Close to Home | When God Hands You a History — Forrest Coleman

Close to Home | When God Hands You a History — Forrest Coleman | Ruth 3:1-5

Transcript

Forrest 0:06

Hey, I'm Pastor Forrest, and welcome to the Multiply Church Podcast. Each week we open God's word together to help you meet God and multiply good in your everyday life. We're so glad that you've taken time to join us for this week's sermon. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe and follow us on social media so you never miss a message. Now, let's dive into this week's sermon. We've had a big weekend here at Multiply and Forest Leap Pastor here. Yesterday we got to do something that's so fun. We got to have a baby dedication with all these little tiny, beautiful little babies. We had seven babies that were dedicated to the Lord. And I just think it's great that the same weekend that we were able to have infants dedicated. Also, we were celebrating our graduating seniors. It's like full circle, isn't it? And I just love the fact that with these little babies, you see them, and it's like a it's like a simple moment with mom and dad and taking pictures, but there's so much weight to this as well. It's so much bigger because uh baby dedication, this is not salvation of these babies. Salvation comes later when they are able to make the decision for themselves of what they're gonna do with Jesus and following him. But this is a decision of the parents to say that they're going to raise this child in a God-centered home, to raise these children in faith, to raise these children with a legacy and a holy reverence of God going forward. It reminded me of when uh Emily and I we dedicated our daughters. We got little girls, six and eight years old, and you know, when you're holding that little baby and you're dedicating to the Lord, you just have no idea of all that's in store, right? All the sleepless nights, wanting to pull your hair out, the prayers that you're gonna pray, the conversations that you're gonna have, the times that you need to apologize, times that you're fighting for faith in your home when it would just be easier not to do that. And because what you're doing with these children, and ultimately as they grow up and with these seniors and well as well, what you're building is you're building a spiritual heritage with your family. And most of the time, the spiritual heritage that you're building, it just feels completely ordinary in the moment of things that you're being faithful to God in close to home. We're in this last installment of this series, close to home. This episode four, where we started four weeks ago as we looked at the lineage of Jesus in Matthew chapter one on Mother's Day, and we looked at the five women who are included in the lineage of Jesus, and then we zoomed in on Ruth and Naomi and their family and what was going on in their lives. And today, as we in this series, as we've talked about legacy and talked about the loss that Naomi and Ruth experienced. And last week we talked about God giving us lifelines that we're gonna see come to fruition today in this message, and then today us talking about lineage. The title of my message today is When God Hands You a History. When God hands you a history. See, God is working and wanting for you to build a spiritual heritage through and in your lineage and in your family, but oftentimes what ends up happening is that because of the hardships and difficulty of life, we end up following into places of hopelessness. It's easy for us in the ordinary, everyday things of life to let hopelessness get into our mind, get into our spirit to where you think, well, you know, like this marriage that I'm part of right now is just no hope. Or maybe this this child that's gone away and it's now distant. Are they ever gonna come back? Or maybe my my family story is just too broken, it can't be overcome, it's too messy. The grief that I'm experienced from loss and losing a job or what I've been going through, it's it's so deep. I feel so alone. I feel spiritually dry. I feel buried about not being able to see what's gonna happen in the future. And it's easy for us when we get into the mindset of having hopelessness that then we start to think in ways that are hopeless. Well, you know, that's just how my family is. That's just how that's just how I am, that's just how it's gonna be. Oh well, this is just what I've gotten handed. Like, this is this is how it is, is things are never gonna change. And if we don't watch out, we'll get in danger of hopelessness keeping us and stopping you from taking your next step of faithfulness with God. That hopeless hopelessness could cause you to miss the huge moments that God is building into your spiritual heritage. We experience in the story of Ruth the deep loss that she's already experienced. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, who loses her husband, Elimelech, and Naomi loses her sons, one of those being Ruth's husband. She loses security and the future, and she loses her home because they walk away from Bethlehem, where they're from, and go to a foreign land because there is a famine in the land. And you've got Ruth that is then introduced, and Ruth becomes a widow, and she's a foreigner, she's a Moabite, then she's poor and impoverished and vulnerable, and now she's got a mother-in-law who's grieving the loss of her husband and family, and and and Ruth, we're gonna see this total redemption story happen in her and her family be restored. And as we look at this story, what it's going to show us and remind us and hopefully implant into you today this belief that right now, what seems hopeless now can become your spiritual heritage with Christ. What feels hopeless now can become a spiritual heritage when you're rooted in God and rooted in Christ. And what can end up happening is that if we don't have this mindset, what God wants to build through you and through your lineage and through your family and wants you to hand forward into the future, what can end up happening is you end up missing the fact that God's grace wants to interrupt your life and pick you up and turn you around and help you to step into what God is naming as your redeeming redemption story, just like Ruth. And what can happen is that we miss the moment in the ordinary, mundane things where God is wanting to implant hope and faithfulness in us, and that hopelessness, it can just put us in a state where it's like, you know what, it's not even worth trying. It's too risky to try to take that step. I feel like God's calling me to. To act, to confess, to serve the Lord, to be faithful, to forgive that person who hurt you. As we opened up the story of Ruth, we saw that this book comes right after the book of Judges. And this says in the days when the judges ruled is the way this book opens up. This time of the judges in Israel's history is one of the darkest times in Israel's history. The scripture says that people were doing what was right in their own eyes. There was idolatry, there was violence, there was violence against women and children, there was chaos, there was repeated turning away from God by the Israelites. And as Ruth's story opens up, it opens up with this national disaster of famine. And so the family, they they leave Israel, they go to this other nation that has a complicated relationship with the Israelites of Moab. And that's why we intersect into Ruth's life. Because Ruth is then grafted into this Israelite family, Naomi and Elimelech's family, and then Elimelech dies. And as they return back to home, Naomi, mother-in-law, says, My life is empty. But Ruth has committed herself to her mother-in-law and is standing right next to her, and she's clinging to her mother-in-law. And so as Naomi says, My life is empty, she's saying that while literally Ruth is standing right next to her. And if we saw in Ruth 2 last week that God brings this lifeline into the equation by way of Ruth stepping into and just happened to step into this field of a man named Boaz. Boaz's name literally means strength. And we see Boaz see Ruth, protect her, feed her. And then he tells Ruth that she's come under the refuge of the wings of Yahweh. And last week we were introduced to this concept of kanaf. This Hebrew word that Boaz says to Ruth that when he tells her that she's come under the refuge of the wings of Yahweh, the word wings is this word kanaf, which means the outer edges, the very extremity. And he's using this word to as a symbol of like a bird, the wings, the stream of the wings is covering over, that she's come under the covering of Yahweh, this foreigner. And she's also been able to glean and eat in the field, on the edges of the field. And so as we've looked at this story, which oftentimes is tried to be turned into this romance story, which obviously there's some of that, but but mostly this is a story of redemption. And we are entering into the last two chapters of this story as we see the fruition of Boaz as this Goel, this kinsman redeemer, this redeemer, this family redeemer. And we're gonna see that this vulnerable woman is gonna come under the covering of God, the covering of Boaz, and what seems hopeless in her story, God is about to turn into a spiritual heritage. So if you have your Bible with you, turn to Ruth chapter 3. We're gonna start in verse 1. As we go through the rest of this story together, one day, Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi, said to her, My daughter, I must find a home for you where you will be protected, well protected for. Now Boaz, with uh with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes, then go down to the threshing floor, but do not let him know that you are there until he's finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he's lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do. I will do what you say, Ruth answered. Now, does anybody think that this scene seems a little sketchy? I mean, I'm gonna be you, but you read that and you start getting a little nervous. Like, what's about to happen right now in this story? Well, that's intentional. This strange scene that those that know their Bible knows that this is actually got all these notes of an earlier story in Genesis chapter 38 with Judah and Tamar, some of Boaz's ancestors. And we don't have time to get into that story, but it's a scandalous story. It's a scandalous story about Boaz's ancestor not wanting to take on the responsibility of being the kinsman redeemer, to be this guardian relative, this guardian redeemer. And so the the writer of this story is is giving us this picture and saying, like, okay, what's what's Boaz gonna do? Is Boaz gonna step into his role and his responsibility, or is this gonna be an absolute mess? So she goes and lays down. Then Boaz wakes up. Verse 8. In the middle of the night, something startled the man. He turned, and there was a woman lying at his feet. Who are you? He asks. I am your servant Ruth, she said. Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian redeemer of our family. The Lord bless you, my daughter, he replied. This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier. You have not run after young men, whether rich or poor, and now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town will know that you are a woman of noble character. Verse 12. Although it is true that I am a guardian redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. Stay here for the night, and in the morning, if he wants to do his duty as your guardian redeemer, good. Let him let him redeem you. But if he's not willing, as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it. Lie here until morning. Ruth comes to Boaz in private. And she puts herself at the feet of Boaz. And she says, I'm Ruth, I'm your servant. Would you spread the corner of your garment over me? Can you guess what that word is? It's the same word, kanaf. It's that same Hebrew word. The same Hebrew word that Boaz said to her that she was going to come under the wings, the refuge of the wings of Yahweh. And now here she is, putting herself at Boaz's feet, and she's saying, Would you spread your wings over your servant to be a redeemer? Now, what's important to know about this story is that at this time where this woman, this foreigner, is in such a vulnerable position, there was no life insurance, there was no government assistance, there were no programs, there were there was no safety net for this young woman and her mother-in-law. The only safety net was this provision of having a kinsman redeemer. This redeemer that's called a Goel. There's not even really a good English word to translate for this term, but we saw last week in Leviticus 25 that God gave this provision that if the family member gets into a destitute situation or an impoverished situation, that one of their relatives could come in and redeem that situation. And so here she is putting herself at the feet of Boaz, and she's saying, Would you cover me over in the refuge of your wings? And she's vulnerable. And you know what Boaz does? He doesn't take advantage of this young, vulnerable woman. Instead, what does he do? He honors her. He honors her. Here she's come in the middle of the night, put herself at his feet, and he says to her, everybody's gonna know that you are a woman of noble character. Lie here for the rest of the night. Boaz has so much integrity that he even tells her, hey, I'm willing to be your redeemer, but there's a little issue, there's a little problem. There's somebody who actually is closer as a closer guardian redeemer. And so we need to see whether or not that person is going to step into this role. And so he in full integrity honors Ruth, doesn't take advantage of her. And then we're left with this question of what's gonna happen to this family line. Is Ruth gonna get covered? Is Naomi and her lineage gonna be restored? This this comes down to just one of these very like monumental moments. And I don't know about you, but I wish that God would just kind of give me a sign every time I'm in like a monumental moment. God just looked down and say, hey, this is an important decision. Hey, this decision right now, this is one force that you need to make sure that you have integrity. Make sure you're making the right choice. Because this is gonna play out. Your obedience in this situation is gonna echo. But oftentimes when we have moments like this, these huge moments, they don't feel huge. They feel quite ordinary. Even times where it's like, okay, are you gonna stand up for God in your life? Are you gonna make the right choice? Oh, you know, it feels awkward to do that. I don't know if I should do that or not. If I choose God, you know, God, I really want to make this choice for you, God, but it's incredibly inconvenient for me right now, Lord. It feels risky to choose you, God. And I don't know if you ever struggle with moments like that, but what ends up happening, these huge hinge moments that are in our life, it we it we tend to not realize that they're happening with a conversation that is important that you're gonna be thinking about years later. A prayer that you're praying over a child that's needing you, a confession. Maybe it's a responsibility that God's putting before you that you need to accept. Maybe it's a pattern that's in your family, that you're the one that God is leading to the moment, this huge moment, for you to be the one to interrupt this habit and interrupt this pattern in your lineage so that you can write a different story. And so, what we need to do is be cognizant in these mundane, normal moments, ordinary moments, is to be faithful in these hinge moments. If we're gonna overcome hopelessness, we need to be faithful in the hinge moments. Anybody heard that big doors swing on small hinges? And the enemy wants to tell us all the time, this doesn't matter. This decision, it's just a small thing. It's just a little sin, it's just this little thing that I like to do. You know, it's it's too late anyway. You're exhausted, like you deserve it. Or maybe, maybe this the thought of like, well, somebody else will do it. It's not that big of a deal. These hinge moments that are in our life. Normally we're in the midst of them, they don't feel historic at all when we're standing in the middle of them. But when we're faithful in these hinge moments, we have no idea what God is gonna build through your every single day faithfulness. Ruth, she goes to the threat to the threshing floor and Boaz is there. She doesn't know how he's gonna respond. She doesn't know anything about this nearer relative who's another option of kinsman redeemer. She doesn't know how it's gonna resolve. She doesn't know that one day that her name is gonna be in. The Gospel of Matthew in the first chapter, all she's doing in this fragile situation, listen to me, is being faithful to the right next step. She's being faithful to what she needs to do. And oftentimes, when we're in that state, we've got to choose the faithful step to God. Because what seems hopeless now can become a spiritual heritage. That's what we're seeing through Ruth. The first part of the next chapter in chapter four goes more into detail of what happens with this conflict. What's going to happen with this other possible redeemer? Verse 1. Meanwhile, Boaz went up to the town gate, sat down there just as the guardian redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, Come over here, my friend, and sit down. So we went over and sat down. Boaz took ten elders of the town and said, Sit here. And then they did so. Then he said to the guardian redeemer, Naomi has come back from Moab and is selling the piece of land that belongs to our relative Elimelech. I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do uh do so. But if you will not tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line. I will redeem it, he said. Then Boaz said, On the day that you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth, the Moabite, the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property. And you uh the day you buy Naomi's land, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property. In verse 6, at this the guardian redeemer said, Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it. Now watch how slick Boaz is. It's the next day. Boaz shows up, he's at the town gate, he sees this other option, this other guardian redeemer option. He says, Come over here. Hey, sit down, I want to have a conversation. Come over here to the city gate. I want to I want to talk with you. Actually, there's ten elders right here, too, but don't look at them. Just let's have a conversation here. Come over, let's have a sit down. And he says, Come over here, friend. What's really funny about this is that the Hebrew word for this guardian redeemer there that's translated friend, the Hebrew word is actually so-and-so. Like the Bible didn't even didn't even take time to tell this man's name, okay? Literally, it's hey so-and-so, come over here. I want to have a conversation with you with all these elders and people standing around here right now. Now let me tell you, there's a great opportunity for you. Elimelech has passed away, is widow Naomi. They have this property that needs to be redeemed, and you have the option to do that. And this guy immediately starts thinking money signs, probably. Man, I got an investment opportunity? Amazing. And then Boaz says, and also, too, you also are gonna have responsibility of Naomi, who's a widow, and also Ruth, the Moabite foreigner who's also a widow, and that guy, all he then can think is, I don't need another mouth to feed. All he's thinking about is what's in it for him. This opportunity for him, this it this investment. And you have Boaz, instead of him thinking about inheritance, he's thinking about the responsibility that God has put over him. You have Boaz that instead of him thinking about this, the opportunity that's right before him, he's thinking about what God has put into his life as an obligation and to be a blessing. And he's thinking about the blessing that's gonna come, not just the burden that's gonna come from having some more mouths to feed. And then what does so-and-so do? He backs out. I don't need all that, I don't need all that. You see this contrast between Boaz, who steps into his heritage, steps into his God-ordained lineage, who steps into what God is leading him to to accept the call of redemption. And look at this, it's gonna cost him something. It's gonna actually cost him something. This isn't just some opportunity for him. This is not Boaz, well, wow, he's just like he's just such a great guy. No, he's stepping into his call as a Goel, a redeemer, a representation of coming under the wings of God. So oftentimes, the moments that we step into, that build our heritage and build our lineage and build the life that God's calling us to, they don't feel dramatic. For me, it's like the the prayers in the car, and for my wife, the prayers in the car with the girls before school. Or that conversation at dinner time. We say, hey, what's the happiest part of your day? And my daughters say, we don't want to say right now. And then I say, Well, what did God tell you today? And they say, nothing. I'm like, okay, I'll ask you tomorrow. When you apologize, when it's hard to do, you make that tough budget decision. You step up and say, you know what? Yeah, actually, like God wants me to be walking in my heritage and my lineage and the way that I serve in the body of Christ, it actually matters. And so, no, I'm not too busy to serve every other Sunday. I actually'm gonna step in to serve. I just gotta call this out real quick. He's gonna hate this. Trevor, who's sitting over here? Last night, Trevor worked all night on his shift and healthcare, and then came in yesterday morning to bless the families that were doing the baby dedication because they got to experience it last year. And so instead of having every excuse because he worked all night, he showed up to serve the Lord and serve other people. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, giving up. He hates this right now. That's good. Clap for him louder because he hates it. Stepping into the things that feel ordinary. You want me to get into a small group and share about my business? I'm not doing that. It's a struggle. It's a struggle, it's a struggle for me. Those moments that actually are gonna build a spiritual heritage that just feel mundane or they don't feel so dramatic. It's these everyday decisions that are in the kitchen and in your car. And what I want you to see is that that this your spiritual heritage, it hangs on these everyday hooks. That's my second point. Your spiritual heritage, it hangs on these everyday hooks of the small things. But the enemy wants to tell you, well, it's no big deal, it's just a small thing, it's just a conversation, it's just this little sin, it's just this lie, it's just it's just this small thing. And all the while you miss out on the ordinary obedience that God is leading you to to build this spiritual heritage in you. And the story that God is writing through your life, it gets changed by these everyday hooks and decisions of faithfulness. Listen to me. For those of you that you have a past and you have a family and you think, man, you know, I don't know how in the world God's gonna actually use me or change my story. Can I tell you that the story that's handed to you does not have to be the story that's handed through you? That's the story of Ruth. She's this widow. She's handed widowhood, she's handed poverty, she's handed being an outsider, she's handed having a bitter mother-in-law, she's handed this unresolved, messed up circumstances, and she steps out and she, in faithfulness to God, she takes the next faithful step, and then God in his mercy then leads her to this man, Boaz, who's willing to step into his lineage and step into and risk his own inheritance when you have a so-and-so who wouldn't even put his name on the line. This spiritual heritage that we have with God, it actually costs us something. It costs us something. You want to have a good marriage, it's gonna take sacrifice. Somebody say amen. If you want to you want to have great children, it's gonna take discipleship. If you want to have a great church and a great church family, that doesn't come without serving. If you want to have a community and friends, that doesn't come without you stepping out in vulnerability and being willing to be a friend. You want to step into leadership in your life, that doesn't come without a burden, doesn't come without a cost. The legacy that God wants to build through you doesn't come without responsibility. These are the everyday hooks that the faithfulness to God hangs on. Alright, let's finish up this story. Verse nine. Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, today you are witnesses that have I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kileon, and Malon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Malon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today, you are witnesses. Boaz he publicly redeems this line, he publicly redeems the land, he marries Ruth, he preserves the lineage, and as Ruth came to him in private and asked for his covering, here he is now publicly declaring that there is a future and a light that's gonna happen through them. Look at what happens, verse 14. They get married. She has a child. Verse 14. The women said to Naomi, Praise be the Lord, for this day has not left you without a guardian redeemer. May he become famous through throughout Israel. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth. Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The woman, the woman living there said, Naomi has a son. His name is Obed, and he was the father of Jesse, the father of David. Boaz takes Ruth as his wife, she bears him a son, and then the woman, women say to Naomi, You are blessed by God. Because you have a redeemer, and you have a daughter-in-law who loves you, who's better than seven sons, who's committed to you and has clung to you. And the woman who said that she went away empty, she went away full, but God brought her back empty, is now has her hands filled with a son. A son that then will lead to another son and another son and ultimately lead to David, a king. That David is King David. That we know from Matthew that the lineage of David, the house of David, would then come who? Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. When Ruth, when she showed up into the field, she could not see that her name would one day be in Matthew chapter 1. But as when he was at the city gates, he did not see that one day the Savior of the world was going to come from his lineage. Naomi, she couldn't see that when her she thought that God had left her empty, that one day soon her arms would be filled with the ancestor of the king of the whole nation. It's hard to see. It's hard to see God's hand in the middle of what we're going through. It's tough. And I want for you, as well as you can, to understand the fact that we have to see the hand of God on your future history. That's my third point. What God is going to write into your future, that one day is going to be your history. You've got to know that God's hand is in the middle of it as you're stepping out to recognize the fact that your future, it's not your own. You have a God who loves you, who's covering over you, who's your kanaf, who's saying, You're not doing this on your own, single mom. You're not doing this on your own, grandparent. You're not doing this on your own, teenager. You've got a God who loves you, who has you under the refuge of his wings. Know that God has a future for you. That one day you'll look back. Uh last weekend, Memorial Day weekend, a family went and uh we went over to State Park, Blue Licks Battlefield, State Park, and we saw the graves of the last martyrs of the Revolutionary War, one including Daniel Boone's son, Israel. And as we were standing there looking at this grave, I know that those some 60 men who died when they were in the middle of it, they were not thinking, oh, this is gonna be the last battle that's going to produce a nation. They didn't know what was they didn't know they were in the middle of a historic moment. And and we were standing there in front of this monument, I was thinking about it, and I asked my girls again, they're six and and three. I said, Hey, what did you think about that? And they said, Graves are creepy. I'm like, Yep, that's right. Yeah, that's what you took from this. I understand. But but for me, it was a it was a reminder for me that you don't know what God's gonna do with your life. What he's gonna allow you to be a part of. And for Ruth, that meant for her that she had no idea that when she stepped into a field of Boaz, that one day that was gonna be the bloodline of Jesus. And for Boaz, as a kinsman redeemer that would give way to the Redeemer of the whole world. I uh I I just am keenly aware of these small moments that we can miss. And thinking about my girls and dedicating them to the Lord and the prayers that have been prayed over them, and Emily and I, we are not perfect parents by any stretch. There's so many moments already, and just those first six years I feel like I could I wish I could redo or being distracted. The other day, this is gonna make me upset. The other day I was uh with my girls and I was answering an email or something, and my daughter was trying to get my attention. And she said, uh, we were in the living room. She said, Dad, put down your electronics and watch me. And I'm sure she's heard that from school or something. And um when she said that it kind of like brought me up. I'm like, what's on my phone right now? It's not as important as this little moment right now with my little girl, so that she knows that she has a dad who loves her, that's time for her, who wants to be a picture of a heavenly father, she has a dad who uh wants to be a representation of Jesus, not just at church, not just a job, and I'm able to pray over them, not just on a stage. That moment, it I just felt heavy and it was such an ordinary moment, but it was a reminder of the heritage, a reminder of the heritage. Church, can you imagine if as parents, if we thought about bedtime as heritage? Amen. If you thought about your spiritual leadership in your home and you showing up to church every Sunday as your spiritual heritage, ladies, if you you thought about your faithfulness to God and even in tough times and hard circumstances and when things feel insecure and not on solid ground, but uh your faithfulness to God is you building a heritage, students when you stand up for God or you walk with God in your hallways and in a classroom when every temptation is around you and that witness that you have, it's building a heritage. Just imagine if you had that kind of mindset. When you're in a small group circle and you thought, you know what, in a living room, this is building a heritage. When you volunteer, when you when you're a team member, when you serve kids in kids' ministry, or when you serve in our city with Frankfurt Forward, these are these are moments of you building a lineage in Christ. Just imagine if you stop thinking, you know what, my story is too broken. God couldn't do anything, he couldn't use me, and you realize that God's grace has his hand right on you. And the story that was handed to you does not have to be the same story that is handed through you, because we have a God who loves us so much that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Can I tell you today? Can I tell you, come under the covering of God today? There's some of you, you've been trying to do this all on your own. You've been saying, you know what, I can do this myself. Mr. Independent, Miss Independent, can I tell you, come under the covering of God. He's waiting to put you under the refuge of his wings to cover you. Christ covers us in the blood that he bled for us on the cross. Today, maybe the day for somebody in this room for you to actually receive the grace and forgiveness that Jesus bought for you 2,000 years ago on the cross, so that you wouldn't do this life on your own because you can't save yourself, the sin and the mess ups that you have in your life. As much as you try, you cannot be your own covering. You need the covering of Christ over you so that you could be washed, cleansed by God's grace from his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection, so that you could be saved. Or for you that's been following Christ, or you say that you're a Christian, for you to think, okay, God, what could you actually do with my heritage? What could you actually do with my lineage? Would you stand to your feet now as I pray over all of us? God, right now, I pray over every home that's represented in this house. Father, I pray, God, that right now, Lord, you would help us to see in the ordinary obedience of The ordinary work that you had for us. The ordinary grace and love. Father, I pray right now for everybody in this room who claims Christ to be a Christian, that today would be the day, Father, that you would just tear open their mind and heart to pull hopelessness out and replace it, God, with a hope of a heritage and a future. That God, they would see that, Lord, what they're doing right now, this day, in worship, it's building a legacy. So, God, I thank you, Lord, for redeeming so many stories in this house. And God, that that's going to continue to flow to our children and children's children. God, right now I pray, Lord, if there's anybody in this room who's not accepted you as Savior, that today would be the day of their salvation. Today would be the day that they give their life to you. And if that's you, I ask you right now to pray before God. Pray in your heart and mind, Jesus, save me. If that's you, say, Jesus, save me. I believe that you died on the cross for my sin. That you walked out of the grave alive. That you're the Son of God. Forgive me. Cleanse me. Wash me so I can be in heaven with you one day. I repent and turn my life to you. I commit myself to you. From this day forward, I give you my life as you gave yours for mine. Build a spiritual heritage in me. Now into heaven. Thank you for saving me.

Sallie 45:50

We're so grateful you joined us for this week's message. At Multiply, we believe life was never meant to be lived alone. If today you made the decision to follow Jesus, we'd be honored to walk with you on this journey. Visit multiplyky.com to let us know. We love you and we'll see you again soon.