COVID Hope

Let's pray. exalted, we will find ourselves looking to him. So grant us understanding and grant us the ability to see where we can line up, where we must line up our lives to your word. Thank you now in Jesus' name. Amen. where were you when the governor began to shut everything down i remember i was we were sitting at levi's with a bunch of our family on a sunday afternoon when word arrived that the governor was shutting down all the bars and restaurants that night if i recall correctly and frankly from that point on nothing has remained the same here we are now eight months into this pandemic, life has become incredibly inconvenient.

You have to think about masks, mandates, and proper distancing all the time. You don't have any idea about what's going to happen next. In the months to come, in the week, in the ensuing week, you don't even know how your plans are going to change today, on that day, because your little girl may come home with a fever and a sore throat and you've got to stay at home for the next two weeks.

Our nice comfortable life has been upended. It feels like everything that you counted on has changed forever. At least that's the way it feels. And you just don't feel right anymore. An unsettled feeling plagues you. A sort of low-grade anxiety that appears every morning when you get out of bed.

Fear hangs in the atmosphere News reports that it surging here The virus is surging there Stories about painful deaths associated with this virus The probability that this winter the pandemic will take off again and we see huge surges Despair nibbles around the edges of your thinking You feel a sense of hopelessness overtaking you and like a tire with a slow leak, you feel a little bit more discouraged every day. You have a real feeling of oppression, because it seems to you that those in authority are keeping you from doing the things that you want to do. need I mention anger as people grumble and complain and get crabby and just explode over all the rules regulations and mandates that we're supposed to know and follow whatever you feel you sense that you're losing hope the world is gray you have a hard time enjoying life and it's hard to get motivated wouldn't you admit that that's the way it's been now for a while would you admit that that's what's kind of taking place in your life too so what can give us hope all of us here this morning and all of you watching and listening have this unsettled feeling whatever it is in different manifestations we all have this kind of anxious maybe angry maybe hopeless, just this unsettled feeling about us all the time. Listen, those feelings should alert us to the fact that we need to learn or relearn certain truths that we've always known have been true.

Now this morning we're going to look at a bunch of familiar passages. None of them are going to be new to you. We've known these passages our entire Christian life, but God has brought us to the place where we can know them differently. I was talking to a very pregnant woman the other day and she was saying to me, I cannot wait for this baby to come out to get here.

And my response was, yeah, I know how that is. We've had six kids. And then it dawned on me, I don't know it like she knows it. Right? Yeah, I know what you're talking about. We had six kids.

But she knows that feeling in an entirely different way than I do. And that's what I want to talk to you about today. We need to know these truths experientially. We've talked about these truths for years, and now this incredible thing has invaded our... Not only that folks come on You know everything happening Wildfires out west I guessing but my guess is that many of you may be a bit discouraged about the election the other day And all kinds of things are going on.

And we're just unsettled is the broadest term I can think of. and we need to start knowing some truths experientially that we've known for years, but we really need to start thinking about these seriously. It's always amazed me, not just as a pastor, but even in my own life, that we know the Bible, we can go to the Bible in all different places, but does it affect us? We hear it on Sunday and then the rest of the week we don't give it another thought.

It's time that we learn some of these things and maybe the Lord is bringing us, Well, I know the Lord is bringing us through this in order for us to learn these truths. But the point is this. How will you find hope in these unsettled times? How will you find hope? That's what we want to talk about. Finding hope in these unsettled times.

You will find hope by reminding yourselves of who God is. There's the first point. You will find hope by reminding yourselves of who God is. Now, in this group here, I'm pretty confident that we would all assert we all know that God is sovereign. This pandemic, all the mandates, the closed economy, everything else that's come about because of it, All the stuff connected to it arrived according to God's predetermined plan.

He had planned this from before the foundation of the world that all this was going to happen. Job himself, faced with tragedy beyond our imagination, had a conversation with his wife. His wife said, do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. How's that for advice in hard times? And Job replied, you speak as one of the foolish women would speak.

Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil or disaster or tragedy? Shall we receive good from God and not tragedy? Right He knew God was sovereign He knew God Job clearly believed in God sovereignty And listen to me though The bare assertion of God sovereignty does not necessarily give us hope That doesn necessarily give us hope I remember going to the calling hours to see a friend of mine he was a dad who had lost his 8 year old son to drowning and the calling hours was for that son but I knew the boy's dad and as I'm going in a mutual friend of ours was coming out and he said to me well I reminded Bill that God is sovereign although what he said was true I don't know if that ministered comfort I don't know if it gave much hope to our friend we all know we all know now we cannot visit or stay with loved ones in the hospital we know that we can't be near loved ones for weeks if they have a sore throat and a fever We know that husbands have been left alone to die in hospital rooms.

And we know that all of this is because of the sovereign purposes of God. We know all that. God is a sovereign ruler, but is he a king sitting on his throne using his power to play with us? are we nothing more than pawns in this great cosmic game that God is playing? He's sovereign after all, isn't he? If we just say God is sovereign, that's true, but it may not give us hope.

But that's not the case because God is more than a sovereign. Your God is your Father. Right? He's not just a king sitting on a throne playing his great cosmic games. He is your Father. Look at Romans 8 for a moment.

Romans 8 verses 15 through 17. Again, some of you are saying, oh I know where you're going. this before. Okay, well then let's learn it. Let's know it at a different level now. We're in a time when we need to learn these things. Romans 8, 15 through 17.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him here in the context of suffering and trial and that's what's going on in Romans 8 creation is groaning and you can look around to us it looks like creation is is right now under so much pressure it's screaming It's yelling. Right?

Creation is groaning. We're suffering in this world. But what do we need to understand? Here in the context of suffering and trial, God tells us he is our father. By the spirit of adoption in us, the spirit that makes us God's children, we cry, Abba, Father. Now listen to me.

And I remember, and some of you are going to remember this, because I preached through the book of Romans, I think around the year 2000 is when it was. And I remember as I studied through the book of Romans, coming to this discovery and being blown away by it. When it says that by that spirit of God, we, by whom, by that spirit, we cry, that word cry should be scream.

We scream, Abba Father. Paul is drawing a picture for us of a child in trouble that he screams out immediately and naturally for his dad. That's the point. How does the Spirit witness with our spirit that we're the children of God? Because when you're in trouble, you naturally and immediately just cry out to God and call him Father, right? That's what he's saying here.

That's the assurance that we have by the Spirit. This is our natural reaction in suffering. We automatically turn and cry out Dad Right I was speaking Every once in a while I get in the system. I get in a hospital or a nursing home. And I was with Rodney Armstrong a couple of weeks ago. And he described for me a morning when he woke up.

He had no idea where he was. He had no idea why he was there. it was total confusion for him. He just could not figure out where he was. And he was just telling me this, and he says, and I just said, oh, Father, where am I? What am I doing here? God, Father, what's going on?

That's what he's talking about here. Here's a guy who has no idea where he is. He's on the verge of not even knowing who he is. And what's his first reaction? he just starts calling out to God so you need to see not only that God is sovereign what you need to grasp is that your father is sovereign he's not an impersonal distant deity playing his major big chess game and you're merely a pawn he is your father who's sovereign it's your dad who's sitting on the throne You get it?

In all his rule over the entire universe, he will never do anything to harm you. Because he loves you. And everything that comes your way, even this pandemic, comes from the loving hand of your father. The one who moves planets and people according to his plan in providence is your dad. that's what you need to know about God. Not that he's sovereign, but that your father is sovereign.

The one who would never do anything. Just grasp that for a moment. I mean, this is something that blows my mind. This sovereign who moves planets and people and nations and tears leaders up and puts leaders, tears leaders down and puts leaders up, who does all these things would never move the pieces of the game without harming you He will never harm you in what he doing He is sovereign and he moving all things for his glory and your good He'll never do anything to harm you.

You see, he loves you. You will find hope in these days by recalling that your father rules. your God is good never lose sight of that your Father is good A.W. Tozer in his book Knowledge of the Holy and if you don't have that book, buy it or get the PDF for free off the internet print it out, read it it's one of the best books ever written on the attributes of God and A.W.

Tozer wrote this in his book Knowledge of the Holy Write it down. Knowledge of the Holy. Get it. Read it. In his book, Knowledge of the Holy, he writes, The goodness of God is that which disposes him to be kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of goodwill toward men. He is tenderhearted and of quick sympathy.

And his unfailing attitude toward all mortal beings is open, frank, and friendly. by his nature he is inclined to bestow blessedness and he takes holy pleasure in the happiness of his people god is good to all men he is kind cordial benevolent full of goodwill tender-hearted and sympathetic to all men now for those of us who are reformed in our theology and we're very strong about the holiness of God. We forget that God is good to all men. Not only does he say, you're under my judgment, unless you believe in Jesus, but he's always good.

Do not your unbelieving friends have grandchildren that they enjoy? And your unbelieving friends show you the pictures of their grandchildren and tell you how much fun they had with them. That's God's tenderhearted goodness towards them. Right? he's given them jobs he's given them families he's given them all kinds of things in this world to enjoy god is good to all men all the time he tender can you believe god being sympathetic to an unbeliever He is Just look at Jesus right Look at those people following Him.

This is the one, Matthew 9. All these people are following Him. They're just following Him because they're users. Right? Feed us. Heal my mom.

Get rid of my leprosy. you're a good guy I know you're here for a purpose but would you just please heal my mom they're users and the Bible describes Jesus looking at all this multitude of people who are following him most of who don't care a thing about his plan and it says he looks on them he looked on them and had compassion on them as sheep without a shepherd you see God is good to all men all the time. Paul said that to some pagans in Acts chapter 14. They'd come into town, turn there, they'd come into town and done a miracle, and boy, they thought, these are a couple of the gods.

If I remember, Zeus and Mercury or something like that. Hermes, Zeus and Hermes. And Paul's about going crazy saying, we're just men. Stop. Don't sacrifice to us. We are not gods.

And then he says to this people, in verse 15, Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of like nature with you, and we bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations, he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.

Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. That's how God operates. He's good to all these men. God is kind and benevolent and tenderhearted to all men. He does good to them at every turn. Don't you just love that?

Man, stop worshiping these gods. The true and the living God gave you these things for you to enjoy. They're all gifts from him. But you know what? God is especially good to his own people. I can be good to you all.

I can love all the kids in this congregation. But there are some kids that maybe... I love differently, right? I love them a little differently than all the other kids. Well, that's the way God is with us. The psalmist says in Psalm 84, For the Lord God is a sun and shield.

The Lord bestows favor and honor. No, listen, no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you. hear that he's not going to withhold any good thing from his people god will never withhold any good from you for those who have entrusted themselves to his son the lord jesus christ you belong to him now he'll never withhold any good from you god is good all the time even good in this pandemic now we could go on we could talk about his mercy.

We could talk about his love. We could talk about his infinite wisdom, all of which would help us. If we talked about his wisdom, we could say this. God is infinitely wise. He not only knows the good he wants to accomplish, he knows the best way of getting there. And what's the best way of getting there?

With what we're experiencing right now. See, we could talk about all of these things about God. Now, you, everything I've said, you've heard before. You know all these things, but it's time to know them. It's time to know them. How will you find hope in these unsettled times?

By reminding yourself of who God is. You'll find hope by reminding yourself of God's purposes. you'll find hope by reminding yourself of God's purposes. Now you can handle just about anything. You know this. You can handle just about anything if you know there's a purpose in it. You will toil every day.

You will go to work every day and do things that you hate. Why would you do that? Because there's a purpose in it. What is it? Money. I get paid.

I can handle it. As long as you've got the money, I'll do it. I mean, that's the way it is, right? If they just said well maybe we donate some money to you you say I not going to work today There no maybe about it There a purpose in it It you get something for it You suffer through years of school Even though you don't care for school, you suffer through years of school because there's a purpose to all those classes.

And that is a diploma or a degree that hopefully will open up opportunities for you. You'll endure the pain of a knee replacement because you know the purpose. The ability to walk again without pain. Right? When you know there's a purpose, you can handle it. So it is with this pandemic.

God has brought this trial into our lives to achieve certain purposes. And if we know what those purposes are, we can have hope. What are those purposes? I'll give you three. Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12 start reading in verse 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons and have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons my son do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord nor be weary when reproved by him for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we've had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the father of spirits and live?

For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them but he that is God our father but our father disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it your father intends to produce a holy people by this pandemic your father intends to produce a holy people by this pandemic any trial or suffering that comes your way is supposed to produce holiness it supposed to do that any trial that comes your way Now this text listen to me carefully because I think this is what most people miss This text does not say that whenever something difficult occurs in your life it because you sinned and God is now taking you and giving you a spanking So that if life is going good that means you must not be sinning and God must not be disciplining you as much That not what he saying This asserts that whenever you face suffering, it's God intends to make it, use it to make you holy. Now, you need to know about these folks. This whole thing about, this whole text here about God bringing hardship to discipline us, it starts way back in chapter 10, verse 32.

And there he describes people who are being slandered. He describes people who are being publicly ridiculed. he describes people being thrown in jail he describes people who are even losing their property why because they were following Jesus they were doing what's right they were suffering because they were doing what's right and so what he's saying here is listen don't get discouraged when things go bad this is God disciplining you this is the way he brings about holiness in your life you're not taking it to woodshed to spank you he's bringing discipline through this hardship that you share in His holiness. And notice this, verses 5-7.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves. He chastises every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons.

When you go through suffering, that is God sending you a note that says, I love you. Is that the way you normally think? When we're going through suffering, we too often say, God, where are you? What's going on here? That is God saying to you, I love you. Wait a minute.

The fact that my property is being confiscated is a sign from God that he loves me? Yes. That's exactly what it means. Boy, let that sink in, right? doesn that go against the natural way we think this is god saying i love you but listen god being a loving and good father has introduced this disease into the population of the world for the good of his people that they may share in his holiness.

That's why it's here. We have that purpose in our heads. He's here to make the holy people, right? Have the inconveniences of this virus caused you to grumble against your leaders or to pray for them? Whether they're your governmental leaders or your spiritual leaders who are also making decisions, has this stuff caused you, you're getting angry? Shouldn't it cause you to pray for them?

Shouldn't it move you to holiness? has anger or despair or anxiety appeared in your life let me ask you then do you just stew in those emotions or does it does this happen wow I didn't know this stuff was in my life this pandemic has exposed my heart I need to grow is that what's happening or do you just say man I wouldn't be anxious if this wasn't around. No. You say, man, I'm anxious.

Oh, God, help me to trust you more. You're showing me where I need to trust you more. For those who are what? Trained by it. There's the peaceful fruit of righteousness, you see. Trained by it.

You know. Maybe you find the fear of death by this virus haunting you. Maybe you're scared of dying. Does that cause you to look more to Jesus, your Savior and guarantee? Or is it causing you to look at yourself and to start saying, am I good enough? Listen, let's just get over that.

You're not good enough for heaven. You never will be, even as a Christian. But it's not about your merits. It's about Jesus. and so if you're finding the fear of death coming to the surface it's telling you i don't know jesus enough you see it should drive you to holiness and righteousness the virus arrived from china so that you would get into god's training program that produces holiness righteousness and peace that's why it's here to produce a holy people.

Your father intends to use this. Here's another purpose. Your father intends to use this pandemic to produce a hopeful people. To produce a hopeful people. Turn back to Romans 5. Again, you know what?

None of these passages are new, are they? Listen to Romans 5, 1 through 4. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope.

You see what he says? Paul asserts here that because of Jesus we've been justified. We have embraced Jesus by faith. We've been justified. God declares us perfect before the law because of what Jesus did. And because we've been justified, we now have right standing before God.

We've entered into a realm of grace where God never treats you according to your goodness or how well you've done. He treats you completely by grace. By what Jesus did for you. and in the realm of grace suffering takes on a new character. You look at suffering differently. Not only this but we rejoice in our sufferings. I mean, you know, red line that baby.

We rejoice in our sufferings. How many of you have been rejoicing through this whole thing? Right? We rejoice in our sufferings not because they're good not because they're comfortable because we know what it does. What does it do? You know that affliction produces endurance, a stick-to-itiveness, a perseverance.

Rather than succumbing to bitterness, doubt, or resentment, you endure, you stay, you don't give up. And in the realm of grace, you know that that endurance then produces character, proven character, character that's genuine, character that's authentic. It changes you. That endurance then changes you through the hardship. It isn't wasted sorrow then. Finally that character produces hope or confidence That increased confidence that you belong to God instead of being listen instead of long despair or red anger unbelievers should see the serene face of hope and confidence through all of this.

God intends to produce people of hope at the end of the whole process. I call this the golden chain. How do we get to be people of hope? Here's how. you go through hard times and you keep and you keep believing and then that changes you you begin to change and that produces hope in you what do your friends see in you during this pandemic are they seeing hope or something else god's purpose is to produce a hopeful people here's the third purpose i want to mention the father intends through this pandemic to produce a mature people james one you knew we were going there didn't you you know we were going to james one the classic passage james one verse two count it all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing you will most certainly meet hardships in this fallen world.

When you become a Christian, you're not putting a great big spiritual plastic bubble so that the normal tragedies of life don't touch you. I can tell you right now that that's not true. As I look at this congregation, there are a number that aren't here, not because of COVID, but because of other things. There are a lot of folks in our congregation are suffering right now, and they're suffering the normal things that human beings do, living in a fallen world.

You're going to meet those kinds of hardships. What's going to happen? Those inevitable hardships are intended by God to test your faith. To say, are you going to keep depending on God? Will this produce a steadfast faith? Do you continue to believe that your Father is in control?

Will you continue to believe that God is good and that He's not a distant sovereign but a loving Father? Are you willing to wait by faith until the darkness becomes light? And if you continue believing, trusting your Father, you end up as mature, not lacking in anything. At the end of this pandemic as a Christian you should be more equipped to handle life than you were before you entered this whole thing You have a stronger faith and greater wisdom You're better equipped to understand this world and live in it in a way that glorifies God.

So, do you find yourself maturing, or are you complaining, lashing out, and maybe even folding up? What's happening? God intends to produce maturity in you through all the inconveniences of this even through the tyranny of the authorities if that's what your view is of what's going on if you're out there, you're listening out there and watching this on your television or you sitting here, if you think that this is about the tyranny of our government then you ought to be saying the tyranny of this government is intended to produce a mature person stop shouting about tyranny and start looking at yourself and seeing whether you're becoming more mature stop complaining about the inconveniences and start looking at yourself and saying am I enduring this so that I'm becoming mature that's what you need to be doing you always know that God, you've always known that God wants to make you holy, hopeful, and mature.

You've known all those things. I've told you things you've heard before. But now's the time to know it. Now's the time that we start to know it. So you'll find hope by reminding yourself of God's purposes. Now I'm just going to give you one more.

Alright? I originally had four. But I will just go with three. you will find hope by reminding yourselves of the nature of this age. Reminding yourselves of the nature of this age. How many here have ever heard of Joel Osteen? Anybody here?

Come on, put your hands up if you've heard of Joel Osteen. Okay, Joel Osteen is what we call a prosperity preacher. He's one that says, trust God, believe in Jesus, and he'll make you rich. I'm not talking about spiritual. He's talking about material riches. Right?

The gospel serves you by opening up the way to greater riches. And his tagline is this Your best life now Right Your best life now Of course all of us good solid Bible Reformed Christians get all over this guy about his perversion of the Gospel and him promoting a wrong worldview. But here's the problem. We live our lives like Olsteen, your best life now.

We get all over Joel about it, but we live like it. We know what to say, but we live like it. The restrictions that followed the spread of this virus has crippled our economy. It has upset our easy, comfortable, middle-class life. The world has come to an end. Right?

Money is scarce. We have to wear masks. We can't even go out to eat in our favorite places anymore. Our football games, even seasons, have been canceled. We act as if life in this present age is your best life now. That's the way we live.

We may decry it, but we live like we believe Joel Osteen. and if you're going to upset my life it's going to produce anger and anxiety because I may say it's wrong but I'm acting as if your best life now I'm living that way listen God clearly tells you that your best life is later not now later did you hear that from revelation 21 today you know I think when you start getting 50 and above you start thinking about those passages a whole lot more there's coming a day when there's no more crying death mourning. Can you think about that? Can you believe a life where no one will ever hurt you?

Where no one will ever insult you? Where you won't even feel like insulting somebody? And where everything operates the way it's supposed to, the way God always intended it. That just sounds so good. But it's not now. It's not now. promised eternal joy, free from sin and its curse, when we inhabit a glorious new earth.

You know, the Hebrews, to whom the writer of Hebrews was addressed, knew about losing what seemed precious. They were finding out the hard way that your best life now is a lie. They were finding out that the hard way. This is what the writer says to them in Hebrews 10. But recall the former days when after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.

For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one? How is it that they handled even the confiscation of their property? Because they knew God had for them a life where they had better possession and an abiding one. This pandemic may cause the loss of your comfortable lifestyle. and listen, let's face it, it may never be the same again.

Let's face it right now. It may never be the same but that is no reason to lose hope Look to eternity when you have better and lasting possessions and the chief of those possessions being the Lord Jesus himself Can you imagine walking in the new earth, and maybe one day you get to walk with Jesus for a couple of hours? I'm not talking about sitting on a cloud strumming a harp.

I hate those kind of images. we're going to be on a new earth doing the things that human beings do walking, talking, creating doing all kinds of things but with no sin and being with Jesus that's what's waiting for us refuse to think my best life is gone for good and instead think life in this pandemic with all its losses is but light and momentary. Something better, something glorious, something eternal is yet mine to possess. That's how you need to be thinking.

Suffering reminds us that the world does not keep its promises. The curse keeps us or should keep us from loving the world too much. The pandemic should cause you to be dissatisfied with this world and anticipate eternity. instead of this pandemic causing you to say my best life is gone it ought to cause you to anticipate the better life that yet to come and you ought to be thinking about that you have to anchor your mind in that now you always known that glory awaits you but now you have the real opportunity to know it Do you want hope?

Then you remind yourself of the fleeting nature of this age and the glory yet to come. So, it's time to get out of this funk, this hopelessness, anxiety, and anger. That can happen as you remind yourself of the character of God, the purposes of God, and the better glory that God promises. You can have hope as you remind yourself of those things. We need to distinguish ourselves as God's people in this hopeless, anxious, angry world.

Our Father will make sure of that. Now, you may say this morning, Wow, am I ever convicted. What a failure. Thank you, Pastor Tim. Well, let's remember this. Don't lose hope. you have a Savior who walked the same path without sin and who sympathizes with you with the hardship that you experiencing He sympathizes with you And you have a Savior who walked to the cross So as you sitting there saying Man I feel like a failure You can know this.

Jesus died for that failure. You can also know this. Jesus died to free you from the tyranny of your sins so that you can start living this way. And so the answer isn't to wallow in your conviction this morning. The answer is to say, Jesus, you paid for my failures through all this whole pandemic. I can trust you for that.

And what you can do now is you have the right to forget all about your failure and to pick yourself up and start going. Don't wallow in it. Don't think about it. Jesus has taken care of that. Get busy. Stop thinking about it.

Don't think about your failure. Think about God help me now. All right? This is how God wants us to live. We need to look to him. We need to be different.

It's time the world saw different people. Thank you, Father, for your word. Would you help us now, Lord, as we leave here, when we leave here, to think about these things. Remind us again, as you will in just a few minutes, that Jesus died for our failures. and that we can walk with confidence as we look to you for grace. Help us, we pray, in Jesus' name.

Amen.