1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:17,360 Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is an international church in Bangkok, Thailand, 2 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:23,260 with dozens of nationalities worshipping together. We invite you to connect with us from wherever 3 00:00:23,260 --> 00:00:31,120 you are through our website, ecb.asia, or our mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed 4 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:39,080 by this week's sermon. Well, good morning, good morning. I am loving the cold weather, 5 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:47,480 the cooler weather, right? Yeah. But there's a problem with this weather. And there's an 6 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:55,160 age-old conflict in the Holcomb household, one where my wife tends to over-prepare and 7 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:59,920 I tend to under-prepare. Actually, let me rephrase that. She over-prepares and I prepare 8 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:10,920 in the right amount. She just said, okay, see, you can feel it. We have this tub in 9 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:21,240 our home with winter clothes in it, like a stocking cap and some gloves and long sleeves. 10 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,160 And when we were moving to Bangkok, we had this conversation and she's packing these 11 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:30,160 things and I'm like, I don't think we're going to need that there. And of course, you know, 12 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:36,460 she's over-preparing, so she's getting this ready. So as cool as the weather has been 13 00:01:36,460 --> 00:01:43,360 right now, I'm actually sweating, not because of the temperature, but because I'm concerned 14 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:49,200 that I may be wrong and I'm going to have to pull out those gloves at some point and 15 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:57,440 apologize to her. As we step into 2025 and with Chinese New Year coming up this next 16 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:03,760 month as well, right around the corner, unexpected things like this cold weather, we know that 17 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:09,880 we're going to be stepping into a new year, right? So we have started this series called 18 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:15,800 Treasures of the Journey. And what is this series? It's four of us that have shared different 19 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:21,400 treasures of our own journey, treasures of following Jesus. Pastor Pablo started this 20 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:26,400 out and he said, hey, the most important thing that he's been learning is not simply about 21 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:32,880 can I trust God, but can God trust me? In other words, a faithful response like we saw 22 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:41,680 in Abraham. Last week, we had one of our ministry heads, Zach Wiley, share. And he gave us an 23 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:48,280 account of Levi, Matthew the tax collector. And what do we see in this story? That Jesus 24 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:56,560 encounters this liar, this thief, this cheat with a radical invitation. And not only that, 25 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:04,400 but he provides a transformational hospitality that we get to walk in. So those are a couple 26 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:10,800 of the treasures that we have had. Now, my wife and I will often as we transition from 27 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:16,800 one year to the next, we will take some time to reflect back on the previous year. Many 28 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:21,480 of you probably do the same thing. And we'll try to discern, you know, what word, what 29 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:29,880 word captures the last year. And the word for 2024 for us is unexpected. Not the word 30 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:36,520 is unexpected, or not that the word we chose was unexpected. Actually, the word is unexpected. 31 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:42,840 There was a lot that happened in this year that was very unexpected. Take for example, 32 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:47,160 the fires that you may have been seeing in the Los Angeles area. That was right in our 33 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:52,120 neighborhood where we used to live and favorite coffee shops and our dental clinic and things 34 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:58,840 like that are gone forever. Unexpected, right? Now I want to share a story with you really 35 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:04,400 an allegory or an illustration from my own childhood. As many of you know, I grew up 36 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:10,200 in the wonderful country of Kenya, we have some Kenyans here. And my brothers and I, 37 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,960 we have two other brothers, so three of us total, we knew of this river. But we didn't 38 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:20,480 know much about it. And one day we decided it would be a good idea to get some tubes, 39 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,400 some inner tubes. So you know, inside a tire there's this tube and you blow it up. We're 40 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:30,920 going to go to this river and float down and just enjoy ourselves, right? There's a couple 41 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:36,480 problems with this. Number one, we've never been down this river before. We don't know 42 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,040 where the journey is taking us. Again, remember frontal lobes have not developed for young 43 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:45,880 boys. The second problem was we invited a bunch of our friends along with us, many of 44 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:51,840 whom did not know how to swim. And then the third problem was that we only had enough 45 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:58,160 tubes for some of us, so we're sharing tubes as well. But as you're going down this river 46 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:03,640 and you come around the corner and you hear the rapids, right, that sound of like, not 47 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:14,840 like a clang, but this rushing river, something within you is restless. And you react to that 48 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:19,480 in a way that is like, what am I going to do here? I don't know what's happening with 49 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:25,760 me. Now, I remember at one point coming around and the noise was particularly loud and the 50 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:32,960 friend who was on the tube with me had kind of finally had enough and loud sound and he 51 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:38,680 actually used me as a stepping stool to jump to a rock to then to get out of the river 52 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:47,280 and he was using all of what he could do to escape this journey that he was on. And I 53 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:51,760 want to say we all made it. Obviously I survived, all of our friends survived as well, and if 54 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,640 there's children here, please don't try that at home, again, especially in the clangs of 55 00:05:55,640 --> 00:06:03,440 Bangkok. But that experience, it mirrors life, right? We're kind of moving along and we go 56 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:09,560 moment by moment, day by day, and we come across these experiences, these situations 57 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:15,160 that bring us to an awareness that something is not right. There's this restless thing 58 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:22,280 that kind of pops up within us. The loss of a job, it could be conflict with others, health 59 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:29,120 situations. The treasure that I want to share with you this morning is actually captured 60 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:34,800 in this quote by a guy who lived quite a few years ago. My clicker doesn't seem to be working 61 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:43,680 if you could go forward one. And here is what Augustine said. He said, because God has made 62 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:53,120 us for himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in him. Because God has made us 63 00:06:53,120 --> 00:07:01,280 for himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in him. I want you to take a moment 64 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:09,060 and just digest that. What first came to your mind when you read that quote? What would 65 00:07:09,060 --> 00:07:17,560 it look like for your heart to rest more fully in God? I want you to think about the last 66 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:25,040 week. When was the last time your heart was in a state of rest? What brought about that 67 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:31,600 rest? And where do you turn or what do you grasp for when you're aware that something 68 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:41,360 is off, something is not right? Will you join me in prayer? Father, we ask that you, through 69 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:47,760 the power of your Holy Spirit, would open our eyes to see you more clearly. You would 70 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:56,640 open our ears to hear you. You would open our heart to receive you more nearly. Do what 71 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:01,760 you need to do in this time and this space. And we declare, even at the beginning, that 72 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:11,000 you are a good and trustworthy God who is about rest for us. So thank you. In Jesus' 73 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,000 name. Amen. 74 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:20,120 Well, the Bible tells the story of this man named Elijah. So nearly 3,000 years ago, there's 75 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:26,320 this guy who lives in Israel. I'd like the experience of careening down that river that 76 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:32,720 I told you about. Elijah's story, through his life, has lots of experiences and scenarios 77 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:38,920 that brought up a sense of unrest within him. And there's times when he became aware that 78 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:44,480 things aren't right. His story captures what it looks like to move in a direction where 79 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:50,840 you know that God is your rest to where you increasingly experience within your very life 80 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:56,880 that God is your rest. Now, because his story is pretty lengthy, I'm not going to read all 81 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:02,440 these chapters. In fact, I'm just going to retell some of the story and capture highlights 82 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:11,160 from it. So Elijah lives in this time of incredible uncertainty. There's a lot of mess around him. 83 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,800 Things are not going well for God's people. They've walked away from him. And there's 84 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:20,280 this king that is absolutely a horrible leader. His name is Ahab. And in fact, let's take 85 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:26,920 a look at his resume here. It says, in the 38th year of Asa, king of Judah, Ahab, son 86 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:33,200 of Omri, became king of Israel. And he reigned in Samaria over Israel 22 years. Okay. So 87 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:38,080 he's reigning for quite a long time. But listen to this part. Ahab, son of Omri, did more 88 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:47,320 evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. That's quite the accomplishment, 89 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:52,800 right? Now, there's only one person alive at that time that we know of that was more 90 00:09:52,800 --> 00:10:01,160 evil than him. And it happened to be the wife that he chose, Jezebel. And so this makes 91 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:07,720 a power couple in all the wrong ways. And they journey through life together following 92 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:15,840 the demonic presence of Baal and absolutely determined to destroy God and his truth in 93 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:21,600 his ways. So that's where we find our friend Elijah in the middle of that mess. And so 94 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:30,700 God has brought Elijah to call out a famine across the land. And this famine now is making 95 00:10:30,700 --> 00:10:37,680 things at least for a moment even worse. My father-in-law works for World Vision. And 96 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:45,600 so he does food distribution. And he talks regularly about hangry. You need to feed someone 97 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:50,320 before you can engage them deeply. This is the exact opposite situation. The land is 98 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:57,360 hungry. These people are desperate. And so there's a lot going on that's not right. And 99 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:02,640 so this is where we find our friend Elijah. He's a spokesperson of God in the middle of 100 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:08,560 that. And he's going to do incredible things that we're going to see. So despite the evil 101 00:11:08,560 --> 00:11:13,660 leadership of Ahab and Jezebel and all that they're doing to work against God, God works 102 00:11:13,660 --> 00:11:22,400 through Elijah for great impact. The story's full of power, full of wonder. Elijah is miraculously 103 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:28,200 fed by some birds. There's this jar of flour and oil that no matter how much you use them, 104 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:34,620 they don't disappear. There's a boy in that same household that actually dies and Elijah 105 00:11:34,620 --> 00:11:44,840 helps to raise him from the dead. Significant. There's a standoff between Ahab and the false 106 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:53,200 god Baal and all of these prophets and Elijah and the one true god where Ahab and all these 107 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:59,960 false prophets get completely shamed. God is doing these incredible things through this 108 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:05,800 man Elijah. So then Elijah comes to the point and he calls off the famine because God has 109 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:11,080 asked him to do so, builds this altar, calls the people back to follow him or to follow 110 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:18,080 God. And things are looking pretty good, right? Well, Ahab goes to Jezebel and he says, hey, 111 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:23,960 this is what just happened. So Jezebel doubles down on her desire to kill Elijah and says, 112 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:31,600 if he makes a vow, I'm going to kill you. Now, if that was your journey, Elijah, and 113 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:40,200 what you had just participated in, don't you think that you would be a sense of confidence 114 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:46,040 and you get this threat and you would just sit there, right? I just saw God do all these 115 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:53,520 amazing things. I just helped him raise somebody from the dead. You can come and threat me, 116 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:59,080 you crazy lady, that you're going to take my life, but I'm okay. But that's not at all 117 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:07,360 what he does, is it? You know the story. Elijah is terrified and he flees for his life. He 118 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,500 had followed the game plan. Things were going as they should, but then he finds himself 119 00:13:11,500 --> 00:13:18,960 in the face of this threat and it's fear that moves him. So Elijah's response of taking 120 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:26,200 things into his own hand, it reveals a restless heart. A restless heart. And we may find ourselves 121 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:32,600 relating to God primarily as a cosmic life coach. What do I mean by that? Well, when 122 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:40,360 we learn to use his gifts, gifts of success and impact and power and control, to experience 123 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:45,720 rest actually through control, we end up putting our weight on something that actually isn't 124 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:50,080 going to support us long term. Now you may say, wait, Pastor Phil, but these are the 125 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:55,600 gifts of God. Can't we fully trust them? But God is up to something here. He wants us to 126 00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:02,800 actually trust him. He's calling us to a deeper trust. And so even though Elijah has found 127 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:07,400 himself in this place of his life being threatened, this is an invitation where God is calling 128 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:12,360 into something more. I had a friend named Steve who was a running partner actually in 129 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:18,600 the Los Angeles area and he was a hospice chaplain. And Steve's job was to sit with 130 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:26,880 people and provide comfort in their most difficult and final days of life. I asked him, you know, 131 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:30,580 how did you prepare for this? And he said, well, one of the things that he did was he 132 00:14:30,580 --> 00:14:36,400 had a mentor who had him take some time to list out and actually write down all of the 133 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:43,680 things that brought him joy. So it's hobbies that he may have or family members or food 134 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:49,480 that he particularly enjoys, places he likes to visit. And he listed all these things down. 135 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:55,160 And then this mentor told Steve, he said, now I want you to imagine each one of these 136 00:14:55,160 --> 00:15:00,520 disappearing. So cross it out one at a time. So he goes through and he crosses out these 137 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:08,600 things one at a time. Now imagine your life with all of that gone. That's the type of 138 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,680 people that you are going to be sitting with. They have come to the end of their rope in 139 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:21,320 this situation. And maybe like Elijah in this situation, what God seems to be doing is to 140 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:26,440 allowing Elijah's fear, allow the fear that is coming out, actually to call him to a deeper 141 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:36,240 rest, a deeper rest in him. So moved by his fear, Elijah actually flees and he runs into 142 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:44,320 the wilderness to hide. He finds this tree and under this he goes and he pouts. As he 143 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,840 sits under the tree in despair, he says the following words to God. He says, I've had 144 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:55,400 enough, oh Lord, take my life. I'm no better than any of my ancestors. Then he lay down 145 00:15:55,400 --> 00:16:05,320 under the bush and he fell asleep. Anyone relate to this? Or is that just me? He's well aware 146 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:12,880 of the restless and weary state of his heart. And so there's this time that he thinks, well, 147 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:18,920 possibly I can distract myself from this. But not just a normal distraction, but the 148 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:24,520 ultimate version of a distraction where I am no longer conscious about the fears and 149 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:30,120 the problems that I face in the world around me. Distraction, right? It's something we 150 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:38,760 turn to quite regularly. Now watch what God does. He responds by kindly allowing Elijah 151 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:43,760 to sleep. And then he wakes him up and he gives him some food and lets him rest and 152 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:49,880 he restores him. He nourishes him and he provides for him. And it's almost as though we're having 153 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:55,360 a therapeutic session right here, right? And Elijah's just like, God, I can't take it anymore. 154 00:16:55,360 --> 00:17:00,780 All this despair and I'm bringing it out before you. And God sits there with him and listens 155 00:17:00,780 --> 00:17:07,660 to all of this and provides for him and cares for him. You see, we can relate to God as 156 00:17:07,660 --> 00:17:13,460 a cosmic therapist. We can use his gifts just to feel better or experience rest through 157 00:17:13,460 --> 00:17:20,960 distraction. And that does help. God is about our emotional healing. He wants to fix those 158 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:25,480 things, but he also wants to call us to a different way of relating to him that's even 159 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:34,440 deeper than that. So God gives all these gifts to Elijah and he prepares him and he takes 160 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:41,600 him 40 days and 40 nights into the wilderness. Jonas, I don't know if you had the song, the 161 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,800 desert song. What a beautiful song. My wife actually reached over and she goes, did she 162 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:52,240 know where you were heading with the sermon? So thank you, Jonas and team for that song. 163 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:59,680 So where does God lead our friend Elijah? Not just to any mountain, but to the mountain 164 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:06,440 that God had taken Moses and Elijah's ancestors, brought him into this mountain and said, hey, 165 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:13,800 I'm going to bind myself to you in an everlasting covenant. I'm going to be with you. And so 166 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:19,600 that's the mountain that he takes him to, right? So he takes him up to this mountain. 167 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:28,200 And what does Elijah do? Elijah goes and he finds a cave to hide in. God seems to have 168 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:34,760 a sense of humor because what he does is he asks Elijah a question. He says, what are 169 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:41,280 you doing here? Now remember, God has been with Elijah the entire time and Elijah is 170 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:45,680 aware of a lot of what's been going on. And so they're going and now you are aware of 171 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:53,100 this. And so everyone knows why he's here. God led him here, right? And it's almost as 172 00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:58,840 though God is saying to him, do you remember the amazing, powerful things I did? Do you 173 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:03,320 remember that I supernaturally turned the world right side up, not only in front of 174 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:11,280 you but actually through you? I fed you through birds. Who else can claim that? I had raised 175 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:17,640 someone to the dead through you. I shamed the most powerful man in the land. And I gave 176 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:24,400 you authority to guide my people into what's good, right, true, and beautiful. Then when 177 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:29,560 you heard someone wanted to kill you, you ran away in despair and wanted to die. And 178 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:34,480 I joined you as you ran away. Then I brought you to the very mountain that symbolizes my 179 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:43,240 presence with you. So we have this understanding, right, God and Elijah. He knows all of that 180 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:53,800 and so he says, what are you doing here? Hiding in this cave. God has and will always uncompromisingly 181 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:59,560 invite you to something more, to something better, to something deeper. And he's asking 182 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:04,800 a much bigger question than just, okay, well, I ran away and now you led me up to this mountain 183 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:11,680 and I needed a place to sleep. He's asking deep, profound questions. Elijah, what brought 184 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:20,760 you to this point in your life? It's a good question for us to ask ourselves, right? What 185 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:29,520 brought us to this point in our life? How'd you get here? It's as though God is saying, 186 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:36,680 I want you to take a moment and ponder what brought you to this cave. And here's Elijah's 187 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:43,560 response. I've been working my heart out for the God of angel armies, said Elijah. The 188 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:49,160 people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed the places of worship, murdered 189 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:56,960 your prophets and I'm the only one and now they're trying to kill me. Again, can we relate 190 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,760 with him? I'm the only one who's following you, God, in the way that you've asked me 191 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:08,680 to. Elijah's response reminds us that when we relate to God as our cosmic boss, we end 192 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:15,480 up using God's gifts of new life and mission to experience rest through approval. Approval 193 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:21,080 vertically from him and approval horizontally from others. Now, last week when Zach was 194 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:26,000 sharing, if you haven't listened to that sermon, I encourage you to go back and tune into that. 195 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:31,060 And he said a mentor had given him a picture that a church community can be either like 196 00:21:31,060 --> 00:21:38,000 a hospital waiting room or a room that you're waiting for an interview. And when you relate 197 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:44,440 to God like a cosmic boss, then you're trying to up your resume as Zach shared last week, 198 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:49,400 right? And you don't want to share the other parts about you. It's always about, am I doing 199 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:55,280 better than the person on my right and the person on my left? And so perhaps this is 200 00:21:55,280 --> 00:22:00,560 what Elijah has fallen into here. It seems like it from his response. I'll find myself 201 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:07,960 comparing my own life and the life of other employees of God as a cosmic boss and I'm 202 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:13,320 wondering what am I doing that is better or worse than they are. But friends, that's an 203 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:19,400 exhausting place to be. So as you seek approval from God and others, God encounters you and 204 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:26,580 invites you to something more, again, to something better, to a true rest, true rest in him. 205 00:22:26,580 --> 00:22:34,200 So God calls Elijah to go out of the cave, out from his hiding, away from the controlling, 206 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:40,040 distracting and working for approval. He's not doing this to shame him, but he's calling 207 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:44,400 him to something better. And what happens outside of this cave? Now what we're going 208 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:49,280 to find out is Elijah doesn't actually obey God, it seems, because he comes out of the 209 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,160 cave after these things happen. So God has asked him to come out and I think he still 210 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:59,040 stays in the cave and God does what he needs to do out there. So this strong wind comes 211 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:04,440 and it tears the mountain apart and it breaks the rocks and power is on display, yet God 212 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:14,160 was not in the wind. Next, an earthquake shatters and rattles the world. There's impact, yet 213 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:23,560 God was not in the earthquake. Then what comes next? A fire. A fire passes in front of Elijah 214 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:30,240 and as the worries of our day are consumed by these distractions, reasons to worry, we're 215 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:37,520 told once more God was not in the fire. Finally, after all these three promising things come 216 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:45,800 and go, there remains one thing, a gentle and quiet whisper. We read, when Elijah heard 217 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:50,120 the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak and he went to the mountain 218 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:59,860 of the cave and he stood there. A quiet voice asked, so Elijah, now tell me, what are you 219 00:23:59,860 --> 00:24:07,760 doing here? Same question. He's just drawing him out to an increasing awareness of God's 220 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:14,840 presence with him. And that's where true rest is found. It's in an honest and vulnerable 221 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:23,200 communion with God. His presence is most often and most deeply experienced in the small unseen 222 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:30,300 and hidden ways. Why does God do that? Because when his gifts are so loud and we're holding 223 00:24:30,300 --> 00:24:38,560 on to those, we've placed our rest upon something that is actually his gifts rather than him. 224 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:43,760 So it's in the quiet places that God begins to do his deepest work by connecting himself 225 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:49,560 to us. And so it's that choir whisper that draws Elijah out of the cave. And you can 226 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:56,200 imagine God telling Elijah this, Elijah, you were made for me and your heart is going to 227 00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:04,160 remain restless until it rests in me. Now at this moment, at the end of this part of 228 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:08,840 the story, God tells Elijah, hey, next year, during the course of this time, so as you're 229 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:14,280 looking ahead into 2025, God tells him, hey, this is what's going to happen. You're going 230 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:20,560 to get replaced by another prophet. Remember that King Ahab and Jezebel, their lives are 231 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:24,860 going to be taken, their leaders are going to come into that place. And remember your 232 00:25:24,860 --> 00:25:30,040 argument about nobody else is following God. Well, there's thousands that have maintained 233 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:37,120 their allegiance to me. And Elijah goes on in life more or less like he had before, things 234 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:42,200 happening through him until Elisha takes his place. But you know what happens at the end 235 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:48,920 of his life? He gets taken up in a whirlwind into the presence of God. He doesn't die. 236 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:54,640 He simply moves to increasing presence to where God actually snatches him up. And he's 237 00:25:54,640 --> 00:26:00,920 in what we would call heaven, paradise, forever and ever fully reconnected with God. What 238 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:07,960 a beautiful story, incredible story. Now there's a parallel in my own journey, my own journey 239 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:13,280 with God, and I want to share with you just part of it. We could spend a lot of time, 240 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:17,360 and again, maybe the stool is helpful for that. But I'm just going to capture a couple 241 00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:24,120 parts of this story for you to show how we can end up putting our leaning into rest in 242 00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:31,080 a place that is not actually what gives us true rest. I had a mentor early on in my following 243 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:37,240 of Jesus who, incredible man of God, he had memorized huge portions of scripture. And 244 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:42,960 in fact, he had made a decision not to do a PhD because he said, I'm going to devote 245 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:48,640 the same amount of time to memorize God's word. So it just flowed out of him. And of 246 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:53,520 course, if he's mentoring me, he's constantly inviting me and encouraging me into memorizing. 247 00:26:53,520 --> 00:27:00,760 And so this was life transformative. It really, really changed my life and it was wonderful. 248 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:05,760 One of the things that I memorized was the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6 and 7. This 249 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:11,560 is the most complete accounts of really Jesus's teaching, right? So we're to go into all the 250 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:17,600 world and to follow and obey all of what Jesus commands. And so I memorized this and I began 251 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:24,600 to live it out and there was massive change in my life. It was quite wonderful. But again, 252 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:29,800 remember God calls us to something more. And what he wanted me to see is, Phil, you are 253 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:36,720 actually trusting more in the gifts that I have given rather than me myself. So how did 254 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:41,560 he do this? Well, it's sometimes painful. I had a colleague, a ministry partner that 255 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:47,840 we worked together for quite a long time and we were doing really wonderful things together. 256 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:54,280 And he was a friend of mine. But at one point we began to see a different vision in life. 257 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,480 You know how this goes, right? So we had hours of conversation to try to figure out, well, 258 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:03,120 where are we going? How are we going to get there? And in all of those conversations, 259 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:07,960 we even invited a mediator in to really help us work through this. And there was a point 260 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:16,080 where we realized there's no moving beyond this. We just can't. There's a block in it. 261 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:22,400 And my friend told me at this point, he said, let me pause right there and go to this. Any 262 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,560 of you recognize, raise your hand, this bracelet, what would Jesus do? Remember these? You were 263 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:32,240 aware of it. And it was a reminder, right, to follow what Jesus asked you to do. But 264 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:37,520 when my friend told me, as he said, Phil, as I go about my day and we're working together, 265 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:46,200 you know what the question that's going through my mind is? What would Phil do? Of course, 266 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,700 you can place that blame back on him and like, oh, you have some problems and that's why 267 00:28:49,700 --> 00:28:58,280 you're doing that. But you know what this revealed? I had taken God's gifts and I had 268 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:05,480 brought them in with so much of my own effort and so much of my own trying that he was receiving 269 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:13,220 me as my own kingdom, not God's kingdom through me. I can know everything about God without 270 00:29:13,220 --> 00:29:19,700 actually knowing God. And so as much as that hurt, that was a great invitation to take 271 00:29:19,700 --> 00:29:24,080 account for what was happening in my own life. Please don't hear me wrong. I'm not saying 272 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:30,760 don't memorize scripture. Do so. Read God's word. This is why we gather like this. But 273 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:37,040 don't learn it just to learn about God. Engage with it to learn or to actually know God and 274 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:42,080 to be with him. Another thing that happened in this time is, is I had started this initiative 275 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:47,280 for a family that was receiving, had gone through persecution and you're trying to 276 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:51,840 make it possible for their son to go to school. So you put up a GoFundMe thing and you're 277 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:58,080 trying to rally people to participate in this. And for whatever reason, a number of people 278 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,440 didn't respond. And these were friends of mine and I knew them and I knew so they're 279 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:06,440 buying a hot tub during Christmas rather than supporting this kid going to school, right? 280 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:13,660 What's my response in that situation? Lord, you're in control, right? No, I'm in control. 281 00:30:13,660 --> 00:30:18,520 So this deep anger comes out of me towards other people. And it's at that point that 282 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:23,980 you know, you realize I've been sitting on something that I thought was my own relationship 283 00:30:23,980 --> 00:30:30,260 with God, but it was actually more of the gifts of God. And God is slowly inviting me 284 00:30:30,260 --> 00:30:36,920 to take out the legs from underneath, which is disconcerting for a time, right? To remind 285 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:45,280 me that the most important, the most valuable thing that we can ever do is be with God. 286 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:52,840 That's the end of all of the story. So let's look at God's word just real quickly from 287 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:59,900 beginning to end. It begins with God's people in communion with him. And then we know the 288 00:30:59,900 --> 00:31:05,500 story Adam and Eve, they sin, they rebel against God. And what happens right after that? Here's 289 00:31:05,500 --> 00:31:09,960 what we find in Genesis three. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God 290 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:14,560 as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And what did they do? Did they 291 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:20,320 run towards God? They hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden, go into that 292 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:25,200 cave. But the Lord God called to the man just like he did with Elijah, just like he does 293 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:31,280 with me, just like he does with you. Where are you? What are you doing? And he answered, 294 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:36,860 I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. So I hid. There's this 295 00:31:36,860 --> 00:31:42,460 hiding and covering that we do, right? Like Adam and Eve and like Elijah, we all do it. 296 00:31:42,460 --> 00:31:48,280 But God is there and he's slowly calling us out to be more aware of his own presence with 297 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:53,300 us and saying, where are you? So again, as you step into this next year, take time to 298 00:31:53,300 --> 00:31:58,620 think through that. Now we're going to fast forward to the middle of the story here. And 299 00:31:58,620 --> 00:32:05,100 Jesus comes as God with us, Emmanuel, showing that that is the end goal of all things. And 300 00:32:05,100 --> 00:32:10,260 we have this great story of Mary and Martha. We know this story, right? It's recounted 301 00:32:10,260 --> 00:32:16,200 in Luke 10, 38 through 42. And these two ladies welcomed Jesus into their home and they approach 302 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:23,200 him in two different ways, right? Martha receives Jesus by continuing in her old habits of doing 303 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:32,260 and she serves Jesus. Is that a bad thing? No, it's not a bad thing. But Mary, on the 304 00:32:32,260 --> 00:32:39,140 other hand, sits at the feet of Jesus and receives his presence. Now, Martha gets frustrated, 305 00:32:39,140 --> 00:32:43,860 right? So now this is the sign that something you're putting your rest in something different. 306 00:32:43,860 --> 00:32:49,860 She gets frustrated and like Elijah, she expresses a similar statement. She goes, God, I'm working 307 00:32:49,860 --> 00:32:56,940 my heart out for you. And what is that person doing over there? And while God was near, 308 00:32:56,940 --> 00:33:02,380 she was missing the greatest gift. And so here's what Jesus says back to her. He says, 309 00:33:02,380 --> 00:33:07,980 Martha, Martha, the Lord answers, you are worried and upset about many things, but few 310 00:33:07,980 --> 00:33:15,740 things are needed or only indeed one. Mary has chosen what's better. And it's not going 311 00:33:15,740 --> 00:33:22,420 to be taken away from her. Mary has chosen what is better. Now, fast forward to the end 312 00:33:22,420 --> 00:33:26,420 of the story. And if you're again, like my wife who hates to know the endings of movies 313 00:33:26,420 --> 00:33:31,740 or books, spoiler alert, I'm going to tell you what happens at the very end of it. Actually, 314 00:33:31,740 --> 00:33:37,020 God will. And here's what he says in Revelation 21. This is where our culmination is, where 315 00:33:37,020 --> 00:33:41,860 we will end up for those who are in God. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 316 00:33:41,860 --> 00:33:51,500 look, God's dwelling place is now among the people. Among. And he will dwell with them. 317 00:33:51,500 --> 00:33:56,540 They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. And it's in 318 00:33:56,540 --> 00:34:04,740 this closeness, this nearness, this awareness of God that every tear is gone. Every heartache, 319 00:34:04,740 --> 00:34:09,540 all the loneliness, all of what requires us to toil and to work so hard in the life around 320 00:34:09,540 --> 00:34:14,220 us, it's all gone. And it even says in this passage that there's no more need for sun 321 00:34:14,220 --> 00:34:21,340 or moon because God himself takes this place. He is the light in that space. And that is 322 00:34:21,340 --> 00:34:28,860 where we are created, created for that union with God. So real quickly, created for union 323 00:34:28,860 --> 00:34:39,060 with God, right? Then we've lost that union with God. But then God journeys with us forever 324 00:34:39,060 --> 00:34:43,860 to restore that union. And we're invited to actually step towards that and receive it, 325 00:34:43,860 --> 00:34:52,180 to come out of the cave and receive that union. So once again, here's that quote from Augustine. 326 00:34:52,180 --> 00:35:00,820 Because God has made us for himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in him. Let me 327 00:35:00,820 --> 00:35:06,620 invite you to something with this. If your heart doesn't respond to say, absolutely, 328 00:35:06,620 --> 00:35:12,260 100%. Bring that to God, just like Elijah did in the cave, just like he did under the 329 00:35:12,260 --> 00:35:17,340 tree. God's there, he already knows it. So bring it to him because that's where that 330 00:35:17,340 --> 00:35:22,860 transformation happens. Again, what Zach was sharing, it's in that hospitality of God that 331 00:35:22,860 --> 00:35:29,220 we are in his presence that the formation and transformation and reformation takes place, 332 00:35:29,220 --> 00:35:36,540 not outside of that hospitality. So what does it look like to increasingly grow in an 333 00:35:36,540 --> 00:35:46,900 awareness of a with God life? Here's the first thing that we can see. Not just here, but 334 00:35:46,900 --> 00:35:53,500 know that what God is up to is that in all of your life, he is slowly drawing you, not 335 00:35:53,500 --> 00:35:59,740 just the good things, but even the hard things. He's drawing you closer to himself. And like 336 00:35:59,740 --> 00:36:05,260 the story of God with Elijah, God has and is and will always be working for that end. 337 00:36:05,260 --> 00:36:10,220 He isn't following you around to punish you because you've sat in a seat and rested yourself 338 00:36:10,220 --> 00:36:16,060 on something that doesn't actually provide that eternal rest that you're longing for. 339 00:36:16,060 --> 00:36:22,700 He instead helps you to see what it is and how to draw it out from you so that you can 340 00:36:22,700 --> 00:36:31,320 rest in him more deeply. How might we welcome or embrace God's rest? How do we actually 341 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:39,460 step towards that? Well, one thing is that it often feels like you're going backwards. 342 00:36:39,460 --> 00:36:47,300 It often feels like you're slowing down rather than going forward. So one of the keys is, 343 00:36:47,300 --> 00:36:52,420 like Elijah, is to know that when you end up heading into the wilderness and you end 344 00:36:52,420 --> 00:36:57,260 up pouting at this tree and you end up in this cave with God, God's doing a deep work 345 00:36:57,260 --> 00:37:03,100 even in that space. And it's okay for it to feel like it's going backwards before God 346 00:37:03,100 --> 00:37:08,740 then takes you maybe into another season where it moves forward again. So welcome that and 347 00:37:08,740 --> 00:37:16,380 embrace that. And I can tell you, brothers and sisters, that I hate this. I resist it 348 00:37:16,380 --> 00:37:21,780 and my wife knows very well, like I will tell her in the home, I'll say, why did God have 349 00:37:21,780 --> 00:37:27,100 to make it this way, right? But it's so good and so perfect and so true because it's in 350 00:37:27,100 --> 00:37:31,780 that space that I've been resting and sitting on something that I thought was moving me 351 00:37:31,780 --> 00:37:38,620 forward that God pulls that out and aligns me with what is more important and more valuable. 352 00:37:38,620 --> 00:37:43,260 So I welcome it with one hand and I kind of resist it with the other, right? Lord, help 353 00:37:43,260 --> 00:37:50,260 me. Here is an invitation for you for this coming year, something I want to invite you 354 00:37:50,260 --> 00:37:58,700 to do. I want to invite you to take a retreat. This isn't a conference where you learn more 355 00:37:58,700 --> 00:38:07,420 information and you study something new. This is a time and a space where you remove control 356 00:38:07,420 --> 00:38:14,260 and distraction, where you remove any sense of accomplishment and approval that you can 357 00:38:14,260 --> 00:38:20,160 receive from God and you just sit there with Him. Again, it's going to feel like you're 358 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:25,980 going backwards. You may say, I don't have time for this, but that's exactly the space 359 00:38:25,980 --> 00:38:30,700 that means you need to take a retreat. This could be 24 hours. It could be a couple of 360 00:38:30,700 --> 00:38:40,220 days. Go alone and spend some time doing the following. Psalm 46, 10 says, be still and 361 00:38:40,220 --> 00:38:47,740 know that I am God. Just come and be still before Him. And I don't know if it's a problem 362 00:38:47,740 --> 00:38:51,940 with you, but for me, my mind always engages and I begin to think, okay, how do I move 363 00:38:51,940 --> 00:38:57,220 forward? How do I change something? How do I grasp whatever is next? And so this has 364 00:38:57,220 --> 00:39:02,880 been actually kind of feels like a ripping for me to just sit there and to be still and 365 00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:07,580 know that He is God. You know what He's doing though? He's saying, Phil, why don't you stop 366 00:39:07,580 --> 00:39:14,340 pretending to be God and just take a seat with me? And you just kind of sit there and 367 00:39:14,340 --> 00:39:19,060 it feels like nothing is happening for that moment. But as you're sitting there, I want 368 00:39:19,060 --> 00:39:23,100 to remind you or invite you to something else. There's another story of a priest in the Old 369 00:39:23,100 --> 00:39:30,720 Testament, Eli, and he's mentoring this guy named Samuel. And God is calling out Samuel 370 00:39:30,720 --> 00:39:36,580 to take Eli's place. And so the Lord speaks to him a number of times and Samuel keeps 371 00:39:36,580 --> 00:39:41,900 getting it wrong and he keeps going to Eli and is like, hey, what do you need? So what 372 00:39:41,900 --> 00:39:49,180 does Eli do? Eli tells Samuel, he says, go back. And this time, when you hear a voice, 373 00:39:49,180 --> 00:39:54,320 say, speak, Lord, your servant is listening. So as you're sitting there in your stillness 374 00:39:54,320 --> 00:40:01,820 before God, you can use that to say, speak, Lord, your servant is listening. Again, what 375 00:40:01,820 --> 00:40:08,260 you're doing is you're sitting there and just receiving from God who he is. All of that 376 00:40:08,260 --> 00:40:12,740 time of memorizing scripture and reading it and participating in all the classes and everything 377 00:40:12,740 --> 00:40:17,560 that has been so good for you, it'll come back to you in that moment. And the Holy Spirit 378 00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:24,580 will use it to minister to you and to bring you to a great healing and a rest in him. 379 00:40:24,580 --> 00:40:32,340 There's this time in the last few years that when faced with an opportunity, an invitation 380 00:40:32,340 --> 00:40:40,260 for stillness before God, I remember my heart saying, I don't have time for this. And it 381 00:40:40,260 --> 00:40:46,820 was as though God said, you have time to breathe, don't you, Phil? Of course I have time to 382 00:40:46,820 --> 00:40:51,540 breathe, God, if I don't breathe, what's going to happen? And I think God was inviting 383 00:40:51,540 --> 00:40:57,420 me in that moment to say, I need you, Lord, every moment, every hour, which is a song 384 00:40:57,420 --> 00:41:01,340 we're going to just sing here in a moment here. I need you. Whether or not I'm aware 385 00:41:01,340 --> 00:41:09,080 of it or not, you're with me and would you increase that awareness to need you more? 386 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:13,540 And God is always there and he's gently calling us into that deeper space with him. What a 387 00:41:13,540 --> 00:41:17,860 good God, what a wonderful God, what a God that we can actually trust and put our weight 388 00:41:17,860 --> 00:41:26,620 in as we journey through life. Lord, we confess that at times our heart is looking for rest 389 00:41:26,620 --> 00:41:32,660 in a number of things, things that sometimes are clearly not right, but other times are 390 00:41:32,660 --> 00:41:41,900 confusing because they seem to be so good and so right and so true. But like resting 391 00:41:41,900 --> 00:41:47,380 in a river and just heading down, we ask that you would hold us, that you would be the one 392 00:41:47,380 --> 00:41:53,180 to bring us into a greater and deeper rest in you, God. What a treasure that is. Thank 393 00:41:53,180 --> 00:41:58,060 you for calling us out of whatever cave we have hidden. Thank you for continuing to do 394 00:41:58,060 --> 00:42:03,520 that. And we ask that we would do so even this morning. And so as we join the team in 395 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:10,820 worshiping these words that we need you, God, may those be true expressions of what is going 396 00:42:10,820 --> 00:42:16,540 on in our hearts. And whatever needs to continue to change, do so. Holy Spirit, continue to 397 00:42:16,540 --> 00:42:29,220 do that work. We love you, God, and we declare that you are worthy. In Jesus' name, amen. 398 00:42:29,220 --> 00:42:35,780 Thank you for tuning in to the ECB Sermon Podcast. Whether near or far, if you are looking 399 00:42:35,780 --> 00:42:42,300 for community or are in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage by sending us an email 400 00:42:42,300 --> 00:42:50,140 to office at ecb.asia. If God is calling you to support our ministries, you will find giving 401 00:42:50,140 --> 00:43:12,860 options on our website. And remember to join us next week. God bless you.