Speaker 1: 0:00

Good morning, lbc, how y'all doing. It is a joy to be able to come back up here with you guys and share the gospel. Before I get started, I just want to tell y'all something. I think that it is so awesome that we can come to a place together where it genuinely does feel like home. I used to be so afraid to stand up here, and the Lord is so funny. I'm going to be talking to you about this topic, but I think it's really pivotal because, as I was worshiping today, I just kept laughing at how funny it was that I used to be so nervous to get up here.

Speaker 1: 0:53

But God has massaged me into this moment because he got me up here on the praise and worship team and then I was like, oh my gosh, I don't want to sing in front of everybody. I like being over there. And then he got me comfortable with that. And then Jacob was like yeah, I believe the Lord wants you to say something. I was like Lord, jacob, I like being on my couch. And he was like, yeah, but if God got something for you to say, so, then he had me do a small group not Jacob, but the Lord and I was like man, this is easy. And he was like, yeah, because I want you to say something. I was like, okay, lord, because I want you to say something. I'm like, okay, lord, so today it doesn't feel crazy like it's felt before, but God is walking us into these places and so maybe it's in your everyday moment, in your everyday life, you're just doing some of the things and now it doesn't seem as difficult. It's like riding a bike. It doesn't seem as difficult to do the thing because it's just a part of your lifestyle, and so don't be afraid of the thing that God is calling you to. I just like I said that happened right there and I was like, whoa, okay. He was like, yeah, look at you now. So, anyway, we're going to pray. I just thought that he's got me in a place that allows me to be myself and to feel for sure, like it's home, and that he can use that for his glory and for everyone's benefit.

Speaker 1: 2:38

So, god, we just thank you. We thank you so much for being with us today. We thank you so much for how you have helped us journey through the story of Ruth, lord God, to get us right to this point, lord God, and so we just ask that, as we finish up this particular chapter of Ruth, lord God, that you open the eyes of our understanding, make us know who we are in this particular text, help us find ourselves, our situation, our circumstance, so that you, lord God, can get glory from us the way that you got glory from Ruth. God, we honor you, we thank you that we know you'll do it. You said that your word is a lamp unto our feet. It helps us see exactly where we are and, by your spirit, it will light up our path so we can know exactly where we're going. We honor you and we thank you for this. Your word in this place, lord God, amen.

Speaker 1: 3:48

We're going to talk about our next chapter, y'all, we are going to talk about our next chapter. So, ruth, we've been studying for a little while now. We know that the main characters in this lovely little sitcom, as I like to call it I think it's a little bit of a sitcom because what comes up next is kind of funny. But Naomi has got a situation, ruth has got a situation and together they're trying to make the best of what life has dealt with them, make the best of what life has dealt with them. It's lovely because at this particular point in time, I think Ruth has come to a space where she's like gleaning in the fields. She is doing what she knows to do in this season and guess what? She still wished she was somewhere else.

Speaker 1: 4:47

Have you ever been like I'm grateful to you, god, for where I am? Like it's cool, like this is all right, like man, I'm all right. But the way I was scrolling on social media and I sure wish I had that, and not in a way of even being jealous, but just, that's probably my next level right there Maybe it's a job that maybe somebody close to you got, maybe it's a co-worker who got promoted to a particular role, and you're like man, that's my next level, I can see it. Maybe it is on social media and it's a friend of a friend, of a friend who happened to get a house that maybe you've been believing God for and you're like, okay, that's my next level. It's not even a space really of jealousy or discontentment, it's more so man, I could see myself doing that, and maybe it is out of a little bit of a place of jealousy.

Speaker 1: 5:49

I know there are times and seasons where we go through something. We're like man, they look so happy. Here's the cool part. We're in a season right now where we're watching the Olympics, right? I don't know if anybody else is a fan, but I am. I have athletic kids, I've done some athletic things in my youth and so I love seeing the Olympics. It's always like this really cool time where you get to. You know, rally together for your team, right, we're all on the same team, right? But I always think it's so cool because they're all out there and they think their next level is that gold medal.

Speaker 1: 6:33

But what happens is that the news stories get so enamored with now you got to learn these athletes that we don't know, right, and they get so into it. They're telling you all of their backstory and it's like, oh man, they had to do a lot, they went through. Sometimes you end up like halfway tearful because of what you've heard, that this athlete has endured to get to this monumental moment, and I'm just like dang, nah, I don't want to do that. It would be cool to get a gold medal, but nah, I don't want to go through that.

Speaker 1: 7:16

And so what we're realizing here even as we parallel that with Ruth it's it's like nobody wants Ruth's backstory. I don't want a dead husband. I don't want to stay with my mother-in-law, I don't want to glean in a field. I am certainly not interested in putting myself out there to some new dude to figure out if he can take care of me and my mother-in-law. Like, what are we doing here? This is dramatic. Okay, no one wants her backstory, but everybody want a Boaz. Think about it. I mean, we've heard nope, you don't want to have the guy that isn't going to do the things that you want him to do. Right, it's crazy, because you don't want the backstory but you definitely want the blessing, all right.

Speaker 1: 8:12

And so we got to dig a little bit into this. I just want to share a little bit, just a little bit. Y'all going to have to bear with my technology life because I'm of a certain age, even though I don't look it, and these glasses they call them progressives at my age at this point. But it's okay. It's okay, god got me, he got me All right. So we've seen that.

Speaker 1: 8:47

We know that we don't want the backstory, but we do want the blessing, and so that means that we have to be really, really careful about what we're asking God for in our next chapter Maybe your last chapter, since we do have some students in here. Maybe your last chapter you just barely made it out of that grave. You did a great job in passing the colors, but you know that this time around you want something to be a little bit different. This stuff matters. We don't want our past situation to determine what specifically will happen in our next chapter, because we have the opportunity to have God intervene. That is the cool part. So the decisions that we're making today are going to determine the story we get to tell tomorrow. If you're not happy directly with the season that you're in, maybe you're not super jealous, maybe you're not totally disappointed, maybe your story isn't as crazy as Ruth's, maybe your story is just simply that last job sucked. I didn't like my manager. It could be that right. It could be so simple. What are we going to do? We're going to make some new decisions. We've got to get together a little bit of a plan so that we can make this next chapter really change our lives. That being said, it's super duper important for us to know where Ruth is in the story.

Speaker 1: 10:28

The chapter three kind of ended with us dealing with how Ruth had to kind of like remember that Boaz made kind of a promise. Like at this particular point, they have hung out with one another. He knows her story a little bit. He's like okay, I'm feeling you. All right, I like you, I know where you're coming from, I like your character, I love that. This is why you're here. But he's trying to figure out. I don't know how I'm going to have her because I really don't have a right. Ruth is like did he forget? Like he definitely said he was feeling me. So I don't really know. I got to get out of this scenario. And she's like let me go remind him. Ruth finds herself at the end of chapter three, going to Boaz and reminding him, laying at his feet remember me, yeah, I'm the one who just comes every day and get my work done, but remember me, we need help. And she's at the foot of his bed, which is just like weird A little. But at that point in time it's like hey, I got to present myself, this is what I got. She shoots her best shot laying at the foot of his bed and says hey, can you remember me Now, according to the law, at this particular point in time, in order for Boaz to be what we call a kinsman, redeemer, which means somebody who can come and take care of her and Naomi and redeem their situation, purchase the land and make sure that they are well cared for at this point, because you can't just be women walking around not cared for bless the Lord In that point in time.

Speaker 1: 12:32

In order for him to do that, he's got to be at a certain place in relationship with them, and he's not there. There's somebody in between. He's got to come up with a plan now in order for this to take place. So he's going to need three things. Guess what you need, these three things if you want to get to the next chapter. He's going to need god's providence, he's going to need proper planning and he's going to need powerful prayer. Those are the three things you need Providence, planning and prayer.

Speaker 1: 13:19

Providence what does that even mean? I don't know if I've heard Providence, rhode Island I don't know what Providence means, right? So I go to look it up just to make sure I'm on the. I'm like, okay, just to make sure I'm on the. I'm like, okay. Providence when I think of providence, I'm not thinking of the protective care of God, god's divine guidance. That is literally. You could Google that and that's what's going to come up. It's the protective care of God. It's the protective care of God.

Speaker 1: 14:01

Ruth probably didn't even think she was under God's protective care when she lost her husband, when she found herself to be a widow, as she's gleaning in a field, because she's next to poor Right, because she's next to poor right, she doesn't understand that this is actually the plan of God. Because when we are out here working hard, when we're not seeing the result, when we don't we haven't figured out exactly how to meet the budget yet, Like we're in between the place where we're still in debt to the place where we're totally out of debt, we don't see the surplus yet. We're still in the middle working it, but we don't see the outcome. We don't really think we're in the plan because I'm still working the two jobs. I don't see where the plan is coming together yet. You don't know that the way you showed up on the job might get you the favor to get to the next place, right. And so what we're finding here is that Ruth isn't fully aware that she's actually positioned perfectly in the plan.

Speaker 1: 15:11

God isn't going to use every type of miraculous moment like supernatural healing right here, right now. I just ha, you're done, it's over. Everything isn't happening that way. God is like, yeah, it might happen after you go to the doctor's visit and they said to take this medication, but that medication somehow doesn't work. It might happen after your kid learned the scripture in children's church and came home and encouraged you with it, because you were too distraught to pay attention while the message was taking place. I don't know that's happened to me, but I don't know if that's happened to you. I've had some circumstances and some situations where I couldn't focus, but my kid was fully engaged. And they come. Hey, mom, did you know? I'm like dang, I sure. Thank you for reminding me. And so it's not always the things that are supernatural and amazing that are taking place, but it's always strategically thought out by the creator of the universe.

Speaker 1: 16:27

In Jeremiah 29, 11, he says I know the plan. He didn't say Brandy knows the plans that she has for you because we'd be doomed. Okay, he says I know, I know, not, I know, but I know he has created the foundations of the world so that we could get to this Sunday, in this room, at this moment, so that he could remind you that he knows the plans that he has for you. He says they're good and not of evil and they are to bring you to an expected end. He's not surprised. You're the only one surprised.

Speaker 1: 17:12

John 5, 17 says that my father this is Jesus speaking my father is always at his work, to this very day, and I too am working. He hold on. Just so you'll be clear, I'm working alongside my father every single day. That thing gave me some comfort y'all, because, let me be clear, there are some days where I'm like are you here? Do you see this? I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing, but God is like. I am working on your behalf at all times.

Speaker 1: 18:06

What we've decided is happenstance. He has decided it's providence. Providence of God is when God uses the natural circumstances around you to bring about his supernatural will in your life. Sometimes God is natural. He's going to remove people and places and things. Sometimes he's going to introduce you to people and places and things, and it is for your glory, not for your. It's for his glory, not for your own preference.

Speaker 1: 18:34

I would have preferred, at the time of my 11th grade year, to be an actuarial scientist. Eh, I failed miserably statistics my senior year in high school. I was like. My counselor was like we don't need this, you know. She removed it. That wasn't my preference. I thought I was going to be smart, know all these numbers and be super cool. She was like yeah, you're smart, we're taking that off.

Speaker 1: 19:10

Matthew 6, 26 through 29 lets us know that we don't have to worry when we encounter stuff that either goes our way or doesn't go our way. We don't have to stress ourselves out. Why? Because if we look at the birds of the air for they neither sow nor do they reap, nor do they gather in barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them Are you not more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, tell me one, if there's one, please help me know. Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. We don't have to toil over how to get it done. God is going to get it done it's. Are we going to do the thing he's telling us to? In this particular case, bruce said yeah, I will.

Speaker 1: 20:25

Boaz finds himself at the town gate and he looks and he takes a seat there and he says just then it just so happens that God's providence allows for the family redeemer that we need to come by. And Boaz calls out to him Come over here and sit down, friend, I want to talk to you. How many times have you been somewhere and just the right person at just the right moment is serving you dinner or is greeting you at your doctor visit, or is greeting you at your doctor visit? I've had that happen so many different times. It's been so awesome to see God show up in that way. Boaz, in this particular text, calls him friend, which is quite interesting.

Speaker 1: 21:35

In the Hebrew, the word that he uses is called ploni alimony. Okay, if we're looking in the text to find out like who this dude is like, okay, he's his. He's her first cousin, her second we. It's so funny. His name is ploni alimony. Mr No-name is what that translates to. When Mr No-Name shows up, you know the waitress who actually gives you the steak that's left in the back that no one saw. You know when they said they didn't have any.

Speaker 1: 22:10

Mr No-Name is not a coincidence, but we would call him a coincidence. We would say, oh, that's just coincidental that this guy decided to be part of this story. No, it's no coincidence at all. It's God's providence. Mr no Name just so happened to be walking by the gate and just so happened to bump into Boaz. Like that's definitely God's providence. The providence of God is similar to in Hebrew. When you read Poloni Alimony, you have to actually read it backwards, okay, in order to pronounce the words. Hebrew is all written actually backwards, according to the way we read English. We read it left to right, hebrews read right to left. Well, that being the case, the providence of God is pretty much like Hebrew, where you best can understand it when you read it backwards.

Speaker 1: 23:08

I'm going to tell you a quick little story about my child. I'm going to tell you a quick little story about my child. I think she's so awesome, but I think this is just a snapshot of where we are on her journey. So y'all get to have a cool little snapshot. Peyton is amazing. You can put the picture of Peyton up. She's super dope. I love this little girl. Okay, but Peyton, if anybody has ever heard me talk about her lately, some of you don't know her. She's 11, and she has just come this summer from the Joffrey Ballet School of Dance Intensive in New York. Okay, this is Peyton when she was I don't know, circa 2017. And she just loved to dance. It was cute and it was fun.

Speaker 1: 23:57

But pandemic struck and it gave us this really interesting and unique opportunity. We didn't know that Joffrey was in her future at all right, or that being a professional ballerina would be what she's desired. But it's crazy because this particular point in time when pandemic struck guess what? There was no dance classes. We were at home. She was not trained, she just knew she liked to dance.

Speaker 1: 24:28

It gave me a unique opportunity to watch TV, because, if anybody knows me, we're never home. But it's super dope because at that particular moment, it just so happened that we had a pandemic, so we were watching TV. It just so happened that, as we were watching TV, all of these wonderful arts programs were finding ways to share information with people, so they put out all of these awesome things, like you could see the Nutcracker and you could see all of these productions. They put Hamilton on. It was just a whole bunch of really cool stuff.

Speaker 1: 25:10

But we happened upon what's called the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and they have this show called Revelations. It's one of my favorites. I've loved it since I was a kid. Anyway, revelations has a bunch of beautiful dancing and my child was glued okay. She was like I'm doing that. I was like, okay, nobody takes that with any weight until your child is now like I'm going to watch these classes online. So, just so happens, she finds a class online and Alvin Ailey Dance Company is doing online classes for free because it's pandemic. She takes the class, she's doing it, it's lovely, she's having a great time. We're still in our house, in our living room. It's pandemic.

Speaker 1: 26:02

We get out of pandemic mode and there's a class. There's an opportunity to take another class. She takes this class. It's more local. She's like, oh, I love it, I want to. I got to do this every day, mom. I really want to do this every day. So what do we do? We go and look for a ballet school that'll be open. Long story short, we look for the ballet school that'll be open. My child chooses this ballet school. What does she want to do before she goes into the audition? She prays. I said, well, bless the Lord. So we pray for her. She gets accepted to every single dance company she goes to. Once she gets accepted. They choose her to be on the competition team At her competition y'all.

Speaker 1: 26:57

We find out that where we've been homeschool, been homeschooling, I'm helping her learn about dancers and all that kind of stuff. I skipped that part, but we are homeschooling in the midst of that. We're learning about dancers and she does these reports about these dancers. That's what her little history was at the time for homeschool. We go to a dance competition. We happen to find out that one of the dancers that she has been researching is the judge for the competition. That is God's providence. So she's like I gotta meet her. I gotta meet her. We go to meet her, got to meet her. We go to meet her.

Speaker 1: 27:49

Guess where that judge works Alvin Ailey's Dance Company, guess, who now mentors and talks to and checks up on Peyton about her dance career and fills her mind with where to go and what to do next, because her mama has no way to get her on that stage. But God's providence will put her in position. That's what Ruth is after, is just providence. God, get me where we need to go. It's not I couldn't find a celebrity to put her in that position, but God knew what dance company, he knew what prayer to answer. He knew what teacher to call on. He knew how to position her in that space. Don't think that God is not ready to pull out every stop to get you to your destined place. She ain't fully there yet, but if that's not God's providence, I don't know what is.

Speaker 1: 28:48

I'm gonna go on ahead, because the next thing that was super, super necessary was that Mr no Name and Boaz had to work out a deal. Boaz had a plan. He was fully prepared on what he was going to say when he could talk to this kinsman redeemer, boaz let him know like hey, this is the plan, right here, we've got this land. It's a great deal. Mr Noname was like I'm with it, I'm here, I'm buying it. He was like great, it comes with Ruth and Naomi.

Speaker 1: 29:27

Mr no Name said what I got to take women too. I got to take care of them and I got to give. She's got to have a child. He's like whoa, this is going to mess me up. So do you know what he did? He said I can't do it, you do it. Maybe the promotion your neighbor is after is going to come with something that doesn't fit their bill. And they're like hey, don't worry about it. I got another job, you do it. It might be that, but if Boaz didn't have a plan in place, god's providence Would not have a reason in that moment For Mr no Name to be like Nah, I can't. It happens to be that as that plan that Boaz had he's like I'm going to introduce it, I'm going to make him feel good about it, he's going to decline it and Boaz was able to get exactly what he wanted.

Speaker 1: 30:37

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. Proverbs 21 5 is trying to let us know that planning is actually a God characteristic. So if you want to get out of that place of debt, or maybe you want to get to the next level financially, maybe you want to improve on your health, maybe you're struggling with your relationships, put a plan in place. Put a plan in place Because as you work that plan, I promise you that God's providence is going to meet up with that plan and you're going to get what's promised.

Speaker 1: 31:27

The last thing that Boaz needed, and that Naomi and Ruth really needed, was some powerful prayer, was some powerful prayer. In Ruth, chapter 4, verse 10, it says and the land I have acquired, ruth, and with the land I have acquired, ruth, the Moabite widow of Mahlon, to be my wife. This way she can have a son to carry on the family name and her dead husband and to inherit the family property here in her hometown. You are all witnesses today. He didn't do this privately. He did this in front of a group. They had faith-filled prayers that they've been praying all along to hope that this would be the outcome. Right, naomi? She prayed. May the Lord give you a husband, ruth, she prayed. May the Lord deal with me if I leave you, boaz, he prayed. May the Lord be with you. The workers that were around them. They were praying. They say may the Lord bless you. May the Lord bless you, boaz. Again he prays. May the Lord repay and bless you, ruth. She came to God and she said may I continue to find favor in you, god, naomi, she prayed. She said may the Lord bless the man who blessed you. And Boaz again prays may the Lord bless you.

Speaker 1: 33:19

These people are not laboring for 10 to 12 hours praying, but as they go they're like God. We need your help in this. Are you inviting him in? Because that small prayer can be so powerful? The prayer we prayed before every audition was so powerful. The prayer we prayed before every audition was so powerful. It was so powerful not because it miraculously made all of the stars align. It was powerful because God was reminded of us in the middle of what we were doing, as we went. He was able to continue to be a blessing to us in the middle of what we were doing, as we went, he was able to continue to be a blessing to us.

Speaker 1: 34:09

And it finishes off with the whole group, the whole community, gathering and saying we are witnesses. May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home, like Rachel and Leah, from whom all of the nation of Israel descended. May you prosper and be famous in Bethlehem. Why is that so important? Well, it's just like this Her name is famous in Bethlehem, even though she's from Moab. Right, why? Because when Ruth got with Naomi, they made Obed, and Obed happens, happens to be in the lineage of Jesus. It all looks amazing when we look backwards from the cross, because Jesus came from Mary and Joseph. And if you read the Bible, my daughter gets frustrated when she's reading through all of these names. She's like why did they just tell me who begat that and who begat and I'm like baby. He is telling you their family tree.

Speaker 1: 35:36

The pivotal piece of Ruth and Boaz coming together is that Boaz did not skip the opportunity to create a legacy that led to Jesus. He didn't know that the Redeemer of the world was coming from the kinsman Redeemer was coming from the kinsmen redeemer, but he took this one opportunity and it led to the generations that followed him. What's the opportunity that you need to take today? What's the thing that's on your heart that God is like? This is your next thing. What's causing you to be afraid to make that next step? What plan can you put in place to meet up with God's providence? To meet up with God's providence, Whatever that is. Today, we'd love to pray with you because we know that we can make some powerful prayers that will lead to the ultimate promise that God has for you, to the ultimate promise that God has for you. God's plans are good for us. God's providence is preparing us for the goodness of his end purpose in our lives.

Speaker 1: 37:19

Don't quit. Before you meet up with Boaz, remind whomever it is. Remind that employer that you applied for that job. Remind the contractor that you actually still do need his help at your house, because you know I did get a quote last time but I don't know if I'm really ready. Remind the realtor that, yeah, I'm still looking for a house. Remind your credit report to line up so that you know you can get that thing, because God has got some providence in place for you, place for you. Put your plan together and if you don't have a plan, ask God Divinely. Get in my situation, god, so I can plan out how to get to this next step, and I'm gonna tell you right now that, as we pray, it will come to pass. That's what I have for you today. If you don't properly plan and seek God's face, no matter what the purpose is, his providence won't ever feel like it's enough. So let us get our hearts and our minds in position to receive the blessing that God has for us. Amen.