Expositional Preaching

Bite you into the holistic part in nature of our Bible in the New Testament flip that way if you don't know exactly where that is look in your content to your Bible and you can navigate your way there. If you don't have a Bible there's some of the bins on the floor in front of you you can use one of those and if you don't have a Bible at home with you, please take one of those home with you keep it write your name in it highlighted do whatever you want with it. Don't use it as a doorstop but like you said to enrich your life we want you to have God's word in your life. Again. We're going to be in 2nd Timothy in the back out of the Bible and we're going to be looking at chapter 3 verses 16 through chapter 4 verse 4 in today. What we're going to begin. Is this based on what I'm going to talk about today, but we're going to begin like someone of a sporadic sermon series that will cover cultural distinctives of our church why we do what we Do in Fresno from time to time we're either going to take a break from a sermon series or insert these sermons in a natural break between different books and it's my desire that we have a strong understanding of the why of what we do that undergirds the what of what we do? Why do we do what we do? It's my conviction that we need to understand the biblical and Theological why of our practices I grew up in a very I would say we would say like maybe a high-church which like there's a lot of different Traditions that were involved in the weekly services and the weekly Gatherings of that church a lot more than than what we do here and I would sit up and stand down and kneel at times of people would come in carrying different things and light candles at different times. I was even one of those got like an altar boy like lighting the candles I did that for time but I didn't have any understanding of like why we did what we did. Like even the prayers that we would pray I didn't understand why we played those prayers. I didn't even know that they came from the Bible for the most part and I've learned that later in life and some of your like shaking your head like, yeah. I still don't know why like we do all we do. You know why I'm here right now, but like you've done things in your life you done things in your traditions and and they have meaning they have purpose and they can be at that beautiful reason some beautiful purposes. Remember the couple weeks back we talked about Ash Wednesday and where that came from in the Bible. It's a powerful practice is a powerful. Is it something a powerful tradition that people do it's not right? There's a purpose behind it. And when we understand it, it can be something that really enriches our life in a relationship with the Lord. And so I want to make sure that as we cultivate who we are as a people of God that we understand. Why do we do what we do? Because when you're going on you're talking about our church, what are you talkin about talk about the community you're talking about this that and the other you know, what people are going to ask you. How do they preach? What's the muse? I like so like I want to even get to that like why do we preach the way we preach which is like what I'm going to talk about today and I'm going to be addressing today why we do expository preaching and some of you may be asking what is expository preaching. I thought you were just preaching. All right, like you get up and you talk a whole lot. That's what you do. So I tend to do is expose the word in a simple definition of that would be preaching the derives its content from the meaning of the text. That's what I'm preaching is simply boiled down to I know that's what you like. Isn't that what everybody does it's somewhat what people do but it's different from topical preaching that can at times not always be driven more by the topic then the text right now in the last year have addressed the Church of talking I'm talking about a topic today even and but but my desire is to still find the meaning of the text instead of finding a text that supports what I mean. Do you understand the difference? All right.

And typically this is best done by preaching through a book of the Bible verse by verse. All right, that's typically how that's best done because the context of the text is always important to the meaning of the text. I hope you saw that over the last eight weeks the last previous. Hopefully Jonah is a much more Rich book of the Bible than you've ever experienced it to be before we walk through a broke it down. We could have gone through it and you know for weeks I've heard sermons a guy's preaching through it in 1 sermon, right and it in like 45 minutes. I think you can you can do that. That's a fantastic. So with what it was saying and wrestle with what God was doing in that text. So hopefully that came to life to you and a brand-new way and that's what we want to do with God's word and I want to be clear that it is not me bringing it to life for you. I was meeting with a guy earlier this week and just looking at the scriptures. I just pointing at in this and what is it saying? What is it saying? What am I saying? What does it say? I just want to look at what the word of God says want to talk about what God is saying and his word is much better things to say than I do. So we're going to get into the context of 2nd Timothy a little later in this this this sermon but follow along and 2nd Timothy as I read where we are in chapter 3 verse 16 where the Apostle Paul writes. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching for reproof for correction of her training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who was the judge who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing in his kingdom preach the word be ready in season and out of season reprove rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. No, I imagined just to kind of illustrate something for you real quick that it's possible. Maybe only possible that many of you have ventured into the kitchen at some point in life and attempted the art of cooking. I know some of your going no that's actually impossible for me right like but okay, that's for some of you that's possible that you have ventured into the kitchen at some point to attempt to cook something. I'd also venture to say that some of you have tried your hand at baking does anybody know the difference between cooking and baking and you're like confidence in your like I think so like all right, so I know who I was house on meeting baked goods from liked from now on okay because there is a difference and if you didn't know cooking and baking are two different skills, where is cooking can involve a season to taste approach like you're cooking something like I feel like it needs a little bit more salt and I just got your little jar of salt. Like when I was cooking in the restaurant when I worked in the restaurants for five years, that's where I learned some of my skill of cooking and for the most part we did have to follow a recipe but there was a time. I just got to go back in like make things and I love to walk cooking when I worked at PF Changs and and learned how to do that and I would just make some things up for lunch and it was fun, but I would sit there and be like, I don't know what I'm going to cook. This is like the story of my life. Like I don't know just start throwing stuff together see what happens. It's how I just like throw some things in and and and you cook it to taste and at some point I'm like that takes about right. That's what I'm going to eat while baking contrary to that requires Precision with its ingredients. I like you. There is a certain amount you got to have to in order for the baked goods to turn out the way it's intended to bake. Now. I know that that goes out flies out the window when you're trying to make grandma's like recipe in your likes. It never tastes the same here like she has like some Magic Touch of something and it's never in the card and you don't know what it is, right like so I get that but for the most part there's Precision 10 in baking and much like a necessity to be precise and baking there really is a necessity for us to understand the Precision of God's choices of knowledge and understanding that he's important to us I talked about this it from time to time when I'm preaching and then when I'm with people like a look at what God has included and what he's left out, what is not there. Let's think about what he hasn't said like it's fascinating when you get to the end of Jonah and the story isn't resolved. Right just like he talked and then there's some cattle the end, right? You're like wait, that's a weird way to end a story. Like I don't know who's publishing that write like that's not going to do anything. Right? So and you just kind of like it's not even a good clip hanger like yeah, and then there's cattle but like this this into a story that were like, I don't know what happened to Jonah. I don't really even know what happened to the ninevites necessarily the story shifted from God to Jonah so you can go back and you can kind of piecemeal some things together and realize that you know, the Assyrians still kind of went on to be like some bad people or whatever but like but we don't truly know exactly what happened in the moment inform me when I read that and I read about that what was happening in that book a points to me and tells me that the story isn't about Jonah and it's not about the ninevites about God. Because God story continues the book of the book is embedded in a larger framework. It's embedded in the whole of the Bible in the Bible isn't about Jonah. The Bible isn't about you. Is that about Mankind's not about Adam and Eve? It's about God. And so when I read that I noticed not just what's there but what isn't there right and God is precise and what he has shared and what he hasn't shared what he has said and what he hasn't said who he's included in the in the in the Bible and who he hasn't included in the Bible, right? There's a message that he's trying to communicate. It's a written document intended for people to read and understand something that's the intent of this and so as we read it we need to get lit seek. What is the understanding of that? And as is your preacher like I just want to share what I say. That's the intent. And this is in contrast what I think to the world to a world that really likes a scratch kitchen approach to Faith right meaning of if you don't have the right ingredients. You can just kind of substitute for something else. I just throw something else in and it doesn't feel right to me. So I'll just kind of add this thing in there if the scripture says something we don't like the tendency of X is to ignore or to substitute. Ignore a substitute and more commonly a Even in our current culture the current Fabrica of of the world around us. The thought is that if the culture changes the scriptures should change with it like truth like that. There is nothing stable about what was written. It's not time with his is is candy the thought process but we believe this is a Timeless truth Russell do that with people through the years of my life or they're like well that was intended for people at that time at that and it makes so much sense to them, but it's not for us on kind of God if that's true. Unloving an unkind of God if that's true that we that he would write down something for somebody to to understand and no one to live according to for a 30 year. Of time or maybe a hundred whatever. Whatever. Of time there it is, but then to leave us to wander around and try to figure out like what are we to do? What are we to believe? How are we this makes sense of anything? How unloving it on kind of God if you were to be that way, but we don't believe God's that way. We believe that God has given you a given us something that's timeless. And at times it's a very Timely. How many times have you open the word any like? That's what I needed to hear today. Are you part of message from somebody else? Probably like that was for me. Alright, thank you. Kanye some other church and you like how that preacher was just I can't I just had a message just for me. I love I love hearing that. There's just that feeling sometimes like God is speaking directly to you. He is a Timeless guy that that uses a Timeless word in timely ways to speak into our hearts and here at the Rock we've clearly indicated. If you've read our statement of faith the very first statement on that statement of faith is this we believe the Bible is God's revelation to man. It is verbally inspired in every word and absolutely an errand and its original documents and we affirm the infallibility sufficiency and authority of scripture. We believe it is a written revelation. This is not just a joke. That's not just paper words on a page. God has revealed himself. We believe there's three different types of Revelation General Revelation, which is creation Paul speaks about that saying that the nun are without excuse because of what we can see how do you explain the world around you other than to say there must be a higher being a higher power like somebody had to create this right like so there's a general revelation of God is we that we walk around and as you guys go camping or go on a walk sometimes, you know, like you look really like how beautiful how amazing is God is so awesome. Like it shows us a reveal some big reveals himself even just one what he's created a special Revelation, which we see in Christ who is come it's a special unique that God has revealed himself and then what follows after that is the written revelation of God as well. God has a special Revelation in his written work. I just want to hide from you. God wants to reveal himself to you. Remember we talked about this like we don't know who we are until we truly know who God is. So we have to look to God and so he wants us to know who he is and he is not only revealed in creation. He's not only revealed that in Christ. He's written it down for us to say I want you to understand my heart and I want to understand who I want you to understand who I want you to be. And we believe that this is truly believe that this word is authoritative. We stand on this based on what we read here even in 2nd Timothy 3:16 that all scripture is breathed out by God. This is all breathe out by God. So here's a here's the first thing that undergirds our commitment as a church to preach sermons that are derived from the meaning of the text. It's this we simply believe that it's all from God first and foremost. It's from God and it's all from God all scripture from the beginning to the end. Yes, even Leviticus some of your like understand like the word you like. I don't know how to read that one. That's from God. Okay, like he has written down. All right, so I'm going to go home and open Leviticus. I don't get that joke like but like go read it and just put that in the Bible for a reason. It's all from God. We believe that every bit of this book has been graciously given to us by God and while it may have been a hand the hand of man who penned it was the heart of God that purposed it. All right, like he there's this this this this Buena Center of work that's happening there. God has used man to write something down. But God has worked through them and inspired it through them and it's for his purposes and with every stroke of the pen and intended purpose God crafted from Genesis to Revelation all that was necessary in order for us to know him and to live for him. There's nothing extra that we have to add into that. There's no extra ingredient that we need to like throwing and now it's about right? Okay, like what we need to understand who God is and what we need to understand how he's call us live is actually captivated in this even if he does something through an experience of yours, even if God moves and some powerful in your life. It has to line up with what God has put in here. It's not going to be contrary to this is not going to be extra to this. It's actually going to line up with this. It's going to be validated by God's truth in his written word. Okay, so like the general revelation of creation and Christ and sand scripture work together. They don't contradict each other and we believe that and God has given us all the way need all that is necessary in order for us to know him and to live for him from Genesis to revelation.

In fact the rest of her 16 helps us even understand some of God's intended purpose. It says scripture is profitable for teaching for reproof for correction and for training in righteousness. The man of God may be complete equipped for every good work to the second thing that undergirds our commitment to expository preaching is our belief that it's all for our good. It's all from God and it's all for our good. And at times are going I don't like how that makes me feel. I don't like what that says. We have to we have to submit that God has given us something for our good and the scriptures are good for teaching or instructions what it says meaning the scriptures are intended to show us the way we're to go about our life their intended to show us that and I'll talk about this like it's not going to tell you what kind of job you should have but it's going to tell you how to live out your life in that and whatever job you take I don't like it's going to point toward being a person of Integrity of personal Holiness and you can be that and whatever vocation that God leads you or into your provides for you and your life. It's good for reproof or rebuking. We don't like this one for sure. Meaning the scriptures are intended to reprimand us for the things that are contrary to the heart of God as we read the Bible in her like that's telling me I'm sinful that's telling me I'm wrong and how I'm living my life. And we have to wrestle with that reality. We have to wrestle with even as we're I don't know about you reading through Jonah and you're reading you're going to I don't know if that's my heart on the line up more with Jesus. I think it might look more like Jonah right now. All right, I can't we have to wrestle through that reality. But how good is God to even bring that to our attention to bring that to our hearts? I like I think it said even before like it's some point in life. I came to this point of realizing like it is a good thing when God tells me I'm a sinner like when he tells me I'm wrong and I was like, I feel good but at that moment, I have an opportunity. I'm given an opportunity to surrender to the Lord and how my life transform so that I can move on to live in the fullness of Christ to live in the fullness of joy in the life that he's offered to me in at times. It is hard and there are things I've been journeying through four years still trying to wrestle through that trying to delay those things down in my Brokenness of mice in my flash just keeps rearing their head of time zone. Like I'll come on but I'm committed to you where the path not that I'm on in the trajectory that that God has shown me because I believe that the life that he is offered to me is so much better. So I'll go through the painful moments. I'll continue to wrestle through that and God's word is good for that purpose. And thankfully it's also good for correction. Right? Like he doesn't just say you're bad figure it out. I just tell the point out where we're Ron. He says it is good for correction. God's desire isn't just to point out our shortcomings our sin in our evil ways just to say like you guys are alright like as an ID if your parent or you remember being a kid like that can be a good or bad memory for you or whatever. I don't know. I'm sorry if I'm picking up something hard, but like you have you either have the moment of doing or receiving where sometimes like maybe you just conveyed what somebody is that your kid is doing wrong or you felt like you were just told what you were doing wrong, but you didn't know how to fix it and you weren't told like what am I supposed to do now? Go sit in your room? Okay. What do I do next just staying there until I tell you to come out. All right until you're remorseful for what I don't even know like like there's a God wants to correct us. He wants to show us. What is right not just to point out. What is wrong? He desires to redirect our hearts for the rest of the journey. In fact that says the descriptions are intended to train Us in righteousness are intended to train a nurse. I think that's God's word is so good like it and we start out of these young Lads and lasses. I don't know how to grow up. But as we grow like you know that if you if you just let something like like go as it it may like it's going to grow into whatever it wants to be. It's going to be even chaotic like even for those of you were like who who love plants and stuff like that. You know that you have to trim that back, you know that you have to innocence like train a plant like how to grow up pruning that has to happen. There's things that have to be sifted out of us that's talking to bill this morning about the beauty of God's creation in us that that the word of God tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made what a beautiful truth has to rest in and believe about God that he is fearfully and wonderfully made you but here's the kicker you got to figure out how to Steward what God has given you an order to honor the Lord with what Who You Are Right, like we'd like there's there's characteristics about about ourselves that that can go one way or the other. And I could you use for God's glory that can be used for to hurt people in person for waves. And so we need to be trained. We need to discipline ourselves how to align our hearts with God to be that fearful and wonderful person that God has intended us to be Or intended to acquire the necessary discipline for maintaining a heart that is in unison with the heart of God. Why because God wants us to be it says complete or proficient is another way. You might say it any quips for all that he's planned for us to do. He wants us to be complete. He wants us to understand how we're to live our lives so that we can step out and new ways of Faith even that we can do the work of God. Some of us are in the room are terrified to talk to other people about Jesus. We're terrified. I don't I'm not ready for that. But that's not me. That's not my get. I read this nice. I know that's not true. We just need we need to spend time and God's word and understand is hard in such a way in the NBA completed and equip ourselves with God's word or let us in his word so that we can go and do what he says to make disciples. We are disciples who are intended to make another disciple. And that's a terrifying thing to many many Believers many Christians. Are we spending time in God's word if I'm spending time in God's word. I'm Understanding God's heart. And if I understand God's heart for me that I can certainly convey God's heart for somebody else. How does God move in your life? Sometimes we we we want we think we have to sit down and explain General Revelation and special Revelation these kind of things right? Like when I wrote that down, I'll hopefully I'll remember you don't have to remember that. You need to remember who Christ is and what Christ has done in your life. And you need to convey that to somebody else and you need to help them understand who Christ is a new Christ wants to be in their life. I like that's where it needs to begin. That's what the truth that God has hopefully written on your heart that you can convey to somebody else. I got his his equip. He's he's he's brought you closer to that place of completion so that you can do that. All right. So like we weave when we are brought in by Christ and we are quits by Christ to do the work of Christ. And we do that in the word is one of those things that he uses to primarily equip our hearts equip our minds for hands and feet to do that which leads me to the third reason for our commitment to expository preaching. It's there in an verse and Chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 work Paul charges Timothy. Are charge you in the presence of God in Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his Kingdom Hall sound pretty serious the sound like he's he's like I'm staking something right here. I'm charging you in Christ. I'm sick and everything on this preach the word. Preach the word be ready in season and out of season reprove rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching we're committed to an expository preaching because preaching that communicates the meaning of the text because it's all that to be preached. That's it. That's it. Word the word not opinions. Not my opinion. Not my feeling about something God's word. There are weeks that I stand up here and I have to wrestle with what I'm preaching because God is Wrecking me. He's wrecking me as I'm preaching it as I'm talking about as I've studied that but that's okay for me to get up and do that as I'm wrestling through that because it's not about me. It's about God's word. So I'm just here to as a Sojourner with you as a as a journeyman along the way with you to to wrestle through God's truth with you and he's just asked me to be the one that opens it up in our Gatherings together. Todd's wrecking me too. I haven't figured it all out, but I know this that I'm going to stake my claim with Paul on this. I'm going to preach the word. We're going to stick to the word because it's all lights to be preached.

Because when we see that the deeper reason why their verses 3 and 4. Who says this for the time is coming and let some of us might say that time is here, right when people will not endure sound teaching but have itching ears. They will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own Passions. We we I see Christians do this people who profess faith in Christ. They don't like how this person is preaching. They don't like how this is done. So I'm going to go somewhere and I'm going to hop around to find something that just suits how I feel. That suits my my way of of hearing God's word. Is a pastor over the over now almost three and a half years. I guess I've had people come and I had people like leave a church. And and when they would leave I would I you know, I just pray like Lord lead them to another church that preaches your word and I've watched people go to other churches and where they landed I was like, thank you Lord. My here to build something something for myself and Lord take them somewhere. They're not going to listen to me. Take them somewhere else with your word to me take them somewhere else where they're going to hear your work and he's done that and I didn't literally I've seen people like their I don't know what happened. I don't know why we had some break-ins in life and relationship but I but I was I was just so delighted to see God's hand on their live to see them go somewhere else and sit under biblical gospel-centered preaching biblical truth and then see their lies be transformed by that is so powerful. It's not about me. It's not about that other picture is about God's word now God wanted to move.

And at times we want to go somewhere and we want to listen to something wait, we can even do that inside the church where we we have itching ears to accumulate for ourselves. What we think is most important.

But the word of God is Rich and talks about so many things and so we we've got we got to wrestle through the whole process to to preach the whole counsel of God preached through the whole thing Russell through it all talk about the hard stuff. Not just the easy stuff. deal with life in the fullness through his word because we don't want people to turn away from listening to the truth and wander off in 2 minutes. We're going to preach the word meaning the meaning the text. We're going to talk about the tax because we believe it's all true. Believe it's true. It's not a suggestion. It's truth. Am I here today to argue whether the Bible is true or not know we are stating we believe it's true. All right, like that's another conversation for another day. As our church. We are going to stake a claim. We're going to stake R-Truth claims on this book. All right on the Bible. We're going to stake Our Truth claims on this and we believe transcends our knowledge and comprehension of God and the life he's offered. Because the word of God reveals the heart of God. Not going to argue this so that I can have a better position in life and win an argument with you. I'm not going to talk about this. I don't even want to argue with you whether or not is right. I just want to open it up and say what what is it say? What does it say that God Is Bigger Than Me? He's bigger than you. You know why we do sermon based discussions and when we came to this conclusion like at the end of discussion with the leadership team It was like it was just like like that. Just sweet music that you know, you're here. It's like, okay like we're just going to talk about God's word when a dive deeper into what God has said on a Sunday morning through his texts were going to wrestle with that more and more about what does that mean for our daily lives? And I couldn't I couldn't can't tell you I could have heard anything better than that. Let's just keep getting deeper into God's word. Let's wrestle with that together 3545 whatever minutes that you know, like we take on a Sunday morning isn't enough and it in this is me talking about it, but some of y'all have an experience of getting in a group and wrestling through that together and realizing like that what God is doing in each of your lies. And so you can ready to go back into the world with some truth to walk that out to see that actually transform your life. And that's the power of level being in the in the word in community. And in this community groups. We are we are saying like we see this as the most important thing that you could talk about and we're going to stake our claim on what God's word says cuz it's good for your life. Cuz it reveals the heart of God and the more we know God the more we know ourselves.

The Apostle Paul believe this so deeply. He believe is so deeply that in what we believe were some of the final days of his life. But he found it necessary essential even urgent to convey to Timothy. The importance of God's word in his ministry. That's one of the reasons why this letter was even written in the first place Paula seeing his days coming to an end. He knows he's about to be executed or he sees that at some point in the near future and he's in Timothy was like one of the one of the nearest and dearest and most faithful brothers that have followed his lead and then you sent out to do his work. He has this word for Timothy has this message for Timothy brother like you need to understand this. I need you to hear me on this because there's going to be different people coming from different directions pulling at you in different ways is going to be Temptations swirling around you about how you should do and what you should do and when I'm gone not that.. Timothy's Hope was in Paul, but you know when you lose somebody important in your life that guy that stage of truth that it's on some of them

And God's going to meet you in that he's going to raise you. He's going to help you recalibrate some he's going to help you realize like you're good cuz you got you got me still right but like he's about to lose this this Mentor this incredible Mentor in his life. And Paul knows it and Paul's telling Timothy importance of God's word and his ministry. He tells am actually in chapter 1 verse 14 to guard the deposit the good deposit and trust it to you guarded. You have been given something of value. You need to guard that every fiber of your being and every bit of your soul guard what has been entrusted to you then in chapter 2 verse suit, he tells Timothy what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to Faithful Men Who will be able to teach others also. Entrust this to Faithful Men will be able to teach others. Also. If you see the generational impact of God's word being passed down Paul to Timothy and trust this to other men who will be able to teach other men to the 4th generation. Paul saying, this is what we're going to stake our claim on the truth claims about who God is the truth claims about Christ. This is what you need to trust them. You don't need to give them, you know, the six different ways to be financially safe. Will do a quilting classes to talk about finances and God someday, right? Just not how we're going to use the pulpit. I'm not against those things. I'm not saying that those things are bad. I'm just saying in the Pulpit we're going to talk about God's word. God wants to be in your finances. He wants to be in your marriage. He wants to be in all your parenting. You know, whenever you're with your work. There is good things to talk about in a topical way in the church, and we're going to do that in certain settings for that.

Paul is imparting to Timothy the importance of passing on these truths. Does Paul believe that the truth from God pointed to the truth? That is God Jesus Christ.

He believed that the truth that the truth from God pointed to the truth that it is God. Who is Jesus Christ what he says in Chapter 2 verses 8 through 9. Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead The Offspring of David as preached in my gospel for which I am suffering bound with chains of the criminal but the word of God is not bound. Stop down. You cannot bind the word of God. You cannot Rangel it for yourself. It is true and into transcends who we are. We all have to wrestle with that reality. Are you putting your faith in something that you can create or you putting your faith in something that is bigger than you because you were born at a certain time in the end. Statistically you're going to die as the rest of us like that start statistical reality for all people. The only one that we know that hasn't died yet is Christ Lazarus was brought back from the dead died again. All right, so that's more than just trying to be real with you. All right. So you believe you're going to live inside of a time. And there's lots of time and space in history that happened way before you and until Jesus comes back and if the we don't know how much more will happen Beyond us. So is so who are we inside of a time and space to say what is right and wrong true and good? How do I get to Define what was right and true for people behind me people in front of me or even for anybody right now, and I don't know about you, but I do know about me. I'm not the best person to tell you how to live your life in every way. I want you to I want you to hear me on that like hear that. I'm not the best person to tell you. Got it. So I'm not here to tell you how to live your life. I'm here to tell you what God says about life here to stake claims on truth that I believe is authoritative for our life. A commitment to expository preaching is a commitment to consistently and constantly direct our hearts to the central message of the scriptures, which is the gospel. It's the gospel. It's about God. It's about Jesus. It's about a God who created things and looked upon it and said, this is good man. It is very good. It is beautiful it is right. That word good is the same as it sounds the same as used in the same way as When God says that things are righteous, but they are right there one with God are they they are harmonious with who he is. His nature is being his character the rights very good. And then we messed it up. We decided to reject God we decided to choose something for ourselves. We decided to go our own way and we say why wasn't there? Yeah, but you woke up one day, right? And I don't know what that again. I am going to I'm just going to go on consistency of what I've seen mankind like we all have the same Tendencies about many.

I I can't tell you a person that I met with you has to has hasn't had shared something about some term on their life broken. Listen to Life Send pattern in their life that I can't look at in here and point back to yeah. That's the same thing that I have any rest with Are the same simple patterns and problems out of any of that and send introduced introduced but God in his grace and his Mercy is Grayson is Murthy has come to cover our sins. Just as he sends out a demand, even you sacrifice has an animal to cover their sin that they had become aware of right remember before they like running around naked and they like, I don't even know your name and get it there. Like that's not a shameful thing. That's not that's not a bad thing. Like yeah, we're all going to have nobody gets to do that. Like that's not cool. We don't like that shameful, right and and God got his name in the same way. God has that he did in Genesis 3 to cover their shame there. It was it was this prophetic action of God to say. Yeah, and I'm going to one day eats heartily cover that shame. I mean one day it's hardly put that that's in to death. Any Christ Christ has come and we see through out of the Redemption plan of God. We see even in Jonah how God is on the move to to be compassionate and gracious to people of all generations of all Nations. And you can do it even through sinful and broken people like you and I and the ninevites and and Jonah himself because he is not bound by us and our ability. He is infallible. He is a sea transcends Who We Are It confounds our mind, but he came and of it came as Christ to give him his life.

To redeem any who would surrender anyone who would trust him anyone who would turn from their sinful ways and stop leaning into the broken and evil ways of life and turn to God and say I want life and you and only you I'm willing to leave this behind. I'm willing to lay it all that whatever you ask of me God I want because I believe based on what I've seen and creation based on what I see in Christ based on what I read in your word. I believe that life can only be found in you so I give up and I repent and I changed from this direction and return to this direction and turn for my sin and I'm going to turn to you Christ.

God redeems us some set and then births New Life in US and sets us on a new trajectory with them. He's promise that one day I'll return and I'll make all things new and I'll write all things and next week. I'm excited to talk about how God is doing that and he wants to continue to unveil that right here right now through this church through other churches do more churches that are planted in a bite my tongue. I'm excited about that. We're here to talk about Jesus. We're here to talk about his work. This is a defining characteristic of who we are as The Rock Community Church. When you walk out of these doors and you meet somebody in there asking you about your church is just another thing you can talk about. We're just a church that likes to open the Bible. Or church that likes to Simply look at God's word and hear what he has to say for us every day. Every time we gather we want to open God's word. I want to talk about Jesus. We want to talk about what you got to say. That's something that worried about maybe that's for you. And you can invite them to come join join us in that. The only thing I love about God's word is it shares with us things that were to partake in and do and ways that we Fellowship together and ways that we remember what Christ has done. And so today we're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper of Jonathan would come back up and his team.