Take Care How You Hear

Good morning. Some of you may know the name Mortimer Adler. He's best known for a book, How to Read a Book. If you think it's unusual to read a book on how to read a book, it could be a really good Christmas gift idea. Highly recommend it. He has another book, How to Speak, How to Listen. In 1983, he observed there are four basic forms of communication, and they come in pairs. There's listening and talking, and there's reading and writing, and we usually learn to, every human being learns to listen first and then to speak, and then we learn to read and then write. We learn these things together. And then he observed, if you think about education, Most of education is on the writing aspect. And he observes most of the communication we do is listening, then speaking, then reading, and then writing. His diagnosis is most of our education focuses on what we communicate with less, the least. We write very rarely, most of us. But we listen and talk all the time. He brings this up to point out listening is not a skill that is often assumed to be intuitive. We're not teaching how to listen and well that ends up most of us not knowing how to listen well. It's helpful for us this morning as we think about this. That was 1983. One observer of our culture I think summarizes one of the ways you can think about as well. Everyone is talking and No one's listening. We could blame technology on this. Because most of the talking is done while typing, looking at a screen. A lot of talking happens when not looking at someone face to face. And so the things that we're willing to type, not looking at another human being, is very different than what we're willing to say when looking at another image bearer's face. But really, there's a bigger problem. We prefer to be heard rather than to listen. If you look at our text this morning, we're in Luke 8. If you're new with us, we walk through books of the Bible at a time. We'll take a couple breaks for seasons like Easter or Christmas. We're walking through the book of Luke, and the key word for our text, for our meditation this morning, is hear, H-E-A-R, or listen. The word hear appears nine times in this text. sometimes descriptive and sometimes as a command. Look at verse 10. I'm sorry, verse eight. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. There's an invitation. But then look at verse 18. Take care then how you hear. We have to decide what we're gonna listen to and then how we're gonna listen to it. And as we've even looked through, we looked through our songs we've sung and the scripture readings. This morning, this is the word of God. We've heard God's word read, that Jesus Christ has come and he's teaching us with these very words. How is the significant question this morning? How are we going to hear? This morning, if you're looking for a simple summary statement, Hear God's word by faith to bear fruit. A simple summary statement of our message this morning, of what I believe this text teaches us. Hear God's word by faith to bear fruit. Our first point, hear God's word. Notice in chapter eight, verse one, soon afterward he went on through Cities and villages proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. This is God himself speaking. This is the Son of God proclaiming the truths of God. And what's frightening for us, as we think about how we're hearing, how many people, as they heard God himself speaking, ignored him? Or how many people here in the cities heard what God was saying and hated him? How we respond to God is at the foremost emphasis here. As we think about the word of God, that's how God reveals himself. He speaks. He spoke creation into existence. He spoke to Adam and Eve and Satan in the very beginning of the garden, the promises and the consequences of sin. He spoke promises to Abraham. He spoke his word to Moses. He spoke through many prophets. But now in these last days, he's spoken through his own son. One of the important things about us as a religion, Christianity, we're a book religion. The things that we're supposed to hear, the things we're supposed to know, the truths we're supposed to hold firm to, they're here in this book. And if you're not a Christian or you don't have a Bible, there should be one in front of you in a pew, take it. God's word comes to us in words because he wants to be clear. This is one of the things we too often just assume and don't appreciate. Our God speaks. He's not silent. He doesn't leave us to guessing games about who he is and who we are and how to live and how to believe and what he does for us. He speaks and we look there at verse 10. All right, we gotta deal with this. Jesus himself says, I'm speaking in secret. But notice he makes it very clear, you may know the secrets. Secrets in the New Testament, mysteries in the New Testament are being disclosed, manifested. There are many things that angels long to look for in the Old Testament. There are many things that the prophets did not understand in the Old Testament, but now in the New, they're made known. They're manifested. They're made clear. There is something about the need for the Holy Spirit to illuminate the mind here as well. There's a need for us because sin twists our hearts, dulls the mind. We're not supposed to say the word stupid in my home, but there's a truth that sin just makes us stupid. We need God to speak and to help us hear. The key thing here is we have God's word. We can take it, we can read it. As I look through my own life and watch others as they become believers and how we read the Word of God, there's kind of three stages where we approach God's Word. The first thing is to see God's Word and just recognize it's good. We read God's Word and we acknowledge, wow, there's good things in here. When Jesus speaks, it just seems true. When God speaks, there's an enlightenment that happens. There's a wisdom. We first approach God's Word and just see there's a goodness to it that is foreign to us otherwise. The next step we normally go through is, after seeing it's good, we see it has authority. That's additional to the goodness because authority also says it's not just good, it's right. God's Word isn't just good to be received, it can also tell us where we're not good. When we come to the point of recognizing God's word as authoritative, it then can correct us, direct us, change us. We should be growing out of just the good stage of recognizing God's word and looking at it as authoritative. Then there's a third stage. It's good, it's authoritative, and then it's sufficient and necessary. Sufficient and necessary. The problem is we don't go to that part. We're gonna look at God's word as good and authoritative, but we're also gonna have other, other ideas that influence us. No, when it comes to knowing God and knowing ourselves and knowing his truth, God's word is sufficient. It's all we need. And it's necessary. We must have it. God speaks. God's given us these words. The call this morning is to recognize it's good. authoritative, sufficient, and necessary. I'd love to be able to stand and just convince you of those four truths, but there's no place to stand to explain them because God's word is a good, authoritative, sufficient, necessary on its own. There's no test we give it to know if it's good. It's just good because it's God's word. But let me explain what we've already done this morning. The best way to convince you that it's good, authoritative, sufficient, necessary, is to just let it wash over you. We opened with a reading of God's Word. We sang God's Word, we read God's Word, we prayed God's Word, we sang God's Word, we read God's Word, we pray you're hearing God's Word. The best way to be convinced of God's Word is to let it just wash over you, over and over again. That means we go to it and read it and meditate upon it, but we also are with others who are gonna help us. read it, and meditate upon it. God's word here is central because if we look at verse 11, where we're looking at what's often called the parable of the sower, it really should be called the parable of the soils, I think, because the word of God, it goes out to all kinds of soils. But then we see different kinds of soils. The word of God, verse 11, that's what the seed is. And you know, we could have first gotta say, well God, are you a bad sower? Why are you sowing seed and wasting it? Why are you throwing seed where it will not actually bear fruit? I think it's the wrong way of looking at the parable. If there's something to draw from the sower, it's how generous he is with his word. God sows generously everywhere. He's not stingy. He's not holding back. He wants us to know Him. What really makes the difference is these different kinds of soils. There's three ways to reject Him with the way you receive Him. There's only one way to receive Him well. In the parable, there's actually so many ways to hear the Word of God and not receive Him. There's only one way to receive Him. That is by faith with obedience. If we look at the parable, the seed, verse 11, is the word of God. It is God speaking. And again, here we have God's word as scripture. Verse 12, the first problem. The seed falls in the path and then it's trampled. And Jesus then explains in verse 12, well, that's like the word that's heard, but it isn't believed. It's snatched away. Verse 13, the seed that falls in the rock, well, that's the seed that's received very quickly with some joy, but there's no roots. It withers when suffering comes. Verse 14, the seed falls and it's in the weeds and it begins to grow, but it gets choked. It doesn't bear fruit. And then we see, verse 15, the seed that falls in the good soil. are those who hear it. They all hear it, but then it's held fast with a good and honest heart, and it bears fruit with patience. This morning, we're hearing the word of God. We've been reading the word of God. We're meditating upon God's word. Take care how you then hear. Because if there's one group of people that he's warning, it's us. Who regularly would hear the word of God? It's people in the church. Who would regularly look in a mirror at the word of God and then walk away and forget what they saw, forget what they learned, not be obedient to what God said? It would be those who are regularly hearing God's word. Do not dismiss the challenges and the warnings of rejection this morning. Our second point, as we walk through those three rejections, Hearing that rejects God's word. I'm gonna focus in on verses 12, 13, and 14. There are these three ways to reject God's word. Hearing that rejects God's word. Again, if we look at it, they all heard it. One of them even hears it with joy. But they all fall away. The first problem, verse 12, I summarize it as too indifferent for salvation. Too indifferent for salvation. This is the most general. Notice there is no belief, there is no reception. The seed just falls on the ground and is trampled and then a bird comes away and snatches it. One of the things that we need to take notice of in verse 12 is he likens that to Satan coming and snatching up the seed. A Christian, a member of Jefferson Park, as we gather under God's word to hear God's word, This is a Holy Spirit we hope is moving among us and helping us. We also realize the accuser, the Satan, the devil, he wants to snatch it away. He wants us to hear it, but just let it hit our eardrums. Just let it vibrate within the eardrum and not really receive it with faith. How easily are we distracted when reading the Bible in prayer? Are we seriously contemplating that our sin keeps us from wanting to focus in and truly hear God's word? Are we aware that Satan, above all, wants to keep us distracted from hearing God's word and praying? How easily are we persuaded from church or prayer meeting? God commands us to gather for these things, and how easily are we left disobedient How often are we believing a lie from Satan, from wrong sin? If you're not a believer today, this particular part of the parable is for you. You notice they do not believe, and they're not saved. Everyone who's saved is a sinner. Everyone who's saved has rebelled against God, hated God, and God sent his son to die for them while we're sinners. We have to realize this morning that this is the one word of God because it tells us of the one Savior, Jesus Christ. No one else has come and died to forgive us of sin. He alone was the perfect man, God himself who became man, who lived the perfect and righteous life. And when he died, he died in the place of sinners like all of us. so that we can be forgiven. He alone does that. And he alone then gives new life through his own resurrection. This morning, the most important thing you can hear is Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who came to be like us all, to die for our sin, to rise again to new life, so that we can now know God truly and fully, as John 118 said, to see him, to know his glory. We have to hear it. We have to listen to it. The next two warnings are for those who would profess to be Christians, specifically. Look at verse 13. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root. They believe for a while, and in time of testing, fall away. I summarize this one as too shallow for suffering. The root doesn't go deep enough to provide the kind of endurance we need in suffering. It's a shallow faith. Now notice verse 13. They hear it. They even receive it. There's a way in which it finds a place to germinate ever so slightly. And there's some joy. There's some enthusiasm, there's some excitement because as any sinner who recognizes their sin hears you can be forgiven, there's an immediate joy. But notice, there's no roots. The heart is still hardened. The heart doesn't allow the seed to properly germinate in a way that spreads roots that grow deep, that give it a foundation so that the winds come, so that when the weather comes, it has a sturdiness, a strength, able to go down deep to get the nutrients it needs. Believer, how deep has the word of God penetrated your heart? Notice it's your responsibility. Take care how you hear. If you have ears, hear. How much have we believed that it's just we're gonna believe and by God's grace we're saved and we're not gonna go about this casually and see what happens. Notice this important warning. In time. Verse 13. In the season, there will be testing, there will be trial, there will be suffering. And this is so generic, this could be a health trial. Could be marriage trouble. Could be anxiety over our children. Could be a financial frustration. Could be a lingering doubt. It could be an emotional depression. It could be great success. In time, trial will come. And if there is not a rootedness to the faith, if the word of God has not been planted deep in a way that's changed the heart, we'll be shaken. Suffering shakes us. And it's either used by God to refine us or it's used by Satan to shake us out. Enthusiasm is not enough to keep you. It's obedience. This is the hard reality, young believers. You must have a strong, rooted, down faith that will endure. Are you living your life now in a way that's training your heart, your mind, your soul, your life, that will endure whatever lies before you? We too often believe Christianity doesn't have commandments, that it doesn't require us to be devoted, to practice, to make commitments. The reality here that's assumed Difficult? Difficulty demonstrates our devotion. When we're squeezed, it shows us our faith. So there's the danger of rejecting is here a suffering. There's a shallowness that doesn't endure the suffering. The third one even spreads out further. Look at verse 14. Too distracted for faithfulness. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, again, they've heard the word of God, But as they go on their way, they're choked by the cares and the riches and the pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. The first seed, verse 12, it just lays there and nothing happens. The second seed, it's received with joy, but there's no root, and it suffers and withers. The problem was the roots. This time, the seed, it does have a root. It is able to grow up. But then it's choked and there's no fruit. The Christian life must have the roots and the fruit. So what are these thorns likened to? Well, there's three categories of the danger that's going to leave us unfruitful. Cares, riches, and pleasures. The cares of life, that's the worry. What we're looking forward to, I hope, Luke 12, do not be anxious. It's the same word. The cares are worries and anxieties. The cares are our fear. What is unknown or what is known? It implies that there's a routine of life that we're regularly just worrying and fearful and not looking up to God and letting his sovereignty control our fear. Again, worry about health, work, finance, relationships. This worry demonstrates a lack of faith that chokes out the fruit. Well, what about the riches? Really, the word here is just abundance. And it could be abundance of whatever. Abundance of money is what we normally think of. That's a very Lucan theme. He's always warning us about desiring and living a life that's just looking for an abundance of finances, as if riches are going to give us the comfort and care we need. But it's really abundance of popularity. Abundance of influence. Abundance of stuff. This desire for more something in this life, as if that's going to finally and truly bring us pleasure is what he's warning us about. Busyness to do whatever it is that makes us think we need more of that is what we're warned of. And then finally, pleasure, the sensual delight. We're entertaining ourselves to death. We just want to delight in more and more that we would be excited and love the things and feed our hunger and obey our hunger. You know, every day isn't meant to be like Christmas. That would make no Christmas. The whole idea of looking forward to a day of celebration and a unique feast and a unique celebration and festive activities. It's the fact that we get to do that regularly, but if every day were like that, then no day's special. We seem to believe the lie that I should always be as happy as I possibly can be, desiring and enjoying whatever sensual pleasures I can find. The reality is, for many of us, The most dangerous distraction is the one that you know isn't sin in itself, it's just sin and the way we practice it. The most dangerous distraction that will choke our faith probably isn't something that's sin in itself, but it's something that because we practice it sinfully, it distracts us, it takes us away. Satan does his job when he keeps us just focused on really good things, but not the best thing, that is living a life for the glory of God. What are we over-committed to in a sinful way that regularly keeps us from the Word of God? Suffering is a root problem. The desights and desires of this life are a fruit problem. When one receives the word, we eventually expect fruit. If you were to go outside and show me an apple tree, guess what I'm gonna expect come fall? Apples. If you plant a garden and you put a tomato seed in the garden, what are you gonna expect in due season? Tomatoes. The idea that the word of God is planted is that it bears fruit. The Word of God, when planted, must. When properly planted, when properly received, when properly received with joy and obedience, bears fruit. One of the most frustrating things about trying to garden is that the weeds and the thorns, they grow without any effort. No effort at all, but without effort, they're gonna remain there. If you don't put effort into a garden, they get overtaken by the vines, the thorns, and they'll choke out the things you're actually trying to grow. You have to put effort into a garden to weed it. They're gonna grow effortlessly. Friends, sin is going to grow if you're not putting forth effort. the activity of putting off sin, it takes effort. The idea of putting on Christ and making sure the heart is a place where the seed will grow deep and there's those thorns that will keep it from being choked, that takes effort. Growing in godliness produces maturity and fruitfulness. We're blessed with many young believers this morning. We're blessed with you, we're thankful for you. The most unloving thing we could do is not expect anything of you. It would be unloving to not expect to see growth, maturity. To just think we're gonna love it if you come in casually and don't find a Bible study and find commitment. Here's the lie of the world. Growing up means more freedom from responsibility. That's the lie of the world. The truth from God is growing up is that you become more responsible and carry more responsibility. The truth from God is that you are able to see the weightiness of his word, to see the weight of the life of Christ and realize it's good and want to carry it for the glory of God. It's not burdensome. Are you growing in a way that's going to bear fruit? Are you growing in a way that desires to see older godly men and women come alongside of you to help you see how you can bear fruit? Are you growing to be more reliable, responsible, devoted, and dependable? We're also blessed with many older believers. Please don't retire from Christian faithfulness. Younger men and younger women are supposed to be looking up to us, looking up to you, to know what it looks like, to read it as one thing, to see it practiced as a whole other thing. Are you modeling the godly life so that the young believers, they can look up and say, I wanna be like that person in their faith. The church is meant to be a training ground that requires the older to lead and care for the younger. There's two key ideas that I want to bring us back to in a bigger picture. God's Word does not return void. When God's Word comes, it does what He intends it to do. God's Word does produce fruit. And there's a way in which we should expect that. There's a great hope that God's Word is powerful to bring fruit. But then there's another passage, Romans 10, that talks about hearing God's Word. People must hear God's Word. That means people must be proclaiming God's Word. passage ends, chapter 10, in one of the most terrifying ways. Because God is having his word heard and he says of himself, I am holding my hands out all day long to an obstinate and rebellious people. God is a sower free and generous. Are we listening intentively? Are we rightly recognizing how I'm hearing God's word to be more obedient? that obstinate hearer. Hearing that rejects it, never receives it, never lets it grow deep, never lets it bear fruit. Now let's look at the hearing that receives God's word. Verse 15. As for that seed that falls in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, Hold it fast, in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. That the word isn't just sitting there to be trampled, it's held fast. That the word doesn't fall on the rocky ground, it's received in an honest and good heart. The word isn't choked out, but bears fruit. What does it mean to hold fast? We believe fully that God's word comes and it brings a work of regeneration and bringing new life. But here the call for us is to receive it, to hear it, wanting to fully take grip of it, to hold closely, to hold tightly. There's a truth, God will never lose his own children. You cannot lose your salvation, praise God. that in no way is supposed to be some license to be what some call a carnal Christian. There's no category for it. God holds us. He doesn't lose anyone. And those who are held by him hold fast to his word to grow, to know his love, to grow in our love for him. How much are we holding fast to the word? How much are we reading it? Now, I recommended how to read a book earlier. One of the ways he says you can read a book is just by literally going over the words with your eyes. That's not what it means to hold fast. To read God's word is to have the reverence God has given us these words. I do not just want my eyes to go over the words and see some story and walk away and forget. No, I wanna not just let the word bring a vibration in my eardrum. No, I want the word to reverberate in my soul, in my heart, in my mind, to take hold of it so it will hold onto me. Word of God must come down into the soul and be held firm in a way that we're longing for it. The more firm we hold it, the more trustworthy we see it is. Believer, what kind of grip do you have on God's word? What's amazing is that it is a complicated book that requires skill. It's clear. If you wanna know who God is, there are clear passages we can go to. If you wanna know how to be safe, there's clear passages you can go to, but it's complicated. Praise God, it was written over 1,500 years, 40 authors, and at the same time, one clear truth about the one God who's brought the one way of salvation in the only Savior, Jesus Christ. It takes a skill to know how to read all the different parts It means we take firm and we want to grasp hold so that we meditate upon it well. This means we're teachable in teaching one another. What does it mean to have an honest and good heart? This is where we receive the word and the lies we believe are dispersed. That the light comes in and shows us what's good. We receive it believing God speaks. Will we receive it knowing that there's meant to be a reverence for the God who has given us his truth? Are we receiving God's word eagerly, hoping to know him more? And then notice in due time, with patience, God's word bears fruit. The fruit of being godlier. The fruits that not only do we think God's thoughts after Him, our heart changes, we begin to desire God's desires after Him. We grow in a love for God, we grow in a love for one another, we grow in a love for His word, we grow in a love for our neighbor. There's fruit that has to do with our character, but then there's also fruit that has to do with others. As we grow to be a more faithful disciple, we're also growing in our faithfulness to disciple others. Warning, the challenge. Is there a steadiness through suffering? Is there a fruit that others see, that God has produced? It's warning, there's a call to faithfulness. There's a call back to his word. There's a call to recognize how good his word is. And what a wonderful season, it's Christmas. It's Advent season. If you are wrestling with, can I be convinced God's word is true? God's Word speaks for itself. Go back, and if you want help, I'm more than happy to help you, and there's others that can help you. Look at all the promises that God made about who the Messiah would be, and know that in Christ, they're all yes and amen. How often, how many, from different languages, different cultures, the one true God was making a promise that one would come, and we celebrate on December 25th, he came. died, he rose, he is ascended, and he will come back again. Here, the Word of God. Our fourth point, the blessings of hearing God's Word. Verses 16 to 18. No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed. You don't start light to hide it. But puts it on a stand so that those who enter may see the light. You put on a light so that it illuminates. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. He's referring back here to verse 10. He does speak in ways that are bringing secrets. He's speaking in ways that confuse some. But the whole point is, God is making himself known. He's removing secrets. He's revealing mysteries. Mysteries are disclosed. But verse 18 is the verse I really wanna focus in on. Take care then, how you will be saved. We've just heard four different ways you can hear. We need to take care how we hear. Why? How, we've already answered. Why? For the one who has heard and understood, more will be given. Let's pause there for a second. please don't ever grow content or think you can grow content with your knowledge of God. If you've ever wrapped your head around God, you've got an idol. God's great. His word is great. He's promising here. When we grow and start to understand, more will be given if we're faithful. If we hear what God says and we're obedient to it and trusting it and knowing it and living it out, more Remember earlier, the temptation of more will choke you out? Here, more of God is what he promises. Guess what you get when you pursue God? More God, more knowledge of him, more understanding of him. And then he says, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away. I believe an example of what this might look like, oftentimes when somebody comes and explains to me they're doubting their salvation, they've lost assurance, I ask a few questions and one of them is always, was there a time when God revealed to you a sin and you refused to repent? Was there a time when the Holy Spirit, when reading God's word, said you need to repent of this sin and you said no? And what happens when we tell the Holy Spirit, no, we're quenching the Spirit. When we tell the Holy Spirit, no, we're saying we don't want to know anymore. We don't want to understand anymore. What God will do is remove the assurance, the knowledge of His love. He doesn't remove His love, but He can remove the assurance of it so that we would go back to that moment, repent, and then begin growing more again. The first blessing of hearing God's will is that it's a blessing of growth and knowing Him more. The second blessing is found in verses 19 to 21. The blessing of belonging. Everything over this point has been all about this parable and applying it there in verse 18. And then we kind of have what really appears to be kind of a bonus point. You're welcome. Then, His mother and his brothers, those are his kinfolk. Mary, who we think about a lot of this time of year, and those other brothers, half-brothers. They came to him. They couldn't reach him because of the crowd, and he was told, your mom and brothers are here. They really wanna see you. Jesus says something that's, appears off at first. My mother and my brother, My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. Notice here, we're continuing with the theme of the word of God. The hearing of God's word, it must be heard well, and if you hear God's word, you do it. But notice what he just did, he changed a category for us. The family of God is not a flesh and blood. The family of God is not a physical descendant. The family of God is a faith. to be a true child of Abraham, to be a child of the kingdom, to be a child of God, to be adopted in the family means we come being born of all different tribes, all different nations, from all different languages, but we believe in the one truth, Jesus Christ is Savior, and if we hear it and we do it, hear that, the blessing is it belong in the family of God. If we hear it and we do it, we belong to God. And here we can go back further. We can think of the two ways in which this family is declared in Scripture. But most importantly, it's adoption. We're adopted into the family. We're citizens of the kingdom together. We're children loved together by the Father. Let's go back up to chapter eight, verses one to three. Soon afterward, he went through the cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom, and the 12 were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, provided for them out of their means. Jesus had women as disciples. Pretty irregular in that day. Notice that it has nothing to do with your birth, has nothing to do with your ability, has nothing to do with what you've done or how you do it. It's if you believe in Jesus, you're part of the family. And here, women were called to be disciples. Yeah, there's 12 and they have a unique role as apostles. Well, the 11 plus one later, but it's significant here that the women are listed along with the 12. I wanna highlight this because we're a complementarian church. That basically means is we believe men are elders and teach with authority in this way. That job, or that one task being excluded for women, it isn't a value task. It isn't a value judgment. Women are actually committed to teach other women. There's a real danger when we think we get our value with what we do. Value is not in anything we do. Value is in who we are, what God has said. Fellow image bearers, fellow children of God. To be very clear, there's no second class citizen in the kingdom. All are welcomed in, receiving the same blessings, receiving the same promises of God. There's different tasks within the church is all that means. We need to be careful, church, of not ever treating another child of God as if they're our second class citizens. If you hear the word of God and obey the word of God, you're part of the family of God. That doesn't mean we come in and insist upon our own way. No, we come in and we seek to be conformed to the way of the family. But what a blessing to just pull back one more time. If we hear it and receive it in a way that it gets roots, it bears fruit, there's hearing and there's doing, we now are part of God's own family. This morning, as we conclude, there's so many ways to hear God's Word poorly. There's many ways to teach God's Word poorly. I pray this morning, we've heard it read, we've heard it sung, we've heard it proclaimed, we've heard it prayed. How will we respond? We pray for God to teach us, to help us be obedient so he gives us more. We pray that God would show us sinner alive so that we would bear more fruit. We pray that we would know his love and the clarity with which he tells us we are his children. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that you give your word with power with clarity, generously. Forgive us, Lord, that we have heard so many lessons from your word and not responded well. Forgive us the temptation to want to hold on to different parts of our life and not let your word penetrate deep to call us to repentance and a more faithful life because we think we need something in this life that keeps us from you? Lord, may your spirit convict us according to your word to bring us closer to you in godliness. so that we might bear good fruit for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let us stand and sing our song of response.