What God Wants from Us

In this Pastor’s Choice message, “What God Wants from Us,” Pastor Tyler Lynde walks through Micah 6:6–8 and asks a question that reaches beneath religious activity into the condition of the heart. What can we possibly bring before the Lord to make things right? More sacrifices? Greater effort? Bigger outward displays of devotion? Micah’s words expose the temptation to use “religious stuff” as a substitute for obedience, as though giving, serving, attending, or performing spiritual duties could make up for areas where we are knowingly resisting God.

Tyler shows how the passage builds from burnt offerings to thousands of rams, rivers of oil, and even the unthinkable offering of a firstborn child. The point is not that God despises worship, sacrifice, or service, but that he refuses to be bribed by outward religion while the heart remains unchanged. Drawing from 1 Samuel 15:22, Tyler reminds us that “to obey is better than sacrifice.” God wants transformation, not theatrics.

From there, Tyler unpacks the three clear requirements of Micah 6:8: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Acting justly means doing what is right for the right reasons, even when no one is watching. It also means Christians must care deeply about injustice in the world, especially when we are the ones contributing to it. Tyler offers a practical and biblical framework: pray because the true battle is spiritual, act because passivity allows evil to grow, and trust because God alone is sovereign and final judgment belongs to him.

Tyler also addresses Jesus’ difficult command to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. This kind of prayer does not excuse evil or make Christians passive. Instead, it recognizes that the deepest answer to injustice is changed hearts through the power of Jesus Christ.

To love mercy is to remember how much mercy we ourselves have received. Through Jesus’ interaction with the woman caught in adultery, Tyler highlights mercy that refuses condemnation while still calling for repentance and change. Mercy does not deny sin, but it opens the door to restoration.

Finally, Tyler points to the staggering privilege of walking humbly with God. We cannot live Micah 6:8 by willpower alone. We need Jesus. At the foot of the cross, we receive justice, mercy, humility, forgiveness, and fellowship with the Father.

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Transcript

Setting The Series And Scripture

Tyler Lynde 0:02

So we're in a summer series called Pastor's Choice, and I know I already spoke once, but the guys have given me the liberty of speaking twice during this series, so I appreciate that very much. So we're going to be looking at Micah chapter 6, verses 16 or 6 through 8, if you want to turn there. Each of the elders during this series are giving specifically speaking words that the Lord has given them for Trinity in this season at this time. And last week Scott did an amazing job of sharing a powerful testimony from his family experience and how God has used his daughter Jessica to help him learn and honestly to help all of us learn valuable faith lessons. Wasn't that impactful? If you haven't seen that yet, I encourage you to go back and listen to that. So today, like I said, I'm going to share a message from the Old Testament, from the book of Micah. And the title of the sermon is What God Wants From Us. What God Wants From Us. Let's read the word together, reading from the NIV. With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with 10,000 rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Let's pray together this morning. Father, we thank you for your matchless word. We thank you, Holy Spirit, for what you've already done in this service. We give you glory and honor, Lord, for your heart, for your people. We say to you, Happy Father's Day, Heavenly Father. And we thank you that you have accepted us into your family, that you've chosen us to be your children. And we don't take that for granted. And Father, I pray that as we go through this message this morning, that you will speak words through me that you desire to speak to your congregation, to bring impact. And Father, we pray that you would transform our lives, transform our souls, and help us in every way. And we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen.

A Fathers Day Joke And Focus

Tyler Lynde 2:24

So as tradition has it, on Father's Day, I tell a dad joke. And so I'm going to tell a dad joke this morning. And please don't boo until after the joke is over. I'd appreciate that, okay? So anyway, there was this country church, and there was the pastor who was preaching a sermon, and in that church there was a young family, and the young family had a young son. And the young son during the service was acting like young sons would, and was uh sort of interrupting the service. He was, you know, he was moving around, he was making noise, he was not completely interrupting, but he was distracting at least, right? And so in that distraction, uh the pastor was starting to sort of get distracted as well. And so he was trying not to look at the scenario and what was going on, but eventually he did look and he saw that the mom of the child leaned over to him and said something in his ear. And when uh when she said something in his ear, the child sat up straight. He got very quiet, and he even for the rest of the service said a couple of amens in the appropriate places. And so this preacher at the end of the service, he was first of all, he was blown away by the transformation within this child. And so he went up to the mom and said, I've got to know. I mean, I've been in ministry a long time, I've never seen this kind of parenting within the church service. I just have to know what you said to your son. Do you mind sharing that with me? She goes, I don't mind. I just told him that if he didn't stop, you were gonna start the sermon over and didn't finish it. So hopefully, is that all right? Now, here's the truth. Can I give you the truth? Somebody from within our church, and you know who you are, shared that with me this week. And so I did not come up with that on my own. I had some help from a friend. So anyway, hopefully you won't need uh to you won't need for us to start this the sermon over, right? We're just gonna go through it once this morning.

Micah As Courtroom Warning And Hope

Tyler Lynde 4:28

But we are in the book of Micah. Micah was a minor prophet from the Old Testament before Jesus, and he was a prophet that spoke on God's behalf to the people of God, right? And if you read through the Old Testament, there are many of these prophets, and there was sort of sort of a pattern to what they spoke on behalf of God. The first thing was that they would usually communicate is the love that God had for his people, and then they would communicate something about a warning. So, for example, because of disobedience and because of rebellion, and because God is a holy God and a righteous God, that there was going to be some form of punishment that was going to come on the people unless they repented, unless they changed, right? So there was a warning, but there was also always, I think, uh within these books, there was also hope. And what was the hope? The hope was that there was something futuristic, something that was going to happen in the future that was going to uh kind of create uh things whole again or going to make things right again. And that's the example that we have here. The hope in this book was based on their eventual return to their land and also a future hope which we have experienced on this side of the cross of Jesus. And that would that is that there would be another king like David who would come and that his reign would never end, and that he was going to make everything right again. And who is that king? Yes, that is the right answer. I try not to trick you. I'll tell you if it's a trick question, right? So that king is Jesus. And so they were going, there was a warning because they had rebelled against God, because they had turned to other idols. There was going to be enemy armies that were going to come and uh and basically take them as captives and take them out of their land, um, and that they were going to be punished because of their rebellion, but that in the future that God was going to cause them to return, and eventually, like I said, that there was going to be a new king, a new leader that was going to come forth. Um, so when we look at this passage this morning, think about it like in a courtroom setting, okay? Um, everything, all of the evidence has been put out, and now the judge is about ready to give sentencing. He's about ready to, he's already proven the guilt aspect of things, and he's about ready to tell them what the sentence is for the crimes that they have committed. And there's an interjection, like where the defense attorney stands up and says, Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. What about if we did this, or if we did this, or if we did this, or that? Is there anything that we can do to avoid the judgment or the punishment that's about ready to come our way? And that's sort of where we find ourselves. Does that make sense? All right, it will as we go forward.

God Rejects Sacrifice Without Obedience

Tyler Lynde 7:14

So let's start by asking ourselves the question, what God doesn't want? What does God not want? We're going to answer that question, what God doesn't want. He does not want religious stuff instead of obedience. He does not want religious stuff instead of obedience. This passage includes this rhetorical escalation of sacrifices for the sins of the people. Did you hear this when we read it? Did you understand what was being said? They said, Would it be enough if we sacrificed a young calf? Would that, would the blood of a calf cover our sins? Or how about thousands of rams? Would that be enough? If we slaughtered thousands of rams, or how about if we poured out rivers of oil? You see how this is growing in escalation? And then finally, uh they said, What about if we slaughtered and sacrificed our firstborn children for the sins that we've committed? Now you have to understand that this is what worshippers of Molech did. They would actually sacrifice their children to attempt to appease or to honor the God, this false God, Molech. They are offering God, the children of Israel are offering God the very thing that is causing their judgment. The fact that they have disobeyed him, that they have rebelled against him, that they have pursued other gods and other idols, and now they're saying, let's do the very same sacrifice that the others do that are involved in this witchcraft and false religion. Talk about not reading the room well. They didn't understand who it was that they were talking to well enough, did they? We see another example of this principle. Remember the story of King Saul, the first king of Israel? And he was sent out against the Amalekites, and God told him to eliminate from the face of the earth all everything that belonged to Amalek, everything that was a part of that civilization was to be ruined, was to be wrecked, was to be destroyed completely. And remember that most of that was done. But what did they keep? They kept the king alive and they brought him back, and they also kept the best of the sheep, the best of the goats, they kept some of the gold and some of the silver, and they brought all of this back. And all of a sudden, the prophet Samuel, another prophet from the Old Testament, came to talk to Saul. And he was asking Saul if he had obeyed everything that God had asked him to do concerning the Amalekites. And Saul said, Oh, yes, of course. I absolutely obeyed all of that. And then Samuel asks a really uh amazing question. He said, What is the sound of the bleating of sheep that I hear in the background? And Saul all of a sudden finds religion in the middle of this conversation with Samuel. Oh, yes, yes, yes. We kept the best sheep and we kept the best oxen, we kept the best goats. And they've been out, he didn't say this part, but they've been out in the fields breeding with our stock so that we can improve the quality of all of ours. And then we're going to we're going to offer them as a sacrifice to God because he's the one that gave us this victory. Sounds like, I mean, that sounds like he kind of worked his way out of a problem, right? Nope. Listen to what the what Samuel says in 1 Samuel 15, 22. Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. You see, God doesn't want us to make sacrifices and outward shows of religion to try to make up for other areas of our lives where we are disobeying Him. He wants to deal with those areas of our heart. He wants to bring about transformation and change in the rebellious areas of our lives, doesn't he? Someone might say, I cheated someone in business, and so I'm going to give a large offering to the church, because that's my religious stuff. Others might say, I partied too much on Friday night, so I better go to church on Sunday. And then I'm sleeping with somebody that I shouldn't sleep with, and so I'm going to go visit people in the nursing home and uh bless them and pray for them and things like that. Now it's not wrong to give. In fact, we should give. It's not wrong to attend church. It's not wrong to visit those in need. But it doesn't, we shouldn't want to do those things to try to make up for willful disobedience in our lives. Now, I promise you we're going to get to good news in this sermon, but sometimes we have to start with the bad news before we can get to the good news, right? So God isn't interested in religious trap entrapment. God is not interested in us sounding a certain way. Sometimes we pray as if we're in the 16th century. Oh God, will thouest, and again, if that is your act, if that's the way you speak like to everybody else, then please feel free to pray to God that way. Um, but if not, I mean, let's get real. Just talk to God like He loves you and like you love Him, like you're related to Him, like He wants to hear from you, right? So, what does God want? We know what He doesn't want, but what does God actually want from us? And it says here that He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? Is this optional? Does it sound like this is optional? Require has a certain connotation to it, doesn't it? It doesn't sound like that's optional. It sounds like this is something that we must do or that he asks of us, that he wants us to do. So Micah here, the prophet Micah gives us three things that the Lord requires of his people. It's interesting when the original Ten Commandments were given. I just gave you a big hint. How many were there? Ten. Okay. And then the religious leaders took those Ten Commandments, and how many rules did they find to surround those Ten Commandments with? 613, wasn't it? 613. And uh and here in Micah, God sort of reduces it down to three. And then remember when Jesus was asked, he reduces it to what? One, or you could say two, love God and love people. Love God and love people, right? So let's look at this. Uh let's ask ourselves what is required of us. The first thing, according to this this verse, these verses, is to act justly. To act justly. Simply stating, acting, acting justly is doing what is right for the right reasons, even when others aren't watching. All of us could say, I can I can feel justified or I can feel like I'm doing

Acting Justly When No One Sees

Tyler Lynde 14:26

the right thing as long as when I'm in public, when I'm around other people, especially on Sunday mornings. On Sunday mornings, I'm the best behaved person that I know.

unknown 14:38

Right?

Tyler Lynde 14:40

And and there's a lot of people that could say that, although we could rewind the tape, right? And if there were a camera in each of our cars on the way to church, especially those with young families, what might that car ride sound like? Uh beautiful, I'm sure, but there may be some uh some reasons to talk about it, at least, right? Uh this so we are to act justly. This includes the way that we live our lives and the way that we treat others. Act justly in the way that we live our lives and in the way that we treat others. We should follow the golden rule, which is what yeah, do to others as you would have them do to you. There's a new version of that, which is I will do to others what they do to me. See how that's different? As Americans, we have an icon that helps us to sort of understand what it means to act justly. And we're gonna show a picture here of Lady Justice. And Lady Justice, as you see, is depicted in statues and paintings as being blindfolded. Why is she blindfolded? Because she's not supposed to pay attention to the uniqueness of the individual in the wrong way. She's not supposed to be prejudiced in any way, right? She's blindfolded, holding scales in one hand and a sword in another. In other words, it doesn't matter who the person is, justice is the same regardless, or it should be the same regardless of who the person is. That is what God is commanding us here. That we live justly, that we act justly. We should do what is right for all people. We should do justice for all.

Responding To Injustice With Prayer

Tyler Lynde 16:39

So let's talk for a few minutes about how Christians should handle injustice. How Christians should handle injustice. We live in a broken, fallen, devastated world. Am I right? The things that are being discovered about the behaviors, behaviors of humanity on a daily basis are more and more troubling and to be honest with you, sickening. There are atrocities being committed. There are miscarriages of justice happening all around us. And this is not okay with God. Injustice is not okay with God, and it should not be okay with us. Christians should be passionately opposed to injustice. And we'd like to stop there. But let's go on, especially when we're the cause of it. Christians should be passionately opposed to injustice, especially when we're the ones who cause the injustice. It's the easiest thing in the world for us to point out the way that others are being unjust. We can do that all day long. How many of you are people watchers? Some of you could go to the mall and just sit there and just watch people all day long and secretly judge them and secretly wonder about their lives and all of those things. And you walk away and you feel good about yourself in comparison to those people, right? Don't worry, I've done the same thing, so I'm not trying to put myself above anybody else. All of us. In some ways, our society has descended into a proverbial blame game where everybody is a victim. Everyone is a victim of something, even when we ourselves aren't truly innocent. Scripture teaches us how to approach this false sense of justice in Matthew chapter 7, verses 3 through 5. Why do you see the speck that's in your brother's eye? But do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Again, it's so easy for us to identify injustice and atrocities and things that are horrible within this world, but sometimes we find it much more difficult to find those things within our own selves, in our own lives, in our own thoughts. Can you imagine if for one week's time there was a screen that was placed upon your forehead and everywhere in my forehead and everywhere that we went, every thought that we had was displayed in 3D color and in all and in audio and smell of vision even. By the end of that week, would we feel differently? Possibly feel differently about ourselves and about others in this world? I think we might. I know other people would feel differently about us, for sure, right? So after self-examination, there are other things that we can do to fight injustice. So let me give you just three things really quickly. Number one, we can pray. We can pray. Remember that the real villains of this earth are not flesh and blood. The real enemies of Christ and the real enemies of Christianity and the real enemies of justice and righteousness are not human beings. They are not flesh and blood. They are principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of this age. They are spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. That is where the battle is fought. We should pray that the plans of the enemy would be confused and thwarted and that righteousness would prevail. We should take authority over the plans of the enemy in our lives, in the lives of our family, in the lives of our church, in our workplaces. We have authority to speak the word of God into those kinds of scenarios. And how many of you know we should pray that the enemy would be confused? That God would put up a wall of resistance against him. That the Lord would protect us and keep us safe from any of the schemes of the evil one. My friends, a Christian without prayer is in a dangerous place. We must pray concerning injustice. Now, before we go further, let me just add something that I didn't want to put in the notes. But it's in the Bible, so I needed to. We also need to pray for our enemies. Oh, I pray for my enemies. I pray that they get roasted and toasted, baby. Some people pray that they would go to hell. We can pray that about demons. But boy, you better never pray that prayer about a human being. If you pray that prayer, it means you don't understand what hell really is. Matthew 5, Jesus, our great Messiah, said, You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. We are to bless our enemies. We are to pray for our enemies. That's countercultural. That goes against our very human nature. That goes against our own sense of justice. And yet, this is what God is asking of us. And how many of you know his way is the right way? You see, the quickest way for injustice to end in this earth is for the perpetrators of injustice to become children of God, to be born again, to become followers of Jesus. Pray for our enemies that they would be converted. You know, the church began to pray, not just our church, but many churches began to pray for the Middle East, especially back during the original Iraq War and all of those things surrounding it. You know what God has done in miraculous ways? He has sent dreams and visions to people who had never heard about Jesus. And all of a sudden, they're becoming followers of Jesus Christ. I know missionaries that go to places and they always say this, I can get you in, but I don't know if I can get you out. They go to those kinds of places and they are hearing stories of an underground movement of Christianity happening within these places and cultures where it has been the exact opposite of that. This, my friends, is the kind of prayers that we should be praying. I know that prayer sounds like an oversimplified approach, but it is one of God's main prescriptions for us when it comes to how we handle injustice. We must pray. We shouldn't just pray, but we must act.

Acting Without Rage Or Vigilantism

Tyler Lynde 24:54

We should act. There is a time for action when it comes to injustice. There is a time to stand up and be counted. There is a time for resistance. Our passage said it clearly, we are to act justly. There's some action, there's a verb involved in that. Edmund Burke nailed it when he said, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do what? Nothing. We must act appropriately. We must act according to God's way of acting. We must not just react. We must act when it comes to injustice. Listen to Proverbs 24. If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are beaten, being taken away to death. Hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, Behold, we did not know this, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? In other words, you're lying about that. You did know about it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it? And will he not repay men according to his work? God hates injustice, and we should hate injustice too. We should pray about it and we should act on it. We are to stand up and speak up for those who cannot stand or speak for themselves. That is not something that Christians should back down upon. Now, the problem with acting on injustice is that many times people do it from a place of anger and rage. You know what I'm sick and tired of hearing from every from a lot of people, and I even say this myself, how bad things are in the earth, how bad things are in the world. And just all that there is is anger about it, rage about it. We're enraged, we're angry. We just talk about it and talk about it, and we dive deeper into conspiracy theory, and we get worse and worse and angrier and angrier. And it's like we're waiting for a moment of breakthrough where we can jump in. But how many of you know that we are not called to do anything from a place or position of anger? In fact, Scripture says, be angry and do not sin or sin not. A lot of times people who deal with anger and rage when it comes to injustice end up dipping their toes in uh in just another term for in vigilante justice, blowing up the houses of doctors who have performed abortions, burning down places, creating uh havoc in scenarios and situations because of injustice. We as believers are called to live differently than that. We are to be angry and sin not. So, what does this action we're talking about look like? What does it look like to act concerning injustice? How about volunteering at a crisis pregnancy care center? If you are concerned about the levels of abortion in this world, and we should be, absolutely, it's one of the greatest atrocities that I know of. And we know that we want to do something about it. Instead of burning down houses, how about if we help to build people's lives that that and help them to change their minds concerning abortion itself? How about if we volunteered to help women who have gone through abortions in the past to heal, to be restored, and not just women, but men who have been a part of that scenario as well, who need healing themselves? How about we give to organizations that are fighting human trafficking that are on the front lines of that? How about we sponsor that and support that in different ways? How about if we become a police officer or lawyer or a judge and fight injustice through the legal system? In Romans 13, it says that God uses authorities here on this earth to carry out his justice in the earth. There are ways that we can act against injustice that are within the parameters of God's righteousness and holiness. How about being an advocate for someone in the margins? When we lived in North Carolina and I was a pastor there, we became acquainted. In fact, we had a Spanish-speaking church that met in our building. One of the things that I discovered is that many of the people in our culture, in our society, did not accept the people that were there, that were living there, even though they were working in the fields, they were working warehouse jobs, they were paying taxes, they were doing all of those things, but they did not accept them just because they looked differently and they spoke a different language. And I found out that there was an insurance company that happened to be my insurance company. And when these people were going in to get car insurance, for example, or house insurance, they were getting charged three and four times what I was getting charged as a white man who didn't speak Spanish. To my kids, I speak a little bit of Spanish, but not a lot. I wish I spoke more. But anyway, we'll move on past that. But the point, the point being, I went with several of those brothers in Christ and sat in the office of the same man who quoted me the price on insurance that I got. And I asked him a question: what's different here? And all of a sudden, their prices started changing. It was incredible. I don't have to threaten anything. I didn't have to say, I'm going to call a newspaper, I didn't have to say anything like that. I just said, wouldn't it be right? Wouldn't it be equitable? These people had their papers, they were here legally, all of those things. Wouldn't it be right for them to be able to have the same insurance that I have? You see what I'm saying? There are a lot of ways that we can act concerning injustice. It's not all, it doesn't all have to be vigilante, and it shouldn't be vigilante. How about reporting abuse that you encounter? If you see a scenario in a store where it looks like a child is in danger or in trouble, what is it going to hurt to report that? There'll be an investigation that will happen and either it will be proven to be right or be proven to be wrong. But at least you'll be your conscience will be clear. If you see examples of spouses and it seems like it's mostly wives that are abused and beaten, treated unfairly, if you were able to stand up for them and speak up for them and to help them in some way and even report that, what's going to be wrong with that? There are a lot of ways to act on injustice. So we should pray and we should act, and then finally we should trust.

Trusting Gods Sovereignty Over Vengeance

Tyler Lynde 32:25

We should trust. We should trust human beings. No, we can trust Christians, right? But ultimately, as Christians, I just heard the voice of experience. All right. Ultimately, as Christians, we are to rest in the what? The sovereignty of God. God is bigger than this earth. He's bigger than the problems that we face in this earth. He is the only one who is truly just. And even when we don't see the immediate correction to injustice in the world, how many of you know that he will make all things right in the end? He will make all things right in the end. Sin will be no more. Romans 12, 17 through 19, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. We can release anger, we can release frustration, we can release rage, and we can put our trust in a sovereign God who sees all, who knows all, and is able to handle every situation. Amen. So God wants us to act justly.

Loving Mercy Because We Need It

Tyler Lynde 34:07

He also wants us to love mercy. Going back to our passage in Micah 6. One of the greatest ways for us to stay right in our attitude towards justice is for us to consistently remind ourselves of what? That we need mercy. If we want to be just towards other, we have to understand our own need for mercy. We are called to consider it precious and to love it wholeheartedly. So what is mercy? In its simplest form, mercy is the gift of God's undeserved kindness and compassion. How many of us this morning are living testimonies of the mercy and grace of God? Can we say thank you, Heavenly Father? Thank you, Father, for your loving kindness, your mercy toward us, that even while we didn't deserve it, that Christ died for us. One of my favorite examples of this, and I'm not going to quote it for the sake of time, I'm just going to tell it. But John chapter 8, verses 1 through 11, there was a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. And the religious leaders brought her before Jesus. And what was the remedy for this in the old covenant? She was to be stoned to death. By the way, where was the man in the scenario? If she was caught in the act, where was he? Let's not forget that, okay? That's bothered me. But anyway, they brought her before Jesus, hoping to trick Jesus into saying the wrong thing, to going against the law. And so they say, What should we do to this woman, Jesus? Jesus doesn't say a word. Instead, he bends over and he starts to write in the sand. And if you've ever seen the Passion of the Christ, when he leans over and that finger hits the dirt, it's like the creator of the universe. I don't know what he wrote, but whatever he wrote, boy, it had an impact. I wonder if he wrote names in the sand, names of people that they had been injust with or they had committed adultery with. I wonder if he wrote some of the Ten Commandments. I wonder what he wrote. But all we know is that at the end of that, what did he say to them? He who is without sin cast the first stone. And it said it started starting with the oldest to the youngest, they all dropped their rocks and walked away. They all dropped their rocks and walked away. You see, it wasn't until they understood their own need for mercy that they were willing to be merciful to this woman. Now, how many of you know that mercy doesn't leave a person as they are? Mercy brings about change and transformation. What were the last words that we hear that Jesus spoke to this woman? Remember, he said, Where are your accusers? And she finally found the strength to look up from her bowed position. And as she looked up and looked around, she said, No, they're nowhere. There's no one left. And he said, Neither do I condemn you. But then he said, Go and sin no more. That's how God changes hearts. That's how God changes lives. You see, we who have so generously received mercy from God should be the quickest to show mercy to others. How quickly we forget how great the Father's love is for us. Amen. And finally,

Walking Humbly With God Daily

Tyler Lynde 37:49

walk humbly with God. So we are to act justly, we are to love mercy, and we are to walk humbly with God. Don't miss the radical nature of this statement. We are to walk with God. Did you get that? The humbly part's in there too, but the fact that we have the privilege of walking with God should blow our minds. It should be an unbelievable thing that we hold on to with everything that we've got. Our approach to this opportunity that we're given to walk with God should be humility. We are to be completely dependent on him, regardless of our own abilities. When we are walking with him, we begin to act like him. It's a natural progression. Look at how God is described in Psalms 89, 14. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. You see how these two things are not enemies of one another, they're actually friends. And both characteristics are found within God Himself. You see, we will not view others the right way or receive what we need from God unless we walk in humility. Jesus Himself, although he could have easily, if anyone in all of history could have said, I'm the man, Jesus chose to humble himself even to the point of death on the cross. James 4 says, Or do you suppose it is no purpose that the scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us, but he gives more grace. Therefore it says God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. What do we have to do to please God? Here God has laid it out. The Israelites were wanting to sacrifice something to appreciate God, but no amount of personal sacrifice can replace a heart filled with humility, committed to justice and love. Now, I want to finish

Why We Need Jesus To Obey

Tyler Lynde 40:18

by saying this we cannot save ourselves. We can't do this enough to become righteous. We can't obey these words enough to be changed on the inside. How many of you know that without the shed blood of Jesus Christ, none of us can obey the scriptures? And even when we do obey them, we can obey them outwardly, but our hearts are far from them. You see, to do justly, we discover that we can't do it until we have been made just ourselves. We may try to love mercy, but we can't do it until we ourselves have experienced mercy. We want to walk humbly with God, and we can't do it until we have been brought into fellowship with God. You see, again, there's the only place that we can find sure footing and footing that is equal across the generations, across the races, across every tribe, people, and language is at the foot of the cross. We receive and experience this mercy that we're talking about through being born again. We come into fellowship with God on the basis of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us again and gave himself for us. These verses, if anything, should reveal to us how desperately we need Jesus. Would you pray with me?

Closing Prayer And Invitation To Return

Tyler Lynde 42:06

Father, I thank you that you have not left us alone. I thank you, Father, that you have sent your son into this world to be an example to us of who you are, to live a perfect life, to take upon himself our sins. Even though we weren't there holding the hammer or the nail, Lord, it was our sins that nailed him to the cross. And Father, I pray in Jesus' name that those who have not yet experienced your tremendous mercy. I love the verse in Romans that says that it's the loving kindness of God, it's the goodness of God that brings us to repentance. And Father, I pray in Jesus' name that you would help each one this morning, Lord God, to examine themselves, to acknowledge their need for a savior, to believe not just in the cross of Christ, but also in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the fact that he was with us and that he ascended into heaven, and that he's seated on the right hand of you, Heavenly Father, and that He's been given the name above every other name, and that He has sent the Holy Spirit to not only dwell with us, but to live in us, to lead us and guide us into all truth, to help us to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly. Father, I pray in Jesus' name that on this Father's Day that you would add children to your family in whatever way you choose. I also pray, Lord, for those who may have may find themselves today having known you and loved you, and yet recently there's been a falling away. There's been a different route that's been taken. There's been a journey of a different path. And Lord, your desire obviously is to restore. We ask for restoration. We ask that you would bring them back. Bring us all back in areas of our hearts where we wander. Bring us back, Lord God, to the straight and narrow path where you are, where we can walk with you. And Father, I pray in Jesus' name that you would help us to obey the words of Scripture, to do these things that are required of us. Because these aren't just things that you required of a people in a time in history. These are things that you require of all of us because these are the some of the main pillars of your kingdom. Justice, mercy, and humility. Help us to walk in these ways. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.