.

Don't grieve on this day. And we see God through Nehemiah trying to minister to the people of God in their moment of conviction over sin, trying to lift their spirits. We learn in Isaiah 66, God says, upon this person, I will look, the one who is contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my word. when we are feeling grief, And conviction over sin, as we are hearing the Word of God read, and, and taught, the Lord is moved with compassion for us.

And he's like, oh, I, I'm glad that he's feeling the weight of his sin, but oh, I want to minister my comfort and to lift this person up. And that is what the gospel is all about. Well as great as this scene was, look at verse 13. So they have this really prolonged scripture reading, the people are weeping, and you might think, man, they would never want to come back to something like this.

Well, in verse 13, we learned that on the 2nd day, The heads of fathers' households and all the people, the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra, the scribe that they might gain insight into the words of the law. In other words, they showed up the next day saying, Read to us again and explain to us more of the law. And we actually find in verse 18 that they did this every single day of this particular week during the feast of trumpets. And one.

The thing I want to point out as Ezra was reading from the law, he came to a passage in the law regarding the feast of Booth. You guys know what that is. Israel, when they were wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, obviously had to dwell in temporary shelters because they had to pack things up and move further and then build shelters again for the night, spend the night there, and then load up camp again and continue. moving on because they were essentially homeless as they wandered through the wilderness on the way to the promised land.

Well, God never wanted the Jews to forget what that experience was like in the wilderness, so he and the law commanded the Jews. Even after they got into the promised land to build temporary dwelling places and to dwell in them during the days of the feast of Trump trumpets, so to actually build these temporary shelters and to live in these shelters, and this was a command in the law. But guess what? We learn in Nehemiah 8 that from the days of Joshua, he's the guy that got him into the promised land.

Until this day, which is over 900 years later, the Jews on a national scale never obeyed those commands in the law. They never practiced living in temporary shelters in obedience to what God commanded in the law. But these people, Amazing people. They're gathering every day to listen to the word of God being read for hours and explain to them.

And as the word of God's being read, they come to this passage in the law that says, hey, you need to build temporary shelters and dwell in them during the feast of Trumpets and And so forth and they hear that being read and they're like, well, we've never done that and none of our forefathers ever did that. But what, if that's what God says, then that's what we're going to do, even if no one has done it for over 900 years and so they immediately set about to practicing. This instruction in the law regarding the feast of booze, building and dwelling in temporary shelters.

And, basically, I begin this morning with Nehemiah 8 because I want to commend to you the value of scripture reading.

reading the scriptures, I want to commend to you the value of listening to the scriptures being read. and that's exactly what we're going to do, this morning. I also want to commend to you the response of the people they asked for it to be, to be read to them, and we also see them surrendering themselves, just bowing low to the ground and just surrendering themselves to God, basically saying, God, you are. Our king, we are your subjects.

We will do whatever you say. We cast ourselves before you. We worship you. And they did that before the law was being read to them.

And then they listened attentively to the law. They wept while it was being read, and then they allowed themselves to be comforted by God as God sought to comfort them. And then they kept coming back for more of God's word being read and explained. And then most importantly, they went out and immediately obeyed what they heard, read.

They were doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving themselves. I say all that by way of introducing what we're going to be doing over the next actually through the rest of this service and just to give you. A bird's eye view. in just a moment, we're going to sing, I will meditate to just help prepare our hearts for, what we're gonna be doing.

And then I'm gonna come up, I'm gonna pray, just a brief, prayer to God worshiping Him, and then we're gonna respond, by singing, Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down, and we're gonna just present ourselves to God as our glorious and great and mighty King. preparing our hearts for what will happen next. Cindy Ben Chandler, Chris Woodside, and I will then, for about 15 minutes, we'll do nothing but read the scripture. And what we're going to do is we're going to read all of the key passages on the subject of mercy that we have been studying over the last 3 months and we're going to sweep it all together in one setting and please don't go, 0, 15 minutes of hearing the scripture being read.

You can't respond that way. Many of us could easily sit for 3 hours and watch a football game, actually 6 hours and watch 2 football games on a Sunday or on a Saturday. And many fans are willing to actually stand for hours through the length of an entire athletic competition. And so can you endure 15 minutes of the scripture being read and not only endure, but can you present yourself to God and say, God, you're here in this room, please speak to me.

Speak to me through your word. My heart is open to you. Move in my heart in a very special way as I hear you speaking through your word to me. So we're going to do that for about 15 minutes.

Reading these passages on mercy. We're then gonna respond in song, and those songs are gonna tend towards just how we fall short and focusing on that and then I will come up and pray a prayer of repentance that I would ask you to join your heart with me and that of how we have fallen short of the biblical standard. When it comes to showing mercy and compassion to those who are in need, and then to minister balm to that, we will reflect on the gospel, we will sing in Christ alone.

And we will just relish gospel realities that comfort us, that give us healing, and that motivate us to go out of here and do exactly to others what Jesus has done to us.

And then with the time that we Have we want to open up the floor to allow you an opportunity to share just a quick word of testimony of how God has touched your heart over the last 3 months. maybe the biggest thing that God has touched your heart with by way of convicting you, encouraging you, blessing you, or maybe a confirmatory word from the Lord through this series. Maybe there's something you've been doing that the Lord touched your heart about years ago. And that was confirmed by something that was said in this series on mercy, and you just wanted to share that as well.

And we also want to take a season of prayer. We want to give you the opportunity to pray with us and to come up to the microphone as the Lord leads you. And to join us in praying for this church, we really need prayer, guys, because if we're going to actually practice what God has told us about mercy, we are going to be, and we already are an object of satanic attack. I have witnessed that just in recent weeks.

The devil is fighting hard against this church and against the precious souls. Of the people in this church, and we have to proceed with prayer. And then at the end of that brief season of prayer and testimonies, we will sing once again and then be dismissed. So, you got an idea of what we're gonna do?

All right. Well, let's all, stand together and let us sing together. I will meditate. OK.

I will meditate on your Lord. And the hearts of Your testimony. Perfect I will meditate on. And.

Your testimonies will be the light which will guide. As a treasure They are perfect, they are precious, for they come. Thank you. I will listen.

Thank you. No I will obey. Thank you. I will listen.

Thank you. Oyo. I will I will meditate on you, Lord. And my heart could not.

Your testimonies will be the light. Which I. As a treasure of all your words, Lord, they surpass. They are perfect.

They are precious, for they come. Thank you. I will listen. Thank you.

I will you I will listen. Thank you. I Lord, you are a great and mighty God. You are the sovereign King of the universe.

You are immense beyond our imagination, Lord. You are so immense that you measured this entire physical. And even spiritual universe with just the span of your hand. You're an incredible being.

Immense. In your size, immense in your power, immense in your holiness, your justice, your righteousness, and your love. Worthy are you, Lord, to receive glory and honor and power and all glory, Lord, from our lives. And how pathetic that we would live for ourselves.

We are a dying thing. We are so small we are not even a drop in the bucket compared to you, Lord. Turn our eyes off of self and onto you, that we would be caught up in your glory. And then just amazed that this immense and glorious God would speak to us, and that we would be thrilled at the privilege.

To listen To this God as he speaks. So we present ourselves to You, Lord, as subjects of You, our glorious King. In Jesus' name. Come let us worship.

Come, let us worship and. Let us the Lord Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before. Lord our God.

Oh he. are And we are the people of this pasture. I'm Of Just Come Let us kneel before the Lord our God, our Ma. I.

Worship and Let us kneel before. Oh he our And we are the of his past. And of his Just as she OK You may be seated. I'm going to need this PowerPoint through the In just a second here, there should be a slide that comes up.

Let's see. Yeah, everyone can read that. there's going to be, I, I believe, about 10 times that I'd like for all of us together to read those words. There's going to be passages in between those occasions where we read those words that you see on the screen.

But when you see this screen appear, that is your cue that we read this together. But let's go ahead and practice this. Let us read these words together with meaning. Blessed are the merciful.

Here we go. Blessed are the merciful. OK. So let us start with that.

Let's say it one more time. Blessed are the merciful. He who is merciful to the needy honors God. Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field.

Neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest, nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God. This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.

I was thirsty and you gave me a drink.

I was a stranger and you invited me in naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. And the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?

And when did we see you a stranger and invite you in or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, Truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me. Then he will also say to those on his left, Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat.

I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they themselves will also answer saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you? Then he will answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these.

You did not do it to me. And so these will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous into eternal life. Blessed are the merciful.

And he told them a parable saying the land of a certain rich man was very productive, and he began reasoning to himself, saying, What shall I do since I have no place to store my crops? And he said, This is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods, and I will say to my soul. Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come.

Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, You fool, this very night your soul is required of you, and now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

Sell your possessions and give to charity. Make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Blessed are the merciful.

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Jesus to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said to him, What is written in the law? How does it read to you? And he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.

And Jesus said to him, You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Jesus replied and said a certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him and went off, leaving him half dead.

And by chance a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him, and when he saw him, he felt compassion. And came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them.

And he put him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And on the next day he took out 2 denari and gave them to the innkeeper and said, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you. Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber's hands? And he said, the one who showed mercy toward him.

And Jesus said to him, Go and do the same. Blessed are the merciful. My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes and, and say you sit here in a good place, and you say to the poor man, you stand over there or sit down by my footstool.

Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren, did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?

Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

For he who said do not commit adultery also said, Do not commit murder. Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For I delight in mercy more than sacrifice and in the knowledge of God more than burnt offering.

Josiah, Josiah pled the cause of the afflicted and needy. Then it was, well, is not that what it means to know me? declares the Lord. Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.

For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This is a trustworthy statement and concerning these things, I want you to speak confidently so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.

Blessed are the merciful. So then those who have received his word were baptized, and they were added that day about 3000 souls, and they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer, and everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles, and all those who had believed were together and had all things in common, and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might have need.

And day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and one soul, and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but that all things were common property to them. And with great power, the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all, for there was not a needy person among them. For all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

Blessed are the merciful.

Now brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their generosity, for I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability they gave of their own accord. Begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. But just as you abound in everything in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also.

I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also, for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may also be the completion of it by your ability.

For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have, for this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality.

At this present time, your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality as it is written, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little had no lack. Blessed are the merciful. Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.

As it is written, he scattered abroad. He gave to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

You will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing many thanksgivings to God. For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also by prayer on your behalf yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

But God, being rich in mercy, And because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead and our transgressions made us alive together with Christ, by grace, you have been saved. and raised us up with Him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So that in the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no 1 may boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them. Blessed are the merciful. We know love by this that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue only, but in deed and truth. Blessed are the merciful. He has told you, oh man, what is good. And what the Lord requires of you, but to do justice and to love mercy.

And to walk humbly with your God. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Or even sinners love those who love them.

If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Or even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

But love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful just as your father is merciful. When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and repayment come to you. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

It is more blessed to give than to receive. Blessed are the merciful. And all God's people said, Amen, amen. Let's see neither.

He has shown. Oh. What is good and what the Lord requires of. He has shown.

Oh man. What is good and what the Lord requires of us. What to do justly. And to love mercy.

And to walk humbly with thy. He has shown. What is good and what the Lord requires. Yes Oh man.

What is good and what the Lords. But did you justly. And to love mercy and to. And calmly with thy God.

But to do justly. And to love mercy. And to walk with. Stricken, smitten and afflicted, seeing and dying on the tree.

Tis the Christ fireman rejected. Yes, my soul, tis he, tis he. Tis the long expected prophets. David's song, David's.

By his soul. One now has spoken tears that Right. Tell me Hear him groan. was there ever grief like F.

Friends, cause he saw me foes in souls. Many hands were raised to none would interpose to say. But the deepest stroke that pierced him was the stroke that pierced his kin. You who think of sin Slightly nor so.

The Here may view Its nature rightly here its news. Mark the sacrifice appointed. See who bears thee. She's the word.

answer. on. Son of Man. I Here we have a firm foundation here.

Christ the rock of our salvation is the name. which we boast, Lamb of God for sinners. sacrifice to canceled gifts. None shall ever be confounded.

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confounded on him. None shall ever be confined. Yeah. Let's pray together.

Lord, in your word, we are told that you are the father of the fatherless. You are the Almighty Father, the God of gods, and the Lord of lords. Father to the fatherless, husband to the widow, defender of the helpless and oppressed, and judge of all of the earth, and we ask today that you would have mercy on us. We have not To the degree that we ought sought freedom for the oppressed even though you have freed us.

We have not bound up the broken even though you have healed us. We have not forgiven others of their sins, even though you have forgiven us. We withhold kindness from the needy. Even though you freely gave to us of your son.

We often find, Lord, that we are a stingy people. And we are shattered and challenged by your own example. You were rich, yet you became poor, so that we through that poverty might be made rich. Had you been as stingy with your own blood as we often are with our resources, we would be without hope.

You had every excuse not to set your love upon us, Lord. We refrained from helping the poor because we deemed them unworthy. Had you applied that standard to us, we would be without salvation. We fear showing kindness.

Out of fear that our kindness will be received with unthankfulness. But had you only given to us what you knew that we would be appropriately grateful for, we would have little indeed, for we so often complain. and are ungrateful. Unmindful of the bountiful blessings that you have lavished upon us.

We refrain from helping others out of fear that they might use what we have given for selfish and sinful purposes. And Lord, this is a true concern. Yet how often have we wasted what you have given to us and consumed it upon our own pleasures rather than using what you have given to pursue your glory. We have sinned.

We have committed sins with the very things you have given us. Lord, we thank you that you were not stingy with your blood, but that you poured it out abundantly for our salvation. We thank you, Lord, that you gave to us though we were unworthy. We thank you that you showed us kindness, even though you knew ahead of time that we would be thankless.

On so many occasions, we thank you, Lord, for blessing us with so much, even though you knew from the beginning, that we would waste many of such blessings on our own selfish and private pleasures. We thank you, Lord, and we ask that you would make us more like you. You who cause the rain to fall on the evil and the good. You who cause your sun to shine on the righteous and on the unrighteous, you who cause your salvation to fall upon those of us who least deserved it.

When reading your word, Lord, we see that we are without excuse, but we also see that we are not without hope. By your power and your grace, we ask Lord that you would account all of our sins. Our sins of omission and our sins of commission in this area of mercy. Account all of our sins to the bloody death of Jesus.

And change us, Lord, Amend our ways by the power of His glorious resurrection. It is this gospel and this gospel alone. That we stand in. It is the only gospel that can save us who have failed you so mightily.

And so we ask, Lord, that you would comfort our hearts and awaken us as we comfort ourselves in gospel truth. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, Amen. Let's all stand together as we sing these next songs in Christ alone.

In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my soul. This cornerstone. This solid ground burn through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love. Of what deaths of peace when fears are stilled when striving cease. My only. Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh. fullness of. This. And righteousness.

Scorned by the ones he came to see, to all that cross as Jesus die, the wrath of God was satisfied. Oh. ever since On him was laid here in the death of Christ. There in the ground, his body there.

Light of the world by darkness. Thirsty for in glorious day, up from the gravy roses. And as he stands Hands in victory since curse has lost its grip on me. For I am.

And he is mine, but with the precious blood. Years in life. He in death. This is the power of Christ in me.

From life's first. To final breath. Jesus commands my destiny. No power.

No scheme of man can have. me from his hand till he returns or calls me home. Here in the bone of Christ I stand. No power of hell.

And no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand till he returns or calls me home. Here in the power of Christ. To the As he. Here in the power of Christ.

Amen. You may be seated. Actually, we're gonna sing one more song, aren't we? Yeah, we're gonna sing just a song expressing, we've been just now in this song, just relishing gospel truth that comforts us, but we're also now going to sing a song just expressing our resolve to obey, to respond with obedience to what we've been learning over the last 3 months, responding with obedience to the scriptures that we have just heard read today.

So let's sing together, Lord, I will do what you ask me. But I What you ask me, keep his word my eyes have seen. But I pray that you would. With your love and.

Though my heart may now be earnest, on my own, I am too weak. Yeah There lies a promise that I see. Lord, you never do command me without grace to. the devil may harass me, though I doubt what I have heard.

When I fall, it's all my doing. Failure hangs my head in shame. That's when grace conveys us. From the one who.

Oh my Lord, my God and Savior, heal the wounds I am woe. May I triumph in your favor untoy let me sow. How I long to be in heaven. How I long to see my king.

Perfect home into your presence, a shout of victory. How I long to be in heaven. How I long to see my king. Perfect coming to your presence, sinless shout of victory.

Well, at this point, we want to give you the opportunity to To share whatever may be on your heart as you have reflected back over the last few months of this series, like I said earlier, some way that God has touched your life. Some lesson that he has taught you, some, change that that has initiated in your life, some way the Lord may have convicted you and caused you to rethink something, or maybe, maybe the Lord got a hold of someone else's life through this series and you were the beneficiary of that.

maybe you want to share anything along those lines or, or also, like I said earlier in our service, maybe this is something God's touched your heart and life about long ago, and, and you've been learning lessons along the way and some things you heard in this series just served as a confirmation from the Lord and an encouragement in some of these things that the Lord had already been teaching you about. So if you feel led to share anything, we're going to take a few minutes to allow you to do that.

Just come up to this. pulpit right here and feel free to share as the Lord leads you. Good morning. My name's Charles Warfield and, I've been attending here for about 1 year and a half years with my wife, Yvonne, and now our 22 children.

About a year ago, we joined a care group and we have been blessed immensely by the fellowship that we've been able to participate in there, and just all the blessings that have come from that. But when, when the church started this series a couple of months ago, We were in the middle of a financially trying time. I had just lost my job and we were expecting our second child, and things were really, really tight and It was, it was a burden for us as a family. It was a trial.

And in that time our care group came together without us knowing, and they took a, offering, I guess. And later presented that to us, and it was a substantial amount that was just such a blessing. It enabled us to pay our mortgage and take care of some other things that we needed to get done, and I was joking with my wife later. I said, I never expected the care group to help.

keep our, our credit rating good and high. So, but, but, it, it, it was just, just, just a blessing. And then later, somebody else, from our care group got together a bunch of groceries and just filled our pantry and our refrigerator and freezer to overflowing to the point where we had to give some away because we didn't even have room for all of it. And I just, I think.

That it is such a blessing to be part of a church that is putting the word of God in action, that's living it, like it says in James 2:26. Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also, and I'm just so thankful to be part of a church that is bringing their faith and their works together. Thank you. Well, praise God from whom all blessings flow.

And all things are possible with Christ Jesus. What's on my heart this morning after listening to, a wonderful scripture reading about mercy. And the songs of mercy. What, what's really deep in my heart is we're in the middle of a huge need, and, I'm really blessed to be a member of this church because when need comes, This church responds.

And in my work, I'm surrounded by a lot of Hispanics. And the Lord has put it on my heart to share His word and His love with them. And so when the teaching came on immigration last week, It really pulled my heartstring. Now, I used to have an attitude and a posture in my mind.

That I didn't need to try to learn Spanish, but yet as my walk with Christ grew, that need became apparent, and there was a dilemma. a lot of these guys I worked with didn't speak English. And how could I share the love of Christ with them? So something happened.

I learned a word. It was holah, hello. And guess what? I put it with a smile.

oh, now the door was open. Some of these guys rattled back on me so fast I got scared. It's like what do I say or do now? Well, that's fine.

The door was open. So in showing God's mercy to the Hispanic community that's completely around us, we have a responsibility. We need to try to communicate with these people because they have a very real need for Christ's love. And for me to be complacent like I used to be and not Reach out to them isn't right.

So, being able to give them the word of God, not just the actual word, but the actual speaking to this community, sharing God's love with them. I really have on my heart as being a responsibility of our church, our church body, so I can see it coming. So be prepared for it because I see it coming. I don't know if it's going to come next week, next month, next year, but I know my mind has been open.

My heart has been opened to the Hispanic community, and it's a fact we have a large Hispanic community surrounding this church right here. And we need to tap into that. We need to share God's love with the Hispanic community now. I had a choice And I, and I did this to my own shame if Somebody, there was a need.

I just turned my back and walked away. That wasn't my responsibility. However, that didn't work because it was my responsibility because I'm held accountable because I have knowledge of the need. So then came guilt and shame.

So then I decided I wasn't going to turn my back. If I saw the need, I was going to respond to it, respond just a little bit or a lot. Not in an appropriate manner, not to the level that I wanted to respond, yes. And I still make a lot of mistakes.

Sometimes I get so busy with my job. Then I get so wrapped up in my responsibilities I don't see the need and then I go back and I just go, on the way home from work or somewhere, I'll just go, oh man, did I blow it? But That tunes me up for the next opportunity that comes. And that's a key word here.

It's opportunity. We have a huge opportunity around us, and, I just want to encourage all of you. I am really blessed to be a member of this church body and I know it's coming, so, I just want to say one more thing. I know I'm getting long winded here.

But, It's a fact. Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn. English is one of the toughest. Praise the Lord.

I don't at this moment feel that I'm called to go to China. But I am here and I can do this thing. My Spanish is terrible, but as terrible as it is, I use it and it works, and I'm usually met somewhere in the middle by the fellow I'm talking with, and so be encouraged. And This summer when, We were in Africa for our Third missions trip.

My daughter Carly and Milton's daughter Brooke, we had the opportunity to meet. And minister alongside some high school students from Bethel Covenant College. And I always thought that I was a merciful person. Until I met He's incredible.

Young adults For the students from this very small Bible study at this small Christian high school, asked Carly Brooke and I to walk with them one day down the road. So that we could minister with them to one of their friends who hadn't been to school for about a week. And so as we walked down the road, we began to, hear their testimonies and their love for this young man, Steven, that we were going to visit. And as we walked and we walked and we walked in my American mind down the street was going to be about a city block or two, but 3.5 miles later we ended up in this very small village.

By Lake Victoria in Uganda. And we went into this small one room mud hut. And math is very, Dejected and depressed young man Steven. Who does know the Lord.

But he was having difficulty making the 3.5 mile one-way trip to school every day because he didn't have enough money with which to buy food to eat. So on the days that he didn't have anything to eat, he didn't come to school, he was looking for any work that he could find in order to get a few shillings so that he could buy whatever he could find to eat. And in this one room mud hut was a very Flat mattress. And as we sat there and we listened to the stories shared back and forth between these very dear friends, The story of the mattress came up.

And where the mattress came from. And one of the young men from the school who was also an orphan. He said, That he had shared one of his mattresses with Steven. And he said, Mama Eileen, I had two mattresses.

And I was way too comfortable. So I decided I would give one to Stephen because he didn't have anything to lay on except the dirt floor. This same young man who is also an orphan. had been using his pocket money, what we would call our spare change.

And he was soliciting help from the other orphans in the school, and they were combining their pocket money. To pay this young man's tuition, his school fees because in Africa everybody has to pay school fees in order to attend school, so all of these orphans. Out of their poverty. But yet their wealth in Christ.

We are giving so mercifully. So that this young man could attend school. And it never fails to amaze me how God also uses unbelievers to extend mercy. And as we were getting ready to leave Africa after a couple of weeks there, it became very apparent to us of Steven's need.

To have his school fees paid on an ongoing basis. And we had with us some money. That was to be used to pay for school fees for a particular student but that student didn't return to school and so my husband and I were saying well what are we supposed to do with this money so we were just waiting on the Lord. And so as we became aware of Steven's story, we decided, well, it became very apparent to us that the money needed to go for his school fees.

Yet this money was not our own money. We were just the deliverers of the money. And then he was actually, From my husband's parents. who are not Christians.

But yet who have been very financially supportive of our ministry efforts in Uganda. When we returned home after we had instructed the director of the school what was to be done with that money, we received an email from one of the kids at the school, Andrew, who had been collecting the money during the school year and paying for Andrew's, Steven's school fees. And he says, oh, Mama Eileen, I'm the happiest man on earth because of what God has done for you and your husband. And he went on to say, we know that you're the ones who pay the school fees.

And I emailed him back and I said, Andrew, I have a story to share with you, and I shared with him that the money was actually from my non-Christian in-laws. And I said, If you feel that, send them an email and let them know how much you appreciate it in Christ. And just share as God leads. I said we've been sharing with them for years, but we never know who God's going to use.

So I just share this, there's just a multitude of thoughts going through my mind. But it never ceases to amaze me. How much I continue to be humbled. By the mercy.

And the love and the grace. Of those who have so far less Than we wealthy overindulged Americans have. Well, thank you to those of you that shared. just in the, for the sake of time, why don't we, Just go to the Lord in prayer.

And is there anybody who's here that would like to pray? Just, we're gonna have one person pray. Is there anyone that's here that would like to pray? If not, I will pray, but I want to give.

Someone else the opportunity. Art, why don't you come up? And just pray. Pray for us, man.

Our precious Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord, for your love to us. We thank You, Father, for Providing us with Such complete teaching. Bringing to remembrance, Lord, that Your mercy and your grace abounds. It's there for us.

Father, as we get despondent as the cares of this world mount up. And as we look to you and we receive your mercy, we receive your grace, and you encourage us and you strengthen us. We're re-energized for it. And as we reach out to those around us, Father, we, we pray now and we ask now, Father, that first of all, we would exercise your wisdom, that You would give us wisdom in abundance.

That you would speak through us with your words. That we would be obedient, Lord, to set ourselves aside. And speak your truth and your love. We ask the Lord for discipline and strength to be good examples.

Lord, we thank you because we know that you're going to do this for us. We praise your name, Lord. We thank you and praise You, Father, for all that you've done for us. We lift up the needs of this community, our families.

Our family members that aren't walking with you, Lord, the needs we have at work, Lord, all our needs. You love us so much. Pray, Father, I pray, Father, I lift up. The need that we have to be good examples of you.

We know we're going to fail. But Lord, we lift that up to you. We pray, Father, that You would work it out. That we would respond.

Again, Lord, I thank you and I praise your holy name. Um-hum. Amen.