WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.919 Today's text is Psalm 127. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:08.880 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:13.119 Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:18.960 It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil. 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:21.839 For he gives his beloved sleep. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:27.120 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the room a reward. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:33.280 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born, are the children of one's youth. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:36.320 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:40.799 He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:42.000 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:48.320 God morning. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:51.039 Thanks for uh joining us this morning. 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:51.759 It's great to see you all. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:52.880 My name is James Rathman. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:55.600 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:59.840 And uh it's uh joy to gather together with uh you all this morning. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.600 Um we've got a uh uh we have technology now. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:07.519 The church tapping on the back of the uh on the back of your chairs. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:08.959 You know what this means. 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:10.480 No no excuses. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:12.319 This means no excuses. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:13.760 It looks like good news for you. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:14.799 This is not. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:18.079 This will be used against you in all kind in all kinds of ways. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:20.319 So we've got to uh pay attention to that. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:30.079 Um one thing uh before I pray and we get started, I wanted to recall your attention to uh these cards which are scattered throughout the seats. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:39.439 We have updated our giving platform, and we uh need all recurring gifts to be migrated over to this new giving platform. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:51.680 And if we uh if we are able through this process to migrate all of the recurring gifts from our old platform to our new platform, this is not a success. 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:53.680 This is that's just break-even. 00:01:54.159 --> 00:02:11.199 You know what a success would be is that if uh during the rollout of this giving platform, if we see even more recurring gifts that are given to the church through this uh um change of updating our back-end software and streamlining some things for the church. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:30.400 Um uh when we consider giving to uh the church and actually parting with our money, uh giving financially to the church, I know that it this is one of those uh points that all of a sudden it feels like, oh man, things are getting real, the rubber is is hitting the road. 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:39.120 I just want to uh uh remind you and even just share from personal experience. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:50.080 You know, Megan and I, we had committed since we first got married that we're always going to tithe, we're always going to give 10% of our income and uh to the to the church. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:57.520 And we uh uh have always been a part of this church since we first got married, although it was a little different form, it's a long history. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:04.560 That's why we have DBAs like Colfax Church, and it's a very interesting story if you would like to uh take me out to drinks one time or something. 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:09.520 But we've had this uh uh incredible experience. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:19.520 You know, we've been in ministry basically for most of my adult life, and uh ministry pays fine, just fine. 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:22.800 I'm taking care of at this church. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:25.840 But there are this is a very expensive city. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:27.199 Have you guys picked up on that? 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:31.520 I don't know what's happening, but it's very it's become a very expensive city. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:50.240 And we um I so there there have been so many occasions where it's getting towards the end of the month and we're staring down like the next rent or the next mortgage payment, and we've just gotten to witness miracle after miracle of the Lord's provision. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:58.879 And I still, up until literally earlier this year, would worry like crazy about finances. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:01.199 I had this understanding of finances. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:04.400 I sort of had this expectation financially. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:11.439 Um many of you have had, you know, financial experiences that you just map onto the rest of your life, no matter the changes that would happen. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:17.120 But I've had this, uh I had this expectation that one day I'll wake up and we'll just be destitute. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:19.759 Whatever we'd had will suddenly be gone. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.120 And this was my expectation. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:28.240 I just looked towards the end of the month and would stress and worry and would write scenarios and would play out those scenarios. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:34.639 And this year I've really committed to repenting of that. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:43.600 This is that type of financial stress and financial worry is just so plainly against the teachings of Jesus. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:56.079 He explicitly directs us in the Sermon on the Mount to not worry about your clothes, not worry about what you will eat, that He knows and He will provide for you. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:05:12.000 And this practice of giving to the church, this practice of bringing your offerings into your worship, is a way of saying, I'm not going to live in fear of my bank account. 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:18.000 I'm not going to live as though I am the one who can store away for my own protection. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:26.639 Instead, I'm going to live as though God sees me, He knows the particulars of my life, and He cares for me. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:34.319 And so when you consider your gift and when you consider your giving to the church, here's what I want you to consider with this number. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:44.480 As you're giving to the church, are you giving in such a way where you are saying, I know the Lord sees me and I know the Lord cares for me? 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:47.199 Because this is a way that you can say that. 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:49.279 You can say that to your own heart. 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:53.920 You can teach it to yourself, to your spouse, to your children through your bank account. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:06:00.240 You know the Lord sees you, that he understands the particulars of your needs, and he will care for you. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:05.519 Plus, you've got to consider, would you rather have 100% of your money and it just be like regular old money? 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.800 Or would you rather have 90% of your money and it be blessed? 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:13.600 Pretty good deal. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:16.480 Worth considering. 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:24.399 So I want to call you into that opportunity for uh worship and uh that trust in the Lord. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:39.120 Um I I I've begun to retrain my heart where when I see sort of leanness around the corner, I have this expectation now of I wonder what the Lord's gonna do. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:45.040 I bet there's gonna be some wonder I bet I bet we're gonna get to see some wonderful miracle again. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:47.199 And so far so good. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:50.160 So far so good. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:52.079 All right. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.839 Uh that is the uh push pay announcement. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:06:59.360 Let's pray. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:06.079 Holy Father, we praise you for your provision for us, for your care for us. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:27.519 Lord, the psalm that we are looking at today is a reminder to not be anxious, not uh grind away at ourselves, going beyond the limits that you have set for us, but to instead receive the goodness of your provision and receive the goodness of your promises in the midst of our labors while we labor for you. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:42.240 Father, I pray that you would settle that truth into our hearts so that we might demonstrate to the onlooking world that there are people who are experiencing peace. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:47.279 Lord, this would be a miracle of you and a miracle of grace. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:50.240 But Lord, we boldly pray for that. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:56.480 We boldly pray for that miracle so that it might be fruitful for your name, so that you might be glorified in it. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:02.959 And Lord, because it is something that we deeply long for and know that we will be restless until we rest in you. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:05.600 Would you train our hearts towards this in Jesus' name? 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:06.480 Amen. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:08.240 All right. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:12.800 Uh how many kids were here last week for the sermon last week? 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:15.680 One, two, three, four. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.480 Do you remember do you remember what the theme of the sermon was last week? 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:20.319 Obey. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:21.120 Yeah, kid. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:22.639 I heard kids and obey. 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:24.639 You put those together, you nailed it. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:25.360 How'd it go? 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:27.600 Did you obey your parents perfectly this past week? 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:32.240 Oh man. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:35.279 See, this is about the strike rate with my sermons. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:39.840 It's about usually the results are about uh like that. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.399 Well, that's okay, because you know you know what that means. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:48.720 That means we get to return again, we get to repent again, and we get to receive the full forgiveness of Jesus this week. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:54.639 We continue marching on, we continue laboring on for that high call that the Lord has called us to. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:57.279 So glad all the kids are with us this morning. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:00.960 This sermon um is back to being one that's uh more towards the parents. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:02.879 You guys can all take a deep breath. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:06.320 Uh, it's not just telling you to obey your parents like it was last week. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:08.399 So all the kids can relax. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:11.360 All the all the parents, you better get ready for this one. 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:16.879 This is the final series in our sermon on the Christian home. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:26.159 And I have to say, I am personally relieved that this is our final sermon in the Christian Home series. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:49.440 Uh, I might as well have put together a sermon series on praying for patience, which would be a total kamikaze mission of a sermon series, because when you're preaching for nine weeks on parenting, um the the Lord will uh humble you in your home for nine weeks straight. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:59.279 And I'm hoping that uh as we move out of this sermon series, uh, you know, there's a little bit of a little bit more breathing room in the old Rathman household. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:07.840 The results of this sermon series, however, in my life, I I feel like have been have been something really joyful to look at. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:16.000 One is I've been I I've tried to be, I think I have been much more proactive in my verbal coaching of my kids. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:28.480 I I feel like I've explained things better, I've I've laid laid things out more clearly, that I've I've tried to spot opportunities to be speaking directly into my kids' lives, and that's been a joyful thing to experience. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:39.120 I've been more committed over these past nine weeks to being consistently prayerful for each of my children by name, to be seeking to be interceding for them, to be a blessing for them. 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:42.159 That's been a joyful thing that I've gotten to experience. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:51.279 And likewise, I've gotten to uh I think it develop a more long-term view for the discipline of my children. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:11:07.679 And instead of sort of shifting from uh discipline in a way of like we have to bring the temperature of this moment down, I have to make whatever's going on in this moment end, which is has been, I think, more of my tendency in discipline. 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:13.279 Um I felt a shift in myself to where it's no, it's not about making this moment end. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:16.720 It's about forming the hearts of our children towards the Lord. 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:20.000 And that that's uh been a helpful shift. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:45.840 Um, but also I will say there is something like a hyper-awareness of just looking at your parenting for nine weeks that um is a helpful thing to do for a little while, but it's sort of like um it's sort of like constantly looking at your marriage and constantly assessing where you are, or if you're constantly looking at your parenting and constantly assessing where you are, it's sort of like, okay, this is helpful for a while. 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:48.960 Um, but eventually you just got to get in the game and do the thing. 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:52.399 You know, like the the point of practice is to play the game. 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:58.000 And I think that this this helpful season, it's also good for it to come to an end. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:11.279 It's good for the habits to be taken up and then to just be received with uh uh uh in accordance with the faith that we're able to receive them and not be constantly assessing your parenting. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:24.159 I think that that's not the way that God desires us to live, but instead to be uh graciously receiving those few things that He has placed upon your heart throughout this series and trying to integrate them into your home. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:35.919 I think one of the things that uh we've gotten to see in this series is is how clear and direct the Bible is with regards to your parenting. 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:39.039 This is not uh some vague ethereal thing. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:49.039 The Bible is is very plain with your with our instructions for for how to raise our children in the Lord. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:13:01.519 It's like he is a father who is stooping down and he is offering the coaching that we had talked about throughout this series, that you explain directly, you lay out exactly what this is supposed to look like. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:05.840 And our father treats us that way with regards to our parenting. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:14.320 You know, this sermon series, I think is, I hope, could be one of the most fruitful for our church. 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:28.080 Um I think that if we take the truths that we've learned in this and we seek to integrate them into our families, I think the fruitfulness from looking directly at our parenting could could just be immeasurable. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.679 You know, it's right in line with the mission of our church. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:43.039 One of the things I am so prayerful for and hopeful for for Redemption Church Denver is that this would be a church that our grandchildren will come to. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:51.039 Uh my uh wife's grandma is with us today, and the church that she had attended um uh in Texas. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:56.720 How it how long you maybe uh how how long did grandma go to that church? 00:13:58.320 --> 00:13:59.200 She was there 84 years. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:00.720 84 years. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:02.000 That's a long time. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:05.840 So that's a that's a church that that's a church that your grandkids go to. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:17.200 And uh I've heard her tell stories that her mom worked with the kids on Wednesdays and Fridays, and uh I've heard her explain that uh um she's seen pastors come and go. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:24.799 She's the fixture, you know, the pastors they come and go, and seen the church go through all sorts of phases. 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:29.120 Now it seems like it seems like now it's probably the healthiest phase of the church. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:30.159 Did you guys say? 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:42.240 So 84 years in, that's that's grandchildren are experiencing the healthiest, most fruitful phase in that church's history. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:46.320 That's my hope for Redemption Church Denver. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:55.919 Is that our grandchildren will be the ones that are experiencing this glorious fruitfulness uh that far outshines anything that we would get to experience. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:58.559 I want it to be extremely fruitful for all of us. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:03.600 And I want it to be even more fruitful down the line. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:18.559 I picture our grandkids, they'll be elders, our grandkids will be deacons in this church, they will cook meals for one another when they have children. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.399 They will go to men's conferences with cheesy names. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:31.360 They'll look at pictures of themselves as babies, which we might be witnessing in real time now. 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:39.360 Uh we we may will we're even witnessing uh they'll they'll look at pictures of their parents as babies. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:42.320 That's what we're witnessing in real time right now. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:55.360 They'll look at pictures of their parents as babies when they were baptized, and they will make fun of what I'm wearing while they are baptized, and they'll say, I can't believe that this is what it was like back then. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:16:05.519 When they're in their futuristic matching uniforms, which is of course what the future will be like. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:24.720 And the way that uh fruitfulness like that it gets established, the way we get to see or get to imagine something so wonderful, uh, so fruitful and so glorious is the ordinary labor of parenting that you are in the midst of now. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:33.840 The ordinary day-to-day, messy, shouty sometimes, parenting that you are in the midst of now. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:38.960 Those noises are the ones that participate in this glorious fruitfulness. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:48.720 Uh, I've been told that my emphasis on uh uh parenting, my emphasis on the on the family in the Christian home is not outward-looking enough for the church. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:58.240 Now, this is a foolish critique, because the reality is that families are the shop windows of the gospel. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:05.200 These are the things that people look into and they get to see and look in and marvel at and wonder at. 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:10.799 Family is the ordinary place where there's the first hearing of the gospel. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:25.759 Likewise, to treat individuals as though they aren't members of families, to ignore the places of greatest blessing and often greatest pain that people experience in their lives. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:42.079 And to not speak to these realities as though these are the most formative places for us, these are those initially and most deeply formative places for us, is to take an inhuman perspective on what it means to see other individuals. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:51.759 It's inhumane to consider others outside of the reality of their families and all that those things mean to us and to them. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:57.759 We've learned in this series that we are, we of course form families as people. 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:06.079 We are, we form families, but we are also formed by our families, that we constitute families, individuals. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:12.720 Families are constituted by individuals, but individuals are constituted by families. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:23.200 And this is tainted by sin in all of the ways that you can imagine, but there is a glorious restoration that the Lord is working by the gospel. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:33.440 We have seen that the work of the gospel is not to throw away what God had originally intended for the family, but instead to restore it to the position of function. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:37.519 And it can be hard to look at the ideals that are laid out in Scripture. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:46.319 Because when we look at the ideals, we are we immediately experience how we aren't participating in those ideals. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:19:06.319 The uh, you know, uh one way that we what one of the refrains that I've sort of used throughout this series is if you were to ask any Bible character in their 40s uh how their family life is, then you would hear just the wildest stories. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:08.640 You would hear the wildest stories. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:13.839 And and it what it would be like is asking any of you, hey, what's your family like? 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:16.160 What are the what's your extended family like? 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:18.079 How what's your relationship with your siblings? 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:20.319 What's your relationship with your parents? 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:31.680 What's the how do how are you, you know, negotiating your kids' time with their grandparents and grandparents, how do you feel involved in those in the lives of, and you would get all of these messy stories. 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:37.039 And it would be just like if you were to ask one of the Bible characters, how are things going for you? 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:45.759 You know, you consider Jesus Christ and you ask him when he's getting his ministry started, it's like, wow, this ministry seems to be going great. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:49.920 Look at all these crowds gathered around the sea, you can't go anywhere, all the healings and everything. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:53.119 Your brothers must be so proud of you. 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:59.359 It's like, well, last we talked, they were trying to coax me into Jerusalem so I would be murdered. 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:02.640 You know, he might say something like that. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:18.480 The scripture says in 1 Samuel 2, 5, Hannah's prayer, it says, the baron has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:24.240 You know, there's this inversion that can take place with the gospel. 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:31.759 This incredible glory in this hope that the Lord is the one who builds the house. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:38.319 Now, there are many folks in in our church who do not have young children, if you can believe it. 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:54.880 And a church community like ours, I think, is one of the few places left in in uh in in our city uh in which you would experience the pressing pain of not having children when you desire them. 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:03.599 Not not having a family of uh that's that's your own outside of your parents when you particular when you especially desire this. 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:05.759 And what does the scripture say with regards to this? 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:06.799 What is the hope of this? 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:13.599 Well, Hannah says that the baron has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:36.319 Spent the the the emphasis of this sermon series has been looking at how uh the gospel restores the natural family, and I've tried to speak directly to our parenting because this is where uh so many in our church are, and it the the place that that we find ourselves in this season of life. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:44.400 But we consider Hannah's prayer, and she says that the baron has borne seven. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:45.440 Well, how can that be? 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:47.440 Do you know what baron means? 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:50.960 It means she hasn't born anyone. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:55.920 And she says that she who has many children is forlorn. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:57.440 Well, how can that be? 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:01.119 She's the the Fruitful one. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:06.640 Well, that's because there is a spiritual reality to the kingdom. 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.279 There are spiritual generations. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:21.200 There is a house that restores the natural family to its position of function, but it gloriously transcends the natural family as well. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:34.480 There is the house that the Lord is building for us, in which he calls all of us, no matter where we find ourselves with our families, or where you find yourself with your natural family, into this glorious hope. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:39.759 And it is the same glorious hope that anyone would have for their little family. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:46.000 The glorious hope is that the Lord is building a beautiful house for his people. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:52.480 And that the Lord might use us to build a beautiful house for his people. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:23:04.880 What does the Ethiopian eunuch consider when he reads the scriptures and reads that it is the eunuch who will be fruitful, he will shout for joy because of his fruitfulness? 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:25.200 Well, I don't know how that's possible, except for we do know how that's possible, because there is a rebirth by the Spirit, which we have this hope in, in which the restoration of our natural families, we find our only hope in this same reality, a new birth by the Spirit. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:27.920 This is why we can look at a life like Paul's. 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:32.319 And Paul has no children, but Paul has Timothy. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:36.720 And Timothy, he's not Timothy's natural father, but he calls him son. 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:38.400 And it's true. 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:46.160 Timothy is his son, because by his labors in the gospel, Timothy has become his spiritual son. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:49.200 And what is the fruitfulness of Timothy? 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:57.680 Paul could not look back and look at the legacy of his children, but he could look back and see this glorious, incredible fruitfulness. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:01.200 You know, George Washington didn't, he couldn't have kids. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:07.759 This is just a side note about George Washington because I'm going through a phase. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:14.640 But look at what he was became the father of. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:17.119 You know, that's not to say it. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:33.759 So how much more glorious, how much more glorious is these pictures of Paul or or John when he writes and he says, he's writing to the churches, and he says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the Lord. 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:38.559 Now that's just him writing to his churches, but he calls them his children. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:39.759 How is that? 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:52.000 Because they have been born again into the kingdom of God by the Spirit, into the church, and by being born again, they are they they have fathers where they had no fathers. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:54.400 They have children where they had no children. 00:24:54.559 --> 00:25:05.200 There is a fruitfulness that can outshine and outstrip any of the natural fruitfulness that when the natural fruitfulness is left to its own devices. 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:17.920 So whether you are in a place where you don't have children or you long for them, or you're a place of having a children, that the weight of hope remains the same. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:21.440 That God would build a glorious house. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:23.279 This is our hope. 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:27.440 That God would build a glorious house out of our labors. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:30.799 He uses the natural means to do this. 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:35.599 He uses the supernatural means of his spirit to do this. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:45.200 And they are only fruitful, either of those are only fruitful if they are attended by the Holy Spirit. 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:55.200 Because he is the one who ultimately establishes what we are looking for, what we hope for, that he would build a glorious house for his name. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:09.599 So that's why I wanted to look today at Psalm 127 and just conclude our series with a look at this, because this is the hope that the Lord would build a glorious house for his name. 00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:28.640 And Psalm 127 is written by the man who builds the temple, the first temple, so that there would be a glorious house, actual, uh, you know, when you could go look at, like architecture, and there would be a glorious house for the name of God in the world, and that's Solomon. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:32.400 So this Psalm is written by King Solomon. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:42.960 And it begins like this in Psalm 127, verse 1, it says, Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:49.680 Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:53.680 So he's a builder. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:05.759 And he sees he's doing some building, he's doing this big construction project with the international trade deals and a lot of lot of moving parts. 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:12.640 And he says, unless the Lord builds the house, all of this is in vain. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:28.559 That means unless you seek to, if you seek to establish anything, to start anything, to build anything, to make anything, unless the Lord is the one who does that, it will be vanity. 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:31.359 It will amount to nothing. 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:38.480 And the second part is unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:46.240 We see two things the establishment, unless the Lord establishes, then it's vain, and we see preservation. 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:51.519 Unless the Lord preserves it, it will just go away. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:57.200 In all of these things, we are finally dependent upon the Lord. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:11.200 Now, we know Solomon from a little while ago when we went through the book of Ecclesiastes, and so we know that Solomon is totally willing to press us into higher levels of thinking than we would otherwise be comfortable with. 00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:25.839 And he does that in this is in this very, you know, Solomonic way in this verse when he is saying, you must build, and unless the Lord builds, it doesn't matter what you build. 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:29.359 You watch over, you protect. 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:35.200 Unless the Lord watches over and protects, it doesn't matter if you watch over and protect. 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:41.279 So this means that you can master the proverbs of parenting. 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:45.839 You can perfectly structure your quality time with your children. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:50.000 Your coaching speeches to your children can be dialed. 00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:53.759 They can be tight and really good and sticky and phrases. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:29:00.480 You can have house rules written down on your refrigerator and you can revisit them consistently. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:06.960 You can have tight structures and patterns of discipline and language around that that is helpful and beneficial. 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:18.319 And your hugs can be long and meaningful, and unless the Lord builds it, unless the Lord attends all of that, it's useless. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:21.440 It's useless. 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:35.839 For what we really want, for the house that we really want to see built, we find ourselves in a place of utter dependence upon the Lord. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:44.960 You are in a place of utter dependence on someone else for the fruitfulness of your home. 00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:53.599 Now, when you find yourself in a place of utter dependence on someone else, this is typically anxiety-inducing. 00:29:54.240 --> 00:30:01.440 You know, when you are stuck on the tarmac and there's nothing you can do, you're just sitting there. 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:10.799 This is an anxiety-inducing moment because you are completely dependent upon somebody else. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:30.559 But Solomon, because he understands who you are dependent upon for the fruitfulness of this project of home building, and because he understands that this ultimately belongs to the Lord, he actually views this utter dependence as anxiety relieving. 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:33.920 It removes his anxiety. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:43.119 He is at peace because he recognizes, unless the Lord builds it, this is all in vain. 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:47.599 The watchman can stay awake all night and they can have their eyes peeled. 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:51.039 If the Lord doesn't watch over the city, it will not matter. 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:53.680 This relieves anxiety. 00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:54.319 Why? 00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:58.559 Because he knows the Lord promises to build. 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:02.000 The Lord promises to watch. 00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:06.319 He has faith in the promises of God. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:34.559 Some of you have newborns, and you're like, well, this one's a lie. 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:45.359 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives to his beloved sleep. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:47.279 Now, why what is that? 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:50.319 What is what is he demonstrating here? 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:57.440 You know, sometimes with kids you have to wake up early because they're up. 00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:02.960 And you have to stay up late because once again, they're up. 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:06.559 There are all kinds of surprises with children. 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:08.880 Sometimes they'll just throw up. 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:11.759 No warning. 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:18.000 In their bed, and they're as surprised as you are. 00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:20.319 And now you're working. 00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:21.359 It's the middle of the night. 00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:23.279 Now you're working. 00:32:25.200 --> 00:32:27.039 But what is this what is this saying? 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:31.200 Why is it why is it going to bed and waking up? 00:32:31.519 --> 00:32:32.960 These are limits. 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:37.680 These are the limits of being a person. 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:43.519 This is what the Lord requires of you. 00:32:44.400 --> 00:32:48.319 Faithfulness within the limits that He has set for you. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:55.519 So here's what parenting, according to the faith that He has called us to, looks like. 00:32:56.799 --> 00:33:00.240 It doesn't look like eating the bread of anxious toil. 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:12.319 It looks like a trust in the Lord that He will attend your labors and He will establish the house that He has promised to build. 00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:17.519 So here's what the end of the day is like when we trust these scriptures. 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:19.680 The end of the day is like this. 00:33:19.839 --> 00:33:23.279 You finish the day and you say, that's about enough for me. 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:28.079 That's about all you're gonna get from me. 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:30.960 Now I'm done. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:35.200 And I like that Solomon points us towards sleep because you know what sleep is? 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:36.880 You know what you do while you sleep? 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:40.079 You don't do anything while you sleep. 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:42.160 You can't do anything while you sleep. 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:43.359 Can't even protect yourself. 00:33:43.599 --> 00:33:45.039 Can't even keep an eye out. 00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:48.079 You're just asleep. 00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:49.599 Nothing. 00:33:51.359 --> 00:34:02.960 So that means that it's like this act of trust, this ritual of dependence upon the Lord that the Lord baked into creation. 00:34:03.200 --> 00:34:08.000 You know, he gives us a day of a day of rest, the one that we're in right now, once a week. 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:16.400 And then every day, every day, God is like, go back, go to sleep and do nothing. 00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:18.639 This is the way that He has made us. 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:20.159 It's humiliating. 00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:24.079 It's humiliating. 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:39.840 My son and I went camping this past week, and the first night we just didn't sleep because you know your mind is outside, and it's just like all every movie that you've ever seen is happening just beyond the tent. 00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:41.440 And so you can't sleep. 00:34:41.760 --> 00:34:44.960 The second night you're so exhausted that you it just doesn't matter. 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:47.199 You just fall asleep. 00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:52.400 So what you say at the end of the day is I have done what seems good. 00:34:52.719 --> 00:34:53.760 This is enough. 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:56.079 What type of decisions did I make today? 00:34:56.480 --> 00:35:00.320 I made some that I shouldn't have made, did some things that I shouldn't have done. 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:03.280 Lord, these belong to you and your grace. 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:05.920 I did a lot of things pretty good. 00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:08.800 Did a lot of things and it was pretty good. 00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:10.400 They said they seem good. 00:35:10.639 --> 00:35:16.079 I hope that the Lord establishes these things that I have labored towards. 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:18.639 And I didn't do anything perfectly. 00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:23.039 I look back and was there anything that was perfectly done? 00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:25.440 Uh basically not. 00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:27.360 Okay. 00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:30.480 Time to do some Googling. 00:35:31.519 --> 00:35:34.880 These things that I didn't do perfectly, I'm sure that I can optimize this a little bit better. 00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:37.039 I'm sure that there's an optimal strategy in which I'm able to do this. 00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:40.239 And I can say, you know, and you start going down the Google rabbit hole. 00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:41.840 My kid randomly puked in bed. 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:45.280 I think this is a sign of the most terrible thing that I've ever imagined. 00:35:46.320 --> 00:35:48.320 Let me see if the internet thinks so too. 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:50.079 Turns out it does. 00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:51.039 Yeah. 00:35:51.679 --> 00:35:52.400 Exactly. 00:35:52.639 --> 00:35:56.800 And so now I'm I can probably get this buttoned up before I go to sleep. 00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:08.320 And I've got I can imagine that there's all kinds I saw some little clues of this thing that's coming down the line, and it's gonna be really bad, I think, and it's probably going to blow up everything that I can imagine for our whole family in every way possible. 00:36:09.119 --> 00:36:11.199 There's probably deep Google. 00:36:11.760 --> 00:36:12.239 You know. 00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:13.920 Google. 00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:16.159 My references are so dated. 00:36:17.519 --> 00:36:20.000 Because we just ask our chatbots. 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:27.760 Which is also Google, so put your phone down and you go to sleep. 00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:29.920 That's what our faith in the Lord looks like. 00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:31.280 This is what you do. 00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:33.119 This is how the house gets built. 00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:35.199 You know what the kingdom of God is like? 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:40.880 The kingdom of God is like a seed that a farmer sows in a field. 00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:46.880 And then he goes to sleep and he rises, and the seed begins to grow. 00:36:47.760 --> 00:36:56.239 First the shoot, and then the stalk, and then the grain, and then the you know, other plants, other parts of the plant. 00:36:56.400 --> 00:36:59.440 And uh the farmer, he knows not how. 00:36:59.599 --> 00:37:02.239 He sleeps and he rises and it grows. 00:37:02.480 --> 00:37:04.320 He doesn't know how it grows. 00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:06.480 That's what the kingdom of God is like. 00:37:07.519 --> 00:37:10.639 That's what the hope of our households are like. 00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:13.599 How do you make a Christian home? 00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:19.199 There's all sorts of things, clear commands of scripture, clear things that we must do. 00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:22.719 And unless the Lord attends it, they don't matter. 00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:24.159 They're useless. 00:37:25.599 --> 00:37:26.639 What do you do? 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:29.039 How do you make a Christian home? 00:37:29.199 --> 00:37:33.199 You know, when it comes down to it, it's not something you can do. 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:40.079 You entrust yourself to the Lord, that He is the one who builds the house. 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:50.239 As we've gone through the series, you've probably recognized habits and patterns in your home that are not there and you wish they were. 00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:54.400 It may feel too late to start them so that they might be there. 00:37:54.559 --> 00:38:01.039 And likewise, you'll recognize that these patterns and things that you had hoped would be in your house, they aren't even in yourself. 00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:06.000 And so, how could you possibly move them into your home? 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:11.199 Well, what you do is you have a day and you try some things. 00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:14.559 And you'll do some of them pretty good. 00:38:15.039 --> 00:38:27.440 You probably won't do anything perfect, and then you'll sleep like the Lord is building a glorious house, and then you'll rise just right on time, not too early. 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:34.000 You'll rise when it's time to rise, and you'll say, the Lord is going to build his house again. 00:38:34.800 --> 00:38:37.360 You entrust yourself to the Lord. 00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:43.440 We parent the hope of the house is according to the promises of God. 00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:46.559 That's where Solomon is pushing us. 00:38:46.800 --> 00:39:02.960 That the foundation of all of this, the hope of all our labors, the labors that we desire to be fruitful, to really establish the things that we really do want in our hearts, although the flesh wars against this, that we are in utter dependence on the Lord for this, and that is a good thing. 00:39:04.239 --> 00:39:12.239 That is an anxiety-relieving thing, because he sees us, he cares for us, we can trust him. 00:39:14.960 --> 00:39:20.320 In 2 Samuel 7, verses 2 through 3, uh the king, I'll read it. 00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:30.800 The king said to Nathan, the prophet, that's King David, see now I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. 00:39:31.679 --> 00:39:37.519 And Nathan said to the king, Go do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you. 00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:50.000 Part of my hope for this sermon series is that like David, it would be put into our hearts to desire to build a house for the Lord. 00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:53.360 That that desire would be put into our hearts. 00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:55.920 And that desire was put into David's heart. 00:39:56.159 --> 00:39:59.440 And so David's walking around his palace and he's like, Cedar? 00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:00.320 This is pretty nice. 00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:12.239 And he looks over at the tent that the tabernacle that the that the Ark is dwelling in, the Ark of the Covenant is dwelling in, and he says to Nathan, House of Cedar, a tent. 00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:17.519 Nathan's smart guy, he's able to piece this together, and he says, Do whatever is in your heart. 00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:18.960 The Lord is with you. 00:40:20.079 --> 00:40:22.559 This is news I want you to hear. 00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:31.679 If you have a desire to build and establish a Christian home, if this desire has been placed into your heart, this is a good desire. 00:40:31.920 --> 00:40:33.760