August 19, 2025 • 45 mins
Families are messy—every single one of them. Yet within those messes, God works powerfully to reveal His character and reshape ours. Drawing from Ruth chapter 3, this message explores three essential qualities of godly womanhood that actually apply to everyone seeking to follow Jesus faithfully.
The modern world bombards us with conflicting messages about who we should be and how we should live. With approximately 265 different voices reaching us daily through social media, websites, and other channels, how do we discern which voice to follow? Ruth shows us by example as she listens to godly counsel from Naomi. Though the specific advice may seem culturally strange to us today, the principle remains: we need godly community to provide godly perspective. As Proverbs reminds us, "wisdom is found in a multitude of counselors."
Character defines us far more than appearance or circumstance. When Ruth approaches Boaz at the threshing floor, both demonstrate remarkable godliness in what could have been a compromising situation. Boaz immediately recognizes Ruth as a "worthy woman"—using the same Hebrew word (gabor) that described his own character. This mirrors Proverbs 31:30: "Charm is deceitful, beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." When life bumps into us unexpectedly, what spills out reveals what's truly inside us.
Perhaps most challenging in our instant-gratification culture is waiting with godly patience. The Hebrew concept of waiting doesn't mean passive thumb-twiddling but active abiding—continuing in worship and God's Word while awaiting His timing. Through powerful personal testimony we're reminded that "God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them."
Whether single, dating, married, or any other relationship status, these principles apply universally: seek godly counsel through community, develop godly character through relationship with Jesus, and practice godly patience while trusting His work behind the scenes. Your greatest blessing isn't specific outcomes but God Himself, working to reveal His glory in every messy circumstance.
Thanks for listening! Find us on Instagram or visit our Website.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Make some noise if you're excited to be in church
this morning.
It is good to see everybody.
Thank you so much for beinghere together as we get to study
God's Word with one another.
What an honor it is to get tobe a church where our community
can come together in unity asone family under one name, the
name of Jesus, and we give Himall the glory.
(00:21):
If you believe that, say amen,amen.
It is good to see you here inall of your smiling faces as we
get to all the glory.
If you believe that, say amen,amen.
It is good to see you here inall of your smiling faces, as we
get to worship Jesus together.
I want you to know we just hadour great grill out just about a
week and a half ago now.
We told you last week therewere some 87 plus first-time
guests that were there, butthere was one lady's name.
Her name was Vicki and soapparently she and her kids were
(00:43):
driving by the Great Grillout.
Her kids made her stop and pullin and come because there's all
the inflatables and all thefood and everything, and then
everyone started to get to knowthem and everyone started to
invite them to become a part ofeverything that God is doing in
our church.
I want you to know that Vickicame back just this past
Wednesday morning to be a partof our women's Bible study.
(01:05):
She said to come back onWednesday nights and even on
Sunday mornings.
Vicki, if you're here, we're soglad that you're here, but can
we put our hands together onemore time for just how God is
working in everyone's life?
Just some really cool stuff.
Last Sunday we got to baptize an85-year-old man in our first
service.
This Sunday got to baptizeAmber, 17 years-old man, in our
(01:27):
first service.
This Sunday Got to baptizeAmber, 17 years old, her mom.
And God is just working in somany people's lives and we could
not be more thankful.
Let's just pray and give Godall the glory.
Heavenly Father, we love you.
God, this is your church, god,this is your word, you're moving
by your spirit and God, it'sall for your glory.
So we pray that you wouldcontinue to do the work, god for
(01:49):
all of your purposes, and wepray these things in Jesus' name
.
And all God's people said amen.
Open up your Bibles.
To Ruth, chapter three.
If you got a Bible, if you gotyour fake Bible on your phone or
you can just watch the TVscreen this morning, as we're in
Ruth, chapter three, we are ourthird message in our series
Bless this Mess.
Look at somebody and say blessthis mess.
(02:10):
As we're studying the book ofRuth, it's all about what God
wants to do within your family,because my family has messes in
it and don't look at me, sospiritual so does yours.
Every family is a mess.
Every family has a mess.
I remember when Michelle and I,when we first got married, found
(02:32):
ourselves I found myself in amess right, not her, but I'm
gonna tell you about it.
And so we first get married, wehave this home and there's a
room in our home that we don'thave a closet.
And so she picks out, kind ofour first piece of home
furniture as a married couplethis armoire, and it was the
perfect armoire.
She shopped everywhere, shefound it.
It was actually at Ikea, whichyou knew came in like a billion
(02:55):
pieces, and so so we went andgot it.
It was, it was the color shewanted and it had this really
nice mirror right down themiddle of it.
Well, we bring it home and Ijust have it strewn all over the
floor.
You know it takes me hours toput together.
It's like a massive puzzle.
And I'm walking around and wehad just been married just for a
few months at this point.
(03:15):
So you know, we're really stillgetting to know each other in
terms of a marital couple.
And so she's upstairs, I'mdownstairs, I of a marital
couple, and so she's upstairs,I'm downstairs, I'm walking
around putting it all togetherand I step accidentally on one
piece of the entire thing and Iheard something crack.
I'm like you've got to bekidding me Out of all the wood.
The one thing I stepped on wasthe mirror.
(03:36):
I turned it over, it was themirror and it was all split in
half, right.
And I'm thinking, you know, Ireally don't know her Like she
really could be a serial killer.
I don't know it's possible thatshe's an ex-murderer, right,
and I don't know what's about tohappen.
She had her heart set on thisthing.
She was coming down andchecking on it and I lied to her
like everything's fine, just goback upstairs, right?
(03:57):
I'm calling like can we getanother mirror?
And so finally she comes backdown and she says how's it going
?
I've got it all put up, butthere's no mirror.
And she's like, well, where'sthe mirror?
And I said, babe, sit down.
And I told her.
I said I stepped on the mirrorand I broke and I'm thinking,
you know, I'm dead, I'm dead.
And so she looks at me and shesays it's okay, we'll just get
(04:20):
another one.
I'm like, thank you God, Imarried a godly woman, thank you
God, thank you God.
And so I learned, I learnedjust in that moment, the
importance of godly character ina marriage, because there are
so many unexpected things, somany little unexpected messes
that can happen in our life, inour family, and that God loves
(04:44):
to bless us when we're in themiddle of the mess.
Last week I talked about howgodly men must lead from Ruth,
chapter 2.
This morning, ruth, chapter 3in our sermon is this morning,
three qualities godly womanhoodrequires.
So, ladies, I'm gonna challengeyou this morning, just like I
(05:07):
challenged the men last week.
Now listen some pastors.
They don't wanna come within,challenging a woman from a
10-foot pole.
You know what I'm saying.
Like sometimes we just we steerclear.
But here's what I love aboutFirst Baptist Church, powder
Springs.
I love that we have godly girls, godly teenage girls, godly
young adult women, godly wives,godly moms, godly grandmothers,
(05:31):
godly great grandmothers.
Men, can we put our handstogether for all of our godly
women here in our church.
We are so thankful ineverything and all the ladies
that God has provided here, andI believe that a godly woman
desires to be challenged becauseyou love the word of God and
(05:51):
you want to live the word of Godin your life.
In fact, women of the word.
These are my three points thismorning.
Spoiler alert.
Here you go listen to godlycounsel, live with godly
character, wait with godlypatience.
That we're gonna learn fromRuth's life, from Ruth three.
But let me just remind you thatalso, your other option is to
(06:13):
be a woman of the world andinstead of listening to godly
counsel, a woman of the worldjust follows their feelings and
whatever they feel they're gonnado, instead of living with
godly character, living inindependence nobody tells me
what to do and wait with godlypatience.
No, I'm going to go and I'mgoing to get whatever it is I
want and I'm going to make surethat it's mine, right, and we
(06:36):
you are called, not we, I'm nota woman, we you are called to be
a woman of the word.
So here we go, we are going tolook at Ruth Now.
Number one is listen to godlycounsel.
Everyone say counsel.
Listen to godly counsel.
Just to remind you the book ofRuth, we start with a man by the
name of Elimelech.
(06:56):
In Ruth, chapter one.
He takes his wife Naomi.
He takes his sons, malon andKilion.
He says I am going to providefor my family, not God.
He moves his family away fromthe people of God to a pagan
land called Moab to provide forhis family.
There in Moab, elimelech dies.
He leaves his wife Naomi.
(07:16):
They leave their sons Malon andKilion.
So there's Naomi, malon andKilion In Malon and Kilion.
Unbiblically, they get marriedto pagan Moabite women who don't
believe and who don't worshipthe one true God.
So, sure enough, actually,malon and Kilion then die.
Ruth, chapter one says so nowwhat we have left is Naomi, as
(07:37):
she's a widow, and we have Ruth,who is a Moabite.
We have Orpah, who's a Moabite,and Ruth decides I'm gonna go
back to the people of God,bethlehem and Judah.
And Orpah says I'm gonna stayhere in Moab.
And Ruth.
Ruth says Naomi, I'm gonna comewith you, and we see Ruth's
conversion experience.
(07:57):
Ruth says I'm gonna go whereyou go, I'm gonna lodge where
you lodge.
And here's what Ruth says andyour God shall be my God and
your people shall be my people.
What Ruth is saying Naomi, forall of these years you've been
telling me about your God,yahweh, the one true living God.
That's the God that I wannagive my life to.
So Ruth says I'm going back toyou, going back with you.
(08:19):
So last week we talked abouthow they get back to Bethlehem.
So, so last week we talkedabout how they get back to
Bethlehem.
So now you have Naomi and youhave Ruth.
And Ruth goes out and she's gotto provide for Naomi.
So she goes among the fieldsand she's gleaning the wheat,
which is often what the poorwould do because they don't have
any money and they don't haveany man to be able to work to
(08:39):
provide for them.
So Ruth goes out and the Biblesays she just so happens to go
into the field of Boaz, who isBoaz?
Boaz is one of the men in thatculture that was able to
rightfully, legally and lawfullymarry Ruth.
And the Bible says that theycatch eyes with one another and
they have their first date.
(09:00):
Right, you didn't know thatdating was in the Bible, but go
back and listen to last week.
And they have their first dateNow.
If you look with me in verseone of chapter three.
In verse one of chapter three,naomi, ruth's mother-in-law,
said to Ruth, my daughter,should I not seek rest for you?
That it may be well with you?
(09:21):
Right, naomi?
She wants the best for Ruth,and so she's about to give Ruth
some counsel.
Now the reason is is becausethree months have gone by and
Boaz has not asked Ruth out fora second date.
Can you believe?
He's not called Ruth.
He's not texted Ruth.
He has not even slid into herDMs.
(09:41):
He has not Facebooked her.
He has not sent her a message.
He has not Facebooked her.
He has not sent her a message.
He has not defined therelationship.
He is completely ghosting Ruthat this point.
And Naomi says I'm going totake things into my own hands.
Verse two Naomi says is notBoaz our relative with whose
(10:01):
young women that you were withjust a few months ago?
Boaz, this is now the end ofthe harvest.
So what all of the reapers, allthe harvesters, would do?
They would go down to thethreshing floor and what they
would do is they would threshthe wheat, they would throw the
wheat into the air.
The wind would drive the chaffaway and the seed would come
(10:23):
down, and they would be there tocollect all of their grain.
And so it was literally thetime that they were collecting
all of their wealth, what theyhad been working hard for for
months.
Now, what you need to know thatthe Bible's not going to tell
you.
But culturally, this would be avery worldly environment.
These are some rough men thatwere down there.
(10:44):
This was a party-like scene.
They're eating, they'redrinking.
Women of the night would comedown and try to be with these
men.
I mean, it was a very corruptenvironment.
It was a very corrupt culture,and Naomi watched the advice
that she gives to Ruth.
Naomi says I want you to wash up, ruth.
Go get a bath and anointyourself, put on some perfume
(11:07):
and put on your cloak and godown to the threshing floor, but
do not make yourself known tothe man until he has finished
eating and drinking.
What is Naomi doing?
Naomi is giving herdaughter-in-law dating advice.
Okay, so step one of going on adate go get a bath.
Can I get an amen?
Go get a bath.
(11:28):
And so what she is saying herelook, you have been in mourning
over your husband's death.
It is time that you go and youclean up.
It's time that you smell good.
It's time that you put on somenice clothes.
It's time that you go and talkto Boaz about the relationship,
because he isn't reaching backout to you.
(11:50):
And what a reminder.
What a reminder for us, firstof all, that the most important
part of you is not the way thatyou look, is not the way that
you smell and it's not what youwear, because the word of God
tells us in the New Testamentthat we need to be people that
are washed in the water of theword.
The New Testament tells us thatwe are to be anointed with the
(12:14):
Holy Spirit.
The New Testament tells us thatwe are to put on the clothing
of Jesus Christ.
Can I get an amen?
And so the most important partof you is not your appearance,
it's not your attractiveness,it's not your physical
capabilities.
It is what is within you, thatGod has placed in you
spiritually, it is yourcharacter.
(12:36):
But also we see from this it'sinteresting the importance of a
man and a woman that are in arelationship, that they are
continuing to get to know eachother right.
We know that in America today,half of Americans adult
Americans are single.
Half of adult Americans aremarried.
So this applies in a lot ofdifferent ways to a lot of
(12:58):
different people.
First of all, if you are single, if you're single, it is so
important, like Ruth and Boaz,that you are looking for someone
, first and foremost, with godlycharacter.
With godly character, you wannafind somebody that is following
Jesus.
You wanna find somebody thatloves God more than they love
(13:20):
you.
And the Bible talks aboutspending time with one another
to get to know one another.
The Bible actually never sayshow long you should date.
As a pastor, I've had people askme how long should I date
before I know whether or not toget married to this person?
There's not an answerbiblically, but I would just
tell you, by wisdom, at leastgive it one year, one trip
(13:43):
around the sun, so that youexperience an entire year
together, because you never knowwhat someone's trigger points
are.
But full disclosure I didn'tpractice what I preached.
I married Michelle in 11 months, just so you know.
Just so you know.
But also when we're married, Iwant you to see this as well.
Someone gave me this years agoand, man, I love this, you know.
(14:04):
When you're married, I want toencourage you to see this as
well.
Someone gave me this years agoand man.
I love this, you know.
When you're married, I want toencourage you to be dialoguing
daily.
Make sure that you have ameaningful conversation every
day and that you go out on adate weekly with your spouse, or
maybe you're dating someone,you're single and you want to
make sure that you're spendingquality time together in a
dating-type setting at leastonce a week.
(14:26):
And singleness to get to knowone another.
And married, because marriedpeople drift apart and you need
to reconnect again, over andover again, right?
Just last night, my mom and dadcame into town.
They drove in about 4.30.
Michelle and I were in the car,leaving by 5.30 by ourselves to
go out on a date.
Right, because we didn't wantto miss out on the opportunity
(14:47):
to spend time with one another.
If you're married, I've hearddepart quarterly, get away for a
weekend once a quarter, deportannually, get away for a
vacation once a year.
And I want to remind you, forthose of you that are single,
maybe you're a teenager, maybeyou're a college student, maybe
you're a young adult or older,maybe you're single.
(15:09):
Again, I wanna remind you whatyou date is what you get.
People don't just get betterwhen they get married, right,
typically, they're trying toimpress you on the date and then
, when they get married, theybecome their real self.
So just remember what you dateis what you get.
Never date for potential.
(15:30):
Always realize you're dating.
The actual what you date iswhat you get.
Here we go.
That's not in the Bible.
Number four says this Naomitells Ruth.
She said but when Boaz liesdown, observe the place where he
lies.
Then go and uncover his feetand lie down and he will tell
you what to do.
And Ruth said all that you sayI will do.
(15:52):
Can we all just be honest inthe room?
This is the worst dating adviceI've ever heard in my life.
If anybody ever shares thisadvice with my daughters one day
, we are gonna have words, right?
This is terrible advice in ourculture.
It's like telling a single girltoday hey, you really like
Billy Bob.
Well, billy Bob is out campingin his tent right now out in the
woods, so why don't you just godown to Billy Bob, wait till he
(16:14):
has a beer and then go and goin his tent?
Once he falls asleep, unzip hissleeping bag, lay at his feet
and just say hey, whatever youwant to do, I'm going to do.
No, that is terrible advice.
Right?
This is not prescriptive, it isdescriptive.
It's a totally different culturehere, a totally different thing
going on, but it reminds us theimportance of listening to
(16:38):
godly counsel.
Did you know that 265 times aday, we are getting messages
thrown at us, Whether it'ssocial media, whether it is
maybe on a website, maybe it isa text message, maybe it's an
email?
And often those messages whatyou're seeing on TikTok, what
you're seeing on the reels, whatyou're seeing on Twitter often
(17:01):
it's people telling you over andover and over again how to live
your life.
This is the reason that webecause we live in a godless
culture.
This is why we need to be in agodly community in order to
listen to godly counsel.
You can write this down Acts 17,11 says the Bereans were more
(17:25):
noble, hear me, because theytested everything they heard
with the scriptures.
Whatever they heard, whateverthey read, they went back to the
word of God and askedthemselves was that true, what I
just heard, what I just read?
Proverbs 11, 14 says wisdom isfound in an abundance or a
multitude of counselors, meaningyou don't just want one person
(17:49):
telling you what to do all thetime.
You wanna make sure thatseveral different godly
counselors in your life.
The other day, I had somethinggoing on in our church and I
needed to make the rightdecision, god's decision and so
I called about 10 differentgodly people and I just
explained to them the situationhow do I need to lead as a
(18:12):
pastor with this?
And I listened to every singleone of them and no two people
said the same thing.
Right, but when we have godlycounselors, we're able to
discern God's voice in our life.
Because the Bible says yourealize this, the Holy Spirit is
your ultimate counselor andJesus is the great prophet and
he's the one that gives you alltruth by filling you with his
(18:36):
Holy Spirit, so that you knowwhat to do in every situation of
your life.
Because you have the HolySpirit, you have Jesus, you have
the word of God and you havethe Holy Spirit, you have Jesus,
you have the word of God andyou have godly brothers and
sisters around you to help you.
Can I get an amen?
So here's what I want you tosee Godly counsel requires godly
community.
Godly counsel requires godlycommunity.
(18:59):
You are not meant, you are notcreated to live your life alone.
You need godly men.
Men need godly men around them.
Godly women need godly womenaround them.
Because we live in a culturethat we are being inundated,
we're being bombarded with allof these different messages, all
(19:20):
of these different tips, allthese different life hacks, all
these different things and waysto live and to do, and you need
to know how it is that you'recalled to live as a godly woman,
as a godly man, in our cultureday.
That's why we do groups here.
That's why we have Sundayschool.
That's why we have small groups.
That's why we have Biblestudies.
That's why we have Wednesdaymorning women's studies.
(19:41):
That's why we have Wednesdaymorning women's studies.
That's why we have all of ourWednesday night groups.
That's why we have a marriagegroup starting this Wednesday.
If you need to grab your spouse,or maybe you're about to get
married, you grab them, or youare married, y'all.
Get in the marriage group thisWednesday so that you can be
surrounded by other couples thatare seeking to live for God too
.
That's why Pastor Buddy isstarting a sermon application
(20:05):
group, getting in and sayinglet's dig a little deeper and
how did God speak to you and howdo you apply this to your life?
That's why our ladies, ourwomen's ministry, is having
Mingle Monday tomorrow for allof our ladies at 6.30.
Ladies, come back to MingleMonday.
Men, keep the kids right.
Keep the kids, ladies, you come, and it is a time that we get
(20:29):
to just be in godly communitytogether, learning from one
another.
Number two, here we go.
Live with godly character.
Everyone say character,character.
Live with godly character,ladies.
Are you living from the godlessculture or are you living with
godly character in your life?
(20:50):
Verse six so Ruth went down tothe threshing floor and did just
as her mother-in-law hadcommanded her to do.
Verse seven and when Boaz hadeaten and drunk and his heart
was merry and he went to liedown at the end of the heap of
grain, then Ruth came in like aninja and softly, in stealth
(21:13):
mode, tiptoed and uncovered hisfeet and she laid down and her
heart was probably pounding.
This is not what you would doas a godly woman.
Back then.
She was a Moabite, he was anIsraelite, he was a mature
Christian, she was a brand newbeliever, he was a wealthy man,
she was a poor woman.
Women would not be, did notmake this kind of initiative
(21:38):
back then, and so.
But she did everything that hermother-in-law said to do, and
this is a very sketchy sceneBecause, again, this is what
women of the night would do withthese wealthy reapers.
So here we have Ruth and Boazand at midnight Boaz was
startled and he turned over andbehold a woman lay at his feet.
(22:01):
And the Bible added anexclamation point I just love
that.
A woman laid at his feet.
Some of you single men arethinking I wish a woman would
lay at my.
You know, I'd find a woman inthe middle of the night at my
feet.
Some of you single men thinkingthat better not ever happen to
me, because verse nine, we'llmove on.
And he said Boaz said who areyou?
She answered I'm Ruth, yourservant.
(22:21):
Spread your wings over yourservant, for you are a redeemer.
This is actually very beautifulRuth.
Here she's not proposing to Boaz, she's proposing that Boaz
would propose to her.
To be honest with you.
It's kind of like, ladies, whatdo you do when you like a man
and you think he likes you andmaybe you want him to ask you
(22:44):
out, but he's not asked you outand you know, obviously the
culture says well, you just askhim out.
Well, you want the man toinitiate, you want the man to
lead.
But one thing you can dobiblically is go and say hey,
I'm not asking you out, but Ijust want you to know, if you
ask me out, I'll go out, right.
Or maybe y'all been dating fora while and you're like man, I'm
(23:10):
just waiting on him to pop thequestion and maybe you just need
to remind him.
I'm not proposing.
I'm just proposing that youought to propose, because if you
propose, I'll say yes, right,this is what we see Ruth doing.
But Ruth says spread your wingsover your servant, for you are a
redeemer.
What is a redeemer?
Redeemer is a restorer.
Ultimately, what this ispointing us to, you to and me to
, is Jesus.
The Bible says in Ezekiel,chapter 16, verse 8, ezekiel 16,
8, god says that he spreads hisgarment over us.
(23:32):
In other words, god is saying Ilove you and I'm going to
protect you and I'm going toprovide for you and I'm going to
claim you as mine.
And what Ruth is saying thatBoaz should do is the same thing
.
It was very cultural back thenthat they would do this.
And she's saying Boaz, if youspread your wings over me, then
(23:53):
I will be up under yourleadership and I will gladly
submit to you.
In the same way that we'resaying God.
I gladly submit to you it'sthis beautiful picture of us as
men, men in the room.
We are called to be protectors,as we talked about last week.
We're called to be providers.
The Bible says in Ephesians,chapter five.
(24:13):
The Bible says to love yourwife like Jesus loves the church
.
Notice here that Ruth is sayingI want you to protect me as God
protects me.
And so that's what we're calledto do as husbands.
That's what we're called to doas dads.
That's who we're called to beas men and ladies, like I
(24:33):
encouraged you last week,encourage your man in his godly
character.
You want him to love Jesus morethan he loves you.
You want him to follow whatJesus says more than he follows
what you say.
It is his godly character, whatyou're supposed to be attracted
to him most.
And, ladies, your godlycharacter is what your husband,
(24:55):
your man, is to be attracted toyou most.
Verse 10,.
And he said Boaz said, may yoube blessed by the Lord, my
daughter, you have made thislast kindness greater than the
first, that you have not goneafter rich men, after young men,
whether poor or rich.
(25:17):
We see here they use the wordkindness.
That word in Hebrew is hesed,it's translated kindness, but it
actually means more than that.
It means kindness, it meanslove, it means loyalty, it means
submission, it means all ofthese beautiful things.
In other words, this is thetone that is supposed to be in
our home.
This is the tone that'ssupposed to be in our speech.
(25:40):
This is the tone that issupposed to be in our life.
This is the tone in which wetalk to one another as husbands
and wives.
This is the tone that issupposed to be in our life.
This is the tone in which wetalk to one another as husbands
and wives.
This is the tone that we'resupposed to use with one another
as parents and children.
This is the tone that we'resupposed to use with one another
in terms of brothers andsisters in Christ, and even the
way in which that we speak inand we speak to the world.
(26:02):
And there is something here thatBoaz is saying.
Boaz is somehow telling RuthRuth, you can have any man, and
we don't know how that is, ifshe was just very beautiful, or
if she was just so differentfrom all the other women, or she
was just out of town, we don'tknow but he's saying you could
have had any other younger man,a poor man, a rich man.
And Boaz is saying but youchose me.
(26:24):
What did Ruth see in Boaz, hisgodly character, his godliness?
Why?
Because there's somethingdifferent about a person that is
filled with the Holy Spirit ofGod.
That person loves differently.
That person loves differently.
(26:46):
That person leads differently.
That person has different goalsand relationships and different
goals in life.
It seems like because this wasduring the time of the judges,
it seems like that it may havebeen that Boaz was the only
godly man around and Ruth wasthe only godly woman around.
And we see here in verse 11,boaz says and now my daughter,
do not fear.
And we see here in verse 11,boaz says and now my daughter,
(27:06):
do not fear.
And men, that's our job.
Your job as a man is to loveyour wife and love your kids in
such of a way to work, in suchof a way to pursue Jesus, in
such of a way to pray, in suchof a way to speak to them, in
such of a way to protect them,in such of a way to pray, in
such of a way to speak to them,in such of a way to protect them
(27:27):
, in such of a way to providefor them in such of a way that
they should have no fear in life.
We absorb the fear as men sothat our wife and our children
feel safe.
Can I get an amen?
He said.
And now my daughter don't fear,I will do for you all that you
ask for.
All my fellow townsmen knowthat you are a worthy woman.
(27:48):
Everyone say worthy.
As a reminder from last week,the word worthy is the Hebrew
word is gabor.
Gabor means that she's a womanof character.
If you remember with Boaz lastweek, it means wealth and
position and status.
But Ruth didn't have that, eventhough the Bible uses this word
for her.
In other words, wealth andposition and status isn't just
(28:12):
physical, it is most importantlyspiritual.
Spiritually she was wealthy.
Spiritually she has this highposition of being seated with
Christ in the heavenly.
Spiritually she has the statusbefore God and so, just like he
is a worthy man of character,she is a worthy woman of
character.
Proverbs 31, verse 30, talksabout women, ladies.
(28:36):
Charm is deceitful, beauty isvain, but a woman who fears the
Lord is to be praised.
That's why we see in verse 12,and now it is true, boaz says I
am a redeemer, but there is aredeemer nearer than me.
We see this.
Now they have this problem thatcomes up in their relationship
(28:58):
that they weren't expecting.
Like every relationship, likeevery family, like every life, a
mess pops up and now they don'tknow what to do.
Boaz is saying I am a redeemer,I am legally, lawfully able to
marry you, to become yourhusband, for you to be my wife,
but the problem is that there isanother man in this culture, in
(29:18):
this law, who is legally,lawfully able to marry you
before me.
In other words, he's got dibs.
And so Boaz is saying there isanother redeemer than I.
What is God trying to teach youin this passage?
I believe what God is teachingus in this passage is aren't you
thankful that there is no otherredeemer nearer than Jesus in
(29:41):
your life?
Can I get an amen that Jesus isyour only redeemer?
Because Jesus is your onlyredeemer, because Jesus is the
only redeemer, as the worldbelieves in all of these
different gods and all of thesedifferent deities and all of
these different religions, butyet we know the one true, only
living God is a God who isloving, is a God who's gracious,
is a God who's merciful, is aGod who is saving, is a God who
(30:04):
is for you and is a God whowants gracious, is a God who's
merciful, is a God who is saving, is a God who is for you and is
a God who wants to bless youeven in the middle of all of
your messes.
If you believe that, Say yeah,we believe that.
And he is not only the onlyredeemer, but he is near you and
he promised to be with you inyour life.
And the more time you spendwith him and the more time you
(30:26):
spend with him, the more timeyou spend with Jesus, the more
you grow in your godly character.
One of you sent me anillustration this week and I
loved it.
The illustration is if you arewalking around with a cup of
coffee, someone bumps into youand you spill the coffee.
The question is why did youspill coffee Not?
And they said the answer is notbecause someone bumped into you
and you spill the coffee.
The question is why did youspill coffee Not?
And they said the answer is notbecause someone bumped into you
(30:49):
.
The reason you spilled coffeeis because there was coffee in
your cup.
If there was tea in your cup,you would have spilt Very good
class.
If there was Coke in your cup,you would have spilt Exactly,
you would have spilt Coke.
The question is, when you get,get bumped, when you get rattled
in life, what comes out of you?
What comes out of you is whatwas in you.
(31:12):
So if what comes out of you isjoy, what comes out of you is
thankfulness, what comes out ofyou is peace, what comes out of
you is hope, what comes out ofyou is faith.
Right, that that's our godlycharacter within us.
But if we see what comes out ofus when we get rattled is that
godless culture, then we knowthat we need to continue to be
(31:33):
growing in our godly character,because it is that godly
character that we are called tobe living in.
And just a reminder godlycharacter requires godly counsel
.
In other words, get in the wordof God and let the Holy Spirit
counsel you.
(31:53):
Get in prayer and allow God tospeak to you, even in your
prayer.
Get in one of these groups thatwe have offered.
We don't just do groups becausewe're a church.
We do groups because the Bibletells us to.
We do groups because it's goodfor you, right, and so you get
into a group and you see how Godwants to grow you spiritually
in your life and your godlycharacter.
(32:14):
And number three, and I'm donewait with godly patience.
Everyone say patience.
You know they always say don'tpray for patience because God
will take you through something,that you'll have to get it
right.
But what if we prayed forpatience in terms of God, fill
me with your Holy Spirit andhelp me to be more patient as
I'm waiting for you to work outyour will in my life, because
(32:37):
that's what Ruth had to do.
Now Ruth has fallen in lovewith Boaz, boaz has fallen in
love with Ruth, but yet there'sanother man in the picture that
Boaz has got to go and deal with.
Look at verse 14.
So, ruth, as we're talkingabout waiting and godly patience
, ruth laid at his feet untilthe morning.
Can we first of all just seethe godly patience they had here
(33:00):
sexually?
Do we notice here that theywere laying together and she
stayed at his feet all night andthey did not get mixed up in
sexual promiscuity, but theymade sure that they were
faithful to sexual purity.
This is the godly character asthey are in this godly culture,
(33:22):
as all their godly culture wouldtell them, it's okay to be
sexual before you're married.
No, they were different.
They said we are going to liveour lives in purity.
So Ruth arose before one couldrecognize another and Boaz told
his reapers do not let it beknown that the woman came to the
threshing floor.
In other words, he's sayingprotect her reputation, I don't
(33:44):
want anyone to get the wrongidea, because she is a worthy
woman.
Verse 15.
And Boaz said bring the garment, ruth, that you are wearing,
and hold it out.
So Ruth held out the garmentand Boaz measured six measures
of barley and put it on her.
And then she went back to Naomiin the city.
In other words, boaz gave Ruth60 pounds of barley.
(34:07):
Ruth did crossfit you know whatI'm saying Like she was able to
carry 60 pounds of barley.
This would have fed her andNaomi for a month.
This was worth $2,400.
And you thought your grocerybill was high.
This is crazy, right.
And there they are in verse 15.
And she goes back to Naomi, andI love this.
This is crazy, right.
And there they are in verse 15.
And she goes back to Naomi, andI love this.
This is so awesome.
And when she came to hermother-in-law, naomi, she walks
(34:30):
in the door.
Naomi's been staying up allnight.
She gave Ruth the terriblecounsel.
Ruth did it.
She came back.
Now Naomi can't wait to hearwhat happened.
Ruth walks in the door.
Naomi says I've already put apot of coffee on.
You're gonna sit down, girl,and you can tell me everything.
How did you fare, my daughter?
Then Ruth told her everythingthat the man had done not to her
(34:52):
.
Ruth told her everything thatthe man had done for her Men.
That's why we're here, that'swhy we exist.
We're not here to do things topeople, we're here to do things
for people.
Jesus has called us to beprotectors.
Jesus has called us to beproviders, just like him, saying
these six measures of barley hegave to me.
(35:15):
For he said to me you must notgo back empty-handed to your
mother-in-law.
You know, one thing that welearn here from this passage is
guys, if you're going out with agirl and you really like her,
make sure and buy dessert at theend and tell her to take the
dessert home to your mom.
Right, if you really like her,because you want mom to like you
too.
Right, because you're not justmarrying the girl, you're
marrying the family.
But also here's what I want youto see spiritually when Naomi
(35:40):
in Ruth one was coming back fromMoab, naomi said don't call me
Naomi, call me Mara, call mebitter, because I'm coming back
empty handed.
And look at how God is workingin Naomi's life and he is
filling her hands again.
You must not go back emptyhanded to your mother-in-law and
(36:02):
that's what God brought youhere this morning to hear the
mess in your life that you aregoing through, all that you are
dealing with in your family, allthat you're dealing with in
your relationships, all thatyou're dealing with in your life
, and you feel so empty.
I want you to see that Jesus isyour redeemer and Jesus is
working to fill your soul.
(36:24):
He's working to fill your heart.
He's working to fill your hands.
It says in verse 18,.
Naomi said wait, my daughter,until you learn how the matter
turns out, for the man will notrest, but he will settle the
matter today.
This is absolutely incredible.
(36:46):
Naomi told Ruth to wait.
Wait does not mean to twiddleyour thumbs, to tap your foot,
to check your watch.
Hebrew wait means to sit, todwell, to abide, to continue.
In other words, while you arewaiting for God to work out that
(37:08):
mess in your life, right now,what are you called to do?
You are called to worship whileyou wait.
You're called to be in the wordof God and spend time with him
while you wait and here's whathe says because the man will not
rest until he settles thematter.
Today, in other words, boaz isgoing to work it out he is her
(37:28):
redeemer and Jesus is going towork it out in your life.
In the first service we sang waymaker.
It was that reminder that, eventhough you don't see it, he's
working, even though you don'tfeel it, he's working.
You don't see it, he's working,even though you don't feel it,
he's working.
He never stops.
He never stops working.
Godly patience requires godlycharacter.
(37:49):
I want you to see this.
God is always doing 10,000things in your life and you may
be aware of three of them.
Life is often a roller coasterand we tend to remember the
downs and we tend to forget theups of what God's doing.
I told you just this past weeka little mess that my family's
(38:11):
going in, that just a week ortwo ago I went to the doctor and
they found a little spot skinon my back and it ended up being
cancerous melanoma.
And I'm going in.
It's a zero out of four.
We're thankful for that.
Going in tomorrow, going tohave my surgery and, lord
willing, just get it all cut outand everything.
And so we've just been reallyprocessing and praying and like
(38:34):
God, what are you doing, whatdoes this mean, what's the
result going to be and all ofthose type things, right.
And so we've just been kind ofreeling over it.
This past Monday, as life's arollercoaster, my wife invites
me to lunch and so I go to lunchwith Michelle.
She hands me a little gift bagand she says here you told wives
this past Sunday to encouragehusbands and so I just wanna
(38:57):
encourage you.
So I open up the gift bag andit's a card and I pull out the
tissue paper and down at thebottom was a positive pregnancy
test.
We are having our fourth baby.
We're just, we're just, we'reblown away.
We're blown away.
We're so thankful.
You might say this will be ourfourth kid.
You know.
You might say, man, pastorship,you love kids.
(39:18):
No, I just love my wife rightNow.
We know what causes these thingsand had a lady in her 80s in
the first service.
A lady in her 80s.
She came up to me after theservice.
She said do we need to put a TVin y'all's bedroom.
I loved.
I thought that was awesome.
I thought that was awesome, buthere's the point.
Here's the point.
(39:39):
We've been married 11 years.
Our first nine years were nineyears of infertility and we'll
never forget all the struggle.
We'll never forget all thedoubt.
We'll never forget all the pain.
We'll never forget all thequestions and all the confusion.
And in that journey ofinfertility, god had to bring us
(40:04):
to a point to say, if he doesnot bless us with children, he
is still good and he is enough.
Because often, when we talkabout God blessing our life and
blessing our mess, we want Godto do something specific.
(40:26):
Here's what God is telling youtoday he's your greatest
blessing.
He wants to bless you in yourmess so you can see his
greatness and his glory in yourlife, no matter what you're
going through, that he is withyou and there is nothing better
(40:47):
that you can experience in yourlife.
With every head bowed and everyeye closed, no one looking
around.
Maybe you're here this morningand maybe God's just speaking to
you in your heart and God'sworking in you and you just need
to be reminded of that, thatyou are going through a mess
right now and you need to bereminded that Jesus is your
(41:08):
redeemer, he is your restorer,he is working it all out for
your good and for his glory andhe is working in the background.
And maybe you just need to bereal and be honest with him
right now.
Jesus, help me to see you as mygreatest blessing, and maybe
(41:32):
you're here this morning andyou've never given your life to
him and you want him in yourlife to forgive you of your sins
, to save you so that you can bewith him forever in heaven.
And right here, right now, Iwanna help you with that.
You can give your life to him,and the Bible says that he will
take you and he will never leaveyou and he will never forsake
(41:55):
you and he will never disown you.
Right here, right now, you canpray to him in your own words,
in your own heart.
He can hear you.
And you can pray to him in yourown words, in your own heart.
He can hear you.
And you can just say dear Jesus, I believe in you and, jesus, I
need you.
And you can say Jesus, Ibelieve that you died on the
cross for my sins and I'm askingyou to forgive me of all my sin
(42:15):
.
And you can tell him dear Jesus, I believe that you rose from
the dead, you're alive, you'rereal, and I wanna turn from my
sin and I wanna follow you.
I can't do it perfectly, butI'm just gonna follow you for
all of my life.
And the Bible says that if youcall on the name of the Lord,
you will be saved.
(42:35):
Call on Jesus right now and sayJesus, be my Lord, be my savior
, be my God, be my redeemer.
And, jesus, we thank you forthat truth of salvation.
We love you and we pray thesethings in Jesus' name.
And all God's people said wouldyou put your hands together for
anybody that gave their life toJesus?
We are so thankful.
We just wanna say welcome tothe family.
(42:55):
There is no greater decision inyour life.
In fact, we've got a decisioncard there at every seat.
Our next step card in your life.
In fact, we've got a decisioncard there at every seat.
Our next step card.
Maybe you received Jesus today.
Just check that box on there.
Maybe you need to get baptized,like Amber and Linda this
morning.
Maybe you need to join a group,like we've talked about.
You can indicate that on thecard.
You can turn the card into me,pastor James, or our next step
(43:17):
stations out there.
But right now I want to askPastor James just to come on out
.
I want to pray one more timeand let's ask God just to bless
all this.
Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, lord, you are so good.
God, we give you all the glory.
And God, we just pray, lord, aswe are going through difficult
seasons in life and trials inlife and sufferings in life and
(43:37):
confusion in life, and God whereit looks like that we're just
standing still or goingbackwards, god, may we continue
to remember and learn from yourword, lord, that you are working
among us, in our midst, in ourbackground.
You're working it all out.
God, for your glory and ourgood Lord, we thank you for
(44:00):
blessing us even in the midst ofthe messiness of life.
In Jesus' name, in all God'speople said
Make some noise if you're excited to be in church
this morning.
It is good to see everybody.
Thank you so much for beinghere together as we get to study
God's Word with one another.
What an honor it is to get tobe a church where our community
can come together in unity asone family under one name, the
name of Jesus, and we give Himall the glory.
(00:21):
If you believe that, say amen,amen.
It is good to see you here inall of your smiling faces as we
get to all the glory.
If you believe that, say amen,amen.
It is good to see you here inall of your smiling faces, as we
get to worship Jesus together.
I want you to know we just hadour great grill out just about a
week and a half ago now.
We told you last week therewere some 87 plus first-time
guests that were there, butthere was one lady's name.
Her name was Vicki and soapparently she and her kids were
(00:43):
driving by the Great Grillout.
Her kids made her stop and pullin and come because there's all
the inflatables and all thefood and everything, and then
everyone started to get to knowthem and everyone started to
invite them to become a part ofeverything that God is doing in
our church.
I want you to know that Vickicame back just this past
Wednesday morning to be a partof our women's Bible study.
(01:05):
She said to come back onWednesday nights and even on
Sunday mornings.
Vicki, if you're here, we're soglad that you're here, but can
we put our hands together onemore time for just how God is
working in everyone's life?
Just some really cool stuff.
Last Sunday we got to baptize an85-year-old man in our first
service.
This Sunday got to baptizeAmber, 17 years-old man, in our
(01:27):
first service.
This Sunday Got to baptizeAmber, 17 years old, her mom.
And God is just working in somany people's lives and we could
not be more thankful.
Let's just pray and give Godall the glory.
Heavenly Father, we love you.
God, this is your church, god,this is your word, you're moving
by your spirit and God, it'sall for your glory.
So we pray that you wouldcontinue to do the work, god for
(01:49):
all of your purposes, and wepray these things in Jesus' name
.
And all God's people said amen.
Open up your Bibles.
To Ruth, chapter three.
If you got a Bible, if you gotyour fake Bible on your phone or
you can just watch the TVscreen this morning, as we're in
Ruth, chapter three, we are ourthird message in our series
Bless this Mess.
Look at somebody and say blessthis mess.
(02:10):
As we're studying the book ofRuth, it's all about what God
wants to do within your family,because my family has messes in
it and don't look at me, sospiritual so does yours.
Every family is a mess.
Every family has a mess.
I remember when Michelle and I,when we first got married, found
(02:32):
ourselves I found myself in amess right, not her, but I'm
gonna tell you about it.
And so we first get married, wehave this home and there's a
room in our home that we don'thave a closet.
And so she picks out, kind ofour first piece of home
furniture as a married couplethis armoire, and it was the
perfect armoire.
She shopped everywhere, shefound it.
It was actually at Ikea, whichyou knew came in like a billion
(02:55):
pieces, and so so we went andgot it.
It was, it was the color shewanted and it had this really
nice mirror right down themiddle of it.
Well, we bring it home and Ijust have it strewn all over the
floor.
You know it takes me hours toput together.
It's like a massive puzzle.
And I'm walking around and wehad just been married just for a
few months at this point.
(03:15):
So you know, we're really stillgetting to know each other in
terms of a marital couple.
And so she's upstairs, I'mdownstairs, I of a marital
couple, and so she's upstairs,I'm downstairs, I'm walking
around putting it all togetherand I step accidentally on one
piece of the entire thing and Iheard something crack.
I'm like you've got to bekidding me Out of all the wood.
The one thing I stepped on wasthe mirror.
(03:36):
I turned it over, it was themirror and it was all split in
half, right.
And I'm thinking, you know, Ireally don't know her Like she
really could be a serial killer.
I don't know it's possible thatshe's an ex-murderer, right,
and I don't know what's about tohappen.
She had her heart set on thisthing.
She was coming down andchecking on it and I lied to her
like everything's fine, just goback upstairs, right?
(03:57):
I'm calling like can we getanother mirror?
And so finally she comes backdown and she says how's it going
?
I've got it all put up, butthere's no mirror.
And she's like, well, where'sthe mirror?
And I said, babe, sit down.
And I told her.
I said I stepped on the mirrorand I broke and I'm thinking,
you know, I'm dead, I'm dead.
And so she looks at me and shesays it's okay, we'll just get
(04:20):
another one.
I'm like, thank you God, Imarried a godly woman, thank you
God, thank you God.
And so I learned, I learnedjust in that moment, the
importance of godly character ina marriage, because there are
so many unexpected things, somany little unexpected messes
that can happen in our life, inour family, and that God loves
(04:44):
to bless us when we're in themiddle of the mess.
Last week I talked about howgodly men must lead from Ruth,
chapter 2.
This morning, ruth, chapter 3in our sermon is this morning,
three qualities godly womanhoodrequires.
So, ladies, I'm gonna challengeyou this morning, just like I
(05:07):
challenged the men last week.
Now listen some pastors.
They don't wanna come within,challenging a woman from a
10-foot pole.
You know what I'm saying.
Like sometimes we just we steerclear.
But here's what I love aboutFirst Baptist Church, powder
Springs.
I love that we have godly girls, godly teenage girls, godly
young adult women, godly wives,godly moms, godly grandmothers,
(05:31):
godly great grandmothers.
Men, can we put our handstogether for all of our godly
women here in our church.
We are so thankful ineverything and all the ladies
that God has provided here, andI believe that a godly woman
desires to be challenged becauseyou love the word of God and
(05:51):
you want to live the word of Godin your life.
In fact, women of the word.
These are my three points thismorning.
Spoiler alert.
Here you go listen to godlycounsel, live with godly
character, wait with godlypatience.
That we're gonna learn fromRuth's life, from Ruth three.
But let me just remind you thatalso, your other option is to
(06:13):
be a woman of the world andinstead of listening to godly
counsel, a woman of the worldjust follows their feelings and
whatever they feel they're gonnado, instead of living with
godly character, living inindependence nobody tells me
what to do and wait with godlypatience.
No, I'm going to go and I'mgoing to get whatever it is I
want and I'm going to make surethat it's mine, right, and we
(06:36):
you are called, not we, I'm nota woman, we you are called to be
a woman of the word.
So here we go, we are going tolook at Ruth Now.
Number one is listen to godlycounsel.
Everyone say counsel.
Listen to godly counsel.
Just to remind you the book ofRuth, we start with a man by the
name of Elimelech.
(06:56):
In Ruth, chapter one.
He takes his wife Naomi.
He takes his sons, malon andKilion.
He says I am going to providefor my family, not God.
He moves his family away fromthe people of God to a pagan
land called Moab to provide forhis family.
There in Moab, elimelech dies.
He leaves his wife Naomi.
(07:16):
They leave their sons Malon andKilion.
So there's Naomi, malon andKilion In Malon and Kilion.
Unbiblically, they get marriedto pagan Moabite women who don't
believe and who don't worshipthe one true God.
So, sure enough, actually,malon and Kilion then die.
Ruth, chapter one says so nowwhat we have left is Naomi, as
(07:37):
she's a widow, and we have Ruth,who is a Moabite.
We have Orpah, who's a Moabite,and Ruth decides I'm gonna go
back to the people of God,bethlehem and Judah.
And Orpah says I'm gonna stayhere in Moab.
And Ruth.
Ruth says Naomi, I'm gonna comewith you, and we see Ruth's
conversion experience.
(07:57):
Ruth says I'm gonna go whereyou go, I'm gonna lodge where
you lodge.
And here's what Ruth says andyour God shall be my God and
your people shall be my people.
What Ruth is saying Naomi, forall of these years you've been
telling me about your God,yahweh, the one true living God.
That's the God that I wannagive my life to.
So Ruth says I'm going back toyou, going back with you.
(08:19):
So last week we talked abouthow they get back to Bethlehem.
So, so last week we talkedabout how they get back to
Bethlehem.
So now you have Naomi and youhave Ruth.
And Ruth goes out and she's gotto provide for Naomi.
So she goes among the fieldsand she's gleaning the wheat,
which is often what the poorwould do because they don't have
any money and they don't haveany man to be able to work to
(08:39):
provide for them.
So Ruth goes out and the Biblesays she just so happens to go
into the field of Boaz, who isBoaz?
Boaz is one of the men in thatculture that was able to
rightfully, legally and lawfullymarry Ruth.
And the Bible says that theycatch eyes with one another and
they have their first date.
(09:00):
Right, you didn't know thatdating was in the Bible, but go
back and listen to last week.
And they have their first dateNow.
If you look with me in verseone of chapter three.
In verse one of chapter three,naomi, ruth's mother-in-law,
said to Ruth, my daughter,should I not seek rest for you?
That it may be well with you?
(09:21):
Right, naomi?
She wants the best for Ruth,and so she's about to give Ruth
some counsel.
Now the reason is is becausethree months have gone by and
Boaz has not asked Ruth out fora second date.
Can you believe?
He's not called Ruth.
He's not texted Ruth.
He has not even slid into herDMs.
(09:41):
He has not Facebooked her.
He has not sent her a message.
He has not Facebooked her.
He has not sent her a message.
He has not defined therelationship.
He is completely ghosting Ruthat this point.
And Naomi says I'm going totake things into my own hands.
Verse two Naomi says is notBoaz our relative with whose
(10:01):
young women that you were withjust a few months ago?
Boaz, this is now the end ofthe harvest.
So what all of the reapers, allthe harvesters, would do?
They would go down to thethreshing floor and what they
would do is they would threshthe wheat, they would throw the
wheat into the air.
The wind would drive the chaffaway and the seed would come
(10:23):
down, and they would be there tocollect all of their grain.
And so it was literally thetime that they were collecting
all of their wealth, what theyhad been working hard for for
months.
Now, what you need to know thatthe Bible's not going to tell
you.
But culturally, this would be avery worldly environment.
These are some rough men thatwere down there.
(10:44):
This was a party-like scene.
They're eating, they'redrinking.
Women of the night would comedown and try to be with these
men.
I mean, it was a very corruptenvironment.
It was a very corrupt culture,and Naomi watched the advice
that she gives to Ruth.
Naomi says I want you to wash up, ruth.
Go get a bath and anointyourself, put on some perfume
(11:07):
and put on your cloak and godown to the threshing floor, but
do not make yourself known tothe man until he has finished
eating and drinking.
What is Naomi doing?
Naomi is giving herdaughter-in-law dating advice.
Okay, so step one of going on adate go get a bath.
Can I get an amen?
Go get a bath.
(11:28):
And so what she is saying herelook, you have been in mourning
over your husband's death.
It is time that you go and youclean up.
It's time that you smell good.
It's time that you put on somenice clothes.
It's time that you go and talkto Boaz about the relationship,
because he isn't reaching backout to you.
(11:50):
And what a reminder.
What a reminder for us, firstof all, that the most important
part of you is not the way thatyou look, is not the way that
you smell and it's not what youwear, because the word of God
tells us in the New Testamentthat we need to be people that
are washed in the water of theword.
The New Testament tells us thatwe are to be anointed with the
(12:14):
Holy Spirit.
The New Testament tells us thatwe are to put on the clothing
of Jesus Christ.
Can I get an amen?
And so the most important partof you is not your appearance,
it's not your attractiveness,it's not your physical
capabilities.
It is what is within you, thatGod has placed in you
spiritually, it is yourcharacter.
(12:36):
But also we see from this it'sinteresting the importance of a
man and a woman that are in arelationship, that they are
continuing to get to know eachother right.
We know that in America today,half of Americans adult
Americans are single.
Half of adult Americans aremarried.
So this applies in a lot ofdifferent ways to a lot of
(12:58):
different people.
First of all, if you are single, if you're single, it is so
important, like Ruth and Boaz,that you are looking for someone
, first and foremost, with godlycharacter.
With godly character, you wannafind somebody that is following
Jesus.
You wanna find somebody thatloves God more than they love
(13:20):
you.
And the Bible talks aboutspending time with one another
to get to know one another.
The Bible actually never sayshow long you should date.
As a pastor, I've had people askme how long should I date
before I know whether or not toget married to this person?
There's not an answerbiblically, but I would just
tell you, by wisdom, at leastgive it one year, one trip
(13:43):
around the sun, so that youexperience an entire year
together, because you never knowwhat someone's trigger points
are.
But full disclosure I didn'tpractice what I preached.
I married Michelle in 11 months, just so you know.
Just so you know.
But also when we're married, Iwant you to see this as well.
Someone gave me this years agoand, man, I love this, you know.
(14:04):
When you're married, I want toencourage you to see this as
well.
Someone gave me this years agoand man.
I love this, you know.
When you're married, I want toencourage you to be dialoguing
daily.
Make sure that you have ameaningful conversation every
day and that you go out on adate weekly with your spouse, or
maybe you're dating someone,you're single and you want to
make sure that you're spendingquality time together in a
dating-type setting at leastonce a week.
(14:26):
And singleness to get to knowone another.
And married, because marriedpeople drift apart and you need
to reconnect again, over andover again, right?
Just last night, my mom and dadcame into town.
They drove in about 4.30.
Michelle and I were in the car,leaving by 5.30 by ourselves to
go out on a date.
Right, because we didn't wantto miss out on the opportunity
(14:47):
to spend time with one another.
If you're married, I've hearddepart quarterly, get away for a
weekend once a quarter, deportannually, get away for a
vacation once a year.
And I want to remind you, forthose of you that are single,
maybe you're a teenager, maybeyou're a college student, maybe
you're a young adult or older,maybe you're single.
(15:09):
Again, I wanna remind you whatyou date is what you get.
People don't just get betterwhen they get married, right,
typically, they're trying toimpress you on the date and then
, when they get married, theybecome their real self.
So just remember what you dateis what you get.
Never date for potential.
(15:30):
Always realize you're dating.
The actual what you date iswhat you get.
Here we go.
That's not in the Bible.
Number four says this Naomitells Ruth.
She said but when Boaz liesdown, observe the place where he
lies.
Then go and uncover his feetand lie down and he will tell
you what to do.
And Ruth said all that you sayI will do.
(15:52):
Can we all just be honest inthe room?
This is the worst dating adviceI've ever heard in my life.
If anybody ever shares thisadvice with my daughters one day
, we are gonna have words, right?
This is terrible advice in ourculture.
It's like telling a single girltoday hey, you really like
Billy Bob.
Well, billy Bob is out campingin his tent right now out in the
woods, so why don't you just godown to Billy Bob, wait till he
(16:14):
has a beer and then go and goin his tent?
Once he falls asleep, unzip hissleeping bag, lay at his feet
and just say hey, whatever youwant to do, I'm going to do.
No, that is terrible advice.
Right?
This is not prescriptive, it isdescriptive.
It's a totally different culturehere, a totally different thing
going on, but it reminds us theimportance of listening to
(16:38):
godly counsel.
Did you know that 265 times aday, we are getting messages
thrown at us, Whether it'ssocial media, whether it is
maybe on a website, maybe it isa text message, maybe it's an
email?
And often those messages whatyou're seeing on TikTok, what
you're seeing on the reels, whatyou're seeing on Twitter often
(17:01):
it's people telling you over andover and over again how to live
your life.
This is the reason that webecause we live in a godless
culture.
This is why we need to be in agodly community in order to
listen to godly counsel.
You can write this down Acts 17,11 says the Bereans were more
(17:25):
noble, hear me, because theytested everything they heard
with the scriptures.
Whatever they heard, whateverthey read, they went back to the
word of God and askedthemselves was that true, what I
just heard, what I just read?
Proverbs 11, 14 says wisdom isfound in an abundance or a
multitude of counselors, meaningyou don't just want one person
(17:49):
telling you what to do all thetime.
You wanna make sure thatseveral different godly
counselors in your life.
The other day, I had somethinggoing on in our church and I
needed to make the rightdecision, god's decision and so
I called about 10 differentgodly people and I just
explained to them the situationhow do I need to lead as a
(18:12):
pastor with this?
And I listened to every singleone of them and no two people
said the same thing.
Right, but when we have godlycounselors, we're able to
discern God's voice in our life.
Because the Bible says yourealize this, the Holy Spirit is
your ultimate counselor andJesus is the great prophet and
he's the one that gives you alltruth by filling you with his
(18:36):
Holy Spirit, so that you knowwhat to do in every situation of
your life.
Because you have the HolySpirit, you have Jesus, you have
the word of God and you havethe Holy Spirit, you have Jesus,
you have the word of God andyou have godly brothers and
sisters around you to help you.
Can I get an amen?
So here's what I want you tosee Godly counsel requires godly
community.
Godly counsel requires godlycommunity.
(18:59):
You are not meant, you are notcreated to live your life alone.
You need godly men.
Men need godly men around them.
Godly women need godly womenaround them.
Because we live in a culturethat we are being inundated,
we're being bombarded with allof these different messages, all
(19:20):
of these different tips, allthese different life hacks, all
these different things and waysto live and to do, and you need
to know how it is that you'recalled to live as a godly woman,
as a godly man, in our cultureday.
That's why we do groups here.
That's why we have Sundayschool.
That's why we have small groups.
That's why we have Biblestudies.
That's why we have Wednesdaymorning women's studies.
(19:41):
That's why we have Wednesdaymorning women's studies.
That's why we have all of ourWednesday night groups.
That's why we have a marriagegroup starting this Wednesday.
If you need to grab your spouse,or maybe you're about to get
married, you grab them, or youare married, y'all.
Get in the marriage group thisWednesday so that you can be
surrounded by other couples thatare seeking to live for God too
.
That's why Pastor Buddy isstarting a sermon application
(20:05):
group, getting in and sayinglet's dig a little deeper and
how did God speak to you and howdo you apply this to your life?
That's why our ladies, ourwomen's ministry, is having
Mingle Monday tomorrow for allof our ladies at 6.30.
Ladies, come back to MingleMonday.
Men, keep the kids right.
Keep the kids, ladies, you come, and it is a time that we get
(20:29):
to just be in godly communitytogether, learning from one
another.
Number two, here we go.
Live with godly character.
Everyone say character,character.
Live with godly character,ladies.
Are you living from the godlessculture or are you living with
godly character in your life?
(20:50):
Verse six so Ruth went down tothe threshing floor and did just
as her mother-in-law hadcommanded her to do.
Verse seven and when Boaz hadeaten and drunk and his heart
was merry and he went to liedown at the end of the heap of
grain, then Ruth came in like aninja and softly, in stealth
(21:13):
mode, tiptoed and uncovered hisfeet and she laid down and her
heart was probably pounding.
This is not what you would doas a godly woman.
Back then.
She was a Moabite, he was anIsraelite, he was a mature
Christian, she was a brand newbeliever, he was a wealthy man,
she was a poor woman.
Women would not be, did notmake this kind of initiative
(21:38):
back then, and so.
But she did everything that hermother-in-law said to do, and
this is a very sketchy sceneBecause, again, this is what
women of the night would do withthese wealthy reapers.
So here we have Ruth and Boazand at midnight Boaz was
startled and he turned over andbehold a woman lay at his feet.
(22:01):
And the Bible added anexclamation point I just love
that.
A woman laid at his feet.
Some of you single men arethinking I wish a woman would
lay at my.
You know, I'd find a woman inthe middle of the night at my
feet.
Some of you single men thinkingthat better not ever happen to
me, because verse nine, we'llmove on.
And he said Boaz said who areyou?
She answered I'm Ruth, yourservant.
(22:21):
Spread your wings over yourservant, for you are a redeemer.
This is actually very beautifulRuth.
Here she's not proposing to Boaz, she's proposing that Boaz
would propose to her.
To be honest with you.
It's kind of like, ladies, whatdo you do when you like a man
and you think he likes you andmaybe you want him to ask you
(22:44):
out, but he's not asked you outand you know, obviously the
culture says well, you just askhim out.
Well, you want the man toinitiate, you want the man to
lead.
But one thing you can dobiblically is go and say hey,
I'm not asking you out, but Ijust want you to know, if you
ask me out, I'll go out, right.
Or maybe y'all been dating fora while and you're like man, I'm
(23:10):
just waiting on him to pop thequestion and maybe you just need
to remind him.
I'm not proposing.
I'm just proposing that youought to propose, because if you
propose, I'll say yes, right,this is what we see Ruth doing.
But Ruth says spread your wingsover your servant, for you are a
redeemer.
What is a redeemer?
Redeemer is a restorer.
Ultimately, what this ispointing us to, you to and me to
, is Jesus.
The Bible says in Ezekiel,chapter 16, verse 8, ezekiel 16,
8, god says that he spreads hisgarment over us.
(23:32):
In other words, god is saying Ilove you and I'm going to
protect you and I'm going toprovide for you and I'm going to
claim you as mine.
And what Ruth is saying thatBoaz should do is the same thing
.
It was very cultural back thenthat they would do this.
And she's saying Boaz, if youspread your wings over me, then
(23:53):
I will be up under yourleadership and I will gladly
submit to you.
In the same way that we'resaying God.
I gladly submit to you it'sthis beautiful picture of us as
men, men in the room.
We are called to be protectors,as we talked about last week.
We're called to be providers.
The Bible says in Ephesians,chapter five.
(24:13):
The Bible says to love yourwife like Jesus loves the church
.
Notice here that Ruth is sayingI want you to protect me as God
protects me.
And so that's what we're calledto do as husbands.
That's what we're called to doas dads.
That's who we're called to beas men and ladies, like I
(24:33):
encouraged you last week,encourage your man in his godly
character.
You want him to love Jesus morethan he loves you.
You want him to follow whatJesus says more than he follows
what you say.
It is his godly character, whatyou're supposed to be attracted
to him most.
And, ladies, your godlycharacter is what your husband,
(24:55):
your man, is to be attracted toyou most.
Verse 10,.
And he said Boaz said, may yoube blessed by the Lord, my
daughter, you have made thislast kindness greater than the
first, that you have not goneafter rich men, after young men,
whether poor or rich.
(25:17):
We see here they use the wordkindness.
That word in Hebrew is hesed,it's translated kindness, but it
actually means more than that.
It means kindness, it meanslove, it means loyalty, it means
submission, it means all ofthese beautiful things.
In other words, this is thetone that is supposed to be in
our home.
This is the tone that'ssupposed to be in our speech.
(25:40):
This is the tone that issupposed to be in our life.
This is the tone in which wetalk to one another as husbands
and wives.
This is the tone that issupposed to be in our life.
This is the tone in which wetalk to one another as husbands
and wives.
This is the tone that we'resupposed to use with one another
as parents and children.
This is the tone that we'resupposed to use with one another
in terms of brothers andsisters in Christ, and even the
way in which that we speak inand we speak to the world.
(26:02):
And there is something here thatBoaz is saying.
Boaz is somehow telling RuthRuth, you can have any man, and
we don't know how that is, ifshe was just very beautiful, or
if she was just so differentfrom all the other women, or she
was just out of town, we don'tknow but he's saying you could
have had any other younger man,a poor man, a rich man.
And Boaz is saying but youchose me.
(26:24):
What did Ruth see in Boaz, hisgodly character, his godliness?
Why?
Because there's somethingdifferent about a person that is
filled with the Holy Spirit ofGod.
That person loves differently.
That person loves differently.
(26:46):
That person leads differently.
That person has different goalsand relationships and different
goals in life.
It seems like because this wasduring the time of the judges,
it seems like that it may havebeen that Boaz was the only
godly man around and Ruth wasthe only godly woman around.
And we see here in verse 11,boaz says and now my daughter,
do not fear.
And we see here in verse 11,boaz says and now my daughter,
(27:06):
do not fear.
And men, that's our job.
Your job as a man is to loveyour wife and love your kids in
such of a way to work, in suchof a way to pursue Jesus, in
such of a way to pray, in suchof a way to speak to them, in
such of a way to protect them,in such of a way to pray, in
such of a way to speak to them,in such of a way to protect them
(27:27):
, in such of a way to providefor them in such of a way that
they should have no fear in life.
We absorb the fear as men sothat our wife and our children
feel safe.
Can I get an amen?
He said.
And now my daughter don't fear,I will do for you all that you
ask for.
All my fellow townsmen knowthat you are a worthy woman.
(27:48):
Everyone say worthy.
As a reminder from last week,the word worthy is the Hebrew
word is gabor.
Gabor means that she's a womanof character.
If you remember with Boaz lastweek, it means wealth and
position and status.
But Ruth didn't have that, eventhough the Bible uses this word
for her.
In other words, wealth andposition and status isn't just
(28:12):
physical, it is most importantlyspiritual.
Spiritually she was wealthy.
Spiritually she has this highposition of being seated with
Christ in the heavenly.
Spiritually she has the statusbefore God and so, just like he
is a worthy man of character,she is a worthy woman of
character.
Proverbs 31, verse 30, talksabout women, ladies.
(28:36):
Charm is deceitful, beauty isvain, but a woman who fears the
Lord is to be praised.
That's why we see in verse 12,and now it is true, boaz says I
am a redeemer, but there is aredeemer nearer than me.
We see this.
Now they have this problem thatcomes up in their relationship
(28:58):
that they weren't expecting.
Like every relationship, likeevery family, like every life, a
mess pops up and now they don'tknow what to do.
Boaz is saying I am a redeemer,I am legally, lawfully able to
marry you, to become yourhusband, for you to be my wife,
but the problem is that there isanother man in this culture, in
(29:18):
this law, who is legally,lawfully able to marry you
before me.
In other words, he's got dibs.
And so Boaz is saying there isanother redeemer than I.
What is God trying to teach youin this passage?
I believe what God is teachingus in this passage is aren't you
thankful that there is no otherredeemer nearer than Jesus in
(29:41):
your life?
Can I get an amen that Jesus isyour only redeemer?
Because Jesus is your onlyredeemer, because Jesus is the
only redeemer, as the worldbelieves in all of these
different gods and all of thesedifferent deities and all of
these different religions, butyet we know the one true, only
living God is a God who isloving, is a God who's gracious,
is a God who's merciful, is aGod who is saving, is a God who
(30:04):
is for you and is a God whowants gracious, is a God who's
merciful, is a God who is saving, is a God who is for you and is
a God who wants to bless youeven in the middle of all of
your messes.
If you believe that, Say yeah,we believe that.
And he is not only the onlyredeemer, but he is near you and
he promised to be with you inyour life.
And the more time you spendwith him and the more time you
(30:26):
spend with him, the more timeyou spend with Jesus, the more
you grow in your godly character.
One of you sent me anillustration this week and I
loved it.
The illustration is if you arewalking around with a cup of
coffee, someone bumps into youand you spill the coffee.
The question is why did youspill coffee Not?
And they said the answer is notbecause someone bumped into you
and you spill the coffee.
The question is why did youspill coffee Not?
And they said the answer is notbecause someone bumped into you
(30:49):
.
The reason you spilled coffeeis because there was coffee in
your cup.
If there was tea in your cup,you would have spilt Very good
class.
If there was Coke in your cup,you would have spilt Exactly,
you would have spilt Coke.
The question is, when you get,get bumped, when you get rattled
in life, what comes out of you?
What comes out of you is whatwas in you.
(31:12):
So if what comes out of you isjoy, what comes out of you is
thankfulness, what comes out ofyou is peace, what comes out of
you is hope, what comes out ofyou is faith.
Right, that that's our godlycharacter within us.
But if we see what comes out ofus when we get rattled is that
godless culture, then we knowthat we need to continue to be
(31:33):
growing in our godly character,because it is that godly
character that we are called tobe living in.
And just a reminder godlycharacter requires godly counsel
.
In other words, get in the wordof God and let the Holy Spirit
counsel you.
(31:53):
Get in prayer and allow God tospeak to you, even in your
prayer.
Get in one of these groups thatwe have offered.
We don't just do groups becausewe're a church.
We do groups because the Bibletells us to.
We do groups because it's goodfor you, right, and so you get
into a group and you see how Godwants to grow you spiritually
in your life and your godlycharacter.
(32:14):
And number three, and I'm donewait with godly patience.
Everyone say patience.
You know they always say don'tpray for patience because God
will take you through something,that you'll have to get it
right.
But what if we prayed forpatience in terms of God, fill
me with your Holy Spirit andhelp me to be more patient as
I'm waiting for you to work outyour will in my life, because
(32:37):
that's what Ruth had to do.
Now Ruth has fallen in lovewith Boaz, boaz has fallen in
love with Ruth, but yet there'sanother man in the picture that
Boaz has got to go and deal with.
Look at verse 14.
So, ruth, as we're talkingabout waiting and godly patience
, ruth laid at his feet untilthe morning.
Can we first of all just seethe godly patience they had here
(33:00):
sexually?
Do we notice here that theywere laying together and she
stayed at his feet all night andthey did not get mixed up in
sexual promiscuity, but theymade sure that they were
faithful to sexual purity.
This is the godly character asthey are in this godly culture,
(33:22):
as all their godly culture wouldtell them, it's okay to be
sexual before you're married.
No, they were different.
They said we are going to liveour lives in purity.
So Ruth arose before one couldrecognize another and Boaz told
his reapers do not let it beknown that the woman came to the
threshing floor.
In other words, he's sayingprotect her reputation, I don't
(33:44):
want anyone to get the wrongidea, because she is a worthy
woman.
Verse 15.
And Boaz said bring the garment, ruth, that you are wearing,
and hold it out.
So Ruth held out the garmentand Boaz measured six measures
of barley and put it on her.
And then she went back to Naomiin the city.
In other words, boaz gave Ruth60 pounds of barley.
(34:07):
Ruth did crossfit you know whatI'm saying Like she was able to
carry 60 pounds of barley.
This would have fed her andNaomi for a month.
This was worth $2,400.
And you thought your grocerybill was high.
This is crazy, right.
And there they are in verse 15.
And she goes back to Naomi, andI love this.
This is crazy, right.
And there they are in verse 15.
And she goes back to Naomi, andI love this.
This is so awesome.
And when she came to hermother-in-law, naomi, she walks
(34:30):
in the door.
Naomi's been staying up allnight.
She gave Ruth the terriblecounsel.
Ruth did it.
She came back.
Now Naomi can't wait to hearwhat happened.
Ruth walks in the door.
Naomi says I've already put apot of coffee on.
You're gonna sit down, girl,and you can tell me everything.
How did you fare, my daughter?
Then Ruth told her everythingthat the man had done not to her
(34:52):
.
Ruth told her everything thatthe man had done for her Men.
That's why we're here, that'swhy we exist.
We're not here to do things topeople, we're here to do things
for people.
Jesus has called us to beprotectors.
Jesus has called us to beproviders, just like him, saying
these six measures of barley hegave to me.
(35:15):
For he said to me you must notgo back empty-handed to your
mother-in-law.
You know, one thing that welearn here from this passage is
guys, if you're going out with agirl and you really like her,
make sure and buy dessert at theend and tell her to take the
dessert home to your mom.
Right, if you really like her,because you want mom to like you
too.
Right, because you're not justmarrying the girl, you're
marrying the family.
But also here's what I want youto see spiritually when Naomi
(35:40):
in Ruth one was coming back fromMoab, naomi said don't call me
Naomi, call me Mara, call mebitter, because I'm coming back
empty handed.
And look at how God is workingin Naomi's life and he is
filling her hands again.
You must not go back emptyhanded to your mother-in-law and
(36:02):
that's what God brought youhere this morning to hear the
mess in your life that you aregoing through, all that you are
dealing with in your family, allthat you're dealing with in
your relationships, all thatyou're dealing with in your life
, and you feel so empty.
I want you to see that Jesus isyour redeemer and Jesus is
working to fill your soul.
(36:24):
He's working to fill your heart.
He's working to fill your hands.
It says in verse 18,.
Naomi said wait, my daughter,until you learn how the matter
turns out, for the man will notrest, but he will settle the
matter today.
This is absolutely incredible.
(36:46):
Naomi told Ruth to wait.
Wait does not mean to twiddleyour thumbs, to tap your foot,
to check your watch.
Hebrew wait means to sit, todwell, to abide, to continue.
In other words, while you arewaiting for God to work out that
(37:08):
mess in your life, right now,what are you called to do?
You are called to worship whileyou wait.
You're called to be in the wordof God and spend time with him
while you wait and here's whathe says because the man will not
rest until he settles thematter.
Today, in other words, boaz isgoing to work it out he is her
(37:28):
redeemer and Jesus is going towork it out in your life.
In the first service we sang waymaker.
It was that reminder that, eventhough you don't see it, he's
working, even though you don'tfeel it, he's working.
You don't see it, he's working,even though you don't feel it,
he's working.
He never stops.
He never stops working.
Godly patience requires godlycharacter.
(37:49):
I want you to see this.
God is always doing 10,000things in your life and you may
be aware of three of them.
Life is often a roller coasterand we tend to remember the
downs and we tend to forget theups of what God's doing.
I told you just this past weeka little mess that my family's
(38:11):
going in, that just a week ortwo ago I went to the doctor and
they found a little spot skinon my back and it ended up being
cancerous melanoma.
And I'm going in.
It's a zero out of four.
We're thankful for that.
Going in tomorrow, going tohave my surgery and, lord
willing, just get it all cut outand everything.
And so we've just been reallyprocessing and praying and like
(38:34):
God, what are you doing, whatdoes this mean, what's the
result going to be and all ofthose type things, right.
And so we've just been kind ofreeling over it.
This past Monday, as life's arollercoaster, my wife invites
me to lunch and so I go to lunchwith Michelle.
She hands me a little gift bagand she says here you told wives
this past Sunday to encouragehusbands and so I just wanna
(38:57):
encourage you.
So I open up the gift bag andit's a card and I pull out the
tissue paper and down at thebottom was a positive pregnancy
test.
We are having our fourth baby.
We're just, we're just, we'reblown away.
We're blown away.
We're so thankful.
You might say this will be ourfourth kid.
You know.
You might say, man, pastorship,you love kids.
(39:18):
No, I just love my wife rightNow.
We know what causes these thingsand had a lady in her 80s in
the first service.
A lady in her 80s.
She came up to me after theservice.
She said do we need to put a TVin y'all's bedroom.
I loved.
I thought that was awesome.
I thought that was awesome, buthere's the point.
Here's the point.
(39:39):
We've been married 11 years.
Our first nine years were nineyears of infertility and we'll
never forget all the struggle.
We'll never forget all thedoubt.
We'll never forget all the pain.
We'll never forget all thequestions and all the confusion.
And in that journey ofinfertility, god had to bring us
(40:04):
to a point to say, if he doesnot bless us with children, he
is still good and he is enough.
Because often, when we talkabout God blessing our life and
blessing our mess, we want Godto do something specific.
(40:26):
Here's what God is telling youtoday he's your greatest
blessing.
He wants to bless you in yourmess so you can see his
greatness and his glory in yourlife, no matter what you're
going through, that he is withyou and there is nothing better
(40:47):
that you can experience in yourlife.
With every head bowed and everyeye closed, no one looking
around.
Maybe you're here this morningand maybe God's just speaking to
you in your heart and God'sworking in you and you just need
to be reminded of that, thatyou are going through a mess
right now and you need to bereminded that Jesus is your
(41:08):
redeemer, he is your restorer,he is working it all out for
your good and for his glory andhe is working in the background.
And maybe you just need to bereal and be honest with him
right now.
Jesus, help me to see you as mygreatest blessing, and maybe
(41:32):
you're here this morning andyou've never given your life to
him and you want him in yourlife to forgive you of your sins
, to save you so that you can bewith him forever in heaven.
And right here, right now, Iwanna help you with that.
You can give your life to him,and the Bible says that he will
take you and he will never leaveyou and he will never forsake
(41:55):
you and he will never disown you.
Right here, right now, you canpray to him in your own words,
in your own heart.
He can hear you.
And you can pray to him in yourown words, in your own heart.
He can hear you.
And you can just say dear Jesus, I believe in you and, jesus, I
need you.
And you can say Jesus, Ibelieve that you died on the
cross for my sins and I'm askingyou to forgive me of all my sin
(42:15):
.
And you can tell him dear Jesus, I believe that you rose from
the dead, you're alive, you'rereal, and I wanna turn from my
sin and I wanna follow you.
I can't do it perfectly, butI'm just gonna follow you for
all of my life.
And the Bible says that if youcall on the name of the Lord,
you will be saved.
(42:35):
Call on Jesus right now and sayJesus, be my Lord, be my savior
, be my God, be my redeemer.
And, jesus, we thank you forthat truth of salvation.
We love you and we pray thesethings in Jesus' name.
And all God's people said wouldyou put your hands together for
anybody that gave their life toJesus?
We are so thankful.
We just wanna say welcome tothe family.
(42:55):
There is no greater decision inyour life.
In fact, we've got a decisioncard there at every seat.
Our next step card in your life.
In fact, we've got a decisioncard there at every seat.
Our next step card.
Maybe you received Jesus today.
Just check that box on there.
Maybe you need to get baptized,like Amber and Linda this
morning.
Maybe you need to join a group,like we've talked about.
You can indicate that on thecard.
You can turn the card into me,pastor James, or our next step
(43:17):
stations out there.
But right now I want to askPastor James just to come on out
.
I want to pray one more timeand let's ask God just to bless
all this.
Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, lord, you are so good.
God, we give you all the glory.
And God, we just pray, lord, aswe are going through difficult
seasons in life and trials inlife and sufferings in life and
(43:37):
confusion in life, and God whereit looks like that we're just
standing still or goingbackwards, god, may we continue
to remember and learn from yourword, lord, that you are working
among us, in our midst, in ourbackground.
You're working it all out.
God, for your glory and ourgood Lord, we thank you for
(44:00):
blessing us even in the midst ofthe messiness of life.
In Jesus' name, in all God'speople said
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.