WEBVTT 00:00:00.961 --> 00:00:18.452 So when our daughter Lynette was little, like lots of little girls, she started a doll collection And we wanted to help her out And we started traveling a little bit And so we would bring her back a doll from somewhere we'd been. 00:00:18.452 --> 00:00:33.624 Oh, this one's from Holland And let's see, this one's from Romania Whether or not Romania is going to stand, excuse Azima, this one's going to sleep. 00:00:33.624 --> 00:00:43.326 This one here is from Mexico Fine, upstanding lad, but he misses his wife. 00:00:43.326 --> 00:00:45.503 Thankfully she's here. 00:00:45.503 --> 00:00:51.570 Finally, we have to have the Scottish bagpiper. 00:00:51.570 --> 00:00:53.384 Where's Mack Mercado when you need him? 00:00:53.384 --> 00:00:56.944 Of course you go to Russia. 00:00:56.944 --> 00:00:58.787 You've got to bring back the nested dolls. 00:00:58.787 --> 00:01:15.147 And her collection grew because, in a weird sort of deal that we couldn't have projected, we started traveling more 40 different countries, and so we'd bring home these dolls And we were all excited about it. 00:01:15.147 --> 00:01:29.210 And the truth of the matter is this I think we got more excited about the dolls than Lynette did, and when she got married and left home, the dolls stayed there. 00:01:29.210 --> 00:01:37.370 She didn't take one of them, and there they are up on the shelf still collecting dust. 00:01:37.370 --> 00:01:42.891 So if you stay in our guest room, you'll be sharing space with these dolls. 00:01:42.891 --> 00:01:47.060 I hope you like them Today. 00:01:47.060 --> 00:01:51.302 We hope you're going to collect some life-changing truth To help you remember. 00:01:51.302 --> 00:01:56.463 You're going to need a note page that America's finest ushers are even now extending to you. 00:01:56.463 --> 00:02:00.647 If you didn't get one, look at that talented Ryan out there. 00:02:00.647 --> 00:02:10.157 Oh, my goodness, randy, all pro, you're going to want that note page, you really will. 00:02:10.539 --> 00:02:15.289 It's funny how people collect all kinds of things, including Star Wars memorabilia. 00:02:15.289 --> 00:02:23.492 John Jessison is the proud owner of 272 Unopened Star Wars LEGO sets. 00:02:23.492 --> 00:02:29.503 By the way, what kind of a car would a Star Wars memorabilia collector drive? 00:02:29.503 --> 00:02:32.993 A toy Yoda, of course. 00:02:32.993 --> 00:02:36.811 The jokes don't get any better. 00:02:36.811 --> 00:02:43.676 So John Burley holds the record for the largest collection of unopened Coca-Cola bottles. 00:02:43.676 --> 00:02:47.533 He owns more than 600 unopened bottles. 00:02:47.533 --> 00:02:49.972 They date back to the 50s. 00:02:49.972 --> 00:02:53.205 I don't know if the cola has any fizz in it, but his collection does. 00:02:53.205 --> 00:02:56.074 It's worth 15 grand. 00:02:56.074 --> 00:03:01.205 Danny Fleming holds the title for owning the largest collection of bagpipes. 00:03:01.205 --> 00:03:03.185 He has 105. 00:03:03.185 --> 00:03:05.693 The only collection is Y. 00:03:05.693 --> 00:03:09.272 One is more than sufficient. 00:03:09.272 --> 00:03:21.179 Suzanne Swazel owns an impressive collection of slinkies 1,054 of them, she claims, unless she's stretching the truth. 00:03:21.179 --> 00:03:26.576 How about a collection of hair locks? 00:03:26.576 --> 00:03:28.991 Yep, people collect those. 00:03:28.991 --> 00:03:31.993 The Guinness World Record holder has got to be John Resnickoff. 00:03:31.993 --> 00:03:43.841 Through auctions and so on, resnickoff has accumulated locks of hair from get this Abraham Lincoln, elvis Presley, marilyn Monroe and Beethoven, to name a few. 00:03:43.841 --> 00:03:47.610 By the way, beethoven is no longer composing, he is decomposing. 00:03:49.927 --> 00:04:01.144 Speaking of collections, several years ago the city of Elmhurst featured a summer collection known as Cows on Parade, and then it was Cars on Parade This year, as you can see, we're collecting umbrellas. 00:04:01.144 --> 00:04:03.894 If you go, pay a visit, they're really quite beautiful. 00:04:03.894 --> 00:04:12.979 Well, the New Testament town of Capernaum had their own unusual collection, which, in the end, created a crisis. 00:04:12.979 --> 00:04:18.858 To find out what they collected, you're going to need to become something of an amateur detective. 00:04:18.858 --> 00:04:20.891 Think Sherlock Holmes. 00:04:20.891 --> 00:04:31.298 By the way, what did Sherlock Holmes say when Dr Watson asked him what grade an eighth year old was in Elementary? 00:04:31.298 --> 00:04:39.759 my dear Watson, all jokes aside, the passage of Scripture that we're about to read is among the most sobering in all the Bible. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:48.716 So keep your detective eyes and ears open And if you have your Bible handy, open it up to Matthew's Gospel, the 11th chapter. 00:04:48.716 --> 00:04:51.252 It's the first book in your New Testament. 00:04:51.252 --> 00:04:58.165 And, if you're able to and comfortable, would you mind standing with me as we honor the Word of God? 00:04:58.165 --> 00:05:00.492 We're going to read verses 20 through 24. 00:05:00.492 --> 00:05:10.351 A couple of pronunciation tips as we begin C-H-O-R-A-Z-I-N is Chorazine, and don't be stumbling on Bethsaida. 00:05:10.351 --> 00:05:16.185 Let's read out together, starting at verse 20, as the slide is up there. 00:05:16.185 --> 00:05:19.254 Verse 20 is the up. 00:05:19.254 --> 00:05:21.370 There we go. 00:05:22.225 --> 00:05:30.038 Then he began to reprimand the cities in which most of his miracles were done, because they did not repent. 00:05:30.038 --> 00:05:32.867 Woe to you, chorazine. 00:05:32.867 --> 00:05:46.817 Woe to you, bethsaida, for if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 00:05:46.817 --> 00:05:58.745 Nevertheless, i say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you And you. 00:05:58.745 --> 00:06:02.696 Capernaum will not be exalted to heaven, will you? 00:06:02.696 --> 00:06:13.819 You will be brought down to Hades, for if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 00:06:13.819 --> 00:06:24.502 Nevertheless, i say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you. 00:06:24.502 --> 00:06:26.165 Thank you and be seated. 00:06:26.165 --> 00:06:27.127 You see what I mean. 00:06:27.127 --> 00:06:28.653 That is sobering. 00:06:29.285 --> 00:06:31.632 The passage there we just read mentions three towns. 00:06:31.632 --> 00:06:37.204 The first city, chorazine, is located on a hill not far from the waters of the Sea of Galilee. 00:06:37.204 --> 00:06:47.757 You see, there on the map, at the tip of that blue arrow, is Chorazine, and when you visit today and I know some of you have you can't help but notice the black coloration in the rocks. 00:06:47.757 --> 00:06:52.055 This is called basalt, not to be confused with pepper. 00:06:52.055 --> 00:07:01.696 This basalt made the area very productive agriculturally, and Chorazine was actually known for its early harvest of grain. 00:07:01.696 --> 00:07:10.119 Now the second city, bethsaida, was also near Galilee, but scholars still debate its exact location. 00:07:10.119 --> 00:07:12.814 This may well be the place that you see on your map. 00:07:12.814 --> 00:07:16.014 There It's an easy drive from one city to the next. 00:07:16.245 --> 00:07:19.413 The third city, capernaum, is the one we're focusing on today. 00:07:19.413 --> 00:07:23.675 Capernaum really, in many ways, was a city of great fame. 00:07:23.675 --> 00:07:25.269 Why? 00:07:25.269 --> 00:07:27.761 Well, it was Jesus' second hometown. 00:07:27.761 --> 00:07:31.855 Everybody knows that Jesus was born where. 00:07:31.855 --> 00:07:39.357 Everybody knows Jesus was born in and and where did he grow up as a boy? 00:07:39.357 --> 00:07:41.428 That was his hometown. 00:07:41.428 --> 00:07:43.355 But his second hometown was Capernaum. 00:07:43.355 --> 00:07:44.478 How do I know that? 00:07:44.478 --> 00:07:46.365 in Matthew 9, verse 1? 00:07:46.365 --> 00:07:50.156 , Jesus called Capernaum quote his own city. 00:07:51.346 --> 00:08:00.317 Now, dianna and I just visited Capernaum a couple weeks ago, and here in Capernaum Jesus called Peter, andrew, james and John to follow him. 00:08:00.317 --> 00:08:04.795 It was here that Jesus healed the centurion's servant. 00:08:04.795 --> 00:08:08.708 It was in these very streets You're looking at that. 00:08:08.708 --> 00:08:14.369 Jesus healed the woman that had been bleeding for 12 years In this neighborhood. 00:08:14.369 --> 00:08:17.197 Jesus brought Jairus' daughter back to life. 00:08:17.197 --> 00:08:26.593 Remember that paralytic whose four faithful friends dragged him all the way up to the top of that house, disassembled the roof, let him down through the roof. 00:08:26.593 --> 00:08:27.857 It happened here. 00:08:27.857 --> 00:08:32.308 Peter's mother-in-law Healed here in this town. 00:08:32.308 --> 00:08:36.357 You're looking at what might well have been her home right there. 00:08:36.357 --> 00:08:52.076 Amazing, it was here that Jesus gave sight to two blind men and, of course, it was here that Jesus did that late-night healing Marathon, brought to life by the thespian, award-winning actors of West suburban community church. 00:08:54.086 --> 00:09:03.798 Check out this fact more of Christ's recorded miracles Were performed in Capernaum than in any other town mentioned in Scripture. 00:09:03.798 --> 00:09:07.009 Wow, that's fame for you. 00:09:07.009 --> 00:09:20.739 One more factoid the columns of a synagogue you can see them in this photo still stand today in Capernaum And if you look carefully at the floor, you'll see a black layer of stone beneath the existing modern foundation. 00:09:20.739 --> 00:09:29.913 That black layer that we'll see in the next slide, right there on the very bottom, is the foundation of the synagogue that was there at the time of Jesus. 00:09:29.913 --> 00:09:33.610 Wow, how cool is that? 00:09:33.610 --> 00:09:40.384 Well, capernaum certainly had its fame, but Capernaum was known by Jesus for its folly. 00:09:40.384 --> 00:09:48.200 And how could such a fabulous place, all these miracles, all these great sermons end in folly. 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:50.811 Seem to have a bright future. 00:09:50.811 --> 00:10:08.528 You and I might walk at streets and say wow, but Jesus walked those same streets and said whoa as in whoa to you In Matthew 11, capernaum is one of three cities upon which Jesus pronounces his whoa. 00:10:09.746 --> 00:10:10.008 Why? 00:10:10.008 --> 00:10:15.234 Well, let me read for us again what Jesus said about Capernaum and you. 00:10:15.234 --> 00:10:18.025 Capernaum will not be exalted to heaven, will you? 00:10:18.025 --> 00:10:20.634 you will be brought down to Hades. 00:10:20.634 --> 00:10:30.773 For if the miracles that had occurred in you had occurred in Sodom, not a town known for its righteousness, it would have remained to this day. 00:10:30.773 --> 00:10:36.778 Nevertheless, i say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you. 00:10:37.787 --> 00:10:42.152 By the way, no details are left out here in Genesis 19. 00:10:42.152 --> 00:10:45.118 We hear exactly what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:10:45.118 --> 00:10:58.216 It says then the Lord reigned brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven, and he overthrew those cities and the surrounding area and all the inhabitants of the cities. 00:10:58.216 --> 00:11:00.340 And what grew on the ground? 00:11:00.340 --> 00:11:03.413 Talk about a scorched earth judgment. 00:11:03.413 --> 00:11:10.297 Imagine the people gasping As they choked in those sulfur fumes. 00:11:10.297 --> 00:11:12.831 That's what brimstone is. 00:11:12.831 --> 00:11:22.109 Imagine the horror of fire falling on you Walking down the street and suddenly you're on fire, people in their homes, incinerated. 00:11:22.109 --> 00:11:30.865 And when the day of judgment finally comes, Jesus says these people Will be better off than Capernaum for all eternity. 00:11:32.852 --> 00:11:35.585 So why does Jesus speak so harshly of Capernaum? 00:11:35.585 --> 00:11:46.644 Well, despite all the miracles, despite all the fame, the people stubbornly refused to believe in Christ and they stubbornly refused to repent. 00:11:46.644 --> 00:11:49.344 I mean they knew the facts about Jesus. 00:11:49.344 --> 00:11:54.193 I mean they knew the facts about Jesus but they didn't embrace Jesus. 00:11:54.193 --> 00:11:58.884 They heard his words but they didn't act on them. 00:11:58.884 --> 00:12:04.063 They loved his miracles, but they didn't love him. 00:12:04.063 --> 00:12:09.363 They knew of the Savior, but they weren't saved. 00:12:09.363 --> 00:12:10.907 What folly. 00:12:10.907 --> 00:12:12.539 That's folly. 00:12:12.539 --> 00:12:24.837 Matthew Henry says Christ came into the world to bless us, but if that blessing be slighted, he has woes in reserve, and his woes are, of all others, the most terrible. 00:12:24.837 --> 00:12:33.663 Which points us back to our mystery, the question we asked earlier What did the townspeople of Capernaum collect? 00:12:34.735 --> 00:12:35.157 Anybody guess it? 00:12:35.157 --> 00:12:47.323 Apparently, the people in Jesus' hometown collected get this religious experiences, miraculous encounters, profound sermons. 00:12:47.323 --> 00:12:49.078 They loved these things. 00:12:49.078 --> 00:12:54.024 They loved them, but they never really responded. 00:12:54.024 --> 00:12:58.784 They treated Christ's teachings and miracles like souvenirs. 00:12:58.784 --> 00:13:10.403 They put them on the shelves of their souls and left them there to collect dust, just like the dolls that we brought home for our daughter. 00:13:10.403 --> 00:13:14.140 But Jesus is not a souvenir. 00:13:14.140 --> 00:13:18.376 He's our sovereign, he's the king. 00:13:20.394 --> 00:13:23.264 So what does all this mean for us 2,000 years later? 00:13:23.264 --> 00:13:34.857 Well, for one thing, it means it's okay to hear the teachings of Jesus, it's okay to experience the miracles of Jesus, to read about Jesus in the Bible, to go to a Bible study at West Sub. 00:13:34.857 --> 00:13:45.563 But it's not okay to remain unchanged, unrepentant, it's not okay to simply file Jesus away as one more religious option. 00:13:45.563 --> 00:13:49.119 That is the ultimate folly. 00:13:49.119 --> 00:13:51.337 That is a true crisis. 00:13:51.337 --> 00:13:56.820 That's Capernaum, and Jesus demands a response. 00:13:56.980 --> 00:13:58.725 Believe and repent. 00:13:58.725 --> 00:14:01.662 Or, if you prefer, repent and believe. 00:14:01.662 --> 00:14:03.479 What does it mean to believe? 00:14:03.479 --> 00:14:05.120 It's more than intellectual assent. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.561 Yeah, i can agree with that. 00:14:06.561 --> 00:14:08.158 Yeah, jesus is a savior. 00:14:08.158 --> 00:14:09.744 Yeah, no, no, no. 00:14:09.744 --> 00:14:15.767 It means to trust Christ fully for your salvation, to live a life fully pleasing to him. 00:14:15.767 --> 00:14:20.764 It means we're willing to trust him with our lives in a way that's obvious to others. 00:14:20.764 --> 00:14:26.364 If there's been no change in your life since you met Jesus, what was the point? 00:14:26.364 --> 00:14:29.259 What does it mean to repent? 00:14:29.259 --> 00:14:39.481 The liberal meaning is to do a 180 degree turn from where you are, turning away, from what you are, to what Jesus is. 00:14:39.481 --> 00:14:44.865 That's a lot different from what you and I often secretly believe. 00:14:44.865 --> 00:14:48.985 You just sort of buy your internal life insurance policy. 00:14:48.985 --> 00:14:52.202 You know that's what a lot of us are living like. 00:14:53.995 --> 00:14:55.802 So two questions for you this morning in your notes. 00:14:55.802 --> 00:15:02.166 Question one have you just heard about Jesus or have you received Jesus? 00:15:02.166 --> 00:15:08.043 Have you just heard about Jesus or have you received Jesus? 00:15:08.043 --> 00:15:09.138 There's a huge difference. 00:15:09.138 --> 00:15:21.663 George Barnas says that upwards of 40% of people attending church in evangelical churches Sunday after Sunday have not truly received Jesus. 00:15:21.663 --> 00:15:25.201 Look around, out of every 10, that's four of us. 00:15:27.254 --> 00:15:31.224 The people of Capernaum heard about Jesus, but they didn't receive Jesus. 00:15:31.224 --> 00:15:32.046 They didn't believe him. 00:15:32.046 --> 00:15:34.698 What about you Now? 00:15:34.698 --> 00:15:41.764 maybe you'd be honest enough and you'd say well, you know, i mean, come on, if I saw some miracles, maybe I could have an easier time believing in Jesus. 00:15:41.764 --> 00:15:43.720 So show me some miracles. 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:50.154 News flash he already has Driving. 00:15:50.176 --> 00:15:56.287 Late at night you fall asleep A split second before you land underneath the wheels of a semi. 00:15:56.287 --> 00:15:59.720 You wake up just in time to tap the brakes. 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:00.735 That's a miracle. 00:16:00.735 --> 00:16:07.167 Your child is gravely ill, amazingly healed That's a miracle. 00:16:07.167 --> 00:16:12.261 Did we not see that with a deforbed family, and maybe your family? 00:16:13.104 --> 00:16:26.283 I think of Diana who went to the doctor for just an ultrasound with regard to some gallbladder pain Not pleasant, but certainly not life-threatening right, and what did they discover? 00:16:26.283 --> 00:16:32.384 Way at the corner of their little scan, a little spot that someone might not have noticed, but did. 00:16:32.384 --> 00:16:35.029 They pursued that spot on her kidney. 00:16:35.029 --> 00:16:36.902 It was found to be cancerous. 00:16:36.902 --> 00:16:40.971 She had a third of her kidney removed and has been healthy ever since. 00:16:41.292 --> 00:16:52.147 That's a miracle, are the answers to prayer, of course, but all these stories are drenched in the miraculous, and you have them in your life too. 00:16:52.147 --> 00:16:54.033 You know what, i think, our problem is? 00:16:54.033 --> 00:16:56.863 We've lost our sense of smell. 00:16:56.863 --> 00:17:08.752 Spiritually, we all brush up against God's miracles, but not all of us are willing to call them that, and that is the unbelieving posture of Capernaum. 00:17:08.752 --> 00:17:14.288 Have you received Jesus as the leader of your life, the forgiver of your sins? 00:17:14.288 --> 00:17:16.034 This is the day to do it. 00:17:16.034 --> 00:17:19.104 Don't let the moment pass you by. 00:17:19.104 --> 00:17:21.454 We're going to pray with you right after church. 00:17:21.454 --> 00:17:26.455 If you'd like, pastor Dennis is going to stand right there by those flowers and I'll stand right there by those. 00:17:26.455 --> 00:17:27.921 Come on up, let's pray. 00:17:28.883 --> 00:17:34.201 But there's a second question, question two, in your notes What do you need to repent of? 00:17:34.201 --> 00:17:39.252 You know a lot of folks get the mistaken idea that Jesus is an add-on. 00:17:39.252 --> 00:17:46.912 You know I'm doing my thing and, yeah, i accept that Jesus is my savior and now I just do my thing. 00:17:46.912 --> 00:17:47.914 No, no, no. 00:17:47.914 --> 00:17:51.042 To repent is to change directions. 00:17:51.042 --> 00:17:55.692 Remember To go 180 degrees away from things that are not of Christ. 00:17:56.781 --> 00:17:58.464 Repentance is an ongoing process. 00:17:58.464 --> 00:17:59.587 You didn't do it once. 00:17:59.587 --> 00:18:01.551 It's every day. 00:18:01.551 --> 00:18:03.736 Is your sin? 00:18:03.736 --> 00:18:04.396 laziness? 00:18:04.396 --> 00:18:06.161 Get to work. 00:18:06.161 --> 00:18:08.488 Is your sin pornography? 00:18:08.488 --> 00:18:10.815 Get a porn blocker app on your phone. 00:18:10.815 --> 00:18:11.517 Let's repent. 00:18:11.517 --> 00:18:12.941 Is your sin? 00:18:12.941 --> 00:18:16.391 course language, get an accountability partner and change. 00:18:16.391 --> 00:18:20.662 Richard Owen Roberts says one must be forever repentant. 00:18:20.662 --> 00:18:24.348 It is not enough to once feel sorrow over sin. 00:18:24.348 --> 00:18:29.963 True repentance affects the whole man and alters the whole lifestyle. 00:18:29.963 --> 00:18:36.314 Jesus expects repentance, he demands repentance. 00:18:36.314 --> 00:18:41.770 You can't repent too soon because you don't know how soon it may be too late. 00:18:41.770 --> 00:18:50.731 The people of Capernaum were condemned by Christ very specifically because they did not repent. 00:18:53.258 --> 00:18:57.989 A lot of places these days have a wellness program for their employees. 00:18:57.989 --> 00:19:04.344 We've got one at Moody and you sit and watch little videos about health. 00:19:04.344 --> 00:19:22.606 You do fitness exercises, maybe you sign up and you do a healthy eating class And for every course you take you get points And when you earn enough points then you get the reward, in my case 20 bucks a month off the insurance. 00:19:22.606 --> 00:19:26.492 I like that, so I do it. 00:19:26.492 --> 00:19:32.748 But you know, really, this wellness thing, it's actually about repentance. 00:19:32.748 --> 00:19:38.984 They want me to repent of my five layered burrito at Taco Bell. 00:19:38.984 --> 00:19:45.983 They want me to repent of sitting on the couch binge watching NCIS or whatever it is. 00:19:45.983 --> 00:19:53.180 They want me to repent of visiting the King, the Burger King They do. 00:19:53.180 --> 00:20:02.501 But you know what Don't tell anybody this at Moody, i just want the points, i just want the discount. 00:20:02.501 --> 00:20:04.748 So I do the bare minimum. 00:20:06.250 --> 00:20:10.020 I watch the sermons on wellness, but I don't really change. 00:20:10.020 --> 00:20:20.259 I hear the gospel of good eating, but it doesn't sink in, which proves I haven't really believed or repented. 00:20:20.259 --> 00:20:22.454 What about you? 00:20:22.454 --> 00:20:26.519 When was the last time you repented from anything? 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:30.599 I repented when I received Jesus as Savior. 00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:36.596 That's great, but sin is a lifelong battle, so repentance is a lifelong work. 00:20:36.596 --> 00:20:39.635 What do you need to repent of today? 00:20:39.635 --> 00:20:52.239 See, once we've heard from Jesus and met with Jesus and encountered Jesus in His miraculous saving power, we cannot be comfortable collecting religious souvenirs. 00:20:52.239 --> 00:20:59.894 I am so blessed by Pastor Jim Sermons Great, but are you different? 00:20:59.894 --> 00:21:07.854 It's good to be blessed, but it's critical that we be different, that we believe and repent. 00:21:10.711 --> 00:21:19.476 As a young man, augustine lived a wild, immoral life and then he believed in Christ and the work of repentance began. 00:21:19.476 --> 00:21:31.756 One day he happened to encounter a prostitute, a former lover of his, and she kind of saddles up to him coily and says Augustine, augustine. 00:21:31.756 --> 00:21:34.060 And he ran away from her immediately. 00:21:34.060 --> 00:21:40.738 Well, she pursued him, called after him Augustine, it's me, it's me. 00:21:40.738 --> 00:21:45.058 And he said, quote but it's not me. 00:21:45.058 --> 00:21:47.654 The old Augustine is dead. 00:21:47.654 --> 00:21:50.497 I'm a new creature in Christ. 00:21:50.497 --> 00:21:52.434 That is repentance. 00:21:52.434 --> 00:21:55.997 That is the lesson of Capernaum. 00:21:58.191 --> 00:22:06.115 We're going to pause in silence right now as you grab your note page and you wrestle with the two issues presented to Capernaum Believe and repent. 00:22:06.115 --> 00:22:08.295 We've got two headings there. 00:22:08.295 --> 00:22:12.575 Under believe you'll see two boxes, one of which you must check. 00:22:12.575 --> 00:22:17.619 Box one I have already believed in Jesus for my salvation. 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:21.419 Box two I have not yet received Christ. 00:22:21.419 --> 00:22:24.477 I will do so today by praying with someone here at church. 00:22:24.477 --> 00:22:27.997 The second heading is titled repent. 00:22:27.997 --> 00:22:31.978 Finish the sentence there that says I need to repent of. 00:22:33.210 --> 00:22:35.657 Go ahead and write in whatever the Holy Spirit lays on your heart. 00:22:35.657 --> 00:22:54.419 You know, it's probably the first thing that comes into your mind And then take that sheet home and put it somewhere, so public that it annoys you, so that you're always looking at it, so that the Holy Spirit will work his repentance work in you as you work on repentance. 00:22:54.419 --> 00:22:55.794 Leave it there for a week. 00:22:55.794 --> 00:22:59.598 We're going to take just 30 seconds right now to do this. 00:22:59.598 --> 00:23:00.694 I don't want to belabor the point. 00:23:00.694 --> 00:23:02.536 I want to give you some space for the homework. 00:23:02.536 --> 00:23:04.294 You don't want to do homework after work. 00:23:04.294 --> 00:23:04.875 Let's do it now. 00:23:04.875 --> 00:23:08.050 So go ahead and write for 30 seconds and then I'll pray. 00:23:44.442 --> 00:23:50.498 Lord, God of heaven, thank you for coming to our earth, walking our streets, walking the streets of Capernaum. 00:23:50.498 --> 00:23:57.498 Thank you for not holding back, for speaking the truth to them, as You speak it to us. 00:23:57.498 --> 00:24:00.276 It's not enough to read Your word. 00:24:00.276 --> 00:24:01.575 It's not enough to come to church. 00:24:01.575 --> 00:24:03.075 It's not enough to hear sermons. 00:24:03.075 --> 00:24:05.694 We must believe and repent. 00:24:05.694 --> 00:24:13.078 Lord, help us not file this away, but act on it. 00:24:13.078 --> 00:24:16.134 Anything less is folly. 00:24:16.134 --> 00:24:21.219 We receive it as from You, Jesus, Your own words. 00:24:21.219 --> 00:24:23.452 We take You seriously. 00:24:23.452 --> 00:24:30.498 Help us act seriously now, in the name of Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us. 00:24:30.498 --> 00:24:35.442 Amen, amen.