Written on the Hands of God
Message Moments & Highlights
A Mother's Love: You Will Never Be Alone
Even the tender love of a mother can't compare to the unwavering love of God. No matter how forgotten or alone you may feel, He promises: “I will never, ever forget you or leave you.” Keep that truth close—His love never fades, never fails, and never walks away.
Written on His Hands: You Are Always Remembered
Jesus was nailed to the cross, and even after rising in glory, He still bears the scars in His hands. Every time He looks at them, He remembers you. His eternal scars are a testament to His love and the price He paid for your life. You are not forgotten—you are held in His hands forever.
Our Broken Walls: Never Lose Hope
Before God speaks hope into your life, He first acknowledges your pain. He sees your broken walls, your wounds, your regrets—and says, “I get it. I understand.” That’s the heart of our God: not distant or demanding, but compassionate and close. Let Him speak into your brokenness with love that heals and restores.
Will You Step from Brokenness into Hope?
Will you choose to step from brokenness into hope? God sees every pain, every mistake, every moment of despair—and still, He calls you to trust. Like a loving mother, He never forgets you. Your name is written on His hands. He sees your broken walls and speaks life: “Believe.” Because He is the God who restores, who brings joy again in the morning.
Written on the Hands of God
Ps Adrian explores Isaiah 49, offering comfort and assurance to those feeling forgotten, abandoned, or overwhelmed by life’s hardships. He presents three vivid images from the passage to convey the heart of God: the deep compassion of a mother’s love, the enduring reminder of our value through our names inscribed on God’s hands, and God's constant awareness of our brokenness symbolised by Jerusalem’s ruined walls.
Through personal anecdotes and scriptural insight, Ps Adrian underscores that just as a mother cannot forget her nursing child, God cannot and will not forget His people. The inscription on God’s hands reflects Christ’s sacrifice—a permanent mark of love and remembrance. The ruins of Jerusalem represent our pain, failures, and losses, yet God carries these in His heart, not to condemn but to restore.
Ps Adrian encourages listeners to move from despair to hope, to recognise that even in grief or regret, God is present, listening, understanding, and ready to heal. He challenges us to choose faith and to trust in the God who promises restoration, joy, and new life. This sermon is a tender call to believe we are deeply known, eternally loved, and never alone.
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Written on the Hands of God: Finding Hope When You Feel Forgotten
Have you ever felt forgotten? Abandoned? Like no one understands what you're going through? These feelings are universal to the human experience, regardless of time or place. Even the people of Israel, thousands of years ago, experienced this same sense of abandonment during their captivity.
In Isaiah 49, we find a powerful exchange between God and His people that speaks directly to our hearts today when we feel forgotten.
What Does God Say When We Feel Abandoned?
The people of Israel cried out, "The Lord has deserted us. The Lord has forgotten us" (Isaiah 49:14). This raw, honest expression of pain resonates with many of us who have felt the same way during difficult seasons.
God's response is remarkable. Instead of rebuking them, He offers three beautiful images that reveal His heart toward us when we feel forgotten:
1. A Mother's Love: You Will Never Be Alone
"Never can a mother forget her nursing child. Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you." (Isaiah 49:15)
God compares His love to that of a mother for her newborn child—but says His love is even greater. Think about a mother's devotion to her baby:
She endures pregnancy discomfort
She goes through the pain of childbirth
She wakes up throughout the night for feedings
She sacrifices her own comfort for her child
A good mother would never abandon her nursing baby. Yet God says even if such an impossible thing were to happen, He would still never forget you. His love is more reliable, more constant, and more enduring than even the strongest human love we can experience.
2. Written on His Hands: You Are Always Remembered
"See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands." (Isaiah 49:16a)
When people get tattoos or permanent markings, it signifies something of deep importance—something they never want to forget. God uses this powerful image to show how impossible it is for Him to forget you.
For Christians, this image takes on even deeper meaning when we consider Christ's sacrifice. Jesus' hands bear the scars of the nails that pierced them on the cross. For all eternity, when Jesus looks at His hands, He is reminded of what He did for you. How could He possibly forget you when the marks of His love for you are permanently etched into His hands?
While we may mark ourselves with things we later regret or want to remove, Christ was marked for us so that our shame, regret, and pain could be washed away. He bears the marks so we can be made clean.
3. Our Broken Walls: Never Lose Hope
"Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins." (Isaiah 49:16b)
At first glance, this might seem like a strange comfort. Why would God constantly keep our brokenness before Him? Isn't that depressing?
But this isn't about God holding our failures against us. It's about His intimate awareness of our pain and struggles. God is saying, "I see your hurt. I see your broken walls. I understand your pain."
Before we can receive hope, we often need someone to acknowledge our pain. God doesn't dismiss our suffering with platitudes like "just have more faith" or "be a better Christian." Instead, He sits with us in our pain. He listens. He understands. He has empathy.
And from that place of understanding, He offers restoration and hope. He doesn't just see our brokenness—He promises to rebuild what has been destroyed. Not walls of defense that we build to protect ourselves, but walls of protection, life, openness, freedom, and joy.
Why Do We Feel Forgotten?
We all experience moments when we feel forgotten:
Maybe you were literally forgotten, like being left behind during a game of hide-and-seek
Perhaps you felt invisible in a crowd, longing for someone to notice you
You might be going through grief or loss that makes you question God's presence
You could be carrying regret or shame about past mistakes
You might be facing illness, relationship breakdown, or financial hardship
These experiences are universal. Even strong believers and spiritual leaders have moments when they cry out, "Where are you, God?"
Life Application
The difference between remaining in brokenness and moving into restoration isn't the absence of pain—it's the presence of hope. It's choosing to trust God even when circumstances haven't changed.
Today, you have a choice:
Choose to believe you are never alone. Like a mother's love, God's presence is constant. He doesn't abandon you in your darkest moments.
Choose to believe you are never forgotten. Your name is written on His hands. You are always on His mind and in His heart.
Choose to believe you never need to lose hope. God sees your broken walls, understands your pain, and promises restoration.
Open your heart to receive His love. Don't let past hurts build walls that keep God out. His arms are open, waiting to embrace you.
Questions to Reflect On:
In what areas of my life am I feeling forgotten or abandoned right now?
How might my perspective change if I truly believed my name is written on God's hands?
What "broken walls" in my life do I need to acknowledge and bring before God?
What step can I take this week to choose hope over despair in my current circumstances?
Remember, you can be going through depression, grief, or tremendous pain and still choose to live in hope. It's not about denying your feelings—it's about trusting that God understands, cares, and has a plan to restore what's been broken.
God isn't looking to get something from you. He's looking to pour His love into you. Will you receive it today?
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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Cool. Who's ready for the word? I'm ready. And here we go. Isaiah, chapter 49.
Isaiah 49, 13.
And just a quick history lesson. We're going into the Old Testament. In Isaiah, Isaiah was a prophet of God. He spoke the word of God to the people of Israel, predominantly. And this was a season, when we're cutting to it in this chapter, where the people of Israel, Jewish people, had been taken into captivity, and they'd had their land sort of overrun and defeated.
And many of them had been taken to another land where they were going, what's our hope? What's our future look like? This has all happened. Our families not, you know, our children are suffering. We don't know what our future is.
And into that situation, Isaiah the prophet, speaks. And sometimes prophets came and they spoke warnings, right? Sometimes God says, hey, don't go this direction because it's gonna end badly. And that had happened, and they hadn't listened to that, and it had ended badly. But then God also comes and he speaks life and he speaks hope into our situation.
And so we want to cut to it here, and we want to see how the Israelites respond, because it relates a lot to how you and I respond. Even though this is thousands of years ago, who knows that people are people and we go through, you know, similar experiences even though we're in different ages in the world. So let's cut to it. Isaiah 49, 13. It starts with this.
Sing for joy, O heavens. Rejoice, O earth. Burst into song, O mountains. For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering. That sounds good.
And then verse 14. Here's the people's response. Yet Jerusalem says, the Lord has deserted us. The Lord has forgotten us. And God responds to that by saying this.
Never can a mother forget her nursing child. Can she feel no love for the child she has born. But even if that were possible, I would not forget. You see, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins.
I want us to pray, and then we're gonna come around this word this morning. Lord, I thank you, God, that you hear us. Lord. I thank you, God, that you are relevant and intimately involved in our lives, God, whether we know it or not, right now, for each and every single one of us. And I pray as we come around your word, that you would speak to us, Holy Spirit.
You would grab ahold of us, Lord, and we would let you speak into our hearts and lives and be There for us, God, in our time of need. We pray it in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. I want to ask you today, have you ever felt forgotten?
And the answer is yes, because I've realized this, that every single one of us in human history have gone through times in our lives where we felt forgotten, where we felt abandoned, where we felt like no one understands us, no one's there for us. And the people of Israel were in such a situation. They were going through a difficult time. They were going through a time where they said, this isn't fair, what's happened to us. Verse 14.
Yet Jerusalem says, the Lord has deserted us, the Lord has forgotten us. I was thinking about some of the times in my life when I felt forgotten. And I want you to think about some of those times. You might be feeling that way even now. I remember way back, and it starts off pretty simple.
I was playing in primary school. We were playing chasey or hide and seek. And it was lunchtime and there was a big group of us. And you know how it works. Someone gets picked to count down, you know, from 50 or whatever it was.
Close your eyes, don't cheat and close your eyes. And everyone runs off to hide. And you've got this time to hide. And then you gotta go find these people. And the last one found wins, right?
This is what you're trying to be, the last one found. And it's a great moment of victory. Well, we all went off to hide. Someone had been picked and I ran off and I had found the most brilliant hiding spot. I can still remember it.
I still remember it was in some kind of wooden fort, but it was a part of this fort where you could like sort of squeeze yourself into a little hidden section and just hide behind that. And you could sort of see these little slits. You could see a little bit what was going on, but people couldn't see it because it was dark in there. And I hid in there and I was like, this is awesome. I'm gonna do well.
You're stuck. I mean, if they find you, you've got nowhere to run. But I was. So I got in there and I heard them running around and someone's caught, got ya. Caught.
Got ya. And I'm standing in this section and 5 minutes goes by and I'm still safe. And I'm like, no one's found me. This is awesome. And I still hear them running around.
People are getting caught. I'm like, I'm doing really well here. And then I hear more and more. And then after a bit of time. 15 minutes goes by, 20 minutes goes by.
No one's found me. I'm like, I think I'm gonna win this. This is awesome. You know that feeling when you go, I'm gonna get this. And so, you know, the sounds have sort of died off by then.
I go, they have not even got close. This is awesome. And so after about 25 minutes, I'm like, I don't think they're ever gonna find me. I'm gonna have to go and declare that I'm the winner. I'm gonna have to tell them because they can't find me.
I'm sure they're searching high and low, going, where on earth is Adrian? Where's Adrian? Like, how have we not found him? And so I decided to come out from my hiding spot and go out and find people. And I walked out of my hiding spot, and I'm looking around, and everyone's just running around doing their thing.
And I'm standing there, I'm going, now they're gonna all run over to me and go, adrian, you've won. They didn't do that. They're running around. And I went up to someone, I said, hey, hey. I'm still.
No one's found me. They're like, what are you talking about? I'm like, I'm still hidden. They're like, what game are you playing? We're playing some other game.
We finished that game ages ago. They'd completely forgotten that I was even part of their group. They're doing Adrian. I didn't get declared the winner. I just got forgotten about.
They moved on. And I have never forgotten it myself. That was injustice. It was abandonment. It was being forgotten about.
And I've kept it here, deep in a little pocket of my heart that I had to bring out especially for you today, to relate to this issue. And I have forgiven everyone. It's all right. But it's one of those things that happens to us young. When you go through something and then you suddenly realize, I'm not important to people.
They don't even remember me. Have you been through that? You can walk into this church. You can walk into one of our churches, and you can say, hey, who cares about me? And someone can walk past you, and you're going through things we've all gone through happens to us.
It's universal. I remember walking in a church as a teenager. My mum's here today. Where are you, Mum? There you are.
Mum's here. And we would go to church with my sister. We'd Be there every Sunday. And there's the youth sitting. We had a big church and we would sit up on the balcony and the youth would be sitting in their section.
Oftentimes it was down on the floor. They had this big section. But I never sat with them because I didn't have any close friends there. And I was too nervous and I was too shy. So I would go and sit with Mum all the time, and I'd look down and I'd see all the youth and all these people, and I just wanted them to come up.
I'd say, wouldn't it be nice if someone would come up to me and say, hey, Adrian, come and sit with us. Hey, Adrian, come and sit with us. But you know what? To my knowledge, I never did. And I felt forgotten.
And I felt like I was standing there in this huge church full of people and no one was there. This is what we go through. I had a pastor friend, a great man of God, and would preach the word, preach about faith, preach about, come on, believe God for breakthrough. Believe God that he's going to be there for you. No matter what.
God can always break through. And I remember coming onto the team and he went through something in their family where their daughter got really, really sick. And they didn't have the answers. The doctors didn't have the answers. They didn't know what was gonna happen to her.
Was she gonna survive? Was she gonna have to be cared for for the rest of her life? They didn't know what was going on. And he was praying and he was seeking God, but nothing changed for this time. And I remember him coming into one of our staff meetings one time, and we'd all been praying as a church, and he came in and he shared with us, and he was being really vulnerable and honest.
And he said, he goes, guys, I believe in the power of God. I believe in the healing power of God. But he goes, right now I'm asking, where are you, God? Where are you, God? Why aren't you breaking through for me and our family?
And I go, this is someone that has known God all his life and would preach and teach it. And yet what he was going through was a time of loneliness, of God, have you forgotten me, God? Have you abandoned me? And I want to speak into that today because the truth is, some of us in this place and watching online, I know we've got some people who are sick. My wife's sick today.
Watching from home. We love you, honey. And others that have been going through some things, people at our different Churches. Maybe you're feeling abandoned. Maybe you're feeling.
Maybe you're wondering, not just people, have you forgotten God? Have you forgotten my circumstance? Have you forgotten me? If you're not going through that right now, you have gone through it before, haven't you? And we're going to go through these times again in life where we will go through circumstances where we wonder why and where is God?
And so we can relate to this passage. We can relate to the stories I told because you've got your own stories of feeling forgotten. The people of Israel said, the Lord has deserted us. The Lord has forgotten us. And then God speaks into that.
And he gives us three pictures, three images, three images that he wants you and I. He wanted the Israelite people to understand this is his heart. But he wants you and I today to understand this is who God is. He gives us these images because they help us understand some of the heart of God and who God really is. If we and you have a choice today, you can choose to get caught and lost, really disillusioned in the negative thoughts and the realities of life.
Or we can choose to embrace and trust the heart of God and who he says he really is and hang on to God even in those times of loneliness, even in those times of feeling down, even those times we don't feel good because the weather hits us and we get sick. We can choose. And I want to ask you today, will you choose to believe in the God who presents Himself like this? He gives us three ways of seeing him that I want to go through today. And I've titled today's message, Written on the hands of God.
Written on the hands of God. Because he doesn't forget you. He doesn't abandon us. But we gotta hold these truths in our heart in our deepest, darkest times. And he will see us through.
Here we go. The first one is this. He says in verse 15, they've asked the question, the Lord's forgotten us. And he starts with this. Never.
It's a good start. Never can a mother forget her nursing child. Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you. The first image we have before us is a mother's love.
A mother's love. What a beautiful image. Hey. A mother's love. It tells me this.
We will never, ever be alone. God, you've abandoned us. You've left us. No one else understands me. Never says God, can a mother forget her nursing child.
Let me ask you, mums, we've got some Newborn or some new mums with us. Some mums with some newborns. Can you forget your nursing child? And their answer is never. They will not let me forget.
That's number one. Their cries through the night do not let me forget. Can a mother forget her nursing? You know, I find it fascinating. We've had some mums here, we've got gabs wherever you are, probably in the parents room, and Kathleen and Leah and some other mums.
And you know, you've gone through. Alex is about to have a newborn. And you know, I've been talking to Alex in the office and she's going through pregnancy. And I've just had to accept. Men, we just have to accept we do not understand what you're facing or what you're going through.
We don't get it. In fact, men, we wouldn't put up with it. Someone has taken over my body. I can't even sleep properly anymore. And Alex is just like, yeah, well, that's just how it is.
And, yeah, this is number three. It's like, yep, this is the way it works. And we're like, this is crazy. And so Alex is going through this, and then you're gonna go through childbirth. And, you know, we don't want to talk about that because men, we couldn't face that.
And so a woman goes through all of this, A mum goes through all of this and this pain and this uncomfortableness. And then you get this little baby. And yes, they are beautiful. But you know what? When they're first born, I mean, they're covered in whatever and muck and sometimes they don't look as beautiful as we like to think, you know?
And, you know, my mum thought I was beautiful, but I had, like, the biggest head on earth. And there's my son. It's like, who I was in labor with for 48 hours. Thanks, Mum. And here's the thing.
Then you start crying and carrying on and you need to feed, and you wake up through the night and what do moms do? They have their moments, right? But a mum looks at their little newborn and says, oh, I love you. I'll live for you. I'll die for you.
You're the one I cherish. I'm never gonna leave you. I'm never gonna abandon you. I'm gonna be there for you. My precious child, my precious one.
And God compares the love of a good mum to his love for us. Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has born? And the answer is, of course she Loves her child. And I want you to think, mums, you know this feeling, dad.
You know this feeling. But we know what it's like. A lot of us, not everyone, but a lot of us know what it's like to be loved by a parent. And you know, sometimes it doesn't matter what you do wrong, they still love you and care for you. And God says, you know what I want you to think of that kind of beautiful love when you think about me, when you feel like God's forgotten you, when you feel like he's abandoned you.
Would a mom leave her newborn and not love them?
I'm not talking about the exceptions here. I'm talking about what we know a mother's love will be like and should be like. And he says, this is what he says, even if that were possible, I would not forget you. And I want to tell you, even if we have had moms that have not been perfect to us and haven't shown us the love we needed and went through different things, he said, even if they did that, I would never do that to you. And he wants to remind you he will never, ever leave you alone.
Cause a newborn needs help, don't they? A newborn needs help. And truth be told, my mum's just moved to Melbourne from Adelaide, and she's still treating me like I'm newborn. Sometimes she comes out, she's like, she called me all through, I've made some soup for you. Adrian.
Adrian, do you want to come over for lunch on Sunday? What are you doing after church? Come over for lunch. I've made this for you. And then she's talking to my wife and going, we need to fatten up.
We need to fatten him up. Narelle, we need to. I'm gonna. I'm making pasta. I said, mum, I'll come over today.
We've got a meeting after church. I'll come over. We just need a quick. Like, one pot, quick meal, 45 minutes. She's like, right, I'm gonna do.
What if I do some soups to start, then we'll do some pasta. You want some meat as well? I said, mum, one meal, one dish. That's all. Then Ella's coming home.
Mum picks her up. My mom picks her up from school. Ella comes home, she's got. Here's a bag of food. Coming home, I go, mum, I'm not a newborn, but I know my mum.
See, my mum loves me, and she's here now. I have to get used now to having a mum around my life. Gay reminded Me of this. Can she forget her newborn? Can she forget her child?
Can she feel no love? My mum loves me. There's nothing like the love of a mum, the pure love of a mum. Even when you're old. I'm 45.
My mummy.
He's still looking out for me. That's what I call her. I don't call her Mummy. I call her Ma. Hey, Ma.
You know, there's nothing like you can be yourself around your mum. You can share. And God said, you know what I know my mum's always thinking of me. She's always thinking of me. That's why she cooks.
That's why she sings. This is how God treats us. A mother's love. A pure mother's love. You feel abandoned.
You feel like God's forgotten you. It's a load of rubbish. God will never, ever leave you alone. How could a mother leave their child alone? Even if that happened, I will never, ever forget you or leave you alone.
Do you believe that? Do you believe that? Because God says, I want you to keep that image in your heart. A mother's love. His love is even greater.
He will never leave you alone. He is always with you. And then he goes on. He goes on in verse 16. And he continues, he gives us the next picture.
He says, see, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.
How powerful is that? Because we know, human beings throughout history and culture know the power of inscribing something on themselves. It lasts. It means something powerful. We see this in tattoos and markings and different things.
And we have it in our society, don't we? Most people don't get a tattoo on their body for just a laugh. Every now and then. Someone will do that. Most people, if you've got any tattoos on your.
On you, it means something deep to you, doesn't it? It has deep meaning. It has deep meaning in different cultures. These markings we have on us, it means this is extremely important to me. And it's something I want to remember for the rest of my life.
That whenever I'm even tempted to think about something different, I have a mark on me. You know, I watched my daughter the other day. She's studying for tests, and I think, I hope I'm not dobbing her in, but I think this is legal. I should have questioned her on it because I saw in her hand the other day, she had a bunch of writing on her hand. Is that legal?
Ella? She's staring at me going, be quiet, dad. No, no. This is why she was studying, wasn't for the exam. It was while she was studying, but she'd written things down so she could remember.
Because I don't want to forget these things. We put tattoos on us so we don't forget. And God comes in here and he uses this image and he says, see? I want you to see something. He goes, you think I've forgotten you.
You think that you're not important enough for me to think about. I've written your name on the palms of my hands. I can never, ever forget you. First image, a mother's love. You're never going to be alone.
I'll always love you. The second image, I've written your name on my hands. You're remembered. I remember you. And I don't know about you, but I think about.
When I think of that image, I think of Christ. I think of what Christ did. And we think about this. We take it for granted sometimes. He was nailed to a cross and his palms were pierced with nails and he died.
And he rose again. Here's the amazing thing. He rose again from the dead. He lives forever. His resurrected body.
He still has the scars in his hands. He still has the scars in his hands that every time he would look. You've ever thought about this? Every time that the Lord Jesus Christ looks at his palms, you know what he's reminded of? He's reminded of what he did for you and I.
You think you're not important. You think you could be forgotten by God. You think that God would forget his palm every time for the rest of eternity. You realise this. The rest of eternity, when Jesus Christ looks at his palm, he's going to see the scar of the nail went through and he's going to go, I did it for you.
I did it because I love you, God, you've forgotten me. Jesus is looking at you and he's saying, how could I forget you? How could I ever forget you? There's a scripture in John 20, John 20:27, Thomas doubting Thomas, we call him. He was probably more just realistic Thomas.
He's like Jesus, raised from the dead, like, this is crazy. He said something, unless I can see the evidence before me, I won't believe. And Jesus comes to Thomas because he loves him. And he says in John 20:27. Then he said to Thomas, put your finger here and look at my hands.
Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe. He said, thomas, I haven't forgotten you. I never abandoned you.
Look. And he says the same thing to you when you Feel like God doesn't care about you when you feel like you're one of many. Not understood. Look. Look what I did.
I did it for you. I've written your name in the palms of my hands. That's how precious you are to me.
You know, many of us have other things written in our lives, scarred on ours. I was thinking about there's a celebrity, I suppose that when you looked at him, Pete Davidson, his name is. He's got scars, or not scars. He's got tattoos all over his body. He literally got his whole body tattooed.
And he had names of girlfriends. And then he broke up with that girlfriend, so that became irrelevant. And then he had, like, stupid, like, cartoon images put on him and just looked a bit crazy. And he'd come in and everyone would think it was funny, but his face had them on there, all his whole body. Recently, he came out and he appeared again in some skits or whatever on Saturday Night Live.
And he didn't have as many tattoos. And they asked him about it, and he said, I've started to get them removed. He's paid over $200,000 so far to get these tattoos removed. Because he said, you know what I realized? He goes, I'd started marking my body with things that I didn't want in my life anymore.
He goes, I'd marked these when I was on drugs, when I was insecure, when I was feeling lonely and abandoned and hurt. And I marked myself with all this stuff. And now I look and I go, that's not who I want to be. That's not who I am. And now he's having to get them removed.
You know, the truth is that many of us in our lives, some of us have done that physically, like Pete Davidson, but all of us have had things marked on our lives, going, that's who you are. That's your identity. That's your importance. That's your value. That's how you cope.
That's how you give yourself meaning. Some of us, it's habits. Some of us, it's an identity. We call ourselves this, and it tattoos us. It marks us.
And yet Jesus Christ came. You know what he got marked? You know this truth. He got marked so that those marks can be removed from your life. Just like Pete Davidson getting tattoos removed.
That's when we come to Christ. God wants to remove those things from your life and says, you're not identified with those things. You're not identified having to be remembered for being this or that or coping with life because of hurts. You don't have to have all your body and your spirit and your mind marked in and your soul marked by these things. Let the mark of Jesus Christ being remembered remove those other marks.
Isn't that what we talk about, being washed clean? We talk about being washed clean by the blood of Christ. That's what it's talking about. Let what Christ did for you make you clean, wash you clean. And remember, he got marked so you don't have to be marked with these things.
That's the second picture. You're always. You're never, ever forgotten because we see our Savior's hands. And then the third thing, see, I've written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins.
Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins. That's a bit weird, isn't it? I had to think about this one. Because if you look at that at the start, it's like, that sounds nice. A mother's love.
You've written our names on the palms of your hands. And always in my mind is a picture of your ruin, your disasters before me. If we're not careful. We can think about God like that, can't we? We can think about God like he's the God who always remembers.
He never, ever forgets what you messed up. He's always watching. I know people, and you go through something difficult. You know, one of the things that we often think as human beings is God punishing me because I did this. Am I paying the price because of a past mistake?
Because God never forgets. He never forgets. And he's taking me now, and now I'm paying the price for it. And it seems like this could be. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins.
People do that to us sometimes, don't they? They always remind us of our failures.
We always like that, don't we? I mean, husbands and wives, sometimes. We're good at that, reminding each other of our failures to each other and how we don't measure up. And I remember that happened this time ago. And this is what you're like.
And I go, it's human nature. We tend to do that, that we find something. And we never let people forget. There's certain people that are very good at it, and we don't feel good afterwards. And we treat God like that, like he's the same.
He's like going, I remember that time. I remember. You might forget, don't you? Hey, don't you forget about it. Cause I got it right in here, buddy, and I'm gonna bring it back.
That's how we treat God sometimes. We're waiting for him to bring up our past mistakes.
But it doesn't mean that at all. Because that doesn't make sense, does it? Doesn't make sense that that's how God would act after he said this. I've got a mother's love. It's even greater than a mother's love.
You're never alone. You're never forgotten. I've written your names on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins. This is the picture he's giving us.
He's saying, I know your hurt. I know your broken walls. He gives us an image of our broken walls and our pains and our mistakes and our regrets. And then he speaks into that and he goes on and he gives us this faith to say, never. The end.
Point three. Our broken walls. Never lose hope. Because here's the thing that God's saying in this passage. This is what we all need.
He says, I see your fears and I see your mistakes, and I see your insecurities, and I see your hurts. And I see the pains that you've gone through. And I understand it. I see it, and I'm sorry that you've had to go through it. I'm sorry.
Always in my mind, that's what he's saying. Always in my mind. Jerusalem is the pain you've suffered.
Some of that pain was no fault of your own, and some of it you brought on yourself because of mistakes you made. But I see it, you know what he's saying to you, and I. He's saying, I see what you've gone through.
I was talking to a. Or listening to a psychologist come, a pastor psychologist, give a speech one time. And he was talking to some pastors and leaders, and he was talking about what he does. He sits there and he gives counseling and listens to people and tries to help people. And he said these words, and it stuck with me.
He said, isn't it sad? We live in a society where the only way sometimes for people to be listened to is to go and pay someone like me just to listen and just to hear what they've gone through. Because he goes, that's most of what I do. I listen. I listen to what people.
Isn't it true something deep in your heart, you want to be listened to? You want someone to listen to how you're feeling and what you're going through, not to just keep pouring out and go, oh, poor me, poor me. But we carry things in our heart and we want someone to listen to us. And not just listen, but hear and understand and have empathy. To listen and look at us and say, I'm sorry.
I get it wasn't nice what you went through. It's not nice what you're going through. It's painful. It's hurting, and I get it, and I'm sorry. Empathy, isn't that a beautiful thing?
When someone comes alongside you and this is what God's saying, I see your broken walls. I see that time, that someone. I see when that person hurt you, and you've never felt the same since.
I see when you put on the brave face, pretend like everything's okay, but deep inside there's a gap and there's a pain. I see the grief you're going through, the loss of someone that you love and you never. You don't. You move on somehow, but you don't really recover. You carry that.
Jesus looks at you. God looks at you and he says, I see you. I see the broken walls. I see the hurts. He looks and he says, some of us carry deep regret about our actions and what we've done and going, it's had an effect on my life.
It's had an effect on other people's lives. And you carry a deep regret, a shame. And he says, I see that. I see it. I understand it.
I'm listening.
Always in my mind are the hurts and the pains of my people. He doesn't look and go, get over it. We can treat God. Get over it. Have faith, Be better.
Come to church more. Be a better Christian. Come on, be a better Christian. Isn't that sometimes how we think God thinks? Just be better.
Kylie didn't pick you. I just saw you there. You're great.
We carry that with us. And God looks and he's looking at his people going through pain. They don't need to be told to be better right now. Sometimes you don't need to be told, get on with it. Come on, be a better person.
Sometimes you need something, someone to come alongside you and say, I hear you. I'm sorry. I get it. But I've made mistakes. I stuffed up.
I shouldn't have spoken like that. I shouldn't have done that to my spouse. I shouldn't have talked like that to my parents or my child. I shouldn't have done that. It wrecked our lives.
God comes alongside. He goes, I know. I'm carrying it with you. I Know your pain. Jesus didn't just understand pain, he went through pain.
He gets it. He gets betrayal. He gets others making mistakes on him. He gets all the pain and the hardship of sin. And he says, you've got a God here who hasn't forgotten you.
He hasn't abandoned you. He literally lives with you in your suffering and your broken walls. He's the greatest counselor. He listens. He understands, and he has empathy.
And sometimes it's okay, brothers and sisters. It's okay to say, hey, I'm carrying a hurt. I'm carrying a wound. I'm carrying a regret. And God says, it's okay, bring it to me.
I'll listen. I'm carrying it with you. I need that. You need that.
But he doesn't leave us there. This is the beauty. Sometimes, before you can have hope, brothers and sisters, before you can have hope, you need someone to listen. See, this is why God says, before he gives them hope, in the next passages of Scripture he talks about, he says, hey, you know what? Your sons and daughters are gonna come back to a flourishing land.
They're gonna come back, and you're gonna be plentiful, and God's gonna do it. I'm gonna do great things. There's all these beautiful promises. The generations born in exile will return and say, we need more room. It's crowded here.
Then you will think to yourself, who's given me all these descendants?
He says, I've got hope for you. I've got a promise. But before you can hear and receive the promise and the hope, you need someone to understand the pain. And God says, I get it. I understand your pain.
I see your broken walls. And then because he sees your broken walls, he's the one who says, you know what? Have you had God do this for you? I see your brokenness and your pain, and now I understand it. And now I'm going to speak into it.
But God, I see your pain. But God can do this. But I can do. Hey, have you had God do that to me? He's done it to me many times in my life where I've felt my broken walls crushing me down.
It doesn't help that I'm a perfectionist, right?
Because it doesn't have to be that big a mistake or something go that wrong. Sometimes feel crushed by the weight of it didn't go perfect. Sometimes in church, I'm watching and I go, something didn't go perfect. And I'm like, I just have to try and put it out of my mind because it's Weighing on, you know what? I've made mistakes in life.
I've said the wrong thing. I didn't take the opportunity when I should have taken the opportunity. I tried and I got depressed and I got caught up. I made a mistake. I did the wrong thing.
And then I see that not reflected. I remember being 17 and thinking that my ministry life, serving God was over. It's the weight of a perfectionist. Because I had a connect group I was running, and I was 18 by then and was running a connect group, and it grew to 30 people. I was like, yes, come on.
And then I went through a difficult time and it dropped to 12 people. And I was walking through and going, what a failure. What an idiot. You can't serve God. And a couple of other people who told me the same, saying, oh, he's not cut out for ministry.
I was just like, oh, you loser, you loser. You know what it took? My heavenly father came alongside me and he said, adrian, I see you've broken down walls. You think you're a failure. You think you don't have what it takes because you didn't keep going, going, going.
I can restore what the enemy stole. I can give hope again. Hey, can you get back up on your feet and walk with me, son? And I can show you and I can give you hope. Come on, please.
Some of you, God wants to give you hope again. Some of you say, you know what? I got some broken down walls. But God says, I know, I see them, but I can lift you up, I can rebuild those walls. Not walls of defense that you build to protect yourself from pain, but the walls God builds of protection and life and openness and freedom and joy.
Some of us are going through such painful things of grief. I know, I know. I've been in some of these services and people have had to say goodbye to precious loved ones. And even though I didn't know them very well, I felt the pain. How do you move forward from that?
God says, I'm here with you in that if you let me sit with you, if you let me love you, even in that, there's a restoration I can give of joy again in time. If you hang on to me. I'm the God who understands. I'm the God who says, never lose hope. I'm the God who brings out.
That's why I love the story. Marlia last week talked about her family and talked about, you know, we were going for, and then we fell away from God. And I saw it happen in my marriage, my family, she shared so Openly. And there was an understanding that she said, but God understood. And there was a moment where she realized God understood their pain and their hurts.
And they made a promise to them, going, I can restore. You know that, don't you? I see this beautiful family serving God in church. They don't come in. Do you know?
None of us come in whole. None of us come in perfect. All of us come in with brokenness. All of us have broken down walls, all of us have messed up, all of us have gone through things. And God's the one who restores.
He's the one who gives hope. The only difference between people in the category of brokenness and people in restoration and life is that these group of people have realized there's a life beyond the brokenness. There's a hope beyond. And they've chosen to step into it. Will you be one of those people?
Will you be one of those people that steps from the brokenness into hope, says God, I'll choose to trust you. I choose to say, number one, God, you see me and you don't abandon me. You don't leave me alone. Like a mother's love.
God, you've never forgotten me. My name's written on your hands.
Number three, God, you see my broken walls. You see my broken walls, you see my hurt, you see my pain, you see my mistakes. And then you speak life and you say, believe, because I'm the God who restores. I'm the God who brings life. I'm the God who says, there can be joy again in the morning.
There can be hope, there can be restoration of families. That child who's walked away from God, I can bring them back to him. That marriage that's fallen apart, and maybe it's divorced and maybe then. But God can bring new relationships. He can restore relationships, he can bring new life that flow out of love.
For that, you don't have to stay in the pain.
And I say that as someone who's living that. And I can choose to go back to that place of pain or I can choose to say, God, I choose your hope. What are you gonna choose today, brothers and sisters? What are you gonna choose?
I choose him. I choose the God who's written my name on the palms of his hands. He's written your name on his hands.
He's written your name on his hands. And you know what you need to do? You get to choose.
You can stay disillusioned. I know many Christians walked away from God because they got hurt. Stuff didn't go right, and they walked Away, they said, he doesn't believe. He's not there for me. He's forgotten me.
He's abandoned me. And then they hear a word like this, and the hardness of heart, to protect themselves, rises up and says, yeah, whatever, mate. Easy for you to say.
Don't be like that.
Because God's reaching out to you. He knows I want. I want to tell you he knows more intimately than any other person, even more than you, what you've gone through, what you need. And he's here with his love and his grace to say, will you put your trust in me? And then you will know that you're never alone, you're never forgotten, and you never, ever need to lose hope through every situation.
Why don't we bow our heads this morning? We're going to pray.
So, Holy Spirit, you're present. You're here with your people. You're here with the ones you love. Whether you're in person, whether you're watching online, whether you're watching at one of our churches. He's present with you right now.
The Holy Spirit is there. God is there.
He knows you intimately.
Some of us are going through things.
First of all, I want to speak to. Maybe you're doing okay, but there's a truth. The Holy Spirit wants you to invite him in afresh and say, God, I'm going to choose to put my trust in you when I go through a difficult time. When I go, God, I'm going to choose to remember these truths. I'm not going to throw the baby out with the bathwood.
I'm not going to throw out my trust and belief in you because I go through a hard time. Jesus, I choose to put my trust in you and hold on to you in a fresh way. God, I put my hope in you again, God, I thank you, God, that it doesn't come from me. It comes from you, Lord. God, all good things come from the Lord.
Lord, I put my trust in you afresh, God, for my future, for my family. God, I choose to believe. Some of us, God's giving fresh faith and say, can you remember, some of you young guys and older people, we've got dreams and we've got the Lord's reminding you and saying, hey, never lose hope. Put your faith. Don't think of the negative.
Think of the beautiful things that I want to do. Think about how I want to bless your children and I want to lift them up and I want to bless your life.
Think of those things.
Some of us here, we're going through deep times of Pain. Some people are depressed, some people are disillusioned, some people are in grief.
Some people don't even know in your life that you're going through that.
But the Lord does. The Lord does. And this morning we're going to come and we're going to bring our hearts, Lord. With our eyes closed and our heads bowed, you say, lord, I need to know your love. Like a mother's love today.
Lord, I need to know that my name's written on the palm of your hand. Lord, I need to know that you understand my brokenness and my guilt, my shame, my pain, my regrets, the things others have done to me. I need to know that I'm going to ask you today to respond to the Lord. It's not going to embarrass you, but it's going to be a beautiful thing before God. The eyes closed, just lift out your hands to the Lord.
It's almost like a funnel that we're inviting the Holy Spirit to come and speak and minister and fill us with his presence and his love. You're saying, lord, I invite you in. Lord doesn't force himself on you, you know that. He invites you and we open. Opening our hands to the Lord can be a sign.
Just saying, lord, I open my heart to you. I want to choose to trust you. I don't want to live in a place of despair.
I want to live in a place of hope.
Do you know you can be going through depression, you can be going through grief, and you can still choose to live in a place of hope even in the middle of the pain. It's saying, God, I choose to trust you. Even though I don't understand it, I choose to believe that you're my comforter. Even though I don't feel comforted right now. I choose to believe, God, that you have a greater plan and your plans are good.
God, even though it looks like in this world the plans have gone awry, Lord, I choose you.
So all over this place, God, I feel the love of the Lord for you. I feel the love of the Lord for his people. See, God's not looking for stuff. Something from you. He's looking to pour into you.
He's looking to pour into you. He says, I love my children. I love my sons and daughters. I love them with a love that they will never quite fully grasp. But will you receive it?
Will you trust? You think you're abandoned. You think you've forgotten. But I will never. I could never look at my hand, says Jesus.
So, Lord, right now we receive Holy Spirit I receive, Lord, those who've gone through a broken relationship, a marriage that hasn't worked, children, they're separated from someone that they've lost, someone that they loved. God, let the peace of God fill our hearts. Let the love of God, let the understanding of God, let the great high priest that understands our sufferings and our pains come and fill our hearts today. All over, Lord at Hastings, God at Casey. Holy Spirit in Rosebud Peninsula, Holy Spirit in Mornington, Lord and Bass Coast, God, people there.
Holy Spirit of God, you know exactly what they're going. He knows exactly what you're going through. And he says, I love you and I'm here for you. Receive my love, Receive my grace. Receive it in Jesus name.
We receive it today.
Maybe you're far from God. And you said, lord, I've rejected you. Maybe I have walked away from you, Lord, maybe I've never received you, but I will. I want the Savior's love. I want this Jesus.
You're talking about Adrian. I don't want to be distant from him anymore. I need that. I'm not here to sign up to a religion, Lord Jesus, but I'm here to say, jesus, here's my life. Will you love me?
Will you forgive me? Will you embrace me? If that's you today and you say, I need to say this prayer to say, jesus, I'm yours, God, maybe I've never done it. Maybe I've been way away from God. We're gonna say a prayer altogether.
And you say this before the Lord. You're inviting him back in. All across our churches, watching online. Let's pray. Dear Lord Jesus, I believe in you and I need you.
I believe you're the Son of God and you died on the cross for my sin. And you rose again from the dead.
Forgive me, Jesus, come into my life. Be my Lord and Savior. In Jesus name.
Amen. Holy Spirit, Amen.
We're gonna sing the words of this song. Jesus, I love you. I love you. I love you. I want you to take a moment all across our churches.
Maybe you want to stand as we sing. Maybe you want to sit there and just receive. But why don't you take this moment to say, lord, I receive your love. Thank you. That you love me.
I commit my life again. I'm going to choose to trust you. Come on. I want us to walk out of these places today saying, jesus, I choose to trust who you say you are not who the devil tries to tell me you are not what my mind tries to tell me you are. My loving Savior.
You're the one who never forgets me. You're the one who gives me hope for every situation. Jesus, I love you. Can we do that today? God loves you.
I love you. Come on, why don't we sing?
Jesus, Jesus, I love you. I love you. I love you. Jesus, I love you. I love you.
I love you. Jesus, I love you. I love you. I love you more than anything. More than anything.
Jesus. Jesus, I love you. I love you. I love you. Jesus, I love you.
I love you. I love you. Jesus, I love you. I love you. I love you more than anything.
More than anything. Jesus, Jesus, I love you. I love you. I love you. Jesus, I love you.
I love, love you. I love you. Jesus, I love you. I love you. I love you more than anything.
More than anything. One more time. Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you. I love you.
I love you. Jesus, I love you. I love you. Jesus, I love you. I love you.
I love you more than anything.
So, Lord, let's receive his love. The love of God for you.
Can a mother forget her child?
Even if that were possible, says the Lord, I will never, ever, ever, ever forget you. I will never, ever, ever stop loving you. I will never, ever, ever stop waiting and staying here to understand you and be there for you. I will never, ever, ever stop offering you hope and life and my presence and my peace. My arms are open.
My heart is yours.
Choose me, says the Lord. Choose me, for I'm life to you. I am love to you. I'm everything you need. I'm everything you need in this sad, hopeless world.
I'm the one you want. I'm the one you need.
So choose him.
We choose you, Lord. We thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. I thank you, Father. I thank you, Holy Spirit, that you are the one I need.
You're the one we need. We're the one we want. You're our life, our hope, our joy. And in you, Lord, is life forevermore.
So be with your people. Let them know your presence. Let them know your love. Walking with them every step of the way through, every season, every heartache, every pain. Never forgotten, never alone, never abandoned, never lose hope in Jesus name.
So we finish. We're gonna finish there. If you want some prayer this morning, we're gonna have some pastors up the front. I'm sure in our different churches the pastors will be there. If you'd like to come forward and need some as we finish, then you're welcome to do that.
We want to pray with you. We love you. Next week we've got Margaret Pashley here in the morning service and across Sunday night at Casey. Let God go with you. Bless your people as we go.
Let us know your presence and love and restoring joy, Lord, we pray it in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
Related Bible Verses
1. Isaiah 49:13-18 (NLT)
“Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering. Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.” “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins. Soon your descendants will come back, and all who are trying to destroy you will go away. Look around you and see, for all your children will come back to you. As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “they will be like jewels or bridal ornaments for you to display.”
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.49.13-18.NLT
2. John 20:25 (NLT)
“They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.””
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.20.25.NLT
2. John 20:27 (NLT)
“Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!””
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.20.27.NLT