In the Midst of the Mess - Week 4 - The CORE - Pastor Michael Ewart
In The Midst of the Mess
Week 4 - The CORE
Pastor Michael Ewart
Again, welcome everyone, to our fourth and final message in this series on the Book of Ruth called “In the Midst of the Mess”. If you have missed any of the messages in this series, we're gonna want you to go online and watch those. These messages have been so well received and so helpful to so many, and we're thankful, that God's Word has given you so much encouragement, and so much help in the midst of the mess. So, when we are in the midst of the mess things, get really challenging for us. Don't they, that that in those times we are, we are tempted to question God. We wonder if he is really in control. If He really is if He really cares, if He's really watching, how is He going to work all this out? I'm not sure he can't, I'm not sure he will. And we start to get very, very worried. And there are lots of examples of what kinds of messes we go through, right? And when Pastor Mike, and I give you examples, by the way, I'm about to give you a few, I think you, maybe think we're making up those examples, and the vast majority of the time, we are simply recalling in situations that you're going through.
So when I talk about you being in the midst of the message because I know a lot of you are. So let me give you some examples of the messes that people that may be sitting next to you are going through right now. These are all happening within our church. All of them are happening with people. I've personally talked to counseled within the next in the last week or two. This is I'm not even going way back. This is like now this is current here are some things that you're struggling with, there's someone who has stage four cancer. Not one more than one that I've talked to in the last week. That's the mess that they're in right now and it's extraordinarily challenging. There is some one among Us who lost their spouse within the last couple weeks. Their spouse died unexpectedly. They're in the midst of the mess. There are, is there are people here that are struggling with addiction in that one is numerous not just one, but in the last week or two more than one that I've talked to working through struggling, within the mess of some kind of an addiction. There's more than one marriage I've heard in the last week or two, that is Holding On by a thread that is not doing well in the midst of the mess.
There is someone who is living in a shelter and has been waiting to get into an apartment for months and is ready to move on, ready to take that step. But there has not been an apartment available to move into. There's someone just this week, one of our members was in a motorcycle accident and you don't have to say more than that, you know, how that always ends. He survived. Thank God and there's no brain injury, but multiple broken bones and a surgery that's happened in more to come because he is in the midst of the mess. There is more than one who has been deeply, deeply hurt by someone very close to them. Not just one of you. I know that to be true. There is someone known to at least three suffering, with chronic pain, that the doctors have said, we don't think we can ultimately fix this. And this chronic pain is something they just have to live with and learn how to deal with. And it's extraordinarily difficult in the midst of the mess. Life in this world is messy. And if you're one of the few right now, who are sitting there and saying, hey, I'm in a good season of life, things are going relatively smoothly for me right now. Praise God, that's good, but it's not going to last. I don't say it to be a downer to be a pessimist. I'm just being a realist. Jesus told us in this world we will have trouble. And so it's coming, we need to be ready. Well, how do we deal? How do we cope when it's when were in the midst of the mess, something deep inside US thinks that we're going to be spared as somehow and then we're a little bit surprised when it comes. So how will you be prepared? The Book of Ruth really, really helps. Then we've been unpacking that week after week. We're going to do that one more last time today. So what I hope that you will get out of this today. The big takeaway is a very simple one that I hope will sink deep into your heart and mine, and I'm just going to tell it to you upfront in case you fall asleep, or
We have to run out right off for some reason and you miss it later. Here's what the guy wants you to truly take to heart from The Book of Ruth, the Lord provides It's But the Lord provides in fact, if somebody put me in charge of a committee who had to come up with a subtitle for the Bible, every Bible from here on forward is going to have this subtitle right underneath the words, Holy Bible, what would the subtitle be? I would say this, the subtitle of the Bible is The Lord Provides If you just start reading your Bible from the very beginning, you're going to see multiple instances immediately of how the Lord provides he created the heavens and the Earth, he created a perfect garden for the first human beings to live. And he provided that he provided for Adam, a spouse that was perfect for him and her name was Eve and when they rebelled against God, the Lord provided for them, a promise that he was going to fix what they broke. He promised that he would send a savior for all Sin. And when they stood there in their shame and nakedness, the Lord provided for them, coverings for them, he made clothes for them. The Lord provided in every page of scripture, you see evidence that the Lord provides. So, of course, the Book of Ruth is no exception and what we have seen again and again is that the Lord provides as we've gone through the Book of Ruth and we're going to see that highlighted one more time as we go through chapter 4 of The Book of Ruth and see how the Lord.
B. So if you haven't been with us and you're not sure what's been happening in this story, let me just quickly bring you up to speed. So, in Bethlehem in Israel, a couple, I'd Odd Couple shows up one day and it is Naomi this older woman with a much younger woman, who is a Moabite and they are destitute, they are alone, they are both widows and everyone thinks this is odd. This is strange. And what they find out is, they have come from Moab where they had gone during a famine, to try to find food and while they were there, Naomi the mother her husband Elimelech died and then her two sons, married Mahlon and Killian and then the two sons died. So three widows Naomi decides to move back to Bethlehem her home country her hometown where she can get some more support now the famine is over and one of the two daughters-in-law stays in Moab. The other one says, no, I will be faithful to you. I will go with you no matter what and wherever you die. I am going to die. I Am with You for Life. Her daughter-in-law Ruth Ruth. That's where you get the name of the book goes with Naomi back to Bethlehem. So how are these two widows who have no money, no property, nothing? How are they going to survive with an Old Testament law, that provided for widows and those who were poor in for foreigners? A process called gleaning said, when that when the Harvest was coming in, they could go into the field, the Harvesters were not supposed to go over the field twice if they miss something. That was for the people that were poor and for the widows and the margins, the edges of the field, the margins were for the marginalized. They would not, they would not Harvest that at all. That was all supposed to be left so that Travelers and the poor and the widows would have something together so that they would not starve. So Ruth goes out into the fields to try to provide something for them to eat and whose field is she happened to go out into but that of Boaz, the third main character of The Book of Ruth bow, Boaz was a little bit older, he was single, he was a landowner in a person of means. And he was Godly. So Boaz tells his workers, you don't touch her. And, oh, by the way, would you kind of accidentally drop a little extra as you're harvesting? And if she maybe doesn't know that she and she take some of the food from actually sheaves some of the grain from there. That's okay, let's let her do that. Alright, and so Boaz is very kind to Ruth provides for her mother in law, Naomi, but that goes on for six, seven weeks. And Naomi decides, we're gonna have to push the issue just a little bit here and that was chapter 3, that was last week. Go back and listen to that sermon. But essentially Naomi toes Ruth, let's force the issue. This man Boaz is actually a relative of ours, therefore he can serve as our go Ale. That was a Hebrew word. We've learned a couple of times that translated as guardian Redeemer of the family. This is the man who and lawfully purchased the land, take you Ruth as his wife and if you were are blessed with a son, you will have an heir. Who will inherit the land? That we lost when our when my husband died and everything will be restored. So, Ruth goes middle of the night. Fascinating story. You gotta listen to last week's message which essentially proposes to Boaz and proposes that he also be the goal. The Redeemer to buy back the land and Boaz says I will. We'll do it. Except for asterisk. I'm not first in line. There is a closer relative, a closer Redeemer who could do this. We'll figure this out tomorrow, I promise. Okay, so, first thing in the morning boy, has gets up. And now we're picking it up in chapter 4 for the exciting, conclusion to the Book of Ruth. Meanwhile, Boaz went up to the town gate and he sat down there, just as the guardian Redeemer. He had mentioned, came along what a coincidence number of coincidences in this story and this is one of them you wants to talk to this other Guardian Redeemer to see if he's willing and lo and behold, that's actually literally what the Hebrew says, behold he happened to walk by there he is. So why at The City Gate? Well, that's just a place where business was done. We're almost like a County Courthouse, it was weird. Goes to take care of this business. So Boaz said, come over here, my friend sit down and so he went over and he sat down now. Here, it says he calls it my friend, but in the Hebrew, if we would translate it literally, literally, I think the best translation would be come on over here, Mr. So-and-so, and have a seat. In other words, were not told what this guy's name is and that's intentional. And he's literally just called this. Generic Mr. So-and-so came over and he said, hey, come on over and sit down. So he does, boys took 10 of the Elders of the town, he's making everything very official, very legal, very public, and formal. And he says to the 10 Elders, sit here and they did. So then he said to the guardian Redeemer, this other guy Mr. So-and-so Naomi who has come back from Moab is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. I thought I should bring this matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the Elders of my Apple and if you will redeem it do so. But if you will not tell me. So I will know for no one has the right to do it, except you and I am next in line. I will redeem it, you said, The end. No, it's not the end but a kind of shocking turn, right? Like boy, what are you doing? Why are you offering? Why are you making this so easy for him? So he lays it out. There's this land. Fire sale on it, 10 cents on the dollar, you can get a really great deal here. So it's your first in line if you want it, go ahead and buy it. If not let me know, we'll make it have got all the witnesses here if you don't want it. Say so now and then I'll buy it. Like I was yeah, I'll redeem it. Why wouldn't I want cheap land? Oh man, built My estate, you bet I will take it. And you want you got to wonder if Ruth was somehow listening nearby. We don't know that she was. But boy says it all this way to see like what is this guy doing? Does he not want to marry me? Why is he telling this guy to buy the property? But as is up to something, he's a very wise man, he's got a plan and this was all part of it. So I Envision boys. At this point, they say to the guy. Okay. So our great you're going to take it awesome. We're going to go through the normal business procedures will be soon. Sign on the dotted line here. Some minimal closing cost, of course, and oh oh wait, wait, wait, yeah, I can't believe I forgot to tell you this. There's a little detail that I left out and it's in our next verses. Then Boaz said,
On the day, you buy the land from Naomi. You also acquire Ruth, the Moabitess I mention she's a Moabite, the you know, the Foreigner yet that's you get her too. She's part of the deal, the Dead Man's Widow. You have to do that in order to maintain the name of the Dead with his property. So there's somebody that comes with a deal and it's Ruth and he doesn't specifically mention it here but I wonder if maybe Naomi was on his mind as well. So by the way, you, you get a wife with a deal, Oh, did I also forget to tell you along with the wife comes her mother-in-law? Did you hear what her name is? And she goes by bitter. That's her name. Yeah. You get her to. So you might want to just just an idea start considering where you're going to. Put the Mother-in-law Suite because you're gonna want to build one of those. And you got a wife that comes with the deal and oh, and if you have an air it's going to go to that some, not your family because that's just the way the law works, you know. So just to you. Yeah, I got the full picture. That's what's going to happen here. Here at this, the guardian Redeemer said. Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.
Okay, so he was willing to take some extra property on the cheap to get that fire sale price. But he was not willing to take on the responsibilities, all of the responsibilities of that. Guardian Redeemer, all of the responsibilities of that go away. Oh, he was not willing to have Ruth and Naomi along with the deal. He was not willing to continue their legacy. And instead, he saw that as a threat to his own legacy, his own estate. If I have to provide for them, and I have to provide for this land and I have to work my land and their land and then in the end, the land isn't mine. Anyway just goes to this other son of Ruth if we have one know the desk, too. Complicated, way too risky. Not going down that path. It's all yours Boaz. Go for it. He wanted. Real estate didn't want the responsibility or the relationship can I just pause a second. Any unmarried ladies here? Quick raise your hand please. A few. Okay. There are a lot of guys out there like Mr. So-and-so and if you are in a relationship with Mr. So and so it's time to break it off. Okay, so there are guys out there who want the real estate, They want the benefits, but they're not interested in the relationship. They're not interested in the responsibility. And if you are in a relationship like that, my loving advice to you, as your pastor is that, it's time to get out and find a man that will take full responsibility for you and for everything and that he will be a blessing to you and he's not just looking for Real Estate that you can give him. Because there are some guys out there like that look for a bow as that's what you're looking for. Get rid of Mr. So and So, Okay, aside done. Everybody can listen again now. Okay, so great chapter 4 starting at verse 7. Now in earlier times in Israel, there's this little aside, this kind of explaining accustomed as it looks, it sounds a little strange to us for the Redemption and transfer of property to become final. One party would take off his sandal and give it to the other and this was the method of legalizing the transaction in Israel. So it doesn't seem like that was always the case in Israel but this little no, kind of tells us what their practice was at that time. So the guardian Redeemer said that Boaz, buy it yourself and he removed his sandal to make it all official, which seems like a really strange custom part of your closing costs, are you have to buy a new set of sandals so factor that in?
So that's what he did and now I don't know what they did with the sandal. I wonder if they had to keep it. Like maybe three generations later, you're going to sell some land is that really yours? And I got the sandal to prove it. I'm not sure how that works but that's what it seems like they did. So so it's all made up Vishal, its formal, its final. And then bow has announced to the Elders of all the people today. You are witnesses that I have brought from that. I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Killian and Milan, that's Naomi's husband and her two sons I have bought their property. I have also acquired Ruth. The Moabite may launch widow as my wife in order to maintain the name of the Dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among the family, or from his hometown today. You are witnesses, which sounds extraordinarily unromantic. But he is talking in, very formal legal language. To make sure everything is clear, public, legal formal, and everybody knows what he just did and everyone declares. Yes, it is. So, the Elders of the people of verse 11 said at the gate, we are Wwitnesses, may the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your home, like, Rachel and Leah, who built? Who gather was built up to a family of Israel. So if you're not familiar with that history, there was Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the three Patriarchs of the Israelite Nation. Jacob had two wives, Rachel and Leah, Rachel, and Leah had a total of twelve sons and some others as well, some women as well. But the sons were the ones they counted 12 sons, who became the 12 tribes of Israel. So their blessing to Boaz is we pray that Ruth will be like that for you that she will be very fruitful and have bear. you may sons for you. This says, may you have standing and Ephrathah. Ephrathah was the name of their clan and be famous in Bethlehem, the town in which they lived a Blessing, by the way, which came to fruition. Because guess where Jesus was born and of which clan Jesus was born, he was a descendant. We're going to get into that just a little bit. But this blessing happened Through The Offspring that the Lord gives you buy this. Young woman, may your family be like that of Boaz who bought who tame our board to Judah. Now there's a whole story here but we don't have another half an hour. So you're going to look this one up in the Bible yourself, but let me just tell you there's a really, messy story when you get into Tamar and Judah. That is really a little bit weird and yet he's saying, okay, so there is Abraham, there's Isaac, Jacob. Jacob had twelve Sons. Judah was one of those Sons. Judah was the one through whom the Savior would come Judah had Perez and it went on down from there and The is a kind of feeling in the family line, that may your family line continue and may it be blessed birth. Teen. So, Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And that's how we know that a man wrote this because that's the only detail about the wedding. We have, I know you want to know more I do too, but that's all we get. So they got married, that's all that matters. And when, when he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son.
The woman said to Naomi and I love how immediately Naomi is the focus like Boaz and Ruth. Almost doesn't matter. They kind of fade Into the background. The whole story started with Naomi and her tragedy and how she came to Bethlehem completely emptied just with no hope a bitter old woman. And now we're coming full circle. The women say to Naomi, praise, be to the Lord who this day has not left you without a guardian Redeemer. He may, he become famous throughout Israel. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age for your daughter-in-law. That's Ruth who loves you. And who is better to you than seven sons has given him birth. That's like the highest compliment Naomi could hear about her moabite daughter-in-law Ruth. She is better to you than seven sons, because she would not leave her even in the midst of the mess.
She got to be the little baby's nanny. The women living there said Naomi has a son. And they named him Obed, he was the father of Jesse. The father of David will come back to that in just a second, but truly Naomi has come full circle. She is blessed. She has a son. She's got an heir. She's, if you're ever seen a grandma with her grandbabies, this was her first grandbaby and she was thrilled. She was glowing. She was happy and all that came with that the inheritance and the land and the Legacy their connection to the promise of the Savior, everything Was there and Naomi, who was empty. Is now filled once again. So, what are we seeing from this? What is perfectly evident in this fourth chapter and throughout the whole book of Ruth? The truth that we heard at the very beginning, the Lord provides, right? The Lord truly does provide. Now what I was reading through this book of Ruth, I tried to as we were going count. As we went through, how many miracles we were seeing throughout the Book of Ruth. And I think if I counted correctly I came up with a grand total of zero. Now, there were, there are some coincidences, where obviously God was at work, but was there a supernatural intervention in the natural Order of Things recorded anywhere in the Book of Ruth? It wasn't there. This is the beauty of the book that even in the midst of the mass even without Miracles, that interrupt our natural order God is working. God will bless the Lord will provide. And by the way, I truly believe that you know, I hear so many people say today. Well yeah., if I saw the Miracles that happened during the Bible times, I'd be a believer too, but until I see him I'm not going to believe. Did you know that even in Bible times Miracles were extraordinarily rare, none? In the Book of Ruth and in fact if you study the Bible that the Miracles were really clustered around three different periods of time, there was when the Exodus from Egypt where God LED his people out of slavery. Lots of Miracles were happening around that time. Then none for a long time, hard time, hardly anything until you get to the time of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. And then there were a bunch of Miracles connected with them and then nothing for a long time until you get to Jesus and the establishment of them. The first or Christian churches the early Christian Church, all of a sudden a cluster of Miracles once again, but even in those times, how many miracles were happening? How many people were in the world at the time? Saw the Miracles that were happening? Still a relatively few. So I would propose to you based on the Book of Ruth and the pattern throughout the whole Bible though, yes, the Lord provides and he ended he can do Miracles, don't get me wrong, we have them recorded in scripture, we do believe God did does miracles in this church. We believe that happens. But typically, it appears, according to the track record we have in the Bible that God usually will provide in a different way. The Lord provides through everyday means. The Lord provides through everyday means. What did you see in this story where the Lord provided while we saw crops grow, we saw people work hard including Ruth day after day after day, gleaning in the field. It wasn't easy and through that hard work and crop growing the Lord provided. How did pull as become the kinsman, redeemer the guardian Redeemer for Naomi and Ruth through a very ordinary-looking legal process at the city Gates, like everybody else? Conducted business. That's how it happened through very ordinary. And regular means, And I believe that that's how God applies typically works with us as well when we pray the Lord's Prayer and just a little bit. Give us this day, our daily bread. I think that means you better get out and work because that's how the Lord is planning to provide it. I don't suggest that you sit down at your dinner table, pick up your knife and your fork with your plate, sitting there and say, give us this day, our daily bread. And wait God could provide that way, but he hasn't promised to and he hasn't done it in my life that way yet. But does the Lord provide is the Lord working through every day means through work through crops growing through. Yeah, these regular means, yes. Yes, he is in the Book of Ruth reminds us of that and not only does he work through every day means he is also working through regular people. Did you notice anybody extraordinary in the Book of Ruth with. Godly, yes, extraordinary not really Naomi's, pretty ordinary and gets frustrated, like an ordinary person loses almost all hope, like most people would in the midst of a mess. She was in Ruth, very faithful. But, apparently, an ordinary person. Nothing extraordinary really about her bow as a godly man, but not the richest guy in town. Not the youngest, not the handsomest, still single. An ordinary man and yet through these Ordinary People. God works amazing things. The Lord provides now I believe God can and does. And there's evidence of this in the Bible, he works through anybody, he gets his stuff done, even through unbelievers, but I also believe that we have evidence in the Book of Ruth and elsewhere in the Bible that as a family of Believers, you're going to see the Lord provide regularly through fell over. Believers and that's why it's so important that we have such good relationships with each other that we get into life groups that we know each other. Well because that's how God tends to work. He blesses us through regular people, like you and me. So through every day means through regular people, the Lord provides to give great Blessings Now and Forever.
To give great Blessings Now and Forever. So, you know, sometimes Lord has to empty Us in order to be able to bless us when we come in with our own baggage or own stuff. Our own provision relying upon ourselves, it's kind of like coming to God With Arms full and sometimes, God loves us so much. He empties our arms, like he did with Naomi. And so, we have to come before God with our pockets turned inside out and our hands open, have mercy on me, Lord, and it's then that the Lord can fill us up in that the Lord can provide Vide in amazing ways. So you what I think was one of the coolest parts of the Book of Ruth. It's what comes at the very end the genealogy. That's the part you love to write. Okay I'll confess I sometimes skim those parts I kind of skipped the genealogies but there's something super important. You don't want to miss at the end of Ruth here. It says they named their son Obed, Obed was the father of Jesse and Jesse was the father of David. Did you realize this whole time? We've been hearing a story about the great grandparents of the great King David. God tends to use normal everyday people and things to accomplish his will and if we would keep tracing the lineage of David them, which the Bible does in other places, other more fascinating genealogies for you? But if you go from David on and go, 27, more Generations You get to this child. Born of Mary, whose husband was Joseph. Whose name is Jesus. Through these Ordinary People. God was keeping the line of the Savior alive through whom God. Blesses us to you know the interesting thing about Jesus is that I don't think we realized this either, is it? He looked pretty ordinary to the prophet. Isaiah told us he would and he did, you know, I think we get this Vision in the mind of Jesus always is kind of floating around because he's the son of God but he didn't he walked. Well except for that one time when he walked on water. So he didn't show his Divine Glory once in a while, right? And we, I think we think he's walking around and he's glowed all the time or maybe had a halo over his head, but he didn't, he look normal but except for that one time on this mountain where three of his disciples saw him start to shine like the Sun but that was exceptional and only three people saw it. Otherwise, Jesus looked really ordinary so much so that if Jesus was walking by on the street, if you lived back, then in Jesus was walking by, you would not have done this. You wouldn't have looked twice you. What you might have thought that. Look at that guy over there is a 12 other guys following him. That's weird. But that's probably all the more you would have thought about it. Because Jesus looked so ordinary. But what Jesus did that was out of the ordinary that you might have even missed. Is a lot of people in his day did, was that he was perfectly obedient to every law and Fire and will of his heavenly father, never send, once perfectly obedient all the time. But then you know what happened? At the end of Jesus' life. Again look like something pretty ordinary. I mean wasn't it wasn't pretty but it was pretty ordinary to happen to other people too. He was put to death. They claim that. He's a king. And so they, that was the pretense for putting him up on a regular old cross. Probably not a new one, probably one that had been used before, and he was executed in the way many other criminals and people who rebelled against the Roman government, many other people had been put to death that way. And Jesus was too, it looked pretty ordinary. Except what was happening was that that perfect man on the cross was the god man, Christ Jesus and all that ordinary-looking cross where he wasn't glowing, the sins of the world, your sins, your shame, your guilt were laid on him and he paid your debt there. Cried out, it is finished. So that you are forgiven and restored to your heavenly father On the third day, there was something extraordinary and miraculous that truly happened and that is when Jesus broke out of that grave. He literally rose from the dead on the third day and that is the foundation and the Bedrock of the whole Christian faith. The fact of the miracle of Jesus. Resurrection is the reason we know that he was who he claimed to be, and he did what he said, he would do without that. There might not be enough evidence because he sure looked ordinary
Regular ways. The Lord was working human history out so that you would be rescued and save and having Eternal future with him. And the interesting thing is, Why are you here today? What means, brought you here. I bet it wasn't some kind of Supernatural miracle that brought you here, through a really ordinary guy standing on a stage, you have heard God's word of Truth. And maybe by reading this book with ordinary human words in it, you recognize this to be the very word of God and it created faith in your heart, through this really ordinary looking book and some of you have come to Faith and you've been baptized Used with really ordinary water to be honest. Don't tell anybody but we use Appleton. Tap water in our baptisms, ordinary water. But Jesus says, do this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I am washing away your sin. I am connecting you to me. Jesus says, you are being filled with faith filled with the Holy Spirit. You are brought into the family of God. That's amazing. And if you have ever received communion the Lord's Supper you are receiving ordinary Bread and Wine, which is quite common. You can buy it at almost any store and yet, God says, I promise you that when you receive this, you are actually receiving the very body and blood of the Lord, Jesus Christ that when you receive his body, What in Holy Communion, you are receiving Jesus. You are being forgiven of sin, you are having faith, strengthened, you being connected to God. Through these extraordinarily ordinary means. That's how God blesses you not just now, but that's how he blesses you for all eternity forever. And he does that for you, even the last point in the midst of the best. Even I might even say, especially even or especially in the midst of the mess. God is blessing you.
So I know that in the midst of the mess, it's easy to lose your faith or it's easy to struggle in your faith. It's easy to give in to this temptation. God doesn't know, God doesn't care. Why isn't God here? Why isn't God working this out? I have an acid desperate need, I know what I need and God isn't providing it is how we sometimes feel in the midst of the mess but the Book of Ruth reminds us. Be patient and trust in the Lord, your God. In the midst of the mess, he is at work and he is at work to bless you. Don't lose hope if you ever. Have you ever looked at how many of you do? Embroidery, not a lot of hands going up. I don't either. But I have looked at it and if you if you’ve ever done this, but if you turn the embroidery over to the back side it looks a little bit like a mess and we have that picture. Yeah, okay that's what the backside of some embroidery looks like and you look at it, you think? Whoever did this didn't know what they were doing. This is not beautiful. This is messy. This doesn't look good. I don't know why anybody would spend the time doing this and sometimes in our life understand that, we're looking at our life from the back side, we are looking at it from the bottom. We look at the random things that are happening. The strings hanging out, we're saying, God, what are you up to? This is not beautiful. This is not good. Why don't you do something about this? But there is a day coming when we will stand At God's side in Eternal paradise and we will be able to look at our lives from the front side. And it's going to look more like this. Comes into this, clear sharp focus. And we realized, well, there's some intricate detail there and all those random threads that I thought were random, God was actually creating and painting this beautiful. Perfect picture to bless me in the midst of the mess, not just now. But now I see it clearly for all eternity. I am blessed and the So that's kind of the end of our Cinderella Story here from Rags to Riches this Widow in poverty. Be gets to marry the man and they live happily ever after. Except That genealogy reminds us that God has pulled you into this very same story and through that descendant of Boaz and Ruth, the Lord Jesus Christ. You. Are forgiven you are redeemed, you are brought into the family of God and you have an eternal inheritance. All because of Boaz is great. Great, great, great, great-grandson, Jesus. And so even in the midst of the mess, I want you to remember that. You are a part of this Cinderella story and we all get to live happily Forever After That's right.
Heavenly Father. We are so grateful for all the amazing truths that we've learned from This Book of Ruth, help it to sink deep into our hearts. So that when the mess comes, we will be ready. And we will have faith and trust that you are working through ordinary means with regular people to bless us and to even eternally bless us, we can check out your track record in the Bible. We can see how you have a habit of doing this and we know that habit is going. To continue even in our lives. When we look at the backside of our life, when we see it from our current perspective, it sure looks messy. But Lord, we trust you just as you worked it out into a beautiful picture for Boaz, Ruth, and Naomi. We trust that you are working it out in a beautiful as a beautiful picture in our life as well. Give us Faith to believe it. So Lord, thank you for this time in this book and help us to grow in our faith through it be with us in Us in Jesus' name and all God's people said, amen. All right. Well, one of the exciting things about ending a new series is that it means we're beginning a new one, right? So next week, we are starting a study on the Book of Jonah, Pastor Mike will be back, so he will be leading us through that book. And it is a really exciting book. There is a really cool narrative there and we're going to be learning from this book. What do we do when we are mad at god? Let's take a look at the trailer. So when we start a new series, this is a really great time for you to invite somebody. That doesn't go to church. Can you think of somebody right now that may be is mad at God or has been mad at God? This would be the perfect time to say, hey we've got a sermon series, you're going to not going to want to miss. You're going to hear this. Would you come to church with me this next Sunday? So give some careful thought to who you could bring with you next week.
