WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.080 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.960 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.720 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:14.480 So I want to start today with a story. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:18.239 And um this is a story about me and my dad growing up. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:23.920 When I was growing up, my dad would take me um to places I never really wanted to go. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:25.440 Maybe you were that way too. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:30.239 Your dad would put you in the car and he would tell you the adventure that you were about to go on. 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:40.399 And um, my dad would take me to strange places, but one of the things he loved to do is he would love to take me to the start of a river. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:46.079 So, Oregon, where I grew up, it's full of rivers and wildlife and hikes and all that stuff. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:51.039 And my dad would love to show me where the origins of specific rivers were. 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:57.359 We'd go on hikes or drives and things like that and say, this is where the Snake River begins, or this is where the Willamette River begins. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:02.479 These are Oregon rivers, and I understand you who are living in California probably don't know these. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:10.640 But one of the rivers that he took us to that he really was proud of showing us at one point was the start of the Columbia River. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.560 The Columbia River is actually the river that divides Oregon and Washington. 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:18.560 And the Columbia River, it's this rushing, rushing river. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:34.799 And many, many rivers, they start actually as lakes or they start as like mountain runoff, just slow drippings of fresh water from melted snow or little lakes that you wouldn't think were very big or much of anything. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:40.480 But then all of a sudden, when they go down mountain ranges, they become these incredible bodies of water. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:42.400 And the Columbia River is enormous. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:46.480 I mean, people windsurf there and fish in the river, and it's it's massive. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:48.079 It divides two states. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:53.599 Well, what starts the Columbia River is called the Columbia Lake up in Canada. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:58.959 And it's a decent size, but it's very placid and it's very still. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:02.799 And this lake turns into this enormous river. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:08.800 And that river turns into other rivers and other streams and tributaries and creeks. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:19.120 And many of those streams and tributaries and creeks and rivers that come off of the Columbia, they end where the Columbia ends, which is in the Pacific Ocean. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:28.000 And it's interesting that the way that God has designed this world is like what starts is this little headwater, which is called the headwater, the source of the river. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:35.919 It turns into all this mess, wild mess and divisions of streams and different kinds of bodies of water. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:38.800 But then it all also ends in the same place. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:43.680 It ends in the Pacific Ocean, in this massive body of water. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:50.479 And I'm thinking about rivers and streams and my father taking me on trips I didn't really want to go because I'm thinking about the church. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:54.719 I'm thinking about the church because we've been talking a lot about the church. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:58.560 And right now, I think Christians are in a lot of different streams. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:02.719 They're in a lot of different divided places, different bodies of water. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:27.039 And what I want to do today is actually kind of zoom out a little bit and see the landscape that God has painted, the landscape God has developed, uh, and to look back at the source and look at the destination and recognize that there are all these various streams and rivers and creeks, but we are all headed for the same great heavenly destination. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:34.159 That the church, while it appears divided, actually has a similar origin and a similar destination. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:39.280 And we get caught up in our own streams, our own place in history. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:44.400 We get frustrated with what is happening and we miss the large picture. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:47.599 And so today I want to actually zoom out a little bit. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:55.120 You know, like on your phone, when you have your map open and you need to pinch the map to really zoom out to see where you are. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:56.800 I kind of want to do that today. 00:03:56.879 --> 00:04:10.000 I kind of want to just step back, zoom out, see what is God doing, what is God up to, and hopefully take a step forward so we can answer this really, really key question, which is what would it take for the church to come together right now? 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:11.520 It would take a lot. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:17.360 And Ryan has talked about unity a lot in the last couple of weeks in the future church series. 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:22.000 And I don't even know if unity is the right word for this sermon today. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:31.759 Um it's more about our collective history origin, like the Columbia has its original origin, and our collective destination as God's people. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:36.160 Um, to just kind of step back and see that as a step towards unity. 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:40.800 Because, like I said, I think we get upset a lot at the stream that we're currently in. 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:46.720 You're a 21st century Christian, maybe, and just kind of frustrated with this one stream that you're in. 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:51.360 And we don't like the place God has put us, like our location of our little stream. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:54.639 Or we don't like where we've come from, like we don't like the origin. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:05:01.439 We think the origin might not be right, or even the people God has put us with, like the surrounding environment of our stream. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:04.079 And maybe we're a little concerned about the direction. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:06.800 We're like, where is this thing called the church going? 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:14.480 And we're gonna take a break from the book of Acts this week and just take one sermon to zoom out to see what is God doing in history. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:22.319 And to do that, we're gonna look at a pretty unique story in the Gospel of Matthew, a unique story found in Matthew 15. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:31.439 So if you have a Bible, I'd love for you to take that out, turn it on your phone, or open the physical Bible, and go to Matthew chapter 15, starting in verse 21. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:43.040 We're gonna look at this strange story in Jesus' ministry and help hopefully help us see how it can bring us a step towards unity to come together a little bit more. 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:46.399 Matthew 15, 21, this is a story about Jesus. 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:53.600 It says that he went away from the place he was, and he withdrew to the district of Tyree and Sidon. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:06:00.959 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:04.240 My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:06.240 But he did not answer her a word. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:12.959 And his disciples came and begged him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:17.199 This story in Matthew, and I've just read part of it, we're not done with it. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:21.439 This story in Matthew is traditionally called Jesus and the Canaanite woman. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:23.759 She's referred to as a Canaanite here. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:30.160 Um this story is so interesting for many reasons, and we have to kind of set it up first. 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:35.199 This word Canaanite is important for understanding where we are in the story. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:40.720 The word Canaanite is actually never used in the New Testament except for right here in this passage. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:44.879 The word is used hundreds of times, though, in your Old Testament. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:51.759 So if you were to just search this word in your Bible, you'd see none of it exists in the New Testament except for right here. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:55.040 Um, but Matthew's main audience was Jewish people. 00:06:55.120 --> 00:07:01.839 So when they saw that word, they would actually be hyperlinking to all of these Old Testament passages where that word was popping up. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:03.600 They understood this word. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:06.240 The word refers to a particular kind of people. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:08.800 This woman is called a Canaanite woman. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:12.800 And these were Israel's major enemies, the Canaanites. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:18.160 They were above anything, they were seen as outside of the stream of what God was doing, right? 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:21.920 God has this river and he's working through Israel. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:30.319 And the Israelites were pretty convinced that Canaanites, we don't know what they're doing, but they're not a part of the stream of what we're doing here, of what God's up to. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:31.439 Sound familiar? 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:33.040 It's happening today, right? 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:37.199 Just seeing it other people in other streams and saying, that is not us. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:41.199 Um, and this is the backdrop given to the woman with this name. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:42.639 She was not a part of Israel. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:45.920 And that's probably why in the story, as you read, the disciples sent her away. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:52.000 They said, We don't want to deal with you because you are not a part of what Jesus is doing here. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:57.759 It's also likely that Jesus was uh interacting with this woman because he was in a foreign land. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:00.480 It says that he was in uh Tyree and Sidon. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:06.560 This is a very pagan, non-Jewish, not believing in Yahweh and in God. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:11.120 That whole area was in general not Jewish and not following God. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:13.360 And they went to that region. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:17.199 Uh, presumably, it says they withdrew to the region. 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:24.879 And they probably, a lot of scholars believe they were withdrawing because, well, chapters earlier, Jesus was facing persecution from his own people. 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:27.759 His own stream was rejecting him. 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:33.360 So he was getting outside of his stream and going to another place to just relax and withdraw. 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:37.279 And it's right here that he interacts with this Canaanite woman. 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:39.039 They came to withdraw. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:41.279 That's why the disciples are probably sending away. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:42.960 Jesus is kind of on a vacation here. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:44.000 Chill out. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:50.320 Um, they withdraw, but we're gonna see Jesus actually was here to engage with this woman. 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:54.559 Um, the disciples are missing something as this story moves on. 00:08:54.720 --> 00:09:02.799 The disciples are missing that this Canaanite woman, while she is not a part of the Jewish family, she is a part of God's mission. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:03.519 Why? 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:08.879 Well, she's not a part of the Hebrew family, but she's originally a part of God's global family. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:11.039 And this is something zooming out does, you guys. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:18.159 When we zoom out on the story of God and his people, it brings us one step closer to being unified together. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:29.759 When we zoom out, we can see that it's not that different being in Tyree and Sidon than being in Jerusalem or being in the stream that we're used to to maybe a stream that we're not so used to. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:33.679 I want to give you three thoughts on what a zoomed out perspective can kind of give us. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:39.519 First, when we zoom out, we actually realize that every human being has a shared origin. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:48.080 I was saying earlier about the ways rivers work, you know, there's this original headwater, this origin of the river. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:58.960 And one important thing we do when we zoom out is we actually realize every human being is made in the image of God and has an original uh source, original headwater. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:04.559 And again, this Canaanite woman, she was not seen as somebody that the disciples were connected to. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:06.480 She was seen as an outsider and an enemy. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:14.320 The strange thing is though, the Canaanites, when you read their history in the Bible, they were actually originally a part of God's people. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:17.120 They were not entirely a separate body of water. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:19.519 At one point, they were not even a separate stream. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:21.360 They were a part of what God was doing. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:25.360 It's because the Canaanites, they originally come from the family of Noah. 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:28.879 If you remember Noah, you'll remember two things about him, probably. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:33.919 He was a good dude and he got on a boat when the world flooded, okay? 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:44.799 God used Noah as a righteous man, and one of his sons was named Ham, probably an unfortunate name, but in Hebrew it didn't mean like a meat, right? 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:53.360 And the the the his son Ham was divested from the family and excommunicated for wrongful and wicked and sinful behavior. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:55.679 And since then, that became the Canaanites. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:58.080 But at one point, he was just Noah's kid. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:10:59.600 He was just Noah's son. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:10.720 And actually, most of Israel's quote-unquote enemies that you meet in the Old Testament, most of their non-siblings, most of the people that were outside of the stream originally were a sibling at some point. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:12.000 They were a part of the family. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:14.879 At some point, they were a part of the stream God was doing. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:19.360 They just broke off as they rebelled or sinned against someone. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:25.200 Many of the ites that you hear in the Bible, you hear the Zemurites or the Kenites or the Moabites. 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:40.080 They're actually founded by a descendant of someone who was originally seen as righteous, originally seen as part of God's family and not seen as the enemy, except after something they did, they were chastised and cursed and sent away from the people of God. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:52.080 See, because we are created in the image of God, the radical Christian teaching is that at some level, you guys, every person you interact with is a potential sibling of yours. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:12:00.639 Every person you interact with shares the headwater at some point, shares the death the original uh point that everything started with. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:06.320 Just like the Columbia River started at Columbia Lake, God's people started as God's image. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:14.080 And we all, whoever we interact with, we are interacting with somebody who has the imprint and mark of God. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:19.759 And Jesus, his great work, was connecting all of us to our Creator. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:27.440 Through his work on the cross, he's the one who provides us a way back to the original source, a way back to who God really is. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:38.399 And at the very moments you're trying to maybe withdraw and separate yourself from another stream, you might actually be rejecting the very family that you share with God. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:44.000 You know, in the New Testament, the dominant metaphor for the church is a family. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:51.200 And the words brothers and sisters is used over 124 times to describe the church. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:55.279 That's a lot of moments to be describing the church as a family. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:55.840 Why? 00:12:56.159 --> 00:13:01.200 Because it's trying to teach us we share a father, we share a headwater, we share a source. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:05.279 And when we interact with people, we cannot see them as other first. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:12.639 We must see them as the potential sibling they are, as the one who could actually bring us back to the source of God. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:16.879 And to zoom out, we realize that we have a shared origin. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:25.840 We also need to zoom out on the map and see this, the second zoomed-out perspective, that every human being shares a divine purpose. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:38.000 So not only does every human being share the source and the headwater, but the purpose, the path of the various streams and rivers, the purpose of everything is shared in humankind. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:43.919 God desires all human beings to know him and love one another and stand in his presence. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:48.399 This purpose unites all people, whether we recognize it or not. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.879 We share this direction and purpose together. 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:57.919 And the biblical story shows God's family increasingly uncomfortable with that very purpose. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:05.919 Like God's people through the Old Testament are uncomfortable with the heritage they have, the headwater that they have with God, and the purpose. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:08.480 They don't want to be a part of God's purposes and ways. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:13.919 This is where all the factions and divisions happen that I mentioned earlier, all the ites, right? 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:21.200 It starts with Cain, who was Adam and Eve's son, who divides and murders his brother and goes his own way. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:31.519 From there on, all the siblings of God divide, sin against each other, and move away from each other, constantly rejecting their heritage. 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:36.080 And this messy heritage is where this Canaanite woman really comes from. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:42.240 But the remarkable thing is that she knew something about Jesus' mission. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:45.759 And she knew something about this purpose that God had. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:50.559 She calls Jesus in the passage I read earlier, the quote, son of David. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:15:03.759 She calls him Lord, which is interesting because son of David is a Jewish terminology, which means she probably caught wind or understood about the fame of who Jesus was and his purpose. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:05.519 She caught the divine purpose. 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:06.559 She caught something. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:10.480 She was zoomed out on something the disciples were not zoomed out on. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:15.679 And the Canaanite woman takes a risk in just addressing him. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:23.200 This would have been problematic because really Jews and Canaanites, uh, Jewish people and the Canaanites, they didn't talk to each other. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:27.840 And particularly, a man and a woman would not necessarily have this conversation. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:31.279 But she says, Help me, my daughter needs you. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:35.759 Now look at how Jesus comes back, Matthew 15, 24. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:40.559 He says this after she requests for healing from her for her daughter. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:44.240 I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:47.840 She came and she knelt before him, saying, Lord, help me. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:49.200 She comes to him again. 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:56.639 And he answered her, it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:15:59.840 Two important interpretive things here. 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:02.480 That's a troubling little passage, is it not? 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:06.399 Two key and important uh interpretations to this section. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:11.360 You know, first, is Jesus calling this woman or equating this woman to a dog? 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:16.559 Oftentimes this is seen as like a derogatory statement in scripture, some demeaning statement. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:22.320 But this word, when he says, you know, is it right to give uh the children's bread and throw it to the dogs? 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:24.639 The Greek word is better translated puppy. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:26.000 It's a domesticated animal. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:30.159 There's another word for like wild dog that's more derogatory. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:31.919 That is used in the New Testament, by the way. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:33.039 It's just not used here. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:37.519 The other thing is it's reference to a household where there's children eating and a dog under the table. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:41.919 So a wild derogatory dog, that would be a demeaning term, would not be in the house. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:47.919 This is more like a little puppy down there eating the scraps that the children are throwing off their um table. 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:52.000 This is all the more real to me as I both have a dog and a child. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:55.279 But Jesus isn't insulting this woman. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:00.399 Instead, he's challenging her, maybe testing her even. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:02.879 Does she really know the divine purpose? 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:12.559 Does she really know the zoomed-out perspective that God has started with his people, where he's taking them, and where their destination would be? 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:18.319 And does she really want to know Jesus or does she just want something from Jesus? 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:22.319 Jesus, he challenged people all the time. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:29.440 And in fact, some commentators would acknowledge that this way that he's challenging this woman does not demean her, but actually honors her. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:40.720 You see, most people uh in that time, men especially, the most common uh thing to do to a foreign woman would be to ignore her, to not say anything to her. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:44.160 But Jesus engages with her, challenges her even. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:48.880 And do you know Jesus challenged most every person he interacted with? 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:53.200 His closest disciples asked him, could we sit at your right and left hand? 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:56.079 And he said, I don't think you know what you're asking. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:02.799 Jesus constantly challenged people, he challenged this rich young ruler who came to him and said, I've obeyed everything. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:04.880 How do I enter the kingdom of God? 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:06.880 He says, Sell everything you have. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:20.960 You know, when when Jairus comes to him and pleads for healing, this man who was of probably prominent society in the gospel time, he tells Jairus to wait as he ministers to a woman who needs his help. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:26.079 And this man's daughter is suffering and dying, and he says, actually wait, trust me and wait. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:32.960 See, Jesus was constantly challenging people, and so for him to challenge this Canaanite woman does not dishonor her, it actually honors her. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:37.680 It puts her in a position of agency to say, what is it that you really want? 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:40.319 What is it that you really desire? 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.799 And that question is posed to maybe you and me as well. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:52.079 Do we want Jesus in our life to give us the one thing we're asking for, the one prayer request we have? 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:55.279 Or do we really just want all of Jesus and his purpose? 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:58.799 Put in the context of my analogy about streams, right? 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:03.519 Do we want Jesus to join our stream and what we've got going on? 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:09.759 Or are we gonna join in the purpose and the stream and the river of God and his purposes? 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:13.599 This is actually a real interesting moment in this story. 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:17.759 And Jesus refers um to Israel here. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:22.559 He says, I've come for Israel, and he kind of equates Israel to the children at the table. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:25.039 He's like, that's the primary people I've come for. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:29.680 And you might be thinking, well, why does he put primary focus on Israel? 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:32.559 Well, that has kind of been the story of Scripture. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:39.759 Let me just give you three brief acts of Scripture that will help you set the context for what Jesus is really saying. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.160 The story of God throughout the Old Testament is given through kind of these three acts. 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:49.680 The first act is that God chose to bless Israel as a way to bless all nations. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:54.880 This is from the calling of Abraham, who started the family of God. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:20:04.240 And the entire purpose, okay, the purpose of this whole stream that God has us moving in was to use one nation to bless all the nations. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:06.880 You can see that at the end of in verse three. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:14.400 Uh, the promise to Abraham is, I will bless you and your family, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:19.279 Way back, this is the very first book of the Bible, the 12th chapter of the first book of the Bible. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:32.960 God's purpose, the path he has set for his people and the various streams and rivers they will go on is this I will use this one river, Israel, to populate many rivers and bless many nations to head towards my ocean. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:34.559 That's always been the plan. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:38.400 And so when Jesus says, I came for Israel, it's not a shock. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:43.279 It's actually exactly what he came to do because it's exactly what God has been up to. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:52.880 The second act or the second moment in the whole scriptural story is that Israel and the rest of the nations, they actually chose to reject their headwater. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:56.960 They chose to reject their origin, they chose to reject the ways of God. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:07.680 And a simple, plain reading of Isaiah 1, which you could go do later, would see this: that the prophet denounces Israel and all nations for rejecting the ways of God. 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:13.839 God says, I want to use Israel to bless all nations, and Israel and all nations say, no, thank you. 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:20.319 We want to build our own kingdom, we want to do our own thing, and we do not want to sit under your wisdom. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:24.480 It sounds familiar maybe to the first and second act of some of our stories, right? 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:33.119 Some of our stories, we interact with God at a young age, and then as we get older, we just want to reject, we want to move away from what God is doing. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:36.160 You see, in the scriptural story, we find our story. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:44.400 But you know the story's not over because the third act is that God chose to redeem Israel as a way to redeem all nations. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:50.240 So he would start with Israel, as he says in Isaiah 1 18 Come now, let us reason together. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:53.119 I will make your sins white as snow. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:57.519 He was going to speak to Israel and use Israel to bless all nations. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.599 And this is why Jesus shows up. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.119 An Israelite. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:03.359 He shows up as a Jewish rabbi. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:04.960 He's celebrating feasts. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:06.960 He's referencing Hebrew scripture. 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:08.559 He's in Jewish history. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:09.440 Why? 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:14.240 Because God's plan was always to bless Israel in order to bless all nations. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:17.599 And so redemption of all nations starts with Israel. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:20.319 It starts with Jesus. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:26.480 And this Canaanite woman finds herself meeting the true Israel. 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:32.559 Jesus who would take Israel's place as that which would offer blessing to all the nations. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:38.079 You see, Jesus came not just as an example to Israel, but as Israel itself. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:41.440 He came as the thing Israel was supposed to be. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:50.400 And this Canaanite woman sees the son of David, the Lord, the Messiah, and she says, I think you can bring me healing. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:53.599 I think you can bless even me, the Canaanite. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:58.720 I think your mighty river is connected to my stream down here as a Canaanite. 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:08.799 And the great irony of this passage is that the disciples forget this whole story and they send this woman away while this Canaanite woman is the one who remembers this story. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:10.640 She's the one who gets it. 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:13.920 The disciples are the ones trying to ignore it. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:23.200 And this Canaanite woman, she sees Jesus not just as a hope for Israel, but as a hope for her, the whole world, even her as a Canaanite. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:27.279 And I know this because of her calling him the son of David. 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:35.200 When she says son of David, it would link you as a reader of the book of Matthew, maybe right back to the beginning of that book. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:37.920 If you're in Matthew 15, you could flip back to Matthew 1. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:40.319 It's literally the first page of the New Testament. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:44.559 And in the first page, you're just going to see a list of names and your eyes are going to glaze over. 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:47.599 But it's really Jesus' 23 in me. 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:49.599 It's his ancestry.com. 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:51.759 Right here, we see the origin of Jesus. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:53.039 Where'd he come from? 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:54.799 What is his family? 00:23:55.039 --> 00:24:05.279 And the 23 of me in me of Jesus, this genealogy he has, uh, it's got a lot of names of dudes and men, but there's four women mentioned. 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:08.720 Well, five if you include Mary, the mother of Jesus. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:17.039 And these women are important to notice in the genealogy story because it connects to the divine purpose God has us on. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:21.359 The four women that are mentioned are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:28.079 And you'll notice about all of these women that they are not perfect, if you know their story from the Old Testament. 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:36.319 But the most important thing to recognize here is none of them are Jewish, none of them are Hebrews, none of them are Israelites, right? 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:38.480 Ruth is a Moabite. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:40.640 Rahab was from Jericho. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:42.799 Bathsheba by marriage was a Hittite. 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:46.960 These are all foreign nations, other streams, not the main, they were not Israelites. 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:48.160 And look at Tamar. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:50.400 Found her story is found in Genesis 38. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:53.279 She sinned against in a terrible way. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:56.160 And she's a part of the lineage of the Messiah. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:57.519 She's a part of the Son of David. 00:24:57.599 --> 00:24:58.799 And look at where she comes from. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:01.119 She comes as a Canaanite. 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:06.640 And so the book of Matthew begins by showing us this. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:12.160 God has always used all nations to move his plan forward. 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:16.160 God has always used all nations to move his plan forward. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:18.640 And this Canaanite woman understood that. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:22.960 She said, I know I'm not a part of the mainstream, but I know you could use me. 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:37.200 I know you could bless me because you blessed Tamar, because you used Ruth, this Moabite woman who moved from far away into Bethlehem, married Boaz, and she became the great grandmother of King David. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:39.759 This is how God has always worked. 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:46.720 And it's so important for our implication today because God is always using all nations to form his plan. 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:51.680 And we are not the full body of Christ without the full nations that God has created. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:59.119 We are not the full body of Jesus without all of the Jesus image bearers that we have in our country and in our world. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.160 We are not the complete picture without all of us. 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:04.319 We are a body, a global body. 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:10.880 And if this is how God has worked in his history through scripture, it's how he's working right now. 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:16.079 We all want to think that the stream we are in is pure. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:21.440 And we all want to think that we can find a pure stream of Christianity. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:30.720 We spend our whole life looking for the right church that represents the purest form of our beliefs, the single community that represents Jesus with perfection. 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:39.279 We want a church that says the right things at the right times, with the right motives, with the right person, in the right emotional place. 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:46.640 We want a church that is in our image and that is designed based off of our own tribe. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:49.279 We want a chlorinated pool. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:58.640 But Jesus has created a rushing river with various streams, tributaries, and creeks that is headed in a direction. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:10.480 God does not start these divisions necessarily, but God uses the disorder and the division to bring about that most people would know him and would go the direction he wants them to go. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:14.640 See, God's purpose, it's not to maintain this pure little stream. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:19.279 It's actually to work through the various wild streams for his ultimate good. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:25.440 You see, God doesn't work to maintain purity as much as he purifies us as we move forward. 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:36.480 Like a mighty rushing river from its headwater and source all the way to the ocean, the water will certainly not be the same from the headwater to the ocean. 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:42.079 It goes through a massive transformation as it heads towards the delta, heads towards the ocean. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:57.279 But there, at the mouth of the river, into the mighty ocean, the once pure mountain runoff is completely different water, transformed by its journey, purified through its process, but ultimately ending in its mean. 00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:05.279 And likewise, the journey of the Christian life, man, the Christian church, the journey of the church, and yes, the American church too. 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:11.119 The journey is not one that keeps us remaining in one clean purity. 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:16.960 It's one that experiences the purity of God through our journey together. 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:20.720 Now make no mistake, make no mistake here. 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:23.279 There are rivers that lead to nowhere. 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:29.119 There are streams that start pure and they get polluted and they lead to nowhere. 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:38.240 They dry up, they're disgusting and they're polluted with sin, abuse, racism, disgusting things that do not lead to the purposes of God. 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:43.519 There are streams that are filled not with God's purposes, but the enemy's purposes. 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:46.079 Abuse, false teaching, and racism. 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:52.960 And this might be why Jesus tested this woman, why he responded the way that she did. 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:56.240 He said, Do you really know what you're a part of? 00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:59.680 Do you really know where you're headed and what you're doing? 00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:01.440 Do you know the story I'm a part of? 00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:04.559 And do you understand the path that I am taking? 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:12.799 When we meet Jesus, we have to meet him like this Canaanite woman, understanding this. 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:16.559 It does not matter who you are when you meet Jesus. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:19.200 It matters how you respond. 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:30.640 So you can come from any stream, you can come from any place, you can come from any culture, any background, any addiction, any sin and any struggle. 00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:35.920 But what Jesus is going to challenge you and I on is how we respond. 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:44.799 He will not shame us for who we are, he will not put us down for the person we are, but he will challenge us about where we're going. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:48.160 And this is the response of the woman. 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:50.640 Jesus says, I came here for Israel. 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:52.880 Now you have that whole context in your mind. 00:29:53.200 --> 00:30:02.240 And he said, It's not right for me necessarily to give bread to the dogs while the puppy under the table while the children are sitting here. 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:05.279 Now look at this woman's response after she's challenged. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:06.079 Remarkable. 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:07.440 Verse 27. 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:14.400 She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:19.519 Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:22.799 Be it done to you for you as you desire. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:25.200 And her daughter was healed instantly. 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:28.640 Great is your faith. 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:36.400 The last thing we get in a zoomed out perspective is this that every human being is offered a heavenly destination. 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:40.000 Every human being is offered a heavenly destination. 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:56.240 So not only does every human being share its origin, image of God, not only does every human being share the divine purpose, that God is heading in a direction with the human race, but there is a destination that is offered to all people. 00:30:57.519 --> 00:31:00.880 This woman recognizes what God is doing in Jesus. 00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:14.079 She sees that through him, not only Israel will eat the food, not only Israel will receive the blessing of God, but all people will receive the blessing of God, even the Canaanites. 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:25.200 And she believes this and trusts Jesus for this, that in his character, there's something about him that would let even a puppy eat at the table. 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:30.480 And this thing that she has in her, Jesus names faith. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:33.920 He looks at her and he says, Great is your faith. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:35.119 And by the way, think about this. 00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:38.079 There are Israelite disciples sitting next to him. 00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:46.480 There are people who are well versed in the story, who know the entire plan, and he sees someone who is outside of the family, so to speak. 00:31:46.640 --> 00:31:48.559 And he says, That's what I'm looking for. 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:50.240 That's the faith that I'm looking for. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:51.440 Great is your faith. 00:31:51.599 --> 00:31:53.359 In faith, the woman says this. 00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:55.440 I know I'm not at the table. 00:31:55.759 --> 00:32:02.000 I know I'm not a part of the mainstream, but it doesn't mean I'm missing out on the destination. 00:32:02.240 --> 00:32:05.599 Just because I'm not a part of the meal doesn't mean I don't get some. 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:14.559 Because you are that good of a God and you're working that much will through Israel that even the Canaanites can eat the living bread, the bread of life. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:16.240 This is the great promise. 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:22.480 As a non-Israelite, she says, I am not the main part of the story, but I still get to eat. 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:24.640 I'm still a part of the destination. 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:26.000 I'm still a part of the journey. 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:33.680 I am a part of what God is doing because God is that good, God is that expansive, God is that welcoming, God is that gracious through Jesus. 00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:42.400 And what we realize is that in God's kingdom, it actually does not matter primarily where we come from, of who we are. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:45.119 What's more important is who God is. 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:48.240 It's not important to think of, see, in this story, we get caught up. 00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:50.559 Who is the puppy and who are the children? 00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:54.559 The point of Jesus' metaphor is who gets to eat? 00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:57.920 Everyone gets to eat in God's kingdom. 00:32:58.079 --> 00:32:59.839 Everyone gets the bread of life. 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:05.599 Everyone gets to join, if they so choose, in the river of God and what he is working for. 00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:09.519 And the thing he's looking for is this thing called faith. 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:15.599 Through faith, we can eat and receive what Jesus is offering. 00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:19.279 Faith is the Greek word pistis. 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:23.680 And we often say faith in English all sorts of ways. 00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:27.599 But it misses some of the real original meaning of the Greek language. 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:33.279 I got this from this incredible scholar, Indian American scholar named Nijay Gupta. 00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:43.599 And he says that the word faith in the original language, it actually speaks to a broad range of like submission and trust and surrender to God. 00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:54.079 Faith is the thing that we saw in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and also in those four women that we saw in Jesus' 23 in me in his genealogy. 00:33:54.559 --> 00:34:04.319 Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba, all of them, they didn't necessarily have the right theological opinions, but they trusted God. 00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:07.359 They said, we believe in the divine purpose of God. 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:12.719 You see, here's the thing: there's a difference between faith and belief and beliefs. 00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:16.480 Beliefs are the things that you and I have opinions about. 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:21.360 So many of us, we focus on the stream that we're in. 00:34:21.519 --> 00:34:23.760 We think it's defined by our beliefs. 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:27.760 Everything needs to, everybody needs to think the same things in my stream. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:33.039 And that's what makes me on the path, headed towards heaven, where God is going. 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:40.880 But this is because we continually think that what we think intellectually is the most important thing about our relationship with God. 00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:46.639 But faith, while it's not opposed to what we think, it is separate. 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:48.639 Faith is trusting God. 00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:52.800 That which you cannot do for yourself, you believe God will do for you. 00:34:53.039 --> 00:34:54.800 She says, I believe I'm a puppy. 00:34:54.880 --> 00:35:00.719 I can't get to the table, but I believe you, by your power, could give me what you have because you're that good and that generous. 00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:01.519 That's faith. 00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:02.960 Jesus names it as faith. 00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:04.719 It's not to say that beliefs are unimportant. 00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:09.679 We did a whole series back in October called We Believe Doctrine and Beliefs and those things. 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:13.039 We have to have those correct and we have to understand what we believe. 00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:19.119 But at the end of the day, what unites you with another person in the body of Jesus is not your beliefs. 00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:20.400 It's your faith. 00:35:20.559 --> 00:35:22.559 It's your trust in Jesus. 00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:25.840 It's the primary vision that Jesus has for your life. 00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:27.519 We're free to disagree with each other. 00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:30.079 And hey, at awakening, we're going to disagree on a lot of things. 00:35:30.239 --> 00:35:36.320 A lot of you believe different things than what I believe about politics or parenting, education, or ethics. 00:35:36.480 --> 00:35:40.400 We're going to disagree on very important things, even some theological things. 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:42.000 We're going to disagree, right? 00:35:42.559 --> 00:35:48.719 But all of us who are part of the body of Jesus, what unites us is faith. 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:53.920 You see, our beliefs about issues do not unify us. 00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:56.159 Faith in Jesus does. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:04.000 And the best way I can illustrate this is actually through an illustration that I got from that scholar I was talking about, Nij Gupta. 00:36:04.159 --> 00:36:05.920 But I'm going to apply it to my life, okay? 00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:09.360 It's about an airport and it's about a little kid. 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:11.840 Okay, I've traveled with my son Jude. 00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:13.360 He's about a year and a half now. 00:36:13.519 --> 00:36:15.599 Before COVID, we traveled a couple times. 00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:18.880 We're probably going to travel here in the near future, Lord willing. 00:36:19.119 --> 00:36:21.360 And my son runs around everywhere. 00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:25.199 And he, you know, can't even use the bathroom by himself. 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:25.679 Okay. 00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:27.519 He needs me for everything. 00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:37.360 But especially in the airport, all of airport security and every official at the airport only sees my son as connected to me. 00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:44.400 In fact, if he were to get lost in the airport, they wouldn't know who he was because he doesn't have driver's license or a passport. 00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:55.440 Jude, my son, the only way he can make it through airport security and onto the plane to go to his destination is because of my identification, because of my driver's license and my passport. 00:36:55.760 --> 00:37:02.800 His trusting relationship with me and his connection to me is the thing that gets him from point A to point B, nothing else. 00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:09.360 As far as the airport is concerned, he is nobody unless he's connected to me or to my wife, right? 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:11.599 This is what faith is. 00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:23.440 Faith is the clinging on to Jesus through the airport of life, where we cling to him and we say, I am not identified based off of me. 00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:26.159 I am identified based off of you. 00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:33.039 And the only thing that will get me through security, and the only thing that will get me on the plane, and the only thing that will get me through life is if I hold on to you. 00:37:33.199 --> 00:37:35.679 Without you, I can't get through anywhere. 00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:38.000 Without you, no one knows who I am. 00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:40.320 Without you, I cannot move forward. 00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:43.840 Without you, I cannot go to the destinations I want to go to. 00:37:44.079 --> 00:37:58.239 You see, faith in Jesus is about placing our entire identity, the weight of it all, onto Jesus and receiving from him his identification, his driver's license, his passport to get us from point A to point B. 00:37:58.400 --> 00:38:04.880 Faith in Jesus unifies us and directs us towards our common heavenly destination. 00:38:05.519 --> 00:38:07.119 And that's what faith is. 00:38:07.360 --> 00:38:12.320 You see, Jude isn't with me because he believes the right things. 00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:14.880 Jude is with me because he is my son. 00:38:15.199 --> 00:38:18.400 And Jude is with me because he identifies with me. 00:38:18.559 --> 00:38:24.000 And you and I, we do not join with Jesus' great mission because we think of the right things. 00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:27.760 We don't join with Jesus' mission because we have all our beliefs set up. 00:38:27.920 --> 00:38:35.519 This woman was far from Hebrew scripture and the Bible story, Jewish festivals. 00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:41.599 But she looked at Jesus and she said, I will not be defined by who I am. 00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:45.039 I will be defined and identified by who you are. 00:38:45.599 --> 00:38:52.800 You are that good, you are that great, and I will submit myself to you and your ways, believing you will allow me to eat. 00:38:52.960 --> 00:38:56.800 And Jesus looked at her and said, Oh, great is your faith. 00:38:57.039 --> 00:39:07.039 And so, friends, may we zoom out today and look at who we are and ask ourselves this really, really key question, right? 00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:10.880 Like, do I have faith in Jesus in that way? 00:39:11.280 --> 00:39:17.440 See, because some of you might believe good things, but are you trusting Jesus in that way? 00:39:18.159 --> 00:39:27.679 And for some of us, we have to ask the question, God, am I looking at other people the way that maybe the disciples were looking at the Canaanite woman? 00:39:28.159 --> 00:39:35.920 Am I seeing other people as outsiders below the table, far from the ways of God and impossible to join the stream? 00:39:36.159 --> 00:39:41.920 Am I forgetting that we actually share a common origin and we share faith, even though we have different beliefs? 00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:55.920 And might we be the church that heads towards the heavenly direction, trusting as we follow Jesus, we will be purified, that we will follow the mighty stream of God and end in the heavenly ocean where we will be transformed. 00:39:56.239 --> 00:40:04.559 Friends, I want to encourage you today, if you have faith in Jesus, that you are unified with so many, many people. 00:40:05.280 --> 00:40:10.400 And if you do not have faith in Jesus, I want to encourage you to place your trust in him. 00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:14.639 You will figure out and form beliefs as you go. 00:40:15.199 --> 00:40:17.760 We are here to help you, to disciple you, to walk with you. 00:40:18.079 --> 00:40:22.159 The starting point is to cling to Jesus as you walk through life with him. 00:40:22.719 --> 00:40:23.599 Let me pray for you. 00:40:25.440 --> 00:40:28.559 Jesus, we do pray for faith. 00:40:30.559 --> 00:40:33.920 God, for those that need faith right now, would you grant them faith? 00:40:34.800 --> 00:40:41.119 God, would you use this story to enliven hearts to cling to you? 00:40:42.159 --> 00:40:44.960 Could we be identified with you today, God? 00:40:45.199 --> 00:40:56.239 And might we, if we are Christians and claim faith in you, see other people today as our brothers and sisters, not because of what we believe, but because of who we trust. 00:40:56.559 --> 00:40:57.440 You, Jesus. 00:40:57.679 --> 00:40:58.639 Help us with this. 00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:00.079 In Christ's name I pray. 00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:00.960 Amen. 00:41:02.159 --> 00:41:04.480 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:09.679 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:41:09.920 --> 00:41:12.239 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:18.239 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.