WEBVTT 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:03.040 Well, good morning again. 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:09.519 This week on Monday, one of our missionaries, Richard Samuel from India, who we support as a church. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:17.679 So if you give to our church 10% of that is going to missions, part of that goes to Richard in India and his ministry, Fish Hook Ministry. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:19.839 So he was in the States and he was visiting different supporters. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.039 He came by the church, spoke to our staff, and we got to pray for him. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:31.039 He was sharing how they have a retreat center that they host different churches and different events for churches and ministries around India. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:36.320 They do pastor trainings there, a lot of uneducated pastors that need education. 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:41.359 They also have a ministry, several ministries to elderly and children. 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:49.200 A lot of the poor families in India, they will take a trip to a temple town and they'll take all their family, they'll take their elderly. 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:53.359 They might take a child that they didn't expect to have, maybe they can't support financially. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:01:00.000 They'll go to the temple, they will leave the elderly or the child at the temple, and the whole family goes home. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:01.679 Like quite a vacation. 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:03.759 Like maybe you left somebody on accident. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:06.480 They're leaving people on purpose. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:18.159 And so Richard and his ministry comes along, these destitute elderly, these children left behind, where all that these people have heard is you are unwanted. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:22.879 And Richard and his ministry gets to come along and say, You are wanted. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:28.480 What he said to us is he said, We know they are wanted by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:33.040 And so they have ministries out to these elderly and these children. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.200 And so we asked, How can we pray for you? 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:42.719 Not always our staff pray for them, but also how can we, on Sunday morning, how can we as a church not just send you money, but how can we pray for you? 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:45.519 As he said, open doors for ministry. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:55.760 He said, wisdom and safety in an environment that is um difficult to minister Christianity in, and provision for that ministry. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:59.359 So as we pray for the sermon, let's pray for Richard and his ministry. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:00.319 Let's pray together. 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:15.199 Heavenly Father, we thank you for the work of the gospel around the world, that hearing about Jesus and Jesus' forgiveness and love and identity that is more profound than anything in this world is not an American thing. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:19.039 It's not even a Western thing, but it is a global thing. 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:27.280 It is a human thing that you love people and you desire to forgive them and love them, and that they are wanted. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:33.599 And we pray that Richard's ministry would educate pastors to tell this great message of Jesus' sufficiency. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:35.280 We pray for open doors. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:44.479 We pray for wisdom and safety as they minister, we pray for a provision of their ministries, and that this great work of Jesus in India would continue to go forth. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:55.759 As we come before your scriptures this morning in John 12, radical worship, would we be all the more convinced of how much you love us and you know us? 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.360 Open our hearts, have mercy on us, especially the one who speaks. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:01.280 In Christ's name, amen. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:06.479 So we are in the season of Lent, those 40 days leading up to Easter. 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:09.840 We're in Lent week, Sunday number four. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.680 Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, and then we have Easter. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:16.080 Our text this morning is John 12. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:21.199 So these different Sundays, we're just reading and looking at different Jesus stories in the Gospels. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:24.400 To understand John 12, we have to understand what was going on in John 11. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:29.680 Lazarus, a friend of Jesus', was sick, and Lazarus was dying. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:31.599 Jesus was friends with these people. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:35.599 The text goes out of the way to say Jesus loved these people. 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:42.719 And eventually Lazarus dies, and then after Lazarus dies, that's when Jesus shows up at the home. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.360 The two sisters hear that Jesus is coming. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:49.039 One sister, Martha, she goes out toward Jesus. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:52.000 The other sister, Mary, stays inside. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:57.120 Why is Mary not going out to greet her friend Jesus? 00:03:57.360 --> 00:03:59.199 Maybe she's too sad. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:02.800 Maybe she felt like Jesus should have already been there. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.039 Like, hey, my brother. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:06.479 My brother was dying. 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:07.919 Your friend, and you didn't come. 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:13.360 Maybe she feels like Jesus should have or could have done something. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:15.919 We know Mary was undone. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:20.160 And we also know that Jesus pursues her in that. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:28.079 He doesn't lecture her about her lack of faith or her lack of belief and God's economy and God's sovereignty. 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:32.319 He doesn't lecture her about her lack of joy in life. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:38.160 What if in all the places you think you would get a lecture from God? 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:44.319 What if in that exact place that's where Jesus is pursuing you with compassion? 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:48.560 There's a scene in Les Miserables, the great novel, a musical. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:51.279 The movie was made after the musical a few years ago. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:54.399 Jean Valjean steals the bishop's silver. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:55.759 He gets caught. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:06.319 The police bring Valjean back to the bishop, where the bishop forgives Valjean and gives him two silver candlesticks in addition to the stuff he had stolen. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:11.439 Valjean goes on, changes his name, starts a new life, avoids paying the penalty. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:13.040 He never paid the price. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:15.279 He becomes a businessman, he becomes a mayor. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:18.480 This eats up the policeman Javert. 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:26.959 Javert begins to pursue him, thinks, hey, this successful businessman, I think this is that thief that never paid his price. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:29.680 Javert's a man of absolute justice. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:31.040 He has no room for mercy. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:34.639 Nobody gets passed over in Javert's world. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:36.240 Everybody pays their price. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:39.920 So Valjean is constantly running from the law. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.439 He's running from Javert. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:48.639 And then there's this scene where Valjean has the chance to kill Javert. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:51.040 Ensure his own safety. 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:52.240 Be set free. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:57.519 And instead of executing him, Valjean shows him compassion, lets him go free. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:05:58.079 Right? 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:00.240 Valjean passes him over. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:05.120 This act of mercy breaks Javert, breaks his worldview. 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:06.639 Who does this? 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:07.759 What is this? 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:09.199 It changes him. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:14.399 What we see in the story is the same thing that we saw last week in the prodigal son. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:19.920 We are actually both the messy thief and the uncompassionate policeman. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:26.959 It's the same story as the prodigal son, the rebellious younger son and the older self-righteous son. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:28.879 Valjean and Javert. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:31.120 And we're actually both of these people. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:33.360 And we all need grace. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:35.519 We need to be passed over. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:38.800 This is our redemption we have in Jesus. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:47.279 The penalty and death due to our sin, what would say this would be justice if you paid this price, was paid for by Jesus on the cross. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:49.439 So what we have is forgiveness. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:53.120 Now let's read our text, John 12, verse 1. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:07:00.480 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:06.160 So Jesus goes on to perform one of his greatest miracles and brings his friend back to life. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:10.480 This is headed into the Passover week, the last week of Jesus' death. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:11.839 Here's the point, point number one. 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:16.240 We are all looking for Passover, and Jesus is our Passover. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:21.279 John purposefully gives us this timestamp of Passover. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:25.199 He wants us to know this is Passover season. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.959 Centuries before this moment, Israel was enslaved in Egypt. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:33.759 They're suffering, they're slaves, they're calling out to God, God, rescue us, come do something. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.160 Come on, like we are here, are we not your children? 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:36.800 Do something. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:39.519 Finally, God fights on their behalf. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:44.000 God decrees a plague to sweep through Egypt. 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:51.920 Anyone who does not have the blood of a lamb painted on a doorpost will lose their firstborn. 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:54.000 Wild, wild story. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:08:02.399 But anyone who has the blood of a lamb painted on the doorpost, if you have that, death will pass you over. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:04.879 So this event happens. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:11.040 This leads to the liberation of God's people, the head in the desert, eventually they're getting back to the promised land. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:12.560 That's the history of the Old Testament. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:15.040 And out of that, Passover festival is formed. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:16.879 That's where we're at in John 12. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:18.720 This festival is a beginning. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:24.720 Once a year, celebrate this deliverance, God's liberation that He passed them over. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:31.360 And in that context, Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:33.840 I'm your Passover. 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:36.960 Your sin and death is put upon me. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:41.600 So that justice needing to be met, that's fulfilled. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:43.360 It's just not fulfilled by you or by me. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:45.120 It's fulfilled by Jesus. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:49.440 We're all looking for judgment to pass us over. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:54.799 Wouldn't that be nice to walk around in life and not feel judgment? 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:58.799 Not feel judgment by yourself or your spouse, maybe. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:04.639 Your cranky mom, your neighbor, your friend, the friend group you wish you were in, but they won't accept you. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:05.840 You feel all this judgment. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:07.519 We want to be passed over. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.399 At first, we think we could conquer this by our own hands. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.200 We'll just sacrifice enough lambs. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:15.360 We will do the sacrificing. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:25.840 And I will sacrifice whatever I have to sacrifice to have the right family and the right investments and the right look and status, the right body, the right job, the right kids. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:35.360 Because then maybe then, maybe if I curate it all just right, I make all the right sacrifices, then maybe judgment will pass me over. 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:40.480 And all of it is sacrifice after sacrifice to try to earn favor. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:44.879 But Jesus is our Passover. 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:48.639 He is our sacrifice, He is our forgiveness and acceptance, worth and righteousness. 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:52.159 Verse 2, so they gave a dinner for him there. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:56.480 Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at the table. 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:06.960 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment, like perfume, made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:11.039 The house was filled with the fragrance of perfume. 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:16.000 So this group's having dinner together, kind of a celebratory dinner for sure. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:21.759 They've done a lot of life together, yet a transitioning is occurring in the culture, in the community. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:29.600 More and more people have learned about, have seen, experienced, or heard about these miracles that Jesus is performing. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:33.840 And this has begun to be a problem for the religious authorities. 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:36.720 So there's a sense of danger occurring. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:38.960 They're celebrating, but there's a sense of danger. 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:40.240 They're enjoying their dinner. 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:47.200 In the middle of it, Mary gets her expensive perfume and pours it out on Jesus' feet. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.240 Spices and perfumes were an investment. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:52.799 They could be sold, they could be traded. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.080 I'm not sure if they were tariffed or not. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:10:57.759 Was that too soon? 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:00.879 Are we still, we're all still a little sensitive? 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:09.039 Verse 4, Judas states this was probably worth a year's wages for a working man. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:10.960 A year's wage, a year. 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:13.200 Call it$60,000. 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:17.679 She's just pouring out$60,000. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:21.600 And then she has no towel. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:25.200 So she takes her hair down and uses her hair. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:27.679 So this act is incredibly good. 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:28.879 It's radical. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:32.799 Because a proper Jewish woman would never take her hair down in public. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:37.519 So we have this scene that is extravagant. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:39.519 It's striking. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:42.240 And it's personal. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:49.120 So find the most expensive, precious thing you have. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.559 And do you hold it like this? 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:56.480 Or do you hold it like this? 00:11:58.399 --> 00:11:59.679 You can have this. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:08.000 My dream, my hope, my escaping, my coping, the thing I love too much. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:10.000 You can have this. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.799 Because where else am I loved? 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:14.159 Like that. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.279 Because everything else seems to just be put me to work. 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:25.440 Point number two is this our treasure is Jesus, the treasure that loves you without requirement or limits. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.879 We can't talk about worship without talking about love. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:30.240 We all worship something. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:34.480 And we worship that which gives us a sense of worth. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:36.960 Or we think it loves us. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:39.120 Our problem is not a worship problem. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:40.240 We all worship. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:45.440 Our problem is seeing what actually loves me without conditions. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:47.360 Where is that found? 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:49.759 Where is my worth found? 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:53.759 Because the answer to that is what we worship. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.639 And this is what Mary understood. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.000 She understood, you love me like that. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:02.799 You cry with me, you'll hear me. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:06.799 You love me when I don't come out to you and I'm you know stubborn and kind of bratty. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:10.320 You love me like you still love me, you still pursue me. 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:18.320 Okay, like you can have my perfume, you can have my investments, you can have my savings, you have my life, you can have the thing I love the most. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:24.320 Point number three is this extravagant worship comes in the wake of extravagant love. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:30.320 We don't have to keep telling ourselves, pull your bootstraps up and you need to worship, you need to worship Jesus. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:30.960 You need to worship. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:39.840 The more we understand how much God loves us in Jesus, the secure identity you have as God's daughter or God's son, the more you'll just worship. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:40.879 You just will. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:45.039 Our worship is a response to his knowing and loving us. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:46.159 Theologian J.I. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:14:05.679 Packer puts it this way: there is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that for some unfathomable reason he wants me as his friend and desires to be my friend and has given his son to die for me in order to realize this purpose. 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:10.559 Not merely that we know God, but that he knows us. 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:16.080 There's three postures for our worship that Mary does teach us. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:19.039 Posture number one, we sit to learn. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:21.279 We see that in Luke 10, 39. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:24.159 Mary sat at Jesus' feet and learned. 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:29.120 So responding to Jesus' welcome, are we letting him teach us? 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.879 Worship posture number two, we fall and surrender. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:35.600 We see that in John 11, 32. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:38.080 Mary fell at Jesus' feet and surrendered. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:41.360 Responding to Jesus' goodness, are we surrendering our hearts and lives? 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:46.240 Do we live our lives like this, or do we live our lives like this? 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:55.039 And lastly, worship posture number three, our text today in John 12, we anoint and honor Jesus. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:15:00.480 John 12, 3, where we see Mary anointed Jesus' feet and honor Jesus. 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:04.960 Responding to Jesus' greatness, are we honoring him with our lives? 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:09.759 About 10 years ago, the amazing singer Whitney Houston passed away. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.600 If you're 40 or above, you remember Whitney. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:15.919 Right? 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:17.039 You with me? 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:18.480 Is that on key? 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:19.039 No. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:20.639 Not a singer. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:22.240 I will always love you. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:24.320 I want to dance with somebody, right? 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:27.440 I mean, in the 90s, nobody was bigger. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:28.320 Nobody. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:30.000 Global fame. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:34.000 The most amazing, perfect voice. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:35.919 I had a crush on her. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.039 When that movie Bodyguard came out, I was like, let's go see that again. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:41.200 I loved Whitney Houston. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:49.360 Whitney's life began in the church, hearing about Jesus, singing about Jesus, and then she became famous. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:51.200 She became wealthy. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:53.120 She did not cope well. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:57.360 She had dysfunctional family, she had a horrible marriage, she became an addict. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:01.120 Near the end of her life, Tyler Perry met her. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:04.240 And at her funeral, Perry tells the story. 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:06.879 And we're gonna watch him tell the story at her funeral. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:08.159 It's about three minutes long. 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:09.440 He's a pretty good preacher. 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:11.600 Just listen to the story as he tells it. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:19.360 It was Pat who introduced me to Whitney a while back, and she and I uh sat in a restaurant in Atlanta, just the two of us. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:24.240 Set there talking for about an hour and a half, about four years ago. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:31.279 And during this time, she was telling me about her life, and I was very surprised at how candid and open and revealing she was as she was talking to her. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:36.799 And she would talk about some things that she had gone through, some things that made her sad, some things that were tough. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:41.919 And as I would see her talk about this, I would see this evidence come upon her. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:46.960 And I'm the type of person that when I would see this with anyone, I would just want to say something encouraging. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:53.600 But before I could get words out to encourage her, she would say, but the Lord. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:09.119 Just when I'm about to step in, she would say But my Lord has taken Jesus Christ making the great. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:24.720 It was at that moment that I knew that I would do all I can to stand with her, and from that moment to now I've been standing with the family and her, and I'm I'm just completely thankful to God for all that he has done in her life. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:47.920 There are two constants that I know about Wimmy Houston, and one is that there was a great character, a great character from heaven down through the housting, a grape that bought her up through things, a grape that bought from what I was supposed to be level thing because of an incident that happened to her at the top, but there was a great that kept on character. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:02.559 There was a grape that kept on character. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:09.119 That's one thing I know, and the other thing I know for sure, and this is more important than anything that we've ever done in our life. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:11.119 We used to love the Lord. 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:26.079 She loved the Lord, and when I think about it, there's a scripture that keeps burning in my heart. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:34.079 I keep thinking about the Apostle Paul in Romans when he was talking about, I am persuaded that nothing was separated from the love of God. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:40.319 So what I know about it is that nothing separated her from the love of God. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.680 And if you look at what Paul was saying, he was describing her life so perfectly. 00:18:43.759 --> 00:19:03.359 He said, Neither height, which meant no matter how far she went in the style of sphere, nothing separated her from Neither height, nor death, no matter how much trouble, no matter what she had to go through, no matter what she had to bought through, it still wasn't enough to separate her from the love of God. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:13.200 Not principalities, not power, nothing, nothing, nothing but things but to separate her from the love of God. 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:19.920 So what I know about her is that she loved the Lord. 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:26.079 And if that was the grace that carried her all the way through, it was the same grace that carried her home. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:31.359 So what is Perry saying? 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:41.839 Well, he's saying what Paul said, and that is there has to be something more profound, true about you than your record. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:46.319 No matter how high or low that record is. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:51.279 If anybody knew the shoulds of the world, Whitney Houston knew them. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:54.480 You should be beautiful and amazing. 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:00.640 You should be successful, you should become the best at what you do. 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:10.400 You should become famous, you should marry someone famous, you should be wealthy, you should, you should, you should. 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:13.839 And the shoulds crushed her. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:18.240 But there has to be something else true about us. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:20.559 Because the shoulds don't save us. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:22.799 They may be goals, but fantastic. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:23.599 Have a goal. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:24.799 Work for it. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:27.680 It just won't love you, it can't define you. 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:33.759 These shoulds, they don't, they can't save us, they can't forgive us, they can't accept us. 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:37.839 The world's laws and religious laws can't save us. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:41.359 They won't pass us over. 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:43.519 They will only put us to work. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:49.599 The world wants you to forget that we are sinners. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:54.079 And we are in need of the grace of God in Jesus. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:21:01.839 And it's there that we have our forgiveness and our acceptance and our righteousness and our validation as God's daughter or God's son. 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:07.279 We must treasure and cling to God's grace to us in Jesus. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:12.400 Mary should have never poured out that perfume. 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:14.880 $60,000. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:16.160 She should have never. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:19.680 Mary should have never taken down her hair. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:22.240 But she did. 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:29.680 Because she had a treasure more worthy than the things of this world. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:33.039 And that's what we have in Jesus. 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:39.440 If you have a question about that, there'll be a pastor down front afterwards who'd love to speak to you or pray with you about anything. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:40.799 Let's pray together. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:54.799 Heavenly Father, we thank you that while we are the young, rebellious son, or we are the older, self-righteous son, while we are Valjean or we are Javer, that you know us and you love us. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:22:01.119 You love us while we're merry, stubborn, staying inside, that we don't want to come out to greet you. 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:06.000 And that you have pursued us and you do not let us go. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:16.960 That in Jesus, just as we've seen in this baptism this morning, we are fully covered by the blood of Jesus, fully forgiven, fully righteous. 00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:27.440 May our hearts overflow with the extravagant love you have given to us, and may our hearts respond and worship in Christ's name.