A Desperate Father and a Willing Savior

This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang.! Thank you for joining us. What a great day of seeing the gospel and baptism and singing the gospel and reading from Romans already the gospel.

And now we will turn to Mark chapter 9 and watch the power of Christ. Christ on display. We've spent the last couple of Sundays in our walk through the gospel of Mark in this event known as the Mount of Transfiguration, where Jesus took Peter and James and John and they go up to the mountainside and there they meet with Moses and Elijah.

And the gospels tell us what they were talking about. They were talking about Christ's departure, literally meaning his exodus. They were talking about the events of Jesus, his death, burial, and resurrection, and his coming ascension.

And Peter wanted to stay there on the mountaintop. He didn't want to come down. He said, let's just stay right here. Can't we just build three tents and we'll have a place for each of you.

Let's just stay in this exciting experience. But, as was true for them and as is true for you in your life, you don't stay on the mountaintop.

You have to come down. We have to engage in the real world. As we look this week in verses 14 to 29, it's a fairly long passage for us, but one encounter here in the life of Christ.

And Lord willing, we'll get through 14 to 29 this morning. As we do so, I want to give you a few headings that will both follow the flow of the story, but I pray also serve as application points for you to remember.

And I pray to be encouraged by this week. The first thing to make note of in verses 14 to 16 is the real world awaits after the mountaintop.

The real world awaits after the mountaintop. Verse 14, and when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them and the scribes arguing with them.

Well, that didn't take long. They've been up on the mountaintop, had this amazing experience. Jesus was transfigured right before them. Moses and Elijah show up.

It was this most unbelievably incredible encounter for Peter and James and John. They descend down the mountain, and the very first thing they come to, Mark tells us, is a great crowd that's gathered around.

And the remaining disciples, the nine that didn't go up on the mountaintop, they are down and they are involved in some kind of argument here with the scribes.

This is just so real life, isn't it? Something great takes place.

This high time of worship, of fellowship, of encouragement, of faith strengthening, and then the very first thing you encounter is some argument that you're drawn into the middle of.

I can't help but be reminded of, it's been a long number of years ago, but we were building the sanctuary, and it was just an incredibly busy and full and hectic and stressful time.

And we had finished that. And I had taken two weeks of vacation just to get away with my family and try to recharge a bit. And so, we were gone for two weeks.

I came back on a Saturday night back in town. And so, Sunday morning was the first time I'd been back in church in two weeks. And during that period of construction, I was here probably seven days a week for a year, year and a half.

And so, I was very excited to be back at the church, very grateful for a little bit of time to rest. And I walked in and came in these back doors right over here by the choir room.

And a church member, a dear, dear man, a man I loved so much, but he greeted me. First time in two weeks I'd been at the church after a long vacation, and he greeted me with these words.

I will never forget them. He said, Pastor, I've got a problem I need to discuss with you. And I said, nope, nope. This will not be the first conversation I have.

I said, I'll hear your complaint, but my first conversation is not going to be that. Need to wait until after church is over. He was a sweet, sweet man, usually.

But that's just kind of how I felt when I was reading this, that you go away, you get refreshed, you get recharged, and you step back in. And the very first thing that you encounter is this argument.

That's what it was for Jesus and Peter and James and John. Coming down from this incredible experience, they see a great crowd with scribes arguing with the disciples.

Verse 15 says, Immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, what are you arguing about with them?

The scene is that something is going on. Mark hasn't told us yet what it is, but something is going on. And the scribes are there, the legal scholars of the day.

And they are having some kind of debate, some kind of argument with the remaining nine apostles. And it tells us this great crowd has gathered around.

Like in high school, when a fight breaks out, and all of a sudden, a huge crowd attracts a really, really large crowd. And no one even really knows why they're there. It's just because it's where everybody is.

And that's the scene. And we need to remember that this is how it is for us too. The real world awaits after the mountaintop.

Even this summer, we've got VBS, and then we had middle school camp, and next week high school camp, and soon kids camp, and then a couple of mission trips. And people come back from these encounters spiritually refreshed and recharged and rejuvenated and excited with fresh commitments to follow the Lord.

And fresh perspectives and priorities to follow. But don't be surprised when you come back from those mountaintop experiences when there is trouble that greets you.

This is just the way real life is. But with that in mind, it leads us to a second truth, and that is that trials drive us to Jesus.

Trials drive us to Jesus. Look at verse 17. We find out what the situation is. And someone from the crowd answered him. And stop for just a moment and notice what's happened.

Jesus, Peter, James, and John come down the mountain. They see this big commotion. A big crowd has gathered around. And they see this and hear this debate between the scribes and the other nine apostles.

And when the Lord says, what are you arguing about? It's not the apostles who give an answer. And it's not the scribes who give an answer. It's someone from the crowd.

Someone from in the midst of the debate speaks up. Verse 17 and says, teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute.

And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams, and he grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out.

And they were not able. Matthew 17 records this same event. And Matthew adds the detail that as the father speaks to Jesus, he gets on his knees.

You can just sense the desperation in the father's voice here. His son has a condition. A condition similar to what we may know today as epilepsy.

But the gospel writers make clear this isn't just a physical malady going on. This is the result of a spiritual torment, of a demonic activity.

And the father is in complete desperation. Nothing has helped. His son is miserable. And the language here is quite graphic.

The things that are happening to him. That this demon picks him up and throws him down. It seizes him. It grips him. He becomes rigid as he foams, and he grinds his teeth.

It's a very horrific experience for his son. And he says in verse 17, I brought my son to you. And so, the father had some idea where Jesus is, and he brought his son to Jesus, hoping Jesus could heal him.

Jesus was not there, because he was up on the mountainside with Peter, James, and John. And so, apparently what's happened is the father brings his son in an act of desperation, hoping Jesus can do for his son what no one else has been able to do.

And then he gets there, and Jesus is gone. Nine of the apostles are left behind, and they apparently say to the man, we can drive the demon out of your son, which would be a great relief to the father.

But something went wrong. For some reason, the apostles were not able to do it.

He brought his son to Jesus, but Jesus wasn't there. Nine of his apostles were there, and his apostles are able to cast out demons.

They were given the authority to do it. Matthew 10 details, they were given the power and authority to cast out demons. Mark 6, verse 13, in this gospel, we've already read that they were able to cast out demons.

But for some reason, on this occasion, they couldn't do it. Then what is heartbreaking is not only the condition of the son and the frustration and heartbreak of the father, but the argument that has broken out is the scribes now accusing the apostles of being imposters.

And the apostles are saying, no, we were given authority by Jesus to do this. And the scribes are saying, well, it doesn't seem like that authority is valid. And they say, no, we've been able to cast out demons before.

And they're saying, well, it doesn't seem like that's true, because right in front of you is the example of your failure. And all the while, this debate, this theological argument is going on.

All the while, the father and his son are right there, not only suffering now physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, but now they see they are nothing more than just a pawn in this theological debate.

This is a heartbreaking scene. This is what the debate has been over. Do the apostles, do they have the authority to do it?

Do they have the ability, do they have the gifting to drive out demons? They say they do. Do they have the ability to do it? Do they have the ability to do it? Do they have the ability to do it? Do they have the ability to do it? The scribes are using this as exhibit A, that the apostles, even the ministry of Jesus, is fraudulent.

And the crowd gathers around to hear the debate. This theological fight has broken out. Nobody seems to have compassion on the son.

Nobody seems to have compassion on the father. It's all just a debate. Now, I want to make an observation here that I hope will be an encouragement perhaps to some of you here today.

The father intended to bring his son to Jesus for healing. Jesus was gone.

So he brought him to the representatives of Jesus, the remaining nine apostles. Jesus was gone. And the father trusted the apostles.

He believed in them. He hoped in them. He had confidence in them. And for whatever reason, we're not told yet why they couldn't do it.

But for whatever reason, the apostles didn't come through. And we'll find out in a few minutes, it's part of the spiritual weakness of the apostles that kept them from doing it.

And yet, the father did not quit pursuing Jesus.

There are no doubt some in a congregation this large this morning that you've been hurt by representatives of Jesus.

Some of you have been to churches where someone didn't love you. You've been to churches where maybe it got exposed to be filled with false teaching.

Some of you may have been in situations where another church hurt you, where other Christians disappointed you. Some of you come from backgrounds where teachers or pastors or deacons or Sunday school teachers or parents who said they were Christians ended up not having your best interest at heart, and they wounded you.

And I want to acknowledge that for whoever that's true of, that's a hard, hard reality. And I don't for one second want to make light.

Of how hard it can be when people you entrusted to be representatives of Jesus let you down. But I do want to say to you, follow the example of the father in this story, who while he was disappointed with Jesus' representatives, still kept pursuing Jesus.

Do not let the failure of somebody else keep you from doing what the Lord has called you to do.

You may be disillusioned. You may be hurt. Those things are real. They are. But don't let somebody else's sin lead you on a path of disobedience.

Keep pursuing what the Lord has called you to do. Jesus speaks to them.

He asks what's going on. The father speaks to tell them what is happening. And it reminds us now of the third reality, and that is that Jesus cares about our pain.

The real world awaits after the mountaintop. Our trials drive us to Jesus. And thirdly, Jesus cares about our pain. Look at verse 19.

And he answered them, O faithless generation, how long am I to bear with you?

You can hear the frustration in Jesus' words. We heard the frustration in the father's words. We hear the frustration in Jesus' words. And then, at the end of verse 19, Jesus says something that must have been the sweetest sound this father has ever heard in his lifetime.

As Jesus says, bring him to me. There's something very tender here. There's something very personal.

Because for however long this debate has been raging, the scribes don't care about the boy. All they care about is trying to discredit the apostles.

And there's no words here of the apostles trying to comfort the father and son. They're just trying to hold up against the attacks of the scribes.

And the father is in desperation and heartbroken. And the son has all kinds of damage going on at the hands of the demon. And Jesus steps forward.

And Jesus says, bring him to me. I care about your son. I care about your family.

I care about the pain in your life. I care about the details of your life. Verse 20. And they brought the boy to him.

And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy and he fell on the ground and he rolled about foaming at the mouth.

Now, as painful and awful and embarrassing as this would be, I do take this to be a little bit of relief for the father.

When Jesus says, bring the boy to me and he brings his son to him, of course he's relieved that Jesus is there, that Jesus cares about him. But even when the demon gets active and even when all of this terrible stuff starts happening to his son, I think there's a part of the father here that's relieved.

And the closest I can get, and it's a very, albeit very rough analogy, but if you've ever had a vehicle that's not working well and it's making all kinds of strange noises, the worst thing that can happen is you take it to the mechanic and you tell them everything that's going on and the mechanic says, well, let's drive it and see.

And they say, I don't see anything wrong with it. It didn't make any of those noises for me. It didn't act up for me at all. And then they just give the vehicle back to you and then two days later, you're right back where you started.

There is something reassuring if your vehicle's making all kinds of weird noises. You kind of want it to do that when the mechanic's working on it. They at least can properly diagnose what do we need to do to fix it.

So even though it's painful and gut-wrenching and devastating to watch your son go through with this, I think the father at least has to be saying in part, I'm so glad Jesus is here and I'm so glad Jesus can see exactly what we're up against because if anything's going to help us, it's going to be Jesus and at least he knows how serious the problem is.

Jesus asked the father in verse 21, how long has this been happening to him?

And he said, from childhood. I've heard lots of conjecture about why Jesus asked this question.

Some of the answers may be helpful. Some of the answers are a bit strange to me. I think the simplest reading is what we ought to take here. You've got this huge crowd gathered around.

You've got the apostles and you've got the scribes, the leaders, the interpreters there of the day. I think the simplest explanation is Jesus wants everyone there to understand just how devastating this demonic activity has been.

He says to the father, how long have you been going through this? All of his life. We've been doing this for years.

Some of you may have been through an experience if you go to the doctor, your child's sick, can't figure out what it is, and you've gone from doctor to doctor and specialist to specialist, and you've grown so weary of every time you go to a new doctor, they ask you to explain the history and you think to yourself, do I have to tell this whole story again?

Some of you know what it's like to try every medication and every physician, and everyone sends you these ideas of try this work and try these stretches and try this supplement and try this diet and try this exercise, and you've tried everything, and no matter what you've tried, nothing is making you better.

And you just want people to understand, you've been living with this? compassion goes a long way.

Here is the Father and the Son, and all they are up to this point in the debate, they're just pawns being moved and pulled and played by the different forces.

And I think Jesus just wants these religious men to have a little compassion on this family. To say, do you guys understand that this boy's been tormented from childhood?

Do you understand what this father has been through? Jesus cares about our pain.

Fourth, I want you to see that true faith is not perfect faith. True faith is not perfect faith.

Verse 22, the Father says, it has often cast him, speaking of the demon, it has often cast him into fire and into water to destroy him.

This is not just some inconvenience. You can imagine his son is all scarred up. From childhood, the demon keeps throwing him into water, makes it look like he's trying to kill himself by drowning.

He throws himself into fire. He's burned and scarred by that. He's being thrown violently on the ground. His face is no doubt bloodied and bruised. This is a horrific demonic attack.

And the goal of the demon isn't just to wound the son. The goal of the demon is to destroy him. Only in God's sovereignty has the demon been withheld from accomplishing that feat.

And the father in verse 22 says, but if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

it's hard as a dad to even try to think through what would you say if this was your son.

If you've watched your son be attacked by a demon and thrown in the ground and thrown in the water and even thrown in the fire and has survived that, no doubt left you physically marred from it all and you think if I can just get to Jesus, if I can just get my son to Jesus and you go where you think Jesus is and they tell you you just missed him, he's up on the mountainside.

But the apostles say we can help you and you say that's wonderful. Then the apostles fail, they can't do it. And then this debate breaks out.

Now here is Jesus, he says bring me your son, he brings his son to him, the son goes through his situation here and you can just imagine the faith of the father has been tested and it's shaky, he's struggling.

Why would God allow this to my son and why hasn't God healed him and why does God not remove this and then I found Jesus but he wasn't there and then I found the apostles and they couldn't do it.

Why is God putting me and putting him through this? You can just hear the pain in the father's voice. And so he says to Jesus, if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

he has faith but his faith is shaky. He says, Jesus, if you can, I don't want to be hard in condemning the father, he's brought his son to Jesus and he's trying to wrestle with what's going on.

You can tell his faith is struggling here that there's some doubt. Can you do this? If you can do this, will you do this? Are you able to do this? But at least in his doubts, he still is trusting in the Lord.

I want you to understand that. Some of you are going through things right now and your faith though real is shaken. Your trust though genuine, sometimes you feel like you're just barely holding on.

And sometimes if you're honest as you pray and if you put your pain into real words, you may find yourself saying things even in your prayer and you think to yourself, I don't even know what I think, I don't even know what I believe right now, all I know is the only one who can help me is Jesus and the way that you say it and the way you express it may not be as precise as you'd like it to be but I just want to tell you in those moments keep crying out to the Lord.

No matter what, keep crying out to the Lord. If you can do anything and Jesus picks up on that in verse 23 and says if you can all things are possible for one who believes.

And one of the most honest, tender moments in the entire New Testament takes place in verse 24.

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I believe help my unbelief.

I wonder if you can relate to that. Jesus, I do, I believe in you but I confess there's a part of me that still doubts.

And the father's got, he's got some reason at least humanly to struggle here because the apostles no doubt have weakened his faith. If the apostles say we have the authority in Jesus' name to cast out demons and they can't cast out demons, that's going to absolutely impact the faith of that man.

Jesus says the problem is not in my inability. He says let me turn around to you and ask you a question. Do you believe? Do you really believe?

And the father cries out, I believe. He's saying Lord, I trust in you. But I'm going to be really honest and tell you at this moment, I've got some unbelief too.

I trust in you. I do. But I've got questions. You trust in the Lord, but you're still gripped by fear.

You affirm that we sang this morning that God is the sovereign ruler of the skies, and yet you feel anxious and you feel nervous. You believe that God is wise.

You really do, but you find yourself questioning God's ways and God's timing. You sing about the faithfulness of God that He can lead you through when trials come, and you believe that, but at the same time you wonder, will He get me through this one?

What the Father is saying is what many in this room have felt. Lord, I do believe in you, but I need you to strengthen my faith.

I believe, help my unbelief. I trust, help the part of me that is slow to trust. I believe in your power, help the part of me that doesn't understand. I'm confident in you, help the part of me that still feels anxious.

I believe you're on your throne, help the part of me that struggles when I watch the news. I believe that you're a healer, help the part of me that's frustrated because my situation's getting worse, not better.

I believe, help my unbelief. This is the cry of a man whose faith is sincere, but it's shaky. He has true faith, but it's not perfect faith.

And neither is yours. And praise God that our hope comes not in the strength of our faith, but in the object of our faith.

Imperfect faith in a perfect Savior. That's what we have. Faith that some days is really strong and some days really falters, but it's not the strength of your faith that's nearly as important as the object of your faith.

If you've got strong, strong faith in someone who cannot deliver, you have nothing of value. It's the object of your faith.

I believe, but help my unbelief. Fifthly, we see that Jesus' power has no limits.

Jesus' power has no limits. Verse 25, And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, you mute and deaf spirit, I command you come out of him and never enter him again.

And we find out more detail now of what this boy was facing. Not only was the spirit making him convulse and foam with the mouth and grind his teeth and throwing him into water and throwing him into fire, he also has been unable to hear, he's been unable to speak.

Verse 26, And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, he is dead.

here is this boy who from childhood has struggled with this demonic activity. Jesus' own apostles couldn't cast it out.

Jesus says, bring him to me. And right in the midst of this demonic activity, Jesus says, be God.

God. God. God. In verse 26, the demon came out. I can't read that verse without thinking of the words of Martin Luther, who wrote, A mighty fortress is our God, the prince of darkness grim.

We tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him.

Just one word from Jesus and that's it. What no one's been able to do, what no apostle has been able to do, what no physician has been able to do for years, Jesus says, be gone.

And it came out. One little word shall Fell him. Jesus' power has no limits.

just one problem. The event of casting out this demon, the physical toll it's taken on the boy has left him as dead.

So lifeless, so spent, the crowd looking on assumes he's dead.

Now what's the father thinking? In that instant, he's trying to decide, was it worth it? Did I do the right thing? And my son no longer is tormented, but did my request cost him his life?

Jesus, this is not what I had in mind. I'm grateful the demon's gone. I see that, I hear that, I witness that, but I didn't mean for you to take his life.

Verse 27, Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. He's restored.

Lord, Jesus' power has no limit. And then one final truth, self-reliance is always the enemy of Christian ministry.

Self-reliance is always the enemy of Christian ministry. Let me show you how this fits. Verse 28, and when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately.

Stop for just a minute. Remember the scene. Jesus, Peter, James, and John come down from the mountain. They see a big crowd. They hear the arguing, hear the commotion. They go over to the crowd.

Jesus says, what are you arguing about? And the father says, teacher, here's my problem. I've got a son. He's tormented by a demon. It's awful. It's graphic. It's violent. It's hard to even describe.

And the scribes are saying, your apostles are phonies. And the apostles are saying, we're not phonies. He gave us authority to do this. And the scribes say, if you've got the authority to do it, how come this boy is still here?

Why can't you do it? And Jesus steps up. time the disciples are wondering what went wrong.

Now the disciples don't want to ask Jesus in public. It makes sense. Because they've already had their authority questioned by the scribes.

They've already been beat up and attacked by the scribes. They've already had all the evidence against them submitted by the scribes and any fair interpretation would seem to be that whatever the apostles think they can do they've just given evidence no they can't.

So they don't want to talk about this out loud. So you can just envision the slow methodical quiet walk to the house they were going to.

Nobody says anything. all the while just yesterday Peter James and John we were studying last Sunday about this incredible mountaintop experience and now it's all come crashing down.

So they go to the house and the disciples ask Jesus privately why could we not cast it out?

Jesus why did we fail at this? You gave us authority to do it in your name? We've done it before? Why is it that as we were trying to serve the man and serve the boy and help the family why did we fail?

What went wrong? What happened? Why on this occasion Jesus were we so powerless? And Jesus says in verse 29 this kind this kind of work this kind of ministry cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.

In other words what the disciples did was they failed to pray. They were willing to help.

They had the gifts to help. They had the experience to help. But they were prayerless.

gifts which teaches us that gifts and calling can never be a substitute for prayer.

This church has hundreds of people that teach the Bible in one form or another. You've got the spiritual gift of teaching. You've got the heart to teach.

You've got the experience of teaching. You've got the education training to teach. Those are wonderful things. None of those things are a substitute for being prayerful.

Some of you have the gift of encouragement. You love to help people and you pray for them and you give to them and you use your resources to strengthen! That come out any number of different kinds of spiritual gifts.

But your giftedness by the Lord and your experience in doing that before should never be a substitute for being prayerful today. Here's what the apostles missed.

That you never stop relying on the power of the Lord. In the end, it is not your giftedness recordings that will make you powerful.

It's the work of the Spirit. Ultimately, it's not your education that's going to transform lives. It's the work of the Spirit. And your experience, while it's helpful and good and useful, ultimately your experience is not able to change hearts.

It's only the work of the Lord. And so we must be prayerful. One of the great honors of my life is the time I've been able to serve here as pastor.

The Lord's allowed me to serve here for 23 years. And we've got people on our staff. Kathy's been with me for 23 years as well. John's been here for 13 years or something.

Jeff for 11 or 12 years. We've got servants in our church who've been here for a long time. We've got a number of our deacons who were here when I came.

They've been here longer than me. A number of Sunday school teachers were already teaching when I came. A number of you were already here when I came. So together we've got a lot of experience and a lot of years of leadership and lots of background but none of those things can ever be a substitute for us being people of prayer.

We just can't afford to miss that. Training is good and school is good and reading is good and hands on is good and attending seminars is a good thing and going to conferences is a good thing and having spiritual gifts is a good thing none of those things can ever be an excuse to not pray.

Your prayer life is your best indicator of your self-reliance and your prayer life is the best indicator of your faith in God.

These apostles were relying on themselves or perhaps some formula they had used before to cast out demons rather than being men of prayer.

So let me give you three things to consider as we close this morning. Number one, to those who love theological debate. Now I don't mean debate in a bad sense.

I mean you love to read, you love to interact, you love to talk it out, you love to be as precise with your theology as you can. for those who love theological interaction, never forget to love people.

The scribes and the apostles were going head to head in their argument, nobody seemed to care about the one who was hurting. Don't let that be true of you.

As you learn, as you study, as you read, as you grow, never forget to love people. Number two, to those whose faith is weak, never quit crying out to Jesus.

Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. If that's how you have to say it today, say it that way. If your faith is weak, never quit crying out to Jesus. And then lastly, to those who seek to use your gifts for God's glory, never use your gifts without fervent prayer.

Never use your gifts without fervent prayer. If you have taught the Bible, whether through Awana or Sunday School or Discipleship Group or any, however you teach, if you've been teaching the Bible in your life for 20 years or more, raise your hand real quick.

You've been teaching the Bible for 20 years or more. You've been teaching the Bible for five years or less. Raise your hand.

You've been teaching five years or less. I want to say to both groups, and everybody in between, never outgrow prayer.

Hands that have been doing this for two decades or more. You're never so experienced, you don't need to pray. Those of you who are brand new, and you were probably in prayer and desperation when you started, don't ever think, I wonder when I can quit being desperately dependent upon God in prayer.

You just never need to get to that place. Anywhere in between, to use your spiritual gifts, never do so without fervent prayer.

prayer. And through it all, though we see a desperate father, praise God this story reminds us we have a willing savior.

And that's true for you today. If you don't know Christ as your savior, this is your day. you may feel like you've been beat up by the world, you may feel like you have an enemy who's tried to destroy you, as the text described it, here's the good news, Jesus saves.

Jesus heals and Jesus saves. And if this day you would confess your sin and in faith submit yourself to the authority of the Lord, if you would believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God who died and was raised back to life, if you would believe that he alone has the power to save and trust in the Jesus of the Bible and nothing else, receive the good news that Jesus Christ saves sinners.

Not by your works, not by your education, not by your giftedness, but by grace through faith.

Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Lord, I trust. I do. Strengthen the parts of me that are weak.

Lord, I have confidence in you. I really do. Help me when I get scared and anxious. Lord, I'm a sinner.

I need forgiveness. thank you that you save imperfect people like me. Are you desperate? The good news is you have a willing Savior.

Turn and trust in him. Our Lord, we thank you today for your word and I pray that your Holy Spirit would use it in power today, that we would understand these truths and obey them and be encouraged by them.

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