[0:00] Book of Ephesians, we are continuing on chapter 5. Chapter 5. How many of you brought your Bible with you this morning? Wonderful. I love it. I actually got some Bibles waved at me right there. That was fun.
[0:14] How many of you have the Bible on your phone? You're going to use that this morning? That's alright. Don't be ashamed. It's okay. Own it. You've just given in to the technological takeover of the world. That's alright.
[0:26] I'm kidding. I do it every day, so no problem. Yeah, it's a nice advantage to have that. Whatever you're looking at, I hope it's a copy of God's Word this morning.
[0:39] There should be one in the few back in front of you if you don't have one there. Ephesians chapter 5. By way of review, we have gone through this book, the first four chapters of it.
[0:50] It's talking about who we are and how we live. Y'all notice the difference in this slide here today? Alright, I've had this top left book up there for quite a while. I consult that regularly in my study for this series.
[1:03] But I've also added in the Bible exposition commentary from Warren Wearsby. That's a great resource as well for anyone who wants to dive into a more in-depth study of the Bible.
[1:13] The breakdown, I'm sorry, the background of the book of Ephesians written by the Apostle Paul around the year AD 62. And he was in prison at the time. I say, what did you do in prison? Well, I wrote a book of the Bible.
[1:24] So that was quite an accomplishment that God breathed into Paul to write down God's words for us that have lasted for all time. And he was very familiar with this church in Ephesus.
[1:36] He had been their pastor for about three years and then wrote this letter back to them. We can read about his exploits in Ephesus in Acts chapter 19. And of course, the breakdown of the book, it's nice and handy, divided up into two sections, chapter 1 through chapter 3.
[1:52] Who we are in Christ, chapters 4 through the end of the book. How we live for Christ. The identity and then the practical side. What should we then do with our newfound identity in Christ?
[2:05] So that's the part we're in right now. The second half, how we live for Christ. Let's look at Ephesians chapter 5, verses 1. And we'll read down through 17. I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible.
[2:17] I know we've been up and down a good bit during this service. If you're able to join us in standing one more time, let's do it again one more time in honor of God's word. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1. Therefore, be imitators of God.
[2:30] We heard about it in our children's time just a moment ago with Miss Sarah. Imitators of God as dearly loved children. Walk in love as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us.
[2:41] A sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you. As is proper for saints.
[2:53] Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable. But rather giving thanks. For know and recognize this. Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person who is an idolater does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
[3:10] Let no one deceive you with empty arguments. For God's wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things. Therefore, do not become their partners. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
[3:23] Live as children of light. For the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Testing what is pleasing to the Lord. Don't participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.
[3:37] For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. Everything exposed by the light is made visible. For what makes everything visible is light.
[3:48] Therefore, it is said, get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead. And Christ will shine on you. Pay careful attention then to how you live.
[4:00] Not as unwise people, but as wise. Making the most of the time. Because the days are evil. So don't be foolish. But understand what the Lord's will is.
[4:11] God, I ask that you would reveal to us what exactly you would have us to learn today. From your word. May your spirit have free reign and ability to work in our hearts.
[4:21] And we'll thank you and give you all the glory in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Thank you for standing. How many of you have been up to the Colorado Rocky Mountains?
[4:35] Anybody? Yeah, good number. That's awesome. How many of you have been to the Marble, Colorado area? I would have been surprised if there had been a hand raised. That is a very obscure little part of Colorado.
[4:49] And then in that area, Marble itself is a very small town. And the reason they called it Marble, Colorado was this marble quarry that can be found up in the mountains. And you have to hike up to it.
[5:02] The roads are all impassable. And there's three big mountains around there. The one closest to the marble quarry is Treasure Mountain. Well, there used to be a campground up there.
[5:15] I don't know if it's even there anymore. It could be. But I haven't been there since I was a kid. But every year, my dad and my older brother, who will be here next week, and I used to go up there just about every year for a little father-son getaway.
[5:30] So my dad knew the owner of this campground. And we would go up there before the camp season would open. So we'd be there, and the camp owner wouldn't be there, but he'd let us through and let us go stay at this campground.
[5:46] And there'd still be snow everywhere. And it was an interesting time. It was a lot of fun. For one thing, we would go to Sam's Club or Costco or something before we ever got up to the remote mountain area.
[6:02] And we'd stock up for that week with all kinds of provisions. And, you know, we'd get our sodas. And we wouldn't stick the sodas in the refrigerator. We'd stick them in the little creek that ran right outside of the cabin.
[6:17] And they'd be way colder than you could ever get in the refrigerator. There's a lot of fun. So we would have a blast.
[6:28] And the point of this, the reason I'm bringing it up today, for one thing, it's really pretty. The next thing is, we would always take hikes. Just about every day, we'd take some kind of hike.
[6:38] And at some point during that week, and there were even some years, we'd bring another dad and his son with us and kind of have more of a friend-type week rather than just father and son.
[6:51] But we would always go up and do this hike up to the top of Treasure Mountain. And that was the goal, try to get as far up. And if we could actually reach the summit, that'd be a lot of fun.
[7:03] And these are 11, 12, 13,000-foot mountain peaks. So not, you know, super high like the Himalayas or something, but still a pretty good hike.
[7:16] And this was a lot of fun. But I was probably, I don't know, in the range we were doing this, I was probably anywhere from 8 to 15 or so.
[7:30] So the first few years, they wouldn't let me go all the way to the top of the mountain. But then eventually, I remember the year I finally got to do it. And especially that first year, my dad would lead out in front, and he would say, okay, now, once we get past the tree line and all this, you really just need to walk where I walk.
[7:53] Step in my footsteps. Because otherwise, for one thing, my legs were a whole lot shorter. For another thing, he'd been doing that path for years and kind of knew where to go and where the tricky spots would be.
[8:06] And he said, if you go out and forge your own path, you're liable to get into a deep snow drift. It'd be hard to get out of. You might hit something that makes you fall or whatever. So he'd say, just walk where I walk.
[8:21] I wish there was like some kind of, you know, incredible climax to the story, but there isn't really. Because I actually did it. I actually walked where he walked.
[8:32] The only time I didn't really was when we were still in the trees. And I thought, okay, well, we're not really past the tree line, so it's okay. So I kind of ventured off on my own. And sure enough, went through this big bunch of snow and wound up with my boot in a little stream that was running underneath the snow and I couldn't see it.
[8:50] So then everything got wet. And the problem is, in that kind of deal, you can't just get wet and then keep going. If you get wet, you got to go back and get out of the wet clothes and socks and all that.
[9:03] Because otherwise, it'll freeze. Nobody wants that. So that cut short my little hike that day. But it is, I learned the importance of, okay, you've really got to walk where your guide tells you to walk.
[9:18] Step literally in his boot prints. And unrelated to this, but I remember the year when my brother decided to be the point man, so to speak, and go out and blaze the trail for us on up ahead.
[9:35] And then he came running back not too long after that, totally out of breath, and he said, a mountain lion just ran across my path. It's about 15 feet in front of me.
[9:48] Just boom. I was like, okay, we're all going to stay together as a group now. So that was a lot of fun. But I definitely learned the importance of walking where I was supposed to walk.
[10:03] So look back. Well, before we do, I want to show you this verse. 1 Peter 2, 21. You were called to do this because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should, let's read it together.
[10:21] Follow in his steps. Follow in his steps. That's exactly what God called us to do. Walk in my boot prints.
[10:33] I'll keep you out of the real bad snowdrifts. I'll keep you from getting wet in the streets. I'll keep you on the path that I know you need to walk.
[10:45] This is the best path for you to walk. And I remember at times in Colorado when I would look over and say, it looks like we can make it easier over there. And he'd say, no, underneath all that is loose shale and we'll fall.
[11:01] I remember at times when, you know, we were going back down the mountain. And sometimes that's the trickiest part is going down the mountain rather than going up. It's easier to fall going down. And I remember there would be times when he'd say, okay, now on this part, you need to sit down and slide down because it's actually formed a glacier over here.
[11:20] And we'll get down a whole lot better and easier and there's snow at the bottom to impact our landing and all that. We just need to slide down now. And I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't walked that path before.
[11:31] But can I remind every one of us, Jesus came to this earth himself. He was born a man. The Bible says he was tempted in every area that you and I get tempted in. He literally walked this path of life before us.
[11:45] He knows exactly what we can go through. He knows all the arrows that the devil will shoot at us. He's heard it all before. And he can show us where to place our feet as we go through this life.
[12:02] And that's what we're called to do. Follow in his steps. So the title of our sermon today is How to Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus. How to Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus.
[12:14] Number one, you've got it in your bulletin. Number one, walk in love. Walk in love. Back in verse one, Ephesians chapter five. Be imitators of God as dearly loved children and walk in love as Christ also loved us, gave himself for us.
[12:32] What does it mean be imitators as dearly loved children? I love this quote by Mark Twain, the famous author and kind of comic writer.
[12:43] He said, children are natural mimics who act like their parents despite every effort to teach them good manners. Some of you didn't get that, but I saw a couple jokes.
[12:54] children are natural mimics who will act like their parents despite every effort that we make to teach them good manners. In other words, yeah, do as I say, not as I do, right?
[13:08] But children usually do what we do rather than always what we tell them to do, right? So that is the point is that children are imitators. They're mimics.
[13:20] Children will do what they see usually. That's how we learned. It's how we learned to talk, hearing others talk around us. It's how we learned to live our lives and do the things that we do every day is usually by seeing others model that for us.
[13:38] So Philippians chapter two, verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus who made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
[14:00] So this is the mind that we should have. The mindset that we should have is imitating, mimicking, copying, learning from Jesus.
[14:13] He is our example. So what did he do? What is it we're supposed to learn from him? What are we supposed to mimic from him or imitate? He made himself of no reputation.
[14:24] That goes against what we do. You and I don't want to make ourselves of no reputation. We want to build up our reputation and make it as big and great as we can. We want to exalt ourselves.
[14:35] We want to promote ourselves. When you're in the job site, you know, oftentimes you're going for some kind of promotion, more pay, better hours, better perks, whatever it is.
[14:49] You're trying to build up your reputation. Jesus had the opposite mindset. He made himself of no reputation. He took upon him the form of a servant. He was made in the likeness of men.
[15:00] He was God. He was the son of God. Left heaven's throne and all the majesty and glory and humbled himself to become a servant. Humbled himself and became obedient unto death.
[15:13] This is what we're supposed to imitate. It's a mind shift. It's different. We got to stop the way we've been thinking and consciously choose to imitate someone else.
[15:26] So this is hard to read probably from where you're sitting, but I'll try to read it off for you. Let me give you the scriptural background before we get there.
[15:38] So we said, be imitators of God. Walk in love. Now, when you say love in today's world, oftentimes, we might say love, but what is heard is lust.
[15:52] There's a big difference between love and lust. And that's why in verse 3, it dives straight into this comparison, this contrast. Sexual immorality, impurity, greed should not even be heard of among you.
[16:05] Verse 4, obscene or foolish talking or crude joking. Don't do it. Verse 5, every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person who is an idolater does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of God.
[16:19] So what are we talking about? The difference in love and lust and how you know, and this is for young people, older people alike, is one, the column on the left is love.
[16:30] Godly agape love. Not getting into that idea of the word agape, but that's the form of love that God showed to us. There's agape love. There's phileo love, which is more of a familial or friendship type love.
[16:45] And then there is the, obviously, the erotic love, and that's where you get into lust and that kind of thing. So on the left, we have the love that God showed for us, which is that agape love. That means sacrificial, holding nothing back.
[16:58] Everything I have, I will lay down out of my love for you. That's the kind of love that God showed us on the cross. So what does that look like? It's unconditional.
[17:10] Lust, on the other hand, or what some people would call love, is conditional. I will love you if such and such. God did not do that.
[17:22] He loved us despite all these things that would normally erode love. On the left, it's patient and long-suffering.
[17:33] It'll last. On the right, lust, temporary and finicky. On the left, love gives first from abundance. On the right, it takes first, constantly comparing and always needy.
[17:48] What does it mean it'll give first from abundance? It means that there is plenty of love. That's not a shallow amount. It's not going to run dry. And I can promise you God's love for you and for me will never run dry.
[18:02] He'll never run out of love for us. And it'll always give first. He won't take first. Girls, can I remind you, if a guy tells you he loves you, but the first thing that he wants is something from you, that's not love.
[18:16] Right? That's not love. Give first. And then on the left, always available and always listening. And on the right, randomly interested, limited attention.
[18:32] Randomly interested, limited attention. Think through the relationships that you have. Think through the relationships you have in your life. Is it love? Is it godly love or is it human love that might even be categorized as lust?
[18:45] And then on the left, desires unity and harmony. And on the right, it's inconsistent. It's discordant. It's not unified. It's not harmonious.
[18:56] You're not together. And it's inconsistent. And then on the left, selfless and meek. Humble. And on the right, it's selfish and prideful.
[19:09] So there's a real distinction between love and lust. Between sometimes what humans strive to love like, but we fall so far short.
[19:22] But on the left is the kind of love that we receive from God and the kind of love that God can shine through us to someone else. God can help us love how he loves.
[19:35] So it's incredibly important to understand that we read in verse 2 of chapter 5 to walk in love as Christ loved us.
[19:48] Now what does it mean in verse 5 when it says, know and recognize this, every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, and I love that they combined those impure and greedy with the sexual immorality.
[20:03] because that is greediness. That is a form of take for me, right? So what does it mean when it says these kinds of people will not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ in God?
[20:17] Does that mean if you commit sexual sin that you don't get to go to heaven? Is that what that means? Because remember, this is written to Christians. It's written to a church.
[20:29] It's written to people who have already said that they have placed their faith in God. So what does it mean? We all are coming up empty like I did, okay?
[20:43] That's good. I tried to study this out and I even talked to some friends and ministry and that kind of thing and finally what I realized is I'm skipping over a key part.
[20:56] It says, no one recognized this, every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person who is an idolater does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ in God.
[21:07] You understand that that part who is an idolater is crucial, essential. Can't skip over it. it means that, what is an idol?
[21:21] What is an idol? Anybody? Substitute for God. That's a great way to put it. Something that you have lifted up or elevated above God. Now, you and I will do that at times in our life.
[21:35] We will place something else more important than God in our lives. And usually that will lead us off into somewhere that we don't need to be. However, if you are an idolater, it means that you have refused to acknowledge God as God.
[21:55] And so these people have elevated their own lust, their own greed, themselves above God. And this seems to be someone who perpetually does this.
[22:09] So actually, he's warning us that there are people possibly even in this church in Ephesus, and it would be foolish to think that we don't have people like this in our town or even in our church today who have not actually humbled themselves and made God, God in their life.
[22:26] That means they're not saved, if you will. They're not Christians. They haven't truly repented of their sin and put their faith in a Savior.
[22:38] They are an idolater, someone who will not acknowledge God as God. So, they've let lust be their God.
[22:51] They've let sexual immorality be their God. They've let obscenity, foolishness, impurity, greed be their God. So this is a warning. And then it goes on to say, walk in light.
[23:09] Let no one deceive you. No one like this. Don't let these people deceive you with empty arguments because God's wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things.
[23:22] Have you ever noticed that if you talk to someone who lives for themselves, they will come up with all kinds of reasons why they should? They'll come up with all kinds of excuses why it's okay for them.
[23:34] Have you ever noticed that? You can be calling someone on the carpet for their obvious, obvious sin that is destructive to them, to those around them.
[23:45] And they will just come back with, well, you don't understand my situation. You don't understand what I've been through. You don't understand this and this and this. And yes, I don't understand, but Jesus does.
[24:00] And he still calls you to walk in the light. He still can empower you to resist the devil and the devil will flee from you.
[24:12] There is forgiveness. There is grace. But in order to experience the forgiveness and the grace, we must turn from the sin. We must turn from the sin.
[24:28] And if we don't, we cannot walk in the light. Look at verse 8. Once you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
[24:40] Live as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth, testing what is pleasing to the Lord. Don't participate in the fruitless works of darkness.
[24:54] Instead, expose them. It's shameful to even talk about what's done by them. Verse 13, everything exposed by the light is visible. That's what makes everything visible.
[25:05] And so get up, wake up, and Christ will shine on you. Now, I don't normally quote Johnny Cash in my sermons.
[25:16] However, this one was on the money, all right? As sure as God made black and white, what's done in the dark will be brought to the light. Now, God said it a whole lot more eloquently here in Ephesians.
[25:30] But I think that that's spot on. God will shine in the darkness. Now, listen, that should be a good thing for you. That should be a good thing, that God sees the things you do for Him.
[25:45] That God always sees the struggle that you go through. That He's there and that the darkness can't overwhelm you. It can't overcome you. You do get to walk in God's light unless you're enjoying the darkness too much.
[25:57] Unless you're hiding in the darkness. Unless you're sneaking around doing things that you know are not healthy, that you know are not good for you or anyone you love. But you're putting yourself first and you're lifting yourself above God.
[26:11] And then, it's a scary thing to think that the light is going to shine in the darkness. What's done in the dark will be brought to the light. So, let's go to Luke.
[26:26] Luke chapter 12. There's nothing covered that won't be uncovered. There's nothing hidden that won't be made known. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light. What you've whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
[26:42] Y'all, you want to see evidence of that? Turn on the news. Right? We're constantly hearing of things whether it's politicians in Washington or even pastors in large churches and ministries.
[26:53] People in Hollywood. People in the business world. You know, look at all this stuff with Epstein and his island and the lists that are coming out of people that participated in the horrific things that went on there.
[27:07] Human trafficking, etc. Everything eventually will come to light. It'll be proclaimed on the housetops. John 8, 12.
[27:18] Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me, if you're walking in his steps, will never walk in the darkness.
[27:29] But you will have the light. You will have the light. Doesn't mean you won't mess up. It doesn't mean you won't fall. It doesn't mean you won't sin. But you will not live in that darkness.
[27:40] God will shine his light. And if you follow him, you will not walk in darkness. You will have the light of life. Let me hit this briefly.
[27:53] You understand there's a distinction. Jesus says that we are the light of the world. He said, you were once darkness, but now you are the light.
[28:04] But do you understand that we are not the source? Of the light. Jesus is the light source. He is the way. He is the truth.
[28:15] He is the light. And he said, I am the light of the world. And then later, he called you and I the light of the world. But our source is Jesus. We are shining that light into the darkness.
[28:29] So, walk in love. Walk in the light. And then number three, walk in wisdom. Verse 15. Real quick. Verse 15.
[28:41] Pay careful attention then to how you live. Not as unwise people, but as wise. Making the most of the time. Because the days are evil. So don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
[28:54] Number one, embrace wisdom. Embrace wisdom. Back in verse 15, it said, don't live as unwise people, but as wise. Embrace wisdom.
[29:05] Proverbs 4 elaborates on that. Wisdom is supreme. So get wisdom. Whatever else you get, get understanding. You know, it's super helpful to compile knowledge, but unless you, unless you come to grips with it, unless it makes sense for you and you can apply it, unless you understand what to do with that knowledge, then it doesn't do you any good.
[29:27] Right? So wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom and get the understanding of what to do with that wisdom. Number eight, verse eight, Proverbs 4, cherish her and she will exalt you.
[29:38] If you embrace her, she will honor you. Embrace wisdom. She will honor you. You will bring honor to God.
[29:51] And just like Jesus, we read a moment ago in Philippians, he humbled himself, took on the form of the servant. And the next verses after that said, God highly exalted him, gave him a name, which is above every name so that the name of Jesus, every knee would bow with things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth, and every tongue would confess that Jesus is Lord.
[30:12] If you humble yourself, God will exalt you. You will bring glory to him and he will then in turn give honor to you. But you must embrace godly wisdom.
[30:24] And then adopt fruitfulness. Adopt fruitfulness. Apparently I ran out of a room on that there and it just dropped the S down. But you get it, right? Verse 16, making the most of the time because the days are evil.
[30:40] What does that mean, making the most of the time? It means you're productive. It means you understand that Jesus is coming back. The day is coming soon when Jesus will return.
[30:51] We don't have tomorrow guaranteed. We make plans. Boy, it's going to be cold. I got to do this. Well, the Cowboys are going to play, so I got to do this. Well, my parents are coming to town or my kids are coming to visit, so I got to do this.
[31:07] We make all these plans, but we don't know that tomorrow is guaranteed. All we have is today. All we have guaranteed is right now, this moment.
[31:18] So we must keep a sense of urgency as the children of God and adopt fruitfulness. Romans chapter 13, do this knowing the time that now, right now, it is high time to awake out of sleep for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
[31:39] Our salvation, that moment when Jesus comes back. And we get to start our eternity with God forever in heaven. Now it's nearer than when we first believed.
[31:50] The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off those works of, what is it? The works of what? Darkness. Let's put on the armor of what?
[32:04] Light. Let us walk properly as in the, what? Day. Not in revelry and drunkenness. Not in lewdness and lust.
[32:14] Not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust.
[32:24] You see how this ties together? The darkness versus the light. Love versus lust. The flesh versus the spirit of God. And then finally, understand God's will.
[32:36] Verse 17. It said, don't walk as unwise people. Walk as wise. Make the most of your time. And then verse 17. Don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
[32:50] We've been hitting this passage the last two Sundays. And here we are. We're going to hit it again today. Romans 12. Verse 2. Don't copy the behavior and the customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
[33:09] Then you'll learn to know God's will for you. That's how you can understand God's will. It said in Ephesians 5, don't be foolish. Understand what God's will is.
[33:19] Well, that's great. How do I do that? God is so much bigger than I am. I recognize that. God's so much greater than I am. How do I understand God and His will for me?
[33:32] Let Him transform you by letting Him change the way you think. You feel like you're hitting a wall. You just can't get past whatever it is.
[33:46] If it's an addiction, if it's a problem, if it's something that someone else is messing up for you, and you just can't get around this wall, let God change the way you think.
[34:00] And then He can transform you. He can change you. Then you'll know what His will is in that situation. Then you'll know you'll experience the breakthrough.
[34:15] Then you'll get to see the fruitfulness. You'll get to see the promises of God. You'll get to see the blessings. Because God can change me.
[34:25] God can change you. I call you back to this verse that we read at the beginning. You were called to this because Jesus suffered for us.
[34:39] That is our example that we can walk in His steps. Guys, I promise you, if you get out of those boot prints, you're liable to get into all kinds of treachery.
[34:51] You're liable to get into all kinds of danger. You're liable to get off the path that God intended for you and experience all kinds of things that He does not want to see His children go through.
[35:05] Whatever God allows you to go through, He'll get you through that. Don't worry about that. He will get you through that. It might be tough. It might be difficult. It might be taxing. It might be sad at times.
[35:15] But God is enough to get you through that. It's those things that we get into that He never planned for us when we get out of His footsteps.
[35:28] That's what messes you and I up. That's what leaves the scars that don't seem to heal. That's what keeps you up at night. But I promise you, when we follow His steps, man, we experience joy.
[35:43] We experience blessings. We experience that good life that He has for us. Looks a little different sometimes than the good life that we think we deserve.
[35:55] But it's so much better than anything that we could fight and scrape to achieve. So our point to ponder today, how often does my path stray from following Jesus' footsteps?
[36:06] How often do I get out of those footsteps? How often do I wander off on my own and I wind up in all kinds of trouble that I need God to get me out of again?
[36:19] And God in His loving graciousness picks us back up, puts us back on the path and says, walk in my footsteps again. Walk where I walked. I got you. We can handle this together.
[36:30] If we imitate Jesus, we imitate Jesus when we walk in love, light, and wisdom. That's the ingredients that Paul gave us in his letter to Ephesus.
[36:42] Walk in love. Walk in light. Walk in wisdom. We find all of that in the Word of God. We find all of that in the fellowship of believers in our church. We find all of that by going constantly to God in prayer throughout the day.
[36:56] So we walk in love and light and wisdom. And that's how we imitate God. Amen? Let's pray together. God, I pray that you would continue to work on us, Lord.
[37:08] We're all trying to follow you and sometimes we get out of line. Sometimes we stray from your footprints. But God, draw us back. Don't let us wander too far. Pick us back up.
[37:19] Put us back on the path and let us walk forward. At this time, church, we're going to enter into a time of Lord's Supper. I'm going to call our deacons forward at this time.
[37:36] The deacons, if you'll come forward. The Lord's Supper is a very special time that's reserved just for the church.
[37:49] And we're not going to take long with it this morning, but it's important that we observe this. And our church has planned on doing this every so often. The Lord's Supper is a time when we examine our hearts.
[38:03] And so it's important... It is important to examine our hearts at times like this and ask the kind of question, God, have I strayed from your steps?
[38:19] I'm going to ask that together as a room, we bow our heads and enter into a time of quietness, examining our hearts and saying, God, show me where I've strayed from your footprints.
[38:34] Maybe there's something obvious that God will bring to mind that you know you need to work on. You know you need to flee from. God, you know you need to to be able to do it this morning. Regardless, this is the moment when we stop and we think about the Lord's death, his sacrifice.
[38:52] That's why Paul reminded us there in Ephesians 5 of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. So let's stop and remember his body broken on the cross for us, his blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins.
[39:11] We thank him for that. We praise him for that. And then together as a church, we take the bread and we drink from the cup in honor and remembrance of his body and his blood.
[39:30] And the Bible says let us first examine ourselves before we do this together as a church. Examine that our love for him is strong.
[39:44] That we're not perfect but we are truly committed to following in the steps of Jesus. esta sure is et so I was in this thought was as I I ever a Bye I beinges