Jesus’s Earthly Family & His True Family | Mark 3:31-35 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark)

We worship in singing. We worship in giving. And now we worship in hearing, hearing the voice of our Lord and our Savior, our God, our King. And we will do so as we meet together in the gospel according to Mark and the final verses of chapter three in Mark three thirty one. Join me.

Mark three thirty one. And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. And he answered them, who are my mother and my brothers? And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, here are my mother and my brothers.

For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. Lord, help us understand the glories of this truth. Lord, arrest every intrusive thought. Calm every aroused emotion that would distract us. And Lord, just help us be like Mary of Bethany, to sit at your feet and to just receive from your voice.

In Jesus' name, amen. Many places of the scriptures, you are, and I am invited to extract many comforting truths that stems from the marvelous reality that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a human being. Are we not blessed? Are we not encouraged when we see him in different moments? The all sufficient Lord, hungry, tired, thirsty.

Does it not do something to our hearts when we are told that Christ was visited with sadness? Righteous indignation. Joy. Surely, we are we are built up so that we can fight when we see our savior combating against all sorts of temptation and overcoming each and every single one of them, giving us the assurance that we have a high priest who sympathizes with us. And as we struggle, he does not frown.

He does not turn his back, but he extends mercy and supplies what we need in order to endure and overcome as he did. There are so many components. There is this wealth of hope that is supplied when we realize that Jesus Christ, the eternal one who created all things but entered into his creation, experienced the complexities of what it means to be human, though without sin himself. And so that is a well that we should drink from every single day, especially for those who depend on him as we are earthbound but headed towards glory. He is with us in this journey, closer to us than you can imagine.

So close, so willing was he to walk with us in this human experience that he was willing to take on and add to his nature for all of eternity being man. What a love. What a mercy. What a compassion. And within that supply of hope that we know in the person of Jesus Christ, there is a detail that you and I just read that I believe many of us do not really meditate on, and it is this, That the Lord Jesus was born into and was raised with a diverse, a complex, a fallen group of other human beings that is known as a family.

Jesus grew up with a family, and they were not perfect like he was. When we imagine the life of Jesus, we almost we almost by default see him as as a person, yes, but very distant from others. He engaged with many, but he didn't really have deep relationships, and he didn't really have relational history. And that would be very wrong to believe. Christ had disciples.

Yes. And though the Bible doesn't emphasize on his developmental years with his half brothers and Mary and Joseph, there is enough for us in the scriptures to encourage us in that inescapable reality that each of us here have been providentially placed in a unit called the family. The Lord knows what it's like to be a part of the family. He knows what it's like to be a son. He knows what it's like to be a sibling.

And there is in the bible, I believe, plenty to be able to equip us to know how we can serve God no matter what kind of family we are a part of. And you will see that briefly in this text. But more than that, we will also see that there is a new family that God is creating and still creating to this day that you and I are all invited to be a part of, which is a hopeful thing, an an awesome thing, a glorious thing. And so lean in today because there's a bubbling brook for us to drink from, And that is to understand the Lord's wisdom, the practicalities, and even the promises of, yes, what we see in Jesus's family while he was on earth, but also the family that he is calling all men to join themselves to. We read in verse 31, his mother and his brothers came standing outside.

They sent to him and called to him. Why? Why are they here? Why are they willing to interrupt Jesus in the middle of a meeting while he is teaching and admonishing a crowd? And the reason is what we see in verse 21 of the same chapter.

And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him for they were saying, he is out of his mind. And so Jesus is drawing attention from the authorities. Jesus is is drawing a good attention, but also, quite jeopardize attention. And the family is concerned. Concerned for him?

Yes. I'm sure there's there's a fraction of that, but maybe even concerned for themselves. And so they were they were now on a mission to do something about it, to stop him from doing what he was doing and to bring him out of the spotlight. But they came it came with criticism. Did it not?

Sharp criticism. And some of you here can testify that you've been able to weather the cruelties of this world, the bitterness of this culture, because of the caring and nurturing love of those who share your last name. Your home, though imperfect, I'm sure for some can say was indeed a sanctuary. It was a castle. A castle that secured for you a level of spiritual and emotional protection and nourishment.

And you can look back and and thank God for those experiences of those who shared your blood. But Jesus, during the most important years of his life, did not know such consolation. He was denied it. And when you gather the limited light of Jesus and his interaction with his brothers, with his siblings, it is not the most positive portrait of a family. His siblings seem to only add to the mounting pressure that he was knowing in all other areas, in all other spheres, coming from all other avenues.

And when you would think that his family should be present and should be supportive, they're they're nowhere to be found. Remember, it it was Mary who stood before the cross brokenhearted, and there is no mention of his half brothers being there. And more than that, when the Lord wanted to, in love, care for his mother after his departure, he does not assign the responsibility to his brothers, but gives it to one of his disciples. Where are they? Where are they in those times of vulnerability and accusation?

They're absent. And here's how that is helpful for us to know. Jesus understands. He understands fully what it's like to be dishonored by those who should be closest to you. He understands what it's like to be abandoned by those who should be the nearest.

He was even treated as a liar by those who had the greatest access to his life for decades witnessing his perfection and his sinlessness, and yet still did not trust or submit to his claims or his message. The difficulty of serving God with with a family that might be hard hearted or provocative is something that your savior understands. He knows. And I'm sure that you would agree that the most painful thing about being linked to a family that is surely fallen is not how they treat you necessarily, but how they treat the one that you love and serve namely Jesus Christ. And here's what you should we should understand today.

The Lord had unbelieving family members. He had those who didn't trust in the saving message at least for a great portion of time, like many of you today. I want you to see that in John chapter seven verse one. And we're gonna glean some wisdom from this. John seven one.

This is another interaction that the brothers of Jesus have with him during the Feast of Tabernacles. John seven. Let's go to verse three. John seven three. So his brother said to him, leave here and go to Judea that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.

For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. Now pause there. You would think that, Jesus's brothers here are being encouraging and they are giving him some kind of advice to make his message more compelling and effective, that he can win more followers. And so they are they are steering him in a certain direction.

Hey, why are you doing all these things in the region like Galilee? It's the feast. Everybody's in Jerusalem. We have pilgrims around the world. Go do your stuff there.

Manifest your power there. And so we look at this and we say, yeah, that that seems like a brotherly thing to do until you read verse five. For not even his brothers believed in him. For not even his brothers believed in him. These words were not coming from the place of allegiance to Jesus, they were coming from the heart of unbelief.

Why are they suggesting this? Surely they are skeptical, but it makes you wonder Because for them to charge Jesus to do these works implies that they are aware that he can do miraculous works. And they they could have witnessed that for themselves, or or or more more likely they heard about these miracles. They were convinced that Jesus can do supernatural signs and wonders. And it makes you wonder if they were just like many of the other Jews who wanted Jesus to do certain signs and wonders, not for redemptive purposes, but for selfish purposes.

We want a political messiah. We want somebody who can give us bread without us having to work. Someone that can overthrow our enemies. Maybe that's the kind of mindset the brothers have. So they, being his relatives, seeing a great personal advantage in all of this, say, Jesus, come on.

Do your stuff there. Let's get this thing going. Let's let's win this nation. Regardless of what their heart posture is, you know what this shows me? Is that even though they understood and even though they believed that Jesus can do and could do certain things, they didn't believe.

They didn't believe in his claims. They didn't believe in who he was. They didn't believe his supernatural, not just power, but his his his deity, his nature. Now couple that with the likelihood of them growing up hearing about the events surrounding his incarnation. Who knows what Mary told the siblings?

Who knows what they understood about Jesus' miraculous entrance into the world. And yet with all of that, they didn't believe. You would think that if anybody would be quick to believe, it was those who, for year after year after year saw someone that was unlike any other person in the world. Even as a child, we saw a glimpse of that at 12 years old confounding the priest. A wisdom unparalleled more than a moral majesty that just didn't make sense humanly speaking because there's something different about him.

And then only to come into his adult life for him to shake the nation with his power and with his message, and yet still John tells us even his brothers did not believe. And with this in mind, I can confidently look out to this crowd this afternoon knowing that many of you have a lost husband, a lost wife, a lost brother, a lost sister, lost children, and tell you with with great confidence that their case of unbelief is not more hopeless than these men. These men who would later on, as we see in the book of Acts chapter one, would become his followers. I I can't I can't move on from this text without first seeing how Jesus responds to them Because the way Jesus responds to them gives us wonderful insight about the contrast between a believing life and an unbelieving life. Look at verse six.

Jesus said to them, my time has not yet come, but your time is always here. My time has not yet come, but your time, it's always here. Well, what does that mean? Well, understand what he is saying. Unlike you, I do not navigate through life apart from a submission, a total submission to God's sovereign timing and purpose.

I'm surrendered to a different calendar. I walk to a different beat than you do. And the father said, this is not my time. You though, you can do whatever you want. Walk wherever you want.

Plan whatever you want. Desire and chase after those desires however you want. But that's not me. I only do and I only act upon what I see my father doing. And unbelievers have no thought about God's providence, have no care about his sovereign rule.

They wanna be autonomous. They wanna live by their own desires and wishes, And they utterly despise the notion that there would be some transcendent being that would impose his will upon my life. And that's the hint that we get here when Jesus contrasted him, a true servant of God, with his own brothers. True followers of Jesus Christ can say what Jesus said. I place my future in the hand of him who is the author of life.

I do what he says. I go where he goes. I stay where he stays and tells me to stay. But you? Go.

Do whatever you want. And Jesus is not finished yet because he goes on to say something in verse seven. To the same group, the world cannot hate you. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. Translation, I can't go to the feast because there are those who hate me and are hostile towards me.

But you, if you connect verse six, you can go. Go whenever you want. Implying what? You can go because you are of the world. I'm not of the world.

You, imagine his own brothers. You have the same values of the world. You participate in the same activities of the world. Therefore, because you are of the world, the world loves you as its own. But the world does not love me.

The world hates me. The world hates me. True believers like Jesus will take opportunities with wisdom and love to confront and expose with redemptive light the falsehood and the wickedness of the systems and the beliefs of this world. They will not hold back. They will not shy away.

They are not concerned whether they arouse antagonism. They will do what God's word tells them to do no matter how the world responds. The world, no matter how familiar they are with Jesus, are are more willing to receive condemnation from God than to receive the cold shoulder from this world. And what's fascinating is Jesus is indicting them with that. We're we're in two different places here.

I'm not of the world. You are of the world. And I look at that and I think, this is how Jesus's half brothers were. They weren't neutral. They they weren't shy and and they were quiet just looking at Jesus, and then once he was resurrected, they said, oh, okay.

Yeah. We thought so. There's friction here. There's tension here. There's clashes of world view here.

And the point is this, you I'm sure have loved ones who are worldly, who are skeptical, who maybe even like the half brothers of Jesus are willing to associate with Jesus as long as it benefits them. And here's what I wanna tell you today. Christ can save them. He can save them. As impossible as it may seem, as as much as they are hardened and indifferent, Christ can save them.

You know, I think about James, in the book of James. Jude and James are believed to be the half brothers of Jesus who were given a privilege to have their writings in sacred writ. James two one, don't turn there. You can just hear this. Can you imagine the same James who was in this group of brothers who spoke to Jesus in this matter, who criticized Jesus in our main text of Mark three?

That same James in James two one says, my brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. The Lord of glory. That's how James spoke. That's what happened to James. That's what can happen to your brother.

That's what can happen to your sister. That's what can happen to your father, to your mother, to your child. Yeah. Even if your child is here right now distracted out of their minds, it can happen to them. And a final thought to consider, we get a little glimpse of how Jesus responded to the unbelieving brothers who are unfortunately adding to his obstacles as he sought to be devoted to the father.

If you wanna know how it is that you can move with courage to serve your God despite the deep bonds that you have, despite the loyalty of your culture and of your family line. Look at how your Lord acted. Yes. There's plenty of of of wisdom throughout the scriptures, but look at how Jesus acted in this moment, and let it infuse you with a grace and a strength to move forward with your love for Christ. John seven verse eight.

You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come. After saying this, he remained in Galilee. Do you struggle to obey the Lord because of the voices of those who raised you, who were raised with you, who contributed so much to who you are today in a human sense. I know people who can't get baptized because of their family.

They don't wanna dishonor their family. They don't wanna be disowned by their family. I know people who don't wanna make their Christmas dinners awkward. I know people who don't wanna create division in their household. You know what Jesus says to his own half brothers?

You walk that way, I'm walking this way. I'm gonna I'm gonna serve and obey my father. And if you don't wanna walk with me, then I'll walk alone. I will stay where God tells me to stay. I will go where God tells me to go.

If that means we will take different paths, so be it. That is the high cost of discipleship. God's will taking precedence over blood relationship. And in those painful moments when you feel like you have to do something similar, knowing that it may open up your world to ridicule, accusation, and maybe even rejection, You have a savior who knows. He knows.

Be comforted in that truth. Now let's come back to our main text because Jesus also has a response to the crowd who informed him, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. And this is how Jesus answers them in verse 33. Who are my mother and my brothers? There will be a time where we will dedicate an entire message to the Catholic doctrine of of Mary.

We're not gonna do it today. And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. Seems as though Jesus is redefining what true family is. Be comforted to know that he's not attacking this biblical institution.

Be comforted to know that he is not devaluing the responsibilities that we have to our kin. But what Jesus is doing here is he is revealing and teaching that there is a superior bond that is more important and holds more worth than any other group that you can be tied to whether by birth or by initiation, and that is being part of the family of God. And there is a warning in this passage coupled with like many other texts, a word of encouragement. The word of warning is just like the physical family of Jesus who thought that they had certain rights and privileges based on a false assumption. There are those who also for various reasons think that they have certain access to Jesus, but their confidence is in vain.

Their reasons are in vain. And the word of encouragement is that no matter who you are or where you came from, the Lord Jesus invites you to be part of the most glorious, loving, unending fellowship that you can ever know, and that is the household of faith. You even see that lesson with the physical description of the scene. Look at verse 31. Who are the ones who are standing outside?

The mother and the half brothers. And who are the ones who are sitting in close proximity at his feet? The ones who are eager to do the will of God. So even the physical picture here denotes that spiritual principle. There are those who assume that they have relationship with Jesus in a redemptive way, but are actually outside.

And there are those who you would think are the most unlikely candidates to receive rich fellowship, saving fellowship with Christ who are actually at his feet. And so Jesus looks and he says, true access, true access to me is exclusively made available by you knowing the will of God and wanting to submit to the will of God. There is no other entrance. There is no other qualification. There is no other way.

Only through this way can you know Mia's family. But what does it mean for Jesus to say this? I mean, it's powerful to just hear on a surface level, but there there has to be some meaning to this. When he says, here are my brothers, here are my sisters, here are my mothers. Right?

It's there's something being said there. Did you notice that he doesn't include father? Look at verse 35. Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. This is a symbolic statement.

But he omits father. And without reading too much into it, I believe it's because Jesus' relationship with the father is so unique, so special, so sacred that he would not even apply that title to somebody else even if it was symbolic. And we can't get caught up here with making a distinction between, oh, well, brother means this and sister means that and and mother means that. No. That's not what he's trying to do.

What he's trying to say is, you all have access to being unique members in my family. It's as simple as that. Ramifications, we can't even we can't even touch the surface in one sitting. The consequence of Jesus making this kind of a declaration over sinners is worthy of a series of messages. But can I show you at least one idea of what this means to be his brother, his sister?

Related to him with this language of family. And a very familiar passage, but maybe you haven't seen it in this way. Romans eight twenty nine. Romans eight twenty nine. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Let me read that one more time. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. God has purposed and predestined from eternity past that those who would believe on his son's name would so pay attention, would so resemble and reflect his moral features that it would cause others to realize and confess that there is a shared spiritual DNA. In the same way that some of you, many of us here display characteristics physically, they give clues to others that you are the brother of or you are the son of. You look like your mom.

You you have these features that just reflect your father. God has predestined. God has prepared a work that those who would be joined to Christ by faith would communicate over time to other people, you are related to Jesus. You must be related to Jesus because you look like him. You sound like him.

That is what God has predestined. That in Christ, he is creating and conforming sinners. Through Jesus Christ having a preeminent position of the firstborn, following him this vast family who by the spirits work would have others look with angels host and say, they are related. They look like him. And this is what comforts me.

You look at Romans eight twenty eight. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. Don't separate that from verse 29. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined. That's in connection to verse 28.

Here's what I rejoice in. I'm looking at different people here, and you're wired differently, and you have different callings and different giftings, and you will go into different places and maybe even move to different locations. But there's one thing I know about all of you who are in Christ. And I'm not a prophet, nor am I a son of a prophet. Here's what I know, that no matter how or where God takes you, it is all for the purpose of conforming you to the image of his son.

And God's wonderful plan is that through the firstborn, there would be more brothers that would resemble the firstborn. What an awesome plan. What an overwhelming plan. That's how close God intends to sanctify us. Do you understand?

That's how near God wants to bring each of our characters. So that as we stand for Christ and as we declare our allegiance to Christ, it wouldn't be just through waving our adoption papers, which would be our confession of faith. It's more powerful than that. Yes. Those adoption papers through the confession of our mouths is a wonderful statement that we belong to him.

It is our confidence. But through this I see there would also be the surfacing of similarities to the one that we have submitted to that would cause people to say, you must be related to Jesus. And that might discourage some people because you know that you've had better days than others. You've had better stretches of weeks where you saw even yourself. God's doing a work in me.

He's changing me. But this idea of brotherhood is not just a practical glory. There is a positional security in knowing that I am a sibling of Jesus. Can I show that to you? I was rejoicing all night and even today about this verse in Hebrews two.

Hebrews two eleven. Let this verse comfort you. As a child of God, even when you fail to submit and yield to the promptings of the spirit, who is the agent that is seeking to make you reflect as a brother, the firstborn. Hebrews two eleven. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers. I I almost don't need to explain that. It's rich It's so rich in itself. We can just let that sit on our hearts and let it melt into us. For he who sanctifies, that's Christ.

And those who are sanctified, that's you. All have one source, meaning all come from the same place, all belong to the same association, so to speak. God the father and his family. The sanctifier made that possible though. See, don't don't confuse Jesus' statement.

For those who do the will of God, yeah, they are my mother, my brother, and sisters. He's not trying to propagate this idea that it's through pious excellence that you you win a seat at God's table. Hebrews says, he who sanctifies, he sanctified, set apart sinners, and imputed his holiness onto them so that they would inherit that position of brother. And he did so to such great lengths that he comes into our world and becomes a man, so that he would take sinful man and allow them to become siblings of the Holy One. And this work was so true, so effective, so powerful, so real that Jesus looks at us even today and he says, I'm not ashamed to call them my brothers.

You know why that blesses me? Because I also read in Revelation that the accuser of the brethren stands before God day and night. And he says, look at Daniel. You're gonna actually associate him as a child of God. Look at so and so.

Look at so and so. He he loves to bring up our past. Does he not? People always wonder, how do I know what's this voice? What's that voice?

Let me give you a hint. Any voice in your head that brings up a sin that has been repented of is not of God. That's Satan. He loves to bring that up, and he brings it up not just to you. Like, look how cruel he is.

So he stands before God, and he accuses you to God. And then he comes to you, and he accuses God to you. He's not faithful. He's not good. He doesn't hear you.

He doesn't love you. He's forgotten you. Then he goes back to go, this person's not faithful. They're not good to you. They only like we said to Joe, they only just love you because of what you give them.

This is who we're dealing with. And you know what I see as the enemy does this day and night? I see Jesus Christ promising me that he will never change his mind about me. I see my savior, your elder brother and mine, not only willing to endure such accusations, but willing to even return praise and say, I'm not ashamed to call them my brothers. And if that doesn't cause your heart to flutter, let me give you something else that will hopefully hopefully jolt you into joy.

Here in Hebrews two eleven. Right? Go to Hebrews 11 verse 16. I don't know which I love more, the sound of you singing or the sound of your bibles turning like that. Hebrews eleven sixteen.

But as it is, they desire a better country that is a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their god, for he has prepared for them a city. Hebrews two eleven tells me that my sanctifier, my high priest is not ashamed to call me brother. And Hebrews eleven sixteen tells me that my God is not ashamed for me to call him my God. You see, Jesus assures us for those who are not ashamed of him in this adulterous and perverse generation, he will not be ashamed of them when he confesses us before the father and the holy angels.

That's why Hebrews two eleven is so important. When I stand before him in the atmosphere of absolute holiness, And all those creatures in their thousands and millions will have their blazing gaze on me. I will have an elder brother that will stand before the father and say, father, I am not ashamed of him. He is mine. And you couple that with Hebrews 11 so that you can be free from this notion that God is more reluctant or he is in some way disinclined to accept me or to number me as his own.

No. My God is not ashamed to be my God. Back to Romans eight, he was the one who predestined and sent the son, so that the son would be the first born that through him many more brothers and sisters would come. That's the father's plan. And so you have the son who is not ashamed, and you have the father who is not ashamed.

So then why are you? So then how would we even dare for a moment entertain even a slight shade of embarrassment about the Lord Jesus Christ and our God? If there's anyone who should be ashamed in this whole thing, it's God. With all our failings, and all our inconsistencies and all our lack of courage, if there's anyone who should blush at being linked to us, it's him. And yet here we are in a world that will increasingly become more hostile about your faith.

I charge you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, don't be ashamed of the gospel. Paul could say, I am not ashamed of the gospel because he served the Christ that was not ashamed of him and a God who was not ashamed to be called his God. You know why that is so important? Let me give you a final verse on our time together. In first John three.

First John. I shared this verse not too long ago at prayer. First John three twenty. For whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. For whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts.

Do you know what that means? Your heart is susceptible to lying to you about your position in Christ. Our hearts are so vile and so twisted that even after though that experience of being saved, being born again, still willing to creep up and say, you're not really his. Look at you. So we have the devil to deal with, then we have this heart to deal with, and at times it's willing to accuse us.

And here's what this verse is saying. God's word, God's verdict, God's promise is more trustworthy than your heart. This is one of the most profound verses, and I I give it to you so that you can use it for yourself and for others who are prone to listen to their feelings. This is one of those verses that obliterates the idea of trusting your gut at times. Here's what my heart is telling me and the word says, God is greater than that.

No matter how strong that feeling is, no matter what kind of evidence might be mounting, though it contradicts this word, understand that God is greater. His court is higher. And you know what's even I'm so glad the Holy Spirit put this last part in, and he knows everything. He knows everything. You know the reason why many of our hearts condemn us is because we know something about us that others don't.

Not your wife, not your husband, not your best friend, not your pastor. And so what tends to condemn us is the most hidden thing about us. So perverse, so dark, so cruel, so unjust, and it haunts us. It torments us. Torments us to the point where we can't even fathom how we would be forgiven.

And here's what the Holy Spirit says through John, God is greater than your heart because he already knows about it all. He has taken into consideration all Even though man may not know about it, God knows about it and he still does not hold it against you because of what Christ, he who sanctifies has done in you. The son is not ashamed of me. The father is not ashamed of me. How dare I be ashamed of him?

Here are my brothers. Here are my sisters. Here are my mothers. You wanna know how you can be part of the family of God. You first submit to the obedience of the one who made it possible.

The reason why God can look at us with such favor is not because that you have won his favor. It's because somebody did it for you. And it's it's such a a deep transfer and impartation that when God looks at you, he doesn't even choose to remember the things that needed to happen for this to take place in your life. Pure and clean and holy to such a degree that God can bring you to himself and say, my child, not just my servant, not just my friend, not just my disciple, my son, my daughter, you belong to me. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Run to him who is giving out whatever it is that is needed for you to secure such a wonderful grace and place before the father. Oh, I invite you to come to him. Oh, I plead with you not to How much more glorious can it be than this? If God were to deem me a slave, I would still love him and worship him all the days of my life by his grace. But he goes beyond slave.

He goes beyond bond servant. He goes beyond ambassador. My son. My son. And that's available to you.

Lord, we thank you. Overwhelmed, Lord. Overwhelmed. Are we in your presence this afternoon? Thank you, Lord, that we are predestined to be like the firstborn.

Thank you, Lord, that you're not ashamed of us. Our words are limited today, but our hearts are full. We just say thank you. Thank you. For those who might be leaning on a false security because maybe of a certain sacrament that they kept or because they come from a certain ancestry or a certain culture, but are in fact standing outside because they've not truly obeyed what you've called us to do, and that is to believe on you and to repent.

Let this word touch their hearts. And for those whom you have given access to sit at your feet, but their hearts are condemning them, may they know that you are greater than our hearts. You're greater than our feelings. You're greater than our arguments. You're greater than whatever it is that seems to keep us in that place of fear.

And help us, Lord, in this day to not be ashamed, to not be ashamed. And when we feel tempted to be ashamed, to remember that there is a day where we will stand before an audience of angels and the holy one, and you will stand by us and say, I'm not ashamed of him. We need this truth to be ever more real to us in this increasingly evil world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.