WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.399 And happy Mother's Day to everybody. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:06.959 My name is Russ Masterson, pastor here, and we're so excited you're here with us. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.160 And uh, moms, I don't know if you've noticed on the way in on the coffee bar, we have a present for you. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:16.640 Um, a succulent, which uh we didn't want to add burden to your lives. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:20.399 Um and also we didn't want to add anything that was gonna die. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:24.719 You know, like you got already got some flowers this morning, perhaps, and they're gonna die. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:30.719 Um so we just give you a succulent, hopefully you can keep that alive and feel successful. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:33.520 Because m mothering's hard, right? 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:40.159 Um some of you come in this morning, you don't want to say it, but all you really wanted to do was have a day by yourself. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:52.799 Um, but you're at church, and then you have like a lunch with your family and a hike with your family and games with your family, and it's you just wanted to be by yourself, uh, but you didn't have the guts to tell anybody. 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:57.840 Um it's uh it may is just really hard to get here, in fact, for some of you, right? 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:10.640 You just kind of walk in tired, you can walk in exhausted, or you have older kids, or you have uh grandkids, and very possible your your hearts are overflowing with gratitude for them. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:15.760 Or very possible your hearts are breaking for their life decisions, right? 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.040 So we we we can walk in with a variety of feelings on Mother's Day. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:24.079 Mother's Day is always more complicated than the Hallmark cards want it to be. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:40.319 And I know some of you, because of the amount of exhaustion, the biggest gift we could give you is not a succulent, but mom's what we could say to you, what I'll say to you, I'll give this to you, is if if you just need to take a nap, the next 20 minutes. 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:47.200 It's a long-held tradition in churches, anyways. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:50.879 You just close your eyes. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:55.280 And kids, husbands, friends, whoever's next to you, you don't have to wake them up. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:58.000 You just let them let them go for the next 20 minutes. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:01:59.920 You'll hear when the music picks back up. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:02.640 Long-held tradition, that's how it's always worked. 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:05.359 And you can just close your eyes. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:12.240 It's also possible you hear in today's actually really hard because you want to be a mom. 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:19.759 And that has been a long journey, perhaps of impossibility or impact, perhaps of difficulty. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:23.840 Or maybe your mom hasn't wasn't a good mom, and you just have those memories. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:28.080 Or you're hurt, you're hurt in some way. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:29.280 Right? 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:30.560 So we have we have all this. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:31.439 We have all this. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:33.919 Or or you or you have a great mom, right? 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:34.879 And that's the other side. 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:38.960 Like you just wake up and you're like, I I have a great mom. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:45.520 Like she was always faithful, she was loving, she was imperfect, but man, she was a good mom. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:49.280 So we come in with all sorts of stuff. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:52.639 So we're gonna look at Psalm 23 that Christy read for us. 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:53.520 Napping moms. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:57.039 You're going to close your eyes now, the rest of us we're gonna read Psalm 23. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:02:59.680 So, Psalm 23, 1 through 3. 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:02.400 We'll read a little bit, break it down, talk about it. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:04.319 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:14.639 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:22.960 Point number one is this mothers are people, people are sheep, and sheep need a shepherd. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:32.319 About 15 years ago, Chris and I were living in Grant Park, Atlanta, Georgia, in a 1,000 square foot little shoebox house. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:44.319 We showed up there about a year and a half, two years married, we got a golden retriever, we were gonna grow up, we're gonna become adults, you know, care for our golden retriever, renovate this house, and we were becoming adults. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:46.080 We were becoming grown-ups. 00:03:46.879 --> 00:04:03.759 We had our first little girl in that house, which, of course, as soon as we brought that baby home, I decided to paint a room in the house on day two of my child's life, which apparently to a new mom is not what you want your husband to do. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:06.159 And you can just take a note on that. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:09.280 Apparently, new dads are supposed to help. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:10.159 I didn't know that. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:11.360 That was new information. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:16.720 I'd never been a dad, never been a husband to a mom before, so that was new. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:18.560 Mess that up right away. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:37.040 We're growing up, we're learning how to be a mom, how to be a dad, how to be a husband and a wife with a child, and all during this time, as Christy alluded to, we discovered groundbreaking, maybe you've discovered it, that our moms, our moms were people. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:49.439 I mean, before that point, I don't know what they were in our minds, they were a little bit of supermom who just kind of always handled anything. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:56.800 And then I think the other part of our brains just didn't even think about them too much, and we were just selfish and figured they always knew what was going on. 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:02.240 And then suddenly, as we were becoming grown-ups, we discovered, oh my gosh, they're people. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:05.839 And Christy became a mom, and she's still a person, okay? 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:12.240 And then people, me and you and your mom and your grandmama, people are sheep. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:15.439 And I'm not a farmer. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:21.600 Um, maybe you have a farm, I've been to a farm once, looked like a lot of work, came back to my one-third acre. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:23.759 Like that's that's enough. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:25.439 That's enough, trust me. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:27.279 It's all I can handle. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:30.639 But sheep are messy and they're stubborn. 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:36.959 They go their own way, they lose their direction easily, right? 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:43.600 You you think and I think that that path will fulfill you, it's gonna solve all your ways, the things you need, every problem. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:57.680 You just if you just if you just can have that path, and you go that path, and you wander away from what you should be doing for more fulfillment, and then you just wander away, and then you need another path and another path and another path. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:00.319 Sheep just don't have the ability. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:03.279 They just don't have the ability to handle everything thrown at them. 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:04.720 They just need a shepherd. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:06.240 Sheep just need a shepherd. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:13.360 And verse one, I shall not want, is a way to say, I lack for nothing. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:16.240 Can you imagine? 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:19.120 Can you imagine your heart? 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:22.079 Think of everything you want. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:28.560 Can you imagine your heart being in a place where you lack for nothing? 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:35.360 It's imagery of wholeness and calm and being cared for. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:39.199 Those green pastures and those waters. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:46.720 And then verse 3 proclaims that the wholeness of soul is God Himself, that he is our resting place. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:53.360 Verse 4, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:56.079 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:00.959 So a little context here is there were dangerous mountain paths that people had to take. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.399 They had to wander these paths to get to the watering holes. 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:09.680 And David is saying, hey, we're cared for. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.079 You know that in your life? 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.839 But we're cared for and protected, we're guided on that journey. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:20.959 And David implies that none of it's easy. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:22.399 It's not gonna be easy. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:24.240 Now I want easy. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:27.040 I think about easy all the time. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:35.759 Like I want to wake up sunrise every morning in summertime Jackson Hole, Wyoming. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:37.040 That's what I want to do. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:38.480 I want to wake up there. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:40.639 And I want to get, you know what I want to get in. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:44.399 I want to get in my 1973 Ford Bronco Britney Blue with convertible top. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:08:03.120 I don't own it, I can't afford it, but that's what I want to get in, and I want to drive to a hiking trail or fishing spot, and I want to hike or fish, and then when I'm done, I'm gonna cruise by Dornans for a slice of pizza and a frozen margarita, and then I want to head back and then go out for dinner and I want to do it again. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.439 Like I mean, I could do that forever, I think, right? 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:08.319 I think. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:10.560 But of course, you know the problem. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:13.680 Like that 1973 Four Broncos is gonna break down. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:13.920 Right? 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:14.959 It's gonna break down. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:17.120 It's gonna be too hot one day. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:21.439 You know, it the frozen margarine's gonna melt. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:24.399 I'm gonna turn my anchor on the ankle on the hiking trail. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.160 The problem is that I'm still there. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:27.759 Like that that's that's the problem. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:31.839 It's gonna get too hot in the afternoon, it might be a little too cold at night at night. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:32.960 Right? 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:38.559 We can't we can't create in this world the comfort that we actually want. 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:41.759 We try a lot with our circumstances. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:46.559 And David says, Hey, your heart wanting comfort. 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:47.759 We get that. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:50.639 But our comfort is in God Himself. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:53.279 God is our resting place. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:55.919 Verses five and six. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:03.360 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:05.039 It's all language of favor. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:06.960 Verse 6. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:13.519 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:18.000 Now it's possible you're here and you feel like an enemy is on you. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:19.440 Maybe spiritually. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:20.480 I'm open to that. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:21.600 We're spiritual beings. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:23.440 We live in a spiritual world. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:28.320 Maybe it's the enemy of fear or the enemy of worry. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:31.039 I mean, you you just worry about everything. 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:33.279 Maybe it's crushing guilt. 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:35.679 Maybe it's the enemy of hurry. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:40.879 Maybe it's the enemy of never being enough, or the enemy of feeling like you always need something else. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:48.960 Maybe it's the enemy of feeling like if only I was in summertime, Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 1973, Ford Bronco or Britney Blue with a convertible top, then I would be okay, right? 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:51.039 Like that's actually an enemy thinking that, right? 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:55.039 That's creating ongoing discontentment here and now. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:58.639 And the Psalm says, God's with me. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:00.559 God's with me here and now. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:02.720 So we have all these enemies. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:05.440 And then we hear God has a table. 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:08.399 God has a table for you. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:11.440 Now, this is hope language. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:18.559 Because it's it's getting imagery and wooing our hearts toward heaven, that a feast will be prepared for us. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:20.320 And we're in the already but not yet. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:21.600 Remember, we talked about that last week. 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:23.440 We're already, but not yet. 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:34.320 We're already redeemed, we're already gods, we're already in standing position in Jesus, we're already all that, and yet we're not fully experiencing all that, but there will be a day where there is a feast. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:36.799 Where there is a feast. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:41.440 And it is prepared in front of all of our enemies, all these things I just talked about. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:46.559 And we're gonna dine, we're going to bountifully dine. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:54.559 And the message here, the imagery David is building is we overflow with his favor. 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:57.360 Surely. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.840 Surely goodness and mercy, folly. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:10.159 Three of God's promises for our growth and grace that I at least see here in this chapter. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:15.919 Number one is this God promises rest for our weary and wanting hearts. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:17.360 Isn't that nice? 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:18.399 Love that. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:27.519 The implication, we know peace in the surrendering of our wants and work to God, not working harder and buying more. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:32.000 Now we may work hard and we may buy more. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.559 You just won't know peace through that. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:40.159 Our weary hearts find rest in God alone. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:46.879 Number two, God promises steadfast, comforting presence in our hurt and hardship. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:48.720 That's verse four. 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:55.200 The implication here is that we can face and we can walk through those valleys. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:59.600 We can walk through our pain with God's presence. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:14.559 What it means is that your trauma and your hurt and your pain and everything that you think you need to hide because God may not smile upon you, or you think you won't be able to survive that pain if you actually faced it, God is with you in it. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:16.159 He's not going to go anywhere. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:18.080 He's committed to you. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:28.080 Number three, God's promise, God promises restoration and abundance to the exhausted and the desperate. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:29.600 Verses five and six. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:30.639 That's a feast. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:31.440 Come. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:40.639 We're existing and partaking it in part now already, but not yet to the fullness of the hope we have in heaven. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:48.720 The implication is God is inclined to our need, and none of our stories are finished. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.840 It's good news if you walk in here weary. 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:54.799 Now, here's our conclusion. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:56.399 Second point, last point. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:02.320 We are stubborn sheep, but we have a good and devoted shepherd. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:07.519 A sheep is stubborn, we are a sheep, therefore we are stubborn sheep. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:09.600 But we have a good and devoted shepherd. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:19.279 Psalm 23 is hinting toward what John writes in his gospel, the words of Jesus, John 10, 11, I am the good shepherd, Jesus is saying, I'm the good shepherd. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:22.720 The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:27.519 This term shepherd implies nearness and care. 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:31.039 It's a real relationship with God. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:38.960 It's imagery for us to understand how much he cares for us, protects us, guides us, comforts us. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:54.080 And Jesus says, connect it to the cross, because on the cross the good shepherd lays down his life that we have full forgiveness as our sin is put upon the cross, and full righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus given to us. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:55.840 Fully forgiven. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:58.240 Enjoy your forgiveness. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:13:59.440 Fully righteous. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.240 Enjoy your righteousness you have in Christ. 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:06.559 We have this welcoming and near God committed to us. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:12.559 Last night, Christy and I watched my next guest, needs no introduction. 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:14.320 David Letterman on Netflix. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:15.360 He interviews different people. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:17.519 He was interviewing Kim Kardashian. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:23.120 Now, you wouldn't think, well, you might not think that's what we were watching last night, but that's the kind of stuff we watch. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:28.559 Also, she is gonna get a tattoo next week, apparently, but that's what Christy's doing next week. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:36.000 And you also wouldn't think that there would be a lot of commonalities between, say, me or you or Kim Kardashian. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.320 Seems like two very different worlds. 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:40.879 But they started talking about parenting. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:42.240 It wasn't long. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:45.039 They just briefly mentioned Kim's children. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:46.879 She has children, just like we have children. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:50.320 She probably has a little more help with the children than we have with our children. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:53.360 But she still has children, and they're still her children. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:56.879 And Dave has a son, and he he said this. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:07.360 He said, My little experience here that you and I have in common with every parent in the world is you can't imagine the constellation of concern and anxiety one has about their kid. 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:09.039 It's never-ending. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:13.840 But it's so much fun, you're willing to put everything to the back of it. 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:19.600 And then she says, Kim Kardashian says, I think when you become a mom, you think of everything. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:21.919 Are they getting along with everyone? 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:24.480 How will she feel if she wins? 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:26.960 How will she feel if she doesn't win? 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:29.759 And then they trail off into another story. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:35.840 But I love that statement because I think I think we associate it, seems like motherhood, but it seems like it. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:38.799 I think when you become a mom, you think of everything. 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:40.720 Right? 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:45.360 She's saying becoming a mom means you carry a lot. 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:53.360 You're carrying concerns and anxieties and fears and thoughts and what-ifs, and just carrying it, carrying it, carrying it, carrying it. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:55.519 Here's another famous mom. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:57.919 I ran into this picture this week. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:00.240 Joey, anybody? 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:02.960 Anybody is anybody first thought Joey? 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:07.360 So it's Katie Holmes a few years ago with her daughter, Dawson's Creek. 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:09.360 She married Tom Cruise, they're re caught up. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:09.919 Do you remember? 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:11.039 They divorced. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.200 Tabloids followed around for years and they finally kind of calmed down. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:17.200 And we can get into the debate. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:18.080 I'm open to the debate. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:20.240 Dawson's Creek, 902 and O, the OC. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:22.559 I know some of you will argue the OC, but you're young. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:24.080 You don't know the history. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:28.000 Clearly it's 902 and oh. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:29.519 The others are just knockoffs. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:30.080 I know. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:31.759 I'm I'm I'm up for that later. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:32.960 We can do that. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:41.600 This I saw this picture this week when I was reading some mothering articles and stuff like that, try to get an understanding of this. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:43.600 I'm not a mom, by the way, breaking news. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:47.440 So it's trying to kind of get into this a little bit, and it seems like moms carry a lot. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:53.360 My wife carries a lot, and I saw this picture, and it just seemed like this picture so much like motherhood. 00:16:53.440 --> 00:17:00.639 Your arms are just full, and some of you moms, right away, your eye went to one thing, and it's that left foot, the flip-flop. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:04.160 Somebody saw it, and you're like, that flip-flop's about to come off. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:06.960 Curl your toes, curl your toes. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:07.839 That's all you're thinking. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:09.519 Curl your toes, I'm not stopping. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:11.680 If that flip-flop comes off, I'm not stopping. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:16.079 I'm not turning out with this much stuff, and her arms are full. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:19.440 She's kind of reshuffling. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:22.720 And yet, in all the shuffle and the judgment, look behind her. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:24.799 Everybody's staring at her, taking a picture. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:27.359 And you know what that feels like, right? 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:30.160 You're if you're a parent. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:31.759 You know what that's like, right? 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:37.119 You make a parenting decision, or you don't make a parenting decision, you let something slide or not slide. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.480 It's a lot to carry. 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:44.880 And yet she has this little content smile. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:48.319 Seems like mothering. 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:55.519 Many of the historic artworks on Psalm 23, they feel pretty distant. 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:58.160 There's one that's in Italy, it's a mosaic. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:17:59.759 It feels real distant. 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:02.160 It's definitely stressing the deity of Christ. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:04.240 He has his hand down toward a sheep. 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:06.160 It's nice. 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:13.440 But I ran into this piece by contemporary Korean artist Young Sung Kim painted this, the Good Shepherd. 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:20.000 This painting to me it feels like Psalm 23. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:25.839 Okay, I know it doesn't have green pastures and there's not a it feels like it. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:27.920 This feels like the Good Shepherd. 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:29.519 Right? 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:32.720 The assumption that you're weary, that you would need to be carried. 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:38.319 The presence of a shepherd, a tone of comfort and calm. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:42.960 Of course you get weary, but you're carrying a lot. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:49.680 And while you carry a lot, what Psalm 23 is telling us is such good news. 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:52.720 Because while you carry a lot, you're cared for. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:56.000 You are cared for, you are provided for. 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:57.599 You are guided. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:01.039 That God is our resting place. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:05.920 John 10, 11 connects it for us, that we know this securely. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.440 In the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for us. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:13.359 Before we go to communion, we're going to have a little time of prayer. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:15.200 So let's pray together. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:20.079 Heavenly Father, we come to you. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:24.960 And before we go to the table, we just stop. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:35.200 And many of us this morning, our hearts are filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for the moms that you gave us who were loving and present. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:39.519 And we say we have a testimony this morning. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:46.400 And our testimony is that surely your goodness and your mercy has that it has followed us. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:48.319 And we say thank you. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:20:02.000 This morning we also pray, and perhaps if you're here this morning and you're a you're a hurting and grieving person this morning, because maybe you lost your mom this year. 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.960 Or maybe you're in the memory and still grieving the loss of your mom. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:11.359 Even as I pray, you can open your hands in your lap. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:19.759 Or maybe you're hurting because you want to be a mom, and that journey has been so incredibly difficult. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:26.559 And we just pray, Holy Spirit, would you be the comforter this morning? 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:34.400 God, would you comfort? 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:37.200 Would you bring hope? 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:44.559 Would you help people hear afresh that proclamation that David makes? 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:50.400 That surely goodness and mercy have followed us. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:55.519 That goodness and mercy are following us now. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:01.200 We pray for all the moms here this morning. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:11.039 All that we know are crying out thanksgivings for their children and also praise that you are with them and also a cry of help. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:16.480 Would you give them discernment that only a mom can have for their children? 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:20.160 Would you give these moms wisdom beyond their years? 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:32.000 Would you give them a love and a kindness, a patience, a care that is a fruit of your spirit and not a work of their own flesh or merit or performance or pulling their bootstraps up? 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:35.440 Would they really be at rest in their secure identity in you? 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:37.359 And would your spirit be at work? 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:42.720 Would they have greater trust and greater rest that you are the good shepherd? 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:46.559 And that while they carry a lot, that you carry them. 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:52.079 And would their heart resound like David's? 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:58.720 Surely goodness and mercy follow all the days of our lives. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:01.200 Amen.