Lemanuel Williams: Let's go before the Lord in prayer. Father, we come to you this evening, knowing that you are the way maker, you are a miracle worker. You are the miracle worker. The reason why we are here this evening is because you have worked in our hearts and done a new thing in us, Lord. And as we gather here, Lord, as new creations in you, we are grateful, Father, for the work you've done in our hearts. And Lord, we know that you are the only one in this moment that could speak to our hearts as we open your word and we desire to hear from you, Lord. I pray that we would open our mouths wide and be able to receive the bread that you want to give us. That it will be, Lord, unto us the nourishment we need for our soul. Many of us, Lord, have come in in different places. Some of us tired, weary, in need of rest. Lord, may your word give us that rest. Some of us, Lord, in a place where we're anxious and lacking contentment, may your word, Lord, calm and quiet our hearts and bring that contentment to us where we'll be satisfied in you. Father, I pray just lift us up in this moment by your word and by the power of your spirit. Transform us more into the image of Jesus Christ. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. And Amen. You may be seated in the. In fact, stand for the reading of the Word of God's words. That was in the zone, man, right there with the Lord. Prayer. Turn with me to Luke chapter 11. What I'm hoping as we read his word this evening is that you will be as amazed as the disciples were when they heard these words from Jesus. We're going to read them out loud and then. Will be seated. Here it is. Luke chapter 11, verse 1 and 2. Hear the word of the Lord. Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. And when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. And he said to them, When you pray, say, Father, or our Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom comes. The truth of the text we'll see this evening is in his presence the Father gives us amazing love. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Now we typically hear these words that Jesus began to pray and we take them for granted. ⁓ but there is a long journey. There's a whole history that leads up to these words. And I want to journey to through that history, and I want you to journey with me in it. It was in the cool of the day that Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden when he created them. And every day they that they walked with him. They learn more about him. I want you to use your imagination. Can you imagine Adam in those first moments? God forms him of the dust, and then he breathes his breath into their nostrils. He comes to life, and he just like a baby coming out of the womb in his first breath, and ⁓ he comes to life. His eyes are open. And he thinks to himself, Who am I? And who is this God that just created me? It's the question that's most important. And at first it was the greatest question that I bet could be on his mind. But as we know the story goes, as time goes on, it becomes a secondary question. The question goes from who is God to what became most important, why can't I eat from that tree? We're all like Adam. We have everything and more than what we need. And the one thing we need, we don't want. And the one thing we want and can't have, we're willing to give up paradise for it. It's just like us, though. We have everything we need, and yet our eyes become fixated on one thing that God tells us no to. We convince ourselves that if we can have that relationship, if we can have that promotion, if we can have that opportunity, if we can have more possessions, then we would be happy. And Adam learned something about God the hard way, as we know. God wasn't withholding something good from him, he was protecting him from something destructive to him. Haven't you come to know God this way too? How many times have you looked back over the years and later thank God for saying no to something that you once thought that you couldn't live without? Let me get back to the story real quick. They say, hey, why can't I eat the fruit from the tree? Eventually they would learn the answer to that question. That answer was very easy to grasp. But in reaching for that forbidden fruit, they lost access to something that was infinitely greater. They lost the privilege of walking with God in the cool of the day, growing deeper every day and answering the greatest question that a human being could ever ask. Who is this God? From the moment that the angel of the Lord stood in E in Enon's ⁓ entrance and with a flaming sword and guarding his the way back into God's presence, human history continue to echo that question over and over again. Who who is this God? Well, things get a little bit better. But Genesis tells us that the wickedness of man became so great that every intention and thought of man's heart was only evil continuously. Violence began to fill the earth. And so the world God created wasn't as it was supposed to be. So he determines that he's going to judge the earth. And he finds this man named Noah. Now, I don't know exactly how Noah came to know God. Maybe it was ⁓ Methuselah. ⁓ man who lived 969 years, he very well ⁓ knew Adam himself, may have. ⁓ maybe they sat around a campfire. He sat with Noah and he told him, Man, let me tell you about the God of Adam who walked with me, ⁓ walked with Adam inside of the garden. I I don't know how he knew it. It wasn't like there was a bunch of Christians in churches around during that time. But here's what I do know: the n the same God that Adam walked with in the garden, Noah walked with too. And one day God says to Noah, Hey, I've had enough of this. Wickedness increasing inside of my world. Build a boat. I'm going to judge the earth. And through this, I'm through your life, I'm actually going to preserve human life. Now, Noah had already learned a whole bunch about God. He said he walked with God. But I bet every tree that he cut down, and every board that he fastened, and every nail that he drove in, and every day his neighbors mocked him, he kept learning something new about God. He says, Build a boat. Now you imagine yourself being Noah, hammering away for decades, never having seen rain. That's what the scholars say. Rain hadn't come from the sky yet. Everybody else is wondering why you're crazy. Have you ever obeyed God and wondered if your obedience was actually accomplishing anything? You keep praying, you keep serving, you keep giving, you keep trusting, and nothing seems to be changing. Noah came to know something new about God. That God's promises don't depend on whether we can see them. They depend on whether he has spoken them. Haven't you come to know God in this way too? I bet we have. We'll get back to the story. Who is this God? Well, we had Noah, I know he had known enough about God to spend decades building this boat before a single raindrop ever fell to the ground. But one thing Noah learned during that time is that this God isn't distant. He isn't merely in heaven watching history unfold. He's the kind of God who gets involved in ordinary lives and ordinary days. He's the kind of God who helps a man build a boat and helps him map out how the boat's gonna be built to preserve life. Then we know in the story the rain begins to come. The fountains of the deep burst open. And the heavens begin to pour down this rain that was never before seen. The earth is judged. And Noah and his family, they're saved through the very boat God instructed him to build. Nearly a year passes, scholars say. Imagine that. Almost a year floating out in the water, seeing no life, no land, and little by little the floodwaters begin to disappear. Like a lake shrinking inside of a drought, as we've seen some of that even recently. Dry ground begins to appear. And day after day, the massive ark, another inch it goes lower until finally, the first time in nearly a year, Noah and his family step onto dry ground. Can you imagine what they smelled when they got on that dry ground? It's probably the stench of death all around, hanging in the air. After all, they just saw the whole world die. And surely they're asking after getting off that boat, who in the world is this God? What one thing they know is he doesn't play with sin. He judges it. But almost immediately after stepping off the ark, get this. Noah plants a vineyard. That's what the story says. This is the first thing he plants, and he drinks too much wine, passes out drunk. Now, don't understand me. I'm not encouraging drunkenness, but I am saying this. The brother just went through a whole lot. He just saw the whole world destroyed. And now the responsibility of filling the entire earth rests on his family. Before we finish the next chapter in that story, sin is already making a comeback, isn't it? Chaos is already returning back in the world. Which makes you wonder: if this God judged sin, he knows it's gonna happen again. What's his family? If they're already having this chaos, sin's gonna have chaos and continue on. Why doesn't he just go on and wipe them out? Who is this God? Here's what Noah learns. He's patient. He is wonderfully patient. Though humanity immediately begins repeating the same rebellion, God is slow to anger. He is abounding in steadfast love. He's not merely the God of second chances, he's a God of countless mercies. Who is this God? He's the one who sees humanity multiplying, and he knows inevitably sin's going to continue multiplying. So he begins another chapter in his plan. He comes to another man. Abraham. Now I don't know exactly how Abraham first came to know God either. Chronologically, it's possible that Noah was still alive. In fact, Noah lived 350 years after the flood. Maybe Abraham met Noah. Maybe he met his son Shim. Maybe one evening Shem sat with Abraham and he sat him down and he says, let me tell you about the God who judged the world and saved our family through the flood. I I don't know how he knew him. But here's what I do know: the same God Adam walked with in the garden, the same God Noah trusted through the flood. Now speaks to Abraham. And he tells Abraham, Leave your country. I want you to leave your family. I want you to leave everything that's familiar to you, and I'm going to make you into a great nation. And through you all the families of the earth will be blessed. There's only a couple of problems for why he's telling Abraham this is actually too. God never told Abraham where to go, he just said, Go. And according to Hebrews, I love how Paul says this. Abraham, he says in Hebrews, he was as he's so old, he was as good as dead. Sarah, his wife, is barren, far beyond childbearing years. And and humanly speaking, the family is just, they can't start anything. Yet Abraham trusted. Not because he had every answer, not because he began to know this God. ⁓ in the old ways, but because he be he was stepping out in the unknown and beginning to know him in new ways. Every year he's waiting, every year disappointed, every year promised something, but the promise is repeated over and over again, but he's not seeing it. Abraham's led to ask again, Who is this God? Then one day, against all biological responsibility or possibility. And against all medical expectations, against every human calculation, his son Isaac is born. Imagine waking up. You imagine being Abraham. Waking up every birthday, another year older, another year waiting, another year wandering. Have you ever had to wait on the Lord? Not for days, but for years. Abraham learned that God is rarely early, but he's never late. Having many of us come to know God in this way? Looking back, where we realize that his timing is always better than ours. And Abraham learned something else about this God. He's a God who keeps every promise he makes. He's a God who brings life where there's death. He is a God from whom nothing is impossible. So who is this God? Generations pass. Abraham's family actually does become a great nation. Only they're led into captivity in the Egyptian Empire. They become slaves. 400 years they're making bricks, whips on their backs, crying out to heaven, wondering if the God of Abraham still remembers them. Maybe, you know, the parents of the Israelites are sitting at their Egyptian dinner tables and they're telling their children, you know, your great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Abraham knew this God. He promised us a land, he promised us descendants, he promised to bless the nations through us. I don't know how the children of Israel came to know this God, but here's what I do know: one ordinary day in the back side of the desert, a bush begins to start burning. It's burning, but it's not being consumed. And as there's this fugitive criminal who fled Egypt, his name is Moses. And he's now a shepherd shepherding the sheep on the backside of the desert. And he sees this burning bush and he walks over to investigate it. You imagine hearing your name cried out from that bush. Then imagine God telling you, from that burning bush, he's going to send you back to the place where you're an outlaw to stand before the most powerful ruler on the earth with no weapons, no armies, just you and your cousin in a stick. And you're gonna say to him, that's a staff actually he had. You're gonna say to him, I hey, I'm gonna need you to let these slaves or your entire workforce that is building up this empire, I'm gonna need to let you look, I'm gonna need you to let them go, or else we're gonna have some problems. Have you ever felt completely inadequate for what God was calling you to do? Like Moses, we've all asked, Who am I? Moses lean he's gonna learn something about God. That God isn't calling him to be grounded inside of his ability. He's grounding him to be able to do what he's do according to him being in God's presence. Haven't you come to know God in this way too? Some of the greatest things God has done in our lives came after we're able to admit, I can't. We get back to the story. And God of Abraham, he speaks to Moses. He says, I've certainly seen the affliction of my people. I've heard their cries. I know their suffering. I've come down to deliver them. Who is this God? Moses learned he is a God who sees. He is a God who hears. He is the God who comes down to deliver his people. And then they watch his deliverance. Plague after plague, he humiliates the Egyptian Empire. The Nile turns to blood. The darkness covers the land. The firstborn died. The blood of the spotless land covers the people. But then there's a twist. He delivers them and then he places them in a pet a place that's impossible for them to get out of. They stand trapped, if you know the story, between mountains on two sides, Pharaoh behind them, the sea in front of them. Who is this God? This God that would lead them out but leave them to be trapped. Well, we know He's a God of deliverance. The waters split. The walls of the water stand on either side. Israel walks across dry ground, and Pharaoh's army behind them is swallowed up. It's amazing. God parts this ocean, but yet we see this. Three days later, they're worried about the water about drinking water. Before we're Too hard on Israel though. Here's what I want us to ask. Isn't that us? God answers one prayer and we're already anxious about the next problem. Yet every morning, manna still falls from heaven for them. Israel learned that God keeps providing even when his people keep doubting him. Haven't you come to know him this way? Who is this God? Israel learned he is the deliverer. Then they enter a wilderness. No grocery stores, no. GPS, no wells to drink from, just millions of people following a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. And every morning, bread falls from heaven. We take this for granted. Bread falls from heaven. When they're thirsty, water comes from a rock. The clothes that they wear, they don't wear out, the scriptures say. Their feet don't swell, even though they're traveling long. Who is this God? Israel ends up learning he's a provider. Then they arrive at Mount Sinai and they learn something else about this God. Thunder comes upon it, lightning comes, smoke comes, fire comes, and the mountain trembles under their feet, and the people are afraid to come near it. And they're gonna learn who is this God? He is holy, nothing to be played with. But then this holy God does something astonishing. He tells them, I want you to build me a tabernacle in your midst. Why? Because the God whose presence mankind lost in the garden now desires to dwell among his people again. And when the tabernacle is finished, the cloud descends, the scripture says, and the glory of the Lord fills it. Then the same God who walked with Adam now dwells in the midst of Israel. And generation after generation, story after story, miracle after miracle, people keep asking: who is this God? Adam learned he walks with his people. Noah learned he judges sin and yet he's patient. Abraham learned he keeps his promises. Moses learned that he hears the cries of his people. Israel learned he delivers. And they also learned he provides, that he's holy, that he dwells amongst his people. But there were still more to know. And prophet after prophet, the question keeps echoing across history: Who is this God? As he said, Adam learned that he wasn't a God that withholds good. Noah learned that the word can be trusted by him. Abraham learned that his promises never fail. Moses learned that his presence is enough. Israel learned that he provides for his people in generation in generation, story after story, the miracle after miracle. They kept learning about this God, and yet they asked the question: Who is this God? And we get to our text. And Jesus opens his mouth. And with two words, That had never been spoken, couldn't even be fathomed. He gives the fullest answer anyone has ever given. He says to his disciples, When you pray, say our Father. Who is this God? Our Father. When you arrive at Luke chapter 11, the disciples are not coming to Jesus because they've never prayed before. Every faithful Jew would have prayed. They knew the Psalms, they knew the synagogue prayers, they knew the liturgies. No, they're asking something much deeper. They're saying, Jesus, the God that Adam walked with, the God that Noah trusted. The God that Abraham followed, the God who appeared to Moses, the God who led Israel by cloud and by a pillar of fire by night, this God whose glory filled the tabernacle, we know him like Israel knows him. But teach us to know him like you know him. Teach us to know him the way you know him. And Jesus says in verse 2: when you pray, pray our Father. My friends, this is the summit of the revelation of who this God is. And it must be the truth that controls our life and our prayer life. J.R. Packer says it this way. If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child and having God as their father as his father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his outlook of life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new and better than the old, everything that is distinctly Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. Father is the Christian name for God. Our Father. It must become more than just words we speak, it must become the reality we live in, friends. And I'm afraid too many of us know him like the Jews knew him, but we don't know him like Jesus knew him. Added that, our context as well. Our temptation is to hear the word father and define God by the Father we actually knew in our earthly life. For some of us, father meant because we had a good father, safety, presence, steadiness, love. But for many others, it meant he was absent. It's a disappointment. You know, he he encouraged fear. Or he's someone that you never really knew. The research simply confirms that what many of us have already lived is this. Children actually don't merely need a father's name on their birth certificate or just his provision. They need the father's presence, his affection, they need his protection, they need his encouragement. Because when it's missing, when a child is missing this, a child doesn't simply grow up without a father in the home. They often grow up never hearing words like this. I see you. I'm proud of you. You're safe with me. You don't have to worry about carrying all that by yourself, son or daughter. You failed, but you're still mine. Then that child will grow up, and without such a loving ⁓ presence, They'll walk inside of a church and a chapel like this, and they'll hear Jesus' words. When you pray, say Father, but without realizing it, we often pour our earthly experiences into our heavenly Father's name. If your father was absent, you may believe that God exists, but you'll struggle to believe that He's truly near. If your father's love depended on performance, you may spend your whole Christian life trying to earn love from your father. Even though you already have it from the Father. You've been given it in Christ. If your father was harsh and unpredictable, or simply you couldn't trust him, you may find it difficult to rest, difficult to pray, difficult to believe that surrender is actually safe to the Father in heaven. So instead, you carry everything by yourself. And you can see it in your own heart, and this is how we see it in our heart. We easily we'll call God Lord, but we won't call him Father. When you believe he's powerful, but you actually struggle to believe that he's tender. When you believe that you could seek forgiveness, but you never seek his affection. When you obey like an employee trying to keep his job, instead of like a son and daughter who already belong inside of a father's house. Without realizing it, my friends, what I'm telling you is we begin creating God in the image of our earthly fathers. But no earthly father, not even the best one, is the definition of fatherhood. Every good father reflects the Father of Heaven, and every broken father distorts what the Father of Heaven looks like. But neither one of those fathers defines what the Father of Heaven is like. God is not called Father because He resembles our earthly fathers. Earthly fathers are called fathers because they were created to resemble him. Jesus is the one who gives us the word father in its true meaning. And this is where Jesus says about him. Listen to what Jesus says about him. I can't go through every text. That this father is not distant. He's present. He's not disengaged. He knows what you need before you even ask him. He's not unpredictable. There's no shifting shadow in him. He does not divide his affection between households. No, in Christ you've been given a permanent place in the family household. He does not make promises and fail to appear. No. Every promise of God finds its yes in Jesus Christ. He does not use his authority to harm you. He uses his power to protect you, to provide for you, to correct you, to bring you home. He does not love you because you perform well enough to become his child through no, no, no. Through Christ, he has made you his child. And because you're his child, you will never again have to wonder these things. Does my father see me? Will my father hear me? Will my father keep his word or his promise? Will my father still Want me after I've failed. Your heavenly father has already answered those things, friend. He not only sees you, but his eye attends to that if it attends to the sparrow. He's paying much more attention to you than he is that. He not only hears you, his ear is inclined to you. He not only keeps his word to you, but every promise he gives you, he has the power to actually see it through. He will not leave you when you're faithless and you failed because his faithfulness and love is so strong that it will never fail. And that's why Paul writes these words about the Father's love in Romans 8:31 through 39. Listen to what he says. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own, the God the Father, who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? What shall bring who shall bring a charge against God's elect or his children? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who is raised, who is at the right hand of God, who is indeed interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written. For your sake, we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to the slaughter. Paul says to that: No. In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. My friends, he did not spare his own son. He gave up his son. That we may become sons and daughters. And if he did not spare his own son, beloved, this should show you how much the Father actually loves you. I was ⁓ dancing with my daughter the other night. ⁓ and you know, look at her, she's beautiful, gorgeous. And ⁓ as I finish later on, get in the bed, and I'm talking to Sarah. And I told her, Man, babe, there's nothing I wouldn't do for that girl. No, no, I wouldn't do for my daughters in general, any of my children. And I said, if anything ever harmed her, I can't, that Joker in the future, I don't know who he's gonna be, but if anything ever harmed her, I would move heaven and earth to protect her. Brothers and sisters, if I, a flawed earthly father, love my children like that, how much more does your heavenly father love you? This is what John says. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. The Father didn't merely say he loved you, he gave his son for you. He gave his son so that whoever believes in him, it goes on. They will not perish, but they will have eternal life. I want you to think about that. He didn't simply save you from something, he saved you into something. What what what is this eternal life that he's talking about that John talks about? Paul says it here in Romans 8:15 through 17. He says, You have received the Spirit of Adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs. Those words, Abba, Father, they're remarkable. Abba, as we would know, it's like a ⁓ a translation ⁓ in the in the normal nomenclature where they would they would say daddy or something like that. It isn't merely a title, it's a language of intimacy, it's a language of being home. A while back ago, our church plant team went bowling. ⁓ and one of the couples who are no longer with us, ⁓ Nikila and Jerry, we miss them dearly. ⁓ they were very competitive when they were there. And ⁓ Jerry goes and he throws this strike, man, and he was feeling himself. So he's coming back and you know he's striking like he won the World Series or something like that. And ⁓ his wife yells out from across the bowling alley and she was like, Let's go, Pookie! Best mob Pookie! Right. I I never knew he had that name. And in fact, for me, I'm never gonna use that name for him, right? And on top of that, no woman better ever use that name for him, right? That was Nikila's name for him. Why? Because names like that don't come from a distance, they come from shared life, they came from deep love and intimacy. That's what Paul is saying. Through Christ, the Spirit teaches us to cry out this name like Puki. This ain't really Puki, but he tells us Abba Father. Not because we've earned the privilege to say that, but because we've been adopted into his family. And Jesus tells us exactly what that means in John 17, 3. Listen to what he says. This is eternal life. Where he says, Father, this is eternal life. That they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. Notice what he doesn't say here. He doesn't say that eternal life is merely living forever. He says, eternal life is this knowing the Father. Not simply knowing about him, but sharing life with him. Peter said that this way in 2 Peter 1, 3 through 4. He says, His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature. What does it mean to become partakers of the divine nature? One of the great theologians in the early church, Athanasius, he summarized it this way. It's a publisher statement intrigued Christians for centuries. He said, God became man so that man might become God. Now, before we start preaching heresy, let me let me back this up. He's not saying that we become God in our essence or by our nature. What Athanace meant here is through Christ we're so united to God that we begin to participate in the life of God, in his love, and his fellowship, in his family. That is what eternal life is. Let me unpack this. Have you ever admired someone's life so deeply? That you wish that you can like step into their life and begin living their life. Not just observe it, not just learn about it, but actually participate in that kind of life. I remember when I moved to Rocky Mount, I met a man, some of you know him, Jeff Marshall. I admire him very deeply. ⁓ not because what he owned, not because anything else about his pedigree or anything. It was just the type of man that he was. Faithful husband, a loving father, godly mentor of the many men. And as time went on, I I started following Jeff, spent a lot of time with him. And the more I became a part of his life, the more I would randomly stop at his house and hang out with the family and begin sharing meals with them and join in on their family traditions and even Thanksgiving with them. Before long, I was almost like a Marshall Marcel. That's their last name, Jeff Marshall. ⁓ it felt like a second home to me. And why did that happen? Because The love that they had for me didn't simply just say, hey, observe our life. He said, hey, we want to invite you into our life. That is exactly what the Father is saying to every one of us. You don't have to stand at a distance and merely admire God's life, the life of the triune God that existed before in eternity past. He's saying, Hey, I want to bring you into the life that the triune God is experiencing. This is our inheritance. And right now through the Holy Spirit, we participate in the life, in the love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We do that partially now, but one day it will be fully ours. That's our inheritance. And when that begins to settle inside of our heart, this is what happens. Adoration begins to arise in our hearts. You don't merely worship because what God has done, you worship because you know who He is. So how do we actually practice that? Let me give you some Some some very practical things of how to practice adoration in His presence. First, sing until your heart catches up with the truth. There will be days when you don't feel like worshiping. I want you to sing anyway. So we're talking about practicing his presence. ⁓ you can do this day to day, not because you're pretending everything's okay, not because you're not because ⁓ everything is okay, but but you're reminding your soul what is true. Sometimes our emotions don't lead us in worship. Sometimes worship leads our emotions back to God. So song actually allows us to speak to God with our whole being, our mind, our will, our emotion. So I encourage you, find a course, a worship song, maybe one line in that course. Sing that ⁓ as you're practicing adoration in the presence of God. Second thing, pray God's word until it becomes your own. So I encourage you, open up the psalm specifically. The psalms are songs that you could read and sing. ⁓ don't try singing it alone. Find a song and singer that can actually sing the psalm. But read them slowly, I encourage you. ⁓ when a phrase captures your heart, stop, pray on it. Pray one of the one of the phrases, you're my refuge, or ⁓ you are my shepherd, or you're you're my steadfast love and the the love that will endure forever. You can pray one of these lines and just meditate on them. When you don't know what to pray, you can look to God's word in the Psalms in prayer. Another way to Practice adoration is reverse ⁓ rehearse the ⁓ rehearse the father's love every day. So this is something ⁓ we've ⁓ my wife and I have been trying to practice on a day-to-day basis. At the end of the day, replay with with with the father what your day looked like. Thank him for every evidence of his love being there. Your first sip of coffee, or the laughter you had with your child, or the conversation that you needed to have, ⁓ the strength that you were given to keep going, whatever that is. The mercy that you actually overlook. Then ask yourself two questions. Father, where was I most aware of your love today? And then ask, Where did I where did I live today as though I were alone? Not because the Father ever left you, but because our awareness of his presence often comes and goes. But there will be days as we practice adoration inside of his presence, and I want to rush to close with this, where singing actually feels impossible, where the psalms feel distant. Where gratitude actually feels difficult. And what do you do then? I want you to take a moment, as we talked about last week, and be still, as we learned last week. And remember, take a moment to receive the love the Father has already revealed in Christ. And even if you don't feel like it, practice adoration, anyways. One author calls this defiant adoration. In Acts 16, we see this. Paul and Silas there. Falsely accused, they're being beaten with rods, they they're thrown into this prison and ⁓ their backs are bleeding, their feet are chained to to these chains, and it feels like darkness is surrounding all of them. And what do they do in the midst of that? They begin praying and singing hymns. Why? Not because the pain has stopped, not because the prison doors finally had opened, not because their circumstances had changed. They sing because their circumstances could not change who their father was. or who they were to him. The prison can find their bodies, but it cannot separate them from their father's love. That is what defiant adoration looks like. It's not pretending that everything is okay. It is declaring that God is still good. It is looking into the darkness and saying, I don't understand why I'm here, but I know whose I am. My father has not abandoned me. My father still sees me. My father still loves me. And nothing in all of creation can separate me from his love. And when you know a love like that, you can sing at midnight. You can worship while you wait. You can adore him before the chains ever fall off. Because your adoration is not rooted in changing circumstances. It is rooted in the unchanging love of the Father. And that's why, no matter where you are or what you're walking through, you could sing this old hymn. I'll repeat it to you. How deep the Father's love for us. How vast beyond all measure. That He would give His only Son to make a wretch. His treasure. Behold the man upon the cross, my sin upon his shoulders. Asham I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers, it was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished. How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns his face away, as wounds which mar the chosen one bring many sons. To glory. I will not boast in anything. No gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart: his wounds have paid my ransom. And because he has done that, my friends, we can say, as Paul says. You can go confidently and boldly before the throne as his children and pray as Jesus says in our text, our Father who is in heaven. Thomas asked Jesus, and the disciples asked him, Jesus, show us the Father. Thomas says, and Jesus says, Man, you've been with me this entire time, Thomas. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. If you've seen the Father's love, Jesus' love for you on the cross, then you know the Father's love for you right now inside of your life. My friends. And that's why we can cry out, our Father who is in heaven. Let us pray. Heavenly Father. We thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, that you are a Father who will never abandon us. You're a Father who keeps his promises. Lord, that you are a Father that provides for us. Even when we thank, Lord, what we want is what's best for us. You provide what we need. Lord, to continue to flourish and have abundant life. I just pray this evening, Lord, as we come to know you more and more as Father, grow us in adoration and love for you. As we recognize your love for us. Lord, may we Grow deeper in that love, and as we grow deeper in that love, people will begin to see that love in our lives and how we love others. And even the world will know us by our love for one another. I just pray, Lord, continue to use us, Lord, as a church to be a people that die deeper in love for one another and for you, and that you will be glorified. Through us being a people of adoration and practicing that adoration in your presence. All this we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. And so we have a few moments here where we're going to be able to turn and practice that adoration right now. ⁓ and be able to stand and sing in a moment in response to God's word. We'll also have a moment where we're going to take communion and remember the love that was given to us through Jesus Christ and his body broken for us, his blood shed for us. This act of love that we can see that should cause us to be able to rejoice and express love back to our King Jesus. ⁓ before we do that this this this evening, I want to just put the opportunity out there, man. Maybe you don't know this love. You don't have God as Father. ⁓ you are far away from Him. And let me just tell you, He's near to you and He's seeking after you. He wants to know you. And I'd love for you to Know what the gospel is, this good news that could draw you in, hearing about Jesus Christ's life, his death, his resurrection, and all he's done so that you can be saved and know God as Father. If you have questions about the gospel, I'll be in the back as we begin singing. ⁓ but we would love for you to know Jesus Christ. Take him instead of coming up to take the communion this evening. Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. ⁓ we'd love to guide you there. As again, I'll be in the back. Love to answer any of your questions about that. But friends, now let's stand. We're gonna begin singing to our King, expressing our adoration because the great love he has had for us.