WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:11.119 Well, this morning we turn again to we've been looking at the life of Abraham, a man of faith, over the past several weeks now. 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:17.679 For those of you who are new to us this morning, we've been looking at this man who walked with God. 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:21.920 And we're reminded that faith comes through hearing. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:25.679 Just as it did to Abraham, it comes to us through his word. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:32.159 And so we turn once again with me to Genesis 15, 1 through 21. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:36.799 Here now the reading of God's holy word. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:41.920 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision. 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:52.960 But Abram said, O Lord God, what will you give me? 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:59.679 For I continue childless, and the ear of my house is a laser of Damascus. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:07.200 And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my ear. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:10.480 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:16.159 This man shall not be your ear, your very own son shall be your ear. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:23.840 And he brought him outside, and he said, Look toward heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.920 Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:33.200 And he believed the Lord, and he counted to him as righteousness. 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:42.319 And he said to him, I am the law Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:47.920 But he said, Our Lord God, how am I to know that I should possess it? 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:58.719 He said to him, Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:04.719 And he bought him all these, cut them in half, and laid them half over against the other. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:07.519 But he did not cut the birds in half. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:12.719 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:20.800 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:32.960 Then the Lord said to Abram, Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:39.280 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:43.280 As for you, you shall go back to your fathers in peace. 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:53.280 You shall be buried in a good old age, and they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Emorites is not yet complete. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:03:01.919 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the pieces. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:27.520 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizites, the Cadmonites, the Hittites, the Pyrrhites, the Riphaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Gergeshites, and the Jebuzites. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:30.240 Let us pray. 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:42.800 Lord, would you grow us in our need of you and your word? 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:48.240 Lord, will you strengthen us, we pray this morning as we hear from you in Jesus' name. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:49.199 Amen. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:04:02.639 Well, so we've seen over the past several weeks that Abraham, who we've been studying, was a man who lived by faith in the promises of God. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:20.319 And at this point, we also ought to have a growing appreciation, at least, that at this point there was a lot of life involved with Abraham that involved waiting. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:28.800 For many of us, slowing down and waiting can seem like a little bit of a waste of time. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.360 Whether we'll admit it or not. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:33.360 You know, waiting is hard. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:42.560 And we only need to think about perhaps purchasing something special for us to realize this tension. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:49.600 Most of us have had the experience of buying something online that we really want. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:54.319 And wrestling with a sense of anticipation. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:57.360 So what do we do? 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:08.319 Well, if you're anything like me, you have at least considered sending that thing overnight and paying just a little bit extra to have it a little sooner in your grasp. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:08.879 Right? 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:21.360 We want to automatically cut down the time of waiting to narrow and restrict the amount of tension involved in the anticipation of having it in our position. 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:31.680 And it's not just when we purchase something, much of life involves waiting, and the challenge remains the same. 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:34.879 But I like what Eugene Peterson writes about waiting. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:43.279 He says this, he says, waiting does not diminish us any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:47.519 We are enlarged in the waiting. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:02.560 To think of the ability to be enlarged as you're called to wait. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:14.639 But for that to be the case, waiting needs to be understood not as going to sleep or pushing pause on life, but intentionally relying on God. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:23.519 Waiting on God requires making use of the time under his command until a new command is given. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:29.040 Some of you are very familiar with that kind of waiting in your vocation. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:33.680 Making use of the time while waiting for new orders, perhaps. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:36.480 What do we do with that? 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:39.519 You know what that's like. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:47.839 God uses our time in waiting, our waiting in hope for our benefit. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:52.079 And that's why faith is very much tied to hope. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:55.519 However, there is a flip side to this. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:02.240 The challenge of waiting in the Lord rarely ever goes unopposed. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.399 Someone else has intentions for us in the waiting. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.319 The devil has his own darts. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:14.160 He has his own purposes to achieve. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:25.360 And so, as Tom preached on that last week, there is a thief who comes only to steal and have his own purposes. 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:34.399 And so, that being the case, we have a lot that we can learn then about waiting and about Abraham's faith in the waiting. 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:49.439 And I would suggest that there are three basic beliefs that we can hold on to this morning that emerge from this encounter between God and Abraham to strengthen us in our walk as we are called to wait and hope. 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:57.199 And that's that third strand of faith, hope, and love that I want to focus on this morning. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:00.319 To believe that the love of God pursues. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:04.560 The second is to believe that the love of God serves. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:09.040 And the third is to believe that the love of God secures. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:16.000 And so, first, to believe the love of God pursues. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:21.920 These words begin in the passage we just read saying, after these things. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:27.680 And that alerts us to the fact that this is a period of transition. 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:35.679 Something significant had just occurred, and now we're into a new situation. 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:40.159 But the question, of course, is that it raises is what things? 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:47.440 And as Tom preached last week, they refer to Abraham's rescuing of his nephew Lot. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:09:02.000 Four kings had come and they had started to draw near to the land of Canaan, and they decided to make a quest into the land and made war with the king of Sodom, where Lot lived. 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:15.440 And so, in response to this threat, five kings, the kings of Sodom, the kings of Gomorrah, the king of Adma, Zebuim, and Bala, they go to battle with them, joining forces. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:23.440 But in doing so, they're overpowered and defeated, and Lot is taken captive. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.720 This news soon comes to Abram. 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:41.440 And so Abram takes 318 of his trained men, and they go in pursuit of Lot on a mission to take back his nephew. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:52.080 And in doing so, they defeat them and they reclaim Lot and the positions along with the women and all the others who are held captive. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:57.360 All of that is a great source of praise. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:02.000 But it also comes with new problems. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:25.120 The problem being that now that the dust is settled, now that Abraham has time to perhaps think about what has just taken place, realizes that he has gone from someone wandering in the land of promise, aiming to keep a low profile, to a position where he now has a target on his back. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:31.519 And so he's in danger and no doubt feels it. 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:39.279 And we don't have to think too long just to imagine how exposed Abraham might feel in that moment. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:43.919 He knows he has no fortified city walls. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:48.720 He knows he has no great alliances formed. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:53.600 He is just a man dwelling in tents. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:06.480 And so you can imagine how vulnerable and fearful he must have felt as he now comes to terms with the cost of this mission. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:12.080 And on one hand, we could say, well, these fears are quite normal. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:18.159 A natural response to fear, to danger, I should say. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:22.720 Fears alert us to potential dangers. 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:37.679 But when it comes to the spiritual life, fears are also often related to our uncertainty and insecurity about what God intends for us and who he is toward us. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:45.360 And it's into these fears that we read the word of the Lord came to Abram. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:49.120 A God pursues him. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:56.080 And he pursues Abram right when and right where he needed it. 00:11:56.559 --> 00:11:58.639 Words that speak right to his heart. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:04.399 Abraham, fear not, I am your shield, your great reward. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:13.039 Now we can only imagine, as we think about that for a minute, just how wonderful these words would have been to his heart to receive them. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:19.120 How they must have pricked up his ears and warmed his heart. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:24.000 Hear God speaking to his fears like that in that moment. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:29.039 But that's what God does. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:31.200 He is a God who pursues us. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:37.840 God would have us to be a people of faith, not fear. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:39.360 And I like what Dr. 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:42.960 Stanley Jones says in speaking to what God would have of us. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:49.039 He says this, he says, I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not fear. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:52.399 Fear is not my native land. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:53.759 Faith is. 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:32.000 Never forget that God, by his spirit, intends to speak into your specific fears. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:33.840 He knows your name. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:58.000 And so, since God is determined to be a shield for us, he will protect us from the darts that are thrown to challenge our faith. 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:05.759 We need to believe that, or else our courage will weaken. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:17.440 And God would have us to be a courageous people who through faith and confidence breathe freely our native ear. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:26.080 And so I asked this morning, how has God's pursuit met you? 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:35.279 Today it may be as a shield, but tomorrow it might be a door and a green posture. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:48.559 In the past it may have been as a lamp to give you certainty, or a shepherd to lead you through dangers, or a sovereign king to empower you. 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:52.559 You, like me, have an ocean of needs. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:17:12.559 And God in his grace, he comes to us in a thousand ways to pursue us in these needs in order to orient us back to himself as the center of our existence and as our great Lord. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:17.599 Let's trust the love of God who pursues us. 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:23.119 Secondly, let's also believe that his love serves us. 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:36.160 Abram being comforted in his fears with these words goes on because he's still not sure about how the promise would actually come about to fulfillment. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:41.599 He believes in the what, but he doesn't yet have clarity about the how. 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:54.720 And to get a sense of this at this point, we need to remember that ten years or more have passed since he left his land and came to Canaan. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:06.559 I mean, three successive promises have caused his hopes to soar and anticipating what God was going to do, how he was going to go ahead of him, how he was going to bless him. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:12.240 But none of them at this point were realized. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:14.079 Ten years later. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:18.720 No territory had yet been secured, no sign of a child. 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:21.279 We talk about waiting. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.519 This is a man that had to wait. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:33.279 And so Abraham, no doubt, having many questions at this point, he asks God in effect, he says, Yes, but how is all this going to play out? 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:35.279 How is this all going to unfold? 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:46.319 It's a pressing question on his heart, no doubt, because the longer that things go on, the harder things it appears that this promise is going to be answered. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:49.759 I mean, Sarah isn't young anymore, his wife. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:54.640 Things are more complex by the day with having made enemies. 00:18:54.799 --> 00:19:03.839 Yes, he does have a few possessions, but now he's even aware in this circumstance with his nephew Lot that those possessions could go overnight. 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:09.440 How is all this supposed to pan out? 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:12.079 And so he has questions. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:18.000 And I found that whenever waiting is involved, it often raises a new set of questions. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:20.400 Why? 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:24.319 Well, because what's clear in God's eyes is not always clear to our own. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:38.160 But God has his purposes in the waiting as we bring them to him in the spirit of, Lord, I do believe, but help my unbelief. 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:57.599 Richard Hendricks reminds us wisely, he says, second to suffering, waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in godliness, maturity and genuine spirituality most of us will ever encounter. 00:19:58.160 --> 00:19:59.119 I say that again. 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:00.720 Second to suffering. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:09.759 Waiting may be the greatest teacher and trainer in godliness, maturity and genuine spirituality most of us will ever encounter. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:17.359 And so this is important for our formation spiritually. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:25.359 What is it that we learn in waiting on God? 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:34.480 Well, it's in the waiting that we're given space and time to search our hearts. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:40.559 We're given time to analyze our motives and our motivations. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:47.839 We're given time to lean on and trust God's word more ruthlessly. 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:57.519 And in our desperation, to find that God meets us in ways that speak into our hearts deeply. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:01.839 That's how God uses time in waiting. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:08.240 That's the power of God working through seasons of waiting. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:17.759 I know a number of you know this to be true, and particularly in seasons where you've experienced vocational change. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:26.400 The sense of, Lord, what do you want to do as I wait and I consider what you might have for me? 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:44.000 Searching, analyzing, testing the Word of God, being met in ways that warm our hearts and encourage us as we anticipate and wait for his blessings on the horizon to be realized. 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:50.960 And so we need to be clear here that God's delays are not denials. 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:53.359 You may have asked something of God. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:59.200 You may receive a delay on that answer. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:05.200 What we need to be clear about is his delays are not denials. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:15.519 Are you willing to wait with open eyes and a trusting heart, however long his blessings may take to arrive? 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:21.279 Are you willing to be shaped by patiently waiting in hope? 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:23.680 That's the question. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:35.759 And I can only imagine how Abram's soul must have been given new wonder as God revealed even greater richness to him through this promise. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:38.799 As he unfolded more of this promise to him. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:42.319 Because he says, he says, look up, Abram, look out. 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:44.000 Count the stars. 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:50.640 If you're able to number them, so will your descendants be. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:23:01.440 And I'm sure, no doubt, every night that he sat under those stars took on a new sense of wonder and meaning. 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:13.440 What this teaches us is that although our trust is to be in the person of God, there's more richness in God's promises for us to enjoy. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:27.440 Many of us know a promise right now, and yet not necessarily be resting in that promise. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:34.480 Not necessarily having come to see or experience its full reward. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.240 That can often be the case. 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:41.359 It's one thing you see to know a promise, it's another thing to rest in it. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:48.960 I came across an article on the Old Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, this week, speaking this very thing. 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:55.200 And Spurgeon found that in wave upon wave that battered him in life. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:24:06.559 Certain situations that he faced, depression that he experienced, that the promises of God were especially precious. 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:16.880 And on one occasion, a particularly contr a particular controversy came up where he truly understood some of God's promises for the first time. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:25.599 And he asserted on that occasion, he said, How much more wonderful is the Bible to me now than it was only a few months ago? 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:36.960 In obeying the Lord and bearing his reproach outside the camp, I have not received new promises, but the result is the same as if I'd done so. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:40.880 For the old ones have opened to me with richer stores. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:45.119 How that resonates with me. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:51.920 That's the kind of power that waiting and hope can have. 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:07.039 In studying these promises every month this year, have they taken on fresh meaning to you? 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:10.880 None of them may have been new. 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:16.480 But may they be like new to you. 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:21.599 And being opened up with richer, fuller meaning. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:27.359 I know they've had that experience in my own heart, that impact of enlarging me. 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:33.039 I think that's where we sometimes struggle with the promises. 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:38.079 We we see them there in the scriptures, and we don't sometimes know what to do with them. 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:44.400 We fail to see their present benefit to us. 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:48.400 You see, the promises of God are like a blank check. 00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:58.160 It's like a blank check that has been endorsed by Christ and given to us. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:03.599 And God would say to us, He says, I would have you spend that. 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:06.319 Spend that promise. 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:10.720 As precious as it is, God says, I want you to spend it. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:18.880 And so all we need to do is write our own name on it and cash it in. 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:33.599 And yet for many of us, many times we we leave them in the checkbook and fail to cash them in for present strength, for present hope, for present life and benefit. 00:26:35.039 --> 00:27:01.519 I mean, I can't go a week and preaching and preparation for preaching without being reminded of the promise of God that he provides seed to the sower in order that he might provide food for the eater and that he might multiply and intend to multiply that for a harvest of righteousness. 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:06.240 That's what allows me to get through a week. 00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:07.599 I'm that needy. 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:11.119 I need, you see, the promises of God. 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:12.720 I need to cash them in. 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:14.480 And so do you. 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:20.559 Such is the love of God that serves us. 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:26.319 But we also need to trust the love of God that secures us. 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:37.039 Abram was still lacking confidence about how he would know when these things would be realized, and so God has him prepare a covenant ceremony. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:44.480 A darkness comes over Abraham, and he's given to see a more complete picture of what will happen in the future. 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:52.559 His descendants would need to wait 400 years because the sin of the Amorites wasn't yet complete. 00:27:53.359 --> 00:28:10.240 Meaning, because God judges justly and not in retribution, there was a need to wait until their sin was of a nature that required judgment, their judgment, and therefore removal from the land. 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:20.000 And knowing that Abram wouldn't be alive to see it, God makes his love known by assuring him of his promise through covenant. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.519 A covenant is basically an agreement between two parties. 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:54.319 And the typical practice at that time in ancient Near East was of ratifying a covenant was to take these animals and to cut them in half and to lay them down side by side, except for the birds, and they would be placed on the ground, and both parties would essentially walk between these two pieces, so as if to say, so may I be like them if I break this promise. 00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:06.000 But what we note in this case is that only God in the form of a smoking pot and a flaming torch pass through these pieces. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:13.279 And what it communicates to us is that God would be the one who keeps the promise. 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:20.400 God is saying to Abram, I'm gonna secure this promise. 00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:24.480 I will bind myself to it. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:32.799 I alone will be faithful to see this through and to see you blessed. 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:39.519 And of course, we know that the promise did come true. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:42.559 But there was more to it. 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:49.039 Because in time, the time in Egypt wasn't the ultimate darkness. 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:56.880 God needed to deal with an even greater darkness owing to our own slavery, to sin. 00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:14.240 And it points to the need of the one who would need to pass through death itself, not in the form of a smoking pot or a flaming torch, but by flesh and blood. 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:25.119 To secure an even greater eternal covenant for us in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:32.000 And as such, there's no greater security for us to enjoy. 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:52.880 Because Christ passed through death, ours is the joy of waking up each morning to a love that all along has determined to see us through, to see us restored in fellowship, to know and enjoy his delight over us. 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:58.319 So as to say, I will take care of this. 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:00.799 I will do this on your behalf. 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:12.720 Secure in sharing all of his blessing, secure in being with him as his delight. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:17.039 God's love is a love that pursues. 00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:20.319 It's a love that serves. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:23.359 It's a love that secures. 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:34.960 And there is no greater security than Jesus Christ and giving his own life for us. 00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:41.279 May his love be a love that we trust. 00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:44.319 And thank him for it and give him all the glory. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:45.759 Amen. 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:47.440 Let's pray. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:59.599 Oh Lord, we praise you and we thank you for this precious gift of your Son. 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:05.920 Lord, we thank you that you're the God who does indeed pursue us. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:17.200 Father, may we be those who feed on your gracious pursuit of grace each day. 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:25.599 Lord, may we be a people who trust you to give us all that we need. 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:36.240 We thank you that you're a God who serves us, who serves us in our fears, who serves us in our deep needs, who serves us in our struggles. 00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:40.799 Lord, we thank you for the precious promises that you've given to us. 00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:45.200 And Lord, we ask and we pray, may they indeed grow richer. 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:55.440 May they grow and have the ability to enable us to be strengthened, encouraged, and shaped more and more into your likeness. 00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:59.759 Lord, may they fuel our love and devotion toward you. 00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:02.960 That you might be given the glory and the praise. 00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:05.200 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:06.000 Amen.