Good morning. God bless all of you. It's good
to be in the house of God today, yes? Yes, praise
the Lord. I was just a little unsure whether
you were convinced. No, it is always good to
be gathered together with the Lord as we... Seek
to hear his voice and be ministered to by the
Spirit of God. Amen. I am not Pastor Nathan.
Just letting you know, I am not Pastor Nathan.
I know. For those of you who don't know, I am
Pastor Ron, and it is my joy and privilege to
be with you this morning to see what the Lord
has to say. Pastor Nathan is taking the opportunity
this morning to go down the street. kind of visit
with our ministry leaders and the kids down there.
And that's always a blessing, I know, to him
when he's able to do that. And so today he invited
me to share with you some things that I believe
that are on my heart that God has put there,
and also to take this special opportunity because
this coming Wednesday will be... launching our
new series, the Christian Walk Foundation Check
series, which I'm very excited about and a little
terrified about at the same time. We'll talk
about that. And so this morning, I'm going to
be kind of sharing with you maybe the foundation
of the foundation series and what it's all about.
Some of the things that we're going to be discussing,
and there will be a lot of things that we'll
be discussing during that series that goes for
several weeks, they bear some preamble, some
explanation, so that you know where we're going
and why, rather than just foisting it upon you
to prepare you. And I think that that's appropriate,
and I think that it's something that the Lord
has given us opportunity to do today. We'll see
what the Lord has to say about all of that. Our
key verse and jumping off point is in the book
of Mark, Mark 10. chapter 10, verse 46 through
51. We'll be going over that specifically again
during the study. It's funny that I say it's
our jumping off point because I actually don't
get to it till the middle of the study, which
I seem to do things like that a lot. But let
me just set it up for you real quick so that
when we get to it, you know where we're at. In
Mark 10, You have Jesus going from place to place
in the region. He's teaching. He's with his disciples.
He's talking to the Pharisees. You know, he is
expressing who he is, and that is the Son of
God. He is God. He is salvation. He's the Messiah.
And in chapter 10, in this particular portion
of Scripture, starting at verse 46, we find the
story of the blind man Bartimaeus. And you may
recall this story. It's certainly something that
has been read about, taught about. But when I
was considering what to speak about this morning,
I think the Lord just caused it to jump out at
me. And I love that because that is, to me, just
affirmation of the Spirit saying, hit me on the
head going, pay attention, you know, and I appreciate
when God does that. It makes it very clear, and
there's something in this story that I want to
point out as we intro and as we get ready, and
that is in verse 50 and 51. When you get to the
conclusion of the story, there are two things,
two significant things that happen. In verse
50, It says, and I think it'll be up on the screen,
but I'll just paraphrase. Oh, maybe it's 51.
Anyways, where Jesus says, Jesus says to Bartimaeus
that he asked him the question, what is it that
you want me to do for you? And Bartimaeus says,
without... wasting a heartbeat. I want to see.
And as we go through the things that God is going
to speak this morning through his own word, that
is my prayer. And that is what I hope your prayer
will be as we enter into this time before his
throne. And that is we come to the Lord and without...
wasting a heartbeat, we say, God, I want to see.
So, as we prepare our hearts for what God has,
as we prepare our hearts for a time of coming
before His throne and worshiping the King, the
one who is worthy of everything that we have.
the one that we don't want to hold anything back,
the one that we want to see. As we prepare our
hearts for that in prayer right now, have these
things on your mind. Be ready for the Spirit
to work in this moment, to reveal Himself to
you in this moment, that as you speak the name
of Jesus and worship and praise, that you are
coming in spirit and truth before the throne
right here and right now because he is worthy.
Amen. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for
this morning. We thank you for what you're going
to accomplish. God, we are just earthen vessels
and we have absolutely no place. The only thing
that is true is that you have made a way for
your spirit to... be alive within us. And it
is that spirit that bears witness to your glory
and your greatness and your goodness and your
kindness and your power and strength. You are
God and we are your people here to worship you,
to lift up your name, to give thanks to you,
the one who is worthy. You are the only one.
who matters. So, Lord, hear our praise and hear
our worship and receive it like incense rising
before your altar and your throne. It is for
you and you alone. Thank you, Lord. And it's
in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, good morning
again. I am so blessed to be here with you today,
to be able to come and to share with you the
things that God has put on my heart. because
I believe these are things that he would like
to have on your heart as well. You know, I'm
both excited and a bit terrified at the thought
of sharing this new series that we're starting
on Wednesday called the Christian Walk Foundation
Check Series. Let's see. Hold on a second. I
think we're all right. And I'm thankful for Pastor
Nathan for giving me the opportunity to come
and share with you this Sunday before we start
this series to kind of go over maybe what the
foundation of the foundation series is, so to
speak. I'm excited because of what I believe
that the Spirit has revealed or what the Spirit
will reveal to each of us. during the series
because I think it'll be life -changing. I don't
just think that, I believe it. I believe it can
be life -changing, both in you as an individual
and then by extension in us as a church. I'm
terrified because I think that this is the second
time that I have said all that out loud. In the
years that God has been working with me as an
adult to bring me to some, at least, level of
spiritual maturity, which I say laughing, he
does a lot of that in internal monologue, right?
It's all up here. It's all in here. as we're
going through different topics and discussions
that I'm having with him about the state of my
walk, the state of my heart when it comes to
the things that he's called me to be and to do
as a servant of the most high living God. Well,
you may be asking, okay, that's fine, but why
would you be terrified? of talking about these
things and you know to be quite simple about
it it's because today has finally arrived i've
been going over all of this with the lord for
decades of my adult life decades where he's been
trying to speak and sometimes i've been willing
to listen but he's been taking the time with
me so patiently, so tenderly to bring me to this
place of working out what it is that he's trying
to show me, working in my heart, showing me spiritual
truth about my spiritual walk. And all that time
is about to become very real, certainly for me,
but I hope it is also going to become real for
each of you. So, now we're going to pause for
a public service announcement. We're going to
pause for what I'm going to call a ginormous
period of small print. Okay? A disclaimer, so
to speak, and I think that it's important, so
we're going to take this moment. You know, the
life path that God has taken me on during my
adult life has been full of hard lessons. That's
true for all of us, I'm sure, but I can only
deal with me. So I'm going to say yes, I've had
many hard lessons that the Lord has brought me
through. They've been challenging, sometimes
humiliating, definitely. moments of brokenness,
as a lot of you can attest to in your own lives.
But you know, at the same time, there have been
moments of beauty. Beauty because I know that
on the other side of all of those lessons and
the breakings and the moldings and the reshapings,
God in His holiness and His utter kindness is
waiting for me always on the other side with
arms stretched wide and outstretched to receive
this wretch of his son. While the lessons I needed
to learn were always different in some ways,
there seems to be a constant thread to each of
them. You know, we never see that when we're
in the middle of it. Right? We're too busy fighting
against whatever it is that God is trying to
teach us or reveal to us through His Spirit.
So we miss the point of it. But He's so gracious
and He's so kind that He leads us through these
things. And then once we get to the other side,
He brings it to our minds and our hearts and
our spirit. And He says, my son, my daughter,
this was the point. And I have found this same
point. come up again and again and again. And
here it is. During all of these things that have
happened, all these hard lessons that I've had
to learn, all these moments of, as I said, humility
and breaking and reshaping and all that, the
point often was that I needed to get to the place
of humility where I was willing to say, as David
says in Psalm 139. Psalm 139 in verses 23 and
24, this is what David says. Search me, God,
and know my heart. Test me and know my concerns.
See if there is any offensive or idolatrous way
in me, and then lead me. In the everlasting way.
You have to be humble to hear that. You have
to be humble to do that. If your heart is not
humble before the Lord, you will never ask for
Him to search you. You will never ask to search
yourself. Because you don't want to know. But
we need to be humble. And we need to ask that
always. God, if there's anything, look, see it,
tell me, because it needs to be eradicated. That
is what He's calling us to. Now I'm going to
let you in on a little secret. I am not perfect.
Sorry. I know. It's a shock. I am not perfect.
And trust me, those who know me, well, they know
that truth very well. What I have within me,
though, after all of these lessons that God has
brought me through in my adult life, is this
desire and this feeling of not wanting to dishonor
the King. And I am well acquainted with all my
failings. So my prayer before the Lord is that
I would remain in David's posture and stand humbly
before him asking for him to continually search
me, measure me, and bring to mind anything that
is not of him so that I might grow and walk with
him in his path everlasting. This is going to
be the mode of operation for us during the entire
Foundation Check series. We want to be in that
same posture before the Lord. I'm going to be
committed to doing this, and I'm asking and praying
that you'll be willing to do the same with me.
As many of you know who are into cars, and again,
another... secret. I'm not a car guy. I mean,
I used to fix cars when I was, you know, 16,
but cars are very different today than they were
back then, right? So today, forget it. It's going
to the shop. I'm not even going to look. But
for those of you who are into cars, you know
this well, and that is that checking under the
hood can get really harsh really fast. Right?
Any of you who have popped up the hood of your
car, I mean, it is grimy and dirty and there
are problems there. Right? But you don't know
that if you don't pop the hood. Right? I mean,
or the indicator light comes up. Right? Which
is true for a lot of us. But popping up the hood
and looking under it. While it can be harsh,
and there can be harsh realities waiting for
you there, even though the intention is pure,
and the intention is to help get the engine run
as it was designed to run. But that doesn't change
the fact that there are harsh realities sitting
there, sometimes under the hood. Well, you know
where I'm going with that. You know, many of
the topics that we'll be discussing and exploring
will be difficult to work through. But I'm asking
you this, please continue to recognize with me
that the church is made up of a broad swath of
people. And these people are at different places
along their Christian walk. There are different
levels of experiences and maturity. There are
different struggles. There are different needs.
There are different failings, and there are different
victories. This message today and the entire
series that we'll be going through will possibly
fire broadly like a two -barrel shotgun filled
with buckshot. You know how that goes, right?
Buckshot goes everywhere, nothing gets hit, right?
But it goes everywhere. At the same time, we're
going to experience the complete opposite, and
that is... the truths and the questions that
we're going to be talking about the issues and
the problems with our foundations sometimes those
discussions will cut like a surgical knife so
we're going to get both spectrums in examining
the christian walk is hard because the stakes
are so high there is a high potential for great
payoff, and the enemy is not interested in letting
that happen. That payoff will be, and I say this
emphatically, will be life -changing. But self
-examination is a difficult thing to voluntarily
put yourself through. There's no denying that.
So these are going to be my encouragements to
each of you today as we go through what we're
going to be talking about today. And then also,
if you're willing to go on the journey with me
through the series. One, not everything is going
to apply to you. Let me say that again. Not everything
that we're going to be discussing applies to
you. What I'm going to ask you to do is for you
to ask the Spirit to reveal to you where your
personal foundation can be fixed. Again, search
my heart. Reveal any wicked thing within me,
right? But not everything that we're going to
be talking about applies to you. Number two.
I need you to remember that God is faithful and
kind and rich in love and mercy. He'll pull you
through any journey like this if your prayer
is that He be glorified and draw you closer to
Him. God is great in love and mercy. Remember
that. Number three, remember that I am just like
you. I'm a blind man in a pitch black room begging
for a flashlight. I need this as much as anyone.
And my goal is not to judge or condemn. It is
to be used by the Spirit to bring light and understanding.
That is my goal. And four, stick with me and
be open to any revelation from the Spirit about
the condition of your walk with the Lord. It'll
be challenging and hard at times, but I promise
you, I promise you, there will also be beauty,
peace, joy, and rejoicing along the way. It may
be hard when you're in the middle of it, Right?
To see those things. And you may ask, halfway
through the series, but Ron, where is the beauty?
Where is the joy? Where is the rejoicing? And
I'm telling you, it is coming. Similarly, in
today's message, I just want to tell you, it
may be difficult for you to hear at times. And
though I pray otherwise, it may come off harshly.
That is not my intent. But I do want to speak
truth, and I don't want to hold back. As I said
in this whole disclaimer, just like the messages
to the seven churches in the book of Revelation,
the church is made up of a broad swath of people
at different places in their walk. Some of the
things I have to say today may apply to you.
Other things... may not apply to you. Some things
are going to speak to where you are today in
some way, and maybe some things don't. And then
maybe some things actually apply to you in the
past. The brush I'm painting with may seem broad
at times, but again, I ask that you seek the
Spirit and you ask Him to speak to you with the
attitude of, search me. Oh God, I readily admit
that I'm a poor tool for this job. Many times
I know I am too blunt of an instrument. My prayer
before I speak any word is that I don't place
myself in the position of being the tool wielder.
Even the poorest tool, though, in the hands of
the master accomplishes his work if it remembers
to yield to the master's hand. That's what I
want. So, here we go. There is a problem. The
issue that I believe the Spirit has been working
out with me for so long is this feeling and recognition
that at different periods within my own life,
and I know in the lives of many of my brothers
and sisters in Christ, is that there's a feeling
of lacking or something that is missing within
our Christian walk, something that holds us back
so often. So in praying and asking the Lord for
wisdom in this, For quite some time, I've been
trying to puzzle this out and put my finger on
it. To put it into words has sometimes felt like
grabbing at smoke, right? I think I can define
it. I think I can understand it. I think I can
see it, but it just slips right through my fingers.
So what is this issue? What is this lacking feeling
within many in the Christian body today? You
know, at this point, I would love to just run
away and run right to Wednesday night, right?
Believe it or not, even though Wednesday nights
are going to tackle what I will refer to as a
giant iceberg of things, right? For me, there
is safety in that, right? It's not so pointed.
I get to talk. I get to discuss. We get to explore.
It's a lot more fun. than today because today
is something a bit more singular it's defining
the root of the problem the whole reason why
we're going to have this series so as i normally
do i go before the lord when i'm when i'm preparing
for a message like this and i ask him i said
lord how do i take this massive iceberg and share
it with your people to get it down to what you
want to say to them today and the spirit is always
faithful and he prompts start at the beginning
start with the with defining the foundation itself
Any of you who have known me for any length of
time or have heard me teach over the past couple
years have heard me say the following statement.
Quote, if we truly believed that God is who he
says he is, our lives would be radically different.
Let me say that again. If we truly believed that
God is... who he says he is, our lives would
be radically different. Well, that statement
is harsh. And certainly a handful to deal with.
And as we begin the series on Wednesday, we'll
be looking and discussing the ramifications and
consequences. of such a heavy assertion. It is
something to be dealt with. There is something
in that statement and we'll be going over that
statement in detail. But while that statement
would be a great jumping off point and will be
a great jumping off point for intentionally examining
our Christian walks during the series, it doesn't
quite define the problem. It doesn't define the
foundation and the problem that many of us are
experiencing or have experienced in our walk.
So, yeah, even though it's a heavy statement
and it talks about a lot, it's not necessarily
what the Lord is having me speak to you about
today. So I had to ask again, Lord, if that's
not it, then how do you want me to define the
lack? that we're facing. And again, the Spirit
is gracious, and He prompts. And He brought to
my mind His own words of warning in the book
of Revelation. So turn with me to Revelation
chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2. which specifically
contains some of the letters to the seven churches.
So if you've been at Hosanna for any length of
time, you have benefited from great biblical
teaching through the book of Revelation. So you
understand what's going on here and what the
purpose is of going through the letters of the
seven churches, right? The seven churches represented,
I'm sorry, the seven churches were actually seven
churches within the region there. And they were
seven churches that were having seven different
problems or seven different issues. And Jesus
in the book of Revelation in chapter two is addressing
each of those churches. He's telling them what
they're doing good and he's telling them where
they're messing up, right? And then he tells
them what to do about it or what the consequences
are going to be. These were actual churches,
right? The beauty of the Scripture and the beauty
of God's Word is that God is giving us something
that is living and applies beyond the specific
many times. And so we're able to do that with
this portion of Scripture in Revelation 2. We
also know from study that these seven churches
stand for seven church ages throughout history.
There are church ages of suffering. There are
church ages of faithfulness and brotherly love.
There are church ages of so on and so forth,
right? And you can see how those church ages
have happened during segments of time. In addition
to that, you see that there are seven types of
churches that are always with us at any given
time, not just singularly during a period, but
they exist. all at the same time. And you see
that even borne out today in different churches
that are with us here, right? So you benefit
from this also from a historical point, but we
benefit also from a very personal point because
we're also able to look at these churches and
again say, God, am I exhibiting any of these
issues that this church happened to have? And
if so, I can look at it and I can say, thank
you, God, because you're showing me where I am
lacking and what's missing. You're showing me
the repercussions of that, and you also show
me how to move out of that as well. That's what's
happening here in Revelation 2, verses 1 through
5. He is speaking, Jesus is speaking to the church
in Ephesus, right? So I'm going to begin with
verse 2, and this is what it says, beginning
with verse 2. Write to the angel of the church
of Ephesus, thus says the one who holds the seven
stars in his right hand and who walks among the
seven golden lampstands. This is Jesus, right?
Jesus says to the church, I know your works,
your labor, and your endurance, and that you
cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested
those who call themselves apostles and are not,
and you have found them to be liars. I know that
you have persevered and endured hardships for
the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary,
but I have this one thing against you. You have
abandoned the love you had at first. Remember,
then, how far you have fallen. Repent. and do
the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will
come to you, and I will remove your lampstand
from its place, unless you repent. I like looking
in other versions, as you know, to see is there
more to this that we can get out of these words.
This is how verse 4 is rendered in the Amplified
Bible. In the Amplified Bible, verse 4 says this,
But I have this one charge to make against you,
that you have left or abandoned the love that
you had at first. You deserted me, your first
love. I think it's significant. That a further
definition or a further translation of some of
the exact wording that's being used names who
that first love is. That first love is Jesus.
It's not just a feeling, it's the person. Those
words are heavy. You have left or abandoned.
the love that you had at first. You have deserted
me, your first love. Heavy. And so were the consequences.
The consequences in verse 5 say, again, remember
then how you have fallen. Repent and do the works
that you did at first. Otherwise, if you don't
do that, I will come to you and remove your lampstand
from its place unless you repent. The beautiful
part, as I said, is that God lays out the remedy
plainly and clearly. Remember how far you have
fallen, repent, and do the works you did at first.
Now, some of you may be sitting there going,
but Ron, surely Jesus is not talking about me.
I serve here in my congregation and in my community.
I'm plugged in. I give offerings in his house,
etc., etc., etc. And to you I say, yes, I know.
And the Lord knew those things too when he was
talking to the church of Ephesus. He plainly
states in verse 2, I know your works. I know
your labors, and I know your endurance. He's
not condemning them at all for their works and
labors and endurance. It's quite the opposite.
He's recognizing them. What he's pointing out
is that despite all the good things they're doing,
there is something lacking, something that's
off. All these actions and activities and sacrifices,
they're all meaningless when they're done without
their preeminent focus being their first love,
Jesus. He's calling them to examine and see if
their love and relationship with Him is still
the primary desire rather than the works that
should simply be the natural outgrowth. of that
relationship with Him. You understand what I'm
saying? Is that if He is the preeminent one,
if He is the reason for it all, then all the
works and all the good things that we do, those
are just natural. Those will just come, right?
They're an outgrowth, a byproduct of your relationship
and love for Him. But the opposite can also be
true, and that's the warning. You can do all
these good things and still not have Jesus as
your primary focus and reason for doing all those
things. The lack and the problem for us is when
we've forgotten, or for many, when we are forgetting
our first love, even in the midst of doing all
the things. The heartbreaking truth is that all
those good actions will eventually fall. to the
wayside without remembering to keep your first
love, Jesus, preeminent. Without him being the
foundation and the reason, you will get disillusionment,
you will get dissatisfaction, you will get frustration,
and the loss and purpose will eventually set
in. And because this is such a foundational issue
in the Christian walk, remember, The body is
a large swath of people. So I'm not just talking
to Christians who have been in their relationship
with the Lord for a very long time. These same
things can happen with a new Christian, and we
see the same things with our own children. Those
children who have grown up in the church, both
a new Christian and our children, suffer from
this same problem. Right? In essence, another
way of putting it is the dethroning of the Lord.
Here's some stats. Just want to throw them at
you. They're disturbing. They're disturbing because
they're true. Within the last five years, the
Barna group Those of you who don't know who the
Barna Group is, it's an organization that collects
all kinds of data. In this case, the Barna Group
specifically collects religious or Christian
data questions. How many Christians have done
X? What is the percentage of Christians have
done whatever? They accumulate all this information,
and then they disseminate it out for our knowledge
so that we know what's going on in the world
around us. So within the last five years, the
Barna Group reported that over 60 60 % of young
people raised in the church leave it before adulthood.
60%. In their 2019 study, Lifeway Research estimated
that 66 % of those attending church as teens
will stop for a year or more when they are between
18 and 22. 66%. And both organizations report
that rates of departure between the years of
18 and 22 can be as high as 75%. Do you think
we have a problem? I believe we do. The same
thing can be true for new believers as our teens,
right? The grounding is not there. If the foundation
stone of Jesus is not properly set, they will
exhibit the same problem after time, right? As
new believers in Christ, we often fly high on
the emotion or the newness of the relationship.
But over time, if there is only the emotion of
it, or the work and activities that go with our
walk, none of these can bear up the relationship
by itself. Only Jesus as the foundation can hold
the house up. Only Jesus. We can fill our time
with works, community time, serving in the church,
etc. But without Jesus at the heart of it all,
it will eventually fail. and wither. This brings
to my remembrance Proverbs 29 verse 18. 29 18
Proverbs says, and I'm reading from the Amplified
Bible again, where there is no vision, no redemptive
revelation of God, the people perish. Again,
where there is no vision, no redemptive revelation
of God, the people perish. Now, I recognize all
the stated reasons and reasons for disengagement
by our young people or new believers or even
old believers, for that matter. They can be varied
and both general and specific in their nature.
I believe that the root cause is as stated in
Revelation 2. They have abandoned their first
love, and the lack then can be stated as follows.
They lack an enduring, living, breathing, daily
recognition of who God is. Let me say that again.
They lack an enduring, living, breathing, daily
recognition of who God is. If this first foundation
stone isn't set properly, the Christian walk
will suffer terribly and become an unbearable
thing. So, what are our first steps? What are
our first steps in making sure our first foundation
stone is set in place? How do we check and correct
our first foundation stone? You know, as we've
said, and we keep coming back to Revelation 2
verse 4 said, remember how far you have fallen,
repent, and do the first works. God is beautiful,
isn't he? He just tells you right out. This is
how you check it, and this is how you fix it.
In John 14, 23, John 14, 23 says this to us,
and Jesus is speaking. Verse 23, he says, Jesus
answered, If anyone loves me, he will keep my
word. My Father will love him, and we will come
to him and make our home in him. If anyone loves
me, what will we do? We will keep his word. Then
His Father will love us, and they will come to
us and make their home in us. As I said in the
introduction, our key verse is in Mark 10, Mark
10, 46 through 51. If you go ahead and turn there,
we're going to go ahead and just read that entire
section just to get full context of what's going
on. And as I said, this is the story of the blind
man, Bartimaeus. who is healed by Jesus. So here
is actually what happened, starting with verse
46. It says, they came to Jericho, they meaning
Jesus and his disciples, right? They came to
Jericho, and as he was leaving Jericho with his
disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus, the
son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by
the road. When he heard that it was Jesus of
Nazareth, he began to cry out, Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me. And many who were there
warned him to be quiet. But he was crying out
all the more, have mercy on me, Son of David.
Well, Jesus stopped and said, call him. So they
called the blind man. They said to him, have
courage. Get up. He's calling you. And this is
what Bartimaeus did, the blind beggar, sitting
at the side of the road. It says, he threw off
his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. Verse
51, then Jesus answered him, what do you want
me to do for you? Bartimaeus answered, Rabboni,
my Lord. The blind man said to him, I want to
see. I love these stories of Jesus healing people.
There is at least one other story that we've
talked about before on a Sunday morning, and
that is at the pool of Bethsaida, right? where
Jesus does the same exact thing. It's obvious
that the person who's there needs to be healed
of something, right? And it's not even just obvious
that he needs to be healed. It's obvious what
they need to be healed of. And yet, what does
Jesus do? He asks them, what do you want me to
do? I love the Lord because in asking that question,
It shows me that the physical thing isn't always
the whole thing. Bartimaeus may be blind, but
when we say that he's blind, what is that blindness?
And certainly when I'm talking about me, am I
a blind man? Well, I've already admitted that.
I'm a blind man in a pitch black room begging
for a flashlight. But Jesus asks because he wants
to hear it, and I think that he wants them to
get the cog in their head moving, that this is
about more than the physical healing. The same
thing happens when he's asking us, why are you
coming to me? What is it that I can do for you?
He wants you to confess it, right? I love that.
And then his reply, I think, is a reply that
we should all be echoing all the time. What do
we want? Lord, we want to see. This is the state
that we're going to begin this series in. Let
me explain it to you. We're going to begin this
series in this state of mind. We're going to
come as a people sensing the lack. We're going
to be recognizing that we may be in many ways
abandoning our first love. We're going to be
in this attitude of repentance. And we're going
to be humble, blind people crying out to God,
Lord, I want to see. I want to see where I'm
lacking. Search my heart. I want to see. If there
is sin in my life, and what is it? I want to
see how to move closer to you and how to live
according to your word. Above all, I want to
see you. I want to see you like Moses when he
saw the barest glimpse of... of your afterglow
as you sheltered him in the hollow of the rock
while you passed by him. I believe that the smallest
revelation of you will transform my life. For
the blind man in Mark chapter 10, healing only
came from Jesus. Did you see anybody else stepping
up? to heal this man? No. All they did was tell
him to be quiet. Jesus is the only one who could
heal him. In the same way, the revelation of
who God is, it comes to us, yes, but only from
God. Turn with me to the book of Matthew. In
Matthew chapter 16, verses 13 through 20, This
is a story, again, that you're all familiar with,
and that is the story of when Jesus is asking
his disciples, who do people say that I am, right?
So in Matthew 16, verse 13, it says, when Jesus
came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked
his disciples, who do people say the Son of Man
is? They replied, some say John the Baptist,
others Elijah. Still others, Jeremiah or one
of the prophets. But you, he asked them, who
do you say that I am? And then Simon Peter gets
up and he answers, you are the Messiah, the Son
of the living God. Jesus responded, blessed are
you, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood
did not reveal this to you, but my Father in
heaven. Just like all the things in our salvation
and new life story, it all comes by him, it all
comes from him, and it all comes through him
for one singular purpose, and that is his glory.
So, I'm excited. Let's begin this new journey
called today by asking the one true God, the
most holy one, to reveal to us the cornerstone,
the primary foundation stone of our Christian
walk, so that we might rightly know Him, be continually
undone, by the mere essence of His glory and
desire to walk with Him daily. This is where
we're going to begin, right? So I hope to see
you all on Wednesday. Let's pray. Father, we
are both excited and a little fearful to be in
this discussion. of fixing the foundation that
is before us, the foundation of our Christian
walk. It takes examining who we are, but ultimately,
God, we have to lean on you and your examination
and your revelation to us of what needs to be
repaired. As David said, God, we yield to you.
Search us. Know us. If there is any wicked thing
in us, reveal it to us. Lord, we want to walk
with you the path of life everlasting. You are
so gracious, so kind, so merciful, so loving
that you have given us this time, this opportunity
to set this foundation right. And the reason
why it needs to be set right is because everything
that happens after that flows from the foundation
being you. If it's not, everything is meaningless.
But if it is of you, then it has purpose and
reason. And that is the glorification of God
Almighty. Lord, that is how we want to live our
lives. That's how we want to move through our
Christian life. We want that to be the reason
for serving you, for meeting the needs of others,
for reaching out, for even serving in your house,
God, those tasks that you have us do, whether
it be greeting people or serving communion or
being part of the offering team or being part
of the worship team. God, if the reason that
we do these things isn't you, then they mean
nothing. But if the reason that we do these things
is for your glory, then they are like sweet aroma
before your throne. They are worship, and that
is what you have created us for, is to worship
you, to honor you, to reflect you to a world
so that we might share with them the goodness
and the love of a God who gave his life for us,
who shed his blood for us so that your blood
would cover. our sin, that we can be forgiven,
and then we can then walk in the newness of new
life in Christ Jesus, that we might be saved
and redeemed, that we might be with you forever
and ever and ever. God, we thank you. Speak to
us. Reveal yourself to us. Search us, that we
might know you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.