Good afternoon.<\/p>\n
>> You all doing well.<\/p>\n
>> It's good to be with you. It's good to<\/p>\n
praise God. It's good to worship. And<\/p>\n
it's good to hear God's word. And I<\/p>\n
Yeah, I've been here at Grey City for<\/p>\n
about two years now. This is my first<\/p>\n
time preaching here as Ajan Nati said.<\/p>\n
Um but it this is actually the first<\/p>\n
time I've actually preached in English<\/p>\n
in Thailand. You know, I preached many<\/p>\n
times in the US in English, never Thai<\/p>\n
in the US, but many times in English,<\/p>\n
but uh yeah, this is the first time in<\/p>\n
in English um here in Thailand. So,<\/p>\n
yeah, this is a little different for me.<\/p>\n
Um but but praise the Lord to have this<\/p>\n
opportunity and I'm grateful to share um<\/p>\n
the word of God here. I've I've known of<\/p>\n
Grace City Church for since it started<\/p>\n
up. A good friend of mine, another<\/p>\n
missionary with OMF, Carl Dolford and um<\/p>\n
Irwin Kent um from the beginning helped<\/p>\n
uh Ajan Nati with some other<\/p>\n
missionaries from MTW to begin Grace<\/p>\n
City and so have known of Grace City for<\/p>\n
for years and years and yeah, just feel<\/p>\n
honored to actually be be standing um at<\/p>\n
this pulpit to share God's word. And so<\/p>\n
yeah, just thanks for this opportunity.<\/p>\n
Um, I want to ask a simple question. Do<\/p>\n
you believe that God speaks?<\/p>\n
Yeah. Is that amazing? God speaks. Psalm<\/p>\n
33 says, \"The heavens were made by the<\/p>\n
word of the Lord and all the stars by<\/p>\n
the breath of his mouth.\" And then verse<\/p>\n
9, \"For he spoke and it came into being.<\/p>\n
He commanded and it came into<\/p>\n
existence.\" Um, and not only does he<\/p>\n
speak, but he chooses to speak to us. He<\/p>\n
speaks to us. In Hebrews 1, um, verses 1<\/p>\n
and 2, it says, \"Long ago, uh, God spoke<\/p>\n
to our ancestors by the prophets at<\/p>\n
different times and in different ways.<\/p>\n
In these last days, he has spoken to us<\/p>\n
by his son. God has appointed him heir<\/p>\n
of all things and made the universe<\/p>\n
through him.\"<\/p>\n
We here at Grace City, we believe that<\/p>\n
God speaks to us through his word and<\/p>\n
that his word primarily serves to point<\/p>\n
to Jesus that we may know God that we<\/p>\n
might know of his goodness and and his<\/p>\n
grace that his word is for our<\/p>\n
edification that it's profitable uh for<\/p>\n
teaching, for rebuking, and for training<\/p>\n
us in righteous living um that we might<\/p>\n
be equipped for for good works. Um, my<\/p>\n
hope this morning is that we will see<\/p>\n
Christ, that we will be built up in our<\/p>\n
faith in Christ, and that we will be<\/p>\n
spurred on in greater maturity in Christ<\/p>\n
and be compelled to love as Christ<\/p>\n
loved. Um, our passage today is Titus 2.<\/p>\n
Um, there are some difficult parts on<\/p>\n
the earlier parts of Titus 2. I'm not<\/p>\n
going to actually touch very much on<\/p>\n
those today. There's been a lot of ink<\/p>\n
things written about those passages, but<\/p>\n
I want to spend more on time what I<\/p>\n
believe is the heart of that passage um<\/p>\n
of what God is trying to communicate and<\/p>\n
then touch on some of the the more<\/p>\n
difficult things but but largely we want<\/p>\n
to see what God has done, what he will<\/p>\n
do and what he desires um for his<\/p>\n
people.<\/p>\n
Uh the title of the sermon today um if<\/p>\n
you did not see it was Chiwit uh 365 or<\/p>\n
uh life 365. And this is just a little<\/p>\n
play on uh Microsoft uh 365. If you know<\/p>\n
the slogan for Microsoft, it says<\/p>\n
empowering every person and every<\/p>\n
organization on the planet to achieve<\/p>\n
more.<\/p>\n
What a slogan. What a promise. You know,<\/p>\n
we serve so that you will achieve more.<\/p>\n
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, \"I<\/p>\n
came that you might have life, that we<\/p>\n
might have life, and that we might have<\/p>\n
it abundantly.\"<\/p>\n
God's desire is not for us to simply be<\/p>\n
people who achieve, who do great things.<\/p>\n
Yes, he wants us to bear fruit, but<\/p>\n
God's true heart is that we might have<\/p>\n
life, the good life, have it abundantly.<\/p>\n
Um, and so if we believe what we believe<\/p>\n
about God, if what we believe about<\/p>\n
God's word, our desire today is to seek<\/p>\n
God in his word, to see the face of<\/p>\n
Jesus, and then to receive understanding<\/p>\n
um and therefore be changed people by<\/p>\n
his word. Um, let's go ahead and pray<\/p>\n
and then we will hear of God's word.<\/p>\n
Lord, thank you for this sacred time.<\/p>\n
Thank you for this moment um that we<\/p>\n
come here together to to worship you, to<\/p>\n
to praise you, to to lift your name on<\/p>\n
high. Thank you that you love us and in<\/p>\n
your love you have chosen to speak you<\/p>\n
speak to our hearts. Um thank you for<\/p>\n
your word, your truth that it reflects<\/p>\n
and and shows us Jesus. It shows us<\/p>\n
love. It shows us your glory and and<\/p>\n
your holiness and your beauty. And Lord,<\/p>\n
my prayer is today that you would grant<\/p>\n
understanding. My prayer is that uh uh<\/p>\n
the words of my mouth um meditation of<\/p>\n
my heart would be honoring um and<\/p>\n
glorifying to you. It is my prayer that<\/p>\n
anything that I may say today um that is<\/p>\n
not true to your word, may that thing be<\/p>\n
forgotten. Um may it be wiped away. Um,<\/p>\n
but that which I say is true and<\/p>\n
according to your word, Lord, I pray<\/p>\n
that thing will uh go deep into our<\/p>\n
hearts, penetrate deep into our hearts<\/p>\n
to to change us, to make us more like<\/p>\n
Christ, to experience deeper communion<\/p>\n
and fellowship with you. I pray these<\/p>\n
things in Jesus precious name. Amen.<\/p>\n
>> Titus chapter 2.<\/p>\n
But you are to proclaim these things<\/p>\n
consistent with sound teaching.<\/p>\n
Older men are to be self-controlled,<\/p>\n
worthy of respect, sensible, and sound<\/p>\n
in faith, love, and endurance.<\/p>\n
In the same way, older women are to be<\/p>\n
reverent in behavior, not slanderers,<\/p>\n
not slaves to excessive drinking. They<\/p>\n
are to teach what is good so that they<\/p>\n
may encourage the young women to love<\/p>\n
their husbands and to love their<\/p>\n
children to be self-controlled,<\/p>\n
pure workers at home, kind and in<\/p>\n
submission to their husbands so that<\/p>\n
God's word will not be slandered.<\/p>\n
In the same way, encourage the young men<\/p>\n
to be self-controlled in everything.<\/p>\n
Make yourself an example of good works<\/p>\n
with integrity and dignity in your<\/p>\n
teaching.<\/p>\n
Your message is to be sound beyond<\/p>\n
reproach so that any opponent will be<\/p>\n
ashamed because he doesn't have anything<\/p>\n
bad to say about us.<\/p>\n
Slaves are to submit to their masters in<\/p>\n
everything and to be well pleasing. not<\/p>\n
talking back or stealing, but<\/p>\n
demonstrating utter faithfulness<\/p>\n
so that they may adorn the teaching of<\/p>\n
God our Savior in everything.<\/p>\n
For the grace of God has appeared,<\/p>\n
bringing salvation for all people,<\/p>\n
instructing us to deny godlessness and<\/p>\n
worldly lusts, and to live in a<\/p>\n
sensible, righteous, and godly way in<\/p>\n
the present age, while we wait for the<\/p>\n
blessed hope, the appearing of the glory<\/p>\n
of our great God and Savior, Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ.<\/p>\n
He gave himself for us to redeem us from<\/p>\n
all lawlessness and to cleanse for<\/p>\n
himself a people for his own possession,<\/p>\n
eager to do good works.<\/p>\n
Proclaim these things. Encourage and<\/p>\n
rebuke with all authority. Let no one<\/p>\n
disregard you.<\/p>\n
>> Amen.<\/p>\n
Thanks, Beex.<\/p>\n
Isn't she beautiful?<\/p>\n
The other day I was listening to a a<\/p>\n
podcast about some current events going<\/p>\n
on in the world by a wellrespected<\/p>\n
pastor, theologian, apologetist. Um he<\/p>\n
was as he was he was speaking as he was<\/p>\n
blogging um he was trying to speak words<\/p>\n
of sympathy um into the blogosphere um<\/p>\n
in a a you know what could be considered<\/p>\n
a neutral way um a neutral non-deisive<\/p>\n
way but unfortunately it is almost<\/p>\n
impossible nowadays for anything to<\/p>\n
actually be said neutally or to be<\/p>\n
understood neutrally. um shortly after<\/p>\n
writing it uh he found himself attacked<\/p>\n
online um for for what he said being<\/p>\n
called a liberal nutcase. Um earlier the<\/p>\n
the prior week in the same week um I ran<\/p>\n
into a parent um of one of my daughter's<\/p>\n
classmates who had a little book in his<\/p>\n
hand and it was in Thai and uh from a<\/p>\n
distance I couldn't quite see what it<\/p>\n
was and I I just decided to ask him what<\/p>\n
it was and but he it was a book about AI<\/p>\n
and so I decided to ask him what was it<\/p>\n
about and in brief summary his response<\/p>\n
was um that uh basically that<\/p>\n
uh in summary is basically that uh two<\/p>\n
things that AI was going to take over<\/p>\n
the world um or that uh yeah basically<\/p>\n
it was going to be like the.com bubble<\/p>\n
um and and what he ended up telling me<\/p>\n
was that if any if half of what was said<\/p>\n
in the book was true then we are living<\/p>\n
um in extremely uncertain and maybe even<\/p>\n
scary times. We just don't know. Um but<\/p>\n
I thought to myself this forces us to<\/p>\n
ask the question of in a world digital<\/p>\n
world that we live how do we live well?<\/p>\n
What kind of foundation um do we have to<\/p>\n
live a life well?<\/p>\n
Uh my main points for today um number<\/p>\n
one our life is secured in the past.<\/p>\n
Life secured in the past.<\/p>\n
Two, our life is anchored in the future.<\/p>\n
And three, our life is compelled for<\/p>\n
today. So three main points, life<\/p>\n
secured in the past, life anchored in<\/p>\n
the future, and life compelled for<\/p>\n
today.<\/p>\n
When I was younger, um, my father, he is<\/p>\n
a huge 70s rock and roll fan.<\/p>\n
loves 70s rock and roll. Um, some of<\/p>\n
this rubbed off on me. Um, some of his<\/p>\n
favorite bands were the Rolling Stones,<\/p>\n
the Eagles, Steelely Dan, The Who. I<\/p>\n
don't know if any of you have heard of<\/p>\n
any, maybe some of you have. Uh,<\/p>\n
Credence, Clearwater Revival, Leonard<\/p>\n
Skinnard, this is Hotel California,<\/p>\n
their possibly their most f famous song.<\/p>\n
the Almond Brothers band, Crosby, Still<\/p>\n
Nashing Young, Boston, etc., etc. I<\/p>\n
could keep going on all these great 70s<\/p>\n
rock and roll bands. Um, and want to<\/p>\n
know, they are awesome. If you've never<\/p>\n
listened, I highly recommend it. The<\/p>\n
music is great. Um, as a high school<\/p>\n
student, one of my favorite bands was<\/p>\n
one of those 70s rock and roll bands,<\/p>\n
Journey, and I loved them. In my mind,<\/p>\n
Journey had it all. They had rock and<\/p>\n
roll ballads. They had love ballads.<\/p>\n
Rock and roll ballads like Don't Stop<\/p>\n
Believing, Separate Ways, Any Way You<\/p>\n
Want It, That's the Way You Get It. Um,<\/p>\n
and then Love Ballads like Open Arms,<\/p>\n
Lights, and Faithfully. Oh, these were<\/p>\n
great songs. Um, if you don't know<\/p>\n
Journey, I recommend going and<\/p>\n
listening. Journey is a great band. Even<\/p>\n
my daughter is nodding, saying, \"Yes,<\/p>\n
great bands.\" U, one of my favorite<\/p>\n
memories from when I was young was was<\/p>\n
playing basketball with friends while<\/p>\n
blasting Journey songs um on our our old<\/p>\n
tape cassette boom box. Um, we didn't<\/p>\n
even have a CD player at the time. Um,<\/p>\n
and the the song by Journey that I I<\/p>\n
loved the most was this old song called<\/p>\n
Wheel in the Sky. Um, the first verse in<\/p>\n
the the chorus go like this. Winter is<\/p>\n
here again, oh Lord.<\/p>\n
Haven't been home in a year or more. I<\/p>\n
hope she holds on a little longer. Sent<\/p>\n
a letter on a long summer day. Made of<\/p>\n
silver, not of clay.<\/p>\n
Oh, I've been running down this dusty<\/p>\n
road.<\/p>\n
Oh, the wheel in the sky keeps on<\/p>\n
running. I don't know where I'll be<\/p>\n
tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Wheel in the sky keeps on turning.<\/p>\n
The basic premise of the song is that<\/p>\n
the the author of the song feels<\/p>\n
powerless to to change his<\/p>\n
circumstances. He's made certain choices<\/p>\n
in the past and decisions that he's made<\/p>\n
has led him to that point and he feels<\/p>\n
like he has no ability to change his<\/p>\n
circumstances. He can't get home. He<\/p>\n
feels he's on the road. Winter is coming<\/p>\n
around once again. He has come to a<\/p>\n
point to where he feels he has no agency<\/p>\n
um to make things different. um<\/p>\n
basically has this feeling of what is<\/p>\n
going to happen is going to happen. Um<\/p>\n
what was going to happen was going to<\/p>\n
happen.<\/p>\n
Life is hard. Life is complex.<\/p>\n
From one standpoint, life could be<\/p>\n
simple.<\/p>\n
You live life, you go about your days,<\/p>\n
whatever happens happens. Things fall<\/p>\n
into place and you just keep on living.<\/p>\n
No need to give much attention to the<\/p>\n
decisions that we make but simply allow<\/p>\n
life to happen and go with the flow. No<\/p>\n
need to think too much about the<\/p>\n
complexities of life. However, for many<\/p>\n
this is a sense that is changing. Um<\/p>\n
many people are realizing that we do<\/p>\n
have some agency but we need some kind<\/p>\n
of outside help. um we need something to<\/p>\n
to kind of help spur us along, encourage<\/p>\n
us. Um and they recognized, okay, we do<\/p>\n
have the ability to form new habits,<\/p>\n
practices, um and to make decisions that<\/p>\n
will have an impact on the direction of<\/p>\n
their own lives. Um and this is a part<\/p>\n
of a growing realization and love for<\/p>\n
for life coaches. Has anybody here ever<\/p>\n
met a life coach? Awesome. Sometimes<\/p>\n
life feels a little bit like this, all<\/p>\n
the decisions. So the growing need for<\/p>\n
life coaches.<\/p>\n
So after seeing a life coach, you might<\/p>\n
feel like this on the the left,<\/p>\n
feel like this for a few days.<\/p>\n
After that going back to normal. So<\/p>\n
yeah, this might be a typical experience<\/p>\n
of of many people with a a life coach.<\/p>\n
Um in between the years of 2019 and 2022<\/p>\n
um you can see this on the represented<\/p>\n
on the graph. Um starting in n uh 2019<\/p>\n
there's approximately 71,000 active<\/p>\n
certified coaches. Um and going to um in<\/p>\n
um there is a belief that there was<\/p>\n
about 100,000 100 and 9,200.<\/p>\n
Um, that is an increase of about a<\/p>\n
little over 38,000 new coaches with with<\/p>\n
a percentage increase of 54%.<\/p>\n
The official numbers for 2025 has not<\/p>\n
come out yet. Um, but they're they're<\/p>\n
projecting that there's going to be<\/p>\n
almost 170,000<\/p>\n
uh uh certified life coaches um with a<\/p>\n
global market value of about 7.3 billion<\/p>\n
US. That's a a a big drive. and need for<\/p>\n
for life coaching, people realizing um<\/p>\n
that they need this. I don't have<\/p>\n
anything against life coaches. Um I've<\/p>\n
gone through training to be a life coach<\/p>\n
to a certain level. I have not been<\/p>\n
certified. Um so I do think that there<\/p>\n
has been many things very helpful about<\/p>\n
um life coaching and have been helped um<\/p>\n
by a life coach as well. Um but we need<\/p>\n
something far greater um than a life<\/p>\n
coach. Um, a life coach doesn't cut it.<\/p>\n
As I as we saw in the picture going<\/p>\n
back, we might start here, but very<\/p>\n
shortly we come back to this reality. We<\/p>\n
need more than a coach.<\/p>\n
We need the gospel of Jesus.<\/p>\n
In verse 11 uh we read for the grace of<\/p>\n
God has appeared bringing salvation for<\/p>\n
all pe uh for all people. As much as a<\/p>\n
coach may help um us salvation is found<\/p>\n
in no coach. Every human being we have a<\/p>\n
major impediment<\/p>\n
um and that we are dust and we can never<\/p>\n
leave up to our own standards.<\/p>\n
Whether we want to admit it or not, none<\/p>\n
of us can live up to our own standards.<\/p>\n
This leads to another question. Where<\/p>\n
does this idea of a standard come from?<\/p>\n
If we think that the standard comes from<\/p>\n
ourselves and is a subjective idea, we<\/p>\n
have no foundation for a standard.<\/p>\n
I can do what I want. You can do what<\/p>\n
you want. I could walk into my<\/p>\n
neighbor's house, grab his wallet, and<\/p>\n
pull 2,000 bot out of his wallet, and he<\/p>\n
has no place to accuse me of what I did<\/p>\n
was wrong. He can't judge me. There is<\/p>\n
no standard justification for him to<\/p>\n
judge me. Kind of like in Kings where<\/p>\n
all did what was right in their own eyes<\/p>\n
because there was no king.<\/p>\n
But there is an objective moral<\/p>\n
standard. This idea that we believe that<\/p>\n
there is some kind of standard has to<\/p>\n
come from somewhere. This points to the<\/p>\n
idea that there is a moral standard.<\/p>\n
Um I cannot just simply go into my<\/p>\n
neighbor's house and pull out 2,000 bot<\/p>\n
from his wallet.<\/p>\n
As believers, we believe the standard<\/p>\n
comes from God and that we have all<\/p>\n
fallen short of God's glory and that<\/p>\n
we're all guilty of sin and that we are<\/p>\n
slaves to the power of sin. And we see<\/p>\n
this in Genesis 2 that we are from dust.<\/p>\n
And from Psalm uh 103:14,<\/p>\n
God's knowledge that we are dust and in<\/p>\n
1 Corinthians 5 uh 14-7 where Paul draws<\/p>\n
on the contrast that we are uh made of<\/p>\n
dust. And this reflects our mortality um<\/p>\n
u even if we do bear the image of of<\/p>\n
Christ um that image has been marred.<\/p>\n
The reality is is we are sinners and we<\/p>\n
are dependent on God's grace. There is<\/p>\n
no point that we will ever grow beyond<\/p>\n
our need for God's grace. We need a<\/p>\n
savior.<\/p>\n
Even after we have received our fully<\/p>\n
glorified state, we will always be<\/p>\n
limited in what we know um we know of<\/p>\n
God and our own righteousness. However,<\/p>\n
God is unlike us. He has always been and<\/p>\n
always will be glorious, all knowing,<\/p>\n
all powerful, and unconstrained in his<\/p>\n
generosity to his people. Um Psalm 147<\/p>\n
says, \"He counts the number of the<\/p>\n
stars. He gives names to all of them.<\/p>\n
Our Lord is great, vast in power. His<\/p>\n
understanding is infinite.\" Exodus<\/p>\n
Exodus 34:6. The Lord is a compassionate<\/p>\n
and gracious God, slow to anger and<\/p>\n
abounding in faithful love and truth. We<\/p>\n
need this kind of God. But we need to<\/p>\n
know that this God is for us. If this<\/p>\n
God is not for us, then we can be<\/p>\n
certain that his judgment and wrath<\/p>\n
awaits. And how can we know that this<\/p>\n
God is for us? Um, in verse 14 it says,<\/p>\n
\"He gave himself for us to redeem us<\/p>\n
from all lawlessness and to cleanse for<\/p>\n
himself a people for his own<\/p>\n
possession.\"<\/p>\n
So, we often hear this word redeemed,<\/p>\n
but what does this word mean? What are<\/p>\n
we to understand about this word<\/p>\n
redeemed? So often we read it and we<\/p>\n
pass right on over it. um we've grown<\/p>\n
accustomed to this uh idea of redemption<\/p>\n
in the Old Testament, the minor prophet<\/p>\n
book of Hova, it gives us a picture um<\/p>\n
gives us a deeper understanding of the<\/p>\n
meaning of redemption. If you are not<\/p>\n
familiar with the prophet Hosea, it it's<\/p>\n
actually kind of a bit shocking the<\/p>\n
imagery um and the story of what God<\/p>\n
requests the prophet Hosea to do in<\/p>\n
order for us to understand what<\/p>\n
redemption is. Um so at the beginning of<\/p>\n
Hosea uh God comes to Hosea and he tells<\/p>\n
Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman.<\/p>\n
Basically a woman who has slept around<\/p>\n
with other men and he has told her told<\/p>\n
Hosea to go marry her.<\/p>\n
That's shocking.<\/p>\n
Why would God do that? Why would God<\/p>\n
call a person into this kind of<\/p>\n
relationship? Um, I believe the reason<\/p>\n
why we see this in Hosea is that God<\/p>\n
wants us to understand the kind of<\/p>\n
radical, amazing love that he has for<\/p>\n
us, his people.<\/p>\n
In Hosea 3, God tells Hosea to show<\/p>\n
love. Not just to bring her, he says to<\/p>\n
go show love, not just take a wife, but<\/p>\n
to show love to a woman who is loved by<\/p>\n
another man<\/p>\n
and is an adulteress, just as the Lord<\/p>\n
loves the Israelites as he loves us, as<\/p>\n
the Lord loves the Israelites, though<\/p>\n
they turn to other gods.<\/p>\n
What we see in Hosea is that the prophet<\/p>\n
can't simply take his faithless life,<\/p>\n
his faithless wife back<\/p>\n
because of his reckless living. Because<\/p>\n
of her sin, she is now a slave to<\/p>\n
another. And she can only be had back by<\/p>\n
paying the price for her sin. He must<\/p>\n
redeem her. In verse two in Hosea<\/p>\n
chapter 3, we see the price that Hosea<\/p>\n
has to pay. The price is 15 shekels of<\/p>\n
silver and nine bushels uh nine bushels<\/p>\n
bushels of barley. So what's with that?<\/p>\n
15 shekels of s silver and and nine<\/p>\n
bushels of barley. Well, under the old<\/p>\n
covenant, the Levitical um system uh<\/p>\n
law, the the barley was was used in a<\/p>\n
sacrifice in the circumstance where<\/p>\n
there was a woman who was believed to be<\/p>\n
unfaithful, who is believed to be an<\/p>\n
adulteress. Somebody could come and they<\/p>\n
could give a a barley sacrifice, a<\/p>\n
sacrifice using barley, and then she<\/p>\n
would then be assumed to not be guilty.<\/p>\n
Now, it didn't this doesn't say that she<\/p>\n
was guilty. It said that she was<\/p>\n
presumed to be guilty. So, if they were<\/p>\n
to give a this this barley sacrifice,<\/p>\n
then she could be declared um um<\/p>\n
innocent. Um<\/p>\n
so, nine bushels of of barley was valued<\/p>\n
at about 15 shekels of silver.<\/p>\n
30 shekels of silver. basically the<\/p>\n
price. Where do we remember this idea of<\/p>\n
30 shekels of silver?<\/p>\n
When Judas betrayed Christ, the priest<\/p>\n
gave him 30 shekels of silver.<\/p>\n
This was the redemption price for<\/p>\n
Christ. This was Christ's life. This is<\/p>\n
pointing from the Old Testament this<\/p>\n
idea of to bring Hosea back, he must<\/p>\n
give this price. There was a price that<\/p>\n
was demanded. Hosea paid this. Even for<\/p>\n
an unfaithful wife, Christ, even for an<\/p>\n
unfaithful people, Christ gave his life,<\/p>\n
loving his people that we might be<\/p>\n
redeemed.<\/p>\n
Our forgiveness, our being redeemed<\/p>\n
comes by the blood of Christ. It is<\/p>\n
through him that salvation has come.<\/p>\n
Verse 11, we also read, \"For the grace<\/p>\n
of God appeared, bringing salvation for<\/p>\n
all people.\"<\/p>\n
God's grace is for all people. Who here<\/p>\n
has been to Japan or Washington DC um I<\/p>\n
think there's a place in Georgia as well<\/p>\n
and have seen the the cherry blossom<\/p>\n
trees<\/p>\n
when in in bloom. These trees are<\/p>\n
stunningly beautiful. Back in uh uh<\/p>\n
1912, the Japanese gifted 3,000 cherry<\/p>\n
blossom trees to the US as a sign of<\/p>\n
good relations. Um this was not a gift<\/p>\n
to all people, but was a gift to the US<\/p>\n
and had a very specific purpose. Um<\/p>\n
certainly Japanese gave it a desire a<\/p>\n
desire to have a good mutual<\/p>\n
relationship, diplomatic advantages. Um,<\/p>\n
but I think history we we know it it<\/p>\n
didn't end up too well with in World War<\/p>\n
II when Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and<\/p>\n
we ended up going to war. Um, but<\/p>\n
thankfully nowadays relationships with<\/p>\n
Japan are are once again. But unlike the<\/p>\n
cherry blossom trees that Japan gave to<\/p>\n
the US, God's grace, God's beautiful<\/p>\n
grace goes out to all people. Psalm 117<\/p>\n
says, \"Praise the Lord, all nations<\/p>\n
glorify him. all peoples. Matthew 28:19,<\/p>\n
\"Go therefore and make disciples of all<\/p>\n
nations.\" Mark 16:15, \"Whoever believes<\/p>\n
and is baptized will be saved.\" Um, John<\/p>\n
1:12, \"But to all who but to all who did<\/p>\n
receive him, he gave them the right to<\/p>\n
be children of God, to those who believe<\/p>\n
in his name.\" And then Revelation 4:6<\/p>\n
with the eternal gospel to announce to<\/p>\n
the inhabitants of the earth to every<\/p>\n
nation, tribe, language, and people. In<\/p>\n
Revelation 5:9, you purchased people for<\/p>\n
God by your blood from every tribe and<\/p>\n
language and people and nation. You made<\/p>\n
them a kingdom of priests to our God,<\/p>\n
and they will reign on the earth. The<\/p>\n
gospel is for all people. And as<\/p>\n
Christians, God calls us to be involved.<\/p>\n
Simple way I want to encourage everybody<\/p>\n
to be involved um in one way or another.<\/p>\n
Who here has Instagram or or Facebook?<\/p>\n
So, this is a really cool um little<\/p>\n
project that uh Becca has had the chance<\/p>\n
to be involved with over the past uh few<\/p>\n
three to four months. Um uh the founder<\/p>\n
of OMF, man by the name of Hudson's<\/p>\n
Taylor, um started OMF. He had the heart<\/p>\n
to reach the Chinese people. Um a Thai<\/p>\n
um Thai guy by the name of OFF. He uh is<\/p>\n
now currently the director for the OMF<\/p>\n
Thai uh home side. His responsibility is<\/p>\n
to see Thai people have a heart for<\/p>\n
seeing people from every tongue, tribe,<\/p>\n
and nation be be worshippers and to send<\/p>\n
Thai people out to to worship at other<\/p>\n
people. So, he got this idea of uh well,<\/p>\n
why not have like a graphic novel that<\/p>\n
because he was impacted by biographies<\/p>\n
of Hudson Taylor, but he recognizes many<\/p>\n
young people today just don't read<\/p>\n
biographies, might not read much at all,<\/p>\n
but many like graphic novels. They're on<\/p>\n
Facebook, they're on Instagram. And so<\/p>\n
he kind of put the two ideas together.<\/p>\n
And so Becca was asked and she's done<\/p>\n
writing for most of the script. There's<\/p>\n
nine episodes. And and you can find<\/p>\n
these uh on both Instagram and on uh<\/p>\n
Facebook. I believe right now it's up to<\/p>\n
episode seven. Episode 7 has come out.<\/p>\n
If you go on Instagram and you find the<\/p>\n
uh uh Sanha Missionetti Thai, um if you<\/p>\n
search that, if you want to pull out<\/p>\n
your phone, I'll give you permission<\/p>\n
right now and do a search for it on<\/p>\n
Instagram or Facebook, then you can<\/p>\n
enter in and you can see these um on<\/p>\n
Instagram and Facebook, it'll show up in<\/p>\n
carousel format or a real, I'm not sure<\/p>\n
what it's called nowadays, but but you<\/p>\n
can catch it. And I just want to<\/p>\n
encourage you to to read um the<\/p>\n
biographies, read of a man who committed<\/p>\n
his life to um<\/p>\n
taking the gospel to hard-to-reach<\/p>\n
places um and then to equip and empower<\/p>\n
other people to um take the gospel as<\/p>\n
well. If it weren't for people like him,<\/p>\n
we wouldn't be sitting in this place.<\/p>\n
And so, praise God. Um,<\/p>\n
yeah, for the testimonies, the<\/p>\n
biographies, the stories of of people<\/p>\n
like Hudson Taylor.<\/p>\n
All right. So, that's my little<\/p>\n
shameless plug.<\/p>\n
Life anchored by the future.<\/p>\n
Number two,<\/p>\n
verse 13 says, \"While we wait for the<\/p>\n
of our great God and Savior Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ.\" Hope,<\/p>\n
the way that we sometimes casually use<\/p>\n
that word hope um has almost stripped<\/p>\n
some significance from the word hope. We<\/p>\n
use it so easily. The usage the scope of<\/p>\n
the usage of the word hope is very<\/p>\n
broad. Um, some might say, 'I hope that<\/p>\n
it does, I think we're all saying this<\/p>\n
right now in rainy season. I hope that<\/p>\n
it doesn't rain tomorrow. That might be<\/p>\n
a big hope.<\/p>\n
I hope that he or she talks to me. I<\/p>\n
hope that you enjoy the food. I hope<\/p>\n
that I receive a promotion at work. I<\/p>\n
hope that my spouse will decide to trust<\/p>\n
in Jesus for their salvation.<\/p>\n
Some of these are significant. Some of<\/p>\n
these are small. But the biblical idea<\/p>\n
of hope is much more weighty. It is much<\/p>\n
more significant to our lives and faith.<\/p>\n
Hope as seen in the New Testament is one<\/p>\n
of the most central theological ideas<\/p>\n
related to salvation and redemption.<\/p>\n
Paul included it as one of the major the<\/p>\n
major virtues of the Christian faith<\/p>\n
next next to the Christian life next to<\/p>\n
faith and love in 1 Corinthians chapter<\/p>\n
13. In Ephesians 4, we see it as one of<\/p>\n
the unifying themes of the Christian<\/p>\n
life. We are one body, one spirit, one<\/p>\n
hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,<\/p>\n
one God and father of all. that in 1<\/p>\n
Corinthians 5:19, Paul essentially<\/p>\n
states that if the hope that we have is<\/p>\n
not fully realized in the future, the<\/p>\n
hope that we have in Christ, then we as<\/p>\n
believers are to be pied more than<\/p>\n
anyone.<\/p>\n
This is strong language for a word that<\/p>\n
sometimes we use fairly casually.<\/p>\n
The biblical idea of hope is no small<\/p>\n
idea.<\/p>\n
And if we read our passage again, we see<\/p>\n
it's not just hope, but it is we have a<\/p>\n
blessed hope. The word here blessed<\/p>\n
bears not just the idea of receiving<\/p>\n
something good. Um because we receive it<\/p>\n
as a blessing um but it is something<\/p>\n
that genuinely makes us happy. It<\/p>\n
carries that idea of feeling of<\/p>\n
happiness. So bringing the two ideas of<\/p>\n
a blessing and happiness combined. So we<\/p>\n
have a blessed happy hope in Christ. We<\/p>\n
have a happy and joyful experience of<\/p>\n
knowing uh for Christ. And then we see<\/p>\n
this idea of waiting.<\/p>\n
What is it that we wait for? Verse 13<\/p>\n
reads, \"We wait for the glory of our<\/p>\n
great God and Savior Jesus Christ.\" The<\/p>\n
way I like to think about um<\/p>\n
the glory of Christ is I often try to<\/p>\n
think of Christ's humility first. If we<\/p>\n
think about what are the opposites, we<\/p>\n
have humility, glory,<\/p>\n
humility and glory. What do we know of<\/p>\n
of Christ's humility? We know um that<\/p>\n
during Jesus's first advent, he became a<\/p>\n
baby. He went he grew up as a person<\/p>\n
probably not very wealthy. Um he was a<\/p>\n
man. Um and he humbled himself to the<\/p>\n
point of of death. For the the Jews<\/p>\n
during Jesus' time their expectation of<\/p>\n
a coming Messiah<\/p>\n
uh was not a crucified Messiah. This was<\/p>\n
not the the majority of view. The<\/p>\n
majority of them believed that the<\/p>\n
coming Messiah would would conquer over<\/p>\n
the ro Roman people. They did not expect<\/p>\n
that the Messiah would come to give his<\/p>\n
life as a ransom to set us free from<\/p>\n
sin. The freedom that they expected was<\/p>\n
a freedom from oppression from the<\/p>\n
Romans. Um and that this Messiah was to<\/p>\n
be a glorious leader.<\/p>\n
Now in one way their understanding of<\/p>\n
the Messiah<\/p>\n
was correct. They did have a glorious<\/p>\n
leader. But his primary ambition was to<\/p>\n
li liberate us not from the oppression<\/p>\n
of the Romans or of evil systems in the<\/p>\n
world but from the sin in our own hearts<\/p>\n
from the power of sin in this world. Um<\/p>\n
in the gospel of John, Jesus says that<\/p>\n
everyone who commits sin is a slave to<\/p>\n
sin.<\/p>\n
Jesus came in victory. Yes. But it was a<\/p>\n
victory that required complete humility<\/p>\n
by death on a cross. Why a cross? For<\/p>\n
the Romans, the act of crucifixion was<\/p>\n
not just to kill someone um in extremely<\/p>\n
painful and violent way, but the goal<\/p>\n
was to bring utter shame.<\/p>\n
Jesus came in humility.<\/p>\n
He died a shameful death. He was<\/p>\n
declared guilty by people and he was uh<\/p>\n
utterly shameful in their eyes.<\/p>\n
This was Jesus's first coming. Of<\/p>\n
course, we know he rose again from the<\/p>\n
dead and he uh reigns in glory at the<\/p>\n
right hand of the father. But there will<\/p>\n
be a day that he comes back in glory and<\/p>\n
every eye will see him as our risen<\/p>\n
conquering lord. He will bring judgment<\/p>\n
and he will bring perfect judge uh<\/p>\n
justice. For those who trust in Jesus,<\/p>\n
we have we will have perfect communion<\/p>\n
with him. What we experience now dimly<\/p>\n
will we will experience full. Um right<\/p>\n
now we do experience the communion with<\/p>\n
Christ. Um but we will experience it in<\/p>\n
full when we see him face to face. And<\/p>\n
this is that glorious blessed hope that<\/p>\n
we um await for that we will one day see<\/p>\n
Christ face to face in the fullness of<\/p>\n
who he is and we will have perfect<\/p>\n
communion with him.<\/p>\n
There's an author Nichka Nij Gupta. I'm<\/p>\n
not even sure exactly how to pronounce<\/p>\n
it. Nij Gupta. Um he wrote a book called<\/p>\n
uh 15 New Testament Words of Life, a New<\/p>\n
Testament theology for real life. Um and<\/p>\n
he says this about hope in this this uh<\/p>\n
in this book. He says hope requires<\/p>\n
imagination.<\/p>\n
Now we imagine that Christ will come<\/p>\n
back and it's a true imagination. It's a<\/p>\n
vision that we have. says, \"So hope<\/p>\n
requires imagination, but that heavenly<\/p>\n
imagination then is meant to have a<\/p>\n
direct impact on our lives today.\"<\/p>\n
And<\/p>\n
all right, so who's ever seen uh the the<\/p>\n
series Disney Plus series Andor?<\/p>\n
Anybody ever seen it? It's pretty<\/p>\n
western. Or the movie Rogue One Disney<\/p>\n
movie. Yeah, few of you. Yeah, it wasn't<\/p>\n
so popular here. There's a great line in<\/p>\n
this movie. A great line. Um, so the<\/p>\n
leader is this guy named uh Andor and<\/p>\n
you know they have the plans uh or it<\/p>\n
hasn't gotten to the point in Star Wars<\/p>\n
in a Star Wars movie where they've<\/p>\n
gotten the plans to how to destroy the<\/p>\n
Death Star. And but they have this idea<\/p>\n
of how they can get the plans of how<\/p>\n
then to destroy the Death Star. And so<\/p>\n
they have this hope that is in front of<\/p>\n
them. And one of the other characters<\/p>\n
says to him,<\/p>\n
\"There is no hope. Impossible. Can't<\/p>\n
be.\" And basically he responds back to<\/p>\n
her, \"Rebellions are built on hope.\"<\/p>\n
That is a great line. I love it. As<\/p>\n
Christians, we fight against sin because<\/p>\n
we have hope. We rebel against sin<\/p>\n
because of the hope that is front of us.<\/p>\n
Um, and so I was thinking about this and<\/p>\n
I I wrote down what I could think about<\/p>\n
hope and I wanted to summarize in one<\/p>\n
line. Um, and so I I came up with this.<\/p>\n
It says, \"Christian hope is faith<\/p>\n
looking forward to a certain future.\" So<\/p>\n
we know a certain future that is going<\/p>\n
to happen. And then it's pulling the<\/p>\n
resources of that future into our<\/p>\n
present lives in order to live in a way<\/p>\n
that compels us to good works and<\/p>\n
faithful living.<\/p>\n
So that line<\/p>\n
rebellions are built on hope. We have an<\/p>\n
amazing hope and it compels us to live.<\/p>\n
Okay. So life compelled for today. Verse<\/p>\n
12, we read, \"Instructing us to deny<\/p>\n
godlessness and worldly lust and to live<\/p>\n
in a sensible, righteous, and godly way<\/p>\n
in the present age.\" As God's people, we<\/p>\n
are chosen to live differently from<\/p>\n
others.<\/p>\n
He has made us his people, his prized<\/p>\n
possession. So we see the two paths<\/p>\n
here. So last week um we saw in chapter<\/p>\n
one um<\/p>\n
uh we saw so in chapter two we have God<\/p>\n
and he has called the church his prized<\/p>\n
possession.<\/p>\n
And in chapter one we go back and we see<\/p>\n
that there's another group of people<\/p>\n
that are connected to the church besides<\/p>\n
Paul and and Titus. Um unfortunately<\/p>\n
they didn't have the best interest in<\/p>\n
mind for this group of believers. um<\/p>\n
they were more interested in dishonest<\/p>\n
gain. Uh they wanted a little extra the<\/p>\n
money for their their their bank<\/p>\n
account. Um<\/p>\n
and unfortunately the impact that they<\/p>\n
had on the families was we we learn in<\/p>\n
chapter one that it left them destroyed.<\/p>\n
Um and that they were ruining entire h<\/p>\n
uh households. Um, and as we see in<\/p>\n
this, this is the polar opposite of<\/p>\n
God's intention for us. And we have seen<\/p>\n
in in verse two or chapter 2, it says<\/p>\n
that God has called us to be his<\/p>\n
treasured possession.<\/p>\n
and and looking into<\/p>\n
and back in uh going back to verse one<\/p>\n
of chapter two um Paul lists a number of<\/p>\n
some are general principles and then<\/p>\n
some are commands that he's given to<\/p>\n
different groups of people for for them<\/p>\n
to follow. And I think what's going on<\/p>\n
here is in chapter one we saw that they<\/p>\n
had been causing um ruin upon all the<\/p>\n
households. So when they come together<\/p>\n
the church is in disarray, families are<\/p>\n
in disarray. And basically Paul is<\/p>\n
saying to Titus, you need to work to put<\/p>\n
things in order. And here are commands.<\/p>\n
here are general principles that you<\/p>\n
need to know and to teach in order to<\/p>\n
bring cha uh bring order from chaos. Um<\/p>\n
and so he uh and then in verse 12 it<\/p>\n
says you need to teach them to live in a<\/p>\n
sensible, righteous and godly way in<\/p>\n
this present age.<\/p>\n
So God is very concerned with the way<\/p>\n
that we live our life. Um just because<\/p>\n
we know Christ as our Lord and Savior,<\/p>\n
it is does not mean that we have the<\/p>\n
freedom to choose to live the way that<\/p>\n
we desire. Christ calls us to obedience.<\/p>\n
Um as we look more closely, we can see<\/p>\n
um that Paul is quite clear concerned<\/p>\n
with the situation in the church and<\/p>\n
that correction must happen. In verse 5,<\/p>\n
um he is concerned that God's word would<\/p>\n
not be slandered. So by the way that<\/p>\n
they were living, what was happening in<\/p>\n
the church is God's word was being<\/p>\n
slandered. Paul's concerned about this.<\/p>\n
Verse eight, that the church would adorn<\/p>\n
the teaching of God our savior in<\/p>\n
everything. Verse 6 and seven, that<\/p>\n
young men should be self-controlled in<\/p>\n
everything. In verse 12, we're to live<\/p>\n
sensibly, godly, and righteously. Again,<\/p>\n
concerned about the way that we live our<\/p>\n
lives. Verse 14, he has cleansed us so<\/p>\n
that we would be eager for good works.<\/p>\n
And then lastly in verse 15, uh Titus is<\/p>\n
to proclaim these things.<\/p>\n
The grace of God compels us to live<\/p>\n
righteously. When we have a proper view<\/p>\n
of what the gospel is and what Jesus has<\/p>\n
done for us, we don't respond to God out<\/p>\n
of a love of I must do this, but we<\/p>\n
respond out of hearts of love and<\/p>\n
gratitude because we desire to show love<\/p>\n
to the one who loves us. Um<\/p>\n
today I believe that one of the greatest<\/p>\n
needs for the church today uh is to<\/p>\n
learn what it means um and what are the<\/p>\n
implications of being disciples in a<\/p>\n
digital age.<\/p>\n
It's hard. It's really hard.<\/p>\n
Can anybody else say it's hard? It's<\/p>\n
hard. Let's just say it. It is what it<\/p>\n
is. Um, raising kids who are digital<\/p>\n
nomads<\/p>\n
hard. I'm not a digital nomad. It is<\/p>\n
hard. Um, it has such an ability to<\/p>\n
shape us. It really does. We must<\/p>\n
understand that technology, yes, it is a<\/p>\n
useful tool. Um, but it's not to be it's<\/p>\n
not designed to be valuable.<\/p>\n
It it's not um it is designed and<\/p>\n
created to form us. Um we are the ones<\/p>\n
being used by technology. Yes, we are<\/p>\n
users of technology, but as as believers<\/p>\n
in Christ, we are to be formed after<\/p>\n
Christ. We have agency in becoming like<\/p>\n
Are you familiar with these ideas?<\/p>\n
trolling, click baiting, and rage<\/p>\n
baiting.<\/p>\n
I just want to challenge all of us<\/p>\n
when it comes to living in our day and<\/p>\n
age. I do believe that the greatest need<\/p>\n
that we have is to learn what it means<\/p>\n
to be disciples of Jesus Christ in a<\/p>\n
digital world.<\/p>\n
More and more the digital world is more<\/p>\n
of the real world for<\/p>\n
many people. The face-to-face<\/p>\n
interactions mean less. We need to learn<\/p>\n
what it means to be disciples of Christ<\/p>\n
in a digital age. Trolling.<\/p>\n
Has anybody here ever trolled somebody?<\/p>\n
I have.<\/p>\n
Want to know what? I'm no longer on<\/p>\n
Facebook.<\/p>\n
I'm not on Instagram.<\/p>\n
Click baiting. Has anybody ever done<\/p>\n
click baiting or read clickbait? clicked<\/p>\n
in.<\/p>\n
Raise your hands. We've all done it.<\/p>\n
Okay, this one you don't have to raise<\/p>\n
your hand on. Have you heard of rage<\/p>\n
baiting?<\/p>\n
Yeah, rage baiting purposely put out<\/p>\n
there to try to make people angry.<\/p>\n
This is reality.<\/p>\n
What does it live for us to live as<\/p>\n
disciples of Christ in a digital age?<\/p>\n
It might mean<\/p>\n
well<\/p>\n
being less on Instagram. It might mean<\/p>\n
not posting or responding<\/p>\n
to the things that you want to respond<\/p>\n
because when you put it out there, you<\/p>\n
put it not just in your local place<\/p>\n
where you live. What I say in my house,<\/p>\n
it stays most of the time, I hope, in<\/p>\n
the house, but when you put it online,<\/p>\n
it goes everywhere.<\/p>\n
We're not all designed to have what we<\/p>\n
say to go everywhere.<\/p>\n
The vast majority of my words<\/p>\n
should be in my own home, should be in<\/p>\n
my own context. They don't need to go<\/p>\n
everywhere.<\/p>\n
because they can be ripped apart and<\/p>\n
they can be taken wrong. And we can so<\/p>\n
easily<\/p>\n
be clickbaited. We can so easily troll<\/p>\n
other people. Often our emotions go so<\/p>\n
high we could go into rage baiting. We<\/p>\n
live in such a divisive world that we<\/p>\n
can so easily fall into the trap.<\/p>\n
One question I thought my to myself um<\/p>\n
the other night was algorithms<\/p>\n
and I I want all of you all of us to<\/p>\n
think about this.<\/p>\n
Does our algorithm<\/p>\n
adorn<\/p>\n
the beauty of the gospel of Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ?<\/p>\n
What adorns our algorithm?<\/p>\n
Is it the division, the anger that's in<\/p>\n
the world? Or is it the gospel of Jesus<\/p>\n
Christ that adorns our life both<\/p>\n
physically in the present places that we<\/p>\n
live and in our digital spaces that<\/p>\n
hopefully we don't spend too much time<\/p>\n
and I hope that we'll spend more time in<\/p>\n
non-digital spaces um and that we will<\/p>\n
be a people who continually pursue the<\/p>\n
life that Christ has for us. that we<\/p>\n
will know that our life is<\/p>\n
our life is secured in the past because<\/p>\n
what Christ has done. Our life is<\/p>\n
anchored from the future because we know<\/p>\n
what awaits. And because of both of<\/p>\n
these, our life is compelled for today.<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p>\n
Lord, I just thank you for your word and<\/p>\n
for your truth. Thank you for Jesus.<\/p>\n
Thank you for grace and that you are<\/p>\n
patient with us. That you are always<\/p>\n
faithful and that your love is far<\/p>\n
greater, deeper, and wider than what we<\/p>\n
can possibly imagine. And we pray these<\/p>\n
things in Jesus name. Amen.<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20251001","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q1Kr5YKd-6A","video_id":"Q1Kr5YKd-6A","video_duration":"50:25","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions\/122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}