Welcome to those of you online this morning.
We are so excited that we get to do this together.
We get to gather, we get to worship together,
and hopefully your time has been special where
you are. Baghdad, that's you. Paulding, that's
you. We're excited for what God is doing in those
communities. I had a moment this week, I was
at Starbucks, and no plug for Starbucks, by the
way, I was just there. But in the process, I
got to meet a couple, Terry and Linda, who are
in People's Valley. And they were so excited
to go, hey, we are there every week on the online
family. So Terry and Linda, welcome to you. It
was great to meet you, and we're glad you're
here. Well, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome.
We're glad you're here. I love when worship,
when we get to worship in song and in the...
process of doing that, we get to put language
to things that are real. I don't know if you
caught it within that What a God song, but just
the idea that in the crowd, God sees you. God
is present with you. And sometimes in the midst
of a crowd, it can be easy to be like, you know,
does God really see me? Like if we're really
honest, some of you, some of you, you are like
ninjas on your way in here. What do I mean by
that? Like you think it's a challenge to get
past the guest services team. Right. So so you're
avoiding the guest service team. You're sliding
in behind people. You even do a walk by on the
little refreshment thing. Like you grab the cup
that's there so that you don't stop. Nobody sees
you. Then you you make it in here and you slide
into your seat and you're like, OK, I'm in a
crowd. But the beauty is God sees you. He knows
you. So even in the midst of a crowd, right,
like the excitement for me is that God is going
to speak to you. That's the anticipation. That
within that song, the reality of like the highest
place, if the highest place I ever reach is at
your feet, man, it doesn't get any better. I've
done it all. And we can sing these lofty songs,
right? Like you are my everything. And just like
Miko's, I love Miko's honesty because what she's
expressing is this idea of spiritual maturity,
right? Like what spiritual maturity is, is when
what I know is actually what I live. And that's
when you know you become mature in your faith.
That's the goal of this, right? Like that we
would know and we would take actions to become
who God says we are. And when that gap begins
to close is actually when you begin to become
spiritually mature. When you do what God has
told you to do. When you do what you know to
be true. Here's the honest truth. We don't need
more information. Most of you, if you've been
around church, if you haven't been around church,
that might be a different story. But if you've
been around church for any length of time and
you've heard a few sermons along the way or messages
or talks or whatever you want to call them, and
you go, you know what? I could dare say you have
all the information you will ever need to live
the Christian life. You just need to put it into
action. And one of the things we do when we gather
in here is we're just bringing it back and going,
you know what? There are gaps in my life. I sing
he's my everything, but then, uh. Not really.
And so that's a spiritual gap, right? That you've
got to close up if you're going to mature. We're
heading into a new collection of talks. It's
called Snapshots. The word snapshot is really
interesting because the word snapshot comes from
in the 1800s. If you were to go hunting and you
were not to aim, you were just to grab your gun
and take a quick shot. That's what a snapshot
was. And then later in the 1800s, photography
got a hold of the word. At that point, you had
to have an elaborate setup and exposure, and
so it took time. But a snapshot was you didn't
take time to do any of that. You just took a
quick snapshot, and whatever you captured, you
captured. And what we hope to do over the next
weeks together is we hope to build these pictures,
if you like, these captured moments. of this
is who God is. You realize your faith starts
and ends with who God is. The size of your faith
and your walk is all dependent on the view that
you have of God. And so over the next weeks,
what we're going to kind of lean into is this
idea of what a God and creating this picture
of this is who this God is. And so the way we're
going to do it is we're going to work through
some of the book of Exodus. But we're just going
to take snapshots. We're just going to grab moments
and capture moments and put, hopefully, color
around them that we go, man, what a God. What
a God. And then hopefully what happens is we
begin to sync up. We begin to sync up some of
our actions with what we know to be true. And
so whether you're here in the room or you're
across the screen, that's our goal over the next
weeks together as a family. And this week, we're
going to start with a topic. that is around the
idea of fear. You realize there's all different
kinds of fear, right? And if we were to break
down this room and if you're an Enneagram person,
there's Enneagram sixes. If you're here, you've
already figured out every what if could happen
in this space and what your exit plan is. Like
you already have it in place because you live
in the world of what if something goes wrong,
right? And so there's a natural, if you're an
Enneagram six, there's a natural. kind of bent
on your life, that you're just going to navigate
life, figuring out all the things that could
go wrong and them not happening. It's a fear
perspective, right? There's physical fear. Last
summer, I got to go. My wife and I were away.
We were in the mountains in California. And part
of the day, my wife goes, there's only one thing
I really would like to try to do. And she goes
like this. hike, but it's not really a hike.
Now, if you know me and you know her, we don't
really hike, we walk, right? Like we go on walks
together, not a hike together. And so when she
says this, I'm like, what, for what? That's the
first thing, right? Like if we're going to go
walk, why are we walking? And she goes, okay,
there's this heart -shaped rock that's at this
waterfall and it sounds very cute and romantic,
right? And she's like, it's an easy walk. Everybody
says it's easy. And so Literally, we go, this
is how prepared I am. I got a plastic water bottle
and I got these new shoes that I was trying to
break in, these tennis shoes I had. I was like,
I'll just break them in on this walk, right?
Like it's supposed to be around a mile there,
a mile back. So we get going and it's this nice
path. And then all of a sudden, it starts to
turn into this narrow path. And you're kind of
working your way through rocks and different
things. And we're seeing people along the way.
And so we stopped at one point and went, hey,
are we on the right path? Because we thought
this was a walk, not a hike. Like, is this right?
And they're like, oh, yeah, you just need to
keep going up there, down there, over there.
I'm like, that doesn't sound easy. And so we
keep going because she's got her heart set on
seeing this hard rock. So now it's getting a
little harder. And so I'm like. I'll do the manly
thing. I'll go in front of you and help you down,
right? And so I'm helping her through, and we're
getting down. And I go to step, and all of a
sudden, I just hear rattles. Now, I'm not totally
sure what happened in that moment. I don't know
if I put this foot down and launched from this
foot or if I launched from my standing leg. But
what I do know is this. I don't know much about
the outdoors, but I've been told. That if it
is a baby rattlesnake, they are much more deadly
than an adult rattlesnake. This was a baby rattlesnake,
and it was coiled and ready to strike. And so
I just went this direction. There was no thought.
There was no, like, I'm out of here, right? Well,
what I didn't know is there was a nine -foot
drop. And so I launch over this edge. Thankfully,
I had these new shoes. God was out in front of
me protecting the stupid, right? And they were
wide and stopped my ankle from rolling. And so
I land nine feet down with the rattlesnake up
there and my wife up there. And I'm like, I'm
safe. We're good. So there's physical fear, right?
There are things that instantly cause fear in
us. And we hit this like moment of I'm going
to stay and fight or I'm going to jump off a
cliff like I'm just one or the other. There's
also cognitive fear. And cognitive fear happens
between your ears. It happens in your mental
processing. And cognitive fear is much different.
Cognitive fear in my 20s, we were going to be
missionaries, so we'd gone to this training center
that taught you how to learn a language that
was unwritten. And I'll be honest with you, it
took me a year and a half to get to that school.
Because in high school, I'd failed French and
German. So God and I, for a year and a half,
had these conversations around, I don't know
why you're making me go. This is dumb. Why are
you making me go? You know I'm not good at this.
It's just for you to prove that I'm not good
at this, and we're going to go. So I've got all
this wound up, all happening between my ears
fear. Well, I go to language school, and I got
straight A's. God had gifted me for it, and I
didn't even know it. So we get there, and partway
through that year, they go, hey, you know what?
Would you stay and be an instructor? No. Right.
Like we got plans. We're going. And so we start
to chat with God and God goes, hey, you need
to stay and do this. I was like, God, I don't
want to. I'm not good at this. Why would you
make me? And then so so we God is God. And so
we stayed. And now we're in the middle of that
year of teaching because I told him you only
get one year. We're in the middle of that. The
Canadian side, right, so now we're talking another
country, contacts this school and goes, hey,
we want to, right, the same mission organization,
we want to start a language school for our Canadian
students. Would you be willing to, do you have
anybody who would be, who you'd recommend to
do this? How my name got put in there, I still
don't understand. But all of a sudden I'm sitting
with this leadership team and they're like, hey,
would you consider going to Canada and starting
a language? I'm like, it's one thing to teach
other people's curriculum. It's another thing
to show up and you're supposed to be the one
creating it. I'm like, no. And then God said,
hey, you're going to go. And I can't tell you
how many conversations with God were wrapped
around not wanting to go. Long story short, we
ended up there for five and a half years and
the school is still going. But isn't it interesting,
the thoughts that we have around our fears? I
would dare say you're sitting here, if you're
human, you have some fears. You have things in
your world that you know God is calling you to.
And it doesn't mean that those are go start a
language school in Canada. It may be as simple
as you're in a relationship that you know you
shouldn't be in and you're scared to leave because
you got every what if on the planet. You may
know that you're here and you know God's calling
you to shift careers and you're terrified of
shifting careers. You may be here and you're
just like, you know what? I don't know if God's
actually going to provide. There's all these
different areas of life, raising kids. You want
to talk about fear? Have some kids. Right? Every
fear comes in. And fear is a part of this journey.
And what we see in Exodus chapter 3, the context
of Exodus chapter 3, what's happened before this
is the nation of Israel have been enslaved. And
when you hear enslaved, think of the most oppressive
state you can be in, right? Like the emperor
at one point determines that, hey, I'm going
to have all the babies. all the male babies killed
that are Israelites. So any male babies that
are born, you gotta put them to death right where
they are. That's the kind of oppression they
are under. And so in the midst of this oppression,
right, they begin to get to the point they're
so overwhelmed that they cry out to God. The
Israelites go, hey, you gotta save us. We need
some help down here. To which, to which, and
this is something that's worth just noting away
on who God is. God always answers the cry of
the oppressed. God always hears it and always
answers. How do I know there is a cross stained
red? And that is out of our oppression to sin,
our oppression to brokenness, that God showed
up to rescue us. And so what you have in the
story of Exodus is you have these pictures of
the gospel, right? They're in a physical rescue.
We have a spiritual rescue. And so all the way
through, you kind of get these pictures that
correlate to who we are and create this bigger
picture of who God is. And so they cry out to
God and God answers them this way. Chapter 3,
verse 1. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro,
his father -in -law, the priest of Midian. And
he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness
and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. So catch
everybody up, same speed. We got this character
named Moses. Mo for short, if that's your thing.
But what Mo does, he has got a history to his
life at this point. And that history is that
when he was born, he was one of those babies
that should have been put to death. But his mama
put him in a basket, hid him, and sent him down
the river. Now, under God's guiding hand, wouldn't
you know that Moe ends up at the house of the
empire? He ends up at Pharaoh's house. Pharaoh,
think of... Every single person you can think
of on the planet, Pharaoh is the most powerful
person on the entire planet who runs the largest
empire on the planet. That is the house that
this baby ends up at. His daughter ends up raising
him. And partway through Mo's story, what you
get is that partway through he realizes, hey,
I'm an Israelite and they're my people. And then
he sees them mistreated. So what does he do?
He goes to protect, ends up killing one of them,
buries them. But the rumor mill has already started.
And now he's concerned it's going to get back
to Pharaoh. Pharaoh's going to want to kill me.
And so he runs. He's 40 years old when that happens.
And so he takes off. At this point when we meet
him, what we get is that now he is looking after
the herds of his father -in -law. And it specifically
says, listen to the phrase it gives us. He led
the flock to the far side of the wilderness.
One of the things I love about the Bible, you
guys, is the language is so rich, right? Like
the language here of the far side of the wilderness,
that far side is the unseen space. Wilderness
is deserted, right? Like wilderness is that it's
unseen, but it's also, there's no ownership.
Nobody owns the land. And so when you get to
the land, right, now nobody owns it, so there's
no identity. So he's in an unseen place where
there's no identity attached to anything around
him. He's unseen. And it's in the midst of him
being on the far side, as far away as he can
get, that it says this. There the angel of the
Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within
a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on
fire, it did not burn up. So Moses thought, I
will go over and see this strange sight. Why
did the bush, why the bush does not burn up?
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look,
he called. God called to him from within the
bush, Moses, Moses. And Moses said, here I am.
Do not come any closer, God said. Take off your
sandals for the place where you are standing
is holy ground. Then he said, I am the God of
your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
the God of Jacob. At this, Moses hid his face
because he was afraid to look at God. So you
have this moment on the far side of the wilderness
where he thinks he is unseen, where he is unknown,
where he is not identified by anything around
him. And it's in the midst of that that it says
that God shows up. And the language here is super
important because the word in the original for
bush has to do with it is small. It is covered
in thorns and it is common. So some people want
to say, well, it was a tree. It wasn't a tree.
It's intentional, the language that was used.
It is small, covered in thorns, and it is common.
Why is this important? Because remember, everything
in the Bible is pointing forward to who? To the
person of Jesus, pointing forward to what he's
going to do. And so in the midst of this moment
where God shows up and it's a fire and it's not
consuming, there's something that we learn about
God. That he came and his presence was where?
In the small, not the grand. Well, wait a minute.
When Jesus came, where did Jesus come? He came
as a baby. I don't know if you know this or not.
We're not very big. Like humanity, we're just
not very big. What do I mean by that? I don't
know if you had this moment, but this week about
1130 at my house, roughly. I was dead asleep
and out of nowhere, there was this bang of thunder
so loud. There was this bang outside my house,
lightning thunder. And what happened? I literally
went, okay, Jesus, we're going home. Like it
was one of those moments. It was so loud. But
in those moments, what do you realize? I'm really
not very big. Hey, we live in Arizona. You don't
have to go outside. And you go, I don't control
a whole lot of stuff. When I see the sky. Right?
Where is Jesus found? He comes in the smallest
way. He comes to this moment, and if you continue
to follow this through, right? So he comes to
the small, to the human, to the fragile. And
in the midst of that, what's also true of humanity
is if you follow the story backwards to the beginning,
what you find in the beginning is when humanity
make a choice to go against God, we call that
sin, right? When they went against God, what
was told is that God cursed. He placed a curse.
And what was one of the curses? Thorns. And so
what you get a picture of in this, In this small
bush that God essentially shows up in is that
he comes where? In the midst of the curse. When
God shows up on the planet and he is born of
a baby, where is he coming inside of? He's coming
inside of a humanity that is cursed. You and
me, whether we like it or not, we are born onto
a broken planet, onto a cursed planet. We are
born separated from God. And in the midst of
that, we are under the curse. And where does
God show up? In the midst of the curse. I don't
think it's lost, you guys, that when he goes
to the cross, he has a crown of what? Thorns.
That the curse was thinking it was winning and
it was losing. Why? Because Jesus showed up.
He was present. And so there's this beautiful
picture that even though we are broken, when
we say yes to Jesus, the Holy Spirit indwells
us, right? In our brokenness, God is present.
And you're not consumed by him, but he is present.
And then the last thing about the bush is what?
That it is common. It is common. I love that
the presence of God took an ordinary thing. I
don't know how many were there, but if you picture
like common bushes out in the wild, there's just
thousands of them, right? And God chose this
common bush and what happened? It became extraordinary.
Why? Because God's presence showed up. You know
what's amazing? We aren't very big. We aren't
like in comparison to everything. We're not in
control of nothing. And yet God chooses, God
chooses the common, the common to put his presence
in. And what happens? is there's a moment where
it becomes extraordinary. You might put it this
way. This language has been chasing me for a
while. That what is natural in heaven, right?
Like what is true in heaven today, when it shows
up on earth, it's supernatural. And in you, in
you, what shows up in the person of God, in the
person of Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit,
is you are supernatural. Why not? Because you're
something. But because he's something and his
presence is in you. And so just like this moment
where Moses is having this moment with God, he
says, remove your sandals because you're on holy
ground. Why is the ground holy? Because the presence
of God is now where? There. What happens to you
in the New Testament when you say yes to Jesus
and the Holy Spirit indwells you? What do the
New Testament writers call you? They call you
holy and blameless. Why? Because the presence
of God is in you, which means that today, whether
you feel it or not, you are holy before God.
You are blameless before God. Why? Because the
presence of God is in you. Just like the ground
became holy, you are holy because the presence
of God is in you. It's this beautiful picture.
It's this beautiful picture of his people and
who we're becoming, that we would be holy. And
notice Moses' reaction. He ends up hiding his
face because he's afraid. And then down in verse
10, it says this. God's still speaking to Moses.
He goes, so now go. I am sending you to Pharaoh.
Remember the most powerful person on earth? To
bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.
So this is what I'm doing. I'm sending you, Moses.
But Moses said to God, who am I that I should
go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of
Egypt? You see what happened there, right? They
learned something about God. But then between
his ears, he got to thinking. And as he gets
to thinking, his eyes go to himself and he goes,
who am I? Fear begins to come in, right? Because
what he does is he starts to look at his inadequacies.
Like, God, do you know who I am? Like his insecurities,
like I'm not enough for this task that you're
calling me to. And so now this cognitive fear
begins to go. And so in verse 12, it says, and
God said, I will be with you. And this will be
a sign to you that it is I who have sent you.
When you have brought the people out of Egypt,
you will worship God on this mountain. Verse
13, Moses said to God, suppose I go to the Israelites
and say to them, the God of your fathers has
sent me to you. And they asked me, what is his
name? Then what shall I tell them? So again,
he's back where? In his head. And in his head,
he's going, OK, so if I show up and I go, hey,
what's that God's name? I don't even know your
name. Right. Like he's just rationalizing and
fear is growing inside of him. And he's going,
he's going, I don't even know who you are. So
what does God do? God tells him his name. That's
the next part of it. And then he goes, go to
the go to the elders of Israel. And when you
get to them, tell them this is what me, God,
I am who I am. Tell them what I said. Or chapter
four, verse one. Moses answered, what if, what
if they do not believe me or listen to me and
say the Lord did not appear to you? I don't know
how you feel about the Bible, but one of the
things I love is God didn't edit this out. He
didn't just strike it out because it's like,
Moses, this is taking too long. This is out of
here. But he gives us a real moment. Why? Because
your faith and my faith are supposed to be real
with God. And what he has here is very, very
real thoughts. What if, God, what if I go and
they don't believe me? You ever had what ifs
with God? God, what if the outcome isn't what
I want it to be? God, what if I do this for you,
but I get there, and when I get there, people
look at me and go, you didn't hear from God.
What am I going to do? Isn't it funny how tied
down we get by the reactions of other people?
When you have Almighty God, the one leading you,
and we get hung up by what this little human's
going to think? Give me a break. We can be so
fragile. You ever had that moment where you're
kind of in a room and you get the sense inside
of you and you're like, I need to go talk to
that person. You ever had that? And you're like,
well, God, I think it's you telling me to go
talk to them, but what if I do? What if they
laugh at me? What if they laugh? Your job isn't
to hold the outcome. Your job is to be obedient
to Almighty God. Your job is to walk by faith,
not by fear. Your job is to step into that moment
and go, you know what, God, I don't understand
it and I have all these fears, but you're God.
I mean, the what ifs, you guys, they're real,
right? What if I give my life to God? Will things
really change? What if I boldly stand for my
faith and it costs me my job? What if, God, I
feel like you're telling me to say this in this
relationship. And if I say that, I just am worried
that the outcome is going to be not what I want.
That's not your job. Your job is to be faithful.
Verse 10 of chapter four, Moses said to the Lord,
pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been
eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have
spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and
tongue. Can we just like applaud Moses's honesty,
right? Like what is he getting down to now, right?
Like he's getting down to this moment of this
is who I am and these are my real fears. My real
fears and in the original language, you can come
to this conclusion. Moses had a stutter. Right
now, couple that stutter with he hasn't been
in Egypt for 40 years. And if you do not use
language, you lose language. So you have some
kind of impediment, some kind of stutter. And
now I'm going to go speak through a different
language. He's got some real reasons to have
fear. I don't doubt that your reasons are real
for your fear. But I love that he gets to a point
where he's honest with God about it. Verse 11,
then the Lord said to him, who gave human beings
their mouths? Who made them deaf or mute? Who
gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not
I, the Lord? What does he do? He just reminds
him of who God is. You see your stutter? Let
me take you back to a picture of what a God.
And he says, now go. I will help you speak and
will teach you what to say. Verse 13, but Moses
said, pardon your servant, Lord. Please send
someone else. It's the best. It's the best. That's
all good. You're the God that does all that.
That's great. Send somebody else, please. You
guys, he had real reasons. Chapter 7, verse 7.
Listen to this. Moses was 80 years old. And Aaron,
Aaron's the guy that God sends to be his sidekick,
right? His Robin the Batman, if you like. Aaron,
83. When they spoke to Pharaoh. Can you imagine
like God's asking you to go fight the empire
and he goes, I'll send in help. And an 83 year
old shows up. That's like, thanks God. Appreciate
that one. 20 year olds were all unavailable or
what? God was like, they're on TikTok. I don't
know. 80 and 83. Okay, think about it for a second.
God comes to you. And you're 80 years old. Now,
what I know about 80 years old, wow, it's easy
to speak. 80 -year -old people, what I know about
them, there's a lot of aches and pains. Right?
There's a lot of, I'm just tired. And it's all
valid. Imagine being 80 and 83, and as an 80
-year -old, you got a stutter. And God goes,
hey. I'm sending you to China. You're going to
go stand up to him. Excuse me? That's the image.
The largest empire on earth. And he had real
reasons for fear, but can I give you the cure
for fear today? Notice what is said within this,
right? Go back to chapter 4, verse 12. Now go,
I, I will help you. you speak and will teach
you what to say. What is God doing? What is the
cure for fear? It's to remind yourselves of the
presence of God. He says, I'm going to be with
you. I'm going to go with you. And I will what?
I will help you, Moses. I'll help you take your
mouth that you think doesn't work. I will help
you with it. And Moses, I will teach you. That
word teach, we're chatting about it in our teaching
prep this week, right? That word teach, it's
the same root as you get for Torah. Now, what
is the Torah? First five books of the Bible.
He's essentially saying the word teach in the
original is I will instruct you in what? In what
in their world was everything. I'll instruct
you, Moses, in everything. And the way the rabbinical,
the rabbis would kind of process that is it was
God was going to be a visible instruction when
Moses went. What a beautiful picture. That the
God. who created it all, is going to go with
him. And when he goes with him, he's going to
help him in his weaknesses. He's going to help
him in the things that he thinks don't qualify
him. He's going to help him in those things.
And what's going to happen? And when he gets
there, I will be a visible, visible guide into
everything you need. Okay, okay, connect some
dots. You ready? The Holy Spirit, when he comes
to live inside of you, right, it is a seal, meaning
he ain't leaving. Right. And so what does that
mean? Everywhere you go, the Holy Spirit goes
with you. The presence of God goes to wherever
you go. So there is nowhere when God asks you
to do something that you go. The presence of
God doesn't go with me. There's nowhere that
you can be outside of the presence of God. What
it means is that when you go, then the things
that Jesus said about the Holy Spirit are what
are happening. What did he say about it? He says
that the Holy Spirit will be your guide. He will
be your advocate. What is advocate? He will be
your helper. So when fear is coming, guess what?
The Holy Spirit is what? Helping you in the midst
of those fears. And then what's the other part
that Jesus says about the Holy Spirit? That he
will guide you in all truth. What you have inside
of you right now is the cure for fear. That fear
should never have mastery over you. That fear
should never be your story. Why? Because the
indwelling of God himself is in you and he wants
to guide you and he wants to help you into everything
he's asked you to do. You have no reason to fear.
But remember, remember how we started? Spiritual
maturity is what? What I know. Being moved to
closing the gap to what I do. When you mature
in your faith, it's not, I just got to have more
faith. That's not how this works. I got to have
more trust. I got to have more courage in what
God says is true of me. And I got to take trusting
me and put it on him. You know what helps us
with that is worship. Look at what the goal was
in chapter 3, verse 12. And God said, I will
be with you and this will be a sign to you that
it is I who have sent you. When you have brought
the people out of Egypt, you will worship God
on this mountain. Spoiler alert, they end up
worshiping God on the mountain. It's this beautiful
moment where God goes, hey, don't miss what I'm
doing. I'm buying you worship. Worship is always
costly. You realize that? If you think about
it in the case of the physical sense of the Israelites,
for God to show up, for Moses, there was a cost
to Moses. There's a cost to everybody involved.
Aaron, there's a cost to the faith of the Israelites.
There's a cost to livestock. There's a cost to
the nation of Egypt. All the Egyptians suffer,
right? Like even down to the firstborn, there's
a cost of setting them out. Then there's the
Red Sea. There's a cost to all of it. Why? So
they can get to a mountain and they can worship.
Your worship came costly. What do I mean? Your
worship is a weapon, right? What does worship
do? It reminds us who God is. As we sing these
words over, it reminds us, it puts us in perspective.
It centers us, but don't miss that your worship
in song was costly. What do I mean? Jesus had
to go to a cross for you to be able to stand
and worship. It cost him everything so that you
could declare you are my everything. Church,
what a God. What a God who finds us in the most
desolate place. What a God who finds us when
we feel unseen. What a God who in the midst of
us being far away chooses us. What a God who
transforms us and takes our fear and doesn't
let our fear become our story. What a God who
indwells us by his very own spirit. What a God
who is all powerful and yet powerful enough to
put inside your chest the same power that raised
Jesus from the dead. What a God who gives you
purpose in your life. What a God who doesn't
allow you to stay status quo. What a God that
will call you forward to live by faith. What
a God who is asking you, will you trust me enough
to take the worship I have bought for you and
use your freedom to just go? I'm going to declare
it back. I don't know about you, but when I see
a picture of that God, how can I not go? You're
my everything. You're everything. And so I take
my voice and I tell you, you're my everything.
And declare what a God. because there is none
like you. And so if you would stand, we're going
to declare together that you are my everything.