← ArchiveSunday, January 22, 2017DateJanuary 22, 2017Speaker—Text—Passages in this sermonHosea 27:38Hebrews 1213:21Psalms 5126:16Hebrews 12:1138:23TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Music by Kevin MacLeod Music by Kevin MacLeod0:30Music by Kevin MacLeod1:00Music by Kevin MacLeod1:30Music by Kevin MacLeod1:59Music by Kevin MacLeod Music by Kevin MacLeod Music by Kevin MacLeod2:29Music by Kevin MacLeod2:49Music by Kevin MacLeod3:09Music by Kevin MacLeod3:29Music by Kevin MacLeod Music by Kevin MacLeod3:49Music by Kevin MacLeod4:11reals for us he doesn't really say that but it sounds like something he might it's about to get real for church people because today we're not focusing on them we're going to pull back the layers of God's word and say look at me God what happens when we are prone to wonder or what happens4:36when I have committed my life to you and yet I now have wandered again into unfaithfulness and God says you will see my tough love something that we don't desire but something that is necessary in our life Hosea was a man that was called to live a life that none of us want to live to marry he was told to marry a wife of promiscuity meaning she was most likely unfaithful before he married her5:05was definitely unfaithful during their marriage and they had children of unfaithfulness remember their children's names the first was Jezreel which means a valley of shame or scattering the second child a beautiful daughter that he named Lo-Rochamah which means not mercy but no mercy and then this third bundle of joy comes and he picks up that child in the nursery and says you know what dear5:33I think we're going to name this third boy we're going to name him not my people not mine and you know as he's looking at that child he's wondering God is this child mine and God is saying I wonder the same about Israel I wonder the same about my people are they mine you see in Hosea's life we see a glimpse of the unpleasantness and pain from God's perspective of5:57our relationship we see a glimpse of God's relationship with Israel and his chosen people and we we've came to the understanding that often many of us look at Hosea as a as a hallmark movie gone wrong or maybe it's a hallmark movie gone right who knows but we see this oh it's a love story but when we pull back God's word and we realize that God is6:21addressing us and our unfaithfulness it no longer becomes oh bless Hosea's heart it becomes God why would you love us God why would you love unfaithful people knowing that when you sent your son to die for us that we would continue to be unfaithful and God says but I will not let you remain in your sin I will encourage you because of my holiness to rid yourself of sin6:48so I ask you this morning what happens when God's people sin and as we do the end of every service together I believe when we open up God's word because it is living and active that God's word demands a response in our life so I just ask you right now just to pause and say Lord I don't know what you're going to do in me when we encounter your word but Lord I know you challenge me so we're going to have a time of response at the7:16end of the service but I pray that you begin now building and saying spirit move within me that I would not be indifferent to your glory into your hearts that Lord we see your word and we would desire to be changed with that let's read Hosea 2 verse 5 Hosea 2 verse 5 Hosea is in the Old Testament about halfway through in the Old Testament following Daniel if you have trouble finding it7:44verse 5 verse 5 chapter 2 for their mother has played the harlot she who conceived them has behaved shamefully for she said I will go after my lovers who give me bread and my water my wool my linen my oil and my drink8:14therefore behold you can go ahead and circle that therefore behold I will hedge up your way with thorns I will wall her in that she cannot find her paths as you've already seen I will cut up her credit cards I will wall her in in a way that would make unfaithfulness difficult for she did not know verse 7 that she will chase her lovers but8:42not overtake them yes she will seek them but she will not find them then she will say I will go and return to my first husband circle I will go and return this is the goal and the purpose of tough love God's purpose for loving you with discipline is not to make your life miserable that will happen his purpose is that we would return to him she says I will go and return9:10for then it was better for me than now for she did not know that God says I gave her the grain I gave her the new wine and the oil and multiplied her silver and gold which she prepared for but all therefore I will return and take away my grain in its time and in my new wine in its season I will take back my wool my linen given to cover her nakedness9:39now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers and no one shall deliver her from my hand I will cause her mirth my joy to cease her feast days her new moons her sabbaths her appointed feast and when she worships together on Sunday mornings I will destroy her vines her fig trees for which she said these are my wages that my lovers have given me so I will make them a forest10:08a forest and the beast of the field shall eat them I will punish her for the days of the baals to which she burned incense she decked herself with her earrings and jewelry she went after her lovers but she forgot me says the Lord let's pray together Father we come to you acknowledging that your word at times can be difficult to understand and we ask for your grace and your mercy and Lord helping us understand this morning10:38this morning but Lord we also admit to you as your people that when we understand your word it is more difficult sometimes to live it out than it is to understand it and so we ask that you would not only help us see your word that we would live it out that when we look at our sin we see it with a glimpse of how you view us not how we view ourselves that you would draw us near that we would get to a point where we say Lord we want11:08to return and we pray this in Jesus name amen amen amen the tough love at God and let me just say I understand this is a difficult sermon this is not a joyous occasion and if you this is your only Sunday here with us that you're going to leave on a sad note come back next week right this is the purpose of Hosea to crush us in our sin and then say but even in our unfaithfulness God has not forgotten so join us11:38next week same time as we see God's tender love but today we see God's tough love we've often heard this expression tough love some of you have said it you know all that person needs is a little tough love that's all they need one online definition defines tough love in this manner a very common dictionary by the way this is an expression used when someone treats another person12:08another person harshly or sternly with the intent of helping them in the long run so tough love is an expression used when someone treats another person harshly or sternly with the intent of tough love now can you hear the inherent bias there it's stern it's tough and it has the intent to help but who knows if it will so we are predisposed as people of not12:37of not desiring tough love that's our natural desire right we often say well that person needs tough love we don't often say I need tough love do we when's the last time he said tough love it probably was about that person not us and God says why don't you look at your heart pastor right church why don't you look why don't you look at your life because you're Gomer you're Israel not that we have replaced Israel but Israel13:07but Israel those who had true faith and the one true God by faith it was credited to Abraham as righteousness that we would wake up and see but here is the Lord's definition of tough love Hebrews 12 verse 6 my son do not take the Lord's discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by him for the Lord's tough love his discipline for the one he loves13:37loves and he punishes every son he receives the world's definition says it's harsh and who knows if it helps that's the intent but who knows and God says but I will discipline those I love so God says I love you toughly because I love you you see we're confronted with this overwhelming question in Hosea what happens when we sin because if we're honest for those of us who put our faith in Jesus Christ you don't become perfect at that14:07at that point I wish so but we are prone to wonder we are still fleshly I've had a lot more years practicing sin than I have righteousness I've actually had 34 years of practicing some of you have had three times that maybe not three times but you know and so God says you will constantly fight this this Lord what I want to do I do not do and what I do not want to do I do Lord help me and God says I've given you14:36you a resource it is my word so what happens when we sin we see in verse 2 which I did not read that when we sin the Lord says bring charges against your mother you see sin leads to God's judgment some of you are saying well here we go again judgment well the struggle with our lives of judgment because we want God to love us without removing sin but15:06but if God is God he is perfectly just so God cannot ignore sin why can he not ignore sin because he's God God can't say you know what I'm just not going to be just because at that point he would be an idol of our creation he would not be God and I'm thankful that he is not a God of my creation I'm thankful that God is not God made in the image of Josh because this world would be destroyed and messed up how do I know that15:36that because my life is messed up at points that we say God work in us see my sin always leads to charges my sin always leads to corrective action and the corrective action of the Lord is tough love so you say well why is it tough love why have you called it tough love it is tough because it hurts that is the tough part I remember this last year when we moved here to the moody area that one of the joys of home ownership now is that we had16:06had a lawn to keep up and one of the joys of our lawn was I didn't have time or I just didn't spend time with fertilizing it before the summer came16:24and so I just missed the boat so I put the weed and feed on too late and so we had all these weeds and there were some that the weed and feed just killed like they never came up but there were some weeds that were very thick and rooted in so I had to go by the weed killer that I went and I had to hand spray each group of weeds that were rooted down in the soil and I noticed something very peculiar at that one it took a while for those weeds16:54weeds to die two for those weeds that were rooted deep down the grass around the weeds died also so in the process of me pulling up the weeds I had to harm the grass but it was worth it because now we have a lawn that is beautiful but we haven't won lawn of the year yet we are working on it but I was reminded that's the way God's tough love works in our life there are times that there17:24there are sin that is so rooted in us that God has to say I'm going to pull it up but it's going to hurt but it's going to be for my glory and it's going to be for my purpose it's going to be for my will because you see as tough as the love as painful as it is it is also love as tough as God's love is it is love because Yahweh disciplines us in a way that intends to break our sin and our shame he wants to break our sin and17:54and our shame that we would return to him it's love I'm thankful that God doesn't let me behave shamefully by ignoring me and I'm sure that you're thankful that God doesn't let your pastor continue to behave shamefully and I'm thankful that you can look in the mirror and say God I'm thankful that you love me in a way that you discipline your sons that you love18:24love that you not let us continue to remain in our sin that you root the weeds up in our life you see what father lets their child remain in something that will eventually destroy him why do we discipline our children at home and say you do not touch or plug in anything to the electrical outlet when I'm watching you or when I'm not because one day I don't want you to really hurt yourself why do we discipline our children in a way that we say don't put your18:54your hand on that it's hot and you don't need to know that it will burn you I just want you to listen to your father right now and it might be pain but listen to me because I don't want you to walk down a road to ruin and shame and difficulty that is what God does in our life so why does God need to discipline his children I would also ask why would God's people continue to live in unfaithfulness19:23unfaithfulness you see the answer we find in Hosea is this we like Israel are constantly being tempted to depend on our abilities and not God's we are constantly self-reflective and saying Lord look what I've done we're constantly saying Lord look at my bread and Lord look at my water verse 5 my wool and my linen and my oil and my19:53my drink you see we are more prone to depend on self rather than the savior we are prone as verse 5 says that Lord I will go after something else and you see for the ancient Israelite here for their neighbor who worshiped Baal that could begin very small often in the ancient world the people that worshiped Baal would put a statue of Baal in the ground you say20:23say well why would they do that because Baal you say well why would they put a statue in the ground when they wanted to have children no he was also the chief god the god of crops the storm god the guy that brings rain and fruit and so god would take the statue and they would look at their neighbor and say hey they had good crops and they put a little statue in the ground and you know what could it hurt and so they would put that statue in the ground and eventually that statue20:53statue in the ground would become well you know what maybe I should pray to that statue what's it going to hurt and21:06sinful at the point they looked at their neighbor's crop and said you know what maybe I should try and we said well pastor I never buried a statue of a bell good for you thank God I haven't either but we will look at our neighbors and say you know what man that car looks really good and you know if I had that car I would have joy in my life and you know what I deserve it it is mine or you know what I am really proud of my21:36my house or you know what my kid hit his first shot in basketball and look what he did look what I taught him or my child scored his first goal in soccer maybe next year for us we work on it but look what we've done or you know what look at my clothes or look at my retirement or look at my credentials and we begin to say look at me look22:06how much I go to church look how much I give look at that pew it has my name on it and we forget that we have now entered into unfaithfulness and what has started so small so innocent we have been lured away by the lust of our life and God says church you need to be loved in a way that's tough that would discipline you22:36you you see these entrapments are not new the things that we struggled we said they didn't have internet they didn't have those things to look at come on we have been sinning with our eyes with our bodies since the beginning of time when Adam and Eve sinned they looked around and said we got a problem here guys we're naked that's what they said in Genesis and they were ashamed and so we can't say well Lord we've just now had this issue called23:06called lust Lord we just now had the struggle with money what did Jesus say it's harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel for the eye of a needle these things aren't new look at verse 5 she said I will go after my lovers who give me bread water wool linen oil and drink you see bread and water were the things that give us sustenance and provision because we're tempted23:36tempted to say look what I've done most of us don't have to pray daily Lord give me today my daily bread because we can go in the pantry and say Lord what am I going to eat today now we might say well I don't really want anything in the pantry but we don't say there's nothing there you see they struggle with this in Israel's day to say Lord I provided for myself and then we see in the wool and linen the oil and drink that these are things that give joy that they turn things24:06things that God has given for joy to idols I'm thankful we don't have those anymore right things that give us joy I love football we love football I'm sad right now because college football is not with us anymore we go through mourning from February to August in our house we mourn on Saturdays but you know what if things that give us joy become idols it is worth that God remove that idol then we remain in sin24:35sin or whatever your joy is some of you love your kids and you find joy in that but if you live your life for your kids you are now unfaithful to the cross of Jesus Christ some of us love our spouses others you should but if I love my spouse in a way that I make her my idol and I find my fulfillment in her I have now put her as an idol and I am suffering my family is suffering because I am idolizing my joy and not finding joy25:11So I ask you are you experiencing the conviction of the Holy Spirit in your life have you been convicted because tough love shows that God cares about his people so if you are broken because of your sin I want you to remember that is not an emotion that comes from you that is the Holy Spirit and as difficult as that might be spend some time saying God thank you for revealing your voice God I don't like the voice25:41voice but God I'm thankful for the voice because conviction shows that you love me tough love shows that you love me why is tough love needed I love the song that we sang earlier prone to wonder Lord I feel it prone to leave the God I love Lord take my heart and seal it seal it for your courts above that we need tough love because we are prone to wonder I'm not talking about them outside these walls I'm talking about us we are26:11are prone to wonder and I just ask that you would take a moment and say Lord may this be my prayer in Psalm 51 too Lord wash away my guilt cleanse me from my sin for I am conscious of my rebellion and my sin is always before me that we would have this morning a time of cleansing that only Jesus Christ can bring in his tough love from the oldest to the baby here that we say Lord we are prone to error God26:41God change us God rid us of our sin and bring us back into passive righteousness God's love is tough you say well pastor how does God's love work then I'm glad you asked we see also in this tough love is needed in our lives because Hosea gives us those27:11those tools as surely as the Lord has acted in the sin of Israel he continues to show his tough love to those who are unfaithful and 188 times we see in scripture therefore and every single time in that 188 it means two things it's either a warning or a promise but each time it is hey listen up right Israel listen to me this has happened therefore so it's either27:41either a promise or a warning and God is calling us in today he's saying listen to me what are the tools of tough love verse 6 therefore behold I will hedge up your way with thorns and wall her in so that she cannot find her paths I will hedge her up and I will hedge her way with thorns and wall her in that she cannot find her path you see a primary tool28:10tool God uses for us to prevent us from sinning is simply prevention this is what the Lord does he puts the walls around us this is what he does for Israel he said I will hedge your way with thorns this is for your good and for the good of the relationship you have with the Lord God says I will put a wall around you that if you try to sin it's a speed bump to make things difficult so I ask you this morning has God put a wall around you or do you feel like you're hitting28:40hitting a wall often I believe spiritually that we run into that wall and we get frustrated Lord nothing has happened in my life there is a wall in the way and the world will tell you something is wrong you're not worshiping hard enough sing louder offer more do more stuff serve the Lord sometimes we're convicted because we hit that wall and we try to do more but29:10but what if instead of hitting our head against the wall we step back and say Lord what if you put the wall there Lord what if the wall is a wall of righteousness to stop me from sinning and what if the answer is we're trying to do too much what if we try to jump in and serve more jump in and worship and God says hey pastor before you can do that see that statue you buried you need to dig that up first right you buried29:39buried the statue in your backyard and you came to Bethel to worship but you need to stop because there's a wall up right now and you need to go get rid of the statue those weeds in your yard dig those up because oftentimes I believe we try to hit the wall and we say how did that wall get there and the Lord says Gomer I've walled you in because I know you struggle here so if you are hitting your head against a spiritual wall right now one I would say stop back stop and step30:09step back maybe you shouldn't be hitting your head against it maybe you need to look up and say God have you put that wall there and Lord does that wall remind me that I have sin in my life that is unconfessed sin because if there is unconfessed sin Lord there's going to be a wall between you and myself because Lord you cannot ignore my sin because you are God so a primary tool of tough love is prevention we say well okay I get it there's a wall but you know what some of us will try to climb over the wall some of you grew up30:39up your climbers your escape artist and so if that's you then what happens another tool30:53thorns I will hedge up your way with thorns and you know a secondary tool that God uses is pain and irritation in our lives pain and irritation to bring us to repentance because some of us I was hard I'm going to admit it my dad was here last week my grandmother my grandmother would never say this because she's the sweetest lady on earth my dad would probably admit this I was a hard headed child I wasn't mean spirited I wasn't you know too rebellious but I was just stubborn I31:22I was a child that needed pain as a reminder to come back into the path of righteousness and Lord in his sovereign glory has given me a son that's identical and sometimes I pray Lord how could you and he says I warned I told you but sometimes spiritually we're the same way some of us don't understand that hey this is going to be painful one of my favorite things about my early childhood and summertime is31:52is seeing the blackberries we lived in a neighborhood where the honeysuckles were on the left when I rode my bike on the right side of the road there was a field of blackberries and I love to eat the honeysuckles and then go on the other side and stain my hands and my clothes with blackberries I love the blackberries but these are wild blackberries and I'm reminded that wild blackberries have wild thorns so you had to navigate your way around the thorns and what were the thorns there for because the thorns were protecting the fruit now32:22now there are times in our life where there is fruit that's not healthy for us though there are32:36so I'm going to make it painful when you stick your hand in that to reach and grab that thorn I'm going to make it painful for you and we're naturally just predisposed to say Lord I'm in pain and God says I told you not to put your hand in that but God says but if you would come back to me I will restore you so is God bringing pain in33:06is there pain in your life are you going through emotional spiritual physical pain because of your sin now hear what I'm not saying I am not saying that every pain you experience is because of your sin some of the pain that we have in this life is because we live in a sinful world we live in a world where terrorists come and shoot up night clubs we live in a world where people are abused that children are abused by adults and strangers and those that they love not because they have sin but because of others33:36others but if we have pain in our life this morning because of your sin let God remove that because the same God that brings pain in your life is the same God that can remove that thorn if you will confess your sin prevention and pain33:57might be saying well what if it's too late I am in pain remember that God can use your pain for his purpose it's not too late it's too late for the pain pain is good if you give it to the Lord come back to him remember as with Hosea God uses pain to get our attention with sin comes therefore listen up pain is the listen up listen to the Lord a third tool we see of tough34:27tough love is this I will hedge up your way with thorns I will wall her in that she cannot find her paths she will chase after lovers in what she will not find or overtake them I think a third tool that God uses in our life is just frustration frustration sometimes we're just frustrated and we don't know why we're frustrated we work and we come home and we're tired and there's never enough money in the bank account because we're seeking after34:57after our kingdom and not the Lord's we're frustrated we say Lord no matter how much I work I just don't have enough and God says but if you would be faithful and give it to me don't you know that I clothe the birds in their splendor and the flowers of the field not even Solomon was adorned in that majesty that Josh I would give you plenty if you would trust me are you frustrated this morning maybe that's from the Lord and spiritually he's frustrated and you have35:27have a dear friend in south Louisiana actually before we left he made me raccoon to eat and I promise if you bring me raccoon I'll try it I tried it once we'll just leave it at that a dear friend he was a mechanic not a believer he was a shade tree mechanic he was actually the mechanic that would ask you to pull your car up under the shade tree and work and he sat down and told me his story one day he said you know what there was a day where I started35:57started working on this man's car and I couldn't do anything right he said I couldn't explain it he said I couldn't even change a starter he said I couldn't even change the brakes so I been doing mechanic work for 30 years so I was frustrated I didn't know what was going on so God began to build that frustration in his life and that next Sunday some friends came by that were inviting him to church for years and he always said you know what I don't have the clothes36:27clothes I'm not prepared he always had his mechanic clothes on and one day they came to his house after they had just gotten back from a funeral and they came to Tim's house and he was dressed up and they said brother why don't you come to church with us and his excuse he didn't have anymore he didn't and he said you know what we'll go and he went to that small country church during that week of frustration and he said pastor he said actually I thought that they had tipped the pastor off he36:57he said because everything that pastor said I felt like it was directed at me he said I couldn't stand it he said that night two deacons came over to his house and before they left after three hours he and his wife in their forties hit their knees and profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior why because God had used frustration in his life to say you have been chasing after things and I will not let you catch it I believe God sometimes lets us know I will37:26will let you chase after the wind that you would finally be sensitive to my spirit maybe you're here today and you're just frustrated so you know what I've been worshiping I just don't I'm just frustrated I've been working and nothing is working out I've been loving my kids and my family and I'm just frustrated they're not listening maybe God is saying that is your therefore maybe God has sent that frustration that you would come back so I ask are you in a season of37:56of tough love do you feel walled in in spiritual pain or frustrated today the Lord maybe is getting your attention I would ask spend some the Lord in his righteousness and he will forgive you of that because this is the target of tough love verse six we've seen the tools of tough love now we see the target of tough love Hebrews 12 11 reminds us of this no38:26no discipline seems enjoyable at the time but painful later on it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it you see the purpose of tough love is found right here in verse seven where Gomer says then she will say I will go and return the purpose of tough love in your life is peace and righteousness the purpose of tough love in my life is that God would38:56would bring me back in a way that I would say Lord you are righteous and you are the prince of peace and Lord I need there will be times in our life where God will expose our sin and shame to bring us into repentance look at verse 10 with me the target of tough love the first target is you and me verse 10 I will uncover her lewdness39:25lewdness in the sight of her lovers now that scares me because it's as if God is saying if you don't quit saying I'm going to uncover your sin for all to see think about that God said you know what I'm going to put your sin on Facebook and all of your friends are going to share it because you know that Facebook loves some juicy gossip all your friends are going to like it if39:53if God told us about that way about our sin I guarantee you we would think differently if I knew my sin was going to end up on Facebook or YouTube or passed around in a group chat I would think twice would you not so God says I'm going to expose your shame that you might be covered in the blood of Christ you see God has to expose our shame before he can cover us with his blood that's repentance to say God40:23God I know I've sinned I know I've fallen short and God I trust in you I remember the day I was in a small country church in a back pew back there and it was as if God uncovered me and the pastor was looking into my heart and I hated it and it was as if40:48that's the purpose of the target of tough love it is you there is a second target of tough love though it's not just you it is also sin God will target our sin verse 9 sound familiar look at verse 5 Gomer41:18Gomer says I will chase after lovers who gave me bread and water I will chase after those who gave me wool and linen and oil and drink and God says you don't understand I gave you those and God is saying the things I have given you for pleasure and joy you use for sin and Josh you don't understand my righteousness but that if you remain in sin I will take that away from you it is better for me to take it away41:48away and you not sin than that you walk a path of unrighteousness God will target your sin and as I was praying about this I was asking Lord how would I feel and how would you feel if God truly took your sin away the thing that you're struggling with this morning we all have something how would you feel if God removed that forever I believe there would be an air of thankfulness in us but42:17but I think if we're honest we would be disappointed because often our sin gives us some instance of gratification that we say Lord I sin it's tempting it's a temptation because it's tempting that I run after this because I feel like it will meet some need in my life we have to get to the point that we say God if it is painful if it is sinful remove it because it is not worth42:46worth my soul Lord rather lose everything in my life and gain salvation than gain the whole world and lose my soul so how do we respond to God's tough love well first people of the church I think that we must be quick to repentance the goal of God's tough love is that we would seek his face that we would get sick and tired of being sick and tired43:16tired and say you know what I have a father that I should return because I know that if I return to him he will welcome me with open arms that I have a father that if I confess my sins he is faithful and just to forgive me43:38because this hit me like a ton of bricks this week I believe there are times in our life that the world doesn't know how to repent because they don't see God's people repenting that we we pick up Hosea and we say Lord change the world God show those heathens them gomers and God says but if you would go to the altar Josh if you would repent maybe your neighbor would know how maybe we need to lead the charge because44:07because how will the world know where to find repentance if we are not leading the way because often I believe the world looks at churches and says you know what those people act as if they have it all together and the secret is this which is not a secret they know it's a lie and the secret is we know it's a lie that we would look at the world and say we don't have it all together but we will fix our eyes on Jesus the author and44:37and finisher of my faith knowing that I'm not finished yet but you know what when I sin I'm going to be quick to repentance I'm going to be quick to the altar the throne of mercy where I find forgiveness so maybe this morning the time of response is not for the ungodly it's for God's people and that we say Lord we get it you are sending a season of tough love and we want it to end today Father refresh our spirits so if you're here and God is dealing45:07dealing with you I pray that you would spend some time in reflection and say Lord I mean it God wash away my guilt because he will God cleanse me from my sin because he will maybe you're here and you say well I don't know the Lord I want you to know this if you put your faith in him that if you declare that Jesus Christ is Lord believing in your heart that he died for you he died for the sins that you've committed that he did45:37did not owe that when your sin and shame is exposed he now covers you with his blood and his sacrifice that he makes us who are nasty filthy as white as snow if that's you this morning I pray that you would put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ where you sit and that today you would come forward and make that public to say I want to take a stand for my faith because46:09our Savior loves us the pain should bring us back to repentance the frustration should make us think of the Savior and the tough love reminds us that we are his children that we are loved by him because he disciplines those that he loves bow your heads with me let's pray
