Thank you for listening to this message from
Lifehouse Church. I am excited about today because
today is Student Sunday. So you have seen some
of our students maybe greeting, maybe running
around from their greeting position, maybe in
the cafe, maybe back in Kidstown. But regardless,
we just love the opportunity to get to see them
use their gifts. Of course, you guys got to see
this morning as some of our younger ones started
off with worship. and then some of our older
ones leading in worship this morning. And it's
just an incredible thing to be able to see what
God has already placed inside them and then just
let it continue to grow. Here at LifeHouse, if
you serve with us at all, you've probably heard
us say, like, we get to, which comes from Mark
10, 45, and it specifically talks about the fact
that for even the Son of Man came to... not to
be served, but to serve and to give his life
as a ransom. And so basically they then have
an opportunity and you as anytime we serve, we
have an opportunity to represent Christ. And
it is an honor to watch them and I am blown away.
They did an incredible job this morning. Another
thing I wanted to mention is I... Totally understand
if I hear your stomach grumbling this morning.
I know we just wrapped up at the movies where
we had our movie snacks and our media. I have
neither of those things for you this morning.
So thanks for being here. But you did get an
hour of sleep, right? You got an extra hour.
So you should be a little bit extra rested. I
have to turn my lock screen on because it is
going dark on me. One second. There we go. Cool.
But yeah, so you do get an extra hour of sleep,
which is great, except for the fact that it also
means it puts you one hour closer to lunchtime.
So your stomach, again, grumbling. I should have
thought that one forward and been able to bring
some type of snack. My apologies. Bear with me.
Lunchtime is coming. And then, of course, you
may notice that our front pew is rather empty
this morning, other than my handsome husband.
But Pastor Kip and Dixie and their incredible
family are all on vacation this week. So they
are surrounded by the hospitality of Mickey and
friends. So they're in good hands. But I want
to let you know that you guys are in good hands
as well. That didn't work. It's still walking.
You guys are in good hands as well. We are here
for you. So if you need us in any way this week,
if you need prayer, if you just need to reach
out and talk to somebody, I am more than happy
to talk. I'm a bit of a chatterbox when you get
me one -on -one. So please reach out to me. I
am here for you guys. Let me pray over this morning
and then we'll get into the word. Heavenly Father,
God, we thank you for this morning. God, I thank
you for the opportunity to come here today to
share what you have placed on my heart. Father,
I pray that this morning that it's not just me,
that it's not about the accolades or anybody
telling me that, oh, that was a good message.
I don't care about that. I just care about the
fact that it is a good message that you have
planted, that you have... created father that
you can edify my words so that even in the times
that i have prepared over this message god that
if there are things that i need to say that haven't
said father that your words come out and father
that as we listen to the words that are in your
scripture this morning and as we think about
the revelations that come from your divine holy
spirit god that we just allow those things into
our hearts and into our spirits this morning
so that it's not just a message that is spoken
and then immediately off our heads when we're
on to lunch, but something that continues to
sit with us and to grow in us. So, Father, we
thank you for this morning, and we pray that
you have your way. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right. I really have to figure out why my
screen is still locking. My apologies. Usually
it does not do this. I have it set that it shouldn't.
Anyways, I'll figure it out. Okay, so be honest
with me this morning. Now, of course, it is church,
and so you should be honest regardless, inside
and outside of the church. But if you're honest
with me this morning, how many of you have ever
lost something important? Okay, so I don't even
have to give you examples, but you probably have
ever misplaced your keys or your wallet or maybe
even your mind while searching for one of those
things. Yeah, it happens. And then... If you
find that item or when you finally find that
item, sometimes you've possibly heard the phrase,
well, it's always the last place you look. Have
you heard that before? Yes. Which like makes
sense, right? It's kind of a strange phrase because
if it's the first, like if it's the last place
you look, like you're done looking because why
would you continue to look afterwards? That wouldn't
make any sense. So then have you ever lost something
that was literally right on you? So let's say
it's like your sunglasses or your readers or
maybe even your cell phone that's in your hand,
but you're frantically searching everywhere for
it. Happens to me all the time, unfortunately.
And it's so funny because it's like, well, I've
had it the whole time and I just didn't realize
it. And so now I wonder how many of us live like
that when it comes to the Lord? He's right here,
but instead of being like, okay, there he is,
it's, well, let me search over here and over
here and over here and over here. I'm just going
to search everywhere but where he is. When it
comes to God, we have to let him be the first
place we look. Everybody say first place. Right.
First place we look, we cannot let him be the
last place we look. Jesus said it this way in
Matthew 6. 6 .33, it says, but seek first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all
these things will be added to you. That verse
sits right in the middle of the Sermon on the
Mount. Basically, Jesus is teaching about all
sorts of things. He's talking about worry, priorities,
trust. He's reminding us that if we seek God
first, everything else will find its proper place.
But if we're honest, when we need something,
prayer is not. oftentimes our first response
it's usually like to google something and i'm
not saying that when it comes to google that
you need to throw your phone out the window especially
these beautiful stained glass windows do not
recommend but some of us tend to have more faith
in google than we do in god or we'll talk to
siri before we talk to the savior we'll check
our own understanding like maybe we know something
that he doesn't which of course is ridiculous
We'll scroll through advice from influencers
on social media, and maybe we'll even ask AI
to solve our problems. But I'm not saying that
those things are evil either. Google absolutely
can be helpful. AI can be a useful tool. And
social media can be a platform for good, despite
what some people think. However, when we let
those things be the very first place we look,
that's the problem. It's the risk of then finding
a shallow response or even an inherently wrong
response. And then in the midst of all that,
we let the chaos and the confusion and all sorts
of questions begin to just pile up on top of
each other. And then to some, Google, social
media, AI, they can even become, to some people,
an acceptable substitution to our Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. Now, before you look at me and
say like, whoa, Pastor Alyssa, that is a bold
claim. Okay, bear with me. People go to Google
for what? Information. So they'll go for Google
because they think it has all the knowledge and
all of the wisdom. Instead of God, who we do
believe is all -knowing. He does have all of
the knowledge. They'll go to things like social
media for connection. We reach out or we post
things on social media because we want other
people to like or to see what we're doing or
to bond with us in some way. Or we'll try to
get approval from there, which is what we're
supposed to look for in Jesus Christ. Jesus came
so that he could have relationship with these
people. He would walk alongside them. He would
be with them in the good times, the bad times,
the hard times, and so on. And then whenever
it comes to AI, okay, so we know that AI, it
does a lot of great things. It can, you know,
organize our thoughts. It can find us information
and help to slim down our process. But where
people fall into traps is that they'll fall into
things of artificial inspiration instead of seeking
out divine revelation. So they'll settle with
going to these sources for guidance. They won't
bother consulting with the word or they won't
listen to those nudges of the Holy Spirit within
them because they've been pacified by a worldly
response that was good enough. But life isn't
always like that. There are certain places in
scripture that we have read about it or that
we are well aware that we are supposed to go
to God first. If you take Proverbs 3 verse 9,
it says, honor the Lord with your wealth, with
the first fruits of all your crops. And now we
often hear that mostly referred to when we talk
about tithing. And it's a reference to money,
but it can't stop there. It applies to our searches
too. God has to be the very first in our search,
first in our seeking. When we seek him first,
the clarity can begin to rise from the confusion
and peace can begin to fill the chaos. Strength
can show up where there once was weakness. But
that's easier said than done. especially in a
world where everyone is busy. When we all have
different problems and different things going
on, we think, well, certainly if I have all these
things going on, then they probably have things
going on and I don't want to bother them with
my things because then their things will pile
up with my things and it just gets all sorts
of confusing. But where we go wrong is we think
that that same principle then applies to God
as well. We lump the Lord into that category
when God is saying, I am right here. I have what
you need, but I need you to ask me. I want you
to ask me. I want to have that relationship,
that communication with you. So before you ask
God, or before you ask Google, ask God. Before
you reach out, reach up, and let him be the first
place you look. And I get that sometimes, though,
when we do finally seek out to God, He speaks,
but we do not understand. He gives us an answer
that does not make sense in our current or present
situation, but that's not the point either. Seeking
God means trusting what we don't understand.
So my mom is here today, and so this story applies
to her, but it speaks about me growing up as
a child and honestly still today. My mom is one
of the most incredible organizers that I have
ever met, to the point where she also helped
pack Ryan and I up when we moved out of our house
and pretty much fully unpacked us to get us all
organized in our house. It was a huge blessing,
but because of that, I still don't know where
certain things are, and Ryan definitely doesn't
know. But whenever I was growing up, and even
still today if I go home, whenever I started
getting interested in baking or cooking, I would
go to ask her for an ingredient. And if I didn't
know where it was, if I rummaged through the
cabinets already and it wasn't there, I would
go to her and say, all right, I need... condensed
milk or something like that. I don't know, some
ingredient. I need this ingredient. And she'd
be like, okay, without even looking up, she could
be like on her phone or reading her Kindle or
something without even looking up. She'd be like,
yeah, okay. So if you go downstairs, you, it's
on the second row, second shelf, follow this
way. It's up here, right between this and right
below the green beans. And I'd be like, got it.
Off I went. So I'll go search, following there.
I'd be like, okay, it's on this row. Do this,
go this way. It's on this shelf, green beans.
Nope, nope, it's not there. So you look around.
So you're like, okay, maybe it's like near the
green beans. Maybe she's like slightly wrong.
She's most of the time not wrong. So then I go
back upstairs after not being able to find it.
And I say, okay, well, I can't find it. She goes
downstairs. And about 10 seconds later, she returns
with the item exactly where she said it was.
Has this ever happened to you? Where it feels
like somebody just pulled something out of thin
air and you're like, there is no way. There is,
I just looked there. It was just not there. But
obviously it was there. And regardless of how
it got there or whether it was there the whole
time or not, you were just thankful that somebody
helped you find it. So that feeling of not being
able to find something that they just gave you
the instructions for, it's frustrating, right?
Sometimes it's even a little bit humiliating
because you're like, I should have been able
to do that. I can follow instructions. Likewise,
we live in an age now that we are obsessed with
the answers and knowing exactly what the answer
is. Like we ask questions, how do I fix this?
Why did that happen? What's next? But here's
the thing. If we are to seek the answers first,
we will always end up with more questions. For
instance, when I was younger, this is not related
to that story. Similar story though, just because
my mind goes all sorts of places to follow along.
When I was younger, I would get curiosities about
random things. Have you ever been in an underwater
tunnel? Yeah. Is anybody ever curious about how
that was built? Okay. I was, and I still am because
I never really found the answer, and here's why.
Because when I would go to look up the answer,
it wouldn't be the short, like, well, this is
how it's built that I wanted. It was like, okay,
well, while I'm looking it up, it tried to give
me an answer, but I didn't understand those answers,
so let me think about it myself. What if, you
know, it was built underground, and then they
just sucked out all the water. Okay, well then
if it was that way, then did the construction
workers have to wear scuba gear? Were they scuba
certified? So I would continue to go down through
all of these questions, trying to figure out
the answer. Still don't know. If you do know
the answer and you want to give me a very short
response, tell me later. But anyways, I know
that those examples seem silly, but the concept
is that every time we have a question, it's easy
for us to have more and more and more questions
when we're seeking out the answer. And so in
a deeper, a more spiritual sense, getting away
from those examples, we often start with why.
Why am I suffering? Why is my relationship not
working? Why is the world so unfair? And we assume
then that understanding will lead us to peace.
But peace doesn't come from understanding. It
comes from encounter. Peace is a person. When
we seek the answer, which is the Lord, you'll
start to understand your questions. So if you
think about some people in the Bible, so take
Job, for instance. Job was a righteous man of
God, as Scripture declares. Satan believed that
God was basically just protecting him. And that
was the only reason that he was following God.
He was following all of these things. And that
certainly if God allowed it, that he would curse
God and just be like, okay, I'm done with this.
And so the Lord allowed it. The Lord allowed
Satan to go ahead and test him, to take away
his property, to take away his wealth, to take
away his family and even his own physical health.
Job then asked why for 37 chapters. The book
of Job is lengthy in nature, but for 37 chapters
of those, he asked why. Why is this happening?
And so on. And his friends tried to answer questions
as well. But when God finally spoke to him, he
did not answer a single one of Job's questions
directly. He revealed himself instead. Job said
in Job 42, verse 5, now my eyes have seen you.
It wasn't about the specific answer to all of
the problems, all of the whys, but my eyes have
seen you, the Lord. Now we take Moses. Moses
was the leader of the Israelite people, but he
was worried about his own lack of confidence,
his own stuttering, his own speaking abilities.
He didn't think he could do it. thinking that
surely others could be better for the job. He
asked for explanations. He asked, okay, well,
who am I or how am I going to lead? And God did
not answer those questions immediately, but he
said in Exodus 3 verse 12, I will be with you.
Again, it wasn't the answer to those specific
questions, but it was that God's presence would
be with him. And then Paul. Paul was once on
the other side of faith, who persecuted Christians.
And later he was converted into the faith, and
now we know him more as the influential apostle.
We know him as a missionary, or we know him as
the author of many, many books of our New Testament.
And so he asked for the thorn in his flesh to
be removed. He pled with God three separate times
to say, God, remove this from my life so that
I don't have to deal with it anymore. But God
responded. He didn't explain it away, but he
said, in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 9, my
grace is sufficient for you. He did not explain
all of the answers or all the questions that
he had, but he said that my grace is going to
cover it all. In each case, God did not give
them those direct answers, but he gave himself.
And sometimes that's the case. When we truly
want the answer, our questions will make sense
in his presence instead. And when we think we
want the answers, we have to be okay knowing
that we can trust the very one who has them,
even if we don't understand them. I think about
when Jesus spoke to his disciples on the night
of his betrayal. He was surrounded by all of
these people that he trusted and people that
he'd walked through and been through, but still
when he knelt down to wash their feet, he said,
you do not understand now what I am doing, but
later you will understand. It wasn't about the
specific moment he knew what was going on. They
didn't, but he promised them that they would.
And so when we can't see the reason, we have
to trust the relationship. And when we can't
trace his hand in it all, we still have to trust
his heart. Because seeking a life or a life seeking
Jesus changes everything. We must persistently
seek him to change the atmosphere around us.
And that's what we are as believers. As persistent
seekers, we can change the atmosphere. Jesus
told a story about the parable of the lost coin.
This is in Luke chapter 15, verse eight. It says,
suppose a woman has 10 silver coins and loses
one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house
and search carefully until she finds it? And
when she finds it, she calls her friends and
neighbors together and says, rejoice with me,
I have found my lost coin. In the same way, I
tell you, there is more rejoicing, or there is
rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents. So I have a question,
another question, I'll keep you engaged here.
Does anybody have a favorite piece of clothing?
Sweatshirt, sweatpants, something that you consistently
go back to? I'm going to tell on my husband.
A couple years ago, for Ryan's birthday, I got
him a sweatshirt. Royal blue sweatshirt, and
he loves it. In fact, actually, it's in the car.
He didn't wear it this morning. That was kind
of disappointing. But anyways, if this sweatshirt,
he's not a sweatshirt person. I'll put it out
that way. Like, if he doesn't have to wear a
sweatshirt or even pants, he won't. He'll wear
jeans, but, you know, sparingly. Anyways. This
sweatshirt, I got him a couple years ago for
his birthday. And because of that sweatshirt,
because of the connection to it or whatever,
maybe it's the comfort, I don't know. I like
to think it's because it's custom. But anyways,
he will search and seek for it specifically.
He has maybe 10, 15 other sweatshirts. But if
that sweatshirt is available, he's putting it
on. If it's in the laundry, he might consider
grabbing it out of the laundry. But either way,
he's specifically seeking that specific one.
And so if he can't find it, if it's not in the
laundry, he'll go look in the car and see if
it's there. He'll look and see if he left it
on the couch. He'll look and see it if he left
it on the porch or something different. But he'll
find out, he'll turn over the house and he'll
figure out where this sweatshirt is so that he
can wear it. So just like the woman in the parable,
if this has ever been you, maybe your favorite
item, and you're specifically seeking out one
specific thing, and you need to find it for whatever
reason, you are willing to change things that
are around. Or even if you do find it, you might
throw it on right away, like I said, or you might
happily yell across the house to whoever was
around when you were looking for it, and you're
like, I found it! And then maybe they'll ask
you a question and they'll say, well, where did
you find it? How did you find it? And you are
more than happy to tell them because it's bringing
them into your story. You're excited about this
thing that you have now found that you were once
separated from. And in the parable, the woman
did not just stumble across this coin by accident.
So she had 10, lost one, and she searched, she
worked, she paid attention. But she didn't just
hope that the coin would roll back into her hand.
She didn't wait for time to fix it. She searched
carefully until she found it. That phrase until
she found it means she didn't stop halfway. She
didn't let distractions, she didn't let discouragement
or any delay stop her search or pull her away.
She knew that something of value was missing
and so she was not going to rest until it was
restored. If I could get the worship team to
start to get back ready. That's what seeking
God should look like for us. It's not half -hearted.
It's not convenient. It's not casual, but it's
intentional. It is persistent and wholehearted
pursuit. We won't find this deep peace by chance.
We're not going to find real joy without intention
because the moment we start seeking God with
our whole heart, he promises to be found by us.
Once we realize that, our whole approach to life
can begin to change. Seeking God doesn't just
bring clarity, but it brings transformation.
The woman didn't just find what she lost, but
her whole house changed. The light came on. She
lit the lamp. The dust was cleared. She swept
the floors. And joy broke out when she invited
people in. When we start seeking, our atmosphere
begins to shift. Light can break into dark places.
Joy can replace apathy. And purpose replaces
all sorts of confusion. But that kind of transformation
only happens when seeking God is our first response.
and not our last resort. That's what it means
to me, God, that first place we look, as I mentioned
before. When something is missing, we go to him
first. When something feels off, we seek him
first. And when something is broken, we call
on him first. When we start seeking him, We do
start to have a little bit more questions, but
when we desire to know things like, who is God
or why did he make me? We shouldn't be afraid
of the deeper questions when it comes to him.
We should continue to be persistent in the things
that we ask. So whenever it comes to the Lord,
it's then shifting to things like, how does that
mean? What does that mean for how I'm supposed
to live? How can I know him better? And what
is he teaching me through this? This morning,
I'm going to ask if everyone would stand with
me. And if you're able, I'd actually love for
you to join me up front, if you're comfortable.
If you're new here, that's fine. But while I
was preparing for this message, Jane, come down
if you want to hang out with me. Just be a little
closer. While I was preparing for this message,
I was reminded of Luke chapter 19, verse 10.
It says, for the Son of Man came to seek and
save the lost. He came, and therefore I speak
this morning to serve as a reminder that even
when we struggle in our search, God has not stopped
pursuing us. He's been seeking us out, and he
never gets tired of that pursuit. But we do.
We get tired. We get bored. We get impatient.
And so think about it this morning. Think about
what the Holy Spirit could be speaking to you
and asking you this morning. What is it that
you have stopped searching for? What have you
left lost because the search started to feel
too difficult? Where have you settled for nine
coins when God has called you to search for all
10? Maybe the reason you haven't find the answer
that you're looking for is because you're looking
for all of these answers instead of seeking out
the answer. Maybe you've been seeking help. Instead
of seeking his presence, you've been looking
everywhere else first, and he's just been waiting
for you to look up. It's time to light the lamp
again. It's time to sweep the floor again. It's
time to seek again with passion, with prayer,
and with persistence. Matthew 7 says, on asking
and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on
seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking and
the door will be open to you for everyone who
asks receives and everyone who seeks finds. And
to everyone who knocks, the door will be open.
to this message from Lifehouse Church. We pray
that you were impacted powerfully by this message.
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