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Let's pray together, family church. Heavenly Father, we bow before you in the name of Jesus, crucified on the cross for our sins and raised from the dead. You have washed us white as snow by your shed blood. God, we come to you in Jesus' name, and we need to hear from you this morning as we open your word right now. Would you speak to us from the Bible by your spirit? Would you give us courage to receive everything you have to teach us this morning? And we do receive it. We receive it by faith, and we receive it in Jesus' name. And all God's people say, Amen. You can't be seated. Welcome again to Family Church. My name is Jimmy Scrogins. I'm one of the pastors here at Family Church. And every Sunday at Family Church, we have a Bible study. And we're going to have our Bible study right now. So we're going to get your Bibles out. Turn your Bibles on on your devices. Grab a Bible from the pew in front of you and open up to the book Song of Solomon or Song of Songs. It's found in the middle of the Bible. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. And if you'll go ahead and locate that and also get your program out, we've got some fill-in-the-blanks and a place for you to take notes, and it's good for you to get in the habit of writing things down when we have a Bible study. This is week two of a five-week teaching series through this book, The Song of Solomon. This series is about attraction and romance and sexual desire and marriage. Attraction and romance and sexual desire and marriage. And whenever I start thinking about these things, I told you last week I always think about when Krista and I uh first started dating when we were teenagers back in the early 90s. I showed you this picture last week. And I love this picture because it just reminds me of so many good things that happened in that time of life. Now, when Krista and I started dating, we figured out pretty quickly we are not in this just to date. We want this relationship to go somewhere. And we weren't together very long before we knew we intended to get married. Marriage, marriage for us, was the destination. That's where we were trying to go if we could get there as we were dating. And we were Christians. We weren't perfect, but we were Christians. And so, even though I mean I really, really liked her a lot. And she likes me too. I could tell. And because of that, if we were going to do things the right way according to God's design, we had to create some boundaries around our relationship to protect us. Because when you're in that time of intense attraction, especially as a young person, that can be really difficult. And even though we have boundaries, it wasn't always easy to keep them. And so these are things that Christian people have to deal with. Now, then when we got ready to get married, our church had a process similar to family church for pre-marriage. So they had a class we had to take, they gave us a test, they gave us some information back. And so we took this test, and this guy that we didn't really know, he was like a, I don't know, some kind of counselor, he's a PhD, and he was trying to give us feedback on everything. And he was like, okay, you guys are extremely compatible. We're like, no kidding, that's why we're here. And he's like, yeah, except for you got a couple of areas here you scored really low. And I predict this could be actually areas of friction for you for the rest of your life. Now, when I was just in my early 20s, I looked at that guy and I just thought, this guy's an idiot. He doesn't know one single thing. What does he know? He doesn't even know us. 31 years later, he nailed it. I mean, he nailed it. He knew exactly what he was talking about. He really related it. And let me tell you, we were dating and we were getting married before the internet, before cell phones. I mean, we were in the stone age compared to you guys now. I understand that. And we were, that was how it was back then. Things are a little different now. But I will say, whether you got married a long time ago or you're getting married right now, the fundamentals of what make a healthy Christian marriage have not changed one bit. The fundamentals of what will make a healthy Christian marriage have not changed one bit. And we see this in this text in the Song of Psalms. So here's our big idea today for our talk. The big idea is you have to make decisions today that set you up for healthy marriage someday. You have to make decisions today that set you up for healthy marriage someday. That's true if you're thinking about getting married. It's true if you hope to be married or be married again one day. It's true if you're already married. You better make some decisions today that set you up for healthy marriage in the future. Let's read our text, Song of Solomon chapter 2. We're going to start in verse 8. This is what the word of God says. The voice of my beloved, behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice. My beloved speaks and says to me, Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away. For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom. They give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away. Oh my dove, in the clefts of the rock and the crannies of the cliff. Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom. My beloved is mine, she says, and I am his. He grazes among the lilies until the day breathes and the shadows flee. Turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains. Then the scene shifts a little bit. Chapter 3, the bride says, On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves. I sought him but found him not. I will rise now and go about the city in the streets and in the squares. I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him but found him not. The watchmen found me as they went about in the city. Have you seen him whom my soul loves? Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and I would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, into the chamber of her who conceived me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. And this is the word of God, and all God's people say, Amen. We received God's word at Family Church. This is a beautiful set of poems. These are poems of love. They are inspired by the Holy Spirit. They are a part of Holy Scripture. But this is poetry. So there's a lot of images, there's a lot of illusions. Some of these things can be a little bit specific. So if you read them and you think, man, it almost sounds like they're talking about, yeah, they are probably talking about whatever you're thinking about. It's not just your dirty mind at work in church. That's that's the Bible. And so you ought to be aware of that. And it does get a little bit graphic from time to time. And we're not going to get extremely graphic in here because it's a family show. But that doesn't change what the Bible is saying. These poems are about a young man and a young woman that are headed towards marriage, but they're not married yet. And so they're thinking about marriage, they're anticipating marriage, but they're not married yet. And in these two poems, the woman is daydreaming or fantasizing about what could happen in these different encounters with her fiance there. So if you still have your Bible open, look down at your Bible with me. Let's walk through how I'll help interpret some of these things so you can get a better picture of what he's talking about, what she's talking about. In verse 8, the woman says, I can hear his voice. He's coming to get me. He's headed my way. He's leaping over mountains. He's climbing over hills. He'll do whatever it takes to get to me. Look at verse 9. Then she says, Now he's outside of my house. He's outside of the wall. She's saying, God has given us some guardrails that we should not cross yet because it isn't time. It is not the appropriate time yet. And in this text, it's inside of her house. That means her family is helping to maintain these boundaries and these guardrails for her, these holy, healthy boundaries. She's behind the wall with their family. He's outside of there trying to become a part of the family, trying to get in, but he's not in there yet. And uh this is the guy who has been jumping over mountains and climbing over hills, but now he's stopped outside the wall. And you think about that, why is that? Because he's responding to the value of appropriate timing and he respects it. You know, I've heard some uh ladies in our church, some single women, they've said to me, they said, Pastor Jimmy, you know, it's difficult now to be a Christian and to date because there's these expectations of what you're going to do in terms of physical intimacy if you're in a dating relationship. And I've even had guys tell me that uh if I don't sleep with them, they're gonna, they're not going to date me. And that's what we're up against out here. Let me just tell you this if you're going to be a Christian, men or women, if you're going to be a Christian, if they value the destination, healthy marriage, Christian marriage, they will value the guardrails along the journey. If they value the destination, healthy Christian marriage, they will value the guardrails along the journey. If they don't value the guardrails along the journey, you can rest assured they actually do not value the destination as much as they might want you to think. Look at verse 10. Look what happens. She says, I can imagine him saying to me, Let's run off together. We're ready. I want you and you want me. The whole world is our oyster. The whole world is our playground. Look at this. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming. I can smell the fragrance of the of the flowers. The whole world, it is, it is a it is our time, it is our moment to be together. What are we waiting for? And then look at verse 14. In verse 14, she's not as accessible to him as he wishes at this point. She's in the clefts of the rock, she's in the crannies of the cliff. Maybe she's describing, or he's describing, um, maybe they had a little fight, and now she's got her feelings hurt and she's withdrawing. Or maybe she's playing hard to get, which isn't usually a terrible idea. Either way, he wants to draw her to him. He's trying to woo her to him. He's saying, Don't be like that. Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice. Guys, you ever had to do that? You ever get in a fight? She withdraws, and you're over there trying to figure out what in the world you did and what to do? Come out, don't be like that. Don't be like that. Come on. Verse 15. She says, We need to catch the little foxes that spoil our vineyards. What are they saying there? As much as we love each other, we know that everything's not perfect. We need to take care of little problems that in the future could actually ruin our relationship. They don't look like a big deal right now, but if we leave them there and don't deal with them, they could be a big deal later. Why is it so important for them to deal with the little foxes? Because our vineyards are in bloom, man. Because we are at the on the verge of an incredible adventure that we're going to take together, but we're young and our love and our relationship is fragile, and it's really easy for little foxes to get in there and ruin young love right out of the gate. That's why some of you guys are in a position where you're thinking about getting married. You might even be sitting in here right now with somebody that you think that you're going to marry, that you know that you're going to marry. Can I just give you some encouragement? If you are with someone and you think you might marry them, you better deal with the little foxes right now. Don't tell yourself, yeah, it's kind of a problem now, but once we get married, I'll change her. Once we get married, I'll change him. That is dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb. You need to deal with the little foxes right now, because if you can't deal with it now, it'll be more difficult to deal with it later. You know why? Because those little foxes are easy to handle when they're small, but they don't stay little for long. One day they'll be big, scary foxes and they'll tear up your whole household. That's why you got to deal with it when they're little. And that's why at Family Church we have a program for premarriage. If you're thinking about getting married, you should get engaged with our program at Family Church. We have marriage mentors we'll connect you with, they can give you good advice. We have a pre-marriage class, preparation for marriage class that you can get involved in. And it takes several months to do this the right way, our pre-marriage program. So can I just give you some advice? If you're thinking about getting married or you're headed that direction, can I just tell you how we would like for you to do it? If you do it the way we want, here's what we would like for you to do. We would like for you, when you decide that you're going to get married, that you contact us immediately before you set a date and before you get everything all set up. Contact us and say, tell me about the pre-marriage program. What do we need to do to set ourselves up today for a better marriage in the future? We are really skilled at this. We've been doing this for a long time. We have a whole system and a program. And if you will engage with us, we will help you have a healthy marriage someday if you'll make some good decisions today. Sometimes people call us and they're like, all right, Pastor Jimmy, we want to do things the right way. We love Jesus. We want our church family involved. But our wedding is at 6 o'clock on May the 3rd. And we're available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2.30 to 2.45. And so if you can cram in your little program that you've got and those time slots between now and May the 3rd, we would love to participate. And we'll try to do the best we can to work with you, but I'm telling you, we've been doing this a long time. If you will follow the path that we have for you, if you will let us be engaged before you go ahead and lock down all the details, we will help you make some decisions today that'll set you up for a healthy Christian marriage someday. We want to help you deal with the little foxes, but you know what happens? People get carried away. Young people get carried away with their passion for one another. They're so attracted. And I love to just throw all the young people under the bus. I've seen middle-aged people do the exact same thing. I've seen people in their 80s run off and get married too quick. Now I know why they did it because they're thinking we don't have that much time. We got to get with it. I I I got that. But in your passion and your attraction and your romantic fervor for one another right now, could I just encourage you to consider slowing down, get some other people involved so you can do things the right way, take advantage of these little resources. And by the way, some of you are like, Well, I'm already married. I've been married a while, I don't need to even hear any of this. We already know all of that. Hey, you better make some decisions today that set you up for healthy marriage someday, too. The decisions you're making today are preparing for tomorrow. No matter how long you've been together, no matter how long you've been together, you still gotta watch out for the little foxes that get into your vineyard. And you may have some from time to time. What kind of little fox am I talking about? It could be your parents. Sometimes dealing with parents is tough in marriage. And I know I'm on the other side of it now because I've got kids that are married. I am the parents. What's my job as a parent? My job is to make it as easy as possible for my kids to leave us and cleave to one another, like the Bible tells them to do. That's my job. And if you got grown kids, that's your job too. What about issues with intimacy? Sometimes people have challenges there. Issues with finances, uh, issues with communication, with addiction, with temper, with faithfulness. You better deal with the little foxes in your relationship. They only get bigger from here, they don't just go away on their own. Verse 16 and 17. She says, Yeah, sometimes I withdraw from you into the crannies of the cliff, say in the cleft of the rock. But even though we have to deal with these little foxes, I want to be clear. I am his and he is mine. And then she says, This is awesome. She says, I'm ready for him to graze among the lilies. And she says, I want him to graze among the lilies until the morning breathes. In other words, I want him to graze among the lilies all night long. Now, this is Hebrew poetry. I'm not 100% sure what graze among the lilies is, but I can tell you, if Kristen says to me, Come home tonight, you're gonna graze among the lilies. I'm here for it, let me tell you right now. The point of this text is that desire is real. That sexual desires, though, can only be righteously satisfied in covenant Christian marriage, which is the destination that we're aiming for. Then, if you look in your text, you shift over to chapter three, the scene's a little bit different. Now it's at night. She's lying in her bed by herself, but she's thinking of him. Look at verse 1. I've been thinking about my future husband while I'm lying in my bed. And in this dream that she's having, she's thinking about finding the one that will be with her for the rest of her life, but she hasn't found him yet. Verse 2, she's looking for him, but finding the right one turns out it's harder to find him than she thought it was going to be. It's taking longer than she thought it was going to take. And then look at verse 3. Even the watchmen, the people who are supposed to know everything, they're not really able to help her either. She's asking, Have you seen the one whom my soul loves? And then in verse 4, she finally finds the right guy. And now she says, I'm going to hold on to him for dear life. And this time, instead of him being shut up, shut out of the house on the other side of the wall, now I'm bringing him into the house, into the family, into my mother's bedchamber. And what she's really saying there is, I'm going to bring him into my family. My family's going to be a part of it. He's going to become a part of our family now, and we're going to create the next generation of our family. That's what she's saying, which also is a very good thing. That is part of God's design. That's why, even this room now, you hear all these babies kind of making baby noises right now, and some of you don't like that. I don't care. I'm so glad that we have a church full of babies and little children. I'm so glad that if you look around, there's all these women walking around expecting. That is God's design, and that's a blessing of God on our church and on your families. And I say more power to you. And this is your monthly reminder from me that if you are of childbearing age and you're married and you want to have another child, there's no better day to start than Sunday. Some of y'all just need to get out of church, go have lunch, and graze among the lilies and see what happens. But I digress. Verse 5. Verse 5. This is the key because this is repeated all throughout the book. Verse 5, she says, in spite of the powerful pull of desire, we will not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time. And that's the way Christians have to look at it. You should not be stirring up or awakening love until the appropriate time. Now, attraction and romance and sexual desire and Christian marriage, those are all good gifts from God and they are worth pursuing. But you've got to make some decisions today that will set you up for a healthy marriage someday. And how do we do that? If you're going to write some things down on your notes, I hope you're in the habit of writing things down. We have a Bible study, we have some fill-in-the-blanks for you, place for you to write down. Here's what number one. What can we learn? Number one, as you pursue Christian marriage, this is true whether you're married or it's in the future for you. Number one, be intentional and patient. Be intentional and patient. Remember the text. He's coming to find her. He's leaping over mountains, he's climbing over hills, he's looking through the window, he's calling her name. She's very drawn to him, but she doesn't want to give him too much access before the appropriate time. The man is doing whatever he can to get to the girl. I remember Krista and I were dating. We were just in our late teens and early 20s, and I lived in Louisville, Kentucky, and she lived in Jacksonville, Florida. And I'll tell you what I would do. I would drive all night just to get to spend one day with her. You know what I was doing? I was doing a 1994 version of leaping over mountains like a gazelle, like a young stag. That's what I was doing. It's okay for you to be intentional about finding a wife or a husband. If you're single and you're a Christian person and you would like to be married or you'd like to be married again, I want to encourage you, it's okay for you to seek a wife or a husband. It's a good thing for you to be intentional about that. You're gonna have to put yourself out there a little bit to do it, but it's okay for you. You don't have to sit around here hoping that Mr. or Mrs. Wonderful drops out of the sky. You can actually look. You can look, you can pray, you can seek someone uh to marry, and you can put yourself out there, but you should only put yourself out there to people of strong, committed Christian character. Don't sacrifice strong, committed Christian character just to find someone you'll regret that. But there are some things, no matter how old you are, if you're dating, there are certain things that need to stay on the other side of the wall for now. The time's not appropriate. Some things need to stay on the other side of the wall, some things need to be hidden in the cleft of the rock. Can I just encourage some of you, especially in the so social media area? You guys should not reveal too much of yourself too easily and too quickly. Whether it's revealing too much of your body, revealing too much of your schedule, everybody doesn't have to know everywhere you are every second of the day. That's actually not healthy for you when it comes to relationships. If I were you and I wasn't real close to engagement, they would not be tracking me on their phone. If I were you, I would stay away from all of that. You say, Well, you don't understand because remember you have the paveman picture. That's because you don't know. Yeah, I know. Just because you've been dating, been out on three dates, he should not know every single place that you are. That's just not healthy. That's not healthy boundaries. I'm telling you, don't reveal too much of yourself too quickly. You know, I know we got Instagram now, we've got all these other social media tools, and I know we've got dating profiles, and a lot of people in our church meet each other on these dating sites, and I understand all of that, but I would encourage you while you're doing all that, find some way to include a little mystery. Find some way to include a little modesty. Modesty is a word we don't even like to say. Even when I say the word modesty, it's like, hey man, are you saying you want us all to wear a burqa all the time? Wrong religion. I'm not saying that at all. What am I saying? Here's what modesty modesty is presenting yourself so that the attention of other people is drawn to your face and your character and your heart before their attention is drawn to other things. Presenting yourself in person and online so that the attention of other people is drawn to your face and your character and your heart before their attention is drawn to other things. Now in this text, we two people see two people who are pursuing one another. They're intentional, but they have the courage to pursue and they have the wisdom to wait. Do you see that? The courage to pursue and the wisdom to wait. Finding love is gonna require some courage, but it's also gonna require some restraint. Doing things God's way will require some boldness, but it'll also require some discretion. If you want to do things God's way, you're gonna have to be intentional, but you're gonna have to be patient. Make some decisions today that'll set you up for the right kind of thing someday. Number two, on your notes, be diligent about communication. Be diligent about communication. You want to help the marriage someday, you better learn how to communicate today. And what is the key to communication? The key to communication is clarity. And one of the things we specialize in at Family Church is we try to be as clear as possible in our teaching, in our Bible interpretation, and what we're trying to ask people to do. On your notes, it's printed on these uh boxes right here. There are five pillars for gender, sexuality, and family structure. I'm not going to go over them. We did that last week, but they're printed on here. You can check it out. This will help you get clarity in your own mind about what we're doing, about what you should be teaching in your families. But in this text, we have these two young people that are extremely attracted to each other, but they're having to work on their communication. And in this room, I see some people who are committed to each other, but you need to work on your communication. And on this stage, there is a guy teaching the Bible that loves his wife with all of his heart. I'm working on my communication too. And you see them communicating. Look at verse 8 and verse 9. She hears his voice. He's calling her name, he's telling her what he wants. She's creating clarity around what is appropriate right now, and he's responding with respect. That's communication. Hey, you get together because of chemistry. It is no great accomplishment for you to have chemistry with another person. You can always get together for chemistry, but you will stay together because of clarity. Chemistry will put you together, clarity will keep you together. Relationships start because of chemistry and they fall apart because they don't have clarity. What kind of clarity? Because they never stopped and asked the question: who are you really in there? What do you want in the future? What do you believe about God and Jesus and family? What are you expecting from me? What can I expect from you? What kind of a future are you looking for? Taking a step back, pausing, figuring out clarity around where we're headed. Remember, you're not supposed to date just to date. If you have kids, even if they're adult kids, you should encourage them. If I were you, I would not date just to date. If you're going to date, you date with a destination in mind. And you should be evaluating. Dating is an evaluation period. Last week I showed you a little report card. It's a sample. You can put other things on if you want. How do they rate identity, values, goals, Christian beliefs, family, expectations? You can see like, who are you? Are you the kind of person that I really want to marry? Are you my person? And remember, you're trying to get to the destination. The destination is marriage. So if you figure out this person, even if you like them, even if they're a good person, I like you, you're a good person. I'm not going to marry you. Then you need to land the plane and get them off the plane. You know why? Because you're going to marriage island. That's the destination. And if this isn't the person that's going to marriage island with you, you need to get them out of the seat so that when you find the right person, there's an empty seat so they can get on the plane and you can go to Marriage Island together. Now the Bible will help you get clarity around your communication because the Bible's really clear about a lot of things. And Family Church will help you develop clarity around communication because chemistry will help you get together, but it's clarity that will help you stay together. Number three, on your notes, be on guard against threats. Be on guard against threats. Healthy marriage someday means dealing with threats today. Healthy marriage someday means dealing with threats today. Remember the little foxes? The little foxes, ma'am. Those are threats. Now some foxes are internal. They come from your own heart, like lust or pride or selfishness or a lack of self-control. Then some foxes are more external, like pornography or the wrong kinds of other relationships you shouldn't be having or temptations that you experience. Some foxes are relational, like dishonesty or abusive behavior, uh unresolved bitterness, uh, uh unresolved conflict, uh, lack of clarity. Those can be true in a relationship, but whatever the case, you need to deal with these little foxes. What do we do when we identify threats to our relationship or our marriage? Little foxes in the vineyard. You deal with them immediately and decisive. You grab those little foxes by the scruff of their neck, they're easy to handle because they're small, and you get them out of the vineyard. That's what you do. You don't just play with them, you don't let them sit there, you don't ignore them because it's uncomfortable or awkward. You deal with it. So I don't know how to deal with it. I can see it, but I don't know what to do. That's why you have a church family. Man, in this room right here, you have people with a lot of years of marriage experience that can help you. You have pastors that will direct you to the right resources, you should deal with the threats to your marriage. Do not be. And men, you are the worst. So am I. You know why? I don't like to ask people for help, especially for my marriage. You know why? Because I'm the man, I'm a Christian, I'm supposed to handle my business. I don't need someone else hearing about my problems, speaking into my life. I don't want any of that. I understand that. I didn't. But let me tell you something. If you were going to fix the problem that you're having yourself, you would have already done that a long time ago. The fact that you're still having this problem is proof that you're not able to fix it yourself. And that's why you have a church family. Don't be the guy who saw the smoke in the kitchen and is too proud to call the fire department. Hope something else happens, and you just stand there and two hours later your whole house is engulfed in flames. Now you must call the fire department because it's obvious to everyone. But now when the fire department shows up, there's nothing they can do. If you'd have called when you just saw smoke, we would have saved the house. But you waited until there's nothing anyone can do. Don't be that guy. Deal with the little foxes. It's much easier when they're small. Number four, on your notes. Build it on Jesus. Build your relationship on Jesus, build your life on Jesus, build your marriage on Jesus. Hey, do you want a healthy marriage someday? You better start building your relationship on Jesus today, right now. And even if you're already married, you say, Yeah, it's too late. We didn't build our relationship on Jesus. We we did everything wrong, we did everything out of order. We were we did everything wrong. Okay, well, what about now? What about now? The unnamed character in the Song of Solomon is God. But God's the one who's given them this gift of attraction and romance and sexual desire and marriage. And I want you to know that God loves you, and God is for you, and Jesus loves you with an everlasting love. And if you're going to do things God's way, Jesus is going to ask you, and he's going to call you to do some things different from everybody else. And he's going to call you, and he's going to ask you, and he's going to instruct you. Jesus will teach you to make your marriage different than other people's marriage. And he's going to ask you to do some things you will not do on your own. And that's why you need a church family to help you. Like what? Like be passionate for life. Don't let the flame go out. Like forgive easily. Like restore quickly. Like love unconditionally. Like keep fighting for it no matter what. Like submit. Like sacrifice. Be faithful. Because that's how you get to the destination. Healthy, happy, joy-filled, fond, passionate Christian marriage. And I know that in this room, some of you have tremendous regrets in these areas. You have a marriage and it did not work. Maybe it's your fault, maybe it's their fault. Maybe you both, I don't know. Maybe you have a heart that got broken so bad. Maybe you have bitter feelings about what happened and you just can't let it go. Maybe your kids don't really have a great situation because of what has happened. Maybe your sinful decisions have taken you to some really broken places. Maybe you're here today and your spouse doesn't share your commitment to Christ, and that's a major concern for you. And some of you are in this room and you're thinking, This is all just too late for me. I'm too old, there's too much water under the bridge, there's too many things that have already happened. There's no way to go back and fix all of this stuff. I wish I'd have heard this, Pastor Jimmy, when I was younger. If I'd have heard this when I was younger, this could have changed everything for me, for us. I wish I wouldn't have let the little foxes get too big and out of control. I wish we wouldn't have awakened love before it's time. And now look at everything that's happened. I want you to know that Jesus knows all of that, and Jesus loves you with an everlasting love. Jesus is not about promises broken, Jesus is only about promises kept. And Jesus came and he's crucified on the cross for your sins, and God raised him from the dead. And if you will repent of your sins and receive Jesus by faith, he'll forgive you of your sins, and he will take the blame and the shame and the regret off of you. And he takes it on himself on the cross. And you ought to let him have it. You ought to repent. Hey, even if you become a Christian, it's not gonna erase your past. Your past is your past, it's not going away. But Jesus, if you'll repent and you'll believe and you'll receive, Jesus will begin to heal and forgive and restore and renew. That's what Jesus does. And every Sunday at Family Church, we want you to know that God's for you and we're for you, and the destination is still out there in front of you, and it's never too late. And to remind us of the power of God and the love of God for us, every Sunday at Family Church, we take the Lord's Supper, and we're going to take the Lord's Supper right now. The Lord's Supper is a way that we remember the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus. It is the love of God to us, his people. Now, the Lord's Supper is for Christians. If you're here today, you're not a Christian, you should not take the Lord's Supper. And Family Church, we believe it's best for you to take the Lord's Supper after you become a Christian, after you've been baptized, believers baptism by immersion, like Erica, like you did today, which was so awesome. Baptized like that. And then you should be a part of a neighborhood church. Now, some of you are like, hey, I'm a Christian, I've been baptized, but this isn't my church. I'm a guest, I'm from Manita. It's okay. If you're a believer, you've been baptized, you would take the Lord's Supper at your church. Take it with us today as part of the extended family of Jesus that goes around the world. But right now, let's bow our heads, let's close our eyes, let's confess our sins to Jesus. Hey, if you've been broken in this area, let's hand it over to the Lord. Let's ask God to begin to forgive and renew and restore right now. Confess your sins, draw close to Christ. Thank God for the good gift of attraction and romance and sexual intimacy and marriage. And in just a minute, we'll all eat and drink the Lord's Supper together.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

Come thou fount of every blessing to my heart to sing thy grace, streams of mercy never ceasing the loudest praise and teach me some odious on it, sung by flaming tons of blood. Praise the mountain, fix the on it, Mount of Liverpool. She discoming astrage, wandering from the fall of God. She to risk me from danger into most displaces how great a dead daily I constrain to thee thy goodness like a fair by my own dream heart to thee. I'm prone to leave the God. Take it sealed, seal it for thy quarter, use my heart, take it sealed, seal it for thy quarter.