WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:06.240 About 10 years ago, Christy and I uh attended a concert in Atlanta for the band Coldplay. 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:12.000 I mean at the time Coldplay just hit mainstream, super popular, and we were into it. 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:13.199 We were way into it. 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:18.399 You know, the song Scientist and Yellow had come out, and we were playing those at our house all the time. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:19.920 We had pretty good seats. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:29.280 We were at Phillips Arena, and we were about 40 yards back along the floor, like toward the back of the floor, but up 10 rows, kind of had a good view. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:34.240 And Chris Martin, who's their lead singer, he he would like this is what he does every concert. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:38.399 He just kind of like twirls around the stage completely free the entire time. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:43.840 And then when he sits down in front of his piano, he kind of he's like a special stool where he can rock back and forth. 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:46.079 And I I was I was in, man. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:55.039 I mean, I was into this thing, and somewhere along the line I got a migraine, so I took a pain pill, which I think helped with the kind of like religious experience along the way. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:02.159 Um at the end of the concert, they sang the song Yellow, and they dropped all these yellow balls uh from the ceiling. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:05.200 I think that combined with the music and the pain pill. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:08.560 I mean, I was having uh a wonderful time. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:12.400 And I was in after then, I was even more in like to this band. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:13.920 I mean, I was so in. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:18.319 I mean, I I if I could figure out something about them, I wanted to know. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:28.959 Like if there was something on TV about them, like their creative process, or you know, how they toured or where they were at, I mean, any of this information, I wanted to know it. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:46.480 And then just a few years after that, uh, they were back in town on another tour, and Christy and I, we we weren't going, but we knew they were in town, and we had been at Piedmont Park that day with our girls, and we were on Piedmont Road at the red light at Cheshire Bridge, and we were first at the red light. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:50.480 And these two black suburbans turned right in front of us. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:56.959 I'm talking like 10 feet in front of us, and we saw straight in the windows, and we saw the band. 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:08.240 And then it was like two teenage girls, me and my grown wife, seeing Justin Bieber, like at your birthday party or something. 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:10.240 I mean, we went nuts. 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:17.520 Like, oh, it was it, you know, and then just right after that, right after that, we keep driving, but we're we're so excited about this sighting. 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:18.800 I mean, you couldn't believe it, right? 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:23.520 We were so excited about this, and we start talking about, you know, like, oh, well, they must be staying at the St. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:32.319 Regents because they were coming from Buckhead, and you know, the Ritz is downtown, and the four seasons is over, kind of more midtown, so they must be at Central, oh, it's three o'clock, you know. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:35.439 So the the I don't think the concert starts till seven, so it's three. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:39.840 They must must like to get there about four hours, you know, early, do their sound chat. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:41.840 Like we're figuring all this out. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:44.240 Like, so you know, so important, so important. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:52.879 And we did all this, like all this conversation, all this trying to figure out this mystery of the unknown just off of a glimpse. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:55.120 Just off of a glimpse. 00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:04.240 And that's that's my point here is by catching a glimpse of something, by catching a glimpse of something, we can learn something. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:06.080 We won't learn everything. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:08.879 But we start to learn something. 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:11.120 And that's what our text is this morning. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:19.120 Our text from Acts 4 this morning, it's a glimpse of something we want to know so much more about. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:25.120 And I'll go ahead and confess to you that the passage in the bulletin, I printed the wrong one, so you're gonna have to listen to me read it. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:27.120 I think in the bulletin's Acts 2. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:32.159 But this is Acts 4, 24 through 30. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:34.319 Sovereign Lord. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:39.280 So that means, by the way, sovereign means like God who is in control. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:41.599 Okay, who's in control of all things. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:56.000 Sovereign Lord, God who's in control, everything, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain? 00:03:56.319 --> 00:04:01.840 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:18.000 For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:31.839 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:37.920 So if you remember the story of the last two weeks, Peter and John, like the church is starting, Jesus had died, he had resurrected. 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:44.319 Peter and John come out of that, they're transformed, they become very bold people, and they start to proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.199 All these people are very religious, they're making all these sacrifices. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:50.079 This life sort of has a merit system to it. 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:54.959 They come and say, no, no, no, no, like Jesus is the last sacrifice. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:56.319 You don't have to keep sacrificing. 00:04:56.480 --> 00:04:58.560 You don't have to keep sacrificing yourself. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:08.399 By the grace of God, this Jesus dies for all of your sin is put upon him, and his righteousness is given to you, and you are securely beloved before God. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:09.920 This is such good news. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:14.079 And they're telling this to the religious elite who don't care. 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:17.040 And they don't care because the system works for their benefit. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.600 The system works for them and their family and their friends. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.560 It gives them a lot of wealth, it gives them a lot of power. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:24.319 And so Jesus is a threat. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.480 This message of the grace of God is a threat to their system. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:36.879 And so Peter and John are arrested, they come out of being arrested, they get freed, and immediately the people pray this prayer. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:51.839 And this prayer is sort of a mystery because you have this statement, sovereign Lord, God your sovereign, and your economy, all the good and all the bad of this world all work together in the economy of God, not outside of it. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:56.079 And then on top of that, they're praying they would be brave. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:06:03.680 So we get this mix of like sovereignty and human responsibility, because you would think, well, if they're proclaiming God to be sovereign, well then I don't need to be brave. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:04.560 I don't need to be anything. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:05.680 God's predestined at all. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:07.279 It doesn't even matter what I do. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:13.040 So they believe this idea of sovereignty, and then also they believe they need to keep doing something. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:20.560 So a few points this morning to solve all your questions you've ever had about God's sovereignty and your responsibility in this world. 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:27.680 Point number one God's sovereignty both frustrates us and humbles us. 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:31.360 God's sovereignty both frustrates us and humbles us. 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:34.079 So on Tuesday morning, I received a phone call. 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:37.839 I was standing at Health Place, working out at Health Place Tuesday morning. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:44.560 And it was one of those phone calls that was it was the wrong time for the phone call. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:50.560 Like, you know, you know, you looked at your phone, you're like, there's no reason this person should be calling me right now. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:52.000 Like as soon as you see it. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:56.879 And it was one of my best friends, my best friend John, and I look at him like he doesn't call me. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:06:58.560 He didn't call me in the morning. 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.439 Like that's that's not when he calls me. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:10.480 And so right away you're like, um, this is off, and I answer it, and and he says immediately, he just says, I have I have sad news. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:15.120 And I I you know, I was kind of prepared for that as soon as I saw his name on my phone. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:25.600 And he said, uh, our friend Kim, who we went to college with, had died on Monday in a paragliding accident in Kenya's Western Valley. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.560 And we talked a little bit about it more. 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:30.959 Um, but she had passed away. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:43.600 And she lived over there in Kenya, and she had started a camp in Kenya for kids, and she was single her whole life, but she had this huge family of friends in Kenya, huge family here, and family of friends here. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.439 And this is where I struggle with sovereignty. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:53.279 Because she was 39, 40, somewhere in there. 00:07:53.839 --> 00:08:03.519 And no matter how much I study or how much I learn or how much I read, my struggle is never with what is true. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:11.519 And my struggle is not with the philosophy behind or the argument behind God's sovereignty, not my struggle. 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:16.959 My struggle is with I only get a glimpse. 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:22.800 I only get a glimpse of how things are working out in this world, and it feels really painful. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:24.560 And I want to see it all. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:28.399 I want to know why my friend died on Monday. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:37.679 And while I don't understand, in my ignorance and my limitations, right, there's the humility side of sovereignty. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:46.559 I'm frustrated and I'm humbled, I'm limited, I'm ignorant, I'm resistant, and yet in all of that, in all of that, God's promises still stand. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:58.399 Nothing is for waste, even the worst of evils, the saddest of things, in time somehow God comes into that pain and creates life. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:00.159 He's been doing this from the beginning. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.600 He's been doing that, he did this in the garden, he did it at the cross. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:06.000 This week I'm watching Grey's Anatomy. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:07.919 Anybody still watch Grey's Anatomy? 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:08.559 Christy and I are. 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:09.200 We'll admit it. 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:10.879 Anybody else just want to admit that? 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:12.559 Thanks, Mark. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.480 Mark will be honest. 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:21.519 We're watching Gray's Anatomy and a monster of a guy, just a horrible human being. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:25.679 I mean, the kind of, you know, the kind of TV you want to watch where you feel so much better about yourself, right? 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:29.039 I mean, that's why some of you watch Bachelor, you just leave and go, I'm such a great person. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:31.200 I mean, this is what this guy does for me. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:33.519 Like, you're watching it, you're like, well, at least I'm not him. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:38.559 You know, and this guy finally dies, and you're so happy about his death. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:45.120 And they use his organs, they use his organs to bring life to other people. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:46.240 Right? 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:51.120 Like, even out of suffering and death comes life. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:53.200 It was like this from the beginning. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:10:00.320 It's it is in our world, and that is frustrating, and it is humbling. 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:01.919 Point number two. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:06.879 God's sovereignty, while frustrating, is also rescuing. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:08.639 So follow me with this. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:17.360 So there's an interesting story later in Acts chapter 27, and Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, this guy is a prisoner on a ship. 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:21.200 And a storm comes up on this ship, and it's not looking good. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:22.399 Everybody's freaking out. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:34.240 They think they're gonna go down, they think this is going the wrong way, and uh they decide to take the ship, let the storm take the ship, and they they get kind of on the lee side of an island, a little bit protected. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:39.360 They start building supports under the ship, they're tossing cargo, I mean, they're doing anything they can. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:46.240 And Paul, who's a prisoner, he comes before everybody says, Hey, I've heard from an angel from the Lord. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:49.759 And that could just be a fancy way of saying, like, hey, I heard from God. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.799 Like, in this distress, I heard from God, none of us are gonna die. 00:10:55.200 --> 00:10:57.919 So he makes this statement, hey, take heart. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.080 You're not gonna die, take heart. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:05.039 And then he says in verse 26, we must run aground on some island. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:06.559 All right, so that's interesting, right? 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:09.600 Like, because you have like, all right, so God is sovereign, none of you are gonna die. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:13.039 He's saying it before anything's happened, so it's been predestined. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:17.039 Yet, let's, we have to do something, yet we have to run the ship aground. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:20.080 Okay, so right away we see God's sovereignty, human responsibility. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:23.200 Somehow, mysteriously, these things are working together. 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.159 Then later on, some of the sailors they're getting afraid. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:35.519 I mean, they are about to jump ship, and Paul comes up in verse 31 and he says, Hey, unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.240 Okay, so twice, there's a second time. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:45.200 Something sovereignly has been spoken over them, and yet human responsibility is not removed. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:49.519 So we like to pit these two ideas against each other. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:50.320 Right? 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:52.480 And this is what it looks like usually. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:59.360 If God is in charge and he's in control of all things, well then I don't have to do anything. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:03.840 Or if God's not in charge. 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:13.919 Or like I can sort of like bend his will with my prayers, like if I pray hard enough, so everything relies on me. 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:28.399 See, no matter how things are, God is always in charge, and yet what you do still matters. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:38.320 Author and Pastor Tim Keller says that this concept makes no logical sense, but it is wonderfully practical. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:54.879 Meaning, if you really believe your actions and prayers could change God, if you really meant that, you have way too high a view of your own wisdom of what should happen in this world, or for you, or your family, or your loved ones, and you will exhaust yourself in this life. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:57.279 Because everything would rely on you. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:06.320 Yet, if you believed everything is faded and there's no human responsibility, well then it'd be easy to go like, I don't need to do anything. 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:12.879 Then you could easily waste your life, and you could cause a lot of harm to yourself and to other people. 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:18.799 See, there's a great freedom in the mystery of God's sovereignty and our responsibility. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:21.600 Because you're not in control of everything. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:26.639 And that's very freeing to come to that kind of surrender. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:32.159 I mean, my friend Kim's parents are dealing with this right now in their grief. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:33.919 Maybe you're grieving. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.720 Maybe you're still grieving something from 20 years ago. 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:39.519 And this is what we wrestle with. 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:43.840 Like, is God sovereign over not just life but also death? 00:13:44.720 --> 00:14:03.840 Because if we can accept something like that, even though it's frustrating, if we can accept something like that, that puts us in a position of humility and surrender and stillness that allows us to live in a present moment and allows us to go through the process of grief better. 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:10.480 Every night I snuggle my girls into their bed, kiss them, dote on them, pray for them. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:22.399 Man, it is so easy for me to think about the days ahead and all the possible harm that could be done to them that I can't control. 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:25.200 And that's just the thing. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:31.440 Like, yet I'll still love them, I'll discipline them, like we got an alarm on the house, I have a gun, don't come over at night. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:36.320 Like, like I'm gonna do whatever I can do within my human responsibility. 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:41.840 And yet I can't control it all. 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:46.000 And that's very, very difficult. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:15:06.320 But if all of this, with my kids or marriage, or job or health, if it's all completely me holding it together, if it's all just me holding it together, I'll be crushed. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:08.320 You'll be crushed. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:10.320 You'll be exhausted. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:19.919 You always think you need to pray a little harder, you'll always think you need to do something else, you always think you miss something, you always I mean at some point there has to be surrender. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:23.279 Surrender within human responsibility. 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:31.440 See, God's sovereignty, even while mysterious and frustrating, can bring great relief to you. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:35.440 So these people in Acts chapter 4, they're proclaimed God is sovereign, right? 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:38.000 So they're saying that you're in control of all things. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:42.879 Our buddies, Peter and John, were arrested, and immediately come out and we say, Sovereign Lord. 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:50.559 So they were arrested, things aren't good, we're being persecuted, and we're saying all of that in the economy of God is working together. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:51.200 All of it. 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:55.519 You're sovereign, and yet their prayer is make us brave that we can keep doing something. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:03.120 And I would just think my natural reaction is like, oh, well, if he's sovereign, then I pray less. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:03.840 Doesn't matter. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:05.840 Maybe I don't need to do as much. 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:09.679 He's got it anyways. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:25.360 But see, this sort of resignation for prayer, this is built upon the idea that praying is about you coercing God, me coercing God to get him to do something in the future that you think is best. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:40.639 When really it's built upon the truth that prayer is about you getting out all your expectations and finally becoming surrendered and still before the Lord, who holds all things together, and out of that you live your life. 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:48.320 And this gives us point number three, and this is it, because of God's sovereignty, you are free to pray. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:51.840 Ultimately, we just need to get this stuff out. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:54.559 Like, we need to get our concerns out, we need to get our plans out. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:58.480 Like, here's my great plan for my kids and for my family, here's my great plan for my job. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:01.519 Like, I need to get all this out, all this confession out. 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:09.039 I need to get all this out before the Lord so finally I can get to the place of be still and know that I am God. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:12.000 You are free. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:14.880 You are free of trying to coerce God constantly. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:16.480 See, you're free to pray. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:21.359 There's no freedom in prayer if it's all you coercing God to what you think is best. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:31.759 And then we can go before God with whatever we're thinking and our plans and all these expectations, and we're just putting them out there, but we're putting them out there going like, yet your will be done. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:45.200 Like, here it is, and I'm unloading all of this because I need to unload all of it, yet your will be done, and now can I move into a place of presence and stillness before God? 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:46.319 Surrender. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:53.839 Many of us were just really given a load of baloney when it comes to prayer. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:59.680 You know, the idea that prayer is primarily about us asking for things and you did this. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:02.799 You did this and it didn't work. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:05.279 Of course it didn't work. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:09.440 Prayer is not primarily about you just asking for things and God goes, oh, that's a great idea. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:10.720 I didn't think about that. 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:12.640 Like he's not sovereign. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:26.960 Prayer is about us getting all of this out so we can put ourselves in a position before God where we're surrendered and rested and becoming a non-anxious presence, a loving presence to ourselves, our family, our neighbors. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:33.359 See, he is sovereign and yet we still have our lives. 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:35.759 That is freedom. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:45.839 His sovereignty brings us freedom, and yet the fact that there's still human responsibility makes sure that we don't move into apathy. 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.640 So, my brothers and sisters, it's all. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:54.880 All of it is held within God's gracious sovereignty over your life. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:55.839 Let's pray together. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.599 God, thank you for your goodness and your sovereignty and your grace. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:11.119 This topic and subject is so difficult, and yet we see this prayer of these people in Acts 4 proclaim you as sovereign, yet never budge from their responsibility. 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:16.480 Never move from asking for boldness and bravery. 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:19.119 They immediately come before you. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:21.759 God, would you help us? 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:24.960 Would you help us in this mystery and frustration? 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:29.039 To live in a humility, to come before you and say, You are sovereign over all things. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:32.960 Thank you for the freedom it brings, whatever your will be. 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:36.640 Would you give us the freedom to voice all of our concerns? 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:39.440 Just put it before you. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:51.039 The freedom to pray, the freedom to ask, the freedom to live in your gracious sovereignty, that we might move toward stillness and surrender with you. 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:58.400 God, so many of us are just high-gripping our lives. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:07.359 Unable to move on from something in the past that you are sovereign over, and it is hurtful and painful. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:09.839 Help us to grieve it. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:12.240 Help us to grieve it with you. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:15.440 That you come straight into pain and you always have. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:27.680 Thank you for the cross of Jesus, that even in all this resistance and ignorance of ours, as we try to act like we should be God and you shouldn't, that you are forgiving. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:34.400 And Jesus is enough, and that all of our sin of pride when it comes to this has been taken care of. 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:42.720 And that you give to us your righteousness, that we are your beloved, that we are always your beloved. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:44.559 We thank you for Jesus. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:45.599 In his name we pray. 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:46.240 Amen.