WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:04.740 Morning, church. Welcome to those of you on our 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:08.699 online fam, Baghdad, that is you. We are so glad 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:11.099 that you are gathering this morning and that 00:00:11.099 --> 00:00:13.119 you are creating community right where you are. 00:00:13.220 --> 00:00:16.640 Pauldin, that's you. Your community is rallied 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:19.920 around breakfast, so hope you enjoyed and got 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.320 to partake today. There's a couple of people 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:27.960 I noticed. There's a lady online named Barbie. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.420 How do you not shout out Barbie, right? And Ash 00:00:31.420 --> 00:00:35.140 Fork. And then Frank and Loma Linda. We're just 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:37.799 super excited that you are with us and we get 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:39.960 to do this. Can we just say hi to all of our 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:46.920 online fam today? And then welcome to you who 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:52.899 are in the room. And man, I get it. I get it, 00:00:52.899 --> 00:00:57.179 right? Like to come to a space. where you don't 00:00:57.179 --> 00:00:59.240 even know if you're going to get a seat at this 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:01.280 service. By the way, we do have other services 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:04.120 that have seats, just so you guys know. Same 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:06.500 teacher, same band, like everything's the same. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:10.439 So just so you guys are aware of that. But also 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:15.260 along with that though, like there's a factor 00:01:15.260 --> 00:01:19.939 of showing up to a church and putting yourself 00:01:19.939 --> 00:01:24.420 in a crowd of people and you not even knowing. 00:01:25.129 --> 00:01:27.510 what you think about this, right? Like you're 00:01:27.510 --> 00:01:30.510 still processing what karaoke was, right? Like 00:01:30.510 --> 00:01:33.010 you just, we just went through, no, karaoke didn't 00:01:33.010 --> 00:01:35.409 land. Okay, fine. We'll carry on. Thanks for 00:01:35.409 --> 00:01:38.109 leaving me just dead up here. You guys are great. 00:01:38.810 --> 00:01:42.109 But you're still processing, you're still processing 00:01:42.109 --> 00:01:45.969 what just happened. And now you're processing 00:01:45.969 --> 00:01:49.709 like, am I going to stay? Because it took an 00:01:49.709 --> 00:01:52.769 amazing act of courage for you to just get through 00:01:52.769 --> 00:01:57.640 the doors. Like courage is a synonym for faith. 00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:02.379 And one of the things that we build kind of this 00:02:02.379 --> 00:02:07.239 on is a belief that you were created by God. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:11.919 That requires courage to accept. That not only 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:15.340 did God create you, but the same God showed up 00:02:15.340 --> 00:02:19.620 on the planet in the form of Jesus to go to a 00:02:19.620 --> 00:02:23.560 cross to show you how much he loves you. That 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:27.439 takes a level of courage to go, I'm going to 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:32.199 trust that God. And then on top of that, for 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:36.340 God to show up, pay the penalty for your sins, 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:38.460 create a way for you to have a relationship with 00:02:38.460 --> 00:02:41.060 God. And then on top of that, for him to put 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:44.039 his Holy Spirit inside of you when you step in 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:47.479 by courage. Here's what it does in my world. 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:53.080 Is it allows me to have confidence. That right 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:57.199 here, right now, one, you're not here by chance. 00:02:57.939 --> 00:03:00.979 There's a God who is in control of much more 00:03:00.979 --> 00:03:06.219 than you think. Two, that God wants to speak 00:03:06.219 --> 00:03:11.259 to you this morning. He wants a personal conversation 00:03:11.259 --> 00:03:14.580 with you. That's the confidence of what this 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:19.199 is. If you're here and you're going, okay, wow 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.629 us, we're not going to wow you. It's not going 00:03:22.629 --> 00:03:25.830 to happen. Because that's not what this is about. 00:03:25.909 --> 00:03:28.729 What this is about is trusting that the Holy 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:31.009 Spirit is going to take whatever we talk about 00:03:31.009 --> 00:03:35.550 and he is going to translate it to you. Because 00:03:35.550 --> 00:03:39.729 you need a personal moment with Almighty God 00:03:39.729 --> 00:03:44.909 today. In the midst of everyone else going, I 00:03:44.909 --> 00:03:49.289 need that too. And so I got a question for you 00:03:49.289 --> 00:03:52.370 kind of as we... As we start, one to let God 00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:56.530 begin to kind of personally apply in your life. 00:03:58.949 --> 00:04:04.629 What is God asking you to have courage with today? 00:04:06.729 --> 00:04:08.949 What is God asking you to have courage? And if 00:04:08.949 --> 00:04:12.729 you put courage in the category of, if I ask 00:04:12.729 --> 00:04:14.210 the question, what is God asking you to have 00:04:14.210 --> 00:04:18.410 faith? That's such a lofty, big, I have faith 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:22.790 in God. That's such a big conversation that's 00:04:22.790 --> 00:04:26.750 not really measurable. But courage is measurable. 00:04:27.189 --> 00:04:29.470 Courage is an action. Courage is a step I take 00:04:29.470 --> 00:04:36.290 forward. And so for you, As the Holy Spirit is 00:04:36.290 --> 00:04:38.230 present, as the Holy Spirit is speaking, whether 00:04:38.230 --> 00:04:40.209 that's here in the room or it's across screens, 00:04:40.410 --> 00:04:45.509 into a living room in Baghdad, or sorry, a school 00:04:45.509 --> 00:04:48.449 in Baghdad and a living room in Paulding, and 00:04:48.449 --> 00:04:52.310 wherever else there's a screen, we have the same 00:04:52.310 --> 00:04:57.750 question. What is God calling you to live by 00:04:57.750 --> 00:05:00.850 courage? Why courage? Because we're told to live 00:05:00.850 --> 00:05:04.839 by faith, not by sight. You're called to live 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:07.459 by faith. This life is supposed to be lived by 00:05:07.459 --> 00:05:10.680 steps of courage, steps of faith. So what is 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:12.699 God calling you? I'll give you an example from 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:18.939 my life. I got one of my babies who is a freshman 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:23.980 this year. Yeah, you guys get it. You guys get 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:29.300 it. You know the courage to take my freshman 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:37.019 and put her in public school? Right. There's 00:05:37.019 --> 00:05:41.040 easier ways. Right. But to take my freshman and 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:44.060 go, no, you are called to be the what? Light. 00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:48.800 You're called to be the light. You're called 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:51.899 into. Right. Like, I'm not throwing shade. This 00:05:51.899 --> 00:05:54.879 is just our journey. This is what God's convinced 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:59.000 us of. That the place that my baby needs to be 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:02.759 is in amongst her peers. Right. And in amongst 00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:06.230 her peers. I understand. I hear the stories. 00:06:06.269 --> 00:06:08.870 I hear the conversations that surround her every 00:06:08.870 --> 00:06:12.209 day. I understand that it's not an easy space 00:06:12.209 --> 00:06:16.050 to be, right? But for us, it takes courage of 00:06:16.050 --> 00:06:18.029 faith. I drop her off every Thursday and Friday, 00:06:18.170 --> 00:06:20.470 and I'll watch these. By the way, what is the 00:06:20.470 --> 00:06:27.110 deal with the small backpacks? We're talking 00:06:27.110 --> 00:06:31.009 like football players with a tiny Hello Kitty 00:06:31.009 --> 00:06:34.000 backpack. I don't know what that's about. I don't 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.699 know what that's about. So needless to say, I 00:06:36.699 --> 00:06:39.079 have to have courage. I see the football player 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:46.199 with his little backpack. But that's just what 00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:51.160 God's calling me to in this season. To not shy 00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:53.600 away, to walk by faith and not by sight, because 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:58.939 sight is everything around. Right? We're not 00:06:58.939 --> 00:07:02.319 called to that. So what is God calling you to? 00:07:02.379 --> 00:07:04.680 Because it's a personal conversation. If you're 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:06.360 here and you don't have a conversation with God 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:08.300 about what he's calling you to by faith, then 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:11.300 this doesn't matter. Let's be honest. But he 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:14.600 wants to talk to you. And so we're in a collection. 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:18.660 It's in the book of Exodus, second book of the 00:07:18.660 --> 00:07:20.620 Bible. We're in a collection called Snapshots. 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.720 And Snapshots is just this. Could we grab these 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:26.420 quick photos, right? Like your Polaroid. You 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:30.029 snap your Polaroid. And you never knew what you 00:07:30.029 --> 00:07:31.670 were going to get. And now they've come back 00:07:31.670 --> 00:07:33.370 around and they're cool again. And so you're 00:07:33.370 --> 00:07:35.449 still doing it, right? But you just don't know 00:07:35.449 --> 00:07:37.589 what you're going to get. You don't know if it's 00:07:37.589 --> 00:07:39.610 a good picture or not, but you snapped the moment. 00:07:39.689 --> 00:07:42.610 You captured the moment. And that's all we're 00:07:42.610 --> 00:07:44.709 doing through Exodus, just capturing these moments. 00:07:44.810 --> 00:07:46.529 And hopefully by the end, there's a collage, 00:07:46.550 --> 00:07:49.269 right? And when we look at the collage of what 00:07:49.269 --> 00:07:51.610 we have in pictures from walking through this 00:07:51.610 --> 00:07:54.449 story, what we go is, wow, what a God. It paints 00:07:54.449 --> 00:07:57.550 a picture of him, right? Like, what a God. That's 00:07:57.550 --> 00:08:00.310 a God I can put my faith in. And that's the hope 00:08:00.310 --> 00:08:02.129 of kind of as we walk through this collection. 00:08:02.149 --> 00:08:04.310 And so last week, if you were here, we talked 00:08:04.310 --> 00:08:06.689 about a guy named Moses. And we're going to continue 00:08:06.689 --> 00:08:10.089 to talk about Moses and his journey as God led 00:08:10.089 --> 00:08:11.709 this exodus. One of the things that's important 00:08:11.709 --> 00:08:14.949 to know is what we read about physically. is 00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:17.970 a picture of your spiritual exodus, right? So 00:08:17.970 --> 00:08:20.810 when you read this, what it's doing is painting 00:08:20.810 --> 00:08:23.310 a picture of what's happened to you in a very 00:08:23.310 --> 00:08:25.370 spiritual sense through the cross and through 00:08:25.370 --> 00:08:28.069 what Jesus has done and how you've been set free. 00:08:28.509 --> 00:08:31.110 And so last week we ended on chapter three, verse 00:08:31.110 --> 00:08:35.490 12. And God said, I will be with you and this 00:08:35.490 --> 00:08:37.769 will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent 00:08:37.769 --> 00:08:41.190 you. When you have brought... brought the people 00:08:41.190 --> 00:08:46.649 out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain. 00:08:47.509 --> 00:08:49.909 Okay, so God's speaking to Moses. He goes, hey, 00:08:49.929 --> 00:08:52.370 here's what's going to happen. You're going to 00:08:52.370 --> 00:08:55.190 lead these people out. Right before this, two 00:08:55.190 --> 00:08:58.269 verses before, he says, so go. Why? So when you 00:08:58.269 --> 00:09:00.830 get there, you can tell Pharaoh, let my people 00:09:00.830 --> 00:09:02.870 go, and you are going to lead my people out. 00:09:03.029 --> 00:09:05.049 They're going to go, and they're going to worship 00:09:05.049 --> 00:09:09.129 me. Okay, so we could call that. In Moses's world, 00:09:09.370 --> 00:09:12.210 God has spoke to him and his step of courage 00:09:12.210 --> 00:09:15.009 is that I'm going to go and I'm going to tell 00:09:15.009 --> 00:09:17.230 Pharaoh. And what's going to happen is there's 00:09:17.230 --> 00:09:20.730 a specific outcome that's coming. Right. And 00:09:20.730 --> 00:09:23.669 that outcome is that this nation of Israel that 00:09:23.669 --> 00:09:25.830 is under the oppression of the Egyptians, they 00:09:25.830 --> 00:09:28.610 will be set free and they will worship God. That's 00:09:28.610 --> 00:09:32.149 the outcome. That's the premise that he is going 00:09:32.149 --> 00:09:36.220 to the nation of Israel with. Now, in between 00:09:36.220 --> 00:09:37.720 there, if you were here last week, in between 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:39.779 there, what you get, and if not, you should go 00:09:39.779 --> 00:09:41.360 back and catch up because it all builds on each 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:45.179 other. But what you get out of this is a very 00:09:45.179 --> 00:09:48.759 real conversation between God and Moses. And 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:52.360 Moses is going, hey, I stutter. I don't think 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:54.139 I should be going and talking to the emperor. 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:59.879 I don't think this is my deal. And over through 00:09:59.879 --> 00:10:01.759 those conversations, it finally gets to the point 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:03.100 where he's like, would you choose somebody else? 00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:05.700 Like, please send somebody else. And God goes, 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:08.039 no, you're my guy. And so what you have is you 00:10:08.039 --> 00:10:10.759 have this wrestling between this verse and where 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:14.220 we pick up. Now in chapter five, the end of chapter 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:16.139 four, right before the verses we're about to 00:10:16.139 --> 00:10:19.080 read, Moses shows up and he tells all of the 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:21.580 Israelite elders, right? Like he gathers them 00:10:21.580 --> 00:10:23.279 together and he goes, this is what God's going 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:26.240 to do. I'm going to go to Pharaoh. And when I 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:28.139 go to Pharaoh, I'm going to go, let my people 00:10:28.139 --> 00:10:30.480 go. And we're going to walk out, right? Because 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:32.120 that's what God said. And we're going to go worship. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.059 Chapter 5, verse 1. Afterward, Moses and Aaron 00:10:36.059 --> 00:10:39.679 went to Pharaoh and said, this is what the Lord, 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:44.080 the God of Israel, says. Let my people go so 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:47.700 that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness. 00:10:48.259 --> 00:10:50.179 So Moses has done what he's supposed to, right? 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:53.460 Pharaoh says, who is the Lord that I should obey 00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:55.820 him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord. 00:10:55.899 --> 00:10:59.200 I will not let Israel go. If you were here last 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:02.059 week, you know one of the fears that was genuine 00:11:02.059 --> 00:11:04.919 to Moses. is that he would show up and he would 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:07.460 go, hey, the Lord has told me, and he would get 00:11:07.460 --> 00:11:11.200 the question, well, what's his name? Who is the 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:14.820 Lord? And so his fear that he started this with, 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:18.320 even though the outcome's told, his fears are 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:22.600 beginning to come true. Verse three says, then 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:25.259 they said, the God of the Hebrews, so now Moses 00:11:25.259 --> 00:11:27.340 is telling him, the God of the Hebrews has met 00:11:27.340 --> 00:11:30.269 with us. Now let us take a three -day journey 00:11:30.269 --> 00:11:32.450 into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the 00:11:32.450 --> 00:11:35.129 Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues 00:11:35.129 --> 00:11:38.269 or with the sword. But the king of Egypt said, 00:11:38.509 --> 00:11:42.230 Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people 00:11:42.230 --> 00:11:45.570 away from their labor? Get back to your work. 00:11:46.190 --> 00:11:49.669 Then Pharaoh said, look, the people of the land 00:11:49.669 --> 00:11:53.730 are now numerous, and you are stopping them from 00:11:53.730 --> 00:11:57.149 working. That same day, Pharaoh gave this order. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:00.820 To the slave drivers and the overseers in charge 00:12:00.820 --> 00:12:03.340 of the people, you are no longer to supply the 00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:06.580 people with straw for making bricks. Let them 00:12:06.580 --> 00:12:10.139 go and gather their own straw, but require them 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:12.500 to make the same number of bricks as before. 00:12:12.580 --> 00:12:15.980 Don't reduce the quota. They are lazy and that 00:12:15.980 --> 00:12:18.379 is why they are crying out. Let us go and sacrifice 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:21.279 to our God. Make the work harder for the people 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:24.360 so that they keep working and pay no attention 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:28.529 to the lies. So Moses, remember, Moses has an 00:12:28.529 --> 00:12:30.769 outcome. The outcome is I go, I go to Pharaoh 00:12:30.769 --> 00:12:32.970 and I tell Pharaoh what's going to happen. And 00:12:32.970 --> 00:12:35.009 then Pharaoh goes, oh, Moses, that sounds so 00:12:35.009 --> 00:12:36.570 good. Why don't you just take the whole nation? 00:12:37.070 --> 00:12:39.929 Just take them all and go worship. Right. Like 00:12:39.929 --> 00:12:41.710 that's the assumption of what's going to happen. 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:44.289 I'm going to show up and I'm going to say what 00:12:44.289 --> 00:12:46.110 God told me to say. And then there's going to 00:12:46.110 --> 00:12:48.850 be this outcome. The only problem is he shows 00:12:48.850 --> 00:12:52.230 up and instantly Pharaoh goes, I don't think 00:12:52.230 --> 00:12:57.240 so. In fact, let me double down with you. We're 00:12:57.240 --> 00:13:00.419 going to remove the straw that is needed for 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:02.940 making these bricks. You're going to have to 00:13:02.940 --> 00:13:06.379 go collect your own. But we're going to press 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:08.620 you a little harder. You don't have to be a businessman 00:13:08.620 --> 00:13:10.980 to get this. This is pretty much common sense. 00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:13.879 If you have a quota to meet and your supply is 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:16.159 being provided for you and you remove the supply, 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:18.360 but you have the same amount of people working, 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:20.320 you're not going to meet your quota. It's just 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:23.120 not going to happen. Pharaoh knows that. He's 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:28.419 oppressing them. He's pressing into. And so within 00:13:28.419 --> 00:13:31.460 that then, it carries on down to verse 17. Pharaoh 00:13:31.460 --> 00:13:34.620 said, lazy, that is what you are, lazy. That 00:13:34.620 --> 00:13:36.799 is why you keep saying, let us go and sacrifice 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:39.480 to the Lord. Now get to work, you will not be 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:42.139 given any straw, yet you must produce your full 00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:44.899 quota of bricks. The Israelite overseers realized 00:13:44.899 --> 00:13:46.720 that they were in trouble when they were told 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:50.620 the Israelite overseers realized they were in 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:53.799 trouble. You are not to reduce, when they were 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:55.700 told you were not to reduce the number of bricks 00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:58.519 required for you each day. When they left Pharaoh, 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:03.100 so when the Israelites leave Pharaoh, they found 00:14:03.100 --> 00:14:06.899 Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them. And they 00:14:06.899 --> 00:14:09.759 said, may the Lord look on you and judge you. 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:12.840 You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:15.940 officials and have put a sword in their hands 00:14:15.940 --> 00:14:21.419 to kill us. So what's... What's transgressed 00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:24.980 is, hey, I got an outcome. It's going to be awesome. 00:14:25.139 --> 00:14:27.320 I show up and speak for God. They're going to 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:29.539 let those people go. And Pharaoh doubles down. 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:32.960 And then it gets worse. Because now the people 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:35.960 that you came to let go, they're looking at you 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:37.759 and going, you made life harder, not easier. 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:39.440 You showed up and said you were going to make 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:46.759 life better, not worse. I wonder how many of 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:55.179 us. Have been given an outcome by God. Like God's 00:14:55.179 --> 00:14:58.879 spoken something to you. And you've been given 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:03.340 this outcome by God. And he's asking you to step 00:15:03.340 --> 00:15:07.000 into it with courage. To follow what he showed 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.779 you. But in the midst of following him, it got 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:18.220 harder, not easier. It became more difficult. 00:15:18.940 --> 00:15:23.919 and took a turn that you didn't anticipate. When 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:32.179 I was six weeks old, my mom, because I don't 00:15:32.179 --> 00:15:37.139 really remember, but my mom told me I was pretty 00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:40.039 sick. And at six weeks, she started to notice 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:44.080 that I couldn't keep any food down. But I hadn't 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:48.889 lost weight. I still looked healthy. But she 00:15:48.889 --> 00:15:50.870 knew something was wrong. So she over the next 00:15:50.870 --> 00:15:52.990 10 days, she took me to the doctors three times 00:15:52.990 --> 00:15:54.889 and kept saying something is wrong with him. 00:15:54.929 --> 00:15:57.370 Something is wrong with him. To which the doctor 00:15:57.370 --> 00:15:59.730 was kind of like, well, everything isn't showing 00:15:59.730 --> 00:16:04.009 what you're telling us. So let's just let's just 00:16:04.009 --> 00:16:06.850 wait and see. So she took me home. It was about 00:16:06.850 --> 00:16:11.330 two weeks later. She's changing my diaper and 00:16:11.330 --> 00:16:14.149 she just begins to cry because of what she's 00:16:14.149 --> 00:16:19.600 seeing my body is is rejecting. And as she's 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:22.779 crying, my dad comes in and he's comforting her 00:16:22.779 --> 00:16:28.500 and asking her or she just states to him, we're 00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:31.440 going to lose him. He's going to die. She's like, 00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:37.139 I know it. To which my dad tells her, I was just 00:16:37.139 --> 00:16:41.679 praying and God has told me that he is going 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:47.299 to be a preacher of the word someday. And so. 00:16:47.950 --> 00:16:53.110 God gives a clear outcome. But from that moment, 00:16:53.289 --> 00:16:57.350 my mom decided, and this is years ago and it 00:16:57.350 --> 00:16:59.309 was in England, you could have the emergency 00:16:59.309 --> 00:17:03.370 doctor come to your house, right? And so she 00:17:03.370 --> 00:17:06.250 makes a call to the doctor and says, hey, he's 00:17:06.250 --> 00:17:08.869 not healthy. Like you've got to come and see 00:17:08.869 --> 00:17:13.349 him. And so the doctor says, you know, it was 00:17:13.349 --> 00:17:15.410 a Sunday. He goes, I got other visits to do and 00:17:15.410 --> 00:17:19.460 then I'll get to you at some point. So my dad, 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:22.720 there's a good Baptist joke in here that we were 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:24.099 there whenever the doors were open, you know, 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:26.400 Sunday morning, Sunday evening type thing. So 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:28.819 he goes to Sunday evening service. And what's 00:17:28.819 --> 00:17:33.299 beautiful is Sunday evening service, because 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:36.140 of what was going on, they all came to our house. 00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:40.619 And so now there's an elder praying over me, 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:45.400 my dad anointing me with oil. And then the entire. 00:17:46.059 --> 00:17:48.539 church at that time, or if you'd ever come along, 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:51.019 we're all in the living room on their knees praying. 00:17:52.099 --> 00:17:54.559 And it's at that moment that the emergency doctor 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:57.819 shows up and has to walk through all these people 00:17:57.819 --> 00:18:01.720 praying to get to this baby. He takes one look 00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:06.119 and instantly after checking, he goes, we got 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:11.359 to get this baby to the hospital. And so The 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:13.720 ambulance comes, takes me to the hospital. I 00:18:13.720 --> 00:18:17.160 end up getting put in an isolated ICU, which 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:20.460 what that meant is my mom could put on all the 00:18:20.460 --> 00:18:23.660 gear, you know, the gowns and gear up, but couldn't 00:18:23.660 --> 00:18:27.480 touch me, could only observe what was happening. 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:38.960 You ever see an outcome promised? What was promised? 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:42.539 The outcome was that he will be a what? He's 00:18:42.539 --> 00:18:45.859 going to be a preacher of the word. But it got 00:18:45.859 --> 00:18:50.160 worse, not better. It got more difficult, not 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:54.940 easier. It took a turn to where now I'm in ICU. 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:01.579 And sometimes I think we can get lost in the 00:19:01.579 --> 00:19:06.450 outcome and miss the process. I think sometimes 00:19:06.450 --> 00:19:09.069 what we do is we want the outcome and we make 00:19:09.069 --> 00:19:11.609 the outcome what's important. And God's going, 00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:17.289 don't miss the process. Here's what I mean. It 00:19:17.289 --> 00:19:19.670 carries on in verse 22, chapter 5, verse 22. 00:19:19.789 --> 00:19:23.150 Moses returned to the Lord and said, why? Why 00:19:23.150 --> 00:19:25.849 have you brought trouble on this people? Is this 00:19:25.849 --> 00:19:29.710 why you sent me? Wait a minute. He knows, right? 00:19:29.809 --> 00:19:33.029 He knows the outcome. The outcome wasn't to bring 00:19:33.029 --> 00:19:36.259 trouble. But in the process now, it's got harder 00:19:36.259 --> 00:19:38.279 and trouble has showed up. And what is he questioning? 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:40.720 He's questioning the what? What God had told 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:43.799 him. He's questioning the outcome. And I don't 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:46.819 know how you live and how that works, but isn't 00:19:46.819 --> 00:19:48.799 it easy that when it gets difficult, we can start 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.059 to question what God has told us? Isn't it interesting 00:19:52.059 --> 00:19:55.059 that we begin to question, did God really? And 00:19:55.059 --> 00:19:58.019 so Moses carries on verse 23. Ever since I went 00:19:58.019 --> 00:20:00.750 to Pharaoh to speak in your name. He has brought 00:20:00.750 --> 00:20:03.710 trouble on this people and all, and you have 00:20:03.710 --> 00:20:05.869 not rescued your people. You have not done the 00:20:05.869 --> 00:20:09.589 outcome. You have not rescued your people at 00:20:09.589 --> 00:20:12.089 all. Chapter six, verse one, then the Lord said 00:20:12.089 --> 00:20:14.750 to Moses, so now God speaks to Moses. Now you 00:20:14.750 --> 00:20:17.329 will see what I will do to Pharaoh because of 00:20:17.329 --> 00:20:21.170 my mighty hand, he will let them go. Because 00:20:21.170 --> 00:20:24.190 of my mighty hand, he will drive them out of 00:20:24.190 --> 00:20:29.440 his country. God also said to Moses, I am the 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:33.740 Lord. I appear to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.900 Catch this, catch this. As what? God Almighty. 00:20:39.819 --> 00:20:46.019 But by my name, the Lord, I did not make myself 00:20:46.019 --> 00:20:51.839 fully known to them. I also established my covenant 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:54.740 with them to give them the land of Canaan. where 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:56.500 they have resided as foreigners. Moreover, I 00:20:56.500 --> 00:20:58.059 have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom 00:20:58.059 --> 00:21:01.299 the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered 00:21:01.299 --> 00:21:05.640 my covenant. But he goes this, he goes, here's 00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:08.500 what's happened so far. All of the people of 00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:12.819 the faith, Abraham. Isaac, Jacob, the heroes 00:21:12.819 --> 00:21:16.740 of the faith, they knew God as God Almighty, 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.859 right? Like the name for that is El Shaddai. 00:21:20.920 --> 00:21:23.940 The translation of that is powerful provider. 00:21:24.819 --> 00:21:28.180 The way that they knew God is that God was a 00:21:28.180 --> 00:21:32.160 powerful provider. But God goes, I'm not interested 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:35.339 in you knowing me as a powerful provider. What 00:21:35.339 --> 00:21:37.779 did that mean in their day? That he was powerful 00:21:37.779 --> 00:21:39.980 enough to make a promise. What was the promise? 00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:41.640 That I'm going to lead you to a promised land. 00:21:42.680 --> 00:21:45.119 Right now and in the midst of slavery, God's 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:47.859 going, I'm going to prove to you and show you 00:21:47.859 --> 00:21:52.119 something else in the midst of the process. Because 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:54.559 the process, I believe, matters more than the 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:57.980 outcome. Because in the process, what God's doing 00:21:57.980 --> 00:22:01.579 when it gets harder. God is trying to show you 00:22:01.579 --> 00:22:04.359 something you would never seen if you hadn't 00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:06.859 gone through what you're going through. And what 00:22:06.859 --> 00:22:09.079 happens in this moment is God goes, hey, you 00:22:09.079 --> 00:22:14.539 knew me as God Almighty, but now I want you to 00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:20.019 know me as faithful. Now I want you to know me 00:22:20.019 --> 00:22:24.140 as the God who is faithful, that what I promised. 00:22:24.809 --> 00:22:29.329 I will bring to happen. Listen, this is so important 00:22:29.329 --> 00:22:31.670 to your faith. You know why? Because what we 00:22:31.670 --> 00:22:34.430 are promised is that when we die, we are absent. 00:22:34.509 --> 00:22:37.470 As believers, absent in the body is what? Present 00:22:37.470 --> 00:22:41.470 with who? With the Lord, right? Like we're promised 00:22:41.470 --> 00:22:46.049 through the cross that there is life beyond the 00:22:46.049 --> 00:22:49.930 grave with God. We're promised a new heavens 00:22:49.930 --> 00:22:53.430 and a new earth. But if God's not faithful, you 00:22:53.430 --> 00:22:59.450 guys, That's not happening. If all of a sudden 00:22:59.450 --> 00:23:01.670 God's not faithful and you're like, I got a reason 00:23:01.670 --> 00:23:04.269 to second guess. This is why it's so important 00:23:04.269 --> 00:23:07.150 that we build our faith on the person that God 00:23:07.150 --> 00:23:09.569 is in the story that he writes. Why? Because 00:23:09.569 --> 00:23:12.349 God is the one that's going, you got to see me 00:23:12.349 --> 00:23:16.309 as faithful. You got to see me as the God that 00:23:16.309 --> 00:23:19.809 what I say I will do, I will be faithful to make 00:23:19.809 --> 00:23:26.119 it happen. That's why this is so important that 00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:32.779 it's only, only in the process that God can help 00:23:32.779 --> 00:23:36.579 you see him for who he is. But you know what 00:23:36.579 --> 00:23:38.740 we don't like? We don't like it when it gets 00:23:38.740 --> 00:23:43.359 harder, do we? I don't. I don't like it when 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:45.980 it gets harder. I want God to tell me what it's 00:23:45.980 --> 00:23:49.259 going to be and let's get there. And God goes, 00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:51.680 but you would miss learning and growing in who 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:58.910 I am. Because the process matters. The process 00:23:58.910 --> 00:24:02.089 is what will grow you into the person that God's 00:24:02.089 --> 00:24:06.849 calling you to be. And if you short circuit the 00:24:06.849 --> 00:24:10.430 process, you will miss the God who is faithful. 00:24:13.529 --> 00:24:17.869 If you short circuit the process, you will never 00:24:17.869 --> 00:24:21.690 become more like Jesus. I don't know about you 00:24:21.690 --> 00:24:24.329 guys. Like we're told, right? Like one of the 00:24:24.329 --> 00:24:26.309 goals of this life is that you would be more 00:24:26.309 --> 00:24:28.089 like Jesus, that I would be more like Jesus. 00:24:28.210 --> 00:24:30.990 The only problem is I know when I look at me, 00:24:31.049 --> 00:24:33.329 there's a whole lot that's not like Jesus. So 00:24:33.329 --> 00:24:36.349 this is gonna be a difficult road. He's gotta 00:24:36.349 --> 00:24:38.750 keep chipping away. He's gotta chip away at my 00:24:38.750 --> 00:24:41.150 sin. He's gotta chip away at where my will is 00:24:41.150 --> 00:24:44.190 my will and not his will. He's gotta keep working 00:24:44.190 --> 00:24:46.509 on me. Why? Because he's transforming me. He's 00:24:46.509 --> 00:24:49.369 told me. Romans 8, he's gonna transform me into 00:24:49.369 --> 00:24:53.180 the person of Jesus. That's what's happening. 00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:57.460 And he's going to be faithful because he's God. 00:24:57.660 --> 00:25:00.079 He's going to be faithful to bring that transformation 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:03.759 no matter how painful it is. Why? Because it 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:07.039 is more vital that you become the person you 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:09.920 were created to be instead of the person that 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:12.720 has the easy way and thinks you get to the outcome 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:14.440 that you want. God's going, no, no, no, there's 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:16.079 a different outcome. But to get there, you got 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:18.900 to go through the process. There's no shortcuts. 00:25:20.430 --> 00:25:23.609 I love how this carries on because listen who's 00:25:23.609 --> 00:25:25.309 doing it, by the way, listen who's doing it. 00:25:25.390 --> 00:25:28.390 So God's proving he's faithful, right? Chapter 00:25:28.390 --> 00:25:30.829 six, verse six. Therefore say to the Israelites, 00:25:30.990 --> 00:25:33.329 I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under 00:25:33.329 --> 00:25:36.250 the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from 00:25:36.250 --> 00:25:38.970 being slaves to them. I will redeem you with 00:25:38.970 --> 00:25:40.849 an outstretched arm and with a mighty acts of 00:25:40.849 --> 00:25:44.250 judgment. I will take you as my own people. I 00:25:44.250 --> 00:25:47.059 will be your God. then you will know that I am 00:25:47.059 --> 00:25:49.220 the Lord your God who brought you out from under 00:25:49.220 --> 00:25:52.660 the yoke of the Egyptians, and I will bring you 00:25:52.660 --> 00:25:56.119 to the land I swore with uplifted hands to give 00:25:56.119 --> 00:25:59.519 to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob. I will give it 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:03.539 to you as a possession. I am the Lord. I am the 00:26:03.539 --> 00:26:07.799 one who is faithful. I'm going to do it. How 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:14.789 many times is Moses' name in there? How many 00:26:14.789 --> 00:26:21.250 times do we see an outcome and go, I'm gonna 00:26:21.250 --> 00:26:26.210 help God out. God's like, I don't need your help, 00:26:26.269 --> 00:26:31.609 champ. God goes, I need you to see me for who 00:26:31.609 --> 00:26:37.490 I am because that'll transform your life. Moses 00:26:37.490 --> 00:26:40.109 reported to the Israelites. So Moses takes this 00:26:40.109 --> 00:26:42.799 like, God's gonna do it. And he goes to the Israelites 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:44.640 and he's all pumped up because he went to church 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:48.859 that day. But they did not. Listen, they did 00:26:48.859 --> 00:26:54.619 not listen to him. Because of their discouragement 00:26:54.619 --> 00:27:04.859 and harsh labor. Wait. They did not listen. Why? 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:07.799 Because of the harsh labor. Remember, what have 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:12.380 they been told? The outcome is. You go tell Pharaoh 00:27:12.380 --> 00:27:18.279 and we all march along singing, right? But what's 00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:20.539 happened is the labors got harsh. And so what 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:24.680 the outcome is that they stop listening. I wonder 00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:27.359 how many times we stopped listening to the Holy 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:29.740 Spirit. We stopped listening to God because it 00:27:29.740 --> 00:27:34.279 just got hard along the way. And there's a word 00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:42.759 in here, you guys. Because of their Discouragement. 00:27:42.759 --> 00:27:47.519 Because of their discouragement. Wait, wait, 00:27:47.539 --> 00:27:50.779 wait. They stopped listening because it was hard. 00:27:52.259 --> 00:27:57.680 But it was a lack of courage. The original in 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:00.539 this word is amazing. Right? Like I'm probably 00:28:00.539 --> 00:28:03.619 going to butcher this, but it's kotsar rua. Right? 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:06.180 Like that's the original. Why does it matter? 00:28:06.359 --> 00:28:10.759 Because kotsar is shortness. And what is ruah? 00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:12.319 If you've been around church, you've probably 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:17.799 heard it. It's often translated spirit. It's 00:28:17.799 --> 00:28:22.519 often translated the breath of God. What do they 00:28:22.519 --> 00:28:25.059 have? They have a shortness of what? The life 00:28:25.059 --> 00:28:29.980 source they've been given. We get it. Discouragement 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:32.599 feels like my spirit got crushed, right? What 00:28:32.599 --> 00:28:34.759 this is doing is putting language to what that 00:28:34.759 --> 00:28:38.259 looks like. That there is a shortness, a shortness. 00:28:39.180 --> 00:28:44.619 Of spirit. How does that translate? That in the 00:28:44.619 --> 00:28:47.000 midst of whatever you're going through, whatever 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:51.200 happens, there is often this shortness inside 00:28:51.200 --> 00:28:54.960 of me of what? Of spirit. Now, bring this because 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:57.559 the physical picture is always a picture of what? 00:28:57.660 --> 00:29:00.500 Our spiritual journey. Go to the spiritual journey. 00:29:00.539 --> 00:29:02.240 What's been put inside of you by the person of 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:04.740 Jesus, by his rescue of you? The Holy Spirit. 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:08.940 What does discouragement look like when you know 00:29:08.940 --> 00:29:11.279 I should walk by faith and God's asking me to 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:13.920 step in by courage and I can't step in by courage? 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:17.599 Why is that? Because along the way there has 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:21.339 been a shortness of what? The Holy Spirit leading 00:29:21.339 --> 00:29:26.099 you and you leading you. There's a shortness 00:29:26.099 --> 00:29:30.059 of me resting in the Holy Spirit. And what happens 00:29:30.059 --> 00:29:32.700 is I become discouraged. I lack courage to step 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:36.660 in. The gift that you've been given to have power 00:29:36.660 --> 00:29:38.619 to do the things that God's called you to do. 00:29:38.700 --> 00:29:45.400 When you have a shortness of spirit, you'll always 00:29:45.400 --> 00:29:49.599 lack courage. Why? Because you're called to walk 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:51.880 by faith. What is the Holy Spirit going to do? 00:29:51.940 --> 00:29:55.200 He's going to empower you to walk by faith, not 00:29:55.200 --> 00:30:00.039 sight. And then listen, listen to what happens 00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:03.450 when we become discouraged. Verse 10. Then the 00:30:03.450 --> 00:30:06.029 Lord said to Moses, go tell Pharaoh, king of 00:30:06.029 --> 00:30:08.630 Egypt, to let the Israelites go out of his country. 00:30:08.990 --> 00:30:12.130 But Moses said to the Lord, if the Israelites 00:30:12.130 --> 00:30:14.329 will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen 00:30:14.329 --> 00:30:18.329 to me since I speak with faltering lips? If you 00:30:18.329 --> 00:30:20.049 were here last week, what was Moses' concern? 00:30:21.230 --> 00:30:29.150 I stutter. I can't do this. I can't. God, you 00:30:29.150 --> 00:30:34.430 know how bad I am with words. And the discouragement 00:30:34.430 --> 00:30:38.990 of others carries over to who? To Moses. Why? 00:30:39.710 --> 00:30:43.069 Because we were made to be contagious to one 00:30:43.069 --> 00:30:46.130 another. Here's what I mean. So then you have 00:30:46.130 --> 00:30:49.250 the divisions of the people, chapter 7. Then 00:30:49.250 --> 00:30:51.529 the Lord said to Moses, See, I have made you 00:30:51.529 --> 00:30:54.930 like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will 00:30:54.930 --> 00:30:57.170 be your prophet. You are to say everything I 00:30:57.170 --> 00:30:59.170 command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell 00:30:59.170 --> 00:31:02.609 Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:05.700 but I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And though 00:31:05.700 --> 00:31:08.819 I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he 00:31:08.819 --> 00:31:11.740 will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand 00:31:11.740 --> 00:31:13.880 on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment, I 00:31:13.880 --> 00:31:16.380 will bring out my divisions, my people, the Israelites 00:31:16.380 --> 00:31:19.279 and the Egyptians catches and the Egyptians. 00:31:19.319 --> 00:31:22.200 So God's going to do all that. Why? And the Egyptians 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:31.960 will know that I. You catch what happened right 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:34.599 there, right? What did he say the goal was before? 00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:38.880 That Moses and the Israelites would know him 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:42.480 as what? The God who is faithful. What happens 00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:45.240 in this moment is he now takes the word know, 00:31:45.420 --> 00:31:49.579 the exact same word, and that word know now connects 00:31:49.579 --> 00:31:52.950 to who? To all of the Egyptians, what is God 00:31:52.950 --> 00:31:56.490 doing through Moses and Aaron? He is showing 00:31:56.490 --> 00:32:01.750 the entire world the God who is faithful. And 00:32:01.750 --> 00:32:04.549 so what happens, what happens in this moment 00:32:04.549 --> 00:32:08.049 is the faith of Moses and Aaron becomes contagious 00:32:08.049 --> 00:32:13.670 to everyone around them. Your faith is contagious 00:32:13.670 --> 00:32:17.210 to everyone around you. That's how God designed 00:32:17.210 --> 00:32:19.569 this, that when I see you step out by courage, 00:32:19.710 --> 00:32:22.329 it gives me the courage to step out by courage. 00:32:22.769 --> 00:32:25.970 But when you lack faith, guess what? It's equally 00:32:25.970 --> 00:32:29.630 as contagious. Because what happens is when you 00:32:29.630 --> 00:32:32.150 lack faith, it will affect everybody around you. 00:32:32.170 --> 00:32:37.130 How do I know that? Last verse, verse six. Moses 00:32:37.130 --> 00:32:42.329 and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. 00:32:42.910 --> 00:32:47.170 Moses and Aaron did what? just as the Lord commanded 00:32:47.170 --> 00:32:48.910 them. Even though it was hard, what did they 00:32:48.910 --> 00:32:50.910 do? Step out by courage and do what God told 00:32:50.910 --> 00:32:53.430 them to. What's the outcome? That the entire 00:32:53.430 --> 00:32:57.390 known world found what? The God who is faithful. 00:32:59.309 --> 00:33:04.170 That's what this is about. It's about being faithful 00:33:04.170 --> 00:33:06.950 in the midst of what you can't see. It's about 00:33:06.950 --> 00:33:09.549 standing with courage in a space where you don't 00:33:09.549 --> 00:33:13.990 know the outcome. It's about understanding the 00:33:13.990 --> 00:33:18.670 process. Why is this gathering so important? 00:33:19.569 --> 00:33:22.990 Why is it so important that even online in multiple 00:33:22.990 --> 00:33:26.029 spaces, we gather together? Why is it so important? 00:33:26.529 --> 00:33:31.130 Because your faith is contagious. We were talking 00:33:31.130 --> 00:33:33.869 about it in our teaching prep this week. And 00:33:33.869 --> 00:33:36.869 we're talking about how in scripture, Pastor 00:33:36.869 --> 00:33:38.990 Ben was like, hey, you remember those stories? 00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:43.319 where you see Peter and it's right after the 00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:46.180 resurrection and right after the disappointment, 00:33:46.359 --> 00:33:48.019 what do they do? They go, Peter goes, I'm going 00:33:48.019 --> 00:33:52.180 fishing. And what happens? I'm going with you. 00:33:52.619 --> 00:33:56.000 Why? Because it's contagious. But you also have 00:33:56.000 --> 00:34:00.240 Paul who writes, hey, as I'm living, do likewise. 00:34:00.619 --> 00:34:06.839 Let me be a model as I follow Christ. Pastor 00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:10.889 Todd, being the coach that he is, In the same 00:34:10.889 --> 00:34:14.989 meeting goes, you got to be the thermostat, not 00:34:14.989 --> 00:34:18.449 the thermometer. You got to set the temperature 00:34:18.449 --> 00:34:23.070 for people's faith. That's the gift that you 00:34:23.070 --> 00:34:25.969 have. That when you step out by courage, guess 00:34:25.969 --> 00:34:30.210 what? The people around you step out by courage, 00:34:30.469 --> 00:34:35.289 by faith. And they step in. Why is this gathering 00:34:35.289 --> 00:34:37.610 so important? Because you have the chance in 00:34:37.610 --> 00:34:40.889 here every single week as we gather to let your 00:34:40.889 --> 00:34:42.989 faith be an encouragement to those that don't 00:34:42.989 --> 00:34:47.550 have faith. What do I mean by that? That for 00:34:47.550 --> 00:34:50.230 some people, just the courage, the courage to 00:34:50.230 --> 00:34:55.230 sit in the room today, we applaud you. But for 00:34:55.230 --> 00:34:57.789 some of you, some of you, you came in and you're 00:34:57.789 --> 00:35:01.239 in the process and it's really hard today. Like 00:35:01.239 --> 00:35:03.860 you're barely hanging on. You're barely like 00:35:03.860 --> 00:35:05.599 had the courage to come to church, let alone 00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:11.639 live by faith. And then there's others of you 00:35:11.639 --> 00:35:16.000 that you're in a time of like, man, I am my faith 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:20.980 high, if you like. Man, I've just seen the outcome 00:35:20.980 --> 00:35:23.980 of God and I'm walking on this solid foundation 00:35:23.980 --> 00:35:27.099 of his faithfulness. Here's what happens in this 00:35:27.099 --> 00:35:31.699 room when we worship in song. Is you get a chance 00:35:31.699 --> 00:35:35.599 to take the faith that you have and make it contagious. 00:35:37.860 --> 00:35:42.079 The song we're about to sing, it's declarative. 00:35:43.579 --> 00:35:49.539 You're good and I've witnessed it. Has anybody, 00:35:49.739 --> 00:35:52.800 anybody here or online or in one of our locations, 00:35:53.039 --> 00:36:02.440 has anybody witnessed the goodness of God? Then 00:36:02.440 --> 00:36:05.639 what you need to do is declare it. I've witnessed 00:36:05.639 --> 00:36:12.380 it. You're strong. Anybody seen the strength 00:36:12.380 --> 00:36:18.599 of God show up in their life? A quarter of you 00:36:18.599 --> 00:36:23.019 compared to last time. That's fine. But you're 00:36:23.019 --> 00:36:24.739 strong and I've witnessed it. You're constant. 00:36:24.880 --> 00:36:28.010 What is constant? It's faithful. You said you 00:36:28.010 --> 00:36:29.849 would do it and you've done it. And I've witnessed 00:36:29.849 --> 00:36:31.869 it. Anybody witness the faithfulness of God, 00:36:31.949 --> 00:36:38.570 the consistency of God? You love, you love. And 00:36:38.570 --> 00:36:42.849 I've witnessed it. Why is it so important? Because 00:36:42.849 --> 00:36:46.650 for you, you get to declare what I've seen God 00:36:46.650 --> 00:36:50.789 Almighty do. And that spreads. And the song even 00:36:50.789 --> 00:36:52.849 catches that. Like, let's go declare it over 00:36:52.849 --> 00:36:56.409 our cities. Let's go declare it over our homes. 00:36:57.070 --> 00:37:00.789 Why? Because your faith is contagious. So if 00:37:00.789 --> 00:37:02.769 you would stand, we are going to sing together 00:37:02.769 --> 00:37:05.809 because your faith is contagious.