00:07:29,160 S1: I. 00:11:12,759 S2: And. 00:11:16,120 S2: I think I'm going to be. 00:11:28,080 S2: Smart. 00:11:37,279 S2: And. 00:11:46,679 S2: I. 00:12:19,080 S2: Have nothing to say. 00:13:22,360 S2: And. 00:14:02,480 S2: I. 00:15:39,850 S3: Thank you. Good morning everybody. Happy Mother's Day to all of our mothers. We give thanks to God for you and hope that you have a sense of God's care for you, even as you've cared for us. Uh, before we begin worship, we wanted to highlight a few things. We have our, uh, milestone that's going to be later on in the service. So, children, we're so excited that you're here in the front row. It's awesome. Uh, we wanted to highlight, uh, our yearly baby bottle fundraiser. It goes between Mother's Day and Father's Day. It's sponsored by our life share ministry, and it goes to benefit your options. Medical, um, who offer life affirming help, uh, to no cost to women and couples facing an unplanned pregnancy. And so if you want to be a participant in that, donations can be made by cheque or using the QR code, or there's a little baby bottle that you can fill with coins or cash that's just downstairs at the welcome desk, uh, in the fellowship for you. So that starts today. We have a lot of upcoming events. So read through the announcement sheet. I'm going to highlight two for you. The first is tomorrow night Pilgrims Pint at 7:00 down at the Post in Hamilton. And then this Saturday seminar on the public reading of Scripture that Doctor Jeff Arthurs is going to be presenting from nine to noon. Uh, this will be a gift that you can use for the rest of your life. So I really encourage you if you have time, that's from nine to noon and you just have to sign up, um, on the app or the website. Um, and you can see all the other events on the announcement sheet. So please read through that. Uh, if you're visiting with us this morning, we're so glad that you're here. Uh, we're delighted that you took the time to be with us. Just follow along on the worship folder if you'd like to chat after the service, we'd love to meet you downstairs at the welcome desk. And just to answer any questions that you might have, uh, about our church and how to get involved. Um, if you'd like email contact from us on the back of the worship folder, there's a QR code. You can scan that and we'll get you all signed up for that. Now, before we begin our services, we have a few special announcements. We want to announce the birth of James Secord Heppner, born to John and Elizabeth on May 2nd. Yes. 00:17:51,730 S4: It's so exciting for them. 00:17:53,769 S3: Big sister Emily is very proud. You can see her, and we ask you to pray for their family as they settle in to the, uh, and welcome this little guy into their home. And then the second announcement is that Carrie's duck who serves up on our sound board, you can't usually see her. Uh, she came as a student at Gordon College and started worshiping here and started serving with us. And, uh, um, has just been so faithful and such an encouragement. Chris, we love you. We're so thankful for your heart, for Jesus, your love for the church and your service to us. She's graduating and will be leaving. So this is her last Sunday. So if you see Keras, she's right up there. Wave your hands, Keras. 00:18:33,529 S4: Yes. 00:18:37,970 S3: Thank you very much for that. Let's take a moment now to prepare our hearts for worship. 00:20:15,730 S5: Good morning. My name is Chris Abbiati, and I'm the serve as the children's ministry director here at our church. It is truly my joy and privilege to walk alongside our children and families and be part of their faith journey. Um. Please stand if you're able. And please, children and students, join us two for our call to worship from Isaiah 66, verses one, two, 12, and 13. This is what the Lord says Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? 00:20:54,809 S6: For all your sins. And so they name to thee the Lord. 00:21:00,930 S5: For this is what the Lord says. I will extend peace to her like a river and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream. You will nurse and be carried on her arm and handled on her knees. 00:21:14,289 S7: As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. 00:21:18,730 S5: And. 00:21:19,450 S7: You will be comforted over Jerusalem. 00:21:22,849 S5: Please remain standing and join us for our hymn number 43. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty. 00:21:53,890 S8: Praise to the Lord our. 00:21:59,250 S8: God. 00:22:04,089 S8: For all thy soul. Praise and glory. 00:22:09,970 S8: And so this. 00:22:14,890 S8: Morning, you. 00:22:18,250 S8: Come to listen to me. Oh. 00:22:32,329 S8: I see. 00:22:38,369 S8: See? 00:22:44,250 S8: See? 00:22:48,410 S8: That is the spirit. 00:22:54,849 S8: Of the sea. 00:22:58,890 S8: Is the. 00:23:04,769 S8: Body of. 00:23:12,049 S8: Christ, the Lord of hosts. I heard him remind me. 00:23:23,329 S8: We. 00:23:28,210 S8: Pray for. 00:23:34,529 S8: The. 00:23:37,490 S8: Lord Almighty. You. 00:23:43,529 S8: Pray for me to. 00:23:51,849 S8: Pray to the Lord. Lord! Hear me. For. 00:24:03,569 S8: All of us. Now we pray to see the. 00:24:15,369 S8: Lord. Lord, hear. Someone is pray for us. 00:24:24,970 S8: And for us. 00:24:39,529 S9: Amen. Let us pray as we gather together. Gracious God, we praise you, our Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation. Lord, we pray that our hearts would be filled with joy and gladness. For you are our God. You are the rock of our salvation. Lord, we look to you and we see your mercy and grace flowing from the cross. How could our hearts do anything but rejoice? For though we were lost, we were found. Though our sins were many. Your mercy has washed us clean. To be white as snow. So, Lord, we look to you. You are worthy of all of our praise and adoration. And Lord, it is our prayer that all that is in us would worship and glorify you. And Lord, we confess that our hearts are often pulled in many directions. We fail to honor you the way we ought. We choose our own path over yours. We sin in our hearts, in our minds and our speech and in our actions. So, Lord, we ask this morning that you would continue your work of sanctification in our hearts. Grow us one degree of glory to the next. Lord, remove our transgression once again. Lord, remove our selfishness, Lord, and help us keep our eyes fixed on you. Lord, we pray that you would remove the idols from our hearts. Convict us. Show us your good way and how they are far surpassing anything this world has to offer. So, Lord, we pray as we gather this morning, as we sing songs of praise to you. As we pray to you. Lifting up our concerns and our hearts to you, Lord, through the preaching of your Word. May you be honored and glorified through everything, for you alone are worthy of the praise and honor that can come from us. Lord, we are created beings looking to our creator God, who loves us, who cares for us, the Lord. It is our desire to worship and honor you this morning. And Lord, we ask by the power of Your Holy Spirit that you would work in a mighty way this morning. Work in our hearts that we might see you in a clearer light, that we might see the gospel clearly through all the different elements of our service, and glorify you, our Savior and our Lord. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Please join us. Our next song of worship in Christ alone, found inside your worship folder. 00:27:40,450 S6: My soul, my hope is found. He is my life, my strength, my song. This song is solid ground. 00:27:58,329 S6: For us. 00:28:00,769 S8: All. 00:28:02,130 S6: By Christ, the God of peace and peace are still. 00:28:10,170 S8: His striking scenes. My 00:28:15,650 S8: My only known fear in the love of God are sinners. And. 00:28:34,289 S8: The. 00:28:40,930 S8: Love of God in Christ is not my prayer. Jesus, father. 00:29:01,329 S8: And mother tortured me for different. 00:29:08,049 S8: Times for all to hold Dear Lord God, I said. Go on ahead of him and never die before his death to return to hold you down. I said. 00:29:44,970 S5: You can be seated. 00:29:53,130 S5: Today is a really special day and we're really happy to celebrate our milestone. Uh, we are celebrating the third milestone in our rites of passage for a lifelong faith called the word milestone. Last Sunday, we had the first part of this milestone, and we met parents who talk about how we can help our children become rooted in Scripture, and they had also the opportunity to inscribe. Their children's Bibles. It is, as I mentioned before, such a gift to watch children grow in their understanding of God's love and to partner with you all. And in that process. There's one thing I want to say that parents, but also grandparents too. Uh, you play the most important role in your child's spiritual formation. And as a church, we are really honored to walk alongside you. Today, we want to celebrate this special milestone by giving our children the greatest book they will ever know their very own Bible. At this time, I would like to invite our first great Sunday School teachers, Beth Berridge and Keith Welsh Welsh, to come up. 00:31:02,690 S5: Thank you both for your inspiring love for God, for your faithfulness, and for helping these children, um, rejoice in God growing the gospel and point them to Jesus. Thank you for all you do. Now it's your turn. And I heard some of you have been practicing reading. Is that true? Oh, cool. So, okay, now I would like to invite Andrew. Come up. Emily, Olivia, Axel, Addie 00:31:41,690 S5: and Gus. 00:31:45,569 S10: Oh, yes. 00:31:52,849 S5: They are guys. 00:32:03,329 S5: Congratulations on this big milestone. And now I'm handing them over to bed. 00:32:11,289 S10: Okay. What is it? You look this way, Steve. Okay. I just want to let you know what a joy it is. Um, every Sunday when you come and we read God's Word and we learn about Jesus and how much he loves each of us so much. And, um, as we give this Bible to you today, please remember that it is the most important book that you will ever read. It will teach us to trust and obey God and follow Him and His teaching, so that we can live a life pleasing to him. And just remember that you're never alone. All through your life. God is going to be with you wherever you go. I know you will remember that. It's so important. So we're going to start with Andrew. Andrew, we're going to present this Bible to you today, and we just love your curiosity. You just love to learn and explore new things. And we just know that you will grow in that area and just keep learning, and that you will learn more things each day about the Bible too. So as we, we will pray that as you read God's Word, that you will come to know him more and walk with him all the days of your life. So here's your. 00:33:35,970 S1: Bible. Thank you. 00:33:37,450 S10: You're welcome. 00:33:38,450 S1: That's great. 00:33:39,769 S10: Okay, Emily. 00:33:42,450 S1: You can. 00:33:42,690 S10: Just maybe step. 00:33:43,410 S1: Back. 00:33:44,609 S10: Emily. Um, we present this new Bible to you, and we know that you love to read. And we just hope that this Bible will become your favorite, your most favorite book to read your whole life through. Okay. And we pray that as you read God's word, that you will come to know him more and walk with him all the days of your life. 00:34:12,369 S1: See you by prayer. Okay. 00:34:15,130 S10: And, Olivia, as we present this new Bible to you, um, we just want to let you know how we see that you have the heart of a servant. That means that you're always ready to help others and serve others. And when they need some help or to cheer them up, you are always thinking of others. And we really see that and hope that that will carry you through your life too. And we pray that as you read God's Word, you will come to know and walk with God all the days of your life. 00:34:52,889 S10: Now I'm going to pass it on to Mr. Keith. 00:34:56,449 S11: Awesome. Axl, you come in every week with some story to share about something that happened that week or some joke to make us laugh. And so you filled our classroom with a lot of laughter, and we want to present this Bible to you so that you can learn and read about more stories, and then hopefully be able to share those with those that are around you. And we pray that it will just enter your heart and come out in your and your words in your future. So thank you, Adi. We're going to present this Bible to you. You have such a joyful, wonderful personality and an infectious smile, and we're excited about presenting to you because this Bible is full of joy, and we hope that you share that joy with all those around you. Awesome. And, Gus, Gus, you don't take anything at face value, and it is a beautiful, beautiful thing. You have questions every week, and you also feel the weight of what is being taught every week. And I just want to speak personally. You have you have taught me a lot this year and I want to thank you for that. I'm looking forward to you reading that Bible and taking your questions and going and learning in their awesome. 00:36:21,130 S5: Church. Please join me in praying for these children. Heavenly father, we thank you for each of these children. Thank you for the gift of your word. We pray that as these children begin to read and explore the Bible, you will open their hearts and minds to know you more. Help them grow in their love for you and to trust you in every season of their lives. We pray for their families that you would give parents and grandparents wisdom, encouragement, and joy as they guide their children in faith. Help us as a church to faithfully walk alongside these children and their families. Lord, may your word. Take root in their hearts and shape their lives for your glory. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Children, you may now go back to your families or go down to a little people's church. Thank you. 00:37:37,130 S12: Good morning. My name is John Randall. It is my joy to serve on your elder board. And today, this morning's scripture reading, which can be found in your worship Bolton, is taken from the Book of Luke, chapter 20, verses 19 through 26. And Jesus has just finished telling the parable of the wicked tenants. So beginning in verse 19, the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them. But they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority in jurisdiction of the governor. So they asked him, teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have? They said Caesar's. He said to them, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are gods. And they were not able to, in the presence of the people, to catch him in what he said. But marveling at his answer, they became silent. This is the word of the Lord. Please stand as you're able for our next song of worship. Goodness of God, which can be found in your worship folder. 00:39:45,969 S13: I love you all. 00:39:50,530 S13: I can see you. 00:39:55,369 S13: All day. 00:39:58,889 S13: Turn your head. 00:40:02,369 S13: From the moment I wake up. Until I die. I won't say for the rest of. 00:40:19,090 S8: The day. For. 00:40:26,250 S8: The captain to. 00:40:34,130 S8: Breath in me. 00:40:38,650 S8: I am the sea of the goodness of. 00:40:49,809 S13: The Lord. 00:40:53,289 S13: See you again. My. 00:40:58,369 S13: God! 00:41:01,090 S8: Oh my God! 00:41:05,849 S13: Oh, my. 00:41:09,929 S8: God! 00:41:12,849 S8: I have faith in the. 00:41:15,489 S13: Goodness. 00:41:17,170 S8: Of God. 00:41:22,090 S8: Oh my God, you are great. 00:41:29,250 S8: Oh, I want to talk to. 00:41:36,889 S8: You. 00:41:41,809 S8: Oh! 00:41:46,369 S8: God. 00:41:50,650 S8: You're telling me the is not enough, because I. 00:41:57,940 S8: Don't think it's like that right now. 00:42:07,139 S8: I want. 00:42:12,579 S8: You all to. 00:42:22,820 S8: Stop now. I know. 00:42:28,900 S8: You're going to stop now. Something like. 00:42:37,460 S8: That. 00:42:43,579 S8: You're not going. 00:42:48,099 S8: To be. 00:42:53,179 S8: All my life you have been faithful. 00:43:00,539 S8: Oh, you have been so, so good. 00:43:08,139 S8: Every day that I am me. 00:43:13,579 S8: I will sing of the goodness of God. 00:43:21,059 S8: I will see the goodness of God. 00:43:31,579 S3: Please be seated. 00:43:35,699 S3: Would you join me in prayer? 00:43:41,219 S3: Or. Good God, you. You have been faithful. When we have eyes to see. And when your ways are obscured to us, you are steadfast in your character and your commitment to love your people. So we ask this morning that you deepen our trust because we know that you are trustworthy. Help us in our pain and our isolation and our despair to find hope in the cross. 00:44:11,619 S3: The cross of humiliation that you took on the weight of our suffering. You took on the weight of our sin. You took on all of our anger and hatred in this world to yourself, and you replaced it with your eternal love, your forgiveness and such great hope. And so we believe this. We believe in the goodness of God for us sinners and for our good in this life and in the next. And so we thank you. This morning we come with hearts eager to give thanks. 00:44:44,539 S11: For. 00:44:45,380 S3: The turmoil of this world. Lord is often in our midst and in our minds. Whether it's the horrors of war, if it's fears on rising prices or the unknowns and technology and social structures, we can become overwhelmed by so many things to build in us. Lord, a vision of you, a vision of your Kingdom that secure and steadfast. Help us to be concerned for those who can use a little bit of help, those who need to hear the hope of the gospel and see how it bears fruit in our lives. Help us again to surrender to you, Lord. The world needs the gospel and the world needs God's people. So help us, Lord, to be faithful. We have particular prayers this morning of concerns of friends and neighbors in our church family. We pray particularly for Ken this morning who's in the hospital or bring him back to health. Strengthen his body. We know he loves you and loves this church. Be also with Jane in her upcoming surgery. For those with ongoing health battles, we pray for strength for them. We pray that your presence would be with them. We also ask, Lord, that you comfort Ray and his family as they grieve his mother's death. Jean as she grieves the passing of her brother, David. We thank you, Lord, for what a delightful season and what a delightful morning this transitions for so many people. We pray for the Hepner as they welcome James into their family. We pray for our children that they love God's Word and grow in understanding it together. We thank you for this little class that we saw and the care that their teachers have, and the care they have for each other. Strengthen that Lord. We thank you that they're in our church. We pray for our recent seminary graduates and ask that you guide and direct them to faithfully pursue your best for the benefit of your church around the world. Finally, Lord, we pray for our mothers and we give thanks for their gift of life to us. Be with them. Encourage them to follow you. Lord, where there may be difficult relationships, we ask for your peace and wisdom. And we pray also with thanksgiving for the women in our church who are spiritual mothers, nurturing us in faith and teaching in small groups, serving leading on boards and committees in prayer and discipleship. We are so thankful, and we're encouraged for the gifts being used for the benefit of your church. Thank you for our mothers. Lord, we commit this church to you and our endeavors. Be with Ali as he preaches. Be with these gifts as we give them into your service. And help us, Lord, to give all that we are for your great good and glory in the world. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Let me invite our ushers forward now to receive our tithes and offerings. 00:48:08,659 S8: He was. 00:48:13,900 S8: My shepherd and my God. 00:48:19,260 S8: Oh my, my strength, my joy, my life and I his grace. 00:48:26,500 S14: With cold. 00:48:29,619 S8: Water and. 00:48:31,900 S14: Jesus. 00:48:33,019 S8: Well. 00:48:34,900 S14: And there it was for me. 00:48:40,139 S14: Jesus Christ, swear. And so filled with treasures. Rich and free. 00:48:50,420 S14: Mercy and truth and righteousness. 00:48:55,420 S14: Jesus. Rich people. 00:49:00,539 S14: Jesus Christ, the King of kings. And so I stand complete. 00:49:11,460 S14: And through the wilderness, our God. His mercy is out of place. 00:49:22,260 S14: When I say be with my heart, I'll still adore today. 00:49:32,380 S14: Work in the land. My soul shall be for you. For me. was screaming. 00:49:42,860 S14: At me with all the pain. God shall I say Amen. 00:49:54,139 S14: And you and my church. And these are saints we need. 00:50:03,699 S14: Jesus Christ, the King of grace, in whom I stand. You mean. 00:50:36,179 S14: That you don't Righteousness and peace. Lord said to me. 00:50:45,659 S14: Jesus Christ, the King of grace, in whom I stand. To me. 00:50:56,579 S14: Jesus the Lord, my Savior is my Shepherd and my God. 00:51:07,260 S14: My life, my shame, my joy, my faith and his grace. With. 00:51:27,420 S8: Love from the Dead Sea. So we see what year we won praise to God. He was Grace, father, son and Holy Ghost. 00:52:04,179 S15: Well, good morning. If I haven't met you. My name is Ali Van Rooth. I'm the preaching pastor here at FCC. I why don't we take a minute now and pause before we come to God's Word to pray? Our Lord God, we come before you. Now we ask that you would give us ears to hear you. 00:52:24,019 S15: Lord, soften our hearts that we will. 00:52:27,539 S11: Respond. 00:52:28,139 S15: To your call. And Lord, give us eyes that we may see and behold Jesus, and it is in his name that we pray. Amen. We'll have your Bibles open to Luke chapter 20. Uh, the passage is printed for you in your bulletin. There are Bibles in your pews in front of you. I encourage you to have it at hand. I do apologize. You know what? This is my fault. I forgot to turn me on. So that was just a present for us on our last day. 00:53:02,019 S8: So. 00:53:04,699 S15: Here we go. Can. Can you hear me? Better now? 00:53:07,739 S1: Yes. 00:53:10,179 S15: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. To our people in the live stream, too, because you wouldn't have heard anything. So. 00:53:17,500 S15: How's that? Okay, well, we heard read for us. Why don't I do this one? This is a. This is going to sound better again. That's. That's my fault. I'm sorry. Okay, here we go. Luke. chapter 20. Have it open in front of you. Give to Christ. Beg your pardon. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God? You might have heard that before. It's one of Jesus's very familiar and famous statements. Well, we're going to take a look at this passage to understand what it means, and then try and think through how we apply it to our lives. So we're in Luke chapter 20. We've been on this journey through Luke's gospel. Remember, he had set his face towards Jerusalem and then he'd been making his way here. He has arrived in Jerusalem. In chapter 20, he's now in the temple, and he's teaching the people and he's preaching the gospel. But then we're told the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came up. This would have been the Sanhedrin, that the temple authority, they come before Jesus and they challenge his authority. What Jesus had predicted in chapter nine, verse 22, this is the group that he had said was going to reject him. And here they are rejecting him. It's being fulfilled. Jesus then tells a parable, the parable of the vineyard, and the tenants speaking to their corruption and the rejection of the leaders of God's Son. They strongly deny it. Verse 16. Surely not, they say. Which makes it more ironic that in verse 19, when we're told that the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him, they're conspiring to do the very thing that Jesus parable alluded to in verse 15, the word or the root of the word, to throw him out. It's the same word at root in verse 19. So this is being fulfilled. But fearing the people, the scribes, the chief priests, they do it sneaky. They send their spies to lay a trap for him. And this is their trap. Verse 22. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? The tribute is the tax that was specifically collected for Rome, and was a powerful and painful reminder of Roman occupation and an expression of their political subjugation of Jerusalem to Caesar. And so here is this dilemma for Jesus. If he says yes, then he conveys tacit support for Roman occupation, and he compromises his standing with the people, the people that welcomed him, him into Jerusalem. If he says yes, then they wouldn't be happy. It would land him in trouble with the zealots, those who are opposing Rome. On the other hand, if he says no, 00:56:10,940 S15: he could be pinned for sedition against Rome and get him himself. Get himself in trouble with the Roman authorities, with to Pilate himself. It's a heads they win tails Jesus loses kind of deal. This is the trap. But Jesus, he sees through their craftiness and he asks them to show him a denarius would. Have been worth about a day's wage. Daenerys was probably a Roman silver coin that bore the bust or the face of Tiberius Caesar. And archaeologists have found these that were common and in circulation about A.D. 30. And on the coin was the Latin inscription Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus. This was written on the coin. And so it's a little bit hypocritical that these spies have them on hand, because they are as much caught up under Roman subjection with blasphemous images in their pocket as they're trying to pin Jesus on this. And so verse 24, Jesus asked them, show me a denarius, whose likeness and inscription doesn't have the word. Their likeness is the same word as image icon. It's the same word translated in Genesis 127 that God made man and woman in his image. He created them. We'll come back to why that's important in a minute. So whose image on the coin they said Caesar. To which Jesus now gives his famous response. Render to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God. So maybe a better translation, more literally, it's to give back what is of Caesar to Caesar's and what is of God to God. 00:58:07,219 S15: To which his interlocutors, the spies. They've got nothing to say. 00:58:16,300 S15: Jesus. This statement has many implications. It's a question of obligation, this idea of give back implying that it belongs to someone. It's a question of what do we owe and to whom, what do we owe and to whom. Why does any of this matter? So three questions I want to address this morning as we consider the implications for our own lives. First question what happens when we give to Caesar what is owed to God? 00:58:51,659 S15: I'm calling this tangled loyalties. The second question we're going to look at. What then do we owe to God the true loyalty? And then finally we'll think, therefore what? What do we still owe to Caesar? What do we still owe to Caesar? Temporal loyalties. Well, let's start with tangled loyalties. What happens when we give to Caesar what we owe to God? This Tertullian, the church father. And, um, in the first couple of centuries of ad ask this. He asked what will be God's if all things are Caesar's? What will be God's if all things are Caesar's? What happens when we give to Caesar what we owe to God? What? I answer this, I want to take the example of the scribes and the chief priests in our context, because they were a people who had compromised worship, compromised what they owed to God. They compromised absolute allegiance for power and for status. This is explicit in the text. Look at verse 19. The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 01:00:14,099 S15: Rather than fear of God, reverence for God. What is owed to God. 01:00:22,619 S15: They sought approval from people. They chose power, comfort, status over surrender. To compromise their allegiances, they were motivated by pride and self service. And we see this at the end of chapter 20 and verse 45, and hearing all of and in the hearing of all the people, Jesus said to his disciples, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows houses and for a pretense make long prayers, they will receive the greater condemnation. 01:01:04,860 S16: See these. 01:01:07,019 S15: Leaders. Their loyalties were tangled and devotion misplaced. 01:01:15,139 S15: And given what was owed to God, to God, they were giving it away. fearing the people. And so what then happens? What? That was my question. What happens when they give away what is owed to God? To status or to power or to Caesar? We see them quickly compromising on their integrity. Look at verse 20. So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be sincere, his pretense. 01:01:49,179 S15: And then verse 21, they flatter Jesus with their lips. 01:01:55,380 S15: But as we know from what Jesus said, their hearts were far from him and far from God. 01:02:04,019 S15: What happens when we give to Caesar what we owe to God? We begin to compromise on our character. 01:02:13,699 S15: But Jesus, he saw right through their craftiness and their pretense. Our pastor and author out of California. His name's Jay Kim. He writes this while Cesar may lay claim to coins, only God can lay claim to the humans who bear his image. Jesus is confronting our tendency to want to bear the image of a temporal, earthly kingdom. We see this twisting of the leaders character as their bearing, the image of, of the world, of of deception and greed. Our Kim says this sadly, many Christians today bear the image of their prophet. They bear the image of their preferred political leader or tribe more proudly and clearly than the image of their father. Their identity is more profoundly shaped by a worldly God than the transcendent God. 01:03:09,619 S15: He's the challenge for us, not just for those people out there, but for you and for me. How does our character, how do our actions reveal our loyalties, who we're giving our devotion to? How do our actions speak to our loyalties? If we're willing to lie, if we're willing to twist the truth, if we're willing to cheat or to take shortcuts or or to demonize, to judge others. Have we given over to Caesar, whether that be blue or red or independent? What is owed to God? Have we given over to Caesar our total allegiance? 01:03:56,099 S15: If we agree unquestioning assuming God must always be on my political party side, or that my actions in politics are justified in light of what we believe God's general approval of my politics. Have we given to Caesar what is God's? 01:04:14,860 S15: Michael Ware calls this political therapeutic deism. 01:04:21,380 S15: In other words, when Scripture or faith are used as supplemental support to our politics rather than refining and instructing our politics. Political therapeutic deism. Paul the Apostle Paul warns us, don't be conformed to the pattern of this age. If you like, don't. Don't be conformed to the image of Caesar. 01:04:48,900 S15: Who is no God, despite his face on their coins? 01:04:54,980 S15: This was the first implication. Beware tangled loyalties 01:05:02,380 S15: giving to Caesar what we owe to God. 01:05:08,420 S15: Which brings us to our second implication. What then, do we owe to God? When Jesus replies to surrender or give back to God. What is God's? And in the context of invoking the image of Caesar on the coin. Jesus reminds us that if the coin belongs to Caesar because it has his image on it, we belong to God because we have God's image on us. 01:05:36,980 S15: And the film Toy Story, uh, Andy inscribed his name on the foot of Woody and Buzz, and and as Rex likes to remind them, in permanent ink, no less. 01:05:50,739 S15: It wasn't to imprison them. It wasn't a mistake or arbitrary. He claimed them as his own. They belonged to him, 01:06:01,539 S15: and in their belonging they found their meaning. They found their community. They found their love. 01:06:09,780 S15: As we are inscribed with God's image created by him, loved by him, preserved by him. He then rightfully deserves our love and our devotion, and that is where we find ourselves belonging to him. God alone deserves our absolute devotion, our allegiance, our total allegiance, our total obedience. Give back to God. What is God's? Jesus is implying all of who we are, all of who we are. As the first line of the Heidelberg Catechism encourages us, the first question what is your only comfort in life and death? And the answer that I am not my own, but belong in body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. We inscribed with his image. We belong to him and he is rightfully deserves our total obedience, our total allegiance. 01:07:22,500 S15: We live in a world where that sounds like bad news. In liquid modernity, radical autonomy surely is synonymous with freedom. I do not belong to anyone, and therefore I'm free to create my own meaning, pursue my own dreams, live my own life. 01:07:44,500 S15: I have two little girls in my home, so we like to listen to frozen. 01:07:50,139 S15: No right? No wrong. No rules for me. I'm free. Let it go. 01:08:01,420 S15: I don't belong to anyone. And if we're not careful, we might sometimes begin to believe that that's good news. That if that were free, and that belonging to God and total obedience to him is bad news. 01:08:18,020 S15: But the reality is that while self belonging appears exhilarating, it is in fact a crushing burden as we strive to achieve fulfillment in what is fluid. 01:08:32,859 S15: As we try to construct morality in what is baseless, and as we seek to find love that is always in conflict with others who are seeking self autonomy and self belonging. 01:08:48,180 S15: Most of all, self belonging is crushing, for it will not stand under the rightful sovereignty and judgment of the God who made us, who alone deserves and demands our devotion. 01:09:06,140 S15: But by contrast, let me share with you why. Belonging to God is good news. Giving back to God what he owes. All of what we are giving back to God. What is God's? All of who we are. Why? That is good news. Well, firstly, as it relates to our meaning, our worth, it's not something we search for. It's not something we construct. It is fixed. It is a reality that who we are is God's and we are loved by him. You don't have to find it. You don't have to achieve it. It is fixed. Secondly, to our morality, it's not something we can construct, but there's a clear sense of what is right and wrong as we belong to God, our creator. 01:09:54,060 S15: So our meaning, our morality, and finally our redemption. 01:10:00,420 S15: Because all of us have failed to give our total allegiance, our total obedience to God. Not one of us have fully obeyed him or given him what he deserves. 01:10:13,750 S15: Yet the glory of the gospel. This good news is that Jesus Christ would pay the ultimate price. As we looked through Luke's Gospels, this is the scribes and the Pharisees were to reject him, were to hand him over to the Romans, to crucify him. That this was part of God's plan, as he would purchase us back out of the kingdom of darkness into his glorious light. 01:10:43,029 S15: This redemption we we belong to him. He is bought us. He has redeemed us. He has rescued us out of our failing, our sin, our rejection, our rebellion, our confusion, our anxiety with his great love. First Corinthians 619. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? Who is in you, whom you have received from God. You are not your own. You are bought at a price. Friends, that is good news. We are not our own. We belong to God. He has purchased us. We are forgiven. We are free. We are loved. We are adopted in him. 01:11:24,390 S15: Give back to God. What is God's? It is all of who we are. Our total devotion and loyalty. What do we owe to? To God as his image bearer. We serve him above everything else before we're a citizen of any country, before we're a member of any political party. We belong to God, and we submit ourselves to Him and His word. So where does where does that leave us? We've asked what happens if we give to Caesar what we owe to God. We then ask, what do we owe to God? And then finally we need to ask, what do we still owe to Caesar? Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's. 01:12:05,750 S15: Let me read this from Caitlin. She says this Jesus's answer about taxation also subtly demote Caesar instead of his supposed position of divinity. Caesar was another servant of God, one given legitimate yet and yet limited authority. And so she encourages us. Instead of viewing human government as inherently evil, it is more faithful to the biblical witness to view it as we should all aspects of God's creation, an opportunity to live out our identity as image bearers. What, therefore, do we still owe to Caesar? What does it mean for us to give back to Caesar what is Caesar's? I want to make two quick points. The first is that Jesus never made a case for retreat. Rather, his followers were to situate themselves within their relative political context and seek the common good within them. Paul instructs the church in Rome, Romans 13, to be subject to governing authorities. In verse seven he says to pay the tax. 01:13:11,590 S15: Likewise, Peter says in first Peter two verse 16, to live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 01:13:29,350 S15: What are we still owe to Caesar? Our first answer is to seek the common good and to be good citizens. There are duties we have to government that don't infringe on our allegiance to God. So we do need to pay our taxes. 01:13:47,670 S15: To pay $3 the other day, because I parked in the MBTA car park and they sent me a letter, so I paid it. 01:13:57,350 S15: But this is the second clarification. Part of this answer is that we do not owe to Caesar absolute loyalty, as the German Confessing Church articulated in the Barmen Declaration in the 1930s under the the shadow of Nazi totalitarianism, they wrote this governments cannot assume total claim over their citizens, as though the state, over and beyond its special commission, should and could become the single and totalitarian order of human life, thus fulfilling the church's vocation as well. In other words, Jesus is not implying two separate and exclusive realms of government, but temporal government under the sovereignty of God over all. There may be times when government should be resisted, when it conflicts with what Jesus requires of us, as the scriptures exemplify for us. Think of Rahab. Think of today, on Mother's Day, the Hebrew midwives that resisted Pharaoh. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego who refused to worship the golden idol of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel, who continued to pray. Peter and John, who continued to witness even as the authorities told them not to. We are subject to government, but we do so recognizing a higher authority. See, we do not give back to Caesar because our loyalty is to him. Rather, we give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, because we've given all to God, all our trust, our confidence, our identity, our love, our allegiance, our assurance to him. So as I conclude, what is your comfort in life and in death? It is that we belong to God. Give back to God what is God's? That is good news. He alone demands our total allegiance. 01:15:57,069 S15: And in Christ we can be good citizens. We can give back to Caesar's what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's. Let me pray for us, our Lord God, we thank you for this good news, that you love us, that you've purchased us as your very own Lord. We ask your forgiveness where our hearts have become tangled with idols. 01:16:20,949 S15: Lord, forgive us for where our loyalties have been given over and we've been willing to compromise on our character. Compromise on your law. We thank you, Lord, for your forgiveness and that our confidence is not in of ourselves, but that we have trusted you, that you've forgiven us. So Lord, help us now to walk in the newness of life, to be salt and light here in Hamilton and beyond, as we are good citizens. A blessing to this world. but remembering giving our devotion solely to you. God help us in this. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. We pray it in Jesus name. Amen. Well, I invite you to stand and we're going to sing the hymn. Trust and obey. And I invite you to sing this as a response that I don't belong to myself. I belong to God. But I think the order is important too. We trust and obey. We trust in Jesus and His work for us. And as a response, we live in obedience to him. Why don't we sing verses one and verse five? 01:17:49,550 S8: And we are with the Lord The final deserves to be shared. We're. 01:18:05,069 S8: Going to listen to your thoughts. Let us give you all hope and love and hope. 01:18:21,430 S8: To. 01:18:24,109 S8: Walk all the way to. Happy. Jesus. Jesus 308. 01:18:41,750 S8: 00632063. 01:18:48,949 S8: Oh my God, is the kingdom. 01:18:56,550 S8: Lucky for me. Will you tell me something? 01:19:04,310 S8: Tell me. Oh. 01:19:08,229 S8: Okay. 01:19:13,909 S8: Okay. All right. Great to have. 01:19:23,350 S8: To talk with you. 01:19:30,989 S8: Okay. Well, you know. 01:19:36,510 S8: We need to talk to Justin. Okay. 01:19:52,189 S4: Amen. 01:19:53,109 S15: Well, I encourage you to trust in the Lord Jesus. We belong to him, body and soul, in life and in death. Give him your total allegiance. Uh, John and Cathy and Elder and Deacon will be available up the front here to pray with you. Uh, and to escort you to the prayer room if you require somewhere more private. Um, but we're available. I'll be up at the front to to pray. If you want to talk with someone and encourage you, don't leave from here. If you if you need to talk with someone, we are here. We want to seek the Lord together. A reminder of our Sunday School classes are continuing to continue to seek the Lord. But let me leave you with these words as a benediction from First Peter, chapter five, verse ten. 01:20:38,869 S15: And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you to him. Be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Go in his peace. 01:21:07,909 S8: Amen.