WEBVTT 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:06.240 Thank you for joining us on the CCW podcast. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:12.080 Make sure you connect with us on social media to stay up to date on ministries and events happening at CCW. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:16.000 We hope you're encouraged, inspired, and motivated by today's message. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:20.160 To find out how to connect with us, keep listening after the message ends. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:24.079 Glad y'all are here. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:28.399 And man, it is good to see these seats filling up. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:31.440 I'm gonna give you a commercial with this praise. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:34.399 A couple of ladies and a couple of pastors. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:37.039 This week we started back our prayer time. 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:40.000 Uh Wednesday night, we prayed through this building. 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:43.439 So wherever you're seated, somebody prayed over that area. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:49.200 Maybe even touched the seat that you're sitting in and indirectly prayed for you. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:51.840 Uh but it was interesting. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.320 We prayed during that time, and uh God would fill this place. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:00.960 And I'm telling you, He's answering those prayers, and you're a part of that. 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:02.799 So thank you for being here today. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:05.840 If you're visiting, you've already been prayed for. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:09.040 My commercial is 6 to 6:30 on Wednesdays. 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:14.319 You can join us for prayer, and uh, we would love to have you be a part of that. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:15.840 I'm gonna give you one more. 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.400 This something that I get excited about this next week. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:20.239 I think Pastor Dave will share at the end. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:22.079 But uh we have our next step. 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:27.439 So if you've been considering joining the church at Chelsea Westover, we will meet Wednesday. 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:29.599 We'll have a meal at 6:30. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:34.079 And uh it's two classes on how to join this church. 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:38.560 It tells you everything sort of about CCWR vision, where we're headed, and how to serve. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:43.120 So if you'd like to do that, there'll be an opportunity at the end uh on how to register. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:47.680 But now turn your Bible, if you would, to the book of Ruth. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:59.200 As you turn to the book of Ruth, uh, we have been on biblical, contend for biblical marriage, contend for biblical sex, and now we're taking sort of a drastic turn. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:06.000 Um, but the Bible tells us that we need to contend for widows and orphans. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:26.639 There's a man or woman tonight who's gonna go to bed after decades of having an identity and a relationship, and they're gonna go to bed with the deepest grief that they've ever felt, trying to figure out what this new life looks like, and they're gonna go to bed overwhelmed. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:33.280 At the Church of Chelsea Westover, there's approximately 20 widows or widowers. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:38.080 There's 15.2 million in the United States. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:44.319 In Alabama tonight, a child will go to bed in a room that's not their own. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:54.000 They're gonna cry for a mother who's not there and wish for the embrace of a father that maybe they've never known. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:56.080 They're gonna be wanting for safety. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:00.240 In Alabama, there's 5,700 kids in foster care. 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:06.800 There's 1.9 million families represented in the state of Alabama. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:15.120 If 3% of all families would foster a child, every child would have a home and a pillow and a bed. 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:21.120 I'm so thankful for our church and the way that this has already struck some hearts. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:25.280 There's some people that you need to be praying for, the greater family, the Randolph family. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:33.360 There's others who are seeking and praying over adoption, the Blagoviches and more, where God has begun to penetrate seed in their heart. 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:39.840 And as a church, we want to do all that we can to help anybody in that place. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:42.080 And so be in prayer over those. 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:46.159 But yes, Pastor, tell me scripturally, where can we find this? 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:57.280 And I want to tell you from the law to the poetic books to the prophets to the gospels to Paul's letters are the words widows and orphans. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:01.439 And I just picked a few of them to start this morning so that you could hear them. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:12.719 In Deuteronomy, the law, chapter 10, it says, The Lord is God, God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:18.399 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widows, and loves the stranger. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:29.759 In the poetic books, in the Psalms 68, 5, and 6, it says he's a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, and sets the solitary in families. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:47.279 In Isaiah, it says in the prophets, do good, seek justice, justice for the fatherless, and plead for the widows. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:54.639 In James 1, 27, he said, religion, pure and undefiled, is that we care for the widows and orphans in distress. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:56.399 Would you pray with me? 00:04:57.040 --> 00:04:58.240 Father, we love you. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:02.079 We thank you for your word and this challenge. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:28.160 And it may be that some in here this morning, Lord, this is uh a first thought, or God, it's uh something that God seems brand new, but in your word, it seems evident from beginning to end that it is your plan that not only the church, but the body of the church would be concerned and not just concerned, but contend to stand for and help in any way that we can. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.439 And so, God, I pray that you would pierce our hearts, speak to our hearts. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:38.319 I pray for the person today who's been thinking and considering adoption or foster care. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:47.600 Lord, I pray for the person who's been sitting and thinking, I need to invest and listen to that person who lost a loved one. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:53.839 Lord, I pray for the person who's sitting here thinking, today, there are needy people, and I want to help. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:58.079 God, pierce our hearts for the things that matter to your heart. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:00.800 Bless the reading of your word today in Jesus' name. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:01.680 Amen. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:04.240 So I wanted to take you to the book of Ruth. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:17.519 We could dissect these verses and several others, but the book of Ruth has what I think is a practical example of two widows that will find them in their widowhood or what starts their widowhood. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:20.319 But also I want you to see a possible parallel. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:29.279 It's a little stretched, but Ruth is orphan-like as she comes into Naomi's care as she's left her home and is not with her father and mother and has taken on. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:33.199 So I want you just to keep an open mind to the application. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:40.560 Um, but in Ruth chapter one, as we start, number one this morning, it's a time of desperate circumstances. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:53.759 As you finish up the book of Judges right before Ruth, the rebellion of judges is like this: there's rebellion, then there's judgment from God, then there's repentance, then there's mercy. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:07:02.560 Then there's rebellion, and then there's judgment, and then there's repentance, and then there's mercy, and then there's, are you catching the drift? 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:07.759 That's the book of Judges through and through, and that is the time frame that we catch up to Ruth. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:12.480 And the thing that I consider about that is humanly, right? 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:14.720 We identify with judges, do we not? 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:16.800 Aren't you a roller coaster? 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:19.199 Is anyone here always the same? 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:21.439 Just man, you never veer the path. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:26.319 You might, there might be a few people here that just never really struggle, just always like this. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:30.399 But for most of us, Christianity's like, and for some, oh, right? 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:31.600 Some okay? 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.920 And so that's the book of Judges. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:36.240 And I thought about our humanity, that's why. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:41.519 We struggle, our human flesh thinks it can self-govern, right? 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:46.319 Until some of you come across the highway and see a speed limit sign. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.360 Does anyone here go 55 in a 55? 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:54.160 Joe does. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:54.879 That's a lie. 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:56.639 He lied in church. 00:07:58.879 --> 00:07:59.439 Right? 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:02.720 We think we can self-govern, but we struggle with authority. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:03.839 Don't look at me. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:04.959 This is you. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:06.480 Okay. 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:20.319 Heather had some late books, I'm telling my wife, but uh, she had some late books to the library at Tennessee Temple University one time, and uh she accumulated, I can't remember the number, I'm gonna make it up,$14. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:22.319 Am I close? 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:23.680 What was it? 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:25.439 How much? 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:27.519 $96? 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:32.399 Holy cow! And I was thinking good on her. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:41.919 Anyhow, the librarian was sort of like a, I don't know how to explain him, but he seemed like the type of guy that you would enjoy to kind of anger. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:42.639 I'm just saying. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:49.840 He was uptight, he wasn't real personal, and uh anyway, there's anyhow, I better just Lord help me. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:55.279 So Heather came, she had her late fees, and she had a great big, this is self-government, right? 00:08:55.360 --> 00:09:00.639 She brought the biggest barrel of change full of pennies and dumped it on the counter. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:02.879 And she said, I'm sure it's all there. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:04.879 And he's just looking at her. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:06.799 Count them up, sir. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:08.240 Like, this is how we are. 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:14.000 Have you ever watched children try to begin a game on their own without an adult? 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:16.320 I'm talking, chill, y'all seen this? 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:18.559 Just a simple game of kickball. 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:22.240 You see the most, I mean, depravity in its best. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:24.960 They are little heathen cheaters. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:32.559 They'll try to run to first base, the ball clearly hit them in the back and say, it didn't touch me. 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:35.840 You're such a liar in your own element. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.879 You can't self-govern a game of kickball. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:43.200 We're liars, we're cheats, we want what's best for us. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:47.600 Well, this is the book of judges. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:50.799 And this is people, and God would allow them repentance. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:56.879 Then they get to this time when we meet up with Ruth, and it's a time of famine. 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:00.720 Well, I want to read to you Ruth chapter 1, verses 1 through 5. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:04.159 Letter A is this, it's a frantic time. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:18.399 And it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:28.000 The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Malan and Chilean, the Paphrates of Bethlehem, Judah. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:30.639 And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:34.399 Then Elimanech, Naomi's husband, died. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:36.240 And she was left and her two sons. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.879 Now they took wives of the women of Moab. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:42.639 The name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:44.799 And they dwelt there about ten years. 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:49.360 Then both Malan and Chilean also died. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:53.679 So the woman survived her two sons and her husband. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.799 So this is a frantic time. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:00.720 It's a ten-year nightmare in five verses. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:06.720 And this is a literary style, the way that it's written, it's called like a staccato. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:14.320 It's choppy, it's unemotional, it's unfeeling, it's cold hard fact after cold hard fact after cold hard fact. 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:18.240 There's no details, no story, just tragedy and tragedy and tragedy. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:24.799 And Elimelech died, and his sons married Moabite women, and Malin and Chilean died. 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:32.960 And the whole reason I want to propose to you this morning that we need to contend is because things get frantic. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:35.279 And things get desperate. 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:39.519 And in desperation, people need reminded of hope. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:44.159 And we're living, church, in a frantic time. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:47.279 And man, is there a need of a church right now? 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:49.279 So I want to take you to letter B. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:51.360 Where does that lead them? 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:54.159 It leads them to a foreign transplant. 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:57.440 They moved, if you didn't check that, they moved. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:03.519 Elimelech decides to take the family because of famine and move them to Moab. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:11.279 Relocation meant abandoning Bethlehem, which is known as the house of bread, God's house. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:17.120 They left God's house because there was famine because of hunger in the land. 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:19.039 You've heard this quote. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:24.639 The grass is greener where you water it. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:25.679 Right? 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:30.879 Pastor Stephen Yoes said this: the grass is greener where there's manure. 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:35.279 Say, what does that mean? 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:37.840 Hardship is okay. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:43.039 I'm learning that difficulty makes a person better. 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:52.720 Running to a pagan land instead of walking through a lean season of famine at home was the wrong answer. 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:57.759 I want you to look at Psalm 60, verse 8, what it says about Moab. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:12:58.960 Interesting. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:00.799 He took his family, picked them up. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:05.200 There's no food, there's no bread in the house of bread, and we're leaving. 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:06.399 We're moving. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:09.840 He makes what I would say is a rash choice. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:20.480 In Psalms it says, Psalm 60, verse 8, Moab is my wash pot, and over Edom I will cast my shoe. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:23.600 Moab was a place full of immorality. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:25.759 It was a place of idolatry. 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:28.159 It was a place of sexual immorality. 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:34.240 And Elimelech gives his family this as the next picture of a future. 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:37.279 He brings them to a house of paganism. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:40.480 From the house of God to a house of paganism. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:43.279 This is what relocation means. 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:45.919 Elimelech fails his wife. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:48.720 Elimelech fails his family. 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:50.879 All of God's people were in Israel. 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:55.919 There was the temple in Israel, synagogue in Israel, and in Moab, there's nothing. 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:59.039 Elimelech believes I've got to provide for my family. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:01.279 And he provides, yes, food. 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:05.039 But being a provider is more than food on the table. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:07.919 He didn't think about friendships. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:09.519 He didn't think about community. 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:11.120 He didn't think about worship. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:12.879 He fails as a husband. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:14.399 He fails his sons. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:19.039 His sons, this is important that you know this because we're going to look in Deuteronomy. 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:21.200 His sons marry Moabite women. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:28.080 Well, Deuteronomy chapter 7 to the Israelite people, verse 3 says, You shall not intermarry with them. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.919 They'll turn your hearts away from me unto other gods. 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:39.919 Deuteronomy 23, 3 says, No Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord unto ten generations. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:41.840 Did you hear that? 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:45.440 Ten generations not allowed in church. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:49.200 These sons needed the instruction of a father. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:51.919 They needed to be taught the word of God. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:55.039 They needed a daddy, not just bread. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.159 Elimelech dies. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:05.759 And for Naomi, number one on the home stress scale is the death of a spouse. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:08.240 She loses her husband. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:10.639 Already had some stress because of relocation. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:12.799 How many of you know moving is a stress? 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:13.759 Right? 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:18.080 And so she's been moved, relocated, taken away from everything. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:19.919 Elimelech dies. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:26.399 Well, you saw them verses that unfeeling, unemotion, then Malin and Chilean, her sons, okay. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:30.240 My husband died, but I've got my boys here to take care of me. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:31.279 Well, no. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:33.679 Malin and Chilean die. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:39.600 No mother wants her children to precede them in death. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:41.919 So her sons are dead. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:43.039 Her husband is dead. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:44.799 There's no hope for grandsons. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:46.080 Her dreams are dead. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:47.519 Her family name is dead. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:53.840 Naomi is a widow in a frantic time, and her world has fallen apart. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:16:07.600 I um met Pam Minch because my pastor was out of town and her daughter, Beth, had been murdered. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:18.320 And I got the call as a 20-something-year-old pastor, and she had lost her life to murder, but that's not enough. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:22.960 Her children seen it, and it was their father. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:36.480 And I'm trying to give comfort and work with this family, and we had the funeral, and everything passed, and some time passed by, and I would check on Pam. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:47.200 And the next time that I came across Pam in a spiritual needing kind of way, um, Pam's father had gotten sick. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:17:05.920 A little bit of time had passed, and just before we left to come to Alabama, um Pam had called and she said, My husband Wayne has gotten sick with cancer. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:07.759 Wayne had passed. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:13.039 And then just a little while after we've been here, she lost her sweet mother. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:16.000 I've got a painting that sits in my office that she gave me. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:24.960 She gave her mother, gave Heather and I some money before we left to come to Alabama after ministering to this family. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:27.440 And I thought about you, church. 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:32.640 How many of you this year have lost a loved one? 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:36.160 It's all over. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:45.680 I've had a lot of calls in this year, and I want to tell you that I am I'm sorry for the loss. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:48.000 I'm sorry for what you're feeling. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:53.759 I thought about Pam, though, lost her daughter, lost her husband, lost her parents. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:57.359 And I opened Facebook just to look Pam up and see how she's doing. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:02.079 Let me tell you what Pam had first post on her Facebook page. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:10.160 It said, Faith is when you praise God in the storm, trust him in the valley, and follow him in the dark. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:15.920 If God is the only reason why you are still breathing, then praise God. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:18.960 Isn't that motivating? 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:26.240 Pam is still living a life honoring God and motivating people, even though she has been through it. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:30.640 This was a frantic time for Naomi and Ruth both. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:35.680 I want to take you to the second point this morning is this a time for deliberate changes. 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:41.920 There's a picture I want you to see. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:46.720 If we have it of a tower, I was researching deliberate changes. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:47.599 Look at this. 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:49.359 Some of you may have seen this movie. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:53.680 I think it's called Fall, and it it has something similar to this. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:19:02.640 But once every six months, Kevin Schmidt climbs this 1,500-foot tower because there is a deliberate need of change. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:10.240 He's paid$20,000 twice a year to climb a 1,500-foot tall tower and change a light bulb. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:12.240 How many of you would do this? 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:13.680 There's a few of you. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:15.599 That money, like, yeah. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:18.319 You ought to Google the video. 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:21.279 But I thought about that need for change. 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:31.599 He has to do that twice a year because airplanes that come by need to see that light bulb to coordinate where they are in the sky. 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:38.160 Sometimes in life, listen to me, church, there has to be a deliberate change. 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:43.279 An undoing of something old and a reinitiating of something brand new. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:47.599 Letter A this morning is this a time to help return to God. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:50.480 I want you to see verses six through nine. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:55.119 We read that unemotional, they died. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:56.000 This happened. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:56.640 Cold. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:08.480 And then verse six, then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited his people by giving them bread. 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:16.000 Therefore she went out from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:22.000 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-laws, Go return each to your mother's house. 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:26.400 The Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:32.400 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:34.799 She takes a trip to return. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:40.480 Zachariah 1.3, church says this return unto me that I may return unto you. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:44.559 Hosea 6, 1 says, Come, let us return to the Lord. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:47.440 He has torn, but he will heal. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:53.279 Over and over and over through Judges, we see a picture that we need to return. 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:55.599 He says, Return to me, return to me. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:21:03.039 In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, it says, I have this against you that you have left your first love, but return to me. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:08.079 James 4, 8 says, draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh unto you. 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:12.799 You see, Naomi had been in Moab for 10 years. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:14.480 Consider that. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:16.559 Ten years out of church. 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:18.960 Ten years in a pagan land. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:21.279 Ten years out of God's presence. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:23.519 Ten years with no worship. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:25.759 You know what I've never heard? 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:33.119 I've never heard someone say that they've been away from the Lord for 10 years and it's just been too short, Pastor. 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:35.200 I need more time away. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:39.920 You know, I've been out of church like the rest of the pagans, and I feel great. 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:42.000 I've never heard that. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:47.039 I've never heard anyone say, I've been sinning and cheating and living a lie. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:48.160 I'm drunk. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:50.319 I am on crack right now. 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:51.839 It's so good. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:59.200 Every moment away from God is misery. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.759 He says, return, return, return. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:17.839 And it is our job as a church to contend for widows and orphans and people that are in their destitution and in pain because they need people who will show them a road back to God. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:22.079 We need some return experts here. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:24.240 He says return. 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:27.039 Well, I want you to skip down. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:31.279 We're going to come back and fill in the gap, but I think it's important to get to this point. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:34.960 Letter B, to verses 19 through 21. 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:38.480 Letter B is a time to help release grief. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:42.319 Okay, deliberate changes. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:43.839 I decide to return. 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:46.160 There's some people today that need to return to God. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:49.200 You may be here, but you're not walking with God. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:50.799 That's just the reality. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:57.039 There's some people today, secondly, you need to release something that's had a hold on you. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:00.240 Look at verse 19 through 21. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:01.839 Look at Naomi. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:10.559 Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem, and it happened when they had come to Bethlehem that all the city was excited because of them. 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:15.119 And the woman, the women, said, Is this Naomi? 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:20.400 But she said to them, Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:24.400 For the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:28.480 I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:30.240 Why do you call me Naomi? 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:35.839 Since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:41.279 So you see this picture, weeping, they left for Bethlehem. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:43.359 They didn't want to die. 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:44.400 Fear. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:49.599 Originally they left Bethlehem because of the fear that they felt in their heart because of famine. 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:52.160 And now we see this heaviness of return. 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:55.680 Don't miss the weight that is with Naomi. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:57.680 She is destitute. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.160 She left filled. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:02.319 She said that, but wait. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:04.000 Remember there was famine? 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:07.599 They left because of famine, but she says, I left here filled. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:11.599 Now she comes back and people are excited, and she says, No, no, no, no. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:13.039 I'm not Naomi. 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:16.799 I am Mara, which means bitter. 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:18.559 God made me bitter. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:20.799 I left this place full. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:23.279 Now I'm empty with nothing. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:25.839 No husband, no sons. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:30.799 All she had was her widowed daughter-in-law. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:32.640 By the way, there's a picture there. 00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:34.240 A pagan girl. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:36.240 She came back with a pagan girl. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:38.079 I left full with everyone I love. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:42.559 Don't miss the pivotal tension of Ruth standing by quietly. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:47.039 A picture of Naomi's distress. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:50.400 A picture of her pain. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:55.680 And she said, I have come back absolutely empty. 00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:59.440 Except this picture of affliction that I've brought. 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:06.319 We get to see the end, so we know, listen to me. 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:08.240 We get to see the end. 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:15.839 Ruth's standing there quietly, a picture of affliction, but we get to see the end and we're holding the book of Ruth. 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:21.759 You might be here today and you say, Man, I'm just a backdrop in a great loss. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:27.920 And then one day God says, But you can be one of the great tools that I use. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:32.160 God is a redeemer of people, He's a redeemer of stories. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:34.480 He changes a test into a testimony. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:36.160 He makes a mess into a message. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:38.079 He can use you today. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:39.920 He's a redeemer. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:43.920 So this is what I want you to hear. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:46.000 You have grief, and that's fine. 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:47.599 It's okay to have grief. 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:51.200 Everyone here is going to experience grief. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:58.880 In fact, there's a word in Ecclesiastes that says it's better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:02.880 That it's actually good for you to experience grief. 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:06.559 It's a good thing to have those emotions. 00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:11.359 It's a good thing to go through something so you can have perspective about what you have in life. 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:13.519 But it's not good to keep it. 00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:18.160 It's okay to have it, but not to keep it. 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:21.440 She didn't say, I feel Mara. 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:25.200 She said, I am Mara. 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:27.759 I am bitter. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:29.440 Listen to me. 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:31.359 Find a place to weep. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.960 Find a pastor to talk to, a friend. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:38.079 You are not meant to bottle up grief. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:46.400 Some of you today, that's a real thing going on, and deep down in here, you've had something that you hadn't been able to let go. 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:51.519 And I want to tell you today, you need to release grief and bitterness. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:56.559 Ephesians 4.32 said, Let all bitterness and wrath and malice be put away. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:04.960 So cry and grieve and weep and yell and scream because his grace is sufficient. 00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:08.559 When you're weak, his power is made strong. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:23.359 The problem is we formulate a bitter brick wall that says, I will not be weak, I will not be broke, I cannot be vulnerable to pain. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:26.400 And I want to tell you that is a lie from the pit of hell. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:30.000 No one here is inhuman. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:32.799 No one here came in with a super suit. 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:37.599 No one here is in lack of needing help. 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:41.200 And no one here is in lack of needing salvation. 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:42.880 Don't bottle it up. 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:44.160 You know what Psalmist said? 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:47.759 He says, God will bind up your wounds. 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:52.960 You see, 1 Timothy 1 7 tells us the problem that started with a lemon leg. 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:55.039 He walked in a spirit of fear. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:58.480 So God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. 00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:05.839 But in a spirit of fear, he took his whole family and it drove a man to paganism and it killed him and his sons. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:07.440 So what do we do, Pastor? 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:09.599 We got to get out of that spirit. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:18.079 The real problem deep down with that wall is you're afraid that if you let those bricks begin to crumble, that you're going to be weak. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:23.839 And I want to tell you, we've got a God that acknowledges your weakness and he acknowledges your tears. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:28.319 He said, It is a sacrifice of a broken heart that pleases me. 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:34.480 He wants you to be okay with being broken so that you can have breakthrough. 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:49.200 The problem of that wall, that border is there's some people just white, knuckling in old grief, holding on to an old anger, mad at that person and that face when you see it in your mind, and holding on to a fear. 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:52.960 And I want to tell you, it's time to let go of Mara. 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:54.799 Release it. 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:57.599 Deliberate changes. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:28:59.359 It takes a deliberate change. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:04.720 Well, that takes us to something more exciting, nicer. 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:08.160 Point three, a time with devoted companionships. 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:12.960 Look at Ruth 1, 14 through 18. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:15.200 We see the opposite side. 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:22.000 She returns back and she's bitter, but look at the testimony of sweet Ruth. 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:25.200 Verse 14 through 18. 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:27.519