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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>Hello everyone, this is Pastor Benjamin.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, Orlando.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>As I lead us in a prayer of illumination, asking the Holy Spirit to shine his light through his word on our hearts as we hear him speak to us this morning.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>Join with me if you would.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>Almighty God, you have revealed yourself to us through your prophets, through your holy word, and through the advent of your perfect Son.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>Help us now to see your glory and love through the reading and preaching of your word in Christ our Savior, we pray.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>Amen.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>Our scripture reading this morning comes from the gospel according to Luke chapter 3, verses 21 and 22.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>Now, when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>With you I am well pleased.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>This is God's word.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>Thanks be to God.

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<v Rev. Benjamin Kandt>You may be seated.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Today we're talking about our heavenly father.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And speaking of our heavenly father, about a year ago uh our family got every sort of illness, and so I was just sitting on the couch watching movies, and one of the ones I watched was King Richard.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Now, King now Richard uh was a father, uh he is a father, uh, but he had a lot of his own faults, a lot of uh his own mistakes that he made.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh but he was raising three uh daughters in Compton, and uh Compton was a place uh then that was had a lot of gang activity, uh a lot of poverty.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh he himself uh was a security guard uh who worked nights, uh and his wife was a nurse uh who worked through the day.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so he was doing all he can, though, pushing through exhaustion, pushing through adversity to love his daughters well, uh to teach them, to help them to flourish, to help them with their studies.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And he had a lot of knowledge about tennis.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so he would pour that into his daughters, taking time aside to go to the tennis court and to teach him them everything that he knew for their flourishing.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>One day when he was on the tennis court with his daughters, uh a gang came up to them and started harassing them, uh, catcalling uh his daughters.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so as they were leaving, he decided to turn around and ask them to stop.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>His daughters uh said it wasn't worth it, but he decided it was.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And in the process, uh the gang beat him down, threw him to the ground, uh, beat him to a pulp.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Later on, uh his daughters, when they were pushing through adversity uh to get to the highest levels of the sport of tennis, uh, they faced um being those coming from poverty in a sport that was known from those coming from wealth, as well as being uh black girls in what is predominantly a white sport.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And looking back on that time uh when he was beaten uh for standing up for them uh and talking to his girls, he said, When I was a little boy, I grew up in Shreveport.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>One day my father took me to town.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He gave me this money to pay this white man for something.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Back in them days, black folks weren't allowed to touch white people.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So I went to give the man this money and I accidentally touched his hand and he started beating on me.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He knocked me down.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>His friends came over, they all started stomping on me and beating on me.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And I look up and I see my father in the crowd, and he took off running.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Left me there with these grown men beating on me.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Now, I haven't been no great daddy, but I've never done nothing but try to protect you.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>This next step you're about to take, it would, it would be hard for anybody.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>But for you, you're not just gonna be representing you, you're gonna be representing every little black girl on earth, and you're gonna be the one who gotta go through the gate.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And I just never wanted you to look up and see your daddy running away.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>His daughters were Venus and Serena Williams, arguably the greatest women's tennis players of all time.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so we see here that who your father is and what he does for you can change your whole world.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Venus and Serena experienced a father who fought for them, who valued them, who delighted in them enough to pour his whole life into them.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And as such, they delighted in doing something that pleased them and seeing themselves through their father's eyes.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>I wonder how your father, how your parents have shaped your understanding of what makes you valuable, what you're capable of, and what makes you happy.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>How has what you believe about your heavenly father experienced and shaped your understanding of what makes you valuable, what you're capable of, and what makes you happy?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>J.I.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Packer says, if you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child and having God as his father.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new and better than the old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Father is the Christian name for God.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>The fundamental problem, though, is that we were created to live through the Father's eyes, but instead we often live in light of an orphan narrative.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>An orphan narrative changes what we believe makes us worthy of love and delight.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>It's informed by a wrong understanding of who our Heavenly Father is and what he does.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We try to find love and delight we were created for in the wrong ways.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And what you believe makes you worthy or unworthy changes every relationship that you have.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So, what do you believe makes you worthy of love?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Some of you could give me the right answer, a Christian gospel answer, but I think how we live is a better measure.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so do you work late hours to make sure that you're not a failure because you're loved based on whether or not you succeed?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Do you bend over backwards for others so that they'll never leave you because you're loved for how well you serve them?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Do you accumulate material goods and measures of the good life, like a nice house, so that you can finally feel good about your life because you're loved when you have enough?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Do you obsess over healthy eating and working out to make sure you delay death as long as possible and feel attractive because you're loved if those things are true of you?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And do you s or do you spend hours a day curating social media to make sure you stay relevant because you're loved as long as you're relevant?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>All of these are insidious false gospels that have captured our hearts.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Hearts that are empty and can only be filled by the delight of their Heavenly Father, who created them exactly for that, to behold his face delighted in them.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So, what I'm talking about today is that we were created to live our lives through the Father's eyes.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We were created to live our lives through the Father's eyes.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And I have two points today.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>The first is who is your father?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And the second is what does he do?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Or, as it's been said elsewhere, who is your daddy and what does he do?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>If you know, you know.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So the first point, who is your father?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Go ahead and look at your worship guides and look at the Nicene Creed in your bulletins.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We're gonna look through the first, just that first several lines.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>It says, We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So that first line, we believe in one God.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>That comes from Deuteronomy 6.4, which says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So here we see two things.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>One, uh, we see who God is.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He is the Lord, he is one, and that shapes our response to him, which is to love him with all of our heart, soul, and strength.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>When Jesus is asked the greatest commandment, he references this verse: to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our strength.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>See, we aren't polytheists where we have a pantheon of gods who can change their whim and their will.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh, we're also not pluralists where we kind of just take from whatever religion that we please or that we like or spirituality.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Um, both of those things promote false loves.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>It's hard to know and understand what it means uh to uh receive the Father's love, to be adopted as a child uh when we have all of those those options.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>No, our God is self-existent, he's preeminent, and he's sovereign, right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh and you might hear that and say, okay, so we there is one God uh who claims sovereignty over all things, and he demands all of our hearts.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>That sounds domineering, right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Why would I want to worship a God like that?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>But if God is all powerful, if God is all good, right, then he created you.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He knows what is best for you, and he's capable of giving you what is best for you, right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He is a good God and good father.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so as we give him all of ourselves, we receive in turn all that is best for us, all of his love.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Which leads me to that second part, the Father.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Isaiah 63, 1 says, You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer of old is your name.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Jesus' favorite name for God, the one he used the most, was Father.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Oftentimes, when addressing the Father, he would cry out, Abba, right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>This term of intimacy.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>God is not just our sovereign God, creator of all things, he is also our heavenly father.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He's not just a God who is distant and watching us from afar, he's the God who relates to us intimately as a father relates with his child.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We serve the God and Father, the one who is Almighty, or else Shaddai.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>In Genesis 17, 1 it reads, When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty, walk before me faithfully and be blameless.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so we see here that God reveals himself to Abraham as the Almighty.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>When he covenants with him, he is the God who promises to bless Abraham and his family and to bless all the nations through him.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He is restoring humanity who is sinful and apart from God, who cannot come to him on their own terms.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He's restoring them back to relationship with himself.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He's condescending as the Almighty God to do that, to promise to accomplish it.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And not only does he promise that, but as the Almighty, he can make it happen.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He can accomplish that.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He can bring us back into the family of God and bless all the peoples through him.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And then he's also the maker of heaven and earth.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>In Genesis 1.1, we see that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And then we also see that he stood back, he looked at his creation and he called it good.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>God did not just create all things and walk away.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Humanity and his creation wasn't an afterthought in his mind.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>No, he gazed upon it.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He saw and knew his people and his earth and his creations and his animals, and he called them good.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>God, our God is a God concerned with goodness and with beauty.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And he, as he looks upon us, that makes us good and beautiful.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And then finally, he is the creator of all things visible and invisible.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So 1 Corinthians 1 16 says, For in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So whether it's uh your thoughts or your feelings, uh, those parts of you you haven't even discovered yet, whether it's the things that we don't know about the cosmos or the things that we don't even know about our oceans, uh, whether it's uh economics and the uncertainty uh in our world uh or the wars or the natural disasters, our God is a God who's created all things.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>All things are for him, from him, through him, and to him.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He is the creator of all things, and we can take comfort in that.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so you might be asking the questions, okay, this is a lot about who God is, who our father is, but you know, maybe you're asking, well, who cares?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Like, what does this actually mean for my day-to-day life?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Like, why is this important?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Well, I think Elmo can tell us a little bit.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So if you don't know who Elmo is, and you probably do, but he's a Muppet, right, from Sesame Street, a children's TV show.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Um, and apparently he has a Twitter account.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so if you were to go, uh so a few, maybe just a few years ago, um, Elmo threw it out there.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He said, Hey, uh, and you can just imagine Elmo saying this, you know, just checking in, how is everybody doing?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And Elmo was not uh ready for this the response.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Um people just poured out their hearts, they poured out their anxieties and their fears and their insecurities, and they were doing this all on Twitter.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so Elmo responded, oh, glad I asked.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And then pushed people towards some counseling resources, right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Um so what is going on?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Why why did people who were telling these these deep, intimate details about their life, why were they doing that with Elmo?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>It's because we live in a world that uh responded to COVID, right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We live in a world of death and disaster.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We live in a world where so much is uncertain and people need to be seen and known and loved, right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>But so many people are not receiving that.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so they went to Elmo on Twitter.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so who is our father?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He's the one before you, with you, and after you.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He's the one we can always depend on.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Right?

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>My dad was always uh he had his own faults, but he was there at every one of my baseball games.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh, he always showed up.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He was always there early, he always helps me uh with all of my skills.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And I didn't turn out to be a great baseball player, but I knew that he was going to be there.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>The father is the one who created you.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh in the Psalms it says, He knitted you together in your mother's womb.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So in every moment of every day, your heavenly father knows your every thought.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He knows everything going on in your life.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You are intimately known by him.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He is the one in control over your life.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>This life is not a pass-fail.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Like if you do the right things, then you're gonna be okay.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>No, God is in, he is the one who works all things for the good of those who love him.

00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:33.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He's the one who holds your life, your destiny, your each step in his hand.

00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:35.679
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He's the one who holds all things.

00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.399
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Like I said, ordering all the things for the good of those who love him.

00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:43.360
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So as we look at the world, all the uncertainty in it, it's not just devolving towards chaos.

00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:53.279
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>No, we live in a world in which the sovereign God holds all things in his hand and is moving them towards his glory and all those who are in, for the good of all those who are in him.

00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:56.799
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And finally, he's the one who delights in you.

00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:01.120
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He values you over all else, like no one ever could.

00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:12.000
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>It's true, unwavering, fulfilling, satisfying, life-changing love that's not just possible, but already present in our Heavenly Father.

00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:20.320
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And our Heavenly Father, He has integrity between who He is and what He does, unlike anyone else ever could.

00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:22.000
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So that leads me to my second point.

00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.200
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>What does He do?

00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:25.200
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We've seen who the Father is.

00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:28.960
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We know that we're created to live our lives through the Father's eyes.

00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:30.720
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so now we see what he does.

00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:34.480
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Look with me at the text in Luke chapter 3, verse 21.

00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:43.440
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And it starts with Now, when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened.

00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:50.080
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Now that first word there, now, cues us in that sort of some context that we should be paying attention to in the passage.

00:16:50.080 --> 00:17:05.440
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so what we see is John the Baptist, who had come before Jesus to point to him, was inviting people to come and to be baptized, to acknowledge their sin, to acknowledge their iniquity, to acknowledge their need for cleansing in order to come to God.

00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:11.920
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Now the Jews were expectant because of the prophets of a Messiah that would come and that would save them, right?

00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:15.039
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>That would restore them back to right relationship with the Father.

00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:18.319
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And they knew that that was because of the promises given to Abraham.

00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:21.279
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so they come to him and they say, We have Abraham as our father.

00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:24.480
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We know that we're gonna be inherit the kingdom.

00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.400
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And he says, No, no, no.

00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:28.720
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And throws the diss at them, right?

00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:31.359
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>God can raise up children from these stones.

00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:32.880
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He doesn't need you.

00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:38.640
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>No, what you need to do is recognize that you have been relating to God wrongly.

00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:41.440
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You have not been receiving his delight and his love.

00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.519
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You need to come and be cleansed of your sin, turn away from it and turn to God.

00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:52.160
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And then he says, and I am just baptizing you with water, but there's one to come who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:56.799
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Now you might be sitting here and saying, like, okay, well, I've been away from the church for a long time.

00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:59.359
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>I've come back today or in the past few months.

00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:00.880
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh does this apply to me?

00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:06.000
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Or you might be saying, I don't know, like, I just don't know if I'm worthy to come before God.

00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:09.839
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Am I in a good place to come to my Heavenly Father?

00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:22.000
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>But we see in this passage, Luke, the two types of people he names are tax collectors, who are people who grew up in the religion, who grew up as Jews, but were now serving the state of Rome, right?

00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:25.839
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Who had been largely cut off from the people of God, uh, and then soldiers.

00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:34.240
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so these are people who are on the fringes of society that he's inviting to come in and be baptized into the people of God.

00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:34.880
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Right?

00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:36.319
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>This message is for all of us.

00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:38.559
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And he's also speaking to Jews, right?

00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:40.960
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>As I just said, he's inviting them to lay down.

00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:44.079
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He said, You think you know the God that you worship, right?

00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:50.240
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You know the scriptures, you know God's promises, and yet I'm telling you, you need to turn from your sin.

00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:54.319
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You need to be cleansed, you need to come to your heavenly Father.

00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:56.880
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so then that leads us to Jesus.

00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:04.480
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Now, Jesus here is coming to be baptized, but those who are coming to be baptized were being were coming to repent of their sins.

00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:08.960
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So that should lead us to ask the question, is Jesus in need of repentance?

00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:10.240
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Well, certainly not.

00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:12.960
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>None of the scriptures or the gospels talk of him that way.

00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:18.640
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Instead, John the Baptist actually says that uh this is the Lamb meant to take away the sins of the world, right?

00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:19.680
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So he was spotless.

00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:21.599
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He had nothing to repent of.

00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:23.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So why is he being baptized?

00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:25.599
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Well, we see it in the text.

00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:33.279
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>It says, when all the people were baptized, and then, and when Jesus also had been baptized, right?

00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:49.200
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So as all of the tax collectors, as the soldiers, as the Jews, as all who had come and acknowledged their sin and inequity, their need for cleansing in order to restore the relationship with God, as all of them were baptized, Jesus along with them was baptized.

00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:56.160
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And it's not until all of those are there present with Jesus that the Heavenly Father tears open the heavens and speaks.

00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:02.720
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And that word uh for speak, uh, it's um It's a word in the Greek that essentially is audible, right?

00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:08.640
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So this isn't just like this kind of visceral moment where people are having this kind of weird, you know, psychedelic dream.

00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:12.079
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>That God is speaking to his people.

00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:19.839
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And notice also when he speaks, he's speaking to Jesus, who has not yet done his ministry.

00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:21.839
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He has not yet died and been raised.

00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:24.000
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He hasn't done the work he came to do yet.

00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:31.680
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And yet the heavenly father speaks to him and says, You are my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased.

00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:36.000
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so Jesus, God is not speaking these words over him because he's earned them.

00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:41.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He's speaking them because Jesus has chosen to identify as his child along with his people.

00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:48.400
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And the Father is speaking this as Jesus is doing that, meaning that these words are not just for Jesus.

00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:53.599
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He is speaking them to Jesus, but he's speaking them to him in the context of this crowd that was just baptized with him.

00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:58.880
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He's speaking so that all there can hear, this is yours in Jesus.

00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:00.640
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>These words are for you.

00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:03.680
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And New City, these words are for you.

00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:05.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You are my beloved Son.

00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:08.480
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>With you I am well pleased.

00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:13.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>These words are for those who identify as the children of the Father.

00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:17.359
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So we can move out of our orphan mindset.

00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:33.359
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We can let go of our other loves, and we could submit all things to the Father who loves us, not because of what we've done, not because we're in the right place, not because we're doing the right things, but simply because we choose to identify in his Son, Jesus Christ.

00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:37.200
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And it's important that we hear these words spoken over us.

00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:42.160
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We were created, our hearts were created to receive those words from the Father.

00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:51.039
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>If you're like me and you've grown up yearning for a Father to speak those words over you, then you'll identify with my experience in college.

00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:56.799
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>I had a mentor who was discipling me, and we would normally go over the scriptures and prayer and the Christian life.

00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:00.480
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>But one day he sat me down and said, Kenny, I need you to hear something.

00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:01.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>It's like, okay.

00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:06.000
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And uh he just looked me in the eyes and he said, I love you.

00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:09.920
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And in that moment, I started weeping.

00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:14.240
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>I didn't understand why in the moment.

00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:21.200
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>But looking back, I realized I was created to have those words spoken over me.

00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:31.119
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And when he when he did that, the father was using him to speak adoption into my life, to say, You are my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased.

00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:44.480
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>In that moment, my orphaned heart began to receive healing because of it, because I received from my father what my heart yearned for, and what all of our hearts yearned for.

00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:53.680
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And we see that in verse 22, which says, And the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven.

00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:58.240
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You are my beloved son, with you I'm well pleased.

00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:05.519
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>That word beloved in the Greek is pertaining to one who is in very special relationship to another.

00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:09.039
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Dearly beloved, valued and prized.

00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:09.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Right?

00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:15.599
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Jesus, uh, the father also speaks this uh over Jesus in Matthew 17, 5, the transfiguration.

00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:18.640
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Here he speaks it straight to him and to all those in him.

00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:24.640
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>There he also says it to his disciples, saying, This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:25.680
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Listen to him.

00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:26.319
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Right?

00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:30.400
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>The Father is delighting in his son, and this is how God loves.

00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:30.880
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Right?

00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:32.400
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>The Father delights in us.

00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:35.359
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He speaks that to us, he wants us to hear it from him.

00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:39.039
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh and he also says that to others on our behalf.

00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:43.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh, when we see the Father in the new heavens and new earth, we're going to receive glory.

00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:44.160
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Right?

00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:49.839
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>The Father is going to look at us and declare all of the ways that we image him in glory.

00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:51.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And of course, we will give that back to him.

00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:54.960
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>But he, that is how the Father loves us.

00:23:54.960 --> 00:24:00.240
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>In Ephesians 5, 1 and 2, we see how Paul calls often God's people beloved.

00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:02.480
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He says, be imitators of God.

00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:03.200
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Why?

00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:05.279
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Because we are beloved children.

00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:10.240
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Even when we seek to be obedient to God, we're doing that in the same way a child is obedient to their father, right?

00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:17.200
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>They're following their father, they're watching everything he does because they want to be just like them, because they know that they are beloved.

00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:18.240
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>They know their place.

00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:23.039
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>In Ephesians 1, uh Paul speaks of us being blessed in the beloved.

00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:30.319
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>It's as we identify in the beloved who is Jesus Christ that we receive every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:45.440
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>If you want to experience love, joy, peace, security, power, wisdom, all of those things are yours in as you identify as the beloved in Christ Jesus, as you hear your Father take delight in you.

00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:53.519
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And our Heavenly Father, it says in Luke 12, 32, Jesus says, It's your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:56.480
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Our Heavenly Father is not Santa, right?

00:24:56.480 --> 00:25:02.400
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Santa who's always watching and only gives you presence, you know, determining if you're good or naughty or nice.

00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:04.400
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>That's not how our Heavenly Father operates.

00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:08.559
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>No, our Heavenly Father loves to give us good gifts to those who ask, right?

00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:16.880
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>If you aren't sure if you know God, our Father loves to give the Holy Spirit, his very presence, his very self, to those who ask.

00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:18.400
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He loves to give the kingdom.

00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:24.559
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He delights to give the kingdom and his blessing to all those who come to him in his son.

00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:30.720
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>It's like when I come home from work and I come in the door and my children run to me, right?

00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:34.640
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>They have the light all over their faces, and I pick them up and I twirl them around.

00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:36.240
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We'll run around the house, we'll rustle.

00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:40.160
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>It doesn't really matter what we do because all they want is my delight in that moment.

00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:41.039
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>That's what they want.

00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:47.839
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>That's what they're looking for, to know I am beloved of Kenny, and I he delights in me for who I am.

00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:59.680
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Oftentimes I'll tell my kids I'm proud of them after they do a great job at karate or at dance, uh, or if they do a good job cleaning things up around the house, which, you know, that's another thing.

00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:02.880
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>But I'll tell them I'm proud of them.

00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:08.640
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>But I've even in writing this sermon, I realized I want to be saying that more often before they do those things.

00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:12.960
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So they know that they're beloved and I delight in them just for who they are.

00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:20.880
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>So as they do those things, they're doing it not in order to receive something for me at the end, but they're doing it because they just know that I delight in them.

00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:24.559
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>I delight in them being who they are and who they've been created to be.

00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:28.799
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so some of you need to hear what I often hear.

00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:32.480
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Every morning I'll do a quiet time and go through the scriptures.

00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:38.720
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Um, and I'll ask you to spend a moment to ask the Spirit to reveal to me the mind of Christ.

00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:44.079
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh to, in wisdom, help me to understand what God's will is for me, what he wants me to attune to.

00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:46.880
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And almost every morning I hear the same thing.

00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:49.839
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>God bringing me back to this scripture.

00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:54.720
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You are my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased.

00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:58.400
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He knows that I need to hear that every morning.

00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:00.559
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so, why do I need to hear that?

00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:08.400
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Well, oftentimes, as an example, I'll come into the pulpit and I think to myself, if I do a good job today, I know I've got some job security.

00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:12.079
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh maybe some people will come up to me afterward and say, that was a great sermon.

00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:14.559
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You're you're a good preacher, you're a good pastor.

00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:17.680
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh I'll feel like I'm succeeding and I'll and I'm doing well.

00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:26.960
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>But that's that's my orphan mindset that I have to come and do well in order to be received and accepted, in order to have value, in order to be okay, right?

00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:32.559
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>I think we all experience that in different ways, but it leads to anxiety and fear and lack of joy.

00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:39.039
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Versus when I come into the pulpit and I know that no matter what happens, the Holy Spirit is speaking to you in your hearts.

00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:46.079
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh, he's sovereign over this congregation, he's sovereign over me in my life, in my family, then this is just a playfulness with God.

00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:49.359
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>This is me participating with him in what he is doing.

00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:55.279
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And God does the same thing with you in your workplaces, in your families, in all the places you live, work, and play.

00:27:55.279 --> 00:28:03.039
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>The Heavenly Father is inviting you to know that you are known and loved, that He's pleased with you, and to walk in that.

00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:11.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>In conclusion, Mark Twain says, the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.

00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:27.839
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>The last thing I'll point out in the text is that uh in Genesis 1, combined with John 1, we see that the Heavenly Father speaks all things into being just with his voice, but he does that through the Son, and we see the Holy Spirit dwelling over the waters.

00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:32.720
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Here too, in this passage, we see recreation as the Father again is speaking.

00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:37.759
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He's speaking to all those who are in the Son, and the Spirit dwells over Jesus.

00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:50.160
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And so what we're seeing here is that God who created all peoples from nothing is recreating them in Jesus, and he's recreating them as those who can receive his delight and his love.

00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:53.200
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Because we are all those who are orphans.

00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:55.359
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We've all gone away in our own hearts.

00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.920
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh, we all do this in different ways day to day.

00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:06.720
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Uh, none of us are children of God except in as much as we are in the Son, the Son who knows what it is to be an orphan because he came down from heaven, right?

00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:46.480
<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>He humbled himself to experience life here on earth, uh, to be pushed away by his own people, to be betrayed, uh, to go to the cross and die for our sins, taking our sins upon himself and experiencing the wrath of the Father as the Father turns his face away from him, so that he can die for our sins, that all who are in him would be cleansed, would receive that cleansing that we need, and be raised to life with him in newness of life as he defeats death for all who are in him, so that we can receive what Jesus received here, which is you are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Go ahead and pray with me now.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Heavenly Father, you are a good God.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You're all powerful, you're all-knowing.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>You created us in your image, you created us to do good works for your good purposes and to bring you glory.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Lord, we thank you for that.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>And we also thank you that though we go away, though we are orphans, though we take our inheritance and squander it, Lord, though we are unworthy, you sent your son to come, to come and to bring us back home, to come and to put your ring on our finger and reclaim us as your children, to run up to us in delight and embrace us.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Lord, help us to experience that.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Oh Lord, we we surrender our lives to you.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We surrender the lives that we believe in our orphaned mindset.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Lord, speak that over us, speak it to our hearts in ways that we can hear.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>We pray this in Jesus' name.

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<v Pastoral Resident Kenneth Dyches>Amen.