Good morning. So I was excited to be back in the house of the Lord. Do you have any copy of God's word? We're going to get out of our step out of our normal study through the book of Romans. If you looked at the program earlier this week, you might've seen Romans one verse one. Um, it was just my accident. Um, I guess I'm so fascinated with Romans that I, uh, I even put Romans one, one on there. Um, but it's actually is Ruth chapter one verse one. We're going to look at today. The book of Ruth. Ruth is found in the what, in the New Testament? Old Testament. And the Old Testament. The book of Ruth is found in the Old Testament. And I have mentioned to you all the last few weeks that we're going to start a study through the book of Ruth for about four weeks, morning and evening service, walking through the book of Ruth. And as we go through the message this morning, you kind of hear a little bit about why that I think Ruth will be good for us as a church to consider for a few weeks. Then after that study, after the study in the book of Ruth, we'll jump back into our Romans study in Romans 9. So today we're going to jump into the book of Ruth. And I'm going to read Ruth chapter 1. And I'm just going to read verse 1 today. Ruth chapter 1, verse 1. In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and the man of Bethlehem and Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. Let me read that again. In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and the man of Bethlehem into the winter sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. Let me pray for us and ask the Lord to help us with this one verse, which is the introduction of the book of Ruth. Let me pray for us. I heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you, Lord, again, Lord, for being a good God. You are a God that reigns supreme. Lord, we see in Genesis, Lord, that you are the one that created the heavens and earth. You are the creator of it all. But, Lord, also we find out later on in Genesis 1, Lord, that you said, let us make God an eye image. I mean, let man an eye image. I'm sorry. Make man an eye image. Lord, I just show you, Lord, that within you, Lord, there's three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Lord, we come to you right now, Lord, at this time, Lord, for your strength and your power, Lord. The second person, the Trinity, Lord, which is our Redeemer, and the third person, which is the Spirit, Lord, that empowers us. Lord, so we ask you, Lord, for the triune God to go before us as we hear your word proclaimed, that, Lord, that we can receive your word, Lord, in humility this morning. So Lord, we ask you, Lord, to go before us and prepare our hearts. For me, Lord, I am weak this morning. I need your strength. So Lord, let my heart, Lord, be a heart that's fertile ground, like all of our hearts, Lord. Create a heart in us, Lord, for us to be fertile, that when we hear your word, Lord, we can soak it up. Your word, Lord, can bring about life in us. So Lord, we ask you, Lord, to go before us at this time and encourage us in your word that your word is good to us. Help us, Lord, in our time of unbelief that we can believe your word at this time. So Lord, let me not distract your people, Lord, but Lord, let me make your word plain. Let me care for your people, Lord, at this time. So help me, Lord, preach and teach your word faithfully, Lord, that, Lord, you are honored, Lord, that you are glorified, that, Lord, you are made known here this morning. So help me preach your word, Lord. And I pray, Lord, through this series of the Book of Rules that it help me be a better pastor, that it help us to be a better church, That we can love one another, Lord, as you have called us to love one another. So I pray that, Lord, at the beginning of the study in the Book of Ruth, it be just what we need, Lord, to be the church you have called us to be. So Lord, we ask you, Lord, to help us as you give us your word at this time. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Last year we got a chance as a family to go to Disneyland. We got a chance to go to Disneyland as a family about a year ago. It was the first time I get the chance to ride a roller coaster with my kids. First time ever I get to ride a roller coaster with my children. And I'm not talking about the rollercoaster as you sit and you're laughing, right? You just kind of go up and down, like three feet off the ground, back and forth. You know, I've done that for so long with our kids, being so young at circus. But now this is the first time ever as a family, now the kids are at an age and a size that now they get to ride a rollercoaster. And I was the typical caring dad at the time. As we were walking up the roller coaster, I look back at the kids. Are you all okay? I'm checking on the kids. Are you all okay? Are y'all sure are you okay? And they look back at me. Yes, sir, dad, we're okay. Then we walk up another ramp as we're going up, getting higher and higher on top of the roller coaster. And I look back at the kids again. Hey, are you okay? And they said, dad, we are okay. We keep walking up the ramp. At this time in the ramp, it get darker and it get darker and darker. And so I look back at it again, and I ask the kids, hey, are y'all okay? Y'all don't have to do this. And the kid was like, Dad, we're okay. We said we're okay. I said, okay, now excuse me. And then in my head, I'm thinking that if they have gotten this far, they might just be okay. But still in the dad's instance is that my mind is going over where it's like, this is not going to be okay for them. This is not going to be okay for them. So we get all the way up almost to the top of the roller coaster, about to get on the roller coaster. And not quite, you still have another long line to get to it. But this is the time to do a height check. The height check is that you have to be a certain height to get on this roller coaster. So the height check, the kids pass the height check, and now I'm thinking in my head, if it's a height check, that smaller kids can't get on here, that this is really about to be a really, really serious roller coaster here. So it's getting pretty intense, Tyler family and Franklin family, getting pretty intense. So I start to get kind of in panic mode, thinking about, are my kids okay? And I look back at those faces, and before I can get out again and argue, okay, I look back, they're just cheesing and smiling, and they're just having the time of their life. But as a parent, I'm thinking like, they don't know what they're getting into. And these kids look so fearless. But as a dad, I see past what they've shown on the outside. I see them as being kids that's going to be afraid. So we get on the ride, and the ride does exactly what I expect it to do. The ride went forward, then it went back. The ride went down and went up. And it felt like we was on a ride for five days. It wouldn't stop. And the ride was going up and down, back and forth, and back and forth and down. I said, how long is this ride is going to be? I mean, other people got to get on this ride. But the ride wouldn't stop. Jones family kept going up, and they kept going down. And for me, I'm thinking at this time, it was like, this ride is forever. So we get to the end of the ride. And at this time, the ride was up and down, and the kids were kind of spread out through the seats, so I couldn't check on the kids. But at the end, we get at the end of the ride, so we get off the ride, and we get ready to walk out. When you walk out, they had this big screen on the TV. They had a big screen. Now, y'all know what I'm talking about. They had a big screen, and they showed pictures of people throughout the ride. And so we see on the picture, I'm like, oh, my kids, are they OK, terrified? I want to come back again. They look on this big screen, and the kids are smiling the whole time. But for me, I'm the one that's holding on with my mouth holding down. I'm the one that was terrified. And I tried to hide them from the kids, but they saw it on the screen. And they laughed at me. One person took a picture to show Olena and everything else. They laughed and said, look at daddy's face. Look at daddy's face. I'm not ashamed y'all, that was a serious rollercoaster. I mean, I know y'all might be okay with rollercoasters, but hey, that one right there was kind of serious. What was the name of it? Space Mountain. Space Mountain. And seriously, you was out of space, and you came back to Earth, back and forth. Like, I was an astronaut, for real. I didn't have a suit on, I was a true astronaut, I couldn't breathe. Seriously, that ride needs to be banned from the country. I was so worried about the kids that I didn't realize that I needed to remind myself of anxiety and what comes along with riding a roller coaster myself. I was so worried about them and I didn't really check on how I was going to do and ride this roller coaster. I felt that the children needed the help and not me. That they need assistance and not Well, this is very similar to why we're going through the Book of Ruth. The Book of Ruth is going to be very similar to this. That God's covenant people have received covenant blessings They have been lavished with many great things from the Lord, but when things get hard, they tell others about the Lord, but a lot of times for themselves, they might not understand that they need help as well. Again, I struggled with the roller coaster, but I acted like before the kids that I wasn't struggling with the ride. This book of Ruth will show us a covenant of relationship that is established between Ruth and Naomi, that they would care and encourage each other in the midst of disparity all around. I think this will be encouraging for us at CTRC. When we planted Christ Redeemer Church years ago, over five years ago, we felt that we were going to be a church in the community that lived life together in this community, that for the community to be able to see Christ in us, that the community is transformed through us, and that for us to be a church that's loving, that is kind, a church that has the amazing goodness of the gospel, to transform this community. It's gonna be a prayer meeting. We're going to do a Bible study. We need to tell the house every day that we're doing life, reading the word, like those are things that we have envisioned as a church. And sometimes we can look back at it, and we can see that a lot of things that we probably assumed in Christ Redeemer that we thought about in Christ Redeemer, a lot of these things doesn't look the way that I envisioned. A lot of things doesn't look the way that I thought it was gonna look. So what do we do? What do we do even as a church right now? What do we do when the church doesn't look the way we envision it to look? Zod is up, disparity is around. Seeing people come to Jesus, we're seeing people run away from Jesus. We're to be a light in the community, the community running away from us at times. Just as we open up the Bible, people might not be as interested in the Bible as we thought they was gonna be interested in the Bible. I mean, things might not look the way that many of us might have envisioned. Music right now, we don't have a amazing music that we put $2 billion in the music ministry. We have lay people that work every day, right? And they're trying and using their talents for the best of God's glory. Singing, right? Singing for God's glory the best we can. It might not look as a church that has 10,000 members. They have this amazing orchestra, or amazing singing, and everybody's on a tune. A church that everybody's all on tune. We're at Christ's table. We're just singing for the Lord. So what do we do as a church when things doesn't look the way that we might not have envisioned? At this time in the book of rules, we're going to find out that of disparity. These are the people of God. They are the people, the covenant people of God. The covenant people of God, normally they reign upon the earth, right? The Lord is using his covenantal people to be a light on the earth, but we see disparity with God's covenant. So what are we going to learn in the book of Ruth? When we see disparity, when we see things doesn't look the way we want things to look. We can read this book of Ruth. We're going to be able to see the relationship between Naomi and Ruth in a time when covenant people doesn't look like the covenant people. These two ladies are going to love and build one another up in God's word. and we're gonna be able to see the redemptive work of God in the lives of these ladies. And I pray that we as a church, as we at times might not see things, might not look the way we want things to look, but as we have each other, that we are willing to bear one another burdens, we're able to build one another up, that we become a people that love one another as Christ has caused to love one another, that we be the one to comfort each other, that we also get to taste exactly what Naomi and Ruth taste, that we're doing the work of Christ through bearing one another's burdens. It tells in John 13, 35, 34, brother Tyler read, a new commandment I give to you, that you have love for one another. Just as I have I love you, you also love one another. By this, people will know that you are my disciples if you have loved one another. Things might not be pretty. Things might not look the way we want things to look. But what we can have, family, when things doesn't look the way we want things to look, we can have a love that comes from above that gives us a taste daily of the redemptive work of Christ. One person said this from an article, and I'm going to read more of this article at the end. They said this right here. Listen to this. In our trials, God means to comfort us so abundantly that we overflow with compassion and care for others. In our trials, God means to comfort us so abundantly that we overflow with compassion and care for others. Paul writes that God comfort us in our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction, 2 Corinthians 1.4. God intends that we be conduits for of his comfort to suffering families, friends, and neighbors. Our experience of trials help us understand what others might feel in need. And our experience of God's comfort equips them to pray and serve in a gentle manner. So how are you doing at Christ Redeeming? How are you doing when things doesn't look the way? We're in a season of trials and disparity. I think Christ loves As the person from this article says, how Christ comfort us by his blood and by his goodness towards us, how Christ has been good to us, it overflows that we can be good to each other. Christ did for us, right? We gives it back to each other as Christ pours and comfort us. We comfort each other. We build one another up. We don't keep Christ's comfort to ourself, right? We share it. We embrace it from Christ and we share it with others during those times of difficulties. So as we go through this book of Ruth, you're gonna hear a lot of this tone of this comfort from above to each other. But guess what? During that time of the comfort above and for each other, That doesn't take them out of the trials. That doesn't take them out of the pain. The pain in the trial is still there, but the comfort is there too with the trials. So what you're gonna see through this book of Ruth is that as they'll go through and have, we're gonna find out they lost family members. Very close family members like husbands and sons. They lose family members, but guess what happened? The comfort from above It still overflows in this relationship with Naomi and Ruth that even though pain is there, comfort is there with that pain. It'd be different if we were left with only pain. But our God is not a deus, God. A God that created the world and left. Our God created the world and even came to the world as a man to comfort us. I pray that as a church, that we get out of religiosity, checking it off the list that I said my prayer, right? I did my Sunday duty. I did this duty. I read my Bible at night. I did all my duties. I checked these things off. But I pray, though, though, is that it's not a checkoff list anymore. But it's a spirit-filled, led love. for God first, then for each other. I pray that that's who we are, that we can love each other and build one another through God's gifts. So if I can tie to this sermon today, I would say our introduction to the Book of Ruth. Our introduction to the Book of Ruth, and we're gonna do it in three points today. This introduction is gonna deal with disparity with the judges, disparity with the famine, And disparity with the living conditions. Disparity with the judges. Disparity with the famine. Disparity with the living conditions. Jumping point number one. Look in your Bible. Disparity with the judges. In the days when the judges ruled, ruled. In the day when the judges ruled, this point number one where it helps us better understand the context of the Book of Rules. It tells us right here in the Day of the Judges. When it says in the Day of the Judges, we need to know what the Day of the Judges means. It's not talking about the Palm of Judge Brown, the Day of Judge Brown. I know some of y'all know Judge Brown personally. Y'all probably haven't seen him all your life. Judge Brown, you ain't got to tell all your business. But this is not Judge Brown or Judge, what's the woman's name on TV, Judge? Judge Judy. This is not talking about Judge Judy. But this is a time in history that God put judges in place. But I'm gonna talk about that in just a second. The time in the history of putting judges in place. But let me mention, I'm jumping the gun, but let me back up for just a second. One source says this, before I get into what the judges and what they do and who they are, let me just mention also the purpose of this book, the purpose of the Book of Rule. One person says this, to encourage believers to persevere in faithful love towards one another despite their times, trusting that God's providence is working in redemption for Israel and through the greater Boaz, which is Jesus Christ. Again, it said, the purpose of this book is to encourage believers to persevere in the faithful love towards one another despite dark times, trusting that God's providence is working redemption for Israel in and through the greater Boaz Jesus Christ. Y'all know where I got that quote from? From the same Bible that the church gave you all. In your Reformation Heritage Bible, that's where that quote come from. But not only that I got from there, the Reference to Her Study Bible, it also tells me also kind of who wrote this book. Who do many people say wrote this book? And the Heritage of Study Bible says this. So many traditions attribute that the book of Ruth was written by Samuel. I said, a Jewish from the Babylonian Tammuz, and 14 Bs tells us, Baba Bathra. And the Reformation Heritage says this, that they quote that Samuel is the writer of the Book of Ruth. Then it goes on to say, the genealogy at the very end of the book implies that the author that wrote it was David. And if that's the case, it must have been written around 1040 to 970 BC. 1040 to 970 B.C. And it became a significant figure until my David could possibly have been able to write it. I wish they wrote after David, I'm sorry. Not that David wrote it, but it wrote after David. That's what some scholars would say, after that. Samson did not live to see David enthroned. So it is possible that the prophet wrote this in anticipation that man and anointed would become a great king. However, the expression of the former time of Israel suggests that the book was written some generations after this event took place. So I jumped the gun, I'm sorry. It's not saying that David, but it's saying that possibly Samuel, but it might have been a prophet or someone after him. But some sources have quoted David to Ashton Rowe in a way of a rollback of what it might have been a quarterback about what happened in the Book of Samuel, I mean, the Book of Ruth. But for the most part, it is a lot of, in a sense of, speculation on kind of exactly who that person is. But also the characters in this book of Ruth is a guy named Boaz, Naomi, Ruth, Orpah, Elimelech, Mahlon, and Chileon. And this book is also a narrative, a narrative of story. This is a story, it's not poetic literature like the Book of Psalms. It's actually a story. So that's a little bit about the history of the book that some say it might have been Samuel, some say it might have been David, because Ruth is also related to David, great, great ancestor of David. And so some might have put varied titles on the book of Ruth. But we know it is God's word, and it's inspired by God. With that being said, now I want to jump back to what I mentioned about the judges. In a day when the judges ruled, that's when the time or the setting of the book of rule. The judges came about after the death of a guy named Joshua. You remember, the Lord's people, the Israelites, were in bondage. A guy named Joseph, the son of Israel, with the son of Jacob. He had a son named Joseph. And Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. And Joseph was there in Egypt in bondage. Then eventually he rose up to power. His brothers at the time were dealing with a famine. So the brothers came over to Egypt. They come to Egypt. and for them to get food. Now all of a sudden, the Israelites moved to Egypt because the Lord blessed them there. Joseph was on the throne, and they was able to be a prosperous people in Egypt. All of a sudden, Pharaoh died. And all of a sudden, the people in Israelite that were in Egypt now, at first they were blessed, but now they were put into abundance, and now they become slaves in Egypt. They're in abundance. They're the people of God, they're supposed to be in the promised land, but they are in abundance. So the Lord raised up a leader from the Israelites, a God named Moses. Moshe, that's his real name, Moshe. Everybody say Moshe. Moshe. That's his name in Hebrew. Moshe was raised up and he become a leader in Egypt But the Lord uses him to lead the people from bondage to freedom to the promised land that God had promised them. So the Lord used Moses to take the people from Egypt into the promised land. And they was going through a wilderness. And as they was going through the wilderness, they had many obstacles come their way. And many obstacles caused Moses to be upset at times. It caused the people to be upset. And for them, it's like, well, God's taking them to the promised land. Why are we going through all these things? And so Moses was to obey God, but Moses disobeyed God, and Moses wasn't able to take the people into the promised land. He was taking them all the way to the edge, but he couldn't go in because of what he did. And this wilderness was a very dry land, so they needed water. So God told Moses to speak to the rock, and it was gonna bring forth water. Moses got mad at the people, and guess what Moses did with his staff? He took the staff and he smited the rock, then water came out. But is that what God told him to do? Did God tell him to hit the rock? No, God told him to speak to the rock, and water's gonna come. He hit the rock, and he dishonored the Lord. And the Lord said, because of what you have done, you have disobeyed me, Moses. You can't go into the promised land. Moses, you are a leader. You shall be an example of what I've called you to do. And says, Moses, you have dishonored me. You cannot go. So Moses can't go. And since Moses can't go, the Lord had to use two new leaders, Joshua and Caleb. Joshua and Caleb were raised up to take the people into the promised land. But Joshua was the great leader. And Joshua was the time Joshua turned the people back to God's word. Joshua was a man of God. They honored the God during the time of Joshua. But when Joshua died, they went back to their old ways. The people began to dishonor the Lord. So in Judges chapter one, the Israelites were told to drive out all the unbelieving people. So they get to the promised land. And Joshua was at the time, Joshua going through coming out of the land, y'all. Y'all have a son? Joshua's a good name to name. Joshua went through, and they messed around, and they got rid of almost all these people out throughout the land. But when Joshua died, right, it was still people that was in the land. And the Lord told them, Hey, get rid of all these people. This is the land that I'm giving to you. Get rid of them. But listen to what it tells us in Judges chapter 1, at verse 27. Manasseh did not drive out in the heavens of the Beth-shians in the villages, or the Tanaks in his villages. So Manasseh was a tribe of Israelites. They were to push out the Canaanites. And these different groups, they did not do it. Drop down to verse 29 in Judges chapter 1. And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites, who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them. So now that Ephraim did not drive them out like he told them to. Look at verse 30 in Judges chapter 1. Zebalun did not drive out the inhabitants of the Kidron and the inhabitants of the Nahalud. So the Canaanites lived among them. Look at verse 31 in Judges chapter one. Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Akko, or the inhabitants of Silasaran, or the Ala, or a couple other names, Helba and Apik. So Asher did not drive them out. Look at verse 33, Naphtali. Naphtali did not drive them out. And then in verse 34, 33 and 34, we see the people of Dan. It got so bad, the Amorites pressed the people of Dan and they left. But it did not allow them to come down to the plain. So the land was given to the people of God, even to Dan, and Dan got ran out of their own land. You all see what's happening here? The Lord told them to drop these people out And they did not. They did not honor the Lord. The people did not honor the Lord. This is setting the tone of why the judges came into existence. Listen to this in Judges chapter 2, verse 11. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. That doesn't sound similar to 2 Chronicles. We're talking about the king, the evil in the sight of the Lord, the second king. The king, the evil in the sight And Judges 2, 11, and the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baal. And they abandoned the Lord and the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. When they talk about 11, 11, 11, the lump, right? They kept these people there that wasn't believing in the Lord, and now they start serving the gods with them. So there's disparity in this land. This is supposed to be the land where God dwells forever. But it doesn't look like it. It's a land of war and a land of disobedience. So we see here in the days of the judges, right here, to see the reason for the day, reason for judges. So what happened here? They disobeyed the Lord. The Lord. raises up judges. Then the Lord raised up judges who saved them out of the hands of those who plundered them. So now the Lord's gonna raise up judges. Again, Joshua dies, and the Lord said, now we're gonna raise up judges now for the people to have a leader to bring the people back to God's word. So it tells in Judges chapter two, Verse 16, the Lord raises up judges who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. But we're going to find out. Throughout the time of the judges, they honored the Lord, then they dishonored the Lord. When the judge died, they go back and dishonored the Lord. It's a back and forth. They honored the Lord, then they dishonored the Lord. They honored the Lord, then they dishonored the Lord. So this is the time of the book of Ruth. The judges are in place. Some judges are wicked. Some judges are good. But regardless, whenever a judge dies, they dishonor the Lord again. So Ruth, right now, when it tells us In the Ruth chapter 1 verse 1, in the days of the judges, it's a day when the people were dishonoring the Lord. It's a day when people were back and forth. They wasn't faithful to the Lord. That's the time when this book was written. When the people wasn't faithful to the Lord. Second thing, there's a first-first disparity here. The time of the judges is a time when the people were faithful and unfaithful, faithful and unfaithful, and they were ultimately unfaithful when people, when the judge dies. Second thing, second point, this is point number two. Another disparity right here is with the family. the famine. I'm not going to go too much into the famine because the next message is going to go more in depth with the famine. But I'm going to talk briefly about the famine here. The Lord will always come to rescue his people. Let's do what it says in Judges 2, 16, 19. The Lord raises up judges who save them out of the hands of those who plunder them. The Lord I mean 17, I'm sorry. Yet they did not listen to the judge, but they whored out to other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their father had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up justice for them, the Lord was the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. Even in the midst of this, the Lord will come in and save. In the midst of disobedience and disparity, the Lord will come in and save the people. And the people turn back to idols. The Lord will come back and show his grace upon them. Another picture of this now is the famine in Israel. A lot of time when famine happened, not all the time, but a lot of time when it happened towards the covenant of people of God, it was times of judgment. Listen to Deuteronomy 28. It tells us right here. This is the time when Moses gave them these laws. If you obey God, God will bless you. If you disobey God, God will curse you. Listen to this right here. This is cursed. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven, dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed. The Lord will call you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. It says the Lord will make the reign of your land hotter. Last time I heard, you need water reaching the roots of vegetation for it to grow. They said you're going to make it powder. From heaven, dust shall come down and destroy until everything is destroyed. And that's exactly what happened during the time of the judges. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, because these people have transgressed my covenant, that I commanded their fathers to have not obeyed my voice, I would no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they would take care to walk in the way of the Lord, as the father did or not. So the Lord left those nations and not drive them out swiftly, and he did not give them the land of Joshua. So what did the Lord do? The Lord gave them his covenant of curses. He let the nation judge them. He also got a given reign. So a famine is here. That's exactly what Deuteronomy said here. So the first point dealt with the disparity of judges. The second point dealt with the disparity of a famine. Right now, Not a faithful king. The kings are unfaithful. The land is not faithful, right? The land is not healthy for them. So in the book of Ruth and Naomi, what I'm gonna be reading about is that it's a time when unfaithfulness is all around. But before I get into the third point, Christ and then the church. How do we respond when disparity and unfaithfulness is all around? and unfaithfulness and disparities around, how do we respond as a church, as a family? How do we respond? And if you're having a hard time kind of figuring out how to respond to an adversity, you will learn through this study in the Book of Ruth and learn about the sweet women of God and their love for the Lord during this time when the judges ruled, during this time, these things were happening, we're gonna see the sweet fellowship of these women was gonna be enough for them to be encouraged. So I'm convinced that even more that these women and these faithful women and men, faithful women and men, women and men, I'm sorry, during this time, will be encouraged that we can taste the same faithfulness and sweetness in our day as well because they are the covenant people and we are the covenant people and we are people that God is going to keep just like he kept Naomi and Ruth that God is going to keep us. So how do we respond to disparity? When we have seen disparity over and over again, how do we respond? We respond by trusting the Lord. We respond by building one another up. And we respond by dependence on the Lord. At Naomi and Ruth, we're going to learn how they are going to be dependent on the Lord It don't matter what they may lose. And as I was looking at the book of Ruth, it reminded me so much of the book of Joel. So much of the book of Joel. The brother lost just about everything. But one thing he didn't lose. He didn't lose the Lord. The Lord was right there with him in the midst of it all. And Naomi and Ruth are gonna show us that as well. No matter what may go their way, they're not gonna lose. So the penance on the Lord will carry them through. So a common phrase you're gonna see from the Ruth and Naomi is this word you're gonna see in chapter one, may the Lord, may the Lord, may the Lord. You're gonna see that common word used in Ruth chapter one, may the Lord. And it's a petition over to the Lord, may the Lord, over and over in the book of Ruth. May the Lord do so to me, and more also of anything with Delphi. It says that in verse 17. We'll see, may the Lord over and over again. The gentle and humble request for the Lord's provision. The gentle and humble request, may the Lord do this. May the Lord do this. May the Lord do this. They are motivated that the Lord will provide for them. Do you believe that here at Christ the Demon Church? Do you believe that in your own personal life that the Lord goes this way? So when disparity happens, we first remember our dependence is on the Lord, and the Lord will lead us to pray. Point number three. Disparity with living conditions. Again, I think the next message is gonna deal more with the living conditions, but I wanna talk briefly of kind of just an introduction here. So lastly, I want to mention that the Book of Rules, that the living conditions change throughout this book. For those that might have had an unstable upbringing, instability, family structure, you will be able to relate to this. Some of y'all might have grew up just with a mom. Some of y'all might have grew up just with a dad. Or some of y'all might have grew up with both parents. You might have saw instability moving from one house to the next house. You might have seen some type of instability growing up. You're going to be able to relate to this book. It's going to be a book that they lived in one place, that they moved to one place, one person was married, and one person is single. So you're going to be able to see this all throughout this book. So you might be ready to relate to this book, A Roof. So this book, A Roof, encourages us, no matter what your background is, no matter if you grew up poor, you grew up rich, you're gonna see a time when people are poor, and you're gonna see a time when people become rich. You're gonna see both in here, in the story of the book, A Roof. So this book, A Roof, is a book that is good for the rich and the poor, right? It's gonna be good for those that are fatherlessness, who don't have a father, don't have a mother. It's a book for all the people of God. But also this book reminds us of the beautiful picture of the seed of the woman at times seemed like she's defeated, by the seed of the serpent, but it's gonna overcome. So you're gonna hear a lot about Genesis 3.15 throughout this book. Because think about it. Jesus is in the lineage of Ruth. If Ruth dies with no kids, how will we get Jesus? If Ruth dies, right, the seed of the serpent, the devil wins. We all die in our sins. So if Ruth dies, Without a husband, without kids, how will we have a Savior? The promise was given to Ruth. The promise must come through Ruth. So if Ruth dies, how will we have a Savior? So at this time, Ruth's gonna lose her husband. Now, it seemed like Satan is won. It's over. We all go to hell. It's over. That's what it seemed like when she loses her husband. But what are we gonna find out here? We're gonna find out that God is faithful to his promise. God is faithful to his promise. That God in his goodness, that God will preserve Ruth because God has a bigger plan in the life of Ruth. Not just the birth of one of the greatest kings of Israel, which is David, which is in the lineage of Ruth, but God has a plan of the coming of the King of kings. The greatest king, which is King Jesus, is gonna come from the lineage of Ruth. So this story in the Bible, that God is perfect, and we have sin against him, hopeless, Because we have sin, but God did not leave us hopeless. The Lord, even in Genesis 315, that one day the seed of the woman is gonna crush the seed of the serpent, that one day we would not be hopeless forever, that we will have hope. So the book of Ruth is gonna be saturated in hope. The father's gonna send his son to die for us and our place so that the believing people will be justified and spiritual may write before him. And the book of Ruth is about disparity, about God coming in and rescuing people when they couldn't rescue themselves. The Lord will always respond to us with hope. Even right now, we can rest on the hope of what God has promised us. It says in 2 Corinthians 1 verse 20, for all the promise of God find a yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ. and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our heart as a guarantee. So what did God do? For all the promise of God, find there yes in him. That we get all the promises of God. Philippians 4, 19, the sisters in the church I think is going through that. And my God will supply every need of yours according to the riches and its glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be the glory forever and amen. Who supplied every need? My God. So CTRC, as we go through this book of rules, I want you to continue asking yourself the question, are you trusting the promises of God? Christ said he's going to build a church. And the gates of hell would not prevail against him. That Christ is going to build his church. And he didn't say the conditions of what it may look like when he built this church. Right? So sometimes the condition might be disparity. Sometimes it might not be the way we designed it to be, wanted to be. But he's going to build it. He's going to build it. He designed the building. For those that might be discouraged, Christ redeemed them. If it's any other season or any way of the look that God want us to be in right now in the season, family, we'll be there. We look exactly the way God want us to be right now. Because God is moving us. and growing us in a love for each other that only can be done in the way that we are as a church at this moment. So it's no failure with God at all. It's no failure with God at all. But God is calling all of us to where we at right now. What does it mean to be the people of God? What does it mean to be a united people of God that love in each other, and building each other, that are patient with each other? So family, right now, they're a little bit anxious. My question for you, are you resting in the promises of God? Or are you demanding God, God if you don't do this, well I'm not gonna do this. Family, he's God, and this is his church that he's building. Do I have my preferences? Do I want the church to be there? Yes, I have all these preferences. But family, we must follow the spirit of God. We must be the church he called us to be on his perfect time. So family, we have a bright future together. And nothing will be able to stop what the Lord is gonna do for our church. Not the world, anything, nothing is gonna be able to stop what God is doing. As God go before us, the Lord's gonna bless with all the things he put in place. So as we get ready to end here, in time of the spirit, quote an article, eight ways trials help us. As we go through that, I want y'all to consider these eight things as we go through the book of Ruth these next four weeks. Eight ways trials help us. Number one, trials deepen our prayer lives. Write that down. Trials deepen our prayer lives. or put it in your phone, trials deepen our prayer lives. One person quotes this, when overwhelmed, we can pray like Jehoshaphat. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you. In response to devastating news, we weep, we fast, We pray like Jehoshaphat and also like Nehemiah did. Second thing, write this down and put it in your phone. Trials grow our knowledge of God, word and character. Trials grow our knowledge of God and word and character. The person goes on and says this. A wilderness season invites us to internalize God's promises, to learn that the wandering Israelites did that we don't live by bread alone, but every word that comes out the mouth of the Lord. The psalmist says, it is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. So in trials, we grow into the knowledge of the Lord, the knowledge of God's word and character. Number three, trials increase gratitude for our Savior. Trials increase our gratitude for our Savior. The article goes on to say, when we taste sorrow, it reminds us that Jesus drank the full cup of God's wrath on our behalf. He prayed, Father, and then he was wounded for our transgression, he was crushed for our iniquity. Our pain makes us more aware of Jesus' pain, increasing our gratitude for the agony he suffered on the cross. So what does trial do? It increases our gratitude for our Savior, our thankfulness for what our Savior has done for us. Number four, which is down. Trial makes us more like Jesus. Trial makes us more like who? When Joseph's brother intended evil towards him, God meant it for good, to keep many people alive in the famine. Our redeeming God, who worked out our salvation through Jesus' painful sacrifice on the cross, continued to work all things, including our trials, for the good of those who love him. Trials meant something more like Jesus. Number five, trials equip us to comfort others. Trials equip us to comfort others. In our trials, God means to comfort us so abundantly that we overflow with compassionate care for others. Paul writes that God comfort us in our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those in our affliction. Why do we God allow trials to come? One way is for us to comfort others. So God equipped us to comfort others. God teaches us through trial for us to go through it so we can love others that might go through it. Number six, trials prepare an eternal way to glory. Trials prepare an eternal way to glory. Maybe we can't see what our trials are doing, but they're working. Each light monetary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond our comparison. When we look to what is unseen, each car ride to the treatment center, somebody might have cancer, each pile of paperwork, each signed check, each sleepless night spent caring for sick children given to him, is all significant in the kingdom of heaven. preparing for the way to glory. Two more left, you all, two more. Write these two down. Trials remind us that earth isn't our true home. Trials remind us that earth isn't our true home. In loneliness, we yawn for God's presence. Tears stir our hearts for a place with no mourning, not crying, nor pain anymore. Set bodies wait eagerly for new ones, They'll make us long for resurrection. These shrouds of mine that earth is not too long. They increase our hunger for heaven. Trials increase our hunger for heaven. And number eight, the last one, trial tests and strengthen our faith. Trial proved the genuineness of our faith. which fills our heart with joy, assurance of salvation and results, and praise and glory and honor of the revelation of Jesus Christ. The strengthening of faith motivates us to lay aside every weight and sin we cling so closely, and, skip on down, run with endurance and race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, who for the joy set before him endured the cross. So what does trial do? It tests and strengthens our faith. It tests us to see where we're really at. We often say, yes, we're strong in Christ, but when trials come, our theology go out the window. We mess around and start tweaking our theology to justify what it is. I'm a guilty of that as well. I have listened to so many great sermons from great pastors, and I agree, it's everything they believe. But when I go through trials, I try to like, hold on now. Heck, let me deviate from that a little bit now. A lot of times trials test our faith and see where we really are at. Sometimes trials might even show you that, hey, you might find I'm not even a believer. And you might come to know the Lord through trials. It might show you that, hey, I truly didn't believe. But some trials let us know as young believers or struggling believers, not that you're not a believer. You can be a believer and still struggle. And as you struggle, trials let us see where we're at before the Lord and what we need to grow in in our Christian walk. And the article ends with this. God is doing something through your trials. Remember this, write this down. God is doing something through your trials. You got that perfect child, you got that perfect husband, that perfect wife, that perfect job, all those things that God has given to you is exactly what God gave to you. So whatever trial you might be in with those things, your jobs and family members, whatever the case may be, God is using those certain things. you're gonna learn in the book of Ruth. As Ruth and Naomi go through all those trials, what I just mentioned, those eight things, you're gonna see those eight things in those ladies. You're gonna see those ladies pray. We're gonna see those ladies trust the Lord. We're gonna see those ladies faith in our strength when they're tested. We're gonna see those ladies look for something that's greater to come. We're gonna see those ladies comfort each other. We're gonna see those ladies being more and more like Jesus. We're gonna see those ladies having a gratitude towards the Lord. Family, let that be us as a church. As we go through this Book of Ruth, let us be a people that's ready to be a people through trials and through times of disparity that we're comforted by the Lord then we'll comfort each other. We need each other more than what we think. We need each other more than what we think. And let us learn that through this study in the book of Ruth. Let me pray for us.