2024-06-09 - Getting To Know Jesus

[00:00:00] Good morning, everyone. [00:00:05] I don't want to forget this. Children, ages three to five, you're invited to go back for your time of learning about Jesus. [00:00:15] And so we invite you to go. [00:00:19] The rest of us will be looking today at John, chapter six, verses 22 through 40. [00:00:30] John 622 40. [00:00:34] I think you enjoy the message today. It's a wonderful passage because we learn more about Jesus and it's entitled getting to know Jesus because that was the need of the day. During that day it says the next day they found Jesus. [00:00:55] So I'm going to begin reading in verse 22. The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea. Now the next day, meaning the next day after the feeding of the 5000 that Pastor Duba talked about last week. And then also the calming, well, actually the walking on the water the night before. [00:01:16] And then people are looking for Jesus. So it says, the next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there except one. Now there's a difference between large boats and small boats. The fishermen would go out in larger boats. [00:01:36] The boat that the twelve disciples plus Jesus were in the night before was a larger boat. What were the smaller boats used for? Probably transporting some goods and also transporting people. They were. We think of people as not being enterprising during the time of Christ and they had a rough time getting around. They were just like us. If there was a. If you can take a boat instead of walking, there was a. We're certain there was a taxi service with the smaller boats and there was only one left and that one was reserved for Jesus and he didn't take it. So something was going on and it says there was no other small boat there except the one. [00:02:21] And that Jesus had not entered with his disciples into that boat, but that his disciples had gone away alone. And there came other small boats from Tiberias as on the other side of the lake and a lot of gentiles over there and a lot of other things going on. But they were, they came over with all these other small boats where they had eaten the bread and Lord given thanks, but goes on and says so when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, rabbi, when did you get here? Well, before we get into the message, you know, you're not going to get away without hearing something about archaeology. [00:03:13] So I'm going to give you a little lesson. [00:03:16] I think personally it's one of the most unique finds that has ever been found in Israel. So it's called the Jesus boat. We're talking about Jesus, so I wanted to talk about the Jesus boat, and it's a very important find because we have described in the Jesus boat. It was found in 1986 by a couple of brothers, but the winter of 1986 in Israel was a really lousy one. It was really a dry year and they had experienced several years of drought and the drought had drastically reduced and dropped the water level and as a consequence the shoreline had receded further than any local fisherman could ever remember. So two fishermen, Moshe and Yuval, the Lofan brothers, they lived in a kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee and they were also treasure hunters. Now today they describe them as amateur archaeologists. [00:04:22] They were treasure hunters, okay, I met them both and I was even invited to go treasure hunting with them with metal detectors, didn't have time. So anyhow, they discovered something unusual was poking through the mud and next they noticed a large oval indentation in the mud and they recognized the shape immediately. It was a buried boat. So show the slide so you can see. I don't know how clear that is. Let's bring down the lights a little bit until we get a real clear picture. There you go, you can, I don't know how that'll look on tv, but that's how it is. [00:05:02] You can see there the shape of a boat. And what was exciting about that, the boat's 27ft long, seven and a half feet wide, 4.3ft. How do you do? 3ft anyhow, 3ft high. And it had a pointed bow and a rounded aft section. It's similar to the large fishing boats that we had had images on mosaic tiles during the time of Jesus and they were common on the ancient lake. And the type of boat that Jesus disciples would have used in the gospels. And that boat could have been used even during the time of Jesus life and time in the Galilee region. [00:05:42] It would carry up to 15 people. Well, the boat is primarily constructed out of cedar and oak. Go to the next slide. [00:05:51] Now, I don't know if you can read this, but this is a boat showing the different types of wood that were used in this. It's primarily cedar, and we see that the types of wood are used are Christ thorn, carob, aleppo pine, hawthorn, cedar, tabor oak, sycamore laurel willow, judas tree, plane tree, atlantic terrebinth. We have five of those in the garden out back. Okay, now these ten other types of wood were used to repair the vessel at various times. This boat was in bad shape and it didn't hold up, apparently. And this seems to indicate that the fisherman who owned it was unable to afford the right materials and he used whatever other materials may have been at hand. So the thick silt of the boat had settled into and had hardened and protected that vessel for centuries. [00:06:50] But now exposed to the fresh air again, the wooden structure would begin to deteriorate quickly. Show the next slide. [00:06:59] And there you see them working on it. They are actually laying on their bellies in order to clean out the mud because they couldn't stand on it. And you see around the edge those little red containers. They're constantly spraying water on the wood because as it dries out, it crumbles. [00:07:25] And I'll show you what happened. [00:07:28] They tried to protect the boat. You can see the next slide. They work 24 hours in night and day. And then you can see that in secrecy, they did this to protect the site and from looters. And archaeologists went to work and exposed the boat. Now they were pleasantly surprised to find how much had been preserved. Go ahead and see the next slide. [00:07:54] Okay. This is unique as to what they did. [00:07:58] The archaeologists were from Texas A and M university and they, they were reconstructing this into a sailing vessel. And the process of removal lasted twelve days and nights. And then it was wrapped in a casement frame of fiberglass and then foamed. This is polythene glycol foam. You get it in your cans when you want to use that foam that you'd use for building process. They foamed the entire boat. And then go to the next slide. You can see what they did. They cut a trench in the sea of Galilee for more water to come in. And they floated that boat out. [00:08:45] First time. That boat had been afloat for 2000 years. And you see the lady who did it all. I've met her. She's worked with us at Bethsaida. [00:08:54] She rode on it. Now go to the next slide and you can see how they floated it down to its new home in Capernaum. Keep going. [00:09:05] And ultimately they put it in a new home where they. [00:09:11] It was a casement frame and then they filled, they lifted it by crane into the water again and it was floated to the place of preservation. It was submerged in a synthetic wax bath of polythene glycol for another seven years and until the inner cells of the wood had fully absorbed the wax. And then you can see what it looks like today. [00:09:36] So you can go and visit this. It has a permanent home. It's on display at a museum at kibbutz Gennesar. But that is probably the most unique project I've ever seen take place archaeologically. And it just shows us a little bit about what Jesus rode in. And they call it the Jesus boat, but there's no evidence Jesus ever even saw that boat. [00:09:59] But it was sunk in the time of Christ. It goes back to that timeframe. All right, we can turn the lights back up now and go to the next frame. Well, yeah, the next frame will show. [00:10:11] Okay, that's the modern model of what it would have looked like. And then you go to the next one, and that's the museum it's in. [00:10:19] I could take questions. Ask me afterwards. Okay. Because I'm going to run out of time otherwise. We have a sermon that now go to the next slide. And it gives an introduction to what happens when they say, it's the passage primarily. I'm looking at 26 through 40, and it's an answer to the question that was posed to Jesus in verse 25. Rabbi, when did you get here? Now, that's an interesting question. [00:10:48] We don't know why they would ask, when did you get here? [00:10:52] I would say the more important question they had was, how did you get here? How did you get over here? And maybe they meant that they just confused. I don't know. But if you go to the next slide, you see the first point, because it's very clear from this passage that these people greatly misunderstood who our Lord Jesus was, what he was doing, what he said to them, his teaching. In fact, in other passages of scripture, there's no passage in scripture anywhere else that more clearly reveals the confusion of the people. [00:11:31] And it's also the same confusions that people have today in the average person's mind about Jesus. In verse 26, it says, jesus answered and said to them, truly, truly. I say to you now that, truly, truly. When Jesus said, truly, truly, it meant, wake up. Listen closely. This is important. He says it twice in this passage. He says, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Now, Jesus purposely did not answer their question. He asked them, well, they asked him, well, when did you get here? [00:12:10] Or how did you get here? Well, Jesus is letting them know their question is irrelevant. And besides, what would have happened if he told them the real story? [00:12:21] As if, well, I was up praying, the disciples took off without me, and a storm came up. So I walked over and met the guys in the middle of the sea of Galilee. And I got in their boat and then I prayed again, and we were immediately at the shore. And, you know, unless they could see things, they would not believe it. And that's the problem that many have today. I talked with a man. He actually lived in a trailer court nearby, actually lived over where Lonnie and Phyllis live in Paul day in Leisureville years ago. And his wife was attended the Bible study, or a Bible study. And he was a man who was not a believer in Christ. And I talked to him about that, and he gave misstatement. He said, unless I see a man walk on water, I won't believe he was an elderly man. And I said, well, that was just a minor miracle, if there is such a thing. What about a man who came alive three days after he had been put to death and he still lives? And he said, well, well, I won't believe that either unless I see it. And I just told him, you know, you're going to die in your unbelief unless you start believing things that you can't see with your eyes today and take things by faith. And you know what? He died in his unbelief. And that's a tragic story. Leon Morris wrote in his commentary on John. He's talking about these people. He said they were moved not by full hearts, but by their full bellies, because they had had a meal from Jesus the day before, and they're back for more. And Jesus knew the hearts of the people in one Samuel 16 seven, we're told that the Lord does not see a man as man sees. [00:14:07] For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart, meaning the mind. What's going on in his mind. So they needed to get to know Jesus a lot clearer because they had, first of all, confusion. These are your what you find in your bulletin. They had confusion about the physical and spiritual food. What was it? Because he says, you seek me because you ate of the loaves and were filled, he says in 27, then do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father has set his seal. So the answer to that confusion was in the statement, the food that endures to eternal life. [00:14:59] These people, like most people today, clearly felt that the most important thing in life is to keep alive. [00:15:08] Don't make those pursuits the sum of your life. Pursuits like being healthy, strong, economically, sufficient. That was what life was all about to them. They thought, and clearly this is the majority view in our world today. [00:15:29] This is why people work. John 627 commands us to work for the food that endures to eternal life. Now, what Jesus is saying, don't make those again, those pursuits, everything about your life. It's easy to get so consumed today with everyday life and the realities of life that we completely neglect what is most important. [00:15:53] We can so design our lives that all our time and all of our efforts are given to building a life of comfort, of satisfaction, even of pleasure. And we go from one task to another task, from job to job, from responsibility to responsibility, from relationship to relationship, from pleasure to pleasure, from thing to thing. And I could go on and on. And in our business, trying to find satisfaction and meaning, we neglect what really sustains our souls and provides the true satisfaction and meaning that only Jesus can offer. So by our nature, we seek satisfaction and meaning in things that ultimately are going to perish and fade away. So rather than focusing on decaying, the decaying outer man, they needed to seek the spiritual nourishment and satisfaction that only the Son of God, Jesus can bring. The apostle Paul recognized that our young at heart group, the seniors group, there's a kind of a theme verse that Tom and Donna have emphasized. Two Corinthians 416 says, therefore, we do not lose heart. [00:17:12] But though our outer man is perishing, or decaying is the real word, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. Now, when we focus on the needs of the body only and just staying alive physically, the end result always ends in death. [00:17:34] It always does, 100% of the time. But when we focus on the needs of the inner man, the spiritual life and satisfaction that can come in knowing Jesus, we're renewed every day, even in the presence and face of death, and even in the encounter of death, in the experience of death, we're renewed because we're more than just the body. Matthew 1625 and 26. Jesus made it very clear, he said, for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, he'll what he's going to find it. For what shall I profit a man if he gains the whole world and he forfeits or loses his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? What will a man give in exchange for his soul? [00:18:25] Something to think about. They also had confusion in the next slide about who Jesus actually is. And the answer, of course, to that the father has set his seal on him. We find that in 27 a and B, he says, don't work for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to eternal life. Then he says, which the son of man will give to you. How do you get it for on him, meaning Jesus the Father, God has set his seal. Now, these people were mistaken about Jesus himself as well. They thought he was just another prophet. They thought he was just another miracle. Maybe the messiah. But the messiah they had in mind. [00:19:14] They were not ready to crown him king. They were not ready to crown him lord of lords, of their life especially. And to them, he was a kind of a new Moses. And he would be a godly man. He was a great teacher and. Yes, but nothing more than that. [00:19:35] He's also a pretty good chef because he could whip out something out of a basket that nobody even saw him put the contents in and feed 5000 people when all he had room for was probably just one little boy's lunch. Now, they're thinking, man, that guy's special. They thought he was a man whom God would use to deliver the nation from the Romans from a man who could feed their bellies and keep them satisfied and keep them happy. But Jesus corrects that saying. And he says, you got to seek for the food which the son of man will give you. And don't miss this. He says on him, has God the father set his seal. Now, what does he mean? [00:20:14] God the father would set his seal. Now, seals were made of stone or of gold or of silver. [00:20:24] I've got one here somewhere. Okay. This is a seal. Show the next slide. [00:20:31] That one is really pretty. That's lapis lazuli and it's 3000 years old. This one's 3000 years old, and it has a beautiful picture on it. I'll show the next slide and you'll see what that actually rolls out to be on wet clay. And this has even a prettier. If you ever want to see it, you got to come to the museum. All right. [00:20:52] There's other seals. [00:20:54] What is this? Okay. No, that's a mint. Okay. [00:21:05] 3000 year old one. Maybe that's why they don't work. I don't know. This is a seal that I passed around in Sunday school this morning. This is a seal of Baruch. It's a replica. Baruch was the secretary of Jeremiah. But this is the size we're talking about. Now, one more seal. That's why I wear a jacket. It has a lot of pockets. [00:21:24] This one is a seal of King Hezekiah. Whatever was in this jar has his seal on it. And he's saying, this belonged to me. That's a Hezekiah's jar. Well, I got it now. So that's what happens when you die. Leave things behind. It ends up in 3000 years later in somebody's pocket. Well, you can see this idea of seals. They were used to make an impression on clay or parchment, leather, papyrus. And they were all used to seal important documents and agreements. And if you had a seal, it was your identity and almost everyone of importance had it. It was your design and only you could use it and you would be the one recognized when it was used. It was an extension of your power and authority and approval. And by saying, God has set his seal on Jesus it was God's way of saying he is unique, one of a kind. There has never been anyone like him before or since him in all of history. And his word is my word. His actions are my actions. What he teaches are my teachings. What he says and he does, that's me. And I think it was best explained when Jesus said in another passage, I and the father are one. [00:22:46] It's saying Jesus is making a statement. And they understood. He's saying, I am God. [00:22:53] Now let's go to the next confusion they had about Jesus. That's confusion about works in verses 28 and 29. Therefore, they said to him, what shall we do so that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent. So what's the answer? You got to believe in him whom he has sent. And the people here were mistaken about God's will for them, as are many today. [00:23:27] When they realized that Jesus was talking about something other than physical bread, they said to him, then, what work must we do to work the works of God so we can have. [00:23:42] What do we need to do so we can do what you do? They were still confused. But the answer to his question, the question, it's a question that's frequently asked today. It's a religious question, basically that says, what can I do to make God happy? [00:23:58] What can I do to please him? What do I need to do? And he says, there is something to do. [00:24:08] This is the work of God. And that is you need to believe in him that I have sent. You need to believe in Jesus. Believe in me. He's saying, this is a frequently asked question in the Bible. Remember the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and he asked, good master, what? [00:24:26] What good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life? Same question a lawyer once stood and asked Jesus, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life. What do I need to do? God and salvation here, Jesus is letting them know, is not determined by what we do or any other human does or has done or even has said or is written. It's determined by. By what Christ has said and what he did and by what God did through him, because his seal is upon him. Salvation is by grace alone. It's through faith alone, and it is in Christ alone. That's it. [00:25:07] Next. Confusion they had was a confusion about Moses and God's provision in verses 30 through 33. So they said to him, what then do you do for a sign? He. He had already done numerous signs so that we may see and believe you. What work do you perform? [00:25:28] Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. It's like they're saying, we're giving you a suggestion. [00:25:34] Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as is written. [00:25:38] He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. And Jesus then said to them, we'll go through verse 33. [00:25:48] Truly. Truly. Again, listen up. This is important. [00:25:52] I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is my father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the entire world. So this is important, as he says, truly, truly. Listen up. They were mistaken here about God's provision. They were not satisfied with the sign that he had produced for them the day before with the loaves and the fishes. So they're asking, give us another sign. Evidently, I think this is what they were thinking. What you did yesterday was merely to give us bread and fish, which is a common thing. It's a common, everyday food. And you only did it once. He does it again, but he only did it once. And there's nothing unusual about bread and fish. Although multiplying, it was a bit out of the ordinary. Okay, but Moses, here's what they're thinking. Moses, he fed our fathers 40 years on manna. He gave them food every day. Manna, food from heaven. It's called bread from heaven. Wasn't bread, but he's called the bread means your meal that he gave him. And bread and fish would come forth from the earth. But manna comes from heaven. What are you going to do to top that one? [00:27:23] I think that's the gist of this. And I think it's proven by the answer that Jesus says, because Jesus questions this attitude, and he says, no, you're actually quite wrong when he says this. And the question that he answered this by saying, first of all, Moses did not give you the bread. And if you look in verse 32, who gave the bread? [00:27:48] My father. God gave the bread. Moses was just an instrument that he distributed through. And furthermore, what came in the wilderness was not the true bread from heaven. It was only a symbol of that bread. It was a picture of it, faint shadow of the real thing. Now, I've often wondered, I wonder what manna tastes like. And I've heard people say, I wish God would give me some manna. Why do you want Manna for? You've got the reality of the shadow. Do you want the shadow which was just the manna, or do you want who it represented? That's Jesus ChRISt, who is the true Manna, the true provision for God. And it doesn't last just 40 years. It lasts forever. So the real bread from heaven, he's saying, is me. [00:28:32] I came down from heaven. I was sent from the Father. It has nothing ever whatsoever to do with MoSes. Now, the second thing is in verse 33. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. [00:28:48] The second thing here is the true bread is he who came down from heaven who will give his life not merely for Israel. See, the manna was limited in its scope and its application to just a few people compared to worldwide. It was for the Israelites, right? And he's saying, Moses did that with the maNna. But this manna, this one, the true bread, not the manna, the true bread who comes down from heaven, he will give his life not merely for Israel as Moses did, but who will give his life for the whole world. [00:29:29] Anybody of any race at any time can find the true bread of heaven. And from heaven. Let's go to the next final point. Here they had confusion in verses 34 through 40 about believing. [00:29:45] And of course, the answer is that you got to believe in him. And if you believe in him, you shall have eternal life. Now look at verse 34. Then they said to him, Lord, always give us this bread. [00:30:00] Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. And all that the father has given me will come to me. And the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out, for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of him who sent me that all that he has given me, I lose nothing. [00:30:39] But raise it up on the last day, for this is the will of my father, that everyone who beholds the son and believes in him will have eternal life. And I myself will raise him up on the last day. One of the most beautiful passages in the Bible, if you get it and understand it. I'm not so sure they did, but they had confusion about believing. Jesus tells the crowd plainly in verse 35, how to eat and how to partake of the bread of life. Now, the first thing he states very clearly, he says, I am the bread of life. That's the first of the was it seven I am statements. And he says, if you don't believe in me, you can't have it. [00:31:25] You can't have this bread from heaven. And he uses two simple things everyone understands here. If you look closely, it's hunger and thirst. And he says, he who comes to me shall never hunger. And he who believes in me shall never thirst. Now, what do you do when you're hungry? [00:31:47] You eat. Okay. And if you keep on eating regularly, you'll never hunger. [00:31:54] Okay. What do you do when you're thirsty? [00:31:59] You drink. [00:32:00] You got to drink the right stuff, though, okay? [00:32:04] And if you keep on drinking, you will never thirst. Jesus is the water of life, too. And jesus goes on in the next paragraph to speak of what I think can truly be called a true conversion experience. Because next he says, not everybody's going to come to me. That's just something we've got to face, even though they see. He said, but I said to you that, that you have seen me and yet you do not believe. See, they understood a good deal about Jesus, and it is possible to see that he is a significant figure and an important person, a living person. Yet they did not come to him. They did not believe in him. They would not give themselves to him and allow him to give himself to them as well. He is talking about trusting him. He's talking about committing yourself to him. The spirit leads them, the father draws them, and you come to him through Jesus Christ. [00:33:04] The next thing he says that everyone who believes. It's kind of interesting here. It's kind of one of those mysteries I don't understand at all. But we are counted. When you come to him, you are counted as a gift from God, given to Jesus. Did you ever look upon yourself as a gift to Jesus? [00:33:24] We always talk about the gift of Christ into our life, the gift of salvation. Well, God gives you to Jesus. [00:33:34] I know that we're getting into a trinity mystery, but at the same time. All that the father gives me, they will come to me and we're counted as a gift, and we belong to him forever. [00:33:52] We belong to Jesus. And the next thing, all who come are welcomed to him. Now it says, him who comes to me, I will never cast out. Meaning you're going to be received and kept. How long? If it says I will never cast out, how long is that? It's forever. No matter what your record, no matter what you have done, no matter where you have been or how proud and arrogant and self sufficient you have been or are, when you come, you will be welcomed by Jesus and you will not be cast out. There's no sin Jesus cannot forgive, so come. [00:34:31] And then finally he says, all who come are forever safe. He says, you will never be lost. You'll never lose what Jesus gives. Jesus said, this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me. The nothing means you and I. He's not going to lose any of us when we come to him and commit our lives to him and receive the gift of salvation that comes through knowing Jesus Christ, recognizing that the work of God is Jesus dying on the cross. He did all the work, we do nothing. [00:35:08] So we believe in what he did, and we get the promise that he will never ever lose anything of what has been given to him. And there's one more thing that we see that's really special. [00:35:21] He looks to our future. [00:35:25] Even death, with its decay and its corruption, is not going to defeat his purposes. What he says to us is so wonderful because it involves even the resurrection of the body. [00:35:40] Twice. He says, I'm going to raise him up on the last day. [00:35:44] That's beyond our death. [00:35:46] He's going to raise us up to be with him in a new resurrected body forever. What a hope this gives us in the hour of our passing. So many of you have faced death. Many of you have been with others who have faced death. But what a promise. [00:36:05] We're going to be with him forever. [00:36:08] That's a wonderful thought. So here we close this by reminding ourselves that God initiates. [00:36:15] We respond, you're not invited to come into a program in order to follow, but into a relationship with a person whose name is Jesus. God's grace doesn't get you into a program and then say, well, good luck. You're on your own from here on. Know the same grace that initiates and invites us in is the same grace that keeps us so that we persevere to the very end. [00:36:44] Our faith is not in a program, it's in the person of Jesus Christ. [00:36:50] Now. That was the. They were confused. [00:36:54] I hope that you will not be confused any longer about who Jesus is. He gave us. There's so much more we could say about him. But this passage is so special. [00:37:05] I want you to understand that this relationship is full, it's meaningful. [00:37:22] It's with you every day of your life. [00:37:26] And when Christ shows you who he is, and God calls you and says, you know, you need to receive this one that I'm telling you about, you better react. And when you do, you're going to be blessed with a life that is beyond any meaningful life we could talk about. That's what the people were so hungry for. They were just focused on what was around them. But now God is saying to them, through Christ, there's more. There's more, and I hope that you get it. I hope that you will pray to receive Christ if you have not, and you would be more fully committed to him if you have. I want to give you something before we leave. Well, as we leave, I'll be in the foyer. Pastor Duba and Pastor Les will be here to pray with you. There's two people that will have the lanyards around their neck. Who are they today? Raise your hands. Okay. Jim and Carol, you'll be in the back. If you want to pray about the fullness that you find in Jesus Christ, about receiving Jesus Christ, they'll be there to help you. If you've got a need that you know, Jesus can meet it, pray with them. Pray with lesp or Duba or wherever they are. [00:38:32] I'll be in the foyer. And not that I won't be praying with you, but I want to give you. I have about 70 of these. It's called my heart Christ home. [00:38:44] How many have read that? [00:38:47] Okay, you need to read this. [00:38:52] This is the little booklet that changed my life. [00:38:59] Second to the Bible, this one really spoke to me. [00:39:04] I'll tell you the quick story. I was preaching in Williamstown, Kentucky, as a college student, and it was one of those youth weekend revivals. I was a youth at one time, believe it or not, and I spoke to youth. I even had long hair, believe that or not. [00:39:27] I have pictures to prove it. [00:39:31] But I was preaching, and it was a weekend thing. Friday night, Saturday night, and then Sunday morning, Sunday night, and here it was, Saturday night. The music leader that was with me, he said, I have this booklet I want you to read. And I think God wants me to tell you, you need to preach this tomorrow. [00:39:51] Okay. And like I told my class, I only had about five sermons anyhow. How was I supposed to get another one? I read it that night. It was 10:00, and I was up most of the night just reading it. And I said, this is right. This works. So the next night, I just pretty much read it in a pastoral way, an evangelistic way, and gave him a challenge at the end. The revival broke out in that church. [00:40:20] Almost everybody in the church were praying and coming forward and crying. [00:40:29] I've done it a few times since, but I think the best thing that can happen to you is to read this. Okay, so get one per family. I only have 70, and I've given away four of those down to 66. [00:40:42] You can have this one, but take it with you. And it's intended to be passed around. Don't keep it on your shelf. Pass it around. And if we need more, I'm going to order some more. I'll have more at a later time. But anyhow, that's the challenge. Number one, if you're not in Christ, come to Christ. Number two, if you're in Christ and you need a revival of your spirit, come and confess your sins. Get right with God. Number three, pick up this, take it home and read it and be blessed. [00:41:11] Lord, bless us as we go now. Thank you for the time that we have with you and hearing you about you through your word. And bless us as we think of all that you've done for us, all the good things you've done through Jesus. Thank you for this wonderful passage. And now, as you speak to our hearts, may we respond appropriately as we sing praises to you with open hearts and open minds, we give glory and praise to you in Jesus name. Amen.