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Now what's really interesting is that in order to be a Jew you can be a practicing Jewish person or you can be culturally Jew you don't have to be both anyone whose mother is Jewish is automatically in the tribe is is part of the Jewish people that being said and I cannot remember exactly when that switch occurred but during Jesus' day he was he found his lineage through Joseph because Joseph is descended so it used to be found through the father's line but now and for a long time now I can't remember I've looked this up before but now it is through the mother's line that that heritage is found and there are a lot of Jews today who are culturally Jewish but but not practicing their faith we have some key teachings that we are familiar with that they they turn to which the Torah is one Torah well write down some words Torah and this specifically we think think of it as law but really the the translation of Torah is arrow that hits the mark arrow that hits the mark and see it's a picture language it's a picture language so so the Torah itself is the Pentateuch it's the first five books in the Bible Genesis hot diggity dog that's awesome yes it's the first five books in the Bible and those all point to how one can hit the mark right the Jewish people if they follow what is in the first five books of the Bible they can hit the mark exactly the tonk is it is the whole of the old testament and that is and I will say the the Hebrew words are really fun to say so you're welcome to say any of them out loud I'm not gonna blame you but that takes both the Torah the Pentateuch and it takes the oral tradition because everything was handed down through oral tradition it takes that and it's compiled into the tonk and that is all all together so that is what we know as the old testament it is the writings it is the prophets it it goes off of the Torah and then within that we have 613 myths both yeah yeah 613 and this is these are the laws these are the commandments so 613 commandments within the tonk and tradition the oral tradition and tradition itself is very very important in the Jewish culture and religion it's all in there the Talmud is a combination so there are a lot of writings but remember that within Judaism there's a lot of a lot of discussion the debates that they have that we read about when Jesus is sitting there with religious leaders and they're debating that's called pillpool and so that is something that they engage in all the time so they take the pillpool they take the the teachings and they compile them and so the Talmud has it has a rabbinical commentary it has the oral tradition it has the written word together and it's all compiled and then it's it's read every week in synagogue so that's a very very very very basic overview of some of their writings some of their key teachings and this is this is where we start to find that with a lot of their key teachings and a lot of of their kind of values as a as a people we have a lot in common which can be a wonderful bridging point but it also has been historically a place of real contention and we're going to find how that is so one of their or their first key teaching is that they they believe in monotheism they believe that there is one god there is only one god and so so in the Jewish faith we as Christians who confess a triune god one god but three and one we are seen to be monothe or polytheistic we're seen as worshiping three gods where we know that that and it's I mean we are not going to get into the Trinity right now but not doing that but we know that we have one god um three persons in one god and um but they they have one god one god alone Yahweh which they do not say the name they have several different names but that is too holy to even speak um and we see that we see Yahweh like that um and that that is the name there is um the name that they use in place of this um is adonai which means gods which is very interesting because we have the triune god three and one and when they pray and use the name of god they say adonai which is plural um so it's kind of interesting but um what was I saying thank you okay so you will see um you'll see in the Bible when they when they in the Jewish Bible when it's this when it's Yahweh you will see capital L-O-R-D with O-R-D in lower case but when they would come across that they would not say it that's it adonai or Elohim um not not not the name no like an English uh speaking Jewish person may say Lord but not when reading scripture they're coming into contact with the the holy name and so they do not say that um and that is taking the do not use your Lord's name in vain that is taking that to a very severe degree they don't want to even risk saying it wrong so they don't say it at all yeah yep yep absolutely I was just gonna just gonna get there very cool um so they have a they do not want to cross the line at all um so they they stick with this now we will hear the word um Jehovah right and that is a mixing it's actually an accident that is a mixing of adonai with Yahweh or Elohim with Yahweh so it's mixing the holy and mixing um with the the word that they are allowed to speak the name that they are allowed to speak so Jehovah is actually a um uh an error in pronunciation so um but as a Christian people we we know when someone uses the word Jehovah we know what it means and um don't don't rebuke anyone um if they use Jehovah because we know that we know um the Messiah so the Jewish people did believe in a Messiah and they believed that the Messiah would bring about a certain rule and reign and power for the Jewish people there would be no more oppression for the Jewish people and through the years um that has kind of gone by the wayside they kind of say well there could be a Messiah there couldn't be it's not like they are waiting with anticipated breath for a Messiah because history has taught them kind of a dashed hope dashed dream they had other Messiah's prior to Jesus who um who died who were killed so then Jesus comes along and they put all their hopes into or you know a lot of the people put all their hopes into Jesus and then what happens they watch him die and so then when he is resurrected they deny or they reject his resurrection because he still died and Rome is still oppressing them so the Messiah has a lot of political um leaning in power and need and deliverance built into it in the Jewish uh into the Jewish people so there have been many Messiah's in history according to the Jewish understanding but um but through history with their hopes being dashed with them still being persecuted or oppressed um they kind of like modern day Judaism um thinks it's a cute cute story um yeah when they when you're here fighting the Messiah but didn't part of them looking for the Messiah as a blocker coming back you know the coming back in the summary you're using the Messiah is some like a flat against Rome back yeah they wanted a Messiah to fight against Rome and some of them but there's only you who released the Messiah as a spiritual the Messiah with Judaism the Messiah um had a spiritual component but it had a political component that um and that's where the political aspect um it didn't follow through they still were oppressed the whole call for the Jewish people as a tribe was to be separate to be a people unto themselves and that is why you don't have you know Jewish missionaries going out and and trying to convert people into Judaism because if you are if you are Jew a Jew then you would be so um by birth or if you married into it but they do not like like as a whole and this is this is a lot of generalizations so if you have Jewish neighbors or friends um and and you're sitting there going that's not my experience absolutely this is on a whole um generalizations um and and every you know every individual is going to be different um but they are to be a separate people and um yeah we'll go ahead and jump there right now so this is where the um the Holocaust and when speaking with our Jewish neighbors the Holocaust is so important to keep in mind because in the 1900s the Jews let down their guard and they got familiar with their neighbors with their people with their community and they did not expect the cruelty and the the just utter evil to happen to them because they were neighbors they had mingle they had intermingled and um and so the Holocaust is very very important to keep in mind and I think it's an important this is kind of an aside but I think it's important for us to keep in mind anyway because that is a a just evil outright evil in front of our faces our kids need to understand that evil exists in this world and um I just think that's a total aside but we need to understand that evil exists in the world and and how um we how we live um in opposition to that one of the things with the Holocaust that caused a lot of um of breaking between the Jewish people and their Christian neighbors is that Martin Luther's writings were used in defense of the Holocaust um now I think that it's important for us to know this and uh I I like how this author puts it um so so Luther was not inherently anti-Semitic um early in his career he has writings that are very loving um for the Jewish people calling Christians to be kind and loving to their Jewish neighbors so there was no question that he had entered into um into ministry loving his Jewish neighbors and and and supporting that um and then Luther had a writing that was against the lies of um oh it's on the Jews and their lies it was written in night in 1543 and and he argued that Jewish synagogues schools and prayer books should be burned that rabbis should be for forbidden to preach and homes property and money should be confiscated and the 1930s Germans um used that and so in the Holocaust museums you will very possibly find writings of this writing of Martin Luther as an excuse and that has damaged greatly the trust and the relationship between Christians and their Jewish neighbors now in a sermon three days before Luther died in um he again let me find this here he returned back to um back to the position that he had in 1523 so he again spoke of loving the Jewish neighbor um so it really stinks it's very unfortunate that his writing is preserved that was used in a very very bad way yes there was um uh did it did it did it did it did it hold on a second here let me find it yes I've read I've read all of this there's a lot of information in here so um okay so it was a religious dispute um so he had written he had written a treatise in 1523 that was entitled Jesus Christ was born a Jew and he wrote of the Jews as an honorable people who are the lineage of Christ advising a gentle approach for them and speaking against the very things he wrote in 1543 but um but in 1543 um as he had been having some success at witnessing to Jewish people in and around Vittenburg um he came under attack by local Jewish anti-missionaries who called Luther a false teacher and that Christ was a false Messiah and that Christianity was a false religion and so those are the lies that he was responding to um and Luther um for all the good and the the wonderful um direction that he put us as a Christian people on the path with scripture being scripture being scripture right the word alone faith alone grace alone um he was human and he sinned and um and he did did come back and um and again to return to the 1523 treatise um in in being kind and gentle with our Jewish neighbors um he was definitely one of those that was loud, brash and spoke possibly um just out of emotion we don't know fully what his intention was and i bring that up because when we speak with our Jewish neighbor this easily could be brought up that's been brought up to me when i was when i was in Lutheran seminary one of my family members who i did not grow up Lutheran one of my family members said Luther's the reason for the Holocaust how do you feel about that? So um so have to go back and and look at that and um and you know when when evil is at hand it will seek anything and everything to um to move forward right but ultimately God's word prevails and God's goodness prevails and and he keeps his hand upon us so i do want to bring that up because there's no way when you are speaking with um a Jewish whether they are a faithful practicing Jew or a tribal Jew right ethnically a Jewish person um the Holocaust will come up and um so i think that that's that's important to know so um another very key teaching in Judaism is tikun olam which means repair of the world so they do not have a teaching of original sin they absolutely do not believe in the depravity of man um but they do have an obligation to works and the obligation to works is in order to achieve a more perfect world yes yes where did the good marker go there we go sorry okay tikun olam okay so tikun olam is repair of the world um and holoca will write that one down too holoca is an important part of this holoca is the walk so we've got repair of the world and we've got the walk and the walk is really that daily living guided by a system of ethics and study of God so it's this is where you are you are walking repairing the world by studying the word of God and living under the systems of ethics that God's word gives so it's a constant um a constant happening and part of that a huge part of that is shabbat or sabbath and it's resting as a people together away from the rest of the world and so they go to synagogue and they come together and that time is um studying God's word it is praying it is fellowship sounds very familiar to the first church in Acts 2 where they were devoted to the fellowship the teaching of the apostles breaking of bread and prayer that is a great example of um of sabbath because they are spending life together at least once a week they are coming together shutting out the rest of the world and and really living as a people um it's it's done as a community and you get the fullness of the community in that um midrash I dare you say midrash so pillpool is debate right that's that's where they get in and midrash is where um one is seeking answers to religious questions so pillpool we we read about that in the bible where where there is discussion amongst the scholars amongst the religious authorities and Jesus they're engaging in pillpool when they're debating over things then there's also where when at the feet of the rabbi and the rabbi is sitting there teaching that is midrash where people can ask questions and the rabbi can teach can give religious answers so a good example comes up in our reading today where Jesus has been has been sitting there teaching and blessing the children and and he gets up to go and and a young man comes and he he kneels down before Jesus and he says what must I do to inherit eternal life that is where he is seeking an answer to a religious question that would be an example of midrash um so something that is absolutely key in Judaism is and this goes along with the um with the uh monotheism goodness gracious the monotheism is um they're uh oh yeah yeah they're shema or shema which if you open your bibles to Deuteronomy six we'll find this Deuteronomy six and you guys already know where Deuteronomy is that was awesome you all know the Pentateuch so well so I'm going backwards so Deuteronomy is the fifth book in the Bible it is the fifth book of the Pentateuch we're going to Deuteronomy six starting in verse four where it says here oh Israel the Lord is our God the Lord alone you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away when you lie down and when you rise bind them as a sign on your hand fix them as an emblem on your forehead and write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates twice a day morning and evening the Jewish people are to do the shema and it begins with that with that proclamation here oh Israel the Lord your God is one or the Lord is your God the Lord alone and and then there is a response and then the rest of those verses is is read then they they have another portion of Deuteronomy that they read and then it ends every shema so twice a day every shema ends with numbers 15 so let's go back to numbers let's just back one chap or one book numbers 15 verse 37 through 41 or verses 37 through 41 where it says the Lord said to Moses speak to the Israelites and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner you have the fringe so that when you see it you will remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them and not follow the lust of your own heart and your own eyes so you shall remember and do all my commandments and you shall be holy to your God I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God I am the Lord your God so again you begin your prayers with hero Israel the Lord is your God alone and then you end with the Lord's words that he is your God he is your Lord so that begins everything and just like we were talking about their belief in the monotheistic you know one God alone that is built into everything so we have as a people I say ethics guidance and and laws now the 613 a good portion of those are not doable because the temple was destroyed in 70 AD so so they do not have they cannot follow all 613 but the ones that they do have they do they are still expected to follow so they believe that God is is God there's one God they do not believe that there's a Messiah they've been disappointed and so they're not going to do that again very guarded because of the history especially the Holocaust and then the the feast and the festive gosh there's so much to get through and okay we may do a little more Judaism next week too because it's fascinating because we a misconception is that by the Christian churches that we don't have to say anything to our Jewish neighbor that that we really are worshipping the same God that we really are basically in line with our Jewish neighbor but we're not because they deny Christ they deny his death and yes resurrection yet yes well the sacrifices and the offerings they are not they they can't do the sacrifices right now this goes in with the 613 myths and they can't do that so everything they can do they are still obligated to do but this is where we come into that interesting kind of division where you have for lack of better term several denominations within Judaism where some really it is all cultural right we are part of we are Jewish because we're part of this tribe but there is no religious significance to it and they actually have what they refer to like Exodus the story of being brought out of slavery from Egypt there are some sex and Judaism that refer to that basically as grandmother's stories it's a little better a little more reverent than an old wives tale but not much it's it's a cute story oh gosh what is that called a a Bubba Mace a Bubba Mace yes so so even though they go through these in their feasts in their festivals which we need to get to oh my gosh they're they're just stories so so with this man what what what this previous Jewish man who is now Lutheran pastor I almost said Lutheran rabbi oh my goodness this Lutheran pastor he says that that it is harmful for us and it is not loving and not kind for us to not share with our Jewish neighbors we are we will I we're just gonna have to you know what we were gonna do five different religions but we may just do one no we will we will do some more but but we have to there's so much built into this that is just fascinating that we have to return to this I was gonna say something else and I can't remember what it was but it's just amazing we are next week we'll touch on the on the feasts and how there's so much that is built into the Jewish faith that points us directly to Christ and this is why you know I thought oh we'll start with Judaism because it's just this easy link and then I start reading and I'm like wow this is amazing and there is a lot more to it than what I expected and I also want to get into the how are we not worshiping the same God because that's that how does that make sense but we're gonna we're gonna do those two things since we are definitely returning to this is there anything else that we definitely want to touch on next week with Judaism oh they are traders yes so he asked he said what about Messianic Jews like there are there are Jewish converts to Christianity and and Jewish people the Jewish people are fine with with whatever anyone else in the Jewish tribe wants to believe they are fine with Christians who are Gentiles but a Jewish Christian is the only thing that they have that is like a heretic or a traitor no they they are no longer to be considered Jewish yes so you have okay so you you know someone who was Catholic then converted to Messianic Jewish which that is a Jewish person who who follows this with the understanding that Jesus has died for our sins and and right so I feel sad because then they have just put themselves under the burden of the law right um although I so I grew up Catholic so I will say I mean kind of under the burden of the law as a Catholic too but um yeah interesting very very interesting okay yes prophecies that point towards Christ well they don't read some of them they skip right over them legitimately yep yes yes yes yes sorry differences that the modern okay and that's another that is another thing that I didn't get to yet I'm telling you there is so much to cover it is just unbelievable it was like opening just it was just amazing amazing and that's also why I say like this is a great book but be ready because you will dive in and then have a hundred more questions and then go on all sorts of tangents is so we have a lot to cover next week god bless and we will we will continue diving into Judaism next week thank you Well, good morning. Well it matters we know that one of the things that happened was Luther standing up for God's word and standing up for the truth of both his law and his gospel it really was the push that others needed others who were not happy with the church at large and saw the corruption also in their own countries it really pushed that ability for others who saw the need for reform to bring reform into their own countries into their own cities and so we saw a lot of ripple throughout Europe and then throughout the world where there was a lot of reform so if you think about it we had the church right we had the church then we had the Roman church and the Eastern Orthodox church so we had this split which if you study the Eastern Orthodox church that just like the Roman church turned Protestantism in the oh my goodness with the reformation so there are some ups and downs some bumps and trials within the Eastern Orthodox religion as well and there are splits that happened there as well as so they've got denominations within the church there too so then we so we had those then then within the Western church all of a sudden after the reformation that's where we see a lot of different branches or denominations within the Christian faith start to really take off and others was really interesting there was a study done and it said that it estimates or estimations show that there are more than 200 Christian denominations in the US and a staggering 45,000 globally according to the center for the study of global Christianity so one of I would say one of the problems with coming out of the reformation and the split with so many denominations is that just like anything that is good can go wonky you think about it there are denominational splits throughout history over just arguments nothing theological just an argument and then there are theological arguments also that lead to splits and denominations but there was one one colleague or cohort of mine in seminary who talked about a small town I believe is in Colorado a small town in Colorado that you walk down the street and there's church after church after church after church and how those how those churches came to be was that this family and this church was angry with this family of this church so then they were going to go ahead and start this church and so that entire town was infested with anger churches right so so there can be some issues and and so out of the reformation then you have people like Zwingli in Switzerland who who wants to reform is inspired by Luther and but then he does not like what Luther which Luther is saying no we're basing we're pulling everything all of our theology is coming out of scripture and and so then there's this big split over the Lord's Supper over communion and and and that's where and infant baptism we get a big split out of that and then you've got the anabaptists running out and and coming out of that and so there are a lot of splits in the Christian church that came out of the reformation which was not started with the intention of splitting the church at all it was started with the intention of being unified in scripture but then man gets involved and we go right so so that is how we have so many so many split so many denominations and the reformation really emboldened people and that is it's wonderful but it also has some difficult consequences and and that doesn't take away from the need for the reform it doesn't take away from the power of the reformation and and God's work in it but I think it's important that we see the big picture and and we see what can happen uh when we take over something and so then that leads us to today does the reformation still matter I mean because we have enough denominations we can all almost everyone in the world has access to God's word so does the reformation I mean we're not we're not needing that anymore we're not you know I mean you know are the same benefits the same matters the same uh purpose of the reformation do they does it pertain today yes yes absolutely what came out of the reformation is so important um think of the solace the solace faith alone grace alone word alone if we don't have that in the church that is where we go wonky do and never come back we have to stick and maintain even in our modern church today grace alone faith alone word alone it's vital that we as a Christian people know the word not just know about the word that there is a word but that we know the word looser when he was told to recant um he said unless I am convinced by scripture and plain reason I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils for they have contradicted each other my conscience is captive to the word of God I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe God help me amen we have to go back to God's word over and over and over again it is part of our call as God's sheep to know the shepherd and how do we know the shepherd Jesus tells us my sheep know my voice and we have God's voice speaking to us from his word that is where we know the shepherd and so that word alone that solar scriptura out of the reformation is absolutely vital for us to hold onto the reformation really opened up to us to all of the Christian church the word which is the grace of God it is the holiness of his law and it is the grace of his mercy the promise of life for us and one of the um we'll call it a bugaboo one of the bugaboo's that I have as a pastor as a Christian as a mom as a person with kind of the Christian church at large is that we like it easy we like life easy we like life convenient and so we take that love of convenience that love of easy and we bring it right into our faith lives and we don't invest and I don't mean like a stock market investing right I mean like we don't invest in knowing the truth of God's word and so we'll pick up a book that says this is from a pastor but it's from a pastor who denies the Trinity so that's not a Christian book or we pick up a devotional book that claims these are new words of Jesus Christ but God in various and old ways spoke to people of old by the prophets but now in these last days he has spoken to us by his word that is not this devotional the word is complete in the Bible that we have been given and so we can't exchange the fullness of God's word for for a variety of feel good or self-empowered theology this is where the reformation is so vital for us today and we are all we are all in the sermon today we talk about the the talents that God gives us and and the generosity and and he gives to each of his servants according to their ability we are not all called to the same to the same place right we are not all called if we were all called as preachers then we are all going to be talking over each other right but we are all called as the sheep to know our shepherd and to know him intimately he already knows us intimately and so we are called to know him and called to know him better and we do that by diving in to his word and so so okay so um so what I want us to take out of this study from the reformation I mean it's a great historical study it's fascinating to know how things move shift change um so that's just from a historical perspective that's a fun study to do but it also has a practical study for us or a practical purpose application for us today as Christians we are called to dig in to study to not only know about God but to know God and we do that by digging in by diving in to our bibles and not everything in the Bible is going to be easy to um to discern but we have a long history of church fathers of theologians who will walk with us through those passages we have certain passages in scripture that are difficult but we know that it's there for a reason and that's why we turn to good sound foundational sources we first look to scripture to interpret scripture and then we look to solid theologians to help us to walk with us um pastor eyeball myself Steve David we are here also to walk with you um and as you know I mean I'm more than happy to jump in and study if I don't know something it's fun um we have uh the small catechism what a great place to start the small catechism just very basic explanations very very basic guidance with God's word and with our Christian beliefs we have small groups and there are small groups that are doctrinally founded there are small groups that are um on biblical studies biblical Bible or biblical books we have um different Bible studies for men and women for kids and have you ever heard that the best way to learn is to teach okay so think about someone someone in your life who needs to be taught who can be taught who can you teach because we all have at least one person in our life that need grace alone faith alone word alone and as Christ's disciple that is our call to know our shepherd and then to share it so that his flock continues to grow and be called to him so I hope that you understand the significance of the reformation um not only in history but uh but really in our lives even today and does anyone have any questions or thoughts yes yeah yeah yeah can I explain what we mean by grace alone word alone faith alone so um yes absolutely so so with the early church um in in Catholicism bless you um we had uh it was a matter of I needed to do in order to have righteousness and um and so we are not made righteous and we are not saved by anything that we do but it is only by the grace of God that we are saved it is only by the grace of God that we are called into faith and that faith in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior saves us and so we find that it is through God's word alone that um that we are led that we are taught that we are saved that we are um that we know God and because there were even just in the very first early church with the Apostles there was a um uh uh uh the judyisers who were saying you know yes we are saved by grace saved by faith plus by doing this by doing these works by maintaining these ceremonies by keeping up with this law of the Jewish law this you know this mosaic law does that make sense? okay yes does it make sense now okay good yes so it's not anything we do it's not anything we can do um it is it is God and God alone which is really hard even for us who say face alone grace alone word alone that alone can be a real tricky thing because um we are all about together we are all about how do I get to pitch in um and what do I need to do in order to gain this this or this right so this is emptying ourselves of our pride um emptying ourselves of thinking that we have anything to offer because we don't not in matters of salvation huh no oh goodness we really no we don't so there is so okay so this is getting into um decision theology where there is a synergistic indecision theology there is an idea that there is a synergistic um happening in our salvation that we have a part to play but if we have any part to play at all then why can't we do most of it or all of it there's um the Mormon church teaches that um that we are saved by grace after we've done everything else that we can so that's still a synergistic and and that's a whole different Mormonism is not a Christian non-denomination we can go there another time but um so then but but this is a monogistic salvation that Christ and Christ alone saved us polygianism or semi-pollegianism is um is the idea that that we are born with that little spark of goodness that we can do something um to earn you know or we can participate with God in our salvation but we can't scripture is very clear that we are born as enemies of God we are born with evil in our heart that we are intent on um on I'm trying to be polite about this but it's like um it's like shove off God I mean right that is that is kind of that is how we are born we are born not wanting to seek God we are born blind to God and in his grace and his mercy he calls us through his gospel we hear both his law convicting us showing us our sin and we hear his promise of salvation so God calls us to himself if Eeson says it is not by our own work it's a gift from God we are called to him and so we respond when Lazarus was called out of the tomb of death he didn't have to sit in there covered going I hear Jesus calling me should I get up right no he hears that and I don't I'm honestly not trying to be like snarky at all like he hears that called Lazarus come out Lazarus live by my word by my calling and Lazarus comes out there isn't a choice now once we are called into faith we have choices of matters this side of heaven right but the salvation we do not have a choice in we are called and invited by Christ we don't invite him he has invited us he told his disciples you did not choose me I chose you I have called you and that is the same today it is he who called us yeah yeah right right absolutely so it's it's a reversal of the choice so instead of and I'm hoping I'm going to say this right because I know I got to sort this so instead of like there are some Christian denominations that that say you need to make a choice to follow Jesus and then after that everything becomes under God's will Jesus what shoes should I wear today Jesus what direction should I take at this stop sign right and it's the reverse it's the reverse of that it is I have called you as my child I have made a choice about you you are mine all right I am a Christian which way should I go well this seems right and good to me Lord protect me and you go and it's we have free choice in matters of earthly things this side of heaven this kingdom we have free choice but God has called us so all right I don't know if we have any time for anymore anything else nothing deep okay this has been such a fun study really really fun so I thank you so much for going on a ride through the reformation with me and I'm really excited about pastors numbers class so anyway if you have any other thoughts or questions anything you can always email me and I will eventually get to it all right God bless Welcome back to our study on trees. It was sticky with blood Malmourished No real Hydration Constantly exposed to the elements expected to do hard labor beaten whenever Force to do these humiliating medical checkup every single week I can't get worse Death seemed A release I can't be able to leave that So now we're going to jump to scripture we'll come back to this momentarily I just wanted to kind of lay the groundwork of what they were experiencing in this concentration camp So let's go to Second Samuel In the Old Testament it's after first Samuel After after judges after Ruth It's after the Pentateuch so you've got Deuteronomy at the end of the first five books Then go a couple more and you'll get to second Samuel chapter 11 If anyone has the page number of the Pew edition you can holler it out 263 Excellent thank you Okay, so the Bible The Bible Character or person that we're going to study today is David And bring him up with good reason we're going to read about David's Sin here so picking up in verse or in in chapter 11 in the spring of the year The time when the kings go out to battle David sent Joe out with his officers and all Israel with him They ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Reba but David remained at Jerusalem It happened late one afternoon when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the tin roof On the roof of the Kings house, excuse me, that he saw from the roof of woman bathing The woman was very beautiful David sent someone to inquire about the woman It was reported this is Beth Sheba daughter of alien the wife of Uriah the Hittite So David sent messengers to get her and she came to him and he lay with her Now she was purifying herself after her period Then she returned to her house the woman conceived and she sent and told David I am pregnant So David sent word to Joab sent me Uriah the Hittite and Joab sent Uriah and two David When Uriah came to him David asked how Joab and the people fared and how the war was going Then David said to Uriah go down to your house and wash your feet Uriah went out of the Kings house and there followed him a present from the king But Uriah slept at the entrance of the Kings house with all the servants of his lord and did not go down to his house When they told David Uriah did not go down to his house David said to Uriah You have just come from a journey. I cannot forgive him give me your forgiveness as I took his hand The most incredible thing happened from my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current Seem to pass from me to him while into my heart spring a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness Any more than our goodness that the world's healing hinges But on his when he tells us to love our enemies he gives Along with the command the love itself She had gone to hell An earthly hell And this man who created that hell part of that hell for her he stood before her saying oh it was a great message I heard that Jesus forgives my sin through your lips How was she supposed to forgive this man but notice It's not out of her power that she forgives is it It's It's out of Jesus it's out of The love of Christ the forgiveness that we have in Christ that she was able to extend forgiveness to that man And she was overcome with love for this man who had put her through hell and she could forgive him Truly forgive him Because she had that strength from Jesus So what that means for us In our own lives When we pray that prayer we pray it every single week probably a lot of us pray it at home daily Forgive us our trespasses as We Forgive those Who trespass against us It's not out of our own power But we are called to forgive I love how she brings it back to Jesus if Jesus already died For the person who has sinned against you if Jesus has forgiven those sins Certainly we can call on him to help us to forgive Because often when we hold on To that sin Against us We too are burdened And we hold on to it and we bear the weight of that sin And we have no release of that So As we go for As we think about The heroes of faith Whether it's strength or peace or mercy or forgiveness We can turn every single time to realize that our strength That our peace That any mercy we may have And forgiveness that we may give truly is sourced At the cross truly is sourced in Jesus Christ Because the hell that they endured The sin that we endure whether we committed or we are sinned against It was already dealt with On the cross it was already overcome Through Jesus Christ and we can take that Into our daily lives To live out our faith We don't have to be amazing heroes We don't have to become famous To live our faith Because when we are living out our faith It is known in the kingdom.

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