How am I ever going to get through this? Have you ever asked that question? Maybe you were deep in a struggle or a crisis and you're wondering if that season of loss will ever end. It was a chapter of your life that you didn't choose but couldn't seem to escape. Some of you are living that chapter right now. And yet you're trying hard to be faithful. You're trying to do all the right things. But still, you feel like you're stuck with no forward motion and no signs of change to come.
You may have wondered, has God forgotten about me? You ask yourself, how am I ever going to get through this? My name is Jeremy. I'm the lead pastor of Mountain View Church. We spent the past five weeks walking through the book of Ruth in a series titled Finding God in the Ordinary. It's a story that begins with heartache followed by years of struggle. It's a story about ordinary people making faithful choices in hard seasons. And yet God was quietly at work behind the scenes the whole time. And so as we close out Ruth's story today, my hope is that you'll be encouraged.
The trusting God with the chapters that you can't see right now can lead to a story that's better than you ever could have written yourself. You'll discover that your seemingly ordinary life can be part of God's redemptive story. Let's get started. Hello, my name is Leona. Our scripture reading is from Ruth, chapter 4, verse 13 to 22. You are welcome to follow along with the physical Bible. Search the table of contents to locate the corresponding page number for Ruth. Alternatively, you can download the Bible app or visit Bible.com. So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went into her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.
Then the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel. He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him. Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, A son has been born to Naomi. They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Now these are the generations of Pires. Pires fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered Ram. Ram fathered Aminadab. Aminadab fathered Nashon. Nashon fathered Solomon. Solomon fathered Boaz. Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse. And Jesse fathered David. To unpack this passage, we need to highlight the first and last verses of this scripture. In verse 13, we read, So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went into her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.
Then jumping down to the end of the chapter, we read, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. Our modern Western eyes might gloss over the genealogy, but the ancient Hebrew reader would have marveled at this text. You see, for Israel, the link to David is so important. He would become their king, their greatest king, known as a man after God's own heart, and his lineage would eventually lead to the Messiah. So in Ruth chapter one, We know that Ruth enters the story as a Moabite widow with nothing to offer but faithfulness. And yet here at the end of chapter four, she is revealed as the great grandmother of King David, the forefather of our savior and redeemer, Jesus. Ruth had no idea at the time and she couldn't have. She simply decided to remain by her grieving mother-in-law's side when everything else was gone and everyone else was gone. Then step-by-step, she kept choosing faithfulness over and over again. And God wrote the rest of the story in her and through her. Now there's a lesson for us in these scriptures that are called genealogies.
It's never just a list of names. The names are an unfolding revelation, bearing witness to God's sovereignty. Genealogies are biblical evidence that he's writing a deeper, longer story. But none of those people could see it while they were living it. And that's important. God has invited us to be part of that story. Our seemingly ordinary life is part of God's greater redemptive story that long, long ago started and included people like Ruth, people like Naomi, people like Boaz. But today, they include people like you and me. Although Ruth's life is far removed from our modern context, God hasn't changed.
He sees the quiet choices of honesty and integrity that are made when no one's watching. He walks with us through the hard seasons of life when it feels like nobody cares. And even though the final chapter, where everything finally makes sense, feels miles away, the daily faithfulness can make all the difference. We just need to wait till the end. Now, this is important because most of us are living somewhere in the middle of our story, aren't we?
When we've walked through a difficult chapter, there's a temptation to assume that that's how the book's going to end. And life's just going to be terrible. And it's just going to be tough time after tough time after tough time. And that's just incorrect. Remember, that's what Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi, had decided. She had lost her husband and her two sons. That's awful.
She was destitute, assuming that she would live out the rest of her life in sorrow and poverty. She thought it was just going to be bad thing, bad thing, bad thing. That was going to be the rest of her life. And yet, when she encouraged her two daughters-in-law to return to their homes in Moab, God moved in the heart of Ruth. God's providence working in Ruth's faithfulness, whispering, you need to stay with Naomi. Now, jumping back to today's passage, in chapter four, after Ruth gives birth to a son, the women of Bethlehem gather around Naomi. We read, then the women said to Naomi, blessed be the Lord who has not left you this day without a redeemer.
For your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him. Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. It's important to note what these women didn't say. They didn't say, you made it, Naomi, you persevered, and you endured, which in part is true, she did. But these women knew the backstory that Naomi could have never pulled this off on her own.
It was outside of her power. They understood the crazy series of events that had to have taken place for her story to end in this way, with a baby on her lap. They understood that only God could have orchestrated this level of provision and redemption. Although Naomi had in fact endured, she did, God alone receives the praise. The women also declare that Naomi's daughter-in-law, Ruth, is more to her than seven sons. We might gloss over that statement, but it's another one of those important declarations within ancient Hebrew culture. You see, at that time, having seven sons was the perfect family, the pinnacle of blessing. For them to say that Ruth was more to Naomi than seven sons is like saying, Naomi, God has given you more than a perfect life ever could have offered. I wonder, what went through Naomi's mind after hearing that statement? Was she reflecting on the fact that the daughter-in-law she would have left in Moab, that she sent home?
would stay, and now she's become her greatest blessing. You see, back in Moab, it was impossible for Naomi to have pictured this moment, the grandson laying in her lap, staring up at her properly. But now as she stares back at him, reflecting on the journey, she must have been overwhelmed with joy and thanksgiving for what God had done over the long story, over the long journey. God was always working. Now I wonder, have you lived long enough to have a Naomi moment? A moment where you look back at the hardest chapter of your life and realize God didn't leave you?
When you realize that his timeline is longer and more complex than ours is and that we ever think it will be, you see, when the loss, the waiting, the years of stuff, when it all feels wasted, suddenly it makes sense at the end of the trial. I realize that some of you haven't yet experienced the hardships of life. And I realize that some of you are deep in the middle of them right now. If that's you, please remember your story isn't over. The chapter that you're in right now isn't the last one. And the God who was quietly working behind the scenes in the lives of Naomi and Ruth and even Boaz is the same God who is quietly working in your life. I've said this so many times throughout this teaching series. God is inviting you into his redemptive story. You might be tempted to roll your eyes at that statement like, oh, this is just motivational pastor talk. But I assure you, this is a theological reality. It's a truth that I firmly believe. And Ruth's life proves it.
She wasn't a king or a prophet or a priest. She was a foreign widow, completely outside of God's chosen people. And yet, she made one faithful choice, and then another, and then another. And through her faith, God wove every one of those seemingly ordinary choices into the most extraordinary story ever told. But now let's come back to our previous discussion on genealogies. This is important. From the end of chapter four, we already established how God weaved Ruth into the lineage of King David, which would eventually lead to the Messiah and God's son, Jesus.
The evidence of this lineage is revealed in the first book of the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew wrote his account of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension for a predominantly Jewish audience. This is why the lineage would have been crucial in establishing Jesus as the Messiah. So that's why Matthew starts his account by tracing the ancestry. As modern readers, we can be tempted to skim over this list of names. But if we were Hebrew scholars, these names lay an important foundation. Matthew writes, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob, who God would rename Israel, the father of Judah and his brothers. The genealogy continues through to verse 5. And Salmon, the father of Boaz, by Rahab, and Boaz, the father of Obed, by Ruth, and Obed, the father of Jesse, and Jesse, the father of David, the king. The genealogy continues through to verse 15. We pick it up. And Matham, the father of Jacob, and Jacob, the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Christ.
Don't miss that Matthew intentionally wrote Ruth's name in the genealogy of Christ in that list, because not every wife was mentioned, but Ruth was, in part because she was a foreign widow, a Gentile, non-Jewish person. And even worse, she was a Moabite. One of the grandmothers, the great grandmothers of the Messiah, was a woman who crossed the border to a place where she didn't belong with nothing to offer. And so into the messianic lineage, God chose to include the unwanted outcast who had no bloodline or birthright to be included. Following the genealogies, Matthew unpacks the life and ministry of Jesus leading to his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, validating him as God's son and the one true Messiah. Soon after Jesus' ascension, the gates of God's grace and mercy for Jews and Gentiles, non-Jewish people, just like Ruth, the gates open wide. The good news of Jesus spread throughout the modern world, and leaders were commissioned and sent everywhere, even into the Mediterranean territories, where churches were planted. And one of those leaders was named Paul.
And in the letters in the New Testament, he's writing to one of those Mediterranean churches, reminding them about their lineage obtained through Christ. He writes, Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, remember that you were at the time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Then scrolling down to verse 19, Paul writes, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens. but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. These words apply just as much today as they did back then. We're kind of like modern Moabites outside of God's chosen people. And yet we're included. All of us willing and able to have faith can be included into God's family through and by his son, Jesus.
Your seemingly ordinary life can be part of God's redemptive story. So if you've never given your life to Jesus, accepted forgiveness for your sin, and placed your faith and trust in him, I want to give you an opportunity to do that right now. Wherever you're at, just pause and pray this prayer with me. Dear God, I admit that I've been trying to write my own story. I'm sinful and in need of your forgiveness. I believe that you sent your son Jesus to die on the cross for my sin.
I believe that he rose again, conquering sin and death. I believe that his sacrifice offers me entrance into your family and your redemptive story. Today, I leave behind the life I've been living to live for you. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, I want you to know that heaven is celebrating right now. You see, that decision, as simple as it might have seemed, is the most significant one you'll ever take.
Your next step is to find a local church near you and get connected. Not as a religious obligation. It's because you were never meant to walk this journey alone. That's why God created the church. And the church is God's family. And you just became a part of it through Jesus. Connect with them and let them walk with you as you journey in faith. Now, for those of us who have already placed our faith in Jesus, and maybe some of you just did that today, we're going to transition now into communion.
Communion is the reminder that our redemption has been accomplished. The greater kinsman redeemer that we've been talking about all series, Jesus, he's rescued us. But instead of paying the price for a field and a family lineage, he paid the ultimate price for us. His life sacrificed so that we could be eternally redeemed. And communion is a practice that Jesus taught for us to remember what he's done and what we've received in and through him. At this time, if you would like to participate, simply pause the video or audio, gather some wine or juice and some bread or crackers, then come back and hit play and we'll pick up from there.
Near the end of Matthew's gospel account, before Jesus was arrested, we have a description of the very first communion. This would become a regular observance of Christ followers that's continued for 2,000 years. I'm going to give thanks for the bread and the cup. Then I'll read through the passage as we take the elements together, the bread first and then the cup. Let's pray. Dear Father, I thank you for sending your Son, our great Redeemer, that we were lost and sinful and enemies of you through our own sin. You loved us enough.
to send your son to save us. Jesus, I thank you for going to the cross for us. And we understand that this bread represents your body that was whipped, beaten, tortured, nailed to a cross, and that you died as a sacrifice. And we thank you, Jesus, for this cup that symbolizes your blood, the blood shed on the cross for us for the atonement of sin. We thank you for this time of communion and what it represents. And we're thankful for your choice to go to the cross for us, that you died and were buried.
we thank you, God, that you raised Jesus from the dead, overcoming sin and death, and that we're free, that we're redeemed because of you, Jesus. We take this bread and cup in remembrance of you with thanksgiving, and it's in your name we pray, Jesus. Amen. In Matthew 26, 26, we read, Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took a cup.
And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Thank you for being here today and for walking through this series with us. Please consider connecting with Mountain View Church in one of two ways this week. First, by filling out a digital Connect card at mountainview.church.
Second, by following us on your preferred social network under the handle at Mountain View Whitehorse. And finally, subscribe to our YouTube channel and turn on those notifications so that our next teaching series shows up right in your feed. Now for a few church updates to help keep you connected. Good morning Mountain View. My name is Haley. I'm the ministry leader for the Young Adults Ministry and what that is is we have one event per month that's meant to be a fun event to connect with others in a similar stage of life as you. So the May event is actually happening this afternoon and you're invited as long as you're a young adult between 18 and 35. We're having a backyard fire and wiener roast this afternoon at two o'clock.
2 o'clock to 4.30 is the time frame, and it's at a house in Porter Creek, so the address is 85B11th Ave. East. And also, if you're interested in hearing about Mountain View's mentorship and apprenticeship programs, Pastor Jeremy is going to be stopping by to chat about that for a little bit, so definitely don't miss it if you want to hear about those great opportunities. And otherwise, all you have to do is show up, bring a lawn chair if you'd like, and yeah, hope to see you there today. Hey everyone, I'm Kaylee, the Senior Youth Ministry Leader, and this is just a reminder that our pie auction, our fundraiser for Fusion, is tonight at 6.30 here at the church. Come hang out, bid on some pies, and support our youth. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at sryouth at mountainview.church. Hope to see you there.
Hi everybody, my name is Helen and I'm one of the outreach ministry leaders of Mountain View Church along with Christy. We are very excited to announce our new upcoming event, Church Summer Barbecue. This will be happening Saturday, June 6 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Rotary Peace Park Pavilion. We really hope with this event to create a space to connect with people in our city and show them what the community of Christ is like. We want to facilitate conversations about faith and Christianity. So we want to challenge you to invite a neighbor, colleague, or non-Christian friend of yours to come and be a part of this event and engage in conversation with them. There will be free burgers and hot dogs, drinks and chips, and we'll have full use of the facilities such as the playground and volleyball courts.
For this event to happen, we will need some volunteers. So there will be sign-up sheets at the back of the service. And we are looking for people to help serve food during the actual event and a few people to help cook up some burgers and hot dogs prior to the event. So please, if you have some time that weekend, consider signing up on one of the sheets at the back of the service today. And if you have any questions, please contact the email below. Otherwise, we're very excited to have this event and look forward to meeting you there with you and whoever you choose to invite.
Grad Sunday is May 31st, which is also a fifth Sunday family day with all our kids coming upstairs, giving our children's workers a break. We'll be honoring our high school, college and university graduates. If you are a grad or someone in your family is a grad, please sign up at admin at mountainview.church or in person after one of our physical gatherings at the welcome desk. Our next teaching series is titled Nodded and it starts in two weeks. So now's a great time to invite that friend or coworker who wants to invest in their marriage, maybe heal from broken marriage or who's preparing to get married.
This series is also really beneficial for anyone who's interested in what the Bible says about marriage. So invite them and let's see you in a couple weeks. Finally, it's time for our connecting questions to discuss with those around you or in the feed below with others who might be watching as well. Question number one, where in your life does it feel like God has forgotten you? Where in your life does it feel like God has forgotten you? Question two, what ordinary act of faithfulness are you underestimating right now? What ordinary act of faithfulness are you underestimating right now?
And finally, question three, how does Jesus choosing you change how you face today? How does Jesus choosing you change how you face today? If you prayed to receive Jesus today or would like to connect with our church community, visit mountainview.church and click the connect link. If this podcast and radio ministry has been a blessing to you, please consider partnering with us or making a tax-deductible donation at mountainview.church. Thanks for listening to Mountain View Church Audio. Join us next week for more Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City of Whitehorse UConn.