Knowing God, Week 2

Sarah Benibo | June 23, 2024

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Transcription

Good morning everybody. Good morning, Embassy City. I am honored and I am humbled to say the least. I'm bursting just trying to channel my energy here. I really thank you Pastor Tim for giving me this space and this time I honor you as the pastor of this house. Can we give Tim a hand? Please? Please. I thank you for the confidence that you have in me, but not so much confidence that you didn't call me yesterday and pray with me yesterday. I thank you for that because how many of you all know that just because you can do this don't mean you can do that? And so yes, I'm up here every Sunday. I've been worship pastor for four years, but this is a little different and so I just thank you for the space, but also for the covering. I also want to honor Janese.

Beautiful, Janese inside and out. Thank you for partnering with Tim and leading this church alongside him. And in that same way, I want to shout out Zara, Zane, and Zion because I know how it feels to be a pastor's child, a minister's child, and it's a family affair. The whole family got to do it, sacrifice, commit, and so I just want to acknowledge your entire family. Thank you. With that being said, I need to acknowledge my family, particularly my husband, BEO, I love you man, amazing. Your sacrifice, your competence, your compassion. You show up better than any man I've ever known and I got a great list of men in my family and in my life, but you're special and I thank you for everything you do and don't do for allowing me to be here and sacrificing so that I could do what God has called me to.

Got a shout out. My mom who is in the family room upstairs, she's holding the baby PREA up there. I shout you out, mom. Thank you. She is the woman that really proved to me that this can be done. She's wife, she's a mother and she's in public ministry as well. Sunday's Church, Monday's prayer meeting, her and my dad lead it. Wednesdays Bible study. Friday is youth service, Saturday is rehearsal and she did it all and she made me lunch every day to go to school until I told her, that's not really cool, mom. I need I so I can buy my lunch. But she was committed. My point is she was committed in doing it all well and she proved to me that it can be done. So I just have one more group to shout out. That is Embassy City Music. Where are you at?

Y'all? I see you. I see you and I love you. I thank you for being a team that has a heart to follow God, from the very beginning, my first time at this church, I was struck mainly by Elgin's voice because what is Elgin? But I said I got to come back. I came back, I joined the team as a volunteer and then after a couple of years I became the worship pastor here. So I would be here even if I wasn't on staff. It's not about the position is not about the title. It is about being with a group of people that love God. And I can say without a shadow of a doubt that each person on this platform, instrumentalists and singer, they have a hunger for God and for God's word. So it makes me feel honored to be a part of the team and to lead. Alright? I think it was Saint Augustine that said he who sings, prays twice. So I think what's on my heart is to sing your grace and mercy. Mercy it brought because of you.

I want thank you and praise and mercy has brought me through. Amen. Amen. There's a difference between grace and mercy. Mercy is when you're going 45 in a school zone, a police officer pulls you over and they ask that infamous question, do you know how fast you were going? What should I say? Should I say yes? Should I say no? How do I get away with a warning? I never know what to say, but let's just say you say Yes, I know how fast I was going. And they say, all right, I'm not going to give you a ticket. That's mercy. Grace on the other hand is when you're going 45 in a school zone, the police officer pulls you over and says, do you know how fast you were going? And let's say you say, yes, I know how fast I was going. If they reach in their pocket and pull out a hundred dollars bill and say, have a nice day, then that's grace.

Essentially, mercy does not give you what you do deserve and grace gives you what you don't deserve. Now, in that real life circumstance, I got neither mercy or grace. I got a ticket. But thankfully, we serve a God who is both merciful and gracious. And as much as I would love to preach about both of them because they work so well together, we are going to focus on grace. This morning we are going to focus on grace. The working definition that we're going to work with for grace is it is a relational attribute birthed out God's desire to be with us. I'm going to say it again. Grace is a relational attribute birthed out of God's desire to be with us. That is to say it is something that reaches out to an undeserving people and brings them close. The title of this message is the God of Grace. I want you to turn with me to Joshua 17 verse three through four. If you don't have a physical Bible or a digital Bible, don't fret. We got the tech team on our side and you can look at the screens and read along. Now, just as a heads up, this story is going to center five women, but this story is not just for the women. Brothers, I want you to stay with me. Can you stay with me? Stay with me and I promise it would apply to you. Joshua 17, three through four.

Now, Zha had son of Heer, the son of Gilead, the son of Macke, the son of Manasses had no sons but only daughters whose names were Mala, Noah, Hala, mil, inza. They went to Azar, the priest, Joshua son of none and the leaders and said the Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our relatives. So Joshua gave them an inheritance along with the brothers of their father according to the Lord's command. Now, these two verses are the end of a story that actually starts in numbers. So in order for us to understand the weight and the gravity of these two verses that I just read, we have to first go back to numbers 27, 1 through eight. Thank you tech team. Please read along. The daughters of Alfa had son of Heer, the son of Gilead, the son of Macke, the son of Manasa belonged to the clans of Manassa, son of Joseph.

The names of the daughters were Maah, Noah, Hala and Teza. They came forward and stood before Moses aar the priest, the leaders and the whole assembly at this entrance to the tent of meeting and said, our father died in the wilderness. He was not among chorus followers who banded together against the Lord, but he died for his own sin and left no sons. Why should our father's name disappear from his clan? Because he had no son give us it property among our father's relatives. So Moses brought their case before the Lord, and the Lord said to him, what Zala Hads daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father's relatives and give their father's inheritance to them. Say to the Israelites, if a man dies and leaves, no son give his inheritance to his daughter. So now I want us to consider the social location of this text in the book of numbers.

We see the children of Israel in the wilderness since escaping Egypt. They've been in the wilderness for 40 years. One generation has died off and another generation has grown up. Moses who was on his deathbed is given instructions by God to take a census. The census is to include men who are 20 years old and older and are fit for military service. Moses does exactly what God tells him to do. He counts 600,000 men, although Moses had already been disqualified from entering into the promised land, as he stands outside his borders, God gives him a second instruction. He says, Moses, I want you to divide the promised land according to the name and size of those you just counted in the sense Moses does what God commanded, and this is where we find ourselves in numbers 27, we meet a man named Zha. He died with the previous generation coming out of Egypt, but he's described here as to having no sons, only daughters.

Why is that important? It's very important because at this time it was customary for only sons to receive inheritances. Inheritances are generational assets that preserve the name of their father. And so since Ahaha has no sons and only daughters, then it is known that all of his wealth, all of his assets, even the land that he's allotted in the promised land, it would be given to his brothers. And according to the text, Maah, Noah, Hala, Milka and Teza got a problem with this. I think it's important to first make a statement and to prove the statement that this is really not about justice. I kind of wanted it to be because I think it would be easier to preach, but it ain't. It's not about justice because justice asserts that each individual person should be given what they deserve. And the thing about this is that inheritances and land is not deserved. They're gifts. And gifts are the recipients of gifts are determined solely by the giver. So it's not an issue of justice, it's an issue of inclusivity.

The five women, they looked around and they noticed there's a disparity. Here we are seeing our male counterparts be lavish with gifts that are undeserved and we want in. This is the reason why I'm not a huge fan of the phrase comparison kills because sometimes you need to compare, hear me out. Sometimes comparison is the only thing that will awaken you from your stupor for you to realize that you are living beneath your privilege. Sometimes it takes comparison for you to realize, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I got more on the table and I'm not taking advantage of what's at my disposal. It takes comparison. Sometimes the problem with comparison is we compare the wrong things. Most of us are comparing cars and houses and vacations. What we need to be comparing is fruit of the spirit. We need to be coming up to somebody and say, how you get all that joy?

How you get all that peace? You're going through the same thing I'm going through. How are you sleeping at night and I'm up at night wiping tears from my eyes? How in the world do you have all of this temperance? That's what we should be comparing the daughters of Alfa had. They're worried about the right things. They're not worried about prosperity because that has to do with stuff. They're worried about prosperity, which has to do with legacy, and at this time, legacy and land go together. So I don't want us to get it twisted. They're not just concerned about stuff. They're concerned about their father's name. They're concerned about their children's, children's, children's children and they are aware that two things can be true. Something I'm still trying to really figure out, but it's true. Two things can be true. They are aware that they live in a patriarchal society where men have a disproportionate amount of social, economic and religious power and they are aware that they serve the king of kings who has all power in his hands.

They're aware that inheritances pass down the male line and the male line only, and they are aware that the same God that gave them manna when they were hungry is the same God that would give them water from a rock when they're thirsty is the same God that is leading them into a land with large cities that they did not build vineyards that they did not plant and wells that they did not dig. So they say, well, if they're giving gifts that are undeserved, then we want into two things can be true. You may call it a coincidence. I call it providence, that Alfa had did not have one daughter. He did not have two daughters. He did not have three daughters. He did not have four daughters. He had five daughters. That is Providence. I don't know if they knew. I don't know. I'm assuming they did know what some biblical scholars suggest about the number five.

They suggest that the number five stands for grace. It said that the number five represents divine favor and goodness, and I believe that the daughters of Zha had had a clue about what the number five stood for. Why do scholars say this? Well, there are five books of the Pentateuch, which is the theological foundation of the Bible. There are five books of Psalms, which is the book of that chronicle our relationship with God. There are five major offerings in the book of Leviticus which provides forgiveness and atonement. David choose five stones when he goes up against Goliath. Jesus feeds 5,000 with five loaves of bread. I dunno if they knew about the number five, but I know that they knew a God of grace because only believing in a God of grace would embolden marginalized second class people to power to come up against the powers that be not one time, but two times the first time they confront Moses and Azar and the leaders and the entire congregation by walking to the center of the camp standing in front of the tent of meeting, which hows the presence of the Lord.

And they do three things. The first thing they do is they speak up. Somebody say speak up. They speak up to defend their father's name. We see it in numbers 27 3. It says here that our father died in the wilderness. He was not among Quora's followers who banded together against the Lord, but he died for his own sin and left no sons. Second thing they do, they challenge tradition. They challenge tradition by asking a rhetorical question. Rhetorical questions can go a long way. They're not meant to be answered. They're just meant to make you think. They say in 27 4, why should our father's name disappear from his clan? Because he had no son. In other words, make it make sense. Moses, our father wasn't one of the ones that revolted against you and died because of it. Our father just died with the previous generation.

Make it make sense. Moses, our father, didn't do anything to warn his name disappearing from history. Make it make sense. The last thing they do is they demand to be included. Second half of verse four says, they said, give us property among our father's relatives. So poor old Moses, listen, I kind of feel sorry for him because he's old by now and he's like, can you just let me die in peace? I already can't go to the promised land. Can you just let me just transition on out now we ain't letting you transition out. I need for you to fix this. Moses goes to the Lord and said, what should I do about these women? The God that I serve said the women are right. Give them what they asked for. But don't you stop there. Moses, I want you to write in the law that if any daughter whose fathers have no sons needs an inheritance, they are eligible for their fathers inheritance and that is the God that we serve.

But before you get too excited, here's the thing, Moses don't get to go to the promised land. So all of those ahas, daughter's name is in the law and it's written on their behalf. They've got to wait. They got to wait for Jericho's walls to fall down. They got to wait for Joshua to be appointed as the next leader. They got to wait for battles to be won. They got to wait for land to be conquered. And that's where we find them in Joshua 17. They've waited, and I believe there are people in this building right now. You've heard from the Lord, you've gotten the confirmation, but you've got to wait for walls to fall down. You've got to wait for more battles to be won. You've got to wait for land to be conquered. It's still yes in amen, but sometimes you got to wait and they teach us.

There's glory in waiting. There's something coming on the other side. So Joshua in Joshua 17 is allotting the land, just how Moses wrote it. And guess who shows up at the allotment meeting? I see them coming in fashionably late, first Mala, then Noah, then hala, then Milka, then teza and I see them looking at Joshua like, Abra don't act brand new. We already got this squared away with Moses. Don't be trying to change nothing and Azar, you were there and this time they don't argue, they don't debate, they don't go back and forth. They just say what the Lord says. This says in Joshua 17, four, all they say is the Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. And thank God Joshua got the memo because he does exactly what God commands. When I first read this story, my heart leapt because anybody that knows me knows I'm a girl's girl. I love girls, I love women, I love them. Maybe because I am one, but I do. When I first got married, I had a plan. I wanted four daughters and I wanted us to travel the world and sing and they were going to always be ready in the morning. I was planning on being mad. Moss clock times two, don't play with me. Get these parts right. So I got the man checked, eventually got pregnant check. Nine weeks into the pregnancy, they tell me it's a boy.

God knows how to ruin your plans. But every time I look in my son's face, I'm reminded that God's way is always the best case scenario because I love him. So he's everything that I didn't want. And so I'm just encouraged by that. But with that being said, I'm still a girl's girl. I love women. I love women of the Bible, the Rachels, the Sarahs, the Hannahs, the Abigail's, all of them. But these girls, they different. These girls different. They stand out and it's not because of what the Bible says about them that makes them different. It's about what the Bible doesn't say about them that makes them different. You have to understand this is one of the few times that women are named and their physical appearance is not mentioned. We don't know if they're attractive or unattractive. All we know is that they're women.

This is one of the first time that women are named in the Bible and their sexual encounters are not mentioned. We dunno if they're promiscuous or if they're virgins. All we know is that they're women. This is one of the first times that the women are named and we don't know anything about their wombs. We don't know if they're bearing off their fertile myrtles. All we know is that they're women. It's as if God decided to include them in the penit and in the historical book of Joshua to dignify women just for being women. I can hear God saying women matter not because of their physical appearance, not because of their sexual encounters or lack thereof, not because of their biological capacity to carry a baby. I can hear God saying what I know to be true and that is women matter because they're mine and that's all they got to be is mine. They only have to be mine to be called. They only have to be mine to be. They only have to be mine to be raised. They only have to be mine to be. They be appointed,

They are mine and that makes them enough. So I wanted to just focus. I just wanted to focus on the women and I wanted to give us five reasons to be more like them. Be more like mala, be more like hala, be more like terraza and I heard God say you could do that and that would be a good sermon, but a better sermon, a great sermon even is if you talk about me because you do realize that the Bible is about me. This is God talking the epistles, the law, the prophecies, the songs, the verses, the new and the Old Testament. It's about me. So if you talk about me, I promise you'll cover everybody in the room. If you talk about me, hearts will be mended, minds will be made whole. If you talk about me, people will be healed and transformed. And so for the remainder of my time I want to talk about the God of Maah, Noah, Hala, inza.

I want to talk about the God of grace. Grace is a relational attribute birthed out of God's desire to be with us and we see it almost immediately after the world is formed. God extends grace to Adam and Eve when he gives them a garment of skin to cover their nakedness. God extends grace to the children of Israel when he institutes a sacrificial system that will address the sin that separated them from him. God extended grace to the kings when he called prophets to call them to repentance, but we don't see the fullness of God's grace until we meet a man. Until we meet a man named Jesus Jesus, the one who is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, we don't see grace in all that it has to offer. It's in Jesus that the grace that we see in the story about zala hat's daughters is crystallized and it becomes of obvious as an attribute of God because it is in Jesus that the grace is extended to us all. So using the story of Zah hat's daughters as a case study and using the accounts of Jesus as confirmation, I want to point out to you three habits of the God of grace. Habit number one, the God of grace responds when you speak up.

Now, after I got really, really excited about these girls and how powerful they were, I have to admit I immediately got curious like God, why you just didn't include them in the first place. Why we got to go through this? Why so much drama? Why so much confrontation? If you were going to include them, then you who stands outside of time would know that this was going to happen and you would just put them at the beginning in the law and I still don't know the reason I can admit that, but what I see is that this story is suggesting that we have a part to play in receiving the grace of God for our lives. We have a part to play. We've got to speak up. Has Alpa hat's daughters not said anything. The exclusivity of inheritances would have persisted, but because they believed in the God of grace, they spoke up and they didn't just speak up with pleasantries and formalities, they spoke up with fervor, they spoke up with passion.

They said it with their chest, they spoke up with desperation and God heard them and responded. Their desperate cry reminds me of a man who encountered Jesus in Mark chapter 10. He was a beggar and he was blind, but he could hear sometimes when one of your senses weakens, they say that the other senses heighten. So yes, he was a beggar and he was blind, but he heard that Jesus was coming to town and he was not going to let him pass. Literally pass by him without speaking up. Bar Maus is sitting on the corner and he hears that Jesus is coming and he says, Jesus, son of David have mercy on me. The crowd said, you just a little bit too loud. Can you just let him pass in peace? The Bible says He got louder. Jesus, son of David have mercy on me.

You see bar, he cried because being quiet never got him anywhere. Bar is he cried because he believed that a god of grace would hear his cry. He cried because he believed that the grace that was extended to others would be extended to him, cried because he had more to gain than he had to lose. You got to cry. Sometimes it's just the way God made it. I don't know why, but you've got to cry sometimes You got to cry out sometimes whether you are male or female, you got to cry out sometimes you got to speak up. I know that they told you when you were younger is better if you're seen and not heard, but I'm telling you the kingdom don't work like that. You got to be seen and you got to be heard to get the grace that God wants to offer you.

You got to be seen and heard. I like the way MJ did it, put it last week. He said, what you believe impacts how you behave and what I've noticed is that many of us, we believe God to be one extreme or another extreme either God is a hard task master that don't want to hear nothing from you or God is this genie in the sky that just appears at the perfect time. Still don't want to hear nothing from you. God is neither of those things. God is a God of grace that wants to be in relationship with you. God is concerned about you. God wants to hear your cry and your needs and your frustrations. That's why it says in Jeremiah 33, call on me and I'll answer you and I'll show you great and might things that you know not. That's why it says in Romans 10, everyone that calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

You got to call. You got to cry. You got to be mad enough. You got to be frustrated enough. I think one of the biggest curses in this generation is that we don't get mad enough. We don't get frustrated enough to say something. We don't get upset enough to do something. We just say, well, everything's going to be all right in the morning. Not if you don't say nothing, not if you don't speak up and I'm a witness from someone that didn't say much as a child that at some point I realized, now wait one minute. If I just keep saying nothing, I ain't going to get nothing. I got to speak up happen. Number two, the God of grace willingly breaks tradition, not the law. There's a difference. The law are rules and regulations that we have to keep in order to be in good standing with the Lord. Now keep in mind the law was never intended for us to accomplish on our own. It was always supposed to motivate us to a God that covers. It was always supposed to motivate us to a god of grace. That's the law. Traditional, on the other hand, is a set of generational habits that may or may not have anything to do with God.

What I notice in Zala ha's daughter's story and with many accounts with Jesus is whenever tradition is in conflict with the spirit of the law, that means the real intent of the law tradition always loses in this story. It was tradition from ha to just play nice. Just be ladylike. Don't speak up too loud, just go along to get along. Everything going to be all right, but the spirit of the law was that inheritances stay within the nuclear family and as soon as the daughters sense that that, wait, wait, wait, wait. This may be one of those times when tradition don't got nothing to do with the law, and if we confront it, maybe just maybe we'll get what we're asking for and when they do, what does God do? Breaks the tradition. Jesus' willingness to break tradition is exactly why he's hated by all the religious leaders.

Oh, he's willing to break a tradition. We see it in Matthew 12 when he heals a man on the Sabbath day. Oh, hell broke loose. The Pharisee says, now wait one minute. You violated the mosaic law. The law says that the Sabbath day is holy and if it's holy you can't do anything. You're just supposed to rest. But it was the tradition that defined rest tradition, defined rest as doing nothing, meaning you couldn't even heal people. But Jesus brings clarity. Clarity is king. Jesus brings clarity and says, if you do good works on the Sabbath, that's not unlawful. He breaks tradition by saying The Sabbath was made for man, not the man for the Sabbath. Lord Sabbath, that was a mic drop so he broke. Heal this man. If we are going to be Christ followers, if we are going to be followers of the one that loves us, then we have to expect traditions to break, look for traditions to break, hope for traditions, to break for the sake of the law, hope for cycles to break, habits to break.

I don't care how long it's been going on, I don't care how bad it may be. Maybe everybody got divorced in your family. Break that thing. Maybe you're the only one that is financially stable in your family. Okay, that's good. Maybe everyone is promiscuous in your circle. Break that thing. We serve God that can break chains. We serve God that can break shackles. We serve God that consistently breaks yolks. That's why it says in two Corinthians five 17 that if anyone being Christ, he's new, oh, things are passed away. The Bible says, behold, all things are made new. You don't have to settle for what history says has to happen. Cycles are broken in the kingdom.

Number three, the God of grace includes the excluded since Abraham and Isaac inheritances have been passed down the male line with no exception and you can't tell me a lot. Al had him, didn't know that and Za had, I'm sure taught his daughters that, but there was some hope. There were some hope that maybe the God that does things for Underserving people would include the excluded, so they go to Moses, the man of God who then goes to the Lord and the Lord does exactly what they hope. When that law was amended, it officially included those who were once excluded. Jesus does this 10 times over when he offers not just you but Gentiles, an inheritance of salvation. Y'all know we Gentiles, right? Just to let you know, if you are not a part of that Abrahamic line, that lineage of Abraham, that you weren't a part of the chosen people, you had no rights, you were not eligible for the inheritances that God promised, but by the grace of God, but by the grace of God, but by the grace of God, we have a man named Jesus who died in our place and so now we're joint heirs with him and heirs of God, so we receive more than land, we receive more than milk and honey, we receive an inheritance of salvation that is now and not yet.

This inheritance of salvation is sealed with the Holy Spirit. This inheritance of salvation is access to the prince of the Lord. It's power to live a life that is victorious. It's eternal rest in a building not made by man's hands. This is what you've been given. Those of us who were excluded are now included and the best news is it's for anybody whom ever, whenever John three 16 makes it so clear for Gods who love the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Whosoever translates as whosoever. Any dictionary you look in is whoever. If you're on a mountain, that's you. If you're in a valley, that's you. If you're black, that's you. If you're white, that's you. If you're male, that's you. If you're a female, that's you simply believe that Jesus is who he claims to be and you have an inheritance, and I know it doesn't seem like it could get any better, but it actually does.

It gets better because this inheritance lasts forever. It's not something that we got to re-up and re-up after one generation dies, we got to do a whole nother thing for a whole nother generation. That's not how that works. When Zapa had daughters, when they took action, when they spoke up, when they confronted Moses and then confronted Joshua, they impacted every single daughter that came after them. Every daughter that was in their situation where their father had no son, they impacted that daughter, and when Jesus did what he did on the cross, he offers an internal inheritance to all those who believe. That means for you, that means for your children's children. That means for your children's, children's, children's children. That means for your children's, children's, children's children. He gives us an inheritance in perpetuity. It don't run out, and so when Jesus ascends in the book of Acts, the spirit descends and Peter says, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I know what that is.

I've been studying my word and this is that. This is that. This is that the Joel that the prophet Joel prophesied about that in the last days, I'll pour out my flesh and your sons and daughters will prophesy your young men. They'll see visions in your old men. They'll dream dreams. Peter said, oh my God, this is the thing we've been waiting for all along somebody that would give us, yes, the Jew, but even the gentile and inheritance that cannot be taken away. It is ours for good and ours meaning everybody, so in a way we are alls Allah for hat's daughters, men that includes you too. If it's awkward, deal with it. You are alfa hat's daughter because you were once excluded, but now you have been included and it's nothing but by the grace of God that includes you and undeserving people and undeserving nation. We have been included and we are grateful, so God, we thank you for this grace. It's a relational attribute that was birthed out of your desire to be with us. Somebody say thank you.

I want to call the prayer team and I want to offer three people that I know are in this building, an opportunity to connect with the God of grace. The first person is a person that needs to speak up. It's time being quiet. Ain't getting you nowhere. Trust me. I know it's time to not just speak up but to cry out to no longer see God as this genie or this hard taskmaster, but as this beautiful savior that is full of grace and truth. It's time for you to speak. If that is you and you just want to connect with somebody or if that is you and you don't want to connect with somebody, I'm calling you still. I'm calling you still take a step of faith and connect with someone today. The second person is a person that needs to break a generational cycle. You're tired of the same old, same old, same old. You know that something needs to break in you. You know that whatever history says you longer want to relive. If that is you, I want you to come now. I want you to come now.

If that is you, I need you to come now because your decision to come, thank you. Your decision to come is impacting your children's children and it doesn't have to be biological children. It's impacting the generation that sees you and that will be impacted by you. Your decision to come is breaking a cycle. Third person, this is someone who is on the outskirts of the body of Christ. They see all this, all these lavish gifts being poured out on people that claim that they're undeserving and you want in. You want in on this grace, I want you to know that there is eternal inheritances waiting for you. All you have to do is believe that Jesus is Lord the savior of the world, the one that died who rose again and is coming back again. If that's you, maybe you weren't on the outskirts but then you became on the outskirts by your own choice and you say, I want back. Yep. That's how grace works. You get to come back. You get to come back and you can come now. You can come now. Don't wait. Be bold. Be bold. Be bold like my girls, mala, hala, be bold. Walk up, step up. Do it with people watching. Do it without people watching. Come Now,

If you are in any one of the groups I just named someone that just needs to speak up, cry out, tell the Lord I'm tied someone that needs to break a generational cycle or habit, someone that needs to break tradition, something that it just don't. It seems I wanted to stop or someone who is on the outskirts of the body but wants to be on the inside. I'm calling you now. Can we all stand? The authors are open for everyone. Even if it has nothing to do with what I just preached about,

You are still being beckoned to come connect with somebody, speak up and tell them the thing that you need and I guarantee you that the God that hears will hear you. I guarantee you that the God that loves will love you. I guarantee you that the God that saves will save you. The Bible says He is no respecter of persons, so whether you are a woman or not a woman, whether you are in some other subgroup, maybe you're a person of color and you just always feel excluded. Maybe you don't have the education that everybody else seems to have and you feel excluded. I'm talking to you. Maybe you don't have all the money and the resources that it feels like everybody else have and you just feel like you're outside of the circle. I'm asking you to come on whatever delineates you from the included, this message is for you.

You

Who were excluded are now included because of what Jesus did over 2000 years ago and I'm willing to wait. I'm willing to wait for how long it takes.

I'm willing to wait for all the maah and the noise in this building. I'm willing to wait for all the hala and milk cows in this building. I'm willing to wait for all the tears that are in this building. You may be male, you may be female, you may be young, you may be old, but I'm willing to wait for you worship team. I want you to go pray for these people. Please come down, come down, come down prayer team. If you're here and you're not scheduled today, I need you to come pray for these people. There are people that recognize that there is a God that loves them. Hallelujah. Pray for the people. Pray for the people. Oh God, we trust God loves you. They're the God that cares for you. Cares all about your troubles. He'll hear your faint cry. He'll answer, talk with Jesus. I am so glad we serve a God that cares. I'm so glad we serve a God that cares. He said, cast cares on me for I care for you, for he said, cast your burdens on me and I'll sustain you. You are so trustworthy, father, you are so trustworthy, father, so we put our trust in you

So

We put our trust in you so we put our faith in you. We have nowhere to go. We have nowhere to, we have nobody else to depend on. I trust who will never, he will never fail. I trust God must savior the one who will never, ever, ever, ever fell forever. He'll never ever, ever, ever fail.

I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered. I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered. I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. That verse that vamp, it actually comes from scripture. They just took the scripture and put a attune to it, but I want you to notice the order of wording. The order of words matter and this verse says, I sought the Lord and he heard Some of us are looking for God to hear. You're looking for God to respond and you have yet to seek. I know you prefer it not be that way, but that's the way. It's, you have to seek and then you'll find you'll have to knock and then the door will be open. That's how it works. You don't get the then until you get the if statement comes before the, then I saw the Lord and he heard and he answered I, and then he answered. That's why I trust him. Oh God, we thank you.

We thank you for being a God of grace, full of compassion. God, you are moved with compassion. Every single time we see you in the New Testament, there are times you are just moved with compassion for your people. It doesn't matter if we're Jew or Gentile, it doesn't matter if we're women or men. It doesn't matter if we have physical limitations, our neurological limitations. Oh God, you care for us. You want us, oh God, you desire to be in relationship with us and for that we say thank you. We like Bartimaeus won't let you come and not cry out. We like Bartimaeus won't let you walk past us without us speaking up and so we speak up. God, we speak up. God. God, we pray that you break generational cycles and curses and traditions that don't align with your law. Oh God, we pray, oh God, that you include us and anything that you do, God, that you don't do it without us, that you don't do it without us. Break it. Make it mode us. Send us have your way. The altars are going to remain open. They're going to remain open for as long as they need to be open, but for those of you all who are ready to be dismissed and who have gotten what you need in order to carry you through the rest of the week and hopefully encourage someone else, I want to go ahead and dismiss you now, but for those that need to stay and to connect with someone, you are free to stay and connect with someone. God bless y'all. Have a good rest of your day.