Embracing God's Building Plan: Word, Repentance, Joy

``It's not that you have a clean slate, but rather you have a righteous slate because he gives you the very righteousness of Jesus. See, the world is telling you you're awful in like 18 different ways, but the Lord has said that he has made you in his image, that he loves you, we see in the scriptures that he has pursued you in his son, That Jesus lived a life that was required of man and died a death that he did not deserve, and he died in our place so that we might know him. And then we can be joyful, not because we've got it all together, but because we have Jesus. [01:05:24] (49 seconds)

You don't have an answer for this. The gospel, the good news of Jesus is not try harder, do better, but rather it is that in your very best efforts, there is no answer for your sin. But God in his great mercy demonstrated his love for us, and this while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That we have been left in a place of sin and of shame and of spiritual death, And God didn't leave us there and say do better, but rather he sent his one and only son that whoever would believe in him will not perish but have eternal life, that the Lord has come himself to come and to redeem us by a bloody cross, a true death and a real resurrection. [01:03:21] (49 seconds)

This isn't entertainment for a moment, but it is knowledge for all eternity. And then you can go away rejoicing. Now, here's the thing, going and sharing some of those portions, some of that food with other people was a joyful expression of this generosity of the Lord for his mercy and his grace. But please know that when they shared that plate of food, when they shared some of that, they weren't just sharing food, but they were sharing the meaning and the significance of that food, because this is really good news. This good news can kinda it's not supposed to be silent. This good news is actually supposed to be shared. [01:06:59] (43 seconds)

When you hear these list of sins, do you think, well, I'm glad so and so is here? Or do you think, well, I wish so and so is here to hear this? Friends, the right response should be to weep and to mourn because you too have these works of the flesh of this old self. See, it's a wicked thing if you are sick and go to the doctor. And he says, you're all good when he knows there's this disease that is in you. That's why we must understand the word of God and then in understanding it, hear our own sinfulness and repent and mourn and weep. [00:58:20] (48 seconds)