This recording is from Willow Creek Church in Winter Springs, Florida, where Dr. Pete Alanson is our senior pastor. Today, sermon is part one in a series called The Hard at Sains of Jesus. This message is taken from Mark, chapter 2, verses 13 through 17, and is titled, Enjoying Sinners. Now here's Pete. Huge state and a faith. It's almost one of those hard sayings in the Bible to believe that whatever God ordains is right. If you can say that and you can sing it with a heart that is full and meaningful, a heart that is committed to God in that way, you're making a huge statement of faith. It is a hard thing to say, whatever God ordains is right, because so often what comes into our life is difficult to grasp. Today we begin a new series entitled The Hard Sains of Jesus. There are many hard sayings in the Bible. Let me give you a couple of sayings that we can discuss them as we start out. Obstacles, John Mason said, Obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off the goal. I like that. That's not a hard saying. That's a bit of wisdom. Obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off the goal. And so true, if you're a leader, you know that's true. You know there's a way through. Every obstacle. You know what it is, Mason then goes on and says this, mediocre people tend to be tamed and subdued by obstacles, but great leaders always rise above them. Now that's a harder saying for me, because we've all been subdued by obstacles, haven't we? And he says mediocre people tend to be tamed and subdued by obstacles. Ah, I resemble that at times. I like the story of the man who walks into a bar one day and he says, who owns that rot-wiler outside? And this biker dressed out and biker dressed says, I do what about it. He says, I just think my chihuahua killed your rot-wiler. It's not going to be, how can your chihuahua kill my rot-wiler? He said, I think it got stuck in your dog's throat. That's a hard saying. I mean, if you're a biker, that's tough. Listen, Jesus, as you look at what Jesus has to say, and if you've ever been offended by Jesus, you've met the real Jesus. If you've never been offended by Jesus, if you have never jumped back and said, whoa, you've never met Jesus. Why was Jesus so straightforward? Why did he speak so many hard sayings? I'll give you some reasons. Number one, Jesus was not marked driven. He wasn't into polls. He didn't care about the market. He didn't care about the market. He was not marked driven, so therefore, he said whatever needed to be said, didn't care about opinion polls. Number two, Jesus was not insecure. Jesus was not insecure, and so he didn't really care what people thought about him. Many of you don't care what people think about you. You're off the chart, calerix, type A personalities. You don't care. You really don't. You do, and so we're always kind of, we're insecure enough. I want you to like me. We want to be liked, but Jesus wasn't insecure. He didn't need to try to get anybody on his side. He wouldn't try to draw anybody in. Oh, come on. Stay with me. Will you? Jesus wouldn't like that. He didn't need their money. He wasn't afraid to offend. He wouldn't afraid to die. Jesus was the most free person you'll ever meet. He didn't need anything from anybody else. He didn't want their money. He wanted their soul. He didn't, so he was free, and so he could say whatever needed to be said. Number three, Jesus is the eternal Son of God. That's why he said so many hard things, because as the eternal Son of God, when you're God, you speak as God. You do speak from Sinai, you know? You are Sinai, and you say what needs to be said. You're not a diplomat. You're not a politician. You know, if the massage or measure your words, God is the ultimate realist. He's the ultimate realist, and Jesus speaks the truth, because He's God coming to flesh. One of Jesus' hard saying is found in Luke, don't turn there, Luke 18.22, Luke 18.22, where he tells a very wealthy young guy who thought he was spiritually perfect. This is what he said to him. You still lack one thing, buddy, it's an original airmaker. You still lack one thing, sell everything you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. That's a hard saying. Do you have a lot of money? That's a hard saying. Sell it all, give it up. Now one thinker said this about what Jesus told that guy. I love it. He said, Jesus did not even seem in the least solicitous that this man should do what he told him. He had no attempt to keep him with him. He simply said, sell all you have and come follow me. Our Lord never pleaded. He never cajoled. He never entrap. He simply spoke the sternest words, mortal ears, ever listened to, and then left it alone. Isn't that right? To Jesus wise. He wasn't always saying, oh come on, come join my group. Come on. We're on the road a lot. You know, don't know when you get your next meal, but come on, please join us. I need you. Oh, come on, you might die, but you'll go to heaven, come on. You never did any of that. He used straightforward words, strong words, hard sayings, because people had hard hearts, closed mind, and stiff neck. If you read the Old Testament, you know that God often calls the Israelites people with stiff neck. Why? Because it's like your kids sometime and you tell them to do something and they go, no. And you just want to ring that little neck. Well, the Israelites were that way. Jesus used hard words because we have hard hearts, stiff neck, closed minds, and there's no reason for it. I mean, we think we're wise when we're idiots, we think we're mature, when we're immature, we think we're healthy, when we're sick. And so he has to use hard words to get through to us. It's baseball, it's football season, and as a friend of mine said the other day, they said it's football season, Pete's going to start using football illustrations. That's horrible. Deal with it. It is football season, and it is God ordained. And the first one for the 2005 series season is this. Last week, a week ago from today, 6,330 pound offensive lineman, Thomas Herrian dropped dead. San Francisco 49er after the game with Denver. Drop dead, we don't know why. He was sicker knee new, sicker knee new, there's something going on. And we tend to think we know what's going on. We tend to think we have it all together, and we don't. On a lighter note, on a lighter note, Max Lucato said that men would rather floss a crocodile than ask for directions. Is that good? Why is that, guys? We know. Because we got egos. We know. It's hard for us to admit when we're wrong. It's hard for us to admit that we don't have, but that's the reality. Give me that crocodile. I'll floss him. Take his head off. Jesus often said this after he preached, after he taught a parable, he said, all right, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Why? Because he knew that he was speaking words and that the truth would help the people, but that so many people would say, ain't no way. Ain't no way I'm going to do what you say, Jesus. And so he said he really has the ears to hear, let him hear. He used hard sayings to soften stone cold hearts, made up minds, but also to encourage the humble that we're on the right path. Which category are you in? I want you to know today as we look at this, and if you're here and you don't know Jesus Christ, you're not a Christian, we're glad you're here, this is a safe place to be, to kick the tires, to ask questions, this is a safe place to be, not a believer, it's also a safe place to be a believer. But it's a safe place to be, as a question asker, I want to tell you one thing about Jesus Christ, he is here to help people, God come in the flesh, came to help people, he had nothing to gain, because he doesn't need us, he came to help. And so listen to his hard sayings and see what he has to say to you, all right, the text, the hard saying that we're going to look at today is Mark 2, 13 through 17. This is God's Word, God's truth for us. And some of you will say, I've heard this before, of course you have, it's in Matthew Mark and Luke and it's one of those very common sayings of Jesus. Once again, Jesus went out beside the lake, a large crowd came to him and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi, better known as Matthew. He saw Levi's son of Alpheus sitting at the tax collector's booth, follow me, Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus overheard, I love this, and Jesus says, I'm hearing this, Jesus said to them, it's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. It's one of the hard sayings of Jesus. Now there's a couple of points that you can't miss from this text. One that you can't miss is Jesus' preoccupation with people in verse 13. His preoccupation with people, he was a man's man who was concerned about people. His life was wrapped up in people. So it says in verse 13, once again, and that word is a tip-off for you. You're lying that in your Bible. Once again, he went outside the lake. Now the lake is the lake, the sea of Galilee, which was a huge lake, but you can see the other side. It was big, but you can see the other side. He went out to the lake because that's where people were. And the tip-off word is again. The great thing about Jesus in Mark's gospel is the word immediately. You will find that word immediately. Guys, if you think Jesus led a boring life, read Mark. That's the gospel for... I think it's really kind of the gospel for guys a lot of times because we get antsy sitting down. I knew I had to be a pastor because I couldn't go to church and sit there all that time. And so Mark is a gospel for men. Immediately, Jesus went here immediately. He did this. Immediately, he did this. Once again, Jesus, the man of action, gets up. He'd been out teaching healing and helping. He goes home. People flood the house. He teaches heals, helps. He gets up. Once again, he goes out to the lake. He goes where people are. And he teaches them. He teaches them because he knows them. And he knows what people are going through. And he knows that here, his people, the Jews, the people he loves are living under Roman domination. And listen, they've been living under Roman domination for years and years and years. And before that, the Jews lived in a Greek domination. Now, it's end of the great. When he swept through the yeast, he took over Israel too. When we forget that, they've been living under bondage. These proud people of God, under the covenant of Abraham, David's descendants, slaves. That's what they were. And he knew that. And he knew how easy it was to get depressed and discouraged. You ever had a great time with the Lord in the morning. You know, you got up. You actually opened, you got up a little earlier, you read your Bible, you spent some time in prayers. One of those great days, you got up, you headed out the door and the first thing. I mean, you actually even got to work without getting annoyed by some driving on the road around here. And but the first thing that happened in the office was, oh, and it just ruined all that good feeling with God. Some of you are saying, yeah, it was when I got out the door or when somebody else in my house, well, God, you can have a great time with God and then be absolutely discouraged the next minute. This is going to be a great day and it turns out the day from hell. Lord Jesus Christ knew how hard it was for us. He knows, as Paul calls life, a struggle, an athletic competition and agony, it is. He knows what you go through. He knew what his people went through back there. And so he came to teach them, to give them hope, to give them truth, to give them a way through life. He still offers that to you and to me. He is an alterably committed to people, preoccupation when people listen. If you are a chance product of evolution, then you're not any worth anything more than an acorn, and you don't have any worth, and you can try and find it yourself, but you never will. But if you're created in the image of God, then Jesus came for you to you and he said, I want to connect you with hope. I want to connect you with the one that can make your life real. So that's why he was preoccupied with people. He can't miss also this second point that Jesus invested in people, verse 14. As he walked along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphia, sitting at the text collector's booth, follow me, Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed night. This is a hard saying, too. It's not the biggest hard saying in this text, but it's a hard saying, because when Jesus calls Levi to follow him, he tells him, listen, you've got to give up that job. The text collector's booth is not going to provide for you what you want. Leave it, follow me. It was not just a simple, hey, let's go down to the cell 11, huh? Let's give a slurpy and talk. He's saying, give it up, follow me. And some of you remember when Jesus did that for you, to you. You remember it like it was yesterday. You heard the gospel someplace, somebody shared Christ with you and you just said, I've got to do this. It was as if Jesus said, you, you, follow me, and you said, okay, you couldn't say no. It's called irresistible grace, but it was a big deal for Matthew because it had a lot of money, influential position, and he was giving up a lot. Leave your day job, follow me, we're going on the road, we're going to deal with people. Not their money, their souls. I was saying that and I often wonder because the text says, what happened when Jesus said that to Matthew, what did he do? Yeah, he got up, he went, I often wonder, had Matthew heard Jesus preach before, had he gone out and listened to Jesus, was he prepared, I don't know, will never, when I get home, I'm going to ask him, I'm going to scare up Matthew and say, what, what was that or was it right then and there? Was it a work of God in your heart right away? I don't know, I want to know. He was giving up a lot. Listen, Matthew had his office strategically located near a road that went really from Egypt to Syria, Israel was right in the middle, he had to get through to Israel, all of the things that traveled on the roads, he got to tax, and by the way, there were no standards, no set standards, tax collectors were shrewd judges of characters. They were arrogant, power people. They were bullies, they would look at some of them and say, I wonder how much I can get from this guy, and they would start doing the immediate calculations in their mind, think I think I can get 30% off of this guy's load, I'm going to go 40 for this guy, but it was me, he said, hey I'm getting 50, but that's how they operated. They were extortionists, traders, rich, but hated, and so when Jesus calls Matthew, he responds, the interesting thing about this, that's pretty unique is Matthew responded because I think something, he knew something was wrong in his soul. He knew something was wrong in his soul, Jesus called Matthew, and Matthew said, yes why? Because I think because he knew that there was deadness in his heart, there was shame and guilt in his life. I think that he knew the life he was living couldn't last that way, couldn't last very long. Why? Because Matthew knew the Old Testament. I read it this morning, I wouldn't even going to tell you this, but I read it this morning, Proverbs 28, because today's August 28, Proverbs 28A, he who increases his wealth by interest and usury, gathers it for him who was gracious to the poor. Matthew wasn't up on the poor, he was skinning everybody, keeping it for himself, Matthew 28 18, he who walks blamelessly will be delivered, but he who is crooked will fall, listen to this, will fall all at once. Matthew had been raised on God's word. Matthew knew that he was building his life on Florida sand and hurricanes coming. He knew it. And I think he knew, I think his heart was dead. I think he hated being disapproved by all the people, and I think he felt so guilty he could taste it. But by the way, that's why he preferred the name Matthew. Matthew 9.9, he uses Matthew for himself rather than Levi. You know why? You're going to find out today whether you want to know or not. Here's why he liked Matthew better than Levi. You know what Levi means? You know what the name Levi means? Neither do I. Newed is any scholar, really know what Levi means, but here are the suggestions. Number one, it could mean from a Hebrew word, from the name, the female name Leah. Imagine a guy trying to keep your self-respectability in your name, really comes from a feminine name. We're not sure it comes from that. It could come from an Arabic word that means one pledged for a debt or a vow. It could mean that the only reason you're here is because I had to pay a vow or a debt. Could come from another Hebrew word, which means to join or twist, licorice comes to mind. I don't know. I can't figure that one out. It comes from another Hebrew word that means a priest. In other words, Levi is an unknown name, Matthew. Matthew means a gift of Jehovah. Matthew liked that name because your identity is wrapped up in your name. He liked a name that said who he was, what his identity was. Your identity Matthew is your gift of God, God has given a gift to you, and you are a gift. You're a gift to the world. You are somebody. You got a name. You don't have this Levi name. Nobody knows what it means. In me you're something, in Jesus you're something, and here we find an incredible truth. In this very hard saying, come follow me, come leave everything you got in the midst of every one of the hard sayings of Jesus is freedom and hope in every one of them. If you'll take the time to look at all the hard sayings of Jesus, they knock you on the head and they bowl you over and you go, whoa, but in every one of them there's freedom and hope. Matthew found that and he was ready for that. He was ready for hope. He was ready for a reason to live. He was ready for a new name. How about you? You might be ready for a new name too. Jesus invested in people and when he said to Matthew, Matthew, your life frankly is amassed. You need what I have. Come follow me. He was saying come live with me. Come stay with me. Let's do this. I'm going to disciple you intensely. That's why these guys were transformed in three years and they in turn changed the world because they spent that intensive time with Jesus and Mark tells us he got up and he followed Jesus. There he was off to build a new life. God is going to build a new person. By the way, let me give you a truth here. Don't invest in a sinking ship just because it's sinking slowly. I mean, just because there's a small hole in the ship that means you should stay on it until it's just about underwater. Matthew knew that he was on a sinking ship so he got off as soon as the better, get off. But the rest of the passage is how he invests in people and Matthew throws this party, doesn't it? I love this text. The next thing we see in this whole passage is that Jesus is the honored guest at Matthew's house, at Matthew's throne, a party because here's another important truth, Jesus loves to invest in you. And I love for what he invests in you to be a flow through to other people. If you were the only person on the face of the earth, Jesus would have come and died and brought you to himself. But that's not the way it is, the way it is, is now he invests in you and he wants you to be seen as a conduit to other people and me too. That's where we get a lot of our joy and hope and meaning in life is being a part of other people's lives. So Matthew throws this incredible party and Jesus is the honored guest. Imagine what they're eating. Can you imagine the conversation with a bunch of raw guys like Matthew, guys that are feeling relaxed with the only group that they ever feel relaxed with a friend of mine, David Murrow, a new friend, wrote a book entitled, Why Men Hate Church? He says men feel more comfortable in a bar than a church. I suspect that all of these guys felt more comfortable in a bar than with Jesus. I also wonder if these guys were kind of put it on even a little thicker because they were around a religious type. They're ever known men to be even ranchier when they're around. People find out I'm a pastor because let me tell you a joke. I love that. I'm really bad jokes. I mean, not they're funny, but they were really bad because they found out I was a pastor. I think maybe they did that with Jesus, verse 15, while Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house. Many tax collectors and sinners were eating with them and his disciples. For there were many who followed him, that's telling. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked the disciples, why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? The word is repeated over and over, so we would get the feel for what's going on. Do you hear it roll off the Pharisees' lips? Why is he with the sinners? Emphasis on snarl, emphasis on dirt, emphasis on these are not people to be around. Jesus likes to be with sinners. Jesus hears that I love Jesus when he does this. He just shoots it straight. He said, I didn't come for you, wow, the original text says, it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I'm not come to call the righteous, but sinners. He said, I didn't come for you. Jesus loves to be around sinners. I don't care if they're wealthy or poor. He likes to be around sinners. Some of you are saying, oh, wait a minute, and you're clicking through your theological categories and you're saying the holiness of God, the sovereignty of God, God hates sin, right? God cannot gaze on sin. Okay, I'll grant you all that. True, that's all true, right? Yeah, grant you that. Why did Jesus spend most of his waking hours with sinners? What motivated him in the morning to get up was sinners, cultural scum. What he poured his best waking hours into were sinners and when he spoke to one group of sinners, he went to another group of sinners and when he was done without that group of sinners because they'd become followers, he went to another group of sinners. He loved sinners. That's where they went. That was his, it's the largest market niche on earth. Listen, as long as there's sinners, I got a job. I like that. As long as there's sinners, you got a reason for being on earth. Jesus loved them. Those are the people he loved. Do you notice that when Jesus uses the word sinner, it doesn't roll off of his lips as a condemnation? The Pharisees say, why are you with sinners? Jesus says, I came to call sinners. It's kind of a fact for him because Jesus loved sinners. I came to call sinners. That's what I'm about. It's kind of like a cancer surgeon saying, I love to be around people with cancer because I can help with it. I'm glad to be around people with cancer because I want to help. The people he didn't want to be around with are healthy. Who are the healthy, by the way, according to Jesus in this text, is the hard saying, I didn't come to call the healthy. The healthy are non-religious types who don't think they need God and religious types who don't think they need God because they're doing all the religious things to get accepted. So whether a healthy person in Jesus terminology is someone who is so mentally self deceives, their soul is so messed up that they don't think they need God in any way. It's to the sick, the sinners that Jesus comes and offers grace, people like Matthew, let me tell you. We talk about grace around a lot around here, don't we? We do. I'm about grace. We talk a lot about grace. The gospel is a gospel of grace, but I'm going to tell you, I got a list of six things that tick me off about grace. I'm going to give it to you today. Number one, the people who I don't really believe deserve grace get it and that ticks me on. Like Matthew, Matthew's a person I really want to hate as an IRS agent, he gets grace. The second problem I have with grace is people expect it from me but don't extend it to me. You're a pastor. You have to be nice. You've got to be gracious. We'll extend it to me and maybe I'll extend it to you. No, the point is of grace, it's a problem I have with grace. I don't always extend it. People expect it. Number three, third problem I have with Christian employees use it to justify insubordination, laziness, ineffectiveness and poor stewardship. God will forgive me. I don't have to work hard. I'm going to see what I can get away with here. It burns me and God forgives those people. We have to take their salvation away from them and send them to a place where it's really hot. Number four, Christians use it to live self-indulgent lives. I do whatever I want. He'll forgive me. I don't forget my sister and I'll be driving down the street. Miami was four of us in the car and I missed the turn. She said, you can just do a U-turn here and go back and confess it later. Science said no U-turn. She said thanks. You know what? She's right. I could have done it and confessed it and God would have forgiven me. Text me off. When you do it, when you do it. Number five, people use it to deflect legitimate criticism. You give them honest criticism and they say, well, that wasn't very gracious. Was it truth? Grace and truth kind of go hand in hand. You're not being very gracious. It's hot. Text me off. And Jesus forgives those people. Number six. People use it to justify sinful acts or drop their commitments to other. He's a Christian. He'll forgive me. I won't go to church today and do my time in the nursery because somebody else will show up and do the ministry. You say that. You'll get the fever and die. Trust me on that. I will... What bothers me about that is I cannot use guilt to properly motivate you in this church to get involved in ministries and God forgives you. He forgives me. I'm with grace but Jesus doesn't and it's so costly. It took his death to give you that grace, to give me that grace so costly but once he earned it, he just pours it out on everybody all the time. What can we take away from this hard saying of Jesus? Three quick applications. Number one, it's personal. It's really personal. I guess the thought of this is that once we started talking about this hard saying, didn't certain things come out? Didn't it make it a little bit? Now, maybe not. Maybe you're going to walk out of here saying that's as clear as mud, Pete. I don't understand the text but the more we talk about these things, the clearer it got, probably. We want to change the culture around Willa Creek Church. And that is we want to see our families worshipping together and then studying together. We've been structured in such a way that our family, a lot of times, we have youth in our church that have never been to a worship service or hardly ever and you're glad because you don't want them here, bugging you, I know. But you know what? We need to worship together more as a family and we want to challenge you to come earlier to church and then as we go to the three service model, September 11th, start September 11th. Get into one of the grace learning communities, stay another hour and study the word. Just out of ways doing an incredible job of lining up teachers and classes, they're going to be interesting and challenging and we'll have a lot for you in the long run. Challenge you and encourage you to get into studying God's word deeper. You need more than a sermon. You need more than a sermon. And as we study God's word, His truth comes out and it encourages us. Secondly, the second application, I guess it's personal too. And that is the challenge to understand that God loves pagans like Matthew. Now, think of the person that you've just absolutely given up on. Persons, you're tired, that you have to see every day in the office or live with on the same block or in the same neighborhood. You are sick of those people. They're disgusting at how they treat women in the office, they're unfaithful, they are, they tell dirty jokes, they irritate you, you want to see them go to heaven quickly. Or not go and you don't really care. They're the people that irritate you. Those are your Matthews. Because Matthew was like that. Those are your Matthews. And you know the longer we're around Christians, we know we're not perfect but we'd rather be around ourselves than Matthews. So call it throw party, throw a Matthews party. That's what church is by the way anyway, church on, bring him here, bring him to your house. Church is Matthew's party, it's a celebration of who God is. Here's a church in Southern California named Matthew's party. That was the name of the church. And I thought this guy's nuts and then I thought about that. That's what it is. This is celebration. It folded didn't last. But it's a great idea because what we're about as a party, what God is, what he has done and who Jesus, what he's done in our life, this is a part, bring him to the party. Bring him to your party. Teach your kids how to be around pagans. Sure. Keep your kids from the wrong kids. You got to do that, parents. You got to do that. Bad company corrupts good morals or bad company makes bad morals worse. But the reality is, is you got to watch who your kids are around but you also got to teach your kids how to be around pagans, bring them into your house on your turf. Show them how you relate to pagans and how you deal with some of the weird bad things they say but you love them anyway. And then the other application, the last application really is, is well, it's personal too. Jesus showed grace to sinners, isn't it neat when you think about it that you're just the kind of person he likes to be around. You say, I'm not a sinner anymore, I'm a Christian. All right, it's semantics. It's semantics. You're a sinner saved by grace. Or as Martin Luther said, you're a sinner saved. But do you still sin? All right. You're just the kind of person he likes to be around. He likes being around me. And he came to see, he loved you when you were unacceptable and he's making you more acceptable. He didn't try to make you acceptable and then love you. Grace is that he took you the way you were, but he loves you too much to leave you that way. So by association, you're just being changed but isn't it great to know on those days when you get up, was it hard getting up this morning? I know the biggest battles are Sunday morning getting those kids up. You know, knocking them out of bed with a baseball bat, getting some food down them, getting them here. I mean, you feel real spiritual by the time you get here. And some of you stayed up late, too late too late last night. I know. And you're grumbling and it was, you know, do you often feel unspiritual and have a rough edge and you rip out an expletive every once in a while? I know you do because I'm around you. And I know what it's like. Isn't it great to know when you don't feel very acceptable and very spiritual that Jesus loves to be around people just like you? So it'll be so hard on yourself. Don't go out here and cuss just to cuss. But when you question, when you're upset, when you don't feel very spiritual, isn't it nice to know that Jesus likes to be around people just like you? Oh, there is one application, others. For the healthy people. For you, healthy ones. For some of you who may actually be thinking, I don't know, I'm checking this out because there's a little crack that's beginning to show in my life. And maybe you're not so healthy and maybe you're coming to the point where you realize maybe you're not as healthy as you thought you were. I just encourage you to get a, I got a Bible, you can take one of those at the, it's a New Testament. Read, read about Jesus, invite him into a dialogue. You ask him to come, he will come because he likes to be around people who are questioning how healthy they really are and just listen. And you will find some hard sayings. He doesn't need a relationship with you. He's got a lot of people, but he wants it and he calls you and he offers, he offers freedom and hope, take him up on it and take it to heart. We end our time this morning, would you please stand and let's pray together as God's holy people. Father, we love you and we're so thankful this morning that as we come into your presence and as we hear your word that Lord you would enable us as your people to know that you love to be around us, Lord changes by association with you. Thank you for coming after people just like us. Thank you for hammering us when we need it. It's softening us as well. Thank you that Lord you bring to our lives the perfect balance of truth and love. Lord set us free this week. We pray through your hard sayings, through your love for we pray in your holy name. Amen. And now unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think according to his power that is at work within us, that he will be the glory and the church and in Christ Jesus forever and forever. Willow Creek Church is associated with the Presbyterian Church in America. Our website is www.Willow Creek Church.org and our phone number is 407-699-8211.