This is the local ferry commissioner, Sean McCoy. Everybody ready to get to the mission? I'll start again, chair. Marsha Martin, commissioner. Marsha Martin, commissioner. Thank you all for being here. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. I'll go down to the housing director. I'm Shayna Parks-Waker. I'm the pen rose. Is there already public safety? Basically, I'm our regional manager. And Katie Cung is here, too. Oh, yeah. Hey, Katie. We can see you chatting and hearing now. So do we have any agenda reactions? We need to approve the February 21st, 2020 through minutes. And then we should do through. So move. Second. I've been with my councilor. Second by commissioner. Is there any discussion on minutes? So you know what's up? Hi. So I'm going to kick this off for us. Just kind of grounding you with where we left off last week. So, we'll move the delivery first. We all presented to you the options for the community services. And how to include those. And the decision that night was to focus on helping get the units that we need. We can figure out the community services in appropriate man time. So we gave that direction back to Henry. I'm going to introduce Shannon here in a moment. And we said, let's focus on housing, get the units. And she did that. And as she'll explain, I think in other terms, the gap was pretty large, too large, the funding gap. And so what they did instead was saying, let's design to what we can afford and see what that ends up looking like. So that's what we're going to show you here tonight. But first I wanted to introduce Shannon. She's Shannon Cox Baker. She is with Penrose. And she is our main point of contact as our development partner on this over land, which we need to name. And so I think Shannon just is going to introduce herself and then kind of give us some basics on this project and really kind of what we do on a daily, well, weekly basis with Shannon to get this project where it is. And then you have a handout in your packets that is from Penrose. And it's kind of a summary of this project that you can kind of you can refer to at your leisure. And then we'll have up here as well. So I'm Shannon. I'm a new ish to Penrose. I've been with the organization for just over a year but I'm not new to Colorado or to Boulder. I've been a Boulder County resident for 20 years and have worked in affordable housing for most of that. Spent quite a bit of time actually before we're housing partners so we're for housing authority for the city of Boulder. And then during the Penrose team a year ago it's our regional vice president opening up for their western expansion office and so now we're in Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. And super excited when our team came out for this site. I love doing work in the community where I live and so I was really thrilled that our team was chosen to develop this site and partnership with you. So very happy to be here and as Molly said we have been really working hard towards trying to get a concept plan that means a lot of we're very ambitious objectives on a number of levels. The right mix of housing that really works with the financing that's available, that serves families, that really pushes the need on some of the larger units of the reinforced bedrooms without sacrificing a sense of place, community, nice outdoor space, a place that people want to be, that feels welcoming and friendly if you're a grandma or a parent with an infant or a teenager trying to create a community that serves the needs of a whole broad demographic can be a bit of a challenge but I think the site is in a great location with a lot of cool amenities around it parks, squaccability, really being nestled there between single family neighborhood in a lighter retail commercial area it's a great site, it's a great site in a lot of respects and as Molly mentioned our biggest challenge has been trying to right size the development to what farming is available and this is a really challenging financing environment for us to be in our own interest rates at their peak with construction costs we haven't seen them coming down in fact we're still baking in construction cost cushions in anticipation that costs continue to go up and so we're not really operating in the most friendly financial environment so we try and, my hard job, the hardest part about my job is trying to temper that enthusiasm right between what do we really want to do here and what pragmatically we want to do here I think the process remaining on the concept is maybe taking a little bit longer than we had hoped and anticipated but I'm a big believer in if you do work and you invest up front and you iterate and iterate and iterate until you get to a solution that you feel like this is it, we've exhausted our options and this feels realistic, that time is best invested in front and then regretting something or trying to come back later and fix something if you maybe shot a road to fire can't pull it off, so that's never the solution and the situation we're going to find ourselves in so I think where we sit today with the concept plan that we have is we're nearly there, I think we're nearly there there's probably a little bit more dialogue and discussion for us to have about the site and how it's all taking shape and how we accommodate these really fun community serving assets, the library, the other childhood education and the community room, so those pieces are still in development we still have some work to do and we're thinking through that unit mix and the layouts of the units and again we haven't even touched the exterior of the building or the patients because it's going to look like that's a little bit further down the road but I would say we're probably 85-90% of the way there to what we would feel like this is the concept let's let this one settle and work towards the details so you all have the numbers in front of you where we stand right now is a unit count of 57 and this unit mix is actually still a little bit in flux this isn't even reflective of our last conversation which had 15 one bedrooms, more two bedrooms 27 two bedrooms and then 12 3's and 3 4's again I just talked to Katie this morning and she was like yeah can we get a couple more bedrooms in there and so just to kind of give you a sense like this isn't settled we're still going to be fine on the incomes we've got a pretty broad income mix we're really trying to serve a full spectrum from 30% area median income which would be considered extremely low income to 80% area median income which again two years ago we would call work force but you know you had both an 80% of the market so we can leverage tax credits which is our primary source of equity on this project and still income restricted a much higher income which is great because it just means we can serve more people across a larger banner again not set in stone but these numbers the rents that these incomes at these unit mixes you know would generate obviously help us to leverage more debt so that's really the sensitivity analysis we do there on the income mix it's like you know if we need to leverage more debt then maybe we move to higher income or we leverage value at face vouchers more of those those obviously get higher income so that's kind of the logic behind the unit mix and the incomes just high level and I want to talk to you all if you have a chance to ask any questions we're looking at almost a $30 million development for the development cost for the project and your eyes might go quickly to the land price the $2 million that just so you know is a bit of a placeholder right now that's just like our kind of broad brushstroke assumed the price value of the land and there would be a commensurate use and a source that would match and so that will end up being whatever that final number will be based on an appraisal based on income restrictions on the property so for all intents and purposes what matters is you'll see $2 million for acquisition and then you'll see another $2 million for the LHA seller carry so those two balance each other out and again on construction costs these things are all kind of you know baked in together construction costs were around I think it's around $325,000 or $30,000 a door for construction costs and that does have a cushion built into it too which as we get closer and closer to construction you know we hope to see that cushion evaporate and push that money into other things but you know we have to kind of plan for the worst-case scenario the earlier in the process and the rest of the costs the soft costs you know the owner contingency the financing fees those are really all driven by all of the underwriting requirements for these types of transactions with limited on developer fee that's capped by the car housing finance authority and then reserves all these things are sort of based on you know metrics and underwriting standards that all the tax credit investors and vendors impose on us so this is very commensurate with what you can see in this kind of tax credit finance affordable housing development and then the next one down and we've been we were having a nice conversation about operating expenses and operating management and this will be this will be a big focus of our conversation going forward because we want to be really thoughtful and really mindful about what does it truly cost to operate a development community that has a lot of larger households or a lot of kids it's a lot of wear and tear we know that and we still we just have to be realistic and honest about preparing for that planning for that thinking about things like replacement costs and you know repairs and maintenance and snow removal and all those things but y'all have a nice portfolio with great examples of how your other developments are operating I don't know it's obviously has a really extensive portfolio and so you know this team here will do the work to make sure that those numbers are realistic and what bought out and based in our kind of shared experience so maybe real quick if you just don't want to hit on the timeline so these deals are like it's like a marathon you know you do all this upfront training and then you apply for your tax credits and you get a tax credit award and you're still you know two years out from having your first resident living in the building but this just to kind of give you a sense it really is you know roughly a three-year endeavor from the time we applied for tax credits and the intent is to submit an application August 1st of this year Chaff will typically award credits in November and then we would be off to the races to you know get a building permit close under financing and start construction in the spring of next year oh I see what you mean and then we've got about a year and a half for construction and the lease up will begin and we get ourselves a nice big window for leasing up a building of this size with the beginning of a larger household so best case fall of 2026 is when the building would be open and then we'll just kind of hit on the site plan do you want to work through that I don't know about everything that's there work on the site plan you'll see the area that says phase two and that was the more traditional multi-family complex we talked about where we were discussing the potential for early childhood library annex when the gap really started materializing in terms of what we were dealing with what they've talked about displaying this in the two phases and so based on counsel commissioners conversation in terms of trying everything we can do to figure out how to incorporate the other amenities into it this actually buys us time to look at other strategies to include those things like early childhood and or library annex or some other component because we're not pressed to try to get in with the rest of the field and I think that was something we all had to really wrap our hands around because we were dealing with the road yeah yeah that's a great example and it could take shape in a lot of different ways I think that's the intent the library and the ECE I think are this would be an amazing site to have either or both of those just because of all the rooftops you have in this part of town and just the proximity to family you know apartments and that would be amazing to have that you know right outside your door so we'll continue to I think have a conversation and hope that that would be a good fit here but again it could be more something else it could be more housing in the future it could be anything I like Shannon's term of right sizing the project that's really how we got here we've said maximize units oh wait that gap is too large to fill it's right size it and that left this has an opportunity for the future so either way this is really what is feasible to middle even if we are maximizing it now yeah I didn't know I'd like to point 2.2 to 2.5 so remember we're at 4 million and we're maximizing it 3 million splitting it up and we think we can manage through a 2 million gap where all of the resources and money are going to come it's a bit of magic it's great that we're there you know I just to point it out so really it's more of like an L shaped building which I think is nice from an architect so I will I will try and play one tonight but this is just creates a nice street presence it's just like to have front stoops and front doors and like kind of would feel like a little front lawn as you're kind of coming around the property here with the parking lot being accessed from the Walgreens is sitting over here so it kind of feels like sort of a fac of this site whereas this feels more sort of friendly matching in terms of like residential here and residential here facing each other and you know we're still working through exactly where this play area and this game alone community room could go but this creates a nice little connection here this sort of street crossing on Cook that goes and there's actually it's off the page here where there's like a pavilion and a bank along here there would be a hard stone and lawn so where are you still looking at like can we break the building up here and maybe bring this connection back through and then have that play area that community room feel a little bit more central to the site so still still working through that but I think the Lego pieces right here in a way that we're often pretty good about in terms of these are all one-story units even though three and four bedrooms so no interior stairs which I think probably really is amenable to multi-generational households where you might have folks who really everybody wants something on the ground floor so that's the concept we have here and maybe if you go to the next one this is a bit more of a greedy rendering it's a three-story walk up so this is an elevator interior corridor building again like all those front doors and back doors are kind of accessible from either a stairwell or a grate which again just kind of feels a little bit more suitable for those surrounding contexts and the other single-family homes and the multi-gainment and so on here as well and then I grew in and then I apologize I didn't put like a description here but this is a really great real-life example of what this building can look and feel like so Delcourt's own is in Denver Van Niederland's College who's the project architect also designed this community and it's similar in a lot of ways in that it's three stories this is a community room that's off to the off to the side here but different material to kind of differentiate it from the residential units but you've got access into this stair course here from the outside which again something we had talked about in the closest stairs so they are more secure or private but you know whether we end up doing balconies or you know from porches again all that stuff still remains to be thought through but nice kind of community presence and this would be sort of a long line so hopefully we would envision it look like Is that going to help some people to build these rooms? Nope, that's a private developer in Denver So to add on to that what we were trying to do was have you know there's a piece when you're building three and four bedroom apartment rental units, four bedrooms are pretty rare we do have a need and a long amount for them but really when you're trying to market that a traditional apartment building might not be what a family is looking for a four bedroom home is going to be looking for so having those front doors to the street it looks like multiple buildings even though it's technically not and that's really to make the construction more feasible cost wise I just feel like it's a cool way to win when it feels like for certain reasons It's very appealing So, is that How do you need a GAA appliance and a three-story building with that You put your ADA units on the ground floor and you just have to make sure that's dispersed amongst one, two, three and four bedroom unit types so obviously there's a limited number of ADA people who really need a GAA on the first take, well first of all just on the study, just so I understand what I'm seeing there was a study conducted, it's the conclusion, it's the conclusion of the total 98,000 people, a number of housing units along the way was to be completed 28,000 people were occupied by large family households Is that what this means in that of those 2,800 households 23%, is that Is that how I'm going to interpret this Yes, so this is a steep peak of the data that's coming from our housing needs assessment and that's what it's finding So then, that's just one of the circumstances If I look at the If I look at the gross rents, help me understand the relationship between AMI number of units in gross rents Because it's all over the place What would and we can obviously provide this we have all kinds of data so we can show we have an AMI table that shows what the area of immediate income is at each of those 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 percentiles based on household size so it's a function of how many people are in the house plus where your income is and then the gross rents are tied to 30% of that household income so that's the maximum amount of rent that could be then charged to the tenant So if somebody is making 60% of AMI the maximum they would pay is less than somebody making 30% of AMI So the 30% AMI have the project based voucher and they are actually in excess of So that's before 70% Yes So I get there's a subsidy for each of these 30s and the 50s Yeah they have PVD project based vouchers in the 30s and the 50s Not in the 60s but in the 80s Not in the 60s and the 80s Because you generally wouldn't you know utilize what is a really precious resource a project based voucher other than 60% or 80% AMI they tend to see housing authorities and any jurisdiction that awards those they tend to just stand in the 30% in this but you all have a lot more to do for them And then Can I add to that Shannon? Yeah One thing that's helpful too is that the lie tech rents are meant to be affordable in and of themselves So when Shannon is saying 60s and 70s are subsidized the project based vouchers make units affordable to extremely low income households but like traditionally in all of our other properties without project based vouchers due to the lie tech program and the maximum rents that are listed on there are meant to be affordable in and of themselves without additional subsidy like the 30s and 50s have It's a calculation as time to what they are their affordability level is I would say the other value is that with the project based voucher at rent then you have more net operating income right so your leverage more debt So if we had no project based vouchers and we charged the true 30% rent that would reduce our ability to service more debt which means we end up with a bigger gap or less units So this kind of helps us cross that I'm going to assume the LIJ seller carry is an LIJ donation to this project at $2 million because that's the land we own so we're donating the land and you're estimating how it will be just a credit at $2 million so the you're going to apply for tax credits in August and here you'll help them detail when November so you'll know by November 23 whether the list will be a 9% application so the state credit application is technically the one that's due on August 1st but states get a 4% So the 4% which is not competitive this is because it's 4% state credit which is competitive and then you have the 4% this is the 4% and it's helped me understand conversion in 2026 in October you're going to be leasing up from mid mid-winter to late spring or mid-spring and then conversion October 26 helped me understand terminology conversion in the lifetime So to convert out of the construction that's the conversion from the construction to the mortgage so we have to show that that's a good question Good question Thank you Thank you So my question is that since this is kind of a newer product that's going to be rolled into the portfolio do we see a big difference in say, average life of tenancy in larger units versus traditionally small units also the difference between age restricted and non-age restricted For occupancy I think there's such a need that these households aren't going to be able to find and that's what we see at A&M already that the larger units don't have a high turnover rate because they can't just go find something else either Sure and so when I saw the financials it had 5% vacancy rate is that probably just being a little conservative That's just the baseline underwriting standard Yeah I'm sure Yeah We've had an active wait list for that four bedroom The two four bedrooms at A&M for a very long time Yeah I just figured that let's say you know it's multiple children in the household somebody's likely to be in there longer per se That's why I asked about average life in tenancy or occupancy So what happens Well I don't know what happens but this is based upon their income of that level their income goes up How do you handle that? Not with tax credits So basically when you're qualified with tax credits you're always eligible You can go, you're allowed the first year up to 140% AMI at your first year of recertification So it's basically a program that makes, wants you to increase your income and stabilize your household and there's no real penalty unless you have an additional application So I took project based vouchers so let's say we have a project based voucher and they start out at 30% AMI then they come in and they recert and all of a sudden they make more money then what that does is it reduces the amount of money that the voucher coming in it increases the amount of money they pay which that money then goes back into the voucher pool for aggregate So then as people are moving up it actually creates financial capacity to release another voucher To release another voucher Alright So you don't need direction on this, this is a presentation This is following up on what we said we wanted you to be in Shannon see one of the partners continue on the Shannon side and then we're going to keep moving forward we wanted to explain phase one, phase two we wanted to keep any other pieces in play as long as possible and if there's not any additional questions or direction on this we're moving into a little bit of the pinnacle of the developer Yes So that's a little bit of what we said in August right Obviously on top of this we're trying to get a different meaning with LBC and Black River for the sustainability that's separate again having to manage the financial gap I think some really exciting funding courses that are coming online too, I mean you all are probably familiar with the federal appropriations request I mean those deadlines are happening right now this week Those, you know, typically tend to go towards projects that are more shovel ready so that might be a source that we look at for next year so we're thinking in anticipation of a future gap or maybe it becomes a good use of funds for BEC here in the library there's new 45L solar tax credits which is something that we'll be talking about too and how we leverage that and bring more equity into the field to help finance the actual installation of solar panels which is usually something we don't want to do and we don't often have the opportunity to put into projects like this so it's a it's a really exciting opportunity I want to thank you all for inviting me to your meeting it's great to meet you it lays it out quite well well and I know you have a full agenda and you've already been here for several hours but if you have any questions about I'd be happy to answer those too so let's move on to our first resolution this is just accepting the vouchers so we have a motion to move resolution 20 second okay, commissioner martin moved 2023.08, signed by commissioner water those in favor we say aye opposed it's 1 minutes 1, 2023.09 approval of acceptance of ARCA grant funds brazilian fund this 2023 we moved by commissioner water seconded by commissioner yarrow there's no discussion of what's happening I'm opposed that passes unanimously as well resolution 202310 is a approval of acceptance of ARCA grant funds from 1764 and 1780 forward street development I'm going to do a little intro on this one well not intro you've heard about it since the city council did this but on march 22nd is our next LHDC board meeting and at that meeting we're going to propose their approval of the purchase price for this hover land so LHDC purchased that land using city affordable housing funds in 2014 for 800,000 and we have granted the city has granted the ARCA funds to LHA for 800,000 for the intent to purchase that land with it so next Wednesday we're proposing to the LHDC that they approve that same and then we'll grant a draft up closing documents and such so you're aware we're proposing to the LHDC to purchase it for the same price that they purchased it for basically just make it an asset for it thanks for that on that basis I was kind of wondering what this was about so can I have a motion to move 2023-10 I'll move 2023-10 for a second alright so that's 2020-15 it's going to be my commissioner except for recognition of ours Elizabeth, say hi hi, close the post so that passes you resolution 2020-11 except for policy area we're going to place pre-development possibly in the one statement this is just alone from LHDC to be able to pay those invoices as they come in and we'll repay that closing are there any questions about that so can I have a motion to move 2023-10 so moved, second alright that's been moved by commissioner so that's hi so that passes you resolution and now on to the next so we'll start off with a quick update on the village place and the development updates so the village place as you can see here we're moving a whole bunch of money around getting ready to go and start with other products too but for village place currently we're in design concept review we're going to be submitting for tax credits here in early April that is the non-creditive round I just wanted to show you a couple of our here we go so we've done some floor plants, some sample floor plants for the common areas and for the units aren't really getting a restructure really just upgrades but we have been having community meetings to present the options for the common areas floor plants with the residents and getting their feedback and finding out how they would use their spaces and so if you're familiar with the village place here is our atrium and we're planning kind of a it looks like it's almost a balcony with a little coffee bistro and we're going to be changing up the ramp and really this is the most significant change proposed at the property our new seating area fireplace and reconfiguring the whole office area so this is where we're at right now with making these decisions and running them by the residents and by property management to make sure we're planning for the future on everything I just wanted to share some of our inspiration photos for what we want to do on the outside to try and tie the property into downtown because as we know there is a lot of brick but it is pink from 1990 so these are just some ways we could do a brick stain and just some relatively minor updates to just try and make it look like a classic downtown building so we really are trying to think about the community as a whole the plan is to change the name for village place to the village on main trying again to rebrand make it fresh, make it feel classic and related to downtown and really help the residents take ownership of the new improvements some things you're likely to hear from them so we have to remove some of the trees in the atrium because of potential damage to the foundation it's likely that they were not like that but that's a structural issue in terms of landscaping obviously looking at it from a September perspective but looking at more sustainable planning versus what they have because they're looking at the landscaping around them we've got to figure out that because because it's somewhat attractive in your sense it needs to be maintained and it may make more sense to have it work out that's the conversation that we hear about yeah that's a source of a lot of our properties especially for the tenants there so that's going to be PDA's one of the best they can we need to figure that out no the white gazebo on the parking lot well they moved Santa over here yeah Santa's back it's a problem it's just out of sight isn't it so my question there is what is the tutorial on that we're going to start holding out units, vacancies as people make hate well we're deciding when that time cutoff is exactly to maximize our financial situation well probably not with that but having some vacancies available during construction is going to be really advantageous for some residents that would go to a hotel very easily so so we know we need a vacancies we also know this financial youth the one property that's probably strapped the most when we're talking about project based out here is we were putting people in the wrong way of mind just creating an income drain into the property so we're going to really work tomorrow what's the right time to start getting the vacancies so that we don't create a poor significant financial issue on the property until we give them their sanitation so for our general status in the timeline our architectural design is fully underway we have a general contractor hired it's going to be Kingford who did the spoke so they have a lot of entities in the area already and they have family members in them they just know the site really well so their rapport with the residents is already established we have exited the original tax credit investor from the last 15 year period has exited so we officially, we being primarily LHGC owns the property you're going to be seeing next Tuesday more money moving because the interest transfer is coming for LHA board consideration after the city council meeting on 21st so that we can demonstrate site control and restructure the partnerships in preparation for tax credit submittal the private activity bonds are coming to city council and then LHA board for consideration also next Tuesday all of this is lining up for that April submittal we have a relocation team that we are some quotes out for relocation team right now to start getting them on board early start that resident engagement process with us, help plan with the design we have a new investor identified it's the same one that we work with on Casper Meadows senior so we've got a relationship there and we're researching banks it's a really challenging environment so that's LHGC we don't like to do in the works so that's how Village Place is going and plenty of resident meetings and those are really going pretty quite well RBC so that's Village Place any questions comments on Zinnia oh sorry for Zinnia we are on track for closing of the financing and sort of construction immediately after in early May a lot of money moving around right now you'll see approved entering into the special limited partnership but we'll have those partnership agreements coming forward for signature soon we're doing the final gap arrangements one is here another one is coming from LHGC we're sorting all of that out it's just going to be a really big push from here till May closing is always pretty crazy but we're really prepared and they're in their final group review of DRC right now so they're pushing for building permits as soon as they can and then we are preparing with all of our partners including Boulder Shelter mental health partners for lease up and property management arrangements making sure that we have staff ready and there's going to be a lot of work to get this property lease done so talking about security and all of these affinities are we going to work it all once it's loosing so that's where we are Sarah's going to talk quickly about what she is that was a great signal so we're going to update on operations in all of this the one thing that you all even know about and we have to dig into so you all know crop 123 crop 123 fast on the taxes for affordable and sustainable housing I think by November or by September we have to declare our intent to do this it is exceptional complicated some cities are saying they can't do it now because in order to utilize the funds you have to show that you're going to grow your housing stock by 3% annually you don't know is that 3% annually on new builds or is it 3% on your total housing stock and so we've got to start digging into that pretty quick at the same time we've got to start modeling maybe in the summertime where we have to declare the baseline for our units which may be good for us because if we can do that before we start constructing Zinnia so then we can start modeling Zinnia being added and then over being added and then the other affordable housing affordable attainable ownership project that we're working on so on top of all of this we've got to figure that out in about 6 months to understand whether we can do this or not there's a lot of ink on this right now in communities because it doesn't have any sense any questions on that who's going to use the question about 3%? the states if there's a meeting tomorrow and they're going to try to get some of that drawn out on the state well if we were one of the most aggressive at building wouldn't I I mean nullify the message already in the state if we don't qualify then who's qualifying and I didn't even get into the 6 months review process but you're saying it's also you know it's lines for forever right I mean well it depends how it's calculated that's where the word's coming in is understanding the playing field and what that is doing so last season we approved to count the correct so we're in the quarter now that we're what was the back of the implementation that we did or did we just say well it's better than nothing why not I don't think that any of these details were included by the time and so it's kind of like what we get into a lot of times there are already folks talking about phishing so it's potential legislative adjustments and other things moving forward I think we probably stand one of the better chances if we can understand how the map is calculated along those lines what's going to do with another meeting that we need to get in here the other thing I want to update you on is a project that started in your role as housing authority commissioners the project shifted over to a fully city project which is the project on the affordable attainable home ownership piece we applied for $3 million for around $3.1 million from the state Katie, Molly, and team did a phenomenal job of putting this together we were told yesterday or the day before yesterday that we rewarded $1.87 million for that project yes and so good news for us is that we rewarded that money challenging news as infrastructure's going up some of these covered the increase we've never seen but we did really well just wanted to kind of let you know what they said they said after we reviewed your submitted qualifying land use strategies they would like to not only confirm that you didn't qualify for the funding but applaud your progress in this area our project was reviewed based on a variety of factors readiness, capacity, impact on local housing needs sustained and equitable community support provision of community benefits and sustainable development patterns and so we were the largest ask in this and then Katie were we the largest award I didn't confirm that so I think our ask was pretty heavy compared to the others so I would assume so congratulations congratulations that was huge and I have to respond to Carol woo yeah and so we know on that on that one just because it is kind of both sides of the house urban area engineering is coming in they are working those numbers pretty hard this week and then hopefully we will have it next week and then we will start digging into the next layer of financials we may have to do something similar to what we did on the homework project and breaking up into the second facility to manage that financial really quick let's start with the public health security updates and then we'll go, Lisa has just a couple of minutes to cover on the project sure update on our meth detectors are basically I believe Dan who we are working with in New Zealand he is shipping the detector out for us to test he had to wait for a SIM card so there has been some IT glitches that I mentioned last time so we should have that in our hands soon working with the folks with Ron Valdez we'll swap with our next light team hunger LTE stuff we'll be helping us test those in the communities and see network connectivity and all that good stuff cameras basically we're still you know we're still rolling with that trying to determine what's best determine how many we need et cetera and now it's just getting the final bids and which direction we're going to go on that piece um coffee and conversations that have been inserted into all of those and the last we had was I think a great opportunity to hear some community issues the last ones of the suites being able to address things at the level that they need is I think you can't just ask a troll officer to come in and understand their needs and then go out and fix them so we determined some issues with some with our neighboring Subaru dealership so we are going to work with them hopefully on not being so aggressive of driving and hitting people so um yes do we have a hit? no we do not but very close literally I mean what's cool about having Sarah there with us is literally somebody came in and said someone on the script yet there was a meeting and we're walking in so it's like we'll have Sarah's here we can talk Sarah's with him um so I mean that's a big that's a big help also in that meeting and a long standing issue that in the middle of the meeting while she was dealing with this yeah there was a somebody that had been trying to deal with that numerous warrants that happened there which was also fortuitous timing because they were able to deal with the issue and the point of that is the impact that you have for the people that live there and seeing how quickly that can infer when they're there I think they really that was the first time they realized yeah they are trying to deal with these issues and it was interesting as everybody was going to Sarah saying thank you and I didn't know what happened I just know I was talking and all of a sudden I started seeing people in the meeting and talking but it was and they didn't know what happened until after it was over so who knows to Sarah and the public safety team but that's the level of this relationship is really operating fortuitous they went from officers friend to officers in action I literally was in the middle of the conversation we were like no here's so and so we need to go it works it worked out perfect wow yeah it worked out perfectly the folks that work there their tests like they're literally starting to test their cars right when they get out of the private drive just reckless driving so and a lot of the residents are I mean we heard more than one so we're going to deal with that and actually plan to talk to Tim and I just having a conversation management there our point is to make them aware of the issue because once they make them aware of the issue then their liability profile starts changing a little bit so yeah Sarah's also going to talk briefly about what you're doing on the safety discussion so sure so I don't want to steal your thunder but you walked the properties with fire and found some issues and so that came up today in conversation with the advisory what we can do with AMN senior what we can do with Spring Creek and I think we figured out some good plan moving forward and it's also going to be a cost thing as well because that's where we throw our ideas to Kendra and she either said yes or no and then we go back to the drawing board but the plan is at least is walking these properties right now looking and let you talk about that but at the end of this we're going to meet up and really focus on each community and how we need to communicate number one reporting issues the low bearing issues of these units and each community will be different right so I'll let you take the show on what you're doing with that so my goal this year is to walk 20% of the units I have increased that to 50% or more I've walked almost all Spring Creek by tomorrow I would walk every unit Spring Creek I've walked 80% of Fall River and it is insightful a lot of learning not just for me for my team for maintenance just the different demographics and each floor each unit style but see some stuff that we need to address as a team like I said work with Sarah taking pictures so we know exactly what we need to go back and address when you say walk do you mean are you entering the unit? yes I'm going in every unit I'm actually in charge of the kitchens so I check every stove every fridge every microwave and refrigerator I'm testing all the appliances we're doing FTE, maintenance is doing the smoke detectors, filters managers going into the bathroom checking everything going on in there and then my assistant at Spring Creek and Fall River he's checking all the windows to make sure they're flashing properly that we have egress and so it's a big team effort specifically asking about security permission to inspect we notified everybody at coffee and conversations that we were coming in and then they all got a handle over notice to their door well in advance of 24 hours that we were coming we're not going down that route oh no the good thing is with having a good team we're going in and out of these units and getting all this done in less than 5 to 6 minutes per unit we have a handful that we do need to go back and re-inspect that they're going to get clear notices but for the most part we're getting in and getting out I wanted them quickly to do this because well we were really, I think both the time seeing what we were asking Lisa to do in terms of doing this and the process and having this connection it's actually streamlining the process taking work off Lisa, Sarah is taking that work Lisa can focus on other issues that she needs to and so we're really starting to now get in that what that fly will seeing how this thing works and how quickly we're able to get through so I wanted that just based on the budget adjustment so are the issues that you're finding are they resident yes that they can be or is it management it's I'd say 90% resident and some of it's just they need to have some help we've already connected with all of our senior services we meet with them every other month so we'd like to know that we are entering this we're going to City HR is actually starting up a volunteer program so Joanne and I are talking that we're going to do some city property dump days get dumpsters out for two days that the residents can get the items from the hallway volunteers will help get it from the hallway to the dumpster so that we can help alleviate some of that fire load in the units we're concerned about fire loading in some of the units having more fuel in the apartments and the sprinkler systems can actually support what we're looking at and then Sarah will partner with Michelle Goldman and then Joanne will help educate folks I'll make sure you take those dumpsters right back up because you know those residents go right in oh yeah there's your plan to save 40% that's your money and other folks out can I come back in how'd you get me stole my stuff yeah I don't like the residents there and the people around what it means it may be where you came to bring it in to get out that afternoon we're doing a very limited time frame so we will well notice it just to the residents so the operation something so occupancy just briefly we're still maintaining a 93% occupancy now that we're getting out of the snow and the freezing weather we're anticipating some more movements we've started few this month we've also changed how we process our waitlist applicants we've printed it all over to the LHA administrative assistant so that she can monitor each waitlist because what we found is when one person applies they don't apply it at just one property they're applying at all of them so then they remain on the waitlist for all these other properties and we're calling them saying hey do you want this unit but they're not returning our call for three that person's basically stagnant so one person now is monitoring all nine waitlist will remove somebody if they've righted at one to move them from all so that will help us move through our waitlist a lot faster implemented with this a couple of new procedures where as soon as the manager gets a notice to vacate they're notified to be admin-assisted so that they can start previously in that unit 30 days out so hopefully it's only down 10 days and then we can get a new hospital in so we hope to see these occupancies numbers increasing no meth units so that's a plus that's huge property updates all right here nothing much going on in cold we are bringing some educational pieces in over the year I did attach that but we just did a survey at the end of February for residents we're really asking in conversations for educational pieces so the top ones that we're bringing is protecting yourself from scams of Boulder district attorney be ready long walk with the office of emergency management fair housing with Susan Spalding and our maintenance team is going to do how to maintain your apartment which is going to teach the residents how to turn off the toilet water if it's overflowing it's so simple how to just do different things check stuff how to work their thermostats because that's where we see a lot of people struggling so our maintenance guy is going to go in with 10 residents at a time and kind of show how to do some preventative systems to help them and how to maintain their apartment in case of an emergency as well I went to Sarah first what do you do any questions for us we're all good do you have any questions for us nope I guess we're done I have a much richer so move second all right


Okay, then let's get started. Any questions so far on what you have discussed? So, so far we have discussed likelihood function, maximum likelihood estimator, method of moments, bias methods discussed. And there is one more thing called expectation maximization algorithm. I will see that if I have time, I will come back to that. Any questions so far on this? So, we basically looked into how to get the different estimators based on the different principles. One was based on sufficiency principle, then based on likelihood principle, then other methods we looked into method of moments and Bayesian methods. And one thing is these are all like a point estimators. What is a point estimator? You are given a data sample, random sample. Now, you use some statistics on that or you do maximum likelihood estimator on that whatever, you are going to get a value, one value based on your data sample and which you are going to take as a estimate of that underlying parameter. So, from data you convert to one value which you are going to tell, okay, this is an estimate of this underlying. That's like a point estimator. So, later we will see also something called interval estimators. So, there you will say that, okay, this is not point, just point. I am not just giving you a point, but I am given to give an interval and say that the parameter that you will be interested is going to lie in this interval. Okay, now we have seen so many estimators, right, so far based on all this method. Then the question naturally comes to all of us is which among these estimators we get is a good one. Okay, then there has to be some criteria to evaluate the estimators we obtain. So, we are going to start talking about how to evaluate my estimators. Okay, then we will look into one of the fundamental principles or property of these estimators which is going to be captured through this Kramer's law of inequality. Then we talk about some terms related to that called as information inequality and future inequality. So, what should be the criteria for evaluating your estimators? Okay, as we say different methods may give different estimators, what's the criteria? One possible criteria is take just the mean squared error. What's the mean squared error is doing? Suppose let's say w is your estimator and of course this depends on your data samples x which I have suppressed in this definition and this is an estimator for parameter theta let's say. Now I am going to define its mean squared error as simply expected value of difference between this w and the theta. So, theta is a constant, w is a random variable here, it depends on your data. So, you are trying to find the expected value of this squared difference and we are denoting it with theta here that is just to denote that these are all with respect to the parameter theta. So, I am interested in knowing how well this w captures my theta, I am just looking into this is like a w is a point estimator here. I am looking into the difference between these two points and since w is in random quantity, I am going to look at the expected value of this difference, square difference. You may ask why you take the square and then take expectation why don't we simply take this quantity absolute value of the difference and take why don't we take simply this instead of taking the square one. This is also have the same property right it is also penalizing both negative and positive values, but this is like penalizing larger by taking the square yeah. So, from the computational point of view m s is better and one is that is tractability and as we will see it has also one good interpretation. What is that interpretation? Let us write this quantity here, what we can do is notice that this w is not necessary that this w is going to be unbiased I am not making any assumption here ok. This w is just I am starting with an estimator it need not be an unbiased ok. So, if it is an unbiased quantity what is the expected value of w? If it is an unbiased value this is going to be theta if not this need not be this ok. So, whatever is the mean value of the w let us simply take it as expected value w what I will do is then expected value I will do w plus expected value of w minus expected value of w plus sorry minus theta I will do this and this is same as this quantity right and this is same as this quantity see because simply have added and subtracted this quantity. Now, if you simply square it and expand it you will see that one term you are going to get is w minus expected value of w squared which is nothing, but variance of w and another term you are going to get is expected value of w minus theta squared that is the quantity I have written here and in addition there is been another quantity here which is 2 times expected value of w minus expectation of w into expectation of expectation of w minus theta right if I had squared this. So, squaring I have basically grouped them maybe what I should have done is maybe let me do w I will do first I will do w and then minus ok. So, these two quantities and these two quantities I have grouped the first when I expand this the first term will give me variance when I expand the second term will give me this quantity and their cross product is this, but what is the value of this cross product 0 because expectation of w is going to cancel with expectation of w this is going to be 0 ok. So, we will get this now this term here expected value of w minus theta we are going to call it as bias of my estimator w is that fine is that definition. So, if w happens to be unbiased estimator what is its bias is going to be it is going to be 0. So, in this case it is if it is not an unbiased estimator it could be positive, but we are going to simply take that the difference of these two quantities we are going to simply define as bias of my estimator w. So, I just said that if an estimator w for parameter theta ok. So, now we are basically defining earlier we have already said this definition, but we are redefining it. An estimator w for parameter is called unbiased if expectation of w is going to be theta this should happen for all theta and now that means, basically alternately I can define it is bias is 0. So, we are simply putting it like if it is going to be unbiased if its bias is going to be 0 and we know what is the bias mean here ok. Now, let us look into some estimators we have. So, we let us take w of x to be simply x bar what is x bar sample mean we already know this right and x bar we use it used it as an estimator for my mean parameter. Now, if I am going to compute this x bar this is going to be mu ok. So, if I am going to use this estimator to estimate the mean parameter the what is the bias of your sample mean with respect to the mean parameter it is going to be 0 right. So, sample mean has bias 0 bias equal to it is same as saying that it is unbiased. Now, I am interested in variance term. So, this is for mean let us now look into variance. Now, my estimator for variance I am going to simply take it as s square. Now, what is the expected value of s square sigma square. So, is sample variance what is the bias of sample variance to estimate the parameter sigma square that is going to be 0 right. So, sample variance has bias again 0 ok. So, that is fine. Now, let us look into this quantity that does let us look into for each one of them the mean squared error that we are interested in ok. First case I am again taking this w to be with respect to my mean parameter ok I am going to take the mean as mean and we know that this is nothing but variance of w plus bias of w with respect to my parameter mu these are all with respect to parameter mu I am computing now. We just should notice that if it w happens to be a sample mean this quantity is 0 what about this quantity sigma square by n. What is sigma there is the variance of the samples ok. Now, let us do the same thing for variance. Now, I am taking w to be s square that is a sample variance and now I am interested in this quantity. So, first of all what is its bias is going to be 0 what is its variance though. So, what is going to be the variance of your variance estimator? Have you calculated it before? What is the variance of your sample variance? Ok I am going to directly right here this is going to be 2 sigma 4 divided by n minus 1 and this is you just need to do computations ok. So, how you are going to do this? Variance of s square is nothing but expectation of s square minus expected value of s square whole square right by definition this and you know definition of s square what is the definition of s square? Ok, let we will write it later this part, but what is the expected value of s square? We know it is going to be sigma square ok. Then you have what all you need to do is 1 upon n minus 1 summation xi minus xi bar whole square minus sigma square whole square. So, you can compute this expression variance of your s square and I am just writing it for you this is going to be 2 sigma square divided by n by 4. This is for the case of unbiased estimator ok, but now let us look into the case where I am just let us look into the case. So, we always took s square to be 1 upon n minus 1 expectation of we took it as summation xi minus xi bar whole square. But why we deliberately chose it to be n minus 1 though naturally we felt that it would have been s square let us put it as s square prime to be 1 by n summation xi minus xi bar whole square right. So, now let us say that, but this could be also an estimator who is stopping you to take this as an estimator you if this is let us say this is your one estimator for variance this could be your another variance let us call this w prime and I know that this w prime is not unbiased right. So, now let us write it n minus 1 n minus 1 I have just multiplied it and 1 by n and let us write it as xi minus xi bar square. So, this is nothing, but if I do this and now if I want to compare it with this quantity this is going to be n minus 1 by n s square right. My w bar of x is not s square, but it is scaled by factor n minus 1 by n everybody agree this is another estimator. Now, let us compute its mean squared error. So, what is the mean squared error for w by our definition this is w prime minus we are still considering it to be an estimator for sigma square right. So, this is sigma square whole square this I know as sorry variance of w prime plus bias how is bias defined bias is s sorry w prime minus theta sorry sigma square right. So, now let us compute each of these terms. So, simpler is to compute expected value of w prime minus sigma square can you compute it ok. Now, let us take this. So, bias of w prime is this quantity which I am going to write it as simply expected value of w prime minus sigma square everybody agree and now what is w prime w prime I expressed in this format which is nothing, but n minus 1 into s square minus sigma square, but n minus 1 by n is a constant for me I can pull out this from the expectation n minus 1 expectation of s square minus sigma square. But what is expectation of s square I know that to be sigma square minus sigma square and if I simplify that this quantity what I am going to get. So, n and n cancels minus by n and now this is why this is unbiased because this quantity need not be 0.


Hello. During lockdown, one of the saving graces for me and so many other people has been our local shops, and we're really lucky in South Cambridgeshire that lots of our villages do have shops in them. And these shops have stepped up, they've arranged deliveries, they've stopped different sorts of things. Most importantly, they've stayed open and they've allowed people like me who've been shielding because I have a family with some health problems to actually remain safe at home. And so lots of us have changed our shopping habits in order to shop locally. And it's really important now as lockdown begins to ease that actually we stay loyal to those shops who have stepped up to the mark during this crisis. It really is a case of use it or lose it. And so please, let's all respond to the commitment that those shops have shown us by staying loyal to them and continuing to shop local now and really forevermore. So shop local, stay safe and stay well.


Tonight we're going to attempt to look at Luke chapter 14. We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 14 and This is really unfortunate, but next week as we get together I'm going to give to you because I prepared verses 12 through 14, especially I wanted to give you a lot of information and and It really really bumps me out, but Enough excuse making let me give the Bible study and I'll make excuses after it Beginning at first one Luke chapter 14 It happened as he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath That they watched him closely and behold there was a certain man before him who had dropsy and Jesus answering spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees saying is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath But they kept silent and he took him and healed him and let him go Then he answered them saying which of you having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit Will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day and they could not answer him Regarding these things so the Lord Jesus Christ once again has been invited to go to the home of a Pharisee And as we see in verse when it tells us that he was there to eat bread on the Sabbath But as he's there you note with me that the people who were there around him are watching him closely And as they're watching him closely They're watching him closely in order that they might find an accusation against him Especially as it relates to the Sabbath day Because the Jews during the time of Christ considered the Sabbath day a holy day The Lord God had given to him that day as a holy day and therefore as they are looking at that in that way They regard it as a holy day and work ought not to be taking place But before them there is a man and this man has something called dropsy now dropsy is a buildup of the fluids In all and it affects most of the main organs and so this individual who is there before the Lord Jesus Christ has dropsy Now it's interesting for me as I look at this passage to note that They're watching him to see not whether he'll do something bad, but something good And so as he's there doing something he's going to he's about to do something that is very good And so Jesus begins to speak in verse three and he answers and he says to the lawyers and the Pharisees saying this is Lawful to heal on the Sabbath, but they kept silent and he took him and healed him and let him go Then he asks the question which of you have in a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit Will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day and they could not answer him regarding these things And so as all of this is taking place Jesus Christ has developed a reputation the reputation that he has is that of doing good I think it's an amazing thing when we have a reputation where people actually will say if we watch that person Close enough long enough. They're gonna be guilty of doing something good It reminds me a bit of like Daniel when you read the book of Daniel Daniel was a man of God who was used by the Lord in tremendous ways and had a tremendous Reputation amongst the people and on one occasion They wanted to find an accusation against him And so it's recorded in the book of Daniel in chapter 6 verses 3 through 5 That Daniel had distinguished himself above the governors and say traps because an excellent spirit was in him and the king gave thought of Thought to setting him over the whole realm So the governors and say traps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom But they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful Nor was there any error or fault found in him then these men said we shall not find any charge against this Daniel and Unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God And so he had a tremendous reputation a reputation of doing good Well, Jesus has a reputation of doing good also and that's why they're watching him And so as they're watching him Jesus knowing their hearts addresses them and speaks to them and asks them the simple question in verse 5 Which of you having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day You see the fact of the matter is is these people cared more about animals than they did about human beings and Seeing that Jesus caught them at that caught them in that sin Well notice verse 6 they could not answer him and did not answer him regarding those things They wanted to remain silent because they didn't want to incriminate themselves and reveal themselves as being without concern for people If there's anything that Evidence is a relationship with God It's going to be concerning compassion for people if there's anything that ever evidence is that we have a relationship with God It's going to be first that we have a love for him that is primary that is the master relationship that we have in our lives and Secondly that is going to be evidenced by Compassion for those who are in need Jesus Christ when he would walk into a room could be counted on to do something about the individual who was there who had a need So much so that when people wanted to find an accusation against him they could look at him and they could say there's somebody in this room with a need and We'll just wait for a moment because ultimately Jesus will gravitate towards that person and he will meet that need Well Jesus knowing that knowing the condition of their heart actually confronts them about that as he does so He makes it very clear that there is a difference between an animal and a human being The fact is you care more about animals than you do about people But Jesus is saying but I don't and so when you ask that question if you had an animal that had fallen into a pit Would you not pull them out? Even if it was the Sabbath well, obviously they wouldn't therefore they could not answer in regarding these things And so verse 7 so he told the parable to those who were invited when he noted how they chose the best places saying to them When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast Do not sit down in the best place Less one more honorable than you be invited by him and he who invited you and him come and say to you Give place to this man and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place But when you are invited go and sit down in the lowest place So that when he who invited you comes he may say to you friend to go up higher Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at table with you For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be Exalted and so I Do have notes for this having disarmed them He now addresses their sinful attitudes and what Jesus is doing is he's noticing something. He's noticing how the guests ambitiously secure the most important places at the table When people would go to a meal they would normally recline and the table was formed in a U shape so picture in your mind the letter U and Then picture when you come down to the base and go back up to the U picture that as being three seats The three seats were for the most prestigious guest you have in the center the guest of honor You have the person on the left would be the preferred guest and the person on the right who was the second most honored guest to the guest of honor Jesus is watching these people as these dignified individuals run into the room or Push their way and somehow force their way in so that they might find the most prestigious Places at that table and this is what the Lord is watching as this is taking place That's what it says in verse 7 he told the parable to those who were invited when he noted how they chose the best places And so there they are pushing the way up to the front what they are guilty of is selfish ambition Selfish ambition is the pushing ahead of others in order to gain prestige for yourself and the Bible tells us in Proverbs 13 verse 10 That by pride comes nothing but strife when somebody is Constantly pushing themselves ahead in front of somebody else then all you're going to create is tension Tension amongst the people who are being displaced And so Jesus is watching this group of prestigious individuals as they act like children Pushing in front of one another to find the most prestigious places in order that they might be the most honored at that Table, but Jesus would tell us that pride actually creates strife In Philippians chapter 2 verse 3 the Bible says let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit But in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself The attitude of the believer is actually preferring the lower seat The attitude of the believer is actually not desiring to be known or to have your name mentioned by others We don't strive for attention. We don't have a desire to be the center of attention We actually find our pleasure and our greatest pleasure in simply being a servant and serving the Lord and those around us in ministry Selfish ambition is an especially terrible sin Because it causes the individual who is suffering with it to cease being a servant and Causes them to have an attitude of being served And when a person begins to consider themselves so important that people need to serve them Then the spirit of servanthood leaves the church and is displaced It's replaced actually by an attitude of ambition And so Jesus is noting this in ministry. It's a killer in the Christian life It's destructive because what we need to do is just allow the Lord to do the work that God wants to do and just rejoice in the fact that he makes the decision where we ought to serve and and Where we ought to be One of the things and I'll say this as an anecdote or just a momentary illustration that that was very profitable for me as a young person is I was the guy when I was growing up I was the guy who didn't really have a name I was the guy that people would say and you and so Like I had a friend named Bill and had a friend named Jim two good-looking guys and all and we hung around together So we might go someplace and and meet meet some girls and all and the girl will say one girl will say well It's nice to meet you Bill and it's nice to meet you Jim and you too. Well, I was the you too, you know And and for the longest time I have to be honest with you. It really bothered me. I I hated Bill and Jim You know, I prayed many years that God would make them short and bald, but he didn't But I had I you know, I learned that and and I learned a long time ago that that People won't remember you and they won't remember your name and and so a long time ago. I pretty much died to that I pretty much stopped desiring that I I actually found more comfort in just being one of the people rather than having to be noticed by the people You know what I'm trying to say it it just became more comfortable for me I I still enjoy that much more than having the attention in all But I didn't know that the Lord was actually breaking something from me even prior to me getting saved Because when you when you begin to minister and especially when you have a church like this and people begin to know the church and know the Reputation of the pastor and things like that People can treat you in very different ways and can actually make you think you're important when in reality Of course you're not and people can do that even in this fellowship I've told you so many times that I I I really would prefer people just not shaking when they talk to me because sometimes they do they Actually come up nervously talking to me and I and I wonder is my breath that bad. I mean, you know Give me a mint or something, you know, I'm I'm sorry You know because I really feel more comfortable with people who who see me for who I am just one of the sinners who goes to this church and And and that makes me a lot more comfortable, but this attitude of needing Attention and having to be known. Well, that's something that the Lord teaches against and that's why he says in verse 8 When you're invited by anyone to a wedding feast do not sit down in the best place Lest one more honorable than you be invited by him and and he who invited you and him come and say to you Give place to this man and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place But when you are invited go and sit down in the lowest place so that when he who invited you comes He may say to you friend go up higher Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you for whoever exalts himself will be humbled And he who humbles himself will be exalted.  He's not advocating that he's simply pointing out that the host determines places of honor and Isn't going to award you that place through your selfish ambition That's because honor in the kingdom of God does not occur based on pushing for it It simply comes through the Lord So the point he's making is humble yourself and allow the Lord to place you where he wants you to be That's because God resists those who attempt to exalt themselves and humility is the key to greatness In Proverbs 22 verse 4 the scripture says by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life Proverbs 29 23 says a man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor So God would have us to have humble spirits this this being without the need to be noticed and known by others Now Jesus obviously is the greatest example in Luke chapter 22 We'll see at verse 27 when he asks the question who's greater he who sits at the table or he who serves Is it not he who sits at the table yet? I am among you as the one who serves Jesus was the greatest example of an individual Who was the servant of all and so if Jesus who is God in the flesh Made the determination to serve us. How much more should we serve one another? It's interesting when John is speaking in John chapter 13 And he speaks concerning the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ knows that it is time for him to return to his father That all things had been delivered to him and his last night that he is with their his men and is having and celebrating the Passover supper. It's interesting how now John points out that in that Passover supper After the supper had been ended that Jesus girded himself with a towel Took a basin of water and knelt down and began to wash the feet of his disciples Now the owner of that room if he were present would have had the Responsibility of having a servant there who did that kind of work Because the people who came up into that room were walking the dusty streets of Jerusalem And they would walk with sandals and so when they came into the room their feet were hot their feet were dusty And so it was an act of hospitality to take a basin of water and to wash the feet sometimes they would put a cooling or a soothing ointment on it and You know and just care for the needs now seeing that Jesus was acting as the host He could have had somebody there one of the men to do that task But he chose to do it himself. It's interesting to note though that and that had not been done Supper was already ended and not a single one of his apostles had even thought that they ought to serve one another Even though Jesus for three years had been teaching the single lesson of Servanthood and yet here he is and the last night that he's with the disciples taking a towel Girding himself taking a basin of water and washing the feet of his disciples. We all know the story We know how the apostle Peter said are you washing my feet? You will never wash my feet and how that Jesus spoke to him and said if I do not wash your feet You have no part of me and he says then give me an entire bath I want you to have a relationship with me and Jesus says if a man's feet are washed if he's bathed The only thing that needs to be washed is his feet and he washes his feet then he goes and he says Do you understand what I've just done? He said you call me master and you call me a lord and it's right that you do so because that's what I am if I then being your lord and master have washed your feet You ought to wash the feet of one another and this what I have just done to you I have done as an example unto you and so when Jesus speaks concerning his ministry It is in the context of suffering or in the context of Servanthood and so for the greatest in the kingdom to have any real honor from God It requires the humility of the individual to realize that it is God who places you in the place He wants you to be you don't elevate yourself to that position You just serve him and then he will place you in the place that he wants You to be Sometimes some people can't can't really handle a claim. They can't handle fame They can't handle attention it goes to their head it undermines the work of God in them That person isn't going to be placed in a position where he's going to get a lot of attention or she's going to be well-known It's just not going to happen But if the person has a humble spirit depends on God trusts the Lord isn't isn't pushing for position The Lord will give him more and more to do because you don't take the glory from him in first Peter in chapter 5 verse 6 The Apostle said humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time And so Jesus is less than it's very simply this learn to place others before yourself Learn to take the lower seat for in doing so you reveal that you have stopped pushing ahead of other people So that makes it possible when because you have seen yourself for who you truly are and the way To become a servant is to simply do this die to yourself Do not be seeking honor for yourself Learn to be a servant in Galatians chapter 5 Paul says in verses 14 through 16 all the laws fulfilled in one word Even this you shall love your neighbor as yourself But if you bite and devour one another beware lest you be consumed by one another I say then walk in the spirit you shall not fulfill the loss of the flesh You see the kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom In the kingdom of God the humble are great and the great are humbled And so we are not those who seek personal attention Jeremiah 45 verse 5 says it like this Do you seek great things for yourself do not seek them Because in the kingdom of God we know that God lifts up one person and he brings low the other So as he's speaking here he makes it very clear again in verse 11 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted Verse 12 then he also said to him who invited him When you give a dinner or a supper do not ask your friends your brothers Your relatives nor rich neighbors lest they also invite you back and you be repaid But when you give a feast invite the poor the maimed the lame the blind And you'll be blessed because they cannot repay you for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just And so during that time if I were to give a dinner very often I would give a dinner to the person who could reciprocate I would give to somebody who could give me an invitation back That's how it would work and that's how it was working and Jesus could see that this person's Friendships were all of the same stripe And so what he does now is he actually confronts the the man who gave the feast and he's basically saying this He's saying why don't you include as acts of charity in your associations? Those who would benefit most Why don't you invite the poor?  Why don't you invite those who are crippled? Why don't you invite those who are blind? In other words, why don't you invite those who in society have the greatest need Rather than giving your generosity to the person who pays you back for it Why don't you give it to the person who has no ability to do so? And so the person in his mind would say well, why would I do that only says in verse 14 because you'll be blessed They can't repay you you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just Because ultimately what happens is God who sees these works rewards you in the resurrection Rewards you when the time comes that you stand before the Lord to receive those things that have been done in the body When you do these things out of love for God and love for people God is going to bless you in return. And so if you have true generosity It simply means that you give to those who cannot give back Now I'm going to keep going with the study. I was preparing for next week and I've got time to do that verse 15 Now when one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things he said to him Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God Well, the room's gotten kind of quiet by that time And have you ever been in a place that is extremely tense and you don't know what to say? That's what's taking place here Jesus has just lambasted the host And so somebody there who's at this particular banquet wants to say something very spiritual From the moment Jesus had come into the room all eyes have been on him That's what it had said in verse one when it simply said they watched him closely And so they've been watching him in order that they can find something to accuse him of And so what they've been looking for is a religious charge now The people That were making those charges against him were people who would strain at a net and swallow a camel And so Jesus thought it right for him to actually bring them into a place of not so much accusation But of chastisement and so what he does is he wants to give to them in response to this A story that will help him to understand Now first as I mentioned in verse 15 this individual doesn't really know what to say So he says blessed is he who shall eat bread and the kingdom of god That's a nice religious thing to say and maybe it'll take the edge off the moment But jesus doesn't go for it. Jesus goes right to the heart verse 16 He says a certain man gave a great supper and invited many and sent his servant at supper time To say to those who were invited come for all things are now ready But they all with one accord began to make excuses the first said to him I've bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it I ask you to have me excused and another said I've bought five yoke of oxen and I'm going to test them I ask you to have me excused still another said I've married a wife therefore. I cannot come I can't have fun anymore So that servant came and reported these things to his master Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor the maim the lame and the blind And the servant said master it is done as you commanded and still there's room Then the master said to the servant go out into the highways and hedges compel them to come in That my house may be filled for I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper These people are lost The people that jesus is speaking to Think that religious comments and sentiments are ultimately going to save them He's already demonstrated to them that they're uncaring and proud and now he reveals them to be spiritually blind And he gives us parable now as you see the parable notice with me some very basic things one We note that there's a very rich man who's giving a very lavish party Notice how jesus refers to it as a great supper with many guests So that makes this a party that no one wants to miss It's going to have the best food and it's going to have the noblest guests And the best part is it's all free all you have to do is come you've been invited And this represents something more represents something more than simply eating It's it's it's everything that goes along with being in a place like that I mean some of us, you know, I don't know if you've done this Perhaps you never have but some of us have driven by mansions before I can still remember Going with some friends of mine many years ago into into uh, Bel Air and in that section and just driving through neighborhoods and seeing these unbelievable houses These beautiful homes and and some of us have seen these beautiful homes And and we really have never been inside of them probably would never receive an invitation to do so But but you can only imagine with all that opulence and all that that wealth What it would be like to to live in those conditions or to go to a lavish party and and that's what it's all about That's what Jesus is talking about. It's not just that you're showing up to have a good meal It's everything else that goes along with that and so The point he's making here is that our natural appetites Can never really fulfill us all they can really do is reveal that we are unfulfilled and the natural appetites always in gender longing because what we really need is satisfaction and fellowship with God The bible in romans 14 verse 17 says the kingdom of god is not eating and drinking But righteousness and peace and joy in the holy spirit That's why in in psalm 16 verse 11 the psalm has said you'll show me the path of life In your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand our pleasures forevermore The best that this world ever has to offer us Whether it is eating and drinking or a beautiful place to be in Is never going to be sufficient To meet the spiritual hunger that we have But yet Jesus uses this banquet to give them the understanding because they're all familiar with banquets That there is a great banquet that will take place one day that will satisfy every need that you have And so according to verse 17 He sent his servants at supper time to say to those who were invited come for all things are now ready So at that time invitations were initially sent out announcing the time of the banquet And the guests at that time that they were invited would indicate their acceptance. It was like an immediate rsvp There'd be a second invitation that was sent out to re-invite the guests But that was really an act of courtesy on the part of the host because if you accepted the first invitation He anticipated you being there and if you did accept the first invitation and didn't show up It was a tremendous insult But these people who initially had said that they would come are now beginning to make excuses We see the excuses outlined in verse 18 19 and 20 The all with one accord began to make excuses Well, the first said to him I've bought a piece of ground and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused Who in their right mind would purchase a piece of property site unseen? And yet that's what this peep this person did he's saying I bought a piece of property But I have to go look at it verse 19. I've bought five yoke of oxen. I have to go test them I asked you to have me excused this guy bought 20 000 pounds of livestock But he didn't test them first and then the third one gives a real interesting excuse I've married a wife and therefore I cannot come I'm still happy. I must not be married now That has a religious ring to it though And then let me tell you why in the old testament book of deuteronomy in chapter 24 verse 5 There's an interesting law there. It says when a man has taken a new wife He shall not go out to war or be charged with any business He shall be free at home one year and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken You are to be excused from all kinds of things so that you can bring happiness to your wife He's basically using that as an excuse. We're going to see this in a minute But it has a religious ring to it and we're going to see how that applies in this parable in just a moment The law may have excluded him from military service Or things of that nature, but it didn't exclude him from going to a banquet But here's what you see taking place. These are the excuses I cannot come because of my home My work and my marriage Those are excuses that are still being made I cannot come because of my home my work or my marriage. I cannot come You see possessions and affections cover most every reason people reject god's invitation Now it's not that these things aren't important. I should hasten to add that We should care for our material possessions because that falls under the category of stewardship Our homes and our work are given to us by our lord and we should care for them Our relationships ought to be closely guarded also Yet the fact is when we seek first the kingdom of god our other concerns are going to fall into order But when these things become hindrances Then what they become really is spiritual dangers You see what these are are really simply excuses The bottom line is they really don't want to go to the feast You see if it was something that they wanted for themselves they would make an effort for it There's an old saying you will always do that what you want to do and that's pretty much true today If somebody was to say I've got some Front row seats at a concert that this person wants to attend They're going to be there Or if they said I have tickets to the world series or the super bowl or the NBA championships They're going to be there. I want to give you a free trip to paris or a shopping spree in london They're going to find somebody else to check out the fields try the oxen and take care of the home because they're going to be gone Because you do what you want to do So the bottom line is we have to ask ourselves if if we like our car or our home more than we love the lord jesus christ Do we care for these things more? If the kingdom of god is being presented to us Or a large estate, which do we really want the most? One of my favorite psalms is found in psalm 42 And in psalm 42 verses one and two these this is a psalm of the sons of korah The psalm is said as the dear pants for the waterbrooks So pants my soul for you. Oh god My soul thirsts for god for the living god When shall I come and appear before god or psalm 84 verse 10 for a day in your courts is better than a thousand I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my god than dwell in the tents of wickedness So we have to ask ourselves What do we love the most and that's the whole point of this and invitation has been given I want you to come to the great banquet. I want you to have a relationship with me But people make excuses my home my marriage my possessions The things that are mattering to me are getting in the way of a relationship with god I want these material things so much more and I can't really envision eternity All I can really picture is what I have right here and right now So these people want the material things and they want their relationships over the peace joy forgiveness eternal life and satisfaction of eternity People reject the kingdom of god because they really just don't want it Even the religious people of jesus' day acted as if they wanted the kingdom, but in reality they didn't And so they make excuses So what happens well verse 21 the servant came and reported these things to his master And the master of the house being angry said to his servant Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind Since those invited refused to come the master sent for those who normally would not be invited And these people in their wildest dreams would never have considered the possibility of such a feast These are people who are pictured in rags hobbling to the table set before them in complete amazement and wonder It's a picture Of us. It's a picture of the church In first Corinthians chapter one verses 26 through 29 Paul said this He said you see your calling brethren That not many wise according to the flesh Not many mighty not many noble are called But god has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty And the base things of the world and the things which are despised god has chosen And the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are That no flesh should glory in his presence God has chosen the weak things of the world God has chosen the foolish things of the world That's us God has done An incredible work of grace The other day when I was in Calvary Downey doing a A banquet for them The brother who was doing the introduction was reading some of the things that he had gotten I'm not sure if if my secretary sent in this he may have asked some information concerning our fellowship and all And he started reading Some of the things you know as he's introducing Me to the people and as I was listening to it. There were a lot of glowing things being said and so After he said all of those things I walked up and I said that even impressed me You know because sometimes you know sometimes people will see what the lord has done And and people get the wrong idea. I honestly believe that Well, I love the scripture that that no flesh should glory in his presence I presence I I really honestly believe That god makes the determination Of what he wants to do and he simply does it through a person who's available And what jesus is simply saying here is look All of these people who are so wealthy and so religious and so good by the standards of the world Really don't want the kingdom of god. They're not hungry for it But there are plenty of people out there who recognize their spiritual poverty and their need And these people are portrayed as those who enter into this incredible banquet hall And they see all of this food and all of this luxury and all of this beauty spread out before them And as they hobble in with amazement They look around and they say how can these things be? And that's how it's going to be for us guys when we enter into the kingdom of heaven That's how it's going to be for us when our eyes behold jesus christ And we see the glory and the splendor and the beauty of the place that has been prepared for us And as we enter in and we spend time with our master our lord our king And we enter and there isn't going to be a sense of pride like look what I have achieved There's going to be a sense of gratitude. Look what he has done for me Look what he did for me.  He's the one. She's the one that jesus invites And what he wants them to do is he wants them to understand that there's still room And he says i want you to compel them to come in when he says compel them that means prevail on them with sincere love and fervor You see jesus wants us to have eyes to see Again in john chapter 4 verses 35 and 36 beautiful passage Jesus said do you not say there are still four months and then comes the harvest? Behold i say to you lift up your eyes and look at the fields for they are already white for harvest And he who reeves receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life That both he who sows and he who reeves may rejoice together You say that harvest is coming when the season Of of the grain ripening appears and that's a few months from now But i want to tell you if you look out there you can see that the grain is ripened already Have eyes to see have eyes to see that there are people out there in need and compel them with love and concern To come to christ love them and tell them the truth have compassion and zeal Don't don't go to bed at night without praying for your friends and your loved ones who don't know the lord Don't go a day without remembering them in prayer before the lord and asking god Will you give me an opportunity to share the gospel with my brother or my sister my aunt my uncle my mom my dad Will you give me an opportunity to be a witness to my boss or my co-workers or the students in my school God helped me to be an example to my neighbors and if i get an opportunity to share with them concerning the hope that Is within me help me to do so with gentleness and respect towards them because lord There's only one way to heaven and i believe that with all of my heart Therefore would you give me an opportunity to compel people with love and concern to enter into the kingdom of god May i have a heart of evangelism may i have a heart to see the loss May i see that the fields already are white for harvest and lord in and that that simply means that it's time now because the fruit Is going to rot on the tree lord give me an opportunity to reach out and to touch somebody and encourage them for jesus's sake That they might come to know him that's the desire of our heart and that's what it ought to be And that's what jesus is saying here i have a great supper Somebody in a great king has invited many people Excuses were made but instead of buying their excuses seeing that they don't want to enter in He sent his servant out and he says you bring in the ones who are out there who weren't expecting an invitation And they come in and they see the beauty of what has been prepared They're amazed and jesus christ is saying very simply here my house needs to be filled But in verse 24 for i say unto you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper Israel had been invited But israel rejected the invitation and because they refused their messiah They did not enter in and though the lord was compelling them the lord the lord was inviting them They were obstinate and continued to refuse But the invitation even today continues He's still inviting us to enter in But the question is is are we making excuses? I have a job I have to take care of my home I don't want to get my My family upset Or I have my religion I can't tell you over the years How many times i've had people say Well, I have my religion I I was raised in a certain way. I have my religion.  I would be saying to my mom You lied to me I can still remember speaking to one young man and I said to him You need to come to christ and receive him as your lord and savior He says I can't do that And I said, why can't you do that? He says because if I come to christ Then it's going to make my mom angry And it's all a religious thing It's going to make my mom angry and I said to him.  And he said yes, I am And I looked at him and I said you want to know something I wasn't I was not willing to go to hell for my mother But I was willing to bring my mother to heaven And I said you need to come to jesus christ so you can bring her to jesus christ That's how it works And a lot of people say well, you know what I was raised in this religion. It's good enough for my mom It's good enough for me. It'll be good enough for my family But if you're not saved, it's not good for anything Your relationship with christ is what matters faith in jesus matters Relationship with him, of course, he's not going to ask us. Did you go to calvary chapel and you say yes Okay, you can come in. It's not going to be a thing like that at all What it's going to be like is What did you do with the message of the gospel? What did you do? If if god were speaking he could say what did you do with my son? Did you receive him or did you not? And if I say well, I was a presbyterian That doesn't matter What did you do with my son is the question not where did you go to church? See, we need to have that understanding, don't we we need to know Well, what I did with your son is I loved him. I worshiped him. I received him I followed him I became his disciple because he died on the cross for me And without excuse, I just simply embraced him And then I'll hear the words well done my good and my faithful servant Then I'll hear enter into the joy of your lord that has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world It's not because of works of righteousness, which we've done It's simply because we received christ and received his mercy. We received his invitation We didn't make excuse. We embraced and as we embraced we entered in These people did not embrace therefore they did not enter in