The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Luke 11:1-4the short form of the Lord's Prayer, read and expounded as the anchor text of the sermon
1 When he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”
the people were bitten by venomous snakes and God told Moses to lift up a bronze serpent so all who looked on it would be saved
1 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim. He fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.
2 Israel vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”
3 Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah.
4 They traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom The soul of the people was very discouraged because of the journey.
5 The people spoke against God, and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this disgusting bread.”
6 Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died.
7 The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh, and against you. Pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moses prayed for the people.
8 Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen, that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
9 Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of brass, he lived.
10 The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in Oboth.
11 They traveled from Oboth, and encamped at Iyeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrise.
12 From there they traveled, and encamped in the valley of Zered.
13 From there they traveled, and encamped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness, that comes out of the border of the Amorites: for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
14 Therefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Yahweh, “Vaheb in Suphah, the valleys of the Arnon,
15 the slope of the valleys that incline toward the dwelling of Ar, leans on the border of Moab.”
16 From there they traveled to Beer; that is the well of which Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather the people together, and I will give them water.”
17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, well! Sing to it,
18 the well, which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter, and with their poles.” From the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;
19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;
20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert.
21 Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
22 “Let me pass through your land. We will not turn away into field or vineyard. We will not drink of the water of the wells. We will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed your border.”
23 Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his border, but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz. He fought against Israel.
24 Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even to the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.
25 Israel took all these cities. Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages.
26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even to the Arnon.
27 Therefore those who speak in proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon. Let the city of Sihon be built and established;
28 for a fire has gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has devoured Ar of Moab, The lords of the high places of the Arnon.
29 Woe to you, Moab! You are undone, people of Chemosh! He has given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon king of the Amorites.
30 We have shot at them. Heshbon has perished even to Dibon. We have laid waste even to Nophah, Which reaches to Medeba.”
31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites.
32 Moses sent to spy out Jazer. They took its villages, and drove out the Amorites who were there.
33 They turned and went up by the way of Bashan. Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.
34 Yahweh said to Moses, “Don’t fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand, with all his people, and his land. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.”
35 So they struck him, with his sons and all his people, until there were no survivors; and they possessed his land.
Jesus calls back to Numbers 21 when speaking to Nicodemus, connecting the lifted serpent to his own being lifted up
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”
4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’
8 The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things?
11 Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness.
12 If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
13 No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.
14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
18 He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.
21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”
22 After these things, Jesus came with his disciples into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them, and baptized.
23 John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there. They came, and were baptized.
24 For John was not yet thrown into prison.
25 There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John’s disciples with some Jews about purification.
26 They came to John, and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, the same baptizes, and everyone is coming to him.”
27 John answered, “A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven.
28 You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.’
29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This, my joy, therefore is made full.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32 What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness.
33 He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.
34 For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.
36 One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
the Lord God cursed the serpent, quoting the words about going on its belly and eating dust
1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden,
3 but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die,
5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.
7 Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves.
8 They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.
9 Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bear children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and ate from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.
18 It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living.
21 Yahweh God made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.
22 Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—”
23 Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message from Ray walked through Luke 11, the short form of the Lord's Prayer and the passage that follows it immediately, looking at what it means to ask God for what we truly need and to do so without embarrassment or hesitation.
What was said
To understand the passage, Ray pointed back to the three stories that come just before it in Luke: the Good Samaritan, Mary and Martha, and then the Lord's Prayer itself. The Good Samaritan can look like Jesus endorsing a works-based faith, but Mary and Martha corrects that reading. Mary sat at Jesus' feet, soaking in His word, and Jesus said she had found the one thing that mattered. Those two stories together set up the prayer that follows them.
The Lord's Prayer in Luke is the shorter version. Ray walked through each line, noting that "hallowed be your name" is not just personal worship but a prayer that others would come to honor God too. "Your kingdom come" is a statement of submission, placing yourself as a servant of the King. "Give us each day our daily bread" is a request for what is necessary to do what God is asking, not for extravagances. And the confession of sin is straightforward agreement with God about where you fell short, which is what 1 John 1:9 describes.
Immediately after the prayer, Jesus tells a story about a man who goes to a friend's door at midnight asking to borrow three loaves of bread, because an unexpected guest has arrived and he has nothing to offer. The friend inside refuses at first. Jesus says the man at the door will get what he needs not simply because of friendship, but because of his shamelessness.
Ray spent time on that word. In Greek it appears only once in the New Testament, right here in Luke 11:8, and it means a shameless persistence, an unembarrassed boldness that is not stopped by human fears, even when others think you have gone too far. The man knocking was not trying to make himself look good. He was trying to serve his guest. He did not care how he appeared at midnight. That quality, Ray said, is exactly the spirit Jesus is commending.
Jesus then moves from a friendship example to a family one. What father, if his child asks for a fish or an egg, gives him a snake or a scorpion? The children are asking for daily staples, nothing extravagant, the same kind of thing the Lord's Prayer asks for. Even fathers who are, as Jesus says, evil from the outset know how to give their children good things. The argument moves from lesser to greater: if that is true of a limited human father, how much more will the heavenly Father give to those who ask?
The answer Jesus gives is the Holy Spirit. Ray tied this back to how Jesus himself carried out His earthly mission: in submission to the Father's will, communing with Him in prayer, led and empowered by the Spirit. That is what God gives to those who keep asking. Ray also connected this to the 12-step idea of seeking through prayer and meditation to know God's will and to have the power to carry it out.
To close the argument, Ray addressed what it means to pray "in Jesus' name." He said it is not a formula tagged onto the end of a request. He used the picture of signing his father's name at a small-town gas station to cover what he needed to get to school. His father had authorized it and would cover it because it was a genuine need. Praying in Jesus' name means being aligned with the mission Jesus came to carry out, asking for what is actually needed to do God's will, not drawing on that name to cover personal extravagance.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Ray pointed out that the Good Samaritan and Mary and Martha stories sit right next to each other in Luke, and that the pairing matters. How does Mary sitting at Jesus' feet change the way you read the Good Samaritan story on its own?
Pastor Ray described the man knocking at midnight as shameless, and said that word carries a positive meaning here, something like unembarrassed boldness in carrying out God's plan. Where in your own life do you find it hardest to bring that kind of boldness to God in prayer, and what holds you back?
Can hear me because you can hear me. Now you can hear me. Okay. Even the Internet can hear me now. So alright.
Here we go. We're gonna start off with one called he keeps me singing. Let's keep it bouncy. Alright.
There's within my heart a melody. Jesus whispers sweet and low. Fear not, I am with thee. Peace be still in all of life's ebb and flow. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.
All my life was wrecked by sin and strife. Discord filled my heart with pain. Jesus swept across the broken strings, stirred the slumbering cords again. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go, feasting on the riches of his grace, resting beneath his sheltering wing, always looking on his smiling face. That is why I shout and sing.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go. Though sometimes he leads through waters deep, trials fall across my way. On the path seems rough and steep. See his footprints all the way. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go on the last.
It does it every time, doesn't it? On the last, I'm gonna sing
it anyway. It's soon he's coming back to welcome me, far beyond the
Jesus, chorus with
Jesus, Jesus, sweetest Amen.
Thank you. How about the old rugged cross? We'll sing good standard. He humbled himself and became obedient. Obedient even to death, even death on a cross, that old rugged cross.
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. Oh, the old rugged cross, so despised by the world, has a wondrous attraction for me. For the dear lamb of God left his glory till my trophy's at last I lay down.
I will cling to the all rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, a wondrous beauty I see. For it was on that old cross, Jesus till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. To the old rugged cross, I will ever be true.
It's shame and reproach gladly bear. Then he'll call me someday to my home far away, where is glory forever I'll share. I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down I will cling to the all noggin cross and exchange it someday for Amen.
Y'all can have a seat. Have a few announcements this morning. Monday nights at First B is on. It's happening starting at 06:00 tomorrow night. We do meal first and then music and then a message.
And then after the message, we have a gospel conversation and it's so good. Carl is in Mark right now. He's up to the place where Jesus asked a man, do you believe? And he says, I believe, but help me with my unbelief. The most honest prayer, I think, in the Bible.
I do believe, but Lord, help me with my unbelief. And so he's it's one of Carl's favorite passages. And Felix and Guadalupe are making the meal tomorrow night. It's a good Mexican, food meal, and then a conversation afterwards. Monday night's the first bee.
Happens at the same time as Awana. Awana happens in this room, and we are pouring scripture into the minds of the kids. They're memorizing scripture, and it'll give them a pool to draw from for the rest of their lives. Reaching hearts, we pray. Connect hour, happened between services.
It was share a dish Sunday. We're trying to get something started, and I tasted a lot of delectable goodness down there this morning. It was really good. It was today, the between services share a dish. I think we're gonna try to start doing that the first Sunday of the month, each month.
So it's not exactly covered dish dinner on the grounds, but it's dinner betweens. And it's or breakfast between maybe. Ladies fellowship happening Thursday, 6PM in the fellowship down the hall, fellowship hall down that hall, And it's good. They get together, they pray together, they eat together, and they study the Bible together. It's really, really good.
It's 6PM in the Fellowship Hall. There is a one day ladies retreat. So Amy Lane Litzelman. You all know Amy Litzelman. Amy has written several books, and she is leading this one called The Way of Love.
It'll be in the first B Fellowship Hall. Unless we overflow and need to come down here, it'll be down the hall in the Fellowship Hall, not next Saturday, but the not this Saturday, but the next. So, that is happening. If you want more information or you want to register, you can talk to Nancy T. It would help them if they know about how many are coming.
Nancy Terraziano, (307) 699-9789 is her number. But that's a one day retreat on the way of love, Saturday, March 18. Sunday school volunteers are needed. Glenn, would you come up and make that announcement on the yellow microphone?
Thank you.
There you go.
Good morning. So my name is Glenn. Many of you know my wife Liz, does children's ministry here. That takes place from 09:30, until ten on Sunday mornings, and we're really in need of some additional volunteers. So it's kind of number of kids has increased over the last couple of years, which is great and the last few months especially, and we have about 20 to 25 kids that we kind of need to split from one class into two.
So we provide a curriculum for that, and you don't necessarily have to teach. We can't just use helpers. We need to have two adults in each room with the kids. So, we can help have the lesson ready for you. You can look it over.
It's a pretty simple process, and then, you can either teach or be the helper in that room. So we'd love for you to think about if it's just maybe one Sunday a month or something like that, you can visit with Liz there at that number. You can text or call and she'd be glad to visit with you. So thanks.
Thank you. Right now it's like second through fifth grade, right? And so we'd like to split that probably age appropriately in there somewhere. Doing a great job, by the way. Glenn usually is the one who fills in wherever needed.
Oftentimes Liz does that too. It'd be great for them to be able to be in church sometimes too. So but they're looking for maybe just one Sunday per month that you could help out with that. That would be great. Next week.
So y'all have probably met Monique Ibarra at some point. She has been on multiple foreign mission trips, and she would like to share what she thinks God is leading her towards. She's gonna do that next Sunday Saturday, sorry, 03:11. So that's this coming Saturday, from six to 8PM. She's calling it a meat and sweet.
So she's bringing, some sweets, some desserts, and a discussion about her upcoming trip to Mission Field. She is, she believes God's leading her there, and she's looking for, folks who would like to know more about it. So 03:11 six to eight in the fellowship hall. She is great, by the way. She's she's a delight.
Nick's got an announcement. Which one you wanna do? I got it. We're
You got it. Okay.
Okay. Hey, everybody. I don't know about you, but it's difficult to share our faith sometimes. It can be a little intimidating. We feel like we're not equipped.
And the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is coming to Idaho Falls to do a big a big tour as in September, but they're also coming here to First Baptist Church in May fourth, eleventh, and eighteenth to help equip us, for discipleship and also evangelism so we can learn how to share our faith. Or I don't about you, brush up on it a little bit, how we can share our faith. And in the seat in front of you, the little pocket there, there's a little bring a friend card. This is for you to take home. We had somebody put it in the offering during the first this is not this is not for us.
This is for you. This is for you. To take it home, because on the back, it there's a little process where it says pray, bring, and hang. And it it's listed on there some slots for you to write in some names to pray for friends you know, people you run into at the grocery store anywhere. Put this on your fridge.
Put it on your mirror in your bathroom, and pray for those people every day that the Lord would find them and that you could have an opportunity to preach to them. And come to those classes so you have an opportunity to learn and get sharpened to be able to share your faith. And then just just keep praying for them, and then would you bring them to that event in September 23 if they're a kid or September 24 if they're an adult. And it's it's just a great opportunity to focus us a little bit on evangelism, how we can share our faith with them, and how we can be praying for people. And my challenge to you too is put one impossible person on there that the Lord would never find.
You know know that person. I've got a couple of them. And but if when we write it down, when we commit to praying for them, we find that their hearts soften, our hearts hard soften towards them. Amen. And maybe the Lord will give you an opportunity to share.
So would you would you partner with us? Would you come to those classes May fourth, eleventh, and eighteenth? Maybe bring your small group, bring your neighbors, invite other churches. We're trying to get everybody in the in the they're they're here to serve us. I was really impressed on Friday with their heart for us.
Mhmm. They're not coming here to give us things to do, but to equip us to do the things that God has already called us to do. Amen. So would you would you come and partner with us on that? Thanks so much.
And, Ray, would you give me a second to get back to the sound booth before we sing?
Sure. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Nick. So, this is a beautiful song.
I probably cannot sing it all the way through without crying, so I'm gonna need your help. Would you stand up and sing lamb of God? Pay attention to the last verse. It goes from my Jesus Christ, the lamb of God, to till I am just a child a lamb of God. So good.
Moving.
Your only son, no sin to hide, But you have sent him from your side to walk upon this guilty son and to become blood my Jesus Christ the lamb your gift of love they crucified. They laughed and scorned him as he died. The humble king, they named a frog and sacrificed the lamb I was so lost I should have done, but you have brought me to your side to be led by your staff and rod and to become the lamb of God. Oh, lamb of God, sweet lamb of God, God. Amen.
Wow.
Whoo. Worthy of worship. Indeed, he is. Y'all can have a seat. I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward.
And would you pray with me? Lord God, in this time, we set aside time to do an offering. But God, I pray that whatever goes in these plates, financial stuff, resources, whatever it is in the physical realm, Lord, I pray for that, that you'd multiply and bless it. But Lord, metaphorically, whatever we place in the plates, whatever we offer to you, Lord God, I pray that you would bless it and that you would multiply it. So if we have a conversation with a friend about what gives us hope, I pray that you'd bless that, that that other person might find their hope in you.
If we take the time to help someone out who's in need, I pray, Lord, that it would be a reflection of who you are, a good and giving, loving, and caring God that wants to reach people. In Jesus' name, I pray that you would bless this offering, Lord, that we would be humble and willing servants of a King, capital K, King. And that your kingdom, Lord, would be what is paramount in our lives, that we would be willing and obedient servants, humble before our king. In Jesus name, we ask that you would bless us to do your will and your way. Amen.
Amen.
Amen. Thank you, Judy. Oh, here we are. We are getting back to our study, the Harmony of the Gospel study, and we are at a place where the last time that we talked about this study, were in Luke eleven one through four, which is the short version of the Lord's Prayer. Okay?
The short version of the Lord's Prayer. And it also is included in Matthew, but we talked about both at the same time. And we'll get back through that. But this is back to our Harmony of Gospel study. I think it's been three weeks or a month since we talked about this.
So since context is king, I want you to kind of consider where we are in Luke. Where we are today is following these three stories, the Good Samaritan story. The Good Samaritan is about someone who is a neighbor to a guy who has been beaten, robbed, stripped, and is without hope or without help. We see a a priest and a Levite both walked by, and then a Samaritan. In their day, that would have been a bad thing.
Right? That would have been somebody that was the outlandish, impossible one that God will never find. But he's the one who acted like a neighbor. And so if you read that story, you might be tempted, as some people are, to say Jesus is backing up, theology of works. Faith without works is dead.
He's saying that this is the one who did the right thing. Didn't matter. Levite priest, the Samaritan is the one who did the right thing. And if you start thinking, well, Jesus is back in a works theology. He has Mary and Martha.
Mary's working. Working hard, hard, hard. You know, she's going for it to serve Jesus in her home as her guest, and she's saying, tell her to help me. Tell her to be doing something. And Jesus says, Martha, Martha, Mary has found the one thing.
She's sitting at his feet. She's listening to his word. She is not just lollygagging. She really is soaking in what God has for her. And so Mary and Martha is a good antidote for the Good Samaritan story if you think it's espousing a works theology.
Mary and Martha shows that it can't be. And then the next thing we hit is the Lord's Prayer in Luke. We studied Matthew and Luke together. And if you wanna go back and listen to that, it's available. We do keep that on the website.
But I'm gonna cover what follows the Lord's Prayer in Luke today. But since it follows it, I want for you to know context matters. Right? You have to take it where it is. And it might change your opinion about what this section means.
Since we live in The US in this century, we have run into a prosperity gospel. Right? And prosperity gospel is hogwash, by the way. Okay? It's taken over this section we're gonna study today, and that's not what it means.
Okay? So here we are. Luke eleven one through four. We're gonna hit the Lord's prayer. Here it says, now it happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place doesn't say where.
It's kind of vague. When he had finished praying, that was polite of his disciple to wait, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples. Now several of Jesus' disciples had been John the Baptist's disciples. So those guys that had been there had learned from John how to pray. And then when John pointed out Jesus and said, that's the one right there.
That's the one that takes away the sins of the world. That's the one you need to be paying attention to. I'm not even worthy to tie his shoes. Go after him. He must increase.
I must decrease. And they went and followed after Jesus. Certainly, some of them did. So, Lord, would you teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples? We want to know.
And he said to him, when you pray, say, father, our heavenly father. Wow. Father, hallowed be your name. Hallowed, revered, honored, respected. Maybe the good definition of feared, hallowed, hallowed be your name.
I am saying to you first thing, Lord, you're worthy of worship, worthy of praise, worthy of all of the songs that we sing. Right? That's what we just sang. Worthy. Hallowed be your name.
Not just me, but I am praying, Lord, that others would also hallow it. Remember Psalm 67 that we covered a couple of weeks ago where it's, we are blessed to be a blessing to others. Father, I'm hallowing your name, but I want for others to know you too. Now, your kingdom come. Your kingdom, revered father, come.
Now Matthew adds on earth as it is in heaven. And that makes it absolutely explicit. That's what it means here. But I think in in our in our day, kingdom come also, kinda equals smithereens. We're gonna blow them to kingdom come.
That's the way that we use that more often than not. Right? Kingdom come means you are the capital k king, and we are hallowing your name as king, and we are saying, I am your servant, and I will serve my king. May your reign extend to me, and may I do the king's bidding. Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.
That's important. Give us each day our daily bread. This is a prayer for what we need. Actually, one good definition is there. Give us each day our needful bread, what it is that we need.
It's not asking for extravagances. It's asking for that which is necessary. I also like, and probably one of the best definitions is, give us each day our quotidian bread. Of course, nobody knows what quotidian means, but it it fits it. Give us our quota.
Give us what we need. Lord, give us our daily bread, that which is necessary for us to do what it is you want us to do. God, if your kingdom is gonna come, we need to be supplied with what we need to be able to do what you want us to do. I'm surrendering my will to your will, just like Jesus in the garden. Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins. This is extremely important. We all have sinned. Actually, I'm gonna share first John one nine. Bob's not here today.
Bob's favorite verse. Bob Wells. This is the mechanism. He says it. This is the mechanism.
This is the way that God does. If we confess, the word there is homo logeo. Homo means the same. Logeo means to to speak or to say. So if we are speaking or saying the same thing about our sin that God is, if we are in agreement with God, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and he's just or righteous, so that he will forgive us our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
That is a precious Bible promise. What it says is just be in agreement with God about your sin, and he will forgive you. It was wrong. I fell short. Should not have done that.
God, will you forgive me? He says he throws it as far as the East is from the West and remembers it no more. He throws it into the sea of forgetfulness and remembers it no more. Though your sins be as scarlet, all you need to do is agree with him, and they will be as white as snow. He has made the way.
We're gonna celebrate the Lord's Supper together, and it's a reminder that he has made the way. He lived a perfect life, and he made a voluntary and sacrificial death on cross. So he can and will forgive us if we will just agree with him. Forgive us our sins because we're sinners. Actually, the next verse says, if he says that he's without sin, he is a liar.
That's a sin. The next verse here says, forgive us our sins for we ourselves also forgive everyone who's indebted to us. Wow. That's tied together with the forgiveness of sins. In Matthew, it's even more tied together just as we forgive others.
Woah. If we are forgiven and we recognize we really did have a debt to pay that we could not pay, and God really has forgiven that debt, then we will be forgiving people. We will share God's grace and share God's mercy with others. We ourselves also forgive everyone who's indebted to us. And don't lead us into temptation now.
In Luke, that's the end of the Lord's prayer. It doesn't go into for thine is the kingdom, power, and the glory. It doesn't have on earth as it is in heaven. It's a short form of the prayer, but it's very important. And this immediately precedes what comes after it, and I think we need to pay attention to that.
Here we go. And he said to them, right after he was teaching that, he said to him, suppose that one of you has a friend. Okay. That's easy. We've got friends.
And he goes to him at midnight, and he says to him, friend reminder, we're friends. Hey, I'm here at midnight. Knock, knock, knock. Friend, lend me three loaves. He's not even asking for something that's a handout, a gift.
He's saying, just lend me three loaves. I need something, and I don't have it. And I'm asking you because you do have it. Friend, friend, lend me three loaves because a friend, a different friend, this is person three, a different friend of mine has come along and has come to see me from a journey, and I have nothing to serve him. Here he is at midnight.
That guy probably was already in bed back at the house, and he's like, what am I gonna do for breakfast? I'm gonna go see my friend. So a friend comes to another friend and says, lend me three loaves because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to serve him. And from inside, he answers and says, don't bother me. I said, what kind of friend is this?
It is midnight. Okay. It is midnight. I don't know how many midnight calls y'all get. I think I get a lot of midnight calls.
I don't mind. From inside, he answers and says, do not bother me. The door has already been shut. Every time I read this, I think about showing up late for an airplane. Have you ever seen them open the door?
It's against the FAA rules for them to open that door. Once it's been shut, the code is in there. They're not gonna open that door. This is this guy's kinda urgency. Don't bother me.
The door has already been shut. Sorry. Come back tomorrow when we're open. Catch the next flight. The door has already been shut, and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up and give you anything. Boy, that's tough. That's that's a hard word. You know? Come on, please.
I tell you, Jesus says, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he's his friend. It says he's his friend. It said one guy thought, I can go to so and so, and that so and so says, nope, sorry. Even if he won't give him anything just because he's his friend, that's an unreasonable request, you could say. And justify yourself, feel good about it because it's so late and everything.
Even if you won't give it to him just because he's a friend, this is this first hit me so hard this week. The next one. Yet, because of his shamelessness. Shamelessness, generally, we don't think of as a good thing. When you hear that somebody's shameless, it's not usually a good thing.
But it is here. It is a very good thing here. Yet because of his shamelessness think about this. The first guy was trying to serve his friend that had showed up from out of town. That's all he wanted, was to receive to be able to give to that friend.
It wasn't for him. It wasn't even to make himself look good. Doesn't appear. Because he's knocking on somebody's door at midnight. He doesn't really care how he looks.
He's shameless about it. Shamelessness is a good thing here. It's the only time it's ever used in the Bible. This word, this word in Greek. You know, it wouldn't be in the Old Testament because it's Greek, but in the New Testament, this is the only time it's used.
Yet because of his shamelessness, he'll get up and give him as much as he needs. Look at this, shamelessness. This is the word. That was a reckless mispronunciation, but anyway, shameless. Shamelessness or shameless persistence.
Because of his persistence, some translations say. But properly, it is a shameless persistence. It's used only in Luke eleven eight. It's literally shamelessness and relates to carrying out God's plan with unembarrassed boldness. Now, when Nick was saying that about sharing our faith, I think that some of us have a little bit of a
I can't I can't do that.
I can't do that. I I don't know what I would do. I don't even know what I would say. Well, there's no theological argument against a changed life. If you know what you know, you can share what you know.
He changed me. I can't argue anything else, but I was without hope, I found him. And now I have hope, and I love him. And I'm thankful for him. That's good.
Unembarrassed boldness. In the dignity of faith. Listen, look at that last paragraph there. No shame or without embarrassment. Ana is without, and there, ah is without.
No shame or without embarrassment. It is the shamelessness a faith led believer has who is not to be halted by human fears. Not to be halted by human fears, even when others cry overdone. This reminds me of Job. So Job is a righteous man.
He serves God. He receives all kinds of stuff because of this courtroom deal in heaven. And his wife finally says, Job, curse God and die. Come on. Forget about this.
This is ridiculous. And he says, though he slay me, yet will I serve him. I'm unashamed of my relationship with God. Even when others cry that it's overdone. Now this is not like going down on the public square, carrying a sign that's kind of mean.
Ain't no mean like Christian mean, you know, going in and just being a jerk. That's not what it's about. It's about knocking on God's door, asking, seeking, and knocking. In fact, he'll go to that next. Look at that, though.
Because of his unembarrassed persistence, that friend will get up and give him as much as he needs. He he gets what he needs to be able to serve the other guy. That's a great parallel. So this is just the first part of Jesus' explanation of the Lord's prayer. Hallowed be your name.
Thy kingdom come. Oh, forgiveness, not being led into temptation. And then he follows it up with this. This is what we're praying for. We're praying for God's heart.
We're praying for God's way. We're praying not to stray from the way by being tempted. We're praying to be obedient servants in his kingdom, and we're shameless about wanting that. So I say to you, Jesus, because of that argument he just made. Now Jesus is fully human and fully divine, and he understands the heart of God, and he is trying to put it in a frame where we can understand it.
So I say to you this, ask. Just ask. Don't be ashamed. Don't be embarrassed. Ask, and it will be given to you.
Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be open to you. I like the verb tenses in Greek. They're present tense, which means they're continuous action. So I say to you, be asking.
Be in a continual state of asking, and it will be given to you. Be seeking, and you will find. You know, every time you're looking for something and you find it, they say, well, it's always the last place you look. I promise you're not gonna find all of the righteousness of God and stop looking. Okay?
Be seeking, and you will find. You will be finding, technically. Be knocking, and it will be being opened to you. Be asking, be seeking, be knocking, and you will have it, you will find it, and it'll be open to you. And Jesus goes over it again.
Hebrew parallelism. Herefore, everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened Indeed. I like that. So the word for there. If we just see for, it's causal.
If you are, then this is what happens. But I think indeed fits the context here. Indeed. Everyone who asks receives. Actually, it fits context if everyone who is seeking or everyone who is asking receives.
You have not because you ask not. The one who is seeking finds and the one who is knocking, it will be opened. That guy could have sat in his house and just fretted about what he didn't have, and the neighbor next door who did have would have just slept. He wouldn't have known except for his neighbor asking persistently. Now which one of you?
So he's building on this argument. He starts out giving an example they can all understand, and then he says, be seeking. Come on. Be shameless about it. Be persistent like the guy in the first story.
Now he's going a lesser to a greater. So first of all, it's a friendship example. All of us know what friendship is like. But then he brings it into an even greater relationship, a more close and intimate relationship, hopefully. Now, which one of you, fathers, which one of you as fathers will his son ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, he'll give him a snake?
Asking for a fish, at this time, was asking for just a regular staple of their diet. The kid is hungry and wants something to eat, so he asked for a good source of protein that is helpful and healthy for him, not an extravagance. It's just daily bread. In this case, fish. Which one of you fathers?
This is a closer relationship. If his son asked him for a fish, would instead of fish give him a snake? Oh, snakes. There are people who just hate snakes. Right?
I think in our day, we don't know because we have just leveled everything. You know, oh, they're all God's creatures. Well, the snake was cursed. Okay? The Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you, more than all the livestock of the field and more than any other animal of the field.
On your belly you shall go, and the dust you shall eat all the days of your life. Every time that a snake is mentioned in scripture, it's a bad thing. Numbers 21, do you remember when the people were complaining and then they got all bit by venomous snakes? Numbers 21. Jesus calls back when he's talking to Nicodemus in John three.
John three, he's given him the whole for God so loved the world speech. And then Nicodemus says, how can this be? He said, do you remember that story from Numbers 21 where all the people were snake bit and God made a way? And he said to Moses, you make a bronze serpent and you lift it up, and everybody who looks on that serpent will be saved. And they had the choice.
They could look up and be saved, or they could hide their face from it, and they would die. Jesus said, just like that, I'm gonna be lifted up. And everybody who calls out to me will be saved, and everybody who rejects me will die. Psalm one and forty. Speaking of the wicked, they sharpen their tongues like a snake.
The venom of a viper is under their lips, and let that ring out. Selah. It's it's a universally in the Bible a bad thing. There is that one reference where God says, just look upon this thing. Look upon what it is that ails you.
Take that into account. Look to the way that I have given, and you will be saved. Oh, further example. So if your son would ask you for an egg, an egg is not a big thing. Maybe protein source, it's a good thing.
It's a staple of their diet, and ours still today. If he asks you for an egg, are you going to give him something poisonous like a scorpion? No. If he's asking you for something reasonable, you're going to give him what he's asking for, if it's within your power to give it, and we serve an almighty God. So if a father has asked for an egg, will he give him a scorpion?
So what's happening? We'll recap right here. Kids are asking for good things. Nothing extravagant. Staples, they're necessary for a healthy life, and it's your child.
And what they're asking for is just daily bread. That's what Jesus just told us we should be praying for, what we need to do what it is that you would have us to do, Lord. So if you I love this. I don't have a slide on this next word, but despite being evil. Despite is in italics.
In the in the, New American Standard, whenever it's in italics, it helps you make sense in English. The word's not exactly there, but it does help it in this sense. What it means is you, who are from the outset, evil. We all start off estranged. We all have the capacity for sin.
Hence, forgive us of our sins in the Lord's prayer, which is right above this. So so if we who are from the outset evil? If we, even as evil people, know how to give good gifts to our children, it might be that you have the mentality most everybody has a mentality of me, my four, and no more. Right? I'm gonna take care of mine.
Jesus is saying, if you know that it went from being a friend to being a family member, a close family member. If you understand this, which is what he's trying to do, he understands both divine and human, and he's trying to get humans to understand the divine. He says, if you understand this from a lesser than to greater than argument, how much more would your heavenly father how much more? If daddies know how to do the right thing, imagine what your heavenly father would do. Our our fathers have limited resources, some are more limited than others.
But our heavenly father is not limited like that. How much more will your heavenly father give what? Oh, my goodness. What's he given? The Holy Spirit.
What do we need? The Holy Spirit. How do we know what God wants from us? Your kingdom come. Jesus, when he came, and we'll celebrate this in a minute, he humbled himself.
He humbled himself in that the father had a will, and the son was willing to humbly walk it out. He did so by the power of the Holy Spirit. He knew what God wanted because he communed with him in prayer, and was led by the Spirit, and empowered by the Spirit to do what God had asked him to do. How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? And actually, says, not just to those who ask him, but to those who are asking.
Don't stop asking. Don't stop seeking. Don't stop knocking. I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, three, four weeks ago, whatever. And I just keep coming back to it.
If you are trying to let go of something, the best way that human beings have come up with to do this, put it in a sequential step, I think is the 12 step program. I think they're great. I think that more of us probably ought to be going through those steps. I think of them every single day. And step 11 followed closely with our Lord's Prayer, sermon a few weeks back, but it follows really closely with this one that's here today.
We have sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God. That's good. That's really, really good. And he will give if we are asking, seeking a knock, and he will give it to us. He says everyone who asks, seeks, and knocks will get it.
So we have sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him now. As we understood him as a statement of humility on our part. God can't just be anything. He is what he is. But he's infinite, and we're finite.
So as we understand, and it's a statement of humility before God, as we understand and pray and what? Only for the knowledge of his will. What does he want? He's the king. His kingdom come.
The knowledge of his will. I need that. How's he going to share it with me? Through the Holy Spirit. The knowledge of his will and the power to carry that out.
That's good. That's good. Is that the last slide, Nick? Oh, it is. Hey, communion's next.
I've got one more story. When I was thinking about this and everyone who asks, everyone who seeks, everyone who knocks, and thinking about in my name. Because where this argument is used elsewhere in scripture, it says anybody who asks anything in my name, it'll be given to him. And I think the prosperity gospel has taken that over to say, all you have to do is tag this on at the end. Maybe it gives us send us a little seed money, but tag this on at the end.
In the name of Jesus. Right? In Jesus' name. Oh my goodness. I was praying last night, and I asked him for a big old house, but I forgot to use in Jesus' name.
Probably not gonna get it. It's not a magical incantation. In the first service, I said, oh, Lord, I want a new bicycle, but I forgot to say in Jesus' name. I'm not gonna get it. Or I did say in Jesus' name, so I'm just looking for that Well, if you need that bicycle to serve the Lord's purposes, he'll give you that bicycle, but that's not what he's saying.
It's not a magical incantation. What does it mean to pray in Jesus' name? When he said the Lord's Prayer and then followed it up with that seeking and saying, be shameless about it before God, that you want his righteousness. You don't just wanna be right. I mean, we're all trying to win the argument.
He's saying, lay down your wanting to be right and allow God to transform you and make you righteous. That's what we're looking for. So in Jesus' name. I'm from a small town. Actually, mentioned I was from a small town.
There's a guy who was from seven miles away, and I didn't even know that in the first service. We had one gas station in the little town that I grew up in, and we had a second one for a little while, and it closed. And then it opened and it closed, and then it opened and closed. My dad had accounts at both of those stations. And you know the kind of old account where you just sign your name, and at the end of the month, you pay whatever it is you owe.
So when I was in high school, I had a 'sixty nine Nova race car. It sucked gas. I mean, it really went through gas. But gas was cheap, for the most part. And when I got up in the morning and I was going to school, I could stop at that little gas station, and I'd fill the tank, and then I'd go inside, and I would say, Billy McDaniel.
Now, I'm not Billy McDaniel. I'm not. I'm Ray McDaniel. But my father had authorized me to sign that, and he was covering it because it's what I needed to get back and forth to school. Now if I got extravagant about it and just went in and said, hey, everybody who comes in the next thirty minutes, I'm gonna pay for your gas and sign it off.
Is that real or right? That's not No. That's not daily bread. That's trying to profit off of a situation, and that's not what we're called to do. If I go in and I sign off on 16 gallons of gas and maybe an RC and a Moon Pie, My dad would cover that.
And it was in Billy McDaniel's name, not my name. When we're praying in Jesus' name, Jesus was here with a mission. We're a part of that mission. We're plan A. There's no plan B.
If we are seeking to do the will of God, he will have us doing it. Does that make sense? To me, it hit me so hard this week, the shamelessness of it. I'm unembarrassed. I have a boldness.
And I wanna say this for Awana. Approved workmen are not ashamed. There's a shamelessness there. We know the scripture, and we're willing to put it into practice in our daily life. Now, we're going to go to a time of communion right now.
And I'm going invite some ushers to come forward. There they come. And Judy, would you play something pretty? Would you pray with me? God, I pray that we would be bold to ask for what we need to do what you would have us to do.
I also pray, Lord, that we would lay down the things that are encumbering us from doing what it is that you would have us to do. Would you show us your way, Lord, by your Holy Spirit, and would you allow us the power to just carry out what it is you want for us to do? I pray, Lord, that we'd be a part of your kingdom purposes, that we would hallow you as king, and that we would be obedient, humble servants, citizens of heaven. In Jesus' name, I ask your blessing as we distribute this little cracker, a representation of your body, which was given on our behalf, Lord. I ask that everyone in the room that is a believer in Jesus, that has trusted you at any time, would feel free to partake with us of this little representation of your body, the life that you walked out, a perfect record.
In Jesus' name, amen. So on the same night that Jesus was betrayed. Oh, that's significant. Right? We fell we fall short.
On the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he lovingly said to his disciples there, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat, and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Thank you, Jesus, that you humbled yourself throughout your whole earthly life. You walked in submission to the spirit to carry out the will of the father. And because of that, you had innocent blood, that you had the opportunity, Lord, to shed that innocent blood at the hands of angry men, that you voluntarily laid down your life as a ransom for everyone who would believe.
Thank you, Lord, for your blood. For this little representation, we ask that you'd bless it, this little plastic container of grape juice. We remember the shed blood in Jesus' name. Amen. After he had taken the bread, he also took the cup, and he said to his disciples there, and his voice still rings for us today.
This is the new covenant in my blood. They had been looking forward to that new covenant. We, as New Testament believers, probably haven't known much more than the new covenant. We don't understand how difficult the old covenant was. He said to them, this is a new covenant in my blood.
Take this and drink and take it in, and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. Paul says, as often as we do that, we we recall his death, which means an end to sin. The power of sin is canceled. God, forgive us.
Thank you. Thank you for this representation that you do. In Jesus' name, amen. God, would you stand with me? We're gonna sing, the Doxology.
Does that work? Well, let's sing I Surrender All. We have it. Let's sing I Surrender All. That's even better.
All to Jesus, I surrender all to him I freely give. All. To Jesus, I surrender humbly at his feet, I bow. Worldly pleasures
For the benediction today, I think it's a good summary of the whole sermon. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, because if you're hungry and you're thirsty, you're asking. You're seeking and you're knocking. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for what? Righteousness, for they shall be filled.
God Almighty, would you help us this week to recognize our lack, to know that we can boldly come before the throne of grace, and ask for it, Lord, and have it in abundance so that we may share it with our friends and neighbors. Amen.
