Thank you for listening to this message from
Lifehouse Church. Well, good morning again. It
is so good to see everyone. I feel like it has
been so long since I was on maternity leave.
And then last week, Ryan and I were on a little
mini vacation. I feel like it's been a really
long time since I've seen everyone. So I'm really
excited to be back. So as I said, last weekend,
Ryan and I took a trip up to Maine, actually,
which was our first time in Maine. Beautiful.
Beautiful state. But we flew out of Harrisburg.
And yes, we took our two -month -old baby with
us. So if you want to see the most adorable pictures
of my sweet Oliver flying on for the first time,
see me afterwards. But anyways, who here likes
to fly? Okay. Personally, I love to fly. I think
it is so efficient. I get to enjoy my travel,
eat snacks while it's happening, and even sleep
if I need to. I know, I'm married, so I can do
that while Ryan drives anyways, but it's way
more fun over the clouds. But I'm also learning
that traveling with a baby requires a couple
extra steps. It means I need to remember to pack
way more than I ever thought. It's a longer process
through TSA because they have to check my hands,
they check his formula, they check the bottles
and everything else. And then also holding my
breath to make sure my baby does not scream on
the plane. But honestly, everyone that I spoke
to before we left said that this is the easiest
time to travel. And honestly, Oliver flew so
well that I believed them. It was beautiful.
And so, like I said, on Thursday morning, we
headed to Harrisburg, bound for our first flight.
We got there about two hours early, as you do.
So you hang out, and then you wait for your plane
to be called. Around noon, we boarded with our
sleeping baby. We got situated, and we waited
to take off. The flight was super smooth. Oliver,
like I said, he ate, he slept happily. And we
landed, got to our next gate for our connection
flight, which is in Philadelphia. And then we
did the same thing. We boarded, we waited, smooth
flight with a sleeping baby, landed in Portland,
Maine. Simple enough, right? All went super smooth.
Yeah, that is until we realized that we had gate
checked our car seat in Philly. And we left it
in Philly because we forgot to pick it up at
the jet bridge. Yeah, you see those gas on your
face? I had that too. And so. You see the dilemma,
of course. And we stood there at baggage claim
panicking because we're wondering, okay, well,
what are we going to do without our car seat?
We have to be able to get the baby to the Airbnb.
So we ended up at the airline office. They gave
us a loaner, thankfully. And so we were at least
able to get back to the Airbnb. They told us
that once they found it, it would be delivered
same day. And we're like, oh, all right, what
a relief. I got it. But long story short, we
still don't have that car seat. And so that meant
over the weekend, over the week, we had been
thinking, okay, are there things that we should
have done differently, could have done differently,
would have done differently? And that's where
this morning, ultimately, our trip became a lesson
of which we choose where to dwell. Has anybody
ever heard of the term dwell time? Dwell is a
really weird word, and the more I say it, the
more annoying it is. Dwell time is the amount
of time someone or something spends in a particular
place, state, or a phase. So, for instance, airplanes,
they want a shorter dwell time at the gate. Companies
tend to want a longer dwell time on their sites,
their listings, and so on. And meanwhile, we
as people also need to think about where we choose
to dwell, because we all dwell somewhere. Often,
dwelling has a bit of a negative connotation.
You know, you think of you dwell on regret, you
dwell on comparison, sometimes you dwell in worry.
And so dwelling itself, though, isn't actually
a bad thing, but it's when we dwell on the wrong
things that'll keep us from where we're meant
to be. And the Bible doesn't just tell us to
stop dwelling on the wrong things, but it invites
us to dwell in the right place. So today we're
going to dive into Psalm 84. And while the world
invites us to dwell in what should have been,
could have been, and would have been, Psalm 84
invites us to dwell where God's presence is.
And as believers, our destination is heaven,
but the goal isn't simply to get to heaven one
day. It's to make God's presence our dwelling
place today and then every day. So that brings
me to my message title, which is Going Past the
Gates. Before we get started, bow your heads
with me as we pray. Heavenly Father, God, I thank
you for this morning. I thank you for the opportunity
to get up this morning for the air in my lungs.
And I pray that today be a morning that it's
not me, it's not my words, but God, you speaking
through me. I pray that all ears and spirits
be open to receive, to hear the word and to let
it resonate with them, God. But let it not be
just another good message, another, okay, I'll
think about it today and then forget it tomorrow.
But God, I just pray that today as we think about
what it is to dwell in you, God, that we truly.
Let that sink in and focus on our time with you.
Be with us, guide us, lead my every word, and
edify me as I speak. In Jesus' name, amen. All
right, this is the part that most introverts
hate. Go ahead and turn to your neighbor and
say, go past the gates. To go past the gates
means that we first have to pass by the gate
of should have. We cannot dwell on our should
have moments because they will lead to regret.
When we got back from baggage claim and realized
our mistake, we felt horrible. I mean, we started
thinking, okay, well, we should have double -checked
the luggage tag. We should have asked the airplane
stewardess. We should have just waited at the
gate bridge, jet bridge, and figured it out.
But that's what regret does. Maybe those should
-haves were true, but replaying them wouldn't
change a single thing. Dwelling on the should
-haves, A regret can make us miserable, they
can drive us crazy, and they can even drive a
wedge between us and other people as we live
in the past. Dwelling on what we should have
done could have easily driven a wedge between
Ryan and I and ruined our entire trip. It may
have built up resentment, anger, and frustration,
which could have caused us to lash out. It easily
could have been a much different weekend. And
so now losing a car seat definitely felt like
a crisis to us. But in number 16, we see a family
that is literally facing a life -altering crisis.
At this point in number 16, we have the Israelites,
and they had just been freed from slavery in
Egypt. They were told of this land flowing with
milk and honey, the promised land, and yet they
had found themselves wandering in the desert
with no end in sight. And during this time, there
was a man, his name was Korah. Korah was a first
cousin of Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron were
the ones leading the Israelite people at the
time. And being from the exact same lineage,
Korah had privileged duties related to the tabernacle
as a Levite, and yet he still felt unsatisfied
and jealous of Aaron's priesthood. He began to
think, well, you know what? I should have been
the one chosen instead. I should have more of
a say. And so Korah, two other leaders, and then
250 others rose up against God's leadership.
And now this is where it gets dramatic. Moses
basically says, listen, if I'm wrong and you're
right and you should be the one in charge, then
nothing's going to happen. But if I am correct,
then, and the Lord does something that you have
never seen before, like, oh, I don't know, opening
up the ground, swallowing you up, and then you'll
never be seen again, then you know it's not me.
And just like that, I'm sure you probably heard
a little ripple of laughter going through the
people because that had never happened before.
And who's to think that that would ever happen?
Well, just as Moses said, the ground opened right
up, swallowed them and gone they were. Just think
about that. I mean, you're sitting in the pews.
Imagine if the floor opened up right below us.
We sunk down. And I'm not talking into the basement
or 100 feet down. I mean like down and gone.
Because the ground sealed up then as if it never
happened. Nobody else other than the ones who
were there to witness it would have ever known
anything occurred. It's pretty wild stuff. And
so that seems like a pretty... good ending to
us. We as, you know, believers in Jesus are like,
oh, you know, the bad guys lost. They were gone.
They were defying God's leadership. And so we
think, all right, well, that should have been
the end of the story. But then in Numbers 26,
buried under genealogy, there's a single scripture,
and it just says, the sons of Korah did not die.
They were spared. We may think that the lineage
should have died off because of arrogance or
pride. We may think that even though they lived,
well, that surely should have held them back.
But rather than dwelling on the should have of
their ancestors' pride, it became a testimony
of their faith. Instead of rebellion, they chose
worship. Some of Korah's great -grandsons, or
they're called the sons of Korah, were attributed
to 11 Psalms in the Bible. These Psalms express
a great spirit of gratitude, of humility to an
awesome and mighty God. They express a longing
for God and a deep devotion. In Psalm 46, verse
one to three, this was written by the sons of
Korah. It says, God is our refuge and strength
and ever present help in trouble. Therefore,
we will not fear, though the earth gives way.
and the mountains fall into the heart of the
sea, and though its waters roar and foam and
the mountains quake with their surging. This
psalm very specifically references their past.
The earth had split and swallowed up their ancestors,
and yet they did not have to live in that state
of fear because instead of living in a mindset
of what should have happened to their lineage,
they chose to see God's mercy. And then later,
even the prophet Samuel himself was a great,
great, great, great, great, great, great grandson
of Korah. And these several other great grandsons
of Korah also went on to do incredible things
for God. Some of them worked with King David,
and many of them in 1 Chronicles were told that
they are doorkeepers, custodians, singers, and
worshipers in the temple. Korah wanted a position,
but his sons sought God's presence. Korah wanted
recognition, but his sons wanted relationship.
Korah wanted authority, but his sons just wanted
to be near God. Had these sons of Korah stayed
in the gate of should have, they'd have never
made it to the gate of the temple and spent time
in his presence. Likewise, we as parents, as
graduates, as believers, we cannot get stuck
in the thought process like, you know, I should
have done more. I should have chosen differently.
I should have, I should have, I should have.
Because God is the same God yesterday, today,
and forever. Meaning is we don't have to get
stuck in yesterday, but we know that he's with
us today. And so we have to remember that this
gate still isn't our destination. Visit if you
must, learn from it, repent, but don't unpack
your bags there. Once you go past the gate of
should have, we also then have to go past the
gate of could have. When Ryan and I got to the
airport in Portland, again realizing our mistake
of leaving the car seat, we began to think of
all the ways it could have been different. We
finally moved past our should haves, but our
minds then instantly began running scenarios.
It wasn't regret anymore, but alternatives. We
could have asked, we could have driven. We could
have packed differently. We could have checked
the bag in at the check -in and not at the jet
bridge. But instead of replaying our mistakes,
there was a shift then into imagining these alternative
realities. But then here's the thing. The more
we imagine different versions of our lives, the
less present we become in the lives God actually
gave us. In some cases, it's because we're comparing
past decisions. In some cases, because we are
comparing ourselves against others. But regardless,
our gate of could have or the gate of comparison
can steal our joy. Because dwelling on someone
else's journey or wishing the journey could look
differently can keep us from remembering God's
faithfulness in it all. Korah and his men were
stuck then in the gate of could have. They looked
at Moses and Aaron and thought, well, we could
have done a better job. We could have been the
leaders. And while Korah and his followers died
trying to force their way into positions that
God did not assign for them, generations later,
these sons of Korah weren't concerned with how
things could have been different about their
history or their role. If we go to Psalm 84.
This is also written by the sons of Korah. So
Psalm 84, verse 1 through 4. They write, The
sons of Korah acknowledge that blessing is upon
those who dwell with God. This form of dwelling
is much different than dwelling on what could
have been. They said, how lovely is your dwelling
place. Why lovely? Because they experienced God's
mercy and didn't want to take it for granted.
They said, my soul yearns, it faints. Why? Because
they're not trying to earn their way into God's
presence. They're amazed that they still have
access. The sons of Korah easily could have gotten
stuck in the thoughts of, I could have been born
into a different family. I could have had another
legacy. I could have been remembered for something
else. I could have done something else. And instead,
they wrote in verse 10 of Psalm 84, better is
one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of
my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
The sons of Korah were not writing from a place
of entitlement. Even that mere acknowledgement
of being from the lineage of Korah shows that
they are well aware of their family lineage and
how it could have been different. It could have
impacted their future. But God's mercy and his
grace spared their lives and brought them near.
to dwell with him. Likewise, he also calls us
to dwell with him despite our could have moments.
In another Psalm, not written by the sons of
Korah, it says in Psalm 91, verse nine through
10, says, if you say the Lord is my refuge and
you make the Lord, if you make the most high
your dwelling, no harm will overtake you and
no disaster will come near your tent. We have
to remember to focus on who he is instead of
what could have been. We're able to go past what's
not for us and move toward where we're supposed
to be, which is dwelling in his presence. He
is our place of refuge. He's our safe place.
He's our protector, our provider. He's the one
to keep our tent, our family from harm. But still,
in seeking his presence, the danger then is to
stop too soon. In airports, especially with connecting
flights, you go from one gate to another. And
so we still have to go past the gate of would
have. Despite not having our car seat and not
hearing anything from the airlines as to its
whereabouts, we had a great weekend. It was beautiful
weather. And then we began our trip home. This
time, different airlines, but with a similar
layover. And so we thought, all right, it'll
be. pretty smooth. So we landed in Washington
Dulles instead of in Philly. We headed to our
gate to wait and then they announced a delay.
Our original layover was only about an hour.
And then another delay with a gate change. This
one hour delay turned into four. Originally we
were supposed to get home around 6 45. Now we
weren't supposed to get home until around like
10 30. So, of course, thoughts of an overtired
baby were running through my head. And as we
sat there, we wound up looking at rental cars.
And we thought, you know what? We're only two
and a half hours from home. What if we just drove?
So we did. We got a rental car. We slowly canceled
our airline plane. In case you didn't know, they
don't like that you do that. And then we got
to the rental car office, which if you've ever
seen the movie Zootopia, it felt like that, where
Officer Judy Hopps is trying to get something
done, and she is being serviced by sloths. Yes.
So we finally got on the road, and we arrived
at the Harrisburg airport to pick up our car
around 10 .20 p .m. So if you just heard me mention
what time we were supposed to get back with the
plane, it was about the same time our plane would
have landed. But you know what? We made it. We
were on the last leg of our trip home, and we
just began to think, you know, if we'd known
that this would have happened, we would have
just driven the whole way. We would have been
fine if dot, dot, dot, as you can imagine. Have
you ever noticed just how much we delay joy until
life fully cooperates? When we get stuck at this
gate of would have or the gate of conditions,
we dwell on moments of our life so much that
it can impact what happens in our future. It
often starts with things like, well, I would
have if, and then it turns to a future statement
like, well, I would serve if, I would have peace
if, I would worship God if, and so on. When we
add these conditions, we delay blessings. In
the grand scheme of things, our inconveniences
are often pretty minor, but we have an opportunity
to find Christ in it. It was a super long day
of travel, and we could have spent our entire
trip dwelling in our minds, but Christ invites
us instead to dwell in the one who has already
done everything necessary to bring us near. When
the sons of Korah were writing in Psalm 84, They
weren't writing about their duties. They were
writing about their delight or their extreme
joy. They never celebrated what they do for God.
They celebrated that they get to be near him.
In Psalm 84, verse three, it said, even the sparrow
has found a home, even the swallow a nest for
herself where she may lay her young, even your
altars, a Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
You see, swallows and sparrows are these tiny
little birds that freely built their altars along
the perimeter of the temple, and they were then
protected by the temple itself. No one could
bother them, could scare them away, or pursue
them, or of course take away or destroy their
nests. This protection offered by this holy place
was a continuous refuge which protected their
lives. They enjoyed shelter, an abundant supply
of food, and a good place to live. For the sons
of Korah, dwelling near God was not something
to be taken for granted, but instead they referenced
how the swallows were continuously close to the
altar. And we as believers, that's where we should
want to be too. It's easy to just let your life
become so focused on other things that you forget
to spend time with God. Worship team, if I could
get you to get ready. But see, the heart of dwelling
is not measured by what was accomplished in your
day, but whether you remained in his presence.
Our human nature is so tempted to live however
we want and ask for forgiveness later or even
to give our lives to Christ later. But sometimes
later ends up being too late. If we continue
to stay at the gate of would have, then blessing
is perpetually one step ahead. When Psalm 84
so clearly and so beautifully teaches us that
blessedness is available now to those who dwell
in him. And so, like I said, as of today, we
still do not have our car seat. But isn't it
amazing how one missing car seat almost became
the only thing that we remembered about an otherwise
incredible weekend? That's what dwelling does.
It takes one. minor inconvenience to overshadow
every blessing. And listen, we're not expecting
to ever see that car seat ever again. We have
already ordered a new one, already got a reimbursement.
But if we would have just continued to dwell
in that should have, could have, or would have,
we'd have left the trip bitter, empty, resentful.
And so maybe that's where you are this morning.
Maybe some of you are dwelling in a gate of should
have, could have, Or the gate of would have when
you should be dwelling in God's presence instead.
That's the difference between dwelling in the
world and dwelling in God. To dwell in the world
means we would regret the past, compare our present,
and even crave a different future. But to dwell
in God's presence is to anchor ourselves in grace
for the past, peace for the present, and hope
for the future. This morning, I just want us
to spend some time in the presence of God. I
love when the worship team sings. And I believe
heavily in sometimes that those words are exactly
what you need. But I also believe that there
is something so beautiful about just the raw
heart of whatever is going on between us and
the Lord that is coming from us, that is our
words to him. It's not about having the perfect
prayer. It's not about having your life all put
together. In most cases, we don't anyways. But
it's about having the desire to just be with
him. Because the sons of Korah could have spent
generations telling people about this giant hole
in the ground that swallowed up their ancestors.
But instead, they spent generations singing about
the house of God. That is redemption. They stopped
dwelling on where their family had fallen and
started dwelling on where God had invited them
to be. And that's God's invitation for all of
us this morning. To stop living at the gate of
should have. To stop living at the gate of could
have. To stop living at the gate of would have.
Because there's a better dwelling place. Psalm
84 reminds us, blessed are those who dwell in
your house. So I don't know where my car seat
is, but I know where my dwelling place is. Eventually,
then for you guys, every flight is going to get
called. So which gate have you been waiting at
for too long that's keeping you from where you
should be? If you've been at those gates and
never realized that there were any other options,
but there is the presence of God himself. If
you would, go ahead and stand. In a moment, the
worship team is going to come out and do a song.
But during this time, as they sing, like I said,
I want you to just spend time in the presence
of God. There are beautiful songwriters out there
and they've created incredible worship music
that we have an opportunity to use. But there
is something very special about your direct connection
and relationship with the Lord. So this morning,
that is my prayer for you, that you just spend
time in the presence of God today. Bow your heads
with me. Heavenly Father, God, we thank you.
We thank you for who you are. We thank you that
you are a God who sees us through every should
have, every could have, every would have, every
regret, every comparison, every bit of things
that are trying to steal our joy. God, I pray
that this morning, as people spend their time
with you, as they reflect on who you are, on
the things that you have brought them through,
even sometimes the things they are still going
through, or the worries that they have over their
future. God, we just pray that this morning they
give it to you, that this morning they remember
that there's a better place to dwell. They don't
have to stop at those gates. They don't have
to get stuck in those places, God, but that you
are the one who walks with them, guides them,
leads them, shows them that you're with them,
that you love them, that you care about them,
that you don't want them to carry those things
onto themselves, but God, that you... Ask us
to give our burdens to you. You say that you
are the one in which we have our peace. Heavenly
Father, this morning, we just pray that we give
those things to you and allow us to just spend
time in your presence, God, for the scriptures
say that it's better as one day in your courts
than thousands elsewhere. And I pray that as
our true prayer this morning, that as we spend
time in your presence, that we're not rushing,
that we're not concerned about what our lunch
plans are, what we're gonna do this afternoon,
but God, we're just focused on you, being with
you, being in your presence, dwelling with you.
God, we worship you. We give you all glory and
all praise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Worship
with us this morning. personally affected by
our ministry and you would like to partner with
us as we love God,