What is God’s Call for My Life? | Pastor Josh Howerton — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Hey guys, thanks for checking out this
2. 0:01Bible [music] teaching. Every week we
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4. 0:04the sermon. It's like a little bit of a
5. 0:05deeper dive where we hit some things
6. 0:07that didn't [music] make it into the
7. 0:08sermon, some theological concepts. We
8. 0:10talk about things that are going on in
9. 0:12our culture and how to think about them
10. 0:13from a biblical perspective. We call
11. 0:15that podcast Live Free. An episode
12. 0:18releases every Monday that corresponds
13. 0:20to the sermon. If you would like [music]
14. 0:21to check out Live Free, just go to the
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17. 0:27Live Free. Now, enjoy this Bible
18. 0:29teaching.
19. 0:30Hey, Lake Point family, good to see
20. 0:31y'all again. Good to see you guys. Hey,
21. 0:33let me just start right here. If you got
22. 0:34your Bibles, head over to Exodus chapter
23. 0:363. Let me just get this out of the way
24. 0:38and I'm excited about it. Happy 250th
25. 0:41birthday, United States of America. Come
26. 0:42on, somebody. All right. Hey, I just
27. 0:45want to do this, you know, I I want to
28. 0:47do this real quick. What What are What
29. 0:49that book says right there, what our
30. 0:51What the word of God tells us is that
31. 0:52when we gather, what we're doing as a
32. 0:54church is this is literally it's like an
33. 0:56outpost of an eternal kingdom. And so,
34. 0:59the whole reason we gather, we all know
35. 1:01this, man, the whole reason we gather is
36. 1:03there is a name that is above every
37. 1:04name. There is a king that is a king of
38. 1:06all kings. And our our greatest
39. 1:08allegiance is to an eternal kingdom more
40. 1:11than any earthly little k kingdom, all
41. 1:13right? But
42. 1:16I love my country and you should, too.
43. 1:19And listen, man, this It is an
44. 1:21incredible privilege to What I'm
45. 1:24thankful to God for our country.
46. 1:27I I believe it's the greatest country on
47. 1:29earth and I'm allowed to think that
48. 1:30because I live here. I'm all in. And I I
49. 1:33What I want to say is
50. 1:35man uh
51. 1:36in the words of George Washington
52. 1:39we have a responsibility
53. 1:41in our nation as citizens, and the Bible
54. 1:44calls us to be good citizens, of
55. 1:46whatever nation he puts us in. And so,
56. 1:48I'm going to quote George Washington.
57. 1:50This is probably a quote you didn't hear
58. 1:51from your junior college professor.
59. 1:53George Washington said, "It is the duty
60. 1:55of all nations to acknowledge the
61. 1:57providence of almighty God, to obey his
62. 2:00will, to be grateful for his benefits,
63. 2:02and to humbly implore his protection and
64. 2:05his favor. That's George Washington.
65. 2:07And so what we would say, what I'll say
66. 2:09today is may God pour out reformation
67. 2:12and revival for a resurgence of his
68. 2:14purposes in our nation and in our day
69. 2:17through us. Okay? There we go. Happy
70. 2:19birthday.
71. 2:21You know what I say is now, let's get
72. 2:22into something even more important. If
73. 2:24you got your Bible, set over to Exodus
74. 2:25chapter 3. Pastor Mike Bro, by the way,
75. 2:28thank you Pastor Mike Bro for being an
76. 2:30awesome Bible teacher. Loving the people
77. 2:32of Lake Pointe, we love you.
78. 2:33And what he has done is um man, he we've
79. 2:36been doing this this series preaching
80. 2:38through the fire passages of the Bible
81. 2:39and he he left me the one the one I'm
82. 2:43most excited about. I am fired up for
83. 2:45it. Okay, there we go.
84. 2:48We [clears throat] are in Exodus chapter
85. 2:493 today. Now, I'm going to jump right
86. 2:50into it.
87. 2:52Jump right into it. Heads up, I got a
88. 2:53nasty upper respiratory thing and so
89. 2:56and I'm out of preaching game shape. So
90. 2:58you got to kind of roll with me.
91. 3:00Here's what we're doing. Let me get a
92. 3:01running start into it. Exodus chapter 3.
93. 3:03Listen, all the Bible is equally true,
94. 3:06but not all the Bible is equally
95. 3:08important. If the Bible were a mountain
96. 3:11range, Exodus chapter 3 would be
97. 3:13Everest. If the Bible were the Rocky
98. 3:14movies, it'd be Rocky 4. It's a it's a
99. 3:16high it's a peak, okay?
100. 3:19I'm the only one who thought that was
101. 3:20funny in any service. In any service.
102. 3:22I'm the I'm
103. 3:23Okay.
104. 3:25>> [clears throat]
105. 3:25>> Here's what you Let me set it up. Here's
106. 3:26what you got right here. From the end of
107. 3:28Genesis to the beginning of Exodus is
108. 3:30400 years. For 400 years the people of
109. 3:33God have been under the people of God by
110. 3:35the purposes of God have been under the
111. 3:38slavery and oppression of people who
112. 3:40hated God in Egypt. Now, when you drop
113. 3:43in in Exodus chapter 3, what you got is
114. 3:46God in his sovereign providence, he
115. 3:48moved his people into Egypt in his
116. 3:51sovereign and good providence, to
117. 3:53incubate his people so that they could
118. 3:56grow, grow, grow, so that he could
119. 3:57prepare them to go take the land in
120. 4:00Canaan and bring them in to all the
121. 4:02blessings that he promised them back in
122. 4:03Genesis 13 and Genesis 15. I'll get to
123. 4:06that in a second.
124. 4:07Now, what you have right here is for 400
125. 4:10years they've been under at the
126. 4:11oppression of these people. Now, check
127. 4:12this out. Egypt at this time, let's hit
128. 4:14the we're going to do some history nerd
129. 4:16stuff for a second. Egypt at this time,
130. 4:18it is the global superpower of the world
131. 4:21and Egypt will rule the world as the
132. 4:25dominant global superpower for 1,300
133. 4:27years. To put that in perspective for
134. 4:29you history nerds,
135. 4:31Egypt [clears throat]
136. 4:32was the global superpower longer than
137. 4:35the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire
138. 4:37combined.
139. 4:38So, you have two at this point, there's
140. 4:41between two and three million Israelites
141. 4:43that are enslaved in Egypt and they've
142. 4:46been crying out to God for delivery from
143. 4:49the slavery to these people for 400
144. 4:51years. Side note, how many you guys who
145. 4:54have been on team Jesus for more than
146. 4:55like 60 seconds have figured out that
147. 4:57your timing and God's timing are
148. 4:59different. Can I get a amen?
149. 5:01Because what you're going to notice is
150. 5:02listen, here's what happens. They've
151. 5:03been crying out for 400 years and what
152. 5:06they might have thought was that the
153. 5:08silence of God was the absence of God.
154. 5:10But as you're going to see in a second,
155. 5:12God saw, he heard, he cared, he knew, he
156. 5:15remembered. His silence was not his
157. 5:17absence, but his timing was different
158. 5:19than their timing. Here's why I say
159. 5:21that. What some people do, man, is just
160. 5:23like you'll start fervently praying on
161. 5:25Monday and if God hadn't miraculously
162. 5:27worked by Friday, you're like, "Where
163. 5:28are you, God?"
164. 5:30Well, his timing is greater than your
165. 5:32timing. His thoughts are higher than
166. 5:33your thoughts. His ways are higher than
167. 5:34your ways. And this is what I've learned
168. 5:36walking with Jesus for 30 years now is
169. 5:38listen to me, man, God is never late,
170. 5:41but he is rarely early.
171. 5:43Rarely early.
172. 5:45And what he does right here is that at
173. 5:46the exact moment when he needed to work,
174. 5:49he comes and he brings a calling to this
175. 5:51guy named Moses. You probably heard of
176. 5:53Moses. You saw the movie Prince of
177. 5:54Egypt. He brings a calling to the guy
178. 5:56this guy named Moses. Now,
179. 5:57when this what watch when the call of
180. 5:59God comes to Moses in Exodus 2 and 3
181. 6:02like you're going to see right here.
182. 6:03Watch, Moses is 80 years old.
183. 6:06Here's why I say that. If you're like
184. 6:08senior saying back half of life, if your
185. 6:10age starts with a 5 6 7 8 9 maybe even a
186. 6:121 and a 0.
187. 6:14Listen, the most important call on
188. 6:17Moses' life doesn't even come to him
189. 6:20until he's 80.
190. 6:22Till he's 80. Listen, don't you ever the
191. 6:26Bible says that God has numbered your
192. 6:28days before you were born. He numbered
193. 6:30your days. Your birth date is fixed and
194. 6:32you know what that day was, there is
195. 6:33another day that is just as fixed as
196. 6:35your birthday is your death day. God has
197. 6:38chosen that from before the foundations
198. 6:39of the world.
199. 6:41And until you reach that day that God
200. 6:42has chosen, listen, if you're still
201. 6:44breathing, he's still got a purpose.
202. 6:47And the kingdom of God is like Advil and
203. 6:49turkey have expiration dates in my
204. 6:51fridge,
205. 6:52but in the kingdom of God people don't.
206. 6:54If you're still breathing, if you still
207. 6:56got a pulse, he's still got a purpose on
208. 6:57your life. Don't you dare give up.
209. 6:59So, God's call comes to Moses when he's
210. 7:0180 years old right here. All right, now
211. 7:03watch what happens. Check this out.
212. 7:05>> [clears throat]
213. 7:05>> The Israelites groaned in their slavery
214. 7:08and they cried out
215. 7:10and their cry for help because of their
216. 7:11damn. Woo, this
217. 7:13yeah.
218. 7:14I'm out of game shape.
219. 7:15>> [clears throat]
220. 7:16>> Their cry for help because of their
221. 7:18slavery went up to God. God heard their
222. 7:20groaning. He remembered his covenant
223. 7:22with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And so
224. 7:24God looked at the Israelites and he was
225. 7:26concerned about them. Now, pause. Let me
226. 7:28just point this out. Here's how the
227. 7:29triangle works in Exodus 2 and 3.
228. 7:32The people pray,
229. 7:34their prayers move heaven,
230. 7:37heaven moves Moses, Moses frees the
231. 7:40people. Watch.
232. 7:42You responding to the call of God on
233. 7:45your life, you are the answer to
234. 7:47somebody else's prayer.
235. 7:49And listen, if you look at what God
236. 7:52speaks to you today, you're going to see
237. 7:53it in a second. Whatever God puts on
238. 7:55your heart today, he's he might do
239. 7:56something very specific.
240. 7:58Your unwillingness to respond to the
241. 8:00call of God on your life is somebody
242. 8:02else's unanswered prayer. You are God's
243. 8:05answer to somebody else's prayer. This
244. 8:07is how it happens in this passage. Now
245. 8:09watch what happens next.
246. 8:11Now Moses, now we're in chapter 3, was
247. 8:12tending the flocks of Jethro. Now if you
248. 8:14Bible nerds, in Exodus 1 and 2, there
249. 8:17was a guy named Re- I think it is
250. 8:18pronounced Reuel. That's my best shot.
251. 8:21It's the same guy. So Reuel and Jethro,
252. 8:24same guy, one two do na- one dude, two
253. 8:27names. It's like Kanye and Yeezy, the
254. 8:29same thing.
255. 8:30So his father-in-law, the priest of
256. 8:32Midian, and he led the flock to the far
257. 8:34side of the wilderness and came to
258. 8:35Horeb, the mountain of God.
259. 8:37There, now this is
260. 8:39watch watch. The angel of the Lord. Now,
261. 8:42for some of you Bible nerds, you're
262. 8:43like, "Woah woah, the angel of the Lord?
263. 8:46But in a couple verses, it's going to
264. 8:48say that God spoke to Moses out of the
265. 8:49bush. So Josh, which is it? Is it the
266. 8:52angel of the Lord or is it God?" Now,
267. 8:54this is one of the most like
268. 8:55mind-blowing Bible nerd things in the
269. 8:57whole Bible. I don't got time to go into
270. 8:59it. We deep dive it on the podcast. I
271. 9:00don't have time here.
272. 9:02What you have right here, almost every
273. 9:04Bible scholar agrees, is something Bible
274. 9:06scholars call a christophany.
275. 9:09A christophany.
276. 9:10There is a difference in the Old
277. 9:11Testament when you see the phrase an
278. 9:13angel of the Lord,
279. 9:15and then sometimes the Old Testament
280. 9:16will say, "the angel of the Lord."
281. 9:19Whenever the Old Testament says, "the
282. 9:21angel of the Lord," here's what you got
283. 9:22right here. This is going to blow your
284. 9:23mind. Here's what you got right here.
285. 9:25Moses is coming face to face with a
286. 9:29pre-incarnate
287. 9:31appearance of Jesus Christ, the son of
288. 9:33God.
289. 9:34There are seven reasons that we know
290. 9:36that's true. I go into it in the
291. 9:37podcast. I don't have time right here.
292. 9:39But this whole passage when Moses is
293. 9:41talking to the bush,
294. 9:42he's talking to Jesus.
295. 9:45Awesome, okay?
296. 9:47Now, he appeared to him in flames of
297. 9:49fire from within a bush.
298. 9:51Moses saw that though the bush was on
299. 9:52fire, it didn't burn up. So Moses
300. 9:56I love this. Moses thought, "I will go
301. 9:58over and see this strange sight, why the
302. 10:00bush does not burn up." Now, do you know
303. 10:01why Moses went over and look at the
304. 10:03fire?
305. 10:04Cuz [snorts] he was a man, and that's
306. 10:05what men like to do. They like to see
307. 10:06things burn. If you Listen, if you
308. 10:09you put a fire anywhere within eye sight
309. 10:11of a guy, and he's going to go walk over
310. 10:12to it and be like, "I wonder what what's
311. 10:13burning over here?"
312. 10:15You stick a bunch Listen, you stick a
313. 10:17bunch of guys around a campfire, they
314. 10:18won't say a word. They'll just stare at
315. 10:19the fire. That's what men do. So Moses
316. 10:21walks over, and he sees this bush, and
317. 10:23now,
318. 10:24>> [clears throat]
319. 10:24>> uh one of the things I did in the last
320. 10:26few weeks is I visited our kids camps
321. 10:28and our student camps.
322. 10:29So real quick, if you were one of the
323. 10:31kids or one of the students at any of
324. 10:33our camps, if you were a leader at any
325. 10:35of those camps, or if you had a kid at
326. 10:37one of the camps, would you raise your
327. 10:38hand? Where you at? Okay?
328. 10:40All right, now check this out. If you
329. 10:41were one of the kids or students at one
330. 10:43of the camps, what I'm doing right now,
331. 10:44let me let me let me be a youth pastor
332. 10:46again for about 30 seconds and talk to
333. 10:47you. I want to talk to you if you were
334. 10:49one of the kids at one of our camps,
335. 10:50okay? We had like 3,000 kids at camps.
336. 10:52I'm I'm talking to you right now.
337. 10:54Why Here's my question to you. Why is it
338. 10:56that God appears as a fire throughout
339. 10:59the Bible? He always does this. It's
340. 11:00like his signature move.
341. 11:03Burning bush, Exodus 3, when God appears
342. 11:06to Abraham in Genesis 13 and Genesis 15
343. 11:08to establish his covenant, he shows up
344. 11:10as {quote} a flaming firepot.
345. 11:13When God descends to give the law at
346. 11:16Mount Sinai, he descends as {quote} a
347. 11:18consuming fire, the Bible says.
348. 11:21When Solomon dedicates his temple,
349. 11:24what he does is it says the glory of the
350. 11:26Lord descended, it was like a fire, and
351. 11:28the smoke of the fire of God fills the
352. 11:30temple, so the priest can't even stand
353. 11:33in his presence.
354. 11:34Fast forward to Revelation chapter 2.
355. 11:36Resurrected Jesus shows up to his
356. 11:38fishing buddy John.
357. 11:40John's looking at his fishing buddy,
358. 11:41resurrected Jesus, and he looks in his
359. 11:43eyes, he's like, "Man, it was crazy."
360. 11:45His eyes were like flames of fire, is
361. 11:47what it says.
362. 11:48Acts 2, I'm going to do one more. I
363. 11:49could do this all day. I'm just going to
364. 11:50do one more. Acts 2, the Holy Spirit
365. 11:53falls, and what it says is the spirit
366. 11:55fell, and he was as flames, tongues of
367. 11:59fire. Divided tongues of fire that came
368. 12:01down on them. So, if you're one of the
369. 12:03kids or students, you went to camp, you
370. 12:04had this big old camp high.
371. 12:06Here's my question. Why does God fall
372. 12:08like fire? Well, here's why. Check this
373. 12:09out.
374. 12:11The sign of an encounter with the
375. 12:12presence of God is not emotion. The
376. 12:15younger you are, the more you need to
377. 12:16get this. The sign of an encounter with
378. 12:18the presence of God is not emotion.
379. 12:21Now, when you have an encounter with
380. 12:22God, you will experience emotion, but
381. 12:25not all emotion is a sign of an
382. 12:27encounter with God.
383. 12:29Here's how I know this. Before I was a
384. 12:30pastor, what I did is I traveled, and I
385. 12:32just preached a bunch of youth camps all
386. 12:34over the place. That's what I did.
387. 12:35Now, here's the deal. I'm I'm going to
388. 12:37give you a dirty little secret about
389. 12:38preaching at camps.
390. 12:39On the fourth night of camp, you're all
391. 12:42sleep deprived, you had your little camp
392. 12:44crush for the last 4 days,
393. 12:47you're emotionally dysregulated,
394. 12:49you've had all you burned all your
395. 12:50secular CDs. That's what I did when I
396. 12:52was a camper as a kid. You did all that
397. 12:54stuff. You're all cooked up on sugar,
398. 12:56all the stuff you got going on.
399. 12:58And I'm I listen, I'm fourth night of
400. 12:59camp, I'm using my best illustrations,
401. 13:01my most emotional stories. Can I tell
402. 13:03you a dirty little secret? Can I tell
403. 13:04you something?
404. 13:05On the fourth night of camp, I could get
405. 13:07you to rededicate your life to the
406. 13:08Easter Bunny.
407. 13:10Real man, I got I listen, I can do it
408. 13:11get you to do whatever I want. Now,
409. 13:13here's why. Because a lot of people,
410. 13:15they mistake emotion with an encounter
411. 13:18with God. That's not the sign of an
412. 13:20encounter with God. What is it, okay?
413. 13:22Well, why does God appear as fire? Watch
414. 13:23this. Remember chemistry class?
415. 13:26Whenever something burns, it literally
416. 13:29undergoes a chemical reconstruction.
417. 13:32It was this thing
418. 13:34and then it caught on fire and when the
419. 13:36fire's done, it's a whole new thing.
420. 13:38Watch.
421. 13:39What is the sign that you've had an
422. 13:41encounter with God? It's not emotion.
423. 13:43The sign of an encounter with God is
424. 13:46rearranged priorities.
425. 13:49Wha- watch. Before I met God, I was this
426. 13:53and then I had an encounter with a with
427. 13:54a consuming fire and now I'm this.
428. 13:58Before I was God, I loved to do these
429. 14:00things and then I had an encounter with
430. 14:02God and now I love to do these things.
431. 14:05Before I had an Listen, if you're a kid
432. 14:06or a student, I need you locked in right
433. 14:08now. Before I had an encounter with God,
434. 14:11I I uh I uh
435. 14:13I I Watch, watch. I loved the world and
436. 14:16the things of the world and the applause
437. 14:18of the world and fitting in with the
438. 14:19world.
439. 14:20And then I had an encounter with God and
440. 14:22now you know what I love? I love his
441. 14:23word and obedience to his word and
442. 14:26knowing him in his word. Watch. Why?
443. 14:29Because you were this and then you came
444. 14:31in contact with a consuming fire and now
445. 14:34you're something new and now you don't
446. 14:36got to do the things you used to do
447. 14:37because in Christ you're not the person
448. 14:38you used to be.
449. 14:40See, that's what this is, man. This is
450. 14:42why God reveals himself as a consuming
451. 14:44fire. Now, watch this.
452. 14:46When the Lord saw Woo, man.
453. 14:48When the Lord saw that he had gone over
454. 14:50to look, God, what's the word? You say
455. 14:52it. God
456. 14:53called. We're going to talk about
457. 14:55calling.
458. 14:56to him from within the bush, "Moses,
459. 14:57Moses."
460. 14:59And he said, "Here I am." The Lord said,
461. 15:01"H- Here I am." The Lord said, "I have
462. 15:03indeed seen the misery of my people in
463. 15:05Egypt. I have heard them crying out
464. 15:06because of their slave drivers. I am
465. 15:08concerned about their suffering.
466. 15:10So, I've come down to rescue them from
467. 15:11the hand of the Egyptians to bring them
468. 15:13up out of that land into a good and
469. 15:15spacious land, a land flowing with milk
470. 15:18and honey, y'all.
471. 15:19God [snorts] is a good dad that loves to
472. 15:21give good gifts to his kids.
473. 15:23The land was the home of the Canaanites,
474. 15:26the Hittites, the Amorites, the
475. 15:27Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites,
476. 15:30the termites, kryptonites, and
477. 15:31cellulites. Lots of ites.
478. 15:33And now the cry of the Israelites has
479. 15:35reached me and I have seen the way the
480. 15:37Egyptians are oppressing them. So now
481. 15:38go, I am sending you
482. 15:41to Pharaoh to bring my people, the
483. 15:44Israelites, out of Egypt. Now here we
484. 15:45go, point number one, check this out.
485. 15:47Watch, this is important. You got to get
486. 15:48this. If you're new to Team Jesus, you
487. 15:50got to get this. The Bible is not an old
488. 15:52book.
489. 15:53The Bible is an eternal book.
490. 15:56And because the Bible's eternal, it
491. 15:58means it's timeless. And because it's
492. 16:00timeless, it's always timely.
493. 16:02So what that means is the Bible doesn't
494. 16:04just tell us what happened, the Bible
495. 16:06tells us what always happens.
496. 16:09So this is about a calling that comes to
497. 16:11Moses, but point number one, you got to
498. 16:12understand this, God has a calling for
499. 16:16you.
500. 16:17There's a calling God has on your life.
501. 16:19There is something that God destined
502. 16:22before you were born. Things he destined
503. 16:26you to accomplish and then his destiny
504. 16:28resulted in your design. He designed you
505. 16:30to fulfill those things and that's the
506. 16:32purpose of your life. It's why you're on
507. 16:34this planet. Check this out. This is how
508. 16:35the Bible says it in Ephesians 2. For we
509. 16:38are God's workmanship, watch.
510. 16:41You may have been your deadbeat dad may
511. 16:43have called you a mistake.
512. 16:45Okay?
513. 16:46You're your heavenly father's
514. 16:48masterpiece of workmanship.
515. 16:51We are God's workmanship created in
516. 16:53Christ Jesus for good works, which he
517. 16:55prepared beforehand. Before you were
518. 16:58born, he prepped them, that we should
519. 17:00walk in them. All right now, here's what
520. 17:02this means. Let's go a layer deeper.
521. 17:04What So why did he do this? Okay?
522. 17:07Listen, God doesn't need [laughter] you.
523. 17:09God don't need you, like at all. He
524. 17:11doesn't need you at all.
525. 17:13But because he's a good dad, God
526. 17:15delights to involve his children in the
527. 17:19accomplishment of his will and the
528. 17:21building of his kingdom. God needs you,
529. 17:23but because he's a good dad, he wants to
530. 17:25do something with you. So he can do it
531. 17:27with you, okay? Here Here's my my
532. 17:29best example of this. Let me move on,
533. 17:31okay? Years ago, one Christmas when
534. 17:33Hudson was really young, my parents
535. 17:36bought Hudson for Christmas a big like
536. 17:39this Lego kingdom. I think it's cuz they
537. 17:40hated me and wanted to ruin my
538. 17:41Christmas. I think that's why they do
539. 17:43it. They bought Hudson this big Lego
540. 17:44kingdom. So as soon as we he unboxes it,
541. 17:46Hudson's like, "Hey, you know, Dad, can
542. 17:48we build it?" And I'm like, "Sure, we
543. 17:50can build it. Yep, let's do it, buddy.
544. 17:51We we are going to build it. Haha, you
545. 17:53know."
546. 17:54So we you know, we go over the you know,
547. 17:55the little kitchen table and
548. 17:58>> [laughter]
549. 17:58>> and we built it for the next few hours.
550. 18:01And I I specifically remember like
551. 18:03thinking like like saying to Hudson,
552. 18:05"Hey like hey buddy, are you building or
553. 18:06you breaking? What What are you doing
554. 18:08right now?" You know, like his help was
555. 18:10very helpful, right?
556. 18:12So it takes us like 11 times longer than
557. 18:14it should have taken. And by the time
558. 18:16we're done, we get done and then Janna
559. 18:17walks in the kitchen. She's like, "Hey,
560. 18:19what are you guys doing?" And Hudson
561. 18:20holds it up or like points to it and you
562. 18:23know, and he goes he [clears throat]
563. 18:25says, "I built this."
564. 18:28And I'm like,
565. 18:29>> [laughter]
566. 18:32>> "I built this What I was thinking is
567. 18:34Well hey buddy, what actually what
568. 18:35happened is you distracted and
569. 18:38frustrated me while I built that. That's
570. 18:39what actually happened. And it actually
571. 18:41I could have built that
572. 18:4311 times faster if I didn't involve you
573. 18:45at all."
574. 18:47But the Watch, the reason that I
575. 18:49involved him is because I'm a dad and I
576. 18:51like doing stuff with my son.
577. 18:54It's the same thing with God. God
578. 18:56doesn't need you. He doesn't need you.
579. 18:58But because he's a good father, he
580. 18:59delights to involve you
581. 19:02in the building of his kingdom. So
582. 19:04number one, you got to understand you
583. 19:06were put on this planet to fulfill a
584. 19:09calling and you'll never be happy,
585. 19:12you'll never be fulfilled till you know
586. 19:14what it is and you're doing it. Now,
587. 19:15that leads me to second thing. Check
588. 19:17this out. Number two, you've got to
589. 19:19discover what your calling is.
590. 19:22What did God design you for? You've got
591. 19:24to discover it. All right, now.
592. 19:26The problem is most people never
593. 19:27discover it, so they definitely never
594. 19:28fill fulfill it. Now, here's what I'm
595. 19:30going to do in the next [clears throat]
596. 19:31like 5 minutes.
597. 19:33I usually am not like, you know, you can
598. 19:35take notes, but I'm not like a huge like
599. 19:37you got to take notes guy. Honestly, for
600. 19:38me, I just need a sermon to land on me
601. 19:40and start changing me on the inside.
602. 19:42That's how I That's That's how I am.
603. 19:44In the next 5 minutes, if you were ever
604. 19:46going to take notes on something, I
605. 19:47would. What I'm getting ready to walk
606. 19:49you through is like when I'm discipling
607. 19:51guys, this is what I walk them through.
608. 19:55So, if I was going to do it like here
609. 19:56What I'm going to show you is how to
610. 19:58know what God's calling your life is.
611. 20:00If you're going to take notes, this is
612. 20:01your spot. Now, what I'm going to do is
613. 20:02I'm going to give you a Venn diagram.
614. 20:04I'm all all about diagrams. I've, you
615. 20:06know, accepted Microsoft Excel into my
616. 20:08heart. I love charts and graphs and all
617. 20:10all all that stuff. This is a Venn
618. 20:11diagram, okay? Now, this is straight out
619. 20:13of Exodus 3, how you can discover what
620. 20:16God's calling your life is. I'm going to
621. 20:18tell you what it is and then I'm going
622. 20:19to go there. Your calling is at the
623. 20:21intersection of three things in your
624. 20:22life, affinity, ability, and
625. 20:25opportunity. Affinity, ability,
626. 20:26opportunity. So, here we going to go.
627. 20:28Number one, you got to ask, "What's your
628. 20:29affinity?"
629. 20:31Here's how this happens in Moses' life.
630. 20:32Let me explain what I mean by this. The
631. 20:34first time we meet adult Moses in Exodus
632. 20:372, here's what happens. One day, after
633. 20:39Moses had grown up, he went out to where
634. 20:42his own people were and he watched them
635. 20:43at their hard labor.
636. 20:45He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one
637. 20:47of his own people.
638. 20:48Looking this way and that and seeing no
639. 20:51one, he killed the Egyptian and he hid
640. 20:54him in the sand. Now, don't start
641. 20:56killing people. That's not what I'm
642. 20:57driving at. I don't want you to learn
643. 20:58from Mo- Moses' iniquity. I want you to
644. 21:01learn from his affinity. Here's my
645. 21:03point. There was something that when
646. 21:05Moses saw it, he couldn't stand it.
647. 21:08Couldn't stand it, okay? Here's a
648. 21:10question to figure out what your
649. 21:11affinity is. What can't you stand?
650. 21:14What is it for the purposes of God that
651. 21:17when you see it happen or you see that
652. 21:19it doesn't happen, it's just like it it
653. 21:22almost There's a righteous anger. It's
654. 21:23like I I can't stand it.
655. 21:25Let's ask it positively.
656. 21:27What is it that like gets you going when
657. 21:29you see it it does happen the right way
658. 21:31for the glory of God and the good of
659. 21:32people? You're like, "Yeah, man. Let's
660. 21:34go. Team Jesus gets you fired up."
661. 21:37That's your affinity, okay? Now,
662. 21:40what you got to understand is it's
663. 21:41different for different people. Let me
664. 21:43untie a knot some of you struggle with.
665. 21:45Churches have a lot of fights over this
666. 21:46thing I'm about to say right here. Let
667. 21:47me untie a knot.
668. 21:49What you got to [clears throat]
669. 21:50understand is people have different
670. 21:51callings, which means they have
671. 21:52different affinities, which means they
672. 21:54get angry at different things. If you
673. 21:56don't understand that, you'll spend your
674. 21:58whole Christian life being mad at people
675. 22:00for not being mad at the same things you
676. 22:01are.
677. 22:03So So what you got right here is people
678. 22:05have different callings, so they got
679. 22:06different affinities. Very different,
680. 22:08okay? Me and Janna, I'mma give you an
681. 22:09example, super different.
682. 22:12Janna is like super tender-hearted.
683. 22:14She's a weep with those who weep person.
684. 22:17Janna's best her favorite weekend is she
685. 22:20stands out in that lobby and she prays
686. 22:22with hurting people for 3 hours, walks
687. 22:25back in the
688. 22:26in at home and she's like, "I got to
689. 22:28pray with people for 3 hours today." She
690. 22:30likes writing widows in the church notes
691. 22:33of encouragement. That's just how
692. 22:34Janna's wired. She sees somebody hurting
693. 22:37and that's like where her heart automa-
694. 22:39She can see like an animal rescue
695. 22:41commercial.
696. 22:43And she's like her heart break, "Oh,
697. 22:45I love animals. I love animals."
698. 22:47I see an animal rescue commercial like,
699. 22:49"I love animals, too. Medium rare. I
700. 22:51love them. I love animals." That's
701. 22:52We're just very different. Very, very
702. 22:54different. So that that's Janna's
703. 22:56affinity. My Here's my thing.
704. 22:58For me, if I see bad Bible teaching,
705. 23:01it's just like something just sort of
706. 23:03snaps him. I just I can't stand it. I
707. 23:05can't stand it. If I see somebody
708. 23:07twisting the Bible to hurt people,
709. 23:08families, societies, churches, it's just
710. 23:11something it snaps in me.
711. 23:13We have different affinities. You need
712. 23:15to ask the question, what is it that
713. 23:18breaks your heart? Are you the type of
714. 23:20person who you walk you see uh you see
715. 23:23kids and students going the wrong way
716. 23:25with their life
717. 23:26and something like stirs up in you and
718. 23:28you can't stand the thought of a
719. 23:30generation arising that knew not the
720. 23:32purposes of God uh
721. 23:33and the people of God. You can't stand
722. 23:35it. Well, you probably need to be in
723. 23:36kids and student student ministry. So,
724. 23:39start with what's your affinity. Now,
725. 23:40number two,
726. 23:41you got to ask the question, what's your
727. 23:43ability?
728. 23:45What's your ability?
729. 23:46Now, Moses, let me do a little bio.
730. 23:49Moses spent the first 40 years of his
731. 23:51life being raised by Pharaoh's daughter.
732. 23:54If you've ever wondered why Pharaoh
733. 23:56didn't kill Moses during the 10 plagues
734. 23:58event,
735. 23:59a lot of Bible scholars think it's
736. 24:01because Moses was like Pharaoh's adopted
737. 24:03grandson.
738. 24:04So, so what's going on right here, Moses
739. 24:07is raised by Pharaoh's daughter. He's
740. 24:08raised in Pharaoh's court. Let me ask
741. 24:10you a question. Do you think it's a
742. 24:12coincidence that the guy God raised up
743. 24:14to lead the nation of Israel spent the
744. 24:17first 40 years of his life seeing the
745. 24:19inside of executive-level leadership of
746. 24:21the largest empire in the world. Do you
747. 24:23think that's a coincidence? If you think
748. 24:24that that's a coincidence, bless your
749. 24:26heart.
750. 24:27So, what what God did is he deposited
751. 24:30abilities into Moses and then Moses
752. 24:32would later use them for the purposes of
753. 24:35God and the advance of his kingdom. So,
754. 24:37here's the question you need to ask. Ask
755. 24:38this question.
756. 24:40What are [clears throat] you good at?
757. 24:42Here's a safer question.
758. 24:43Here's a safer question. Ask the
759. 24:45question, what do other people affirm
760. 24:47that you're good at?
761. 24:49The reason I say that is because
762. 24:52I listen, I love you. I I just want to
763. 24:53warn you about something. Your whole
764. 24:55life is the first three episodes of a
765. 24:57season of American Idol.
766. 24:59That's your whole life.
767. 25:01Where it's like there there are people
768. 25:02who who you're watching the episode and
769. 25:04you're like, "Did nobody tell them
770. 25:05they're terrible at singing? Did nobody
771. 25:06tell them?" They thought they were
772. 25:07awesome and nobody told them. Nobody
773. 25:09told them. Now, heads up, I'm like that,
774. 25:11you're like that, we're all like that.
775. 25:12Why? Because there's one thing that you
776. 25:13can't do. You can't not be you.
777. 25:17So, you can't You can't step outside of
778. 25:19you and watch you. And you you're not
779. 25:21awesome at evaluating you. The heart is
780. 25:23deceitful above all things. So, you need
781. 25:25to ask a question, what do you other
782. 25:26people affirm that you're good at? Now,
783. 25:28the reason that matters is watch. If you
784. 25:30want to know your destiny, look at your
785. 25:31design. What's God made you good at? I'm
786. 25:33I'll give you example of this and then
787. 25:34we'll move to the third one. So, I got a
788. 25:36pastor that's a pastor buddy that's up
789. 25:38in New York City.
790. 25:40And he had this guy in his church that
791. 25:41was like a converted drug dealer. He
792. 25:43gets saved, he converted drug dealer,
793. 25:44like running the streets and had a whole
794. 25:46little, you know, little organization
795. 25:47going.
796. 25:49And uh he gets saved and then, you know,
797. 25:50start his own team Jesus, gets discipled
798. 25:52for a little bit, following Jesus,
799. 25:54cleans his life up. Well, then he gets
800. 25:55into the church that's like their
801. 25:56equivalent of their their
802. 25:59next steps class.
803. 26:01And the people in the class don't know
804. 26:02anything about him and they're like,
805. 26:03"Hey, so trying to help him find his
806. 26:05calling." Like, "Hey, so so what are you
807. 26:07good at?" He's like, "I don't know."
808. 26:08Like, "What what skills do you have?" "I
809. 26:10don't know."
810. 26:11So, then they ask, "Well, what did you
811. 26:12do before?"
812. 26:14You know,
813. 26:15>> [laughter]
814. 26:15>> and he didn't know, you know, he was
815. 26:16like, "I He's like, well,
816. 26:18I was into like like pharmaceutical
817. 26:20distribution." He's like, "Well, that's
818. 26:21what what he said." All right. And then
819. 26:23they eventually dig and they figure out
820. 26:25like, "Okay, this guy's got testimony.
821. 26:27That's the deal." And and and they Now,
822. 26:29remember, this guy's been walking with
823. 26:30Jesus for a few years, cleaned his life
824. 26:32up a little bit. And then they
825. 26:33eventually they're like, "Hey, they
826. 26:35figure out what he what he what he what
827. 26:36he did." And they they figured out,
828. 26:38"Man, this guy's actually got some
829. 26:39street smarts, knows how to organize
830. 26:41some things, got a little administrative
831. 26:42skills."
832. 26:43Now, again, after he's cleaned his life
833. 26:45up, been doing all the things, they put
834. 26:47him over some administration in the
835. 26:48church in a church group.
836. 26:50Now, you see what happened? Watch. In
837. 26:52the same way God used skills from Moses'
838. 26:55past life and then aimed them at
839. 26:58advancing the kingdom of God. This is
840. 27:00what God will often do in your life. If
841. 27:01you're new here and you're wondering
842. 27:03like, "How's a 30,000 person church How
843. 27:04does this How do they do this thing?"
844. 27:06It's thousands of people doing this. I'm
845. 27:09Let me give you some examples. Okay,
846. 27:10thousands of people doing this.
847. 27:12So, there's a guy you probably never
848. 27:13heard of, super important in our church.
849. 27:15He's a guy named Ken Farr.
850. 27:17He's Lakepointe CFO, chief financial
851. 27:19officer.
852. 27:20Before Ken Farr became the CFO of
853. 27:22Lakepointe, he was a CFO of one of the
854. 27:25fastest growing IT companies in Dallas.
855. 27:27He was voted one of the top 20 C-level
856. 27:29executives in the entire city of Dallas.
857. 27:32Then the calling of God came to Ken
858. 27:34Farr.
859. 27:35Ken took that calling and a big pay cut.
860. 27:39And and he came to Lakepointe and now he
861. 27:41uses those skills to oversee our
862. 27:44resources because it matters that we
863. 27:46squeeze every ounce of God's glory and
864. 27:49advance his kingdom out of every penny
865. 27:51of resources we're entrusted with.
866. 27:53Ken helps manage that stuff. That's part
867. 27:56of the reason, shout out Royse City
868. 27:57Campus, that we were able to do stuff
869. 27:59like We Guys, we built the Royse City
870. 28:01Campus all cash and no debt at all.
871. 28:04Because of Watch.
872. 28:06Because of guys like Ken Farr managing
873. 28:09the resources of Lakepointe like super
874. 28:11wisely. I'll I'll give a couple others.
875. 28:13Jordan Hills, kind of swole dude who was
876. 28:15on Lakepointe News today, LP News.
877. 28:17Jordan Hill.
878. 28:18Jordan Hill, before what he does is he
879. 28:20coaches life group leaders on our staff.
880. 28:22Before he was coaching life group
881. 28:24leaders, he was a D1 baseball coach
882. 28:26discipling guys on on a D1 baseball team
883. 28:29at DBU.
884. 28:30So, watch. He was coaching guys for that
885. 28:32team. Now, he coaches guys on team
886. 28:34Jesus. He took those skills, translated
887. 28:36them. I'll give it I'll give a shout out
888. 28:37over at Firewheel Campus. There's a guy
889. 28:39at the Firewheel Campus, name is Sean
890. 28:41Ditch.
891. 28:42He owns a big old pest company. Okay?
892. 28:46So, what he does is removes unwanted
893. 28:48critters all day, every day.
894. 28:51So, when we get annoying church members
895. 28:53That's that's a joke. That's a joke.
896. 28:55That's a joke. That's a joke. That's a
897. 28:56joke.
898. 28:57>> [laughter]
899. 28:57>> No, actually, he takes the leadership
900. 28:59skills that he got out there and he
901. 29:02volunteer as a volunteer, he oversees
902. 29:05the production team at the Firewheel
903. 29:06campus. I'll I'll do one more. There's a
904. 29:07guy you probably haven't seen. He's like
905. 29:09a He's like a ninja around here. His
906. 29:10name's Scott McNeal. Oversees all the
907. 29:12security teams at Lake Point. Yeah,
908. 29:14Scott's good dude. Okay, Scott's good
909. 29:15dude. Shout out Scott. Blowing his cover
910. 29:17right now. Scott, before he oversaw the
911. 29:20security teams at Lake Point
912. 29:22what Scott was doing before he got here,
913. 29:24I want to make sure I get it right, he
914. 29:25was a lieutenant in the LAPD over the
915. 29:27fugitive warrant division.
916. 29:30Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was. Okay, I like
917. 29:32it. I see you over there. Okay.
918. 29:33Now, listen, what that mean now he
919. 29:35oversees security teams at Lake Point.
920. 29:36What that means is you're real safe.
921. 29:39>> [laughter]
922. 29:39>> What Here's what it means.
923. 29:41Listen,
924. 29:42it what it means is if anybody ever
925. 29:43tries to harm the people of Lake Point
926. 29:45Here's the thing. Jesus loves you and
927. 29:47will send you to meet him. That's what
928. 29:48that means. That's what that means.
929. 29:50Okay. Mess with the flock, you get the
930. 29:51glock. That's how it works. That's
931. 29:53That's how that works.
932. 29:54>> [clears throat]
933. 29:54>> That's a joke. Kind of depend kind of.
934. 29:57Just kind of. Okay. So, you need to ask
935. 29:59what's your ability. Now, number three.
936. 30:01Now, you got to ask what's your
937. 30:02opportunity. Ask about opportunity.
938. 30:05Check this out. Moses, because he was
939. 30:07raised in Pharaoh's court, one, he's
940. 30:09bilingual. That's interesting.
941. 30:11Two, he was probably out of three two to
942. 30:14three million Israelites, the only one
943. 30:17for whom the door into Pharaoh's court
944. 30:19was open. Ask this question on
945. 30:21opportunity. Ask this question. What
946. 30:23doors are open to you?
947. 30:26Or ask it like this. What When you walk
948. 30:28around the church in the kingdom of God,
949. 30:29ask the question, what's the greatest
950. 30:32need? Now, here's here's why this one's
951. 30:33important. The first two Now, go back. I
952. 30:36want to show them. The first two,
953. 30:37affinity and ability, they were about
954. 30:39you.
955. 30:40What do you like? What are you good at?
956. 30:42This one's real important because hey
957. 30:44guys, it's not all about you.
958. 30:47This one, it's not about you, it's about
959. 30:49God and his glory and his kingdom.
960. 30:52Now here's the thing, as a disciple, you
961. 30:54got to get this in your heart. Guys,
962. 30:56your life is not just about you being
963. 30:58fulfilled, it's about people being
964. 31:00helped and it's about God being
965. 31:01glorified.
966. 31:03We got to get that down in us. Listen,
967. 31:04Jesus died for you, it's just not all
968. 31:06about you.
969. 31:08What life is all about, listen, what
970. 31:10life is all about. Life is all about a
971. 31:13bunch of forgiven nobodies
972. 31:15trying to tell everybody about a
973. 31:17somebody who can save anybody.
974. 31:19That's what life is about. That's what
975. 31:21life is about. So then you just got to
976. 31:22ask, man, where's the greatest need?
977. 31:25What doors are open for me? Now, okay,
978. 31:27here's how all this works, okay?
979. 31:29When you figure out affinity, ability,
980. 31:32opportunity, you're going to find at
981. 31:33least one thing that's at the
982. 31:35intersection of those things, that's
983. 31:36your calling.
984. 31:37That's your calling. Now, some of you,
985. 31:39you're never going to be happy until
986. 31:40you're doing whatever that is. Never
987. 31:42going to be fulfilled.
988. 31:43Some of you, for the first time in your
989. 31:45whole life, you need to step into a
990. 31:47calling to serve the purposes of God.
991. 31:49What you need to do before you leave is
992. 31:50you just need to text the word serve to
993. 31:53the number 20411.
994. 31:55We will help you get onto a team
995. 31:58that is at that intersection, affinity,
996. 32:01ability, opportunity, right there,
997. 32:03calling. That's it. Some of you, that's
998. 32:05what you need to do today, that's the
999. 32:06thing. Now, here's the thing, let me
1000. 32:07land it.
1001. 32:08Once it starts to dawn on you what that
1002. 32:10thing is, newsflash, you're not going to
1003. 32:13want to do it.
1004. 32:15You're not You're not going to want to
1005. 32:15do it. Watch what what happens with
1006. 32:16Moses. Moses don't want to do it.
1007. 32:19But Moses said to God, "Who
1008. 32:22am I
1009. 32:25that I should go to Pharaoh and bring
1010. 32:27the Israelites out of Egypt?" He gets
1011. 32:29all in his feelings
1012. 32:30and he's like, man, I God, I I I I don't
1013. 32:32got what it takes. Now, real quick, I
1014. 32:34just I just want to say this real quick.
1015. 32:37>> [snorts]
1016. 32:37>> It's not about who you are, it's about
1017. 32:40who he is.
1018. 32:42The first thing God does after Moses
1019. 32:44says this, I'm going to I'm going to
1020. 32:45read to you in a second. Moses says,
1021. 32:47"Who am I?" God reveals his name to
1022. 32:49Moses and he goes, "Here's my name, I
1023. 32:51am."
1024. 32:52Moses, not about who you are, it's about
1025. 32:54who I am.
1026. 32:55So, hey guys, because God is with you,
1027. 32:58God can use anybody.
1028. 33:00I'm going to riff these off, okay? Moses
1029. 33:03was a murderer, Noah was a drunk, Jacob
1030. 33:05was a thief, Joseph was a convict,
1031. 33:08Samson was a bully, Gideon was a coward,
1032. 33:10David was an adulterer, Eli was a failed
1033. 33:12parent, Solomon was a womanizer, Elijah
1034. 33:15had anger issues, Jonah was a racist,
1035. 33:17Jeremiah was depressed, Mary was a
1036. 33:19pregnant teenager, Peter was a
1037. 33:20hypocrite, Matthew was an extortionist,
1038. 33:23Thomas was a doubter, Paul was a
1039. 33:24terrorist, Tim Tebow was a Florida
1040. 33:26Gator. God can use anybody. He can use
1041. 33:28anybody, okay? Anybody.
1042. 33:31That's a Joby Martin joke, that's a
1043. 33:32hilarious joke.
1044. 33:33God bless Tim Tebow. Now, God can use
1045. 33:35anybody. Watch what God does. And God
1046. 33:37said, "I will be with you. And this will
1047. 33:42be the sign
1048. 33:43to you that it is I who have sent you.
1049. 33:45When you have brought the people out of
1050. 33:46Egypt, you will worship God on this
1051. 33:48mountain." And Moses said to God, "Yeah,
1052. 33:49but suppose I go to the Israelites and I
1053. 33:51say to them, 'The God of your fathers
1054. 33:53has sent me to you.' And they ask me,
1055. 33:55watch, what if they ask me, 'What's his
1056. 33:57name?' What am I going to tell them?"
1057. 33:59Now, what watch what God does. God said
1058. 34:01to Moses,
1059. 34:02now, this is interesting. [music]
1060. 34:04In your Bibles, these words are in all
1061. 34:07caps and you probably read it and didn't
1062. 34:09even notice or you noticed and you
1063. 34:10didn't know why. I'm going to explain
1064. 34:11[music] it. God said to Moses, "I am who
1065. 34:14I am.
1066. 34:16This is what you are to say to the
1067. 34:17Israelites, 'I am has sent me to you.
1068. 34:22This is my name forever from generation
1069. 34:26>> [music]
1070. 34:26>> to generation.' Now,
1071. 34:29let's go a little deeper. What God does
1072. 34:31here is he reveals his personal name to
1073. 34:33Moses. And it's these four Hebrew
1074. 34:36letters.
1075. 34:38Hebrew [clears throat] runs from right
1076. 34:39to left instead of left to right. So, it
1077. 34:41goes from here to here. It's these four
1078. 34:43Hebrew letters. And they're called the
1079. 34:45Tetragrammaton is what
1080. 34:48what Bible scholars call them. That just
1081. 34:50means four letters. Those letters are
1082. 34:53were considered so holy by Jews
1083. 34:55throughout the centuries
1084. 34:57that they would frequently not even
1085. 34:58speak them. [music] In fact, when you
1086. 35:00hear somebody say the word Jehovah,
1087. 35:03all they're doing is they're taking
1088. 35:06these same four letters
1089. 35:09and they're putting in different vowels
1090. 35:11with those same four Hebrew letters
1091. 35:13because they consider God's name Yahweh
1092. 35:16to be so holy, they won't even speak his
1093. 35:18name. That's what Jehovah is. It's that
1094. 35:20with different letters out of reverence.
1095. 35:22Tetragrammaton. [music]
1096. 35:24In English, that's transliterated YHWH.
1097. 35:28Yahweh now.
1098. 35:30What Jewish rabbis have talked about for
1099. 35:31centuries check this out is
1100. 35:35Remember God calls himself the breath of
1101. 35:36life.
1102. 35:38What's interesting [music] about these
1103. 35:39letters in God's name
1104. 35:41is that some some rabbis have pointed
1105. 35:42out it's literally like breathing.
1106. 35:44Watch. Watch. Like this.
1107. 35:48Yod
1108. 35:53Heh
1109. 35:56And so, the first [music] time
1110. 35:58anyone is born,
1111. 36:00the very first thing they say,
1112. 36:02the name of God on their lips.
1113. 36:06Waw
1114. 36:08And the last thing you will do before
1115. 36:09you close your eyes and meet your maker
1116. 36:12is one last [music] time you will
1117. 36:13breathe his name.
1118. 36:20God tells Moses, "That's my name."
1119. 36:23And what it means, [music] watch, what
1120. 36:24it means is
1121. 36:27I
1122. 36:29am.
1123. 36:32So, Moses is telling God, "I don't think
1124. 36:34about this. God, I I don't got what it
1125. 36:35takes.
1126. 36:37I I I'm not good enough." And God goes,
1127. 36:40"Here's my name.
1128. 36:41I am.
1129. 36:43I am, and I'm going to be with you."
1130. 36:45Now,
1131. 36:46throughout the Old Testament,
1132. 36:48what God does
1133. 36:50is he takes [music]
1134. 36:51his name I am,
1135. 36:53and then whenever Israel was in like a
1136. 36:56time of need, [music]
1137. 36:58or they didn't have what it took to
1138. 37:00accomplish something he wanted them to,
1139. 37:04God would attach his name
1140. 37:06to whatever was the thing that Israel
1141. 37:08lacked, and he planned to supply.
1142. 37:10[music] So, like when you hear people
1143. 37:11talk about the names of God, Jehovah
1144. 37:13Rapha, Jehovah Jireh, I'm going to do
1145. 37:15this here in a second.
1146. 37:16What God's doing is he's taking that
1147. 37:18name,
1148. 37:19and then he's inserting the thing
1149. 37:21[music] where they got a gap, and he's
1150. 37:22going, "I I'm going to be that for you.
1151. 37:25So, you're going to be good. Okay. Now,
1152. 37:27I've heard these from another Bible
1153. 37:29teacher, but throughout the Old
1154. 37:30Testament, it goes like this.
1155. 37:32In Exodus, [music]
1156. 37:34when the people of Israel were wounded
1157. 37:35and sick because of their sin, God
1158. 37:37reveals himself as Jehovah Rapha. You're
1159. 37:40sick?
1160. 37:41That means I'm your healer.
1161. 37:44In Leviticus, when Moses laid out the
1162. 37:45law, how we could walk uprightly with
1163. 37:47God and honor him, and all the people
1164. 37:49looked at it and they were like, "We
1165. 37:50can't do that. Nobody can do that."
1166. 37:52>> [laughter]
1167. 37:52>> God reveals himself as Jehovah
1168. 37:54Mekoddishkem.
1169. 37:56It means
1170. 37:56>> [music]
1171. 37:57>> I am your sanctifier. I am the one who
1172. 37:59will enable you to walk with me.
1173. 38:02When Jeremiah was discouraged because he
1174. 38:04was looking out at Israel's inability to
1175. 38:06walk faithfully before God, and he's
1176. 38:07like, "How can we survive? We're so
1177. 38:08sinful." God reveals himself as Jehovah
1178. 38:11Sidkenu. I am your righteousness.
1179. 38:14What you can't be, I'm going to be for
1180. 38:15you.
1181. 38:17In Ezekiel's day, when the people of
1182. 38:18Israel were scared and alone, and they
1183. 38:20were surrounded by enemies,
1184. 38:22God goes, here's my name right now. I'm
1185. 38:24Jehovah Shammah. I am the God who is
1186. 38:26ever present.
1187. 38:28When David felt lost and confused, and
1188. 38:30he didn't have any friends in the entire
1189. 38:31world, and he felt alone, he called God
1190. 38:34Jehovah Raah, which means,
1191. 38:37I am the Lord your shepherd.
1192. 38:40When Abraham faced an impossible
1193. 38:42circumstance, no way out at all, God
1194. 38:44said, I am Jehovah Jireh. I am the Lord
1195. 38:47your provider. [music] And to Isaiah,
1196. 38:49when he wasn't sure how he was going to
1197. 38:51survive even another day, God revealed
1198. 38:53himself as, watch this, Jehovah Sabaoth.
1199. 38:56I am the Lord your defender, the God
1200. 38:59that fights for you.
1201. 39:01And then,
1202. 39:02>> [laughter]
1203. 39:03>> and then in the New Testament, Jesus
1204. 39:05Christ, who is the image of the
1205. 39:06invisible God and the exact
1206. 39:07representation of his nature.
1207. 39:09Jesus Christ [music] comes, and he ain't
1208. 39:11in a bush anymore. Now, he's in fleshed.
1209. 39:14And throughout the New Testament, Jesus
1210. 39:16takes the I Am name of God, and he
1211. 39:18applies it to himself, and he
1212. 39:20essentially goes, I'm him.
1213. 39:22>> [laughter]
1214. 39:23>> And he takes every area of our greatest
1215. 39:26brokenness, and then he inserted what he
1216. 39:29was to supply our lack all throughout
1217. 39:31the New Testament. So, it goes like
1218. 39:33this. To anybody that hungers, Jesus
1219. 39:35said, I am the bread of life.
1220. 39:38To anybody that thirsts, Jesus said, I
1221. 39:40am living water.
1222. 39:41To anybody that's walking in darkness,
1223. 39:43Jesus declares, I am the light.
1224. 39:46To anybody that's like messed it all up,
1225. 39:47they need a fresh start, new place to
1226. 39:49go, Jesus is like, that's all right, I'm
1227. 39:50the door.
1228. 39:52To anybody that feels abandoned, Jesus
1229. 39:53says, I am the good shepherd.
1230. 39:55>> [music]
1231. 39:55>> If you feel lost, Jesus says, I am the
1232. 39:57way.
1233. 39:59To anybody that feels confused, Jesus
1234. 40:00says, I am the truth.
1235. 40:02To anybody that's afraid of death, Jesus
1236. 40:03says, it's going to be all right,
1237. 40:04because I am the resurrection and I am
1238. 40:06the life.
1239. 40:07And so, what you can do in every season
1240. 40:10of your life,
1241. 40:11is you can just look at whatever you
1242. 40:13feel like you don't have, a skill, your
1243. 40:15past is too checkered, whatever your
1244. 40:16thing is, why you can't do that thing
1245. 40:18God's calling you to do.
1246. 40:20>> [clears throat]
1247. 40:21>> And you can just go, whatever I'm not,
1248. 40:23he is. So, if you're going, man, God, I
1249. 40:24can't be a good parent, he's like, I
1250. 40:26can. You're like, I can't make it, he's
1251. 40:27like, I'mma be with you. Hey, you're
1252. 40:29going, man, I'm so doubtful, he's going,
1253. 40:31I'm so faithful. Whatever you're not, he
1254. 40:33is, and he's promised [music] to be with
1255. 40:35you, so you can walk forward with
1256. 40:36confidence and faith that the Lord's
1257. 40:38your God is with you wherever you
1258. 40:39[music] go. You step forward in
1259. 40:41confidence. That's how you do it. I'll
1260. 40:43be honest, man.
1261. 40:46Yeah. It's just my my whole life, really
1262. 40:49it's it's a story of my whole life, 30
1263. 40:50years just walking with Jesus. It's just
1264. 40:5230 years of me going, there's no way I
1265. 40:54can do that. But I'mma say yes, because
1266. 40:56you said to, and I'mma jump and you're
1267. 40:58going to figure out how I land.
1268. 41:00That's my whole life.
1269. 41:02And I'mma pray that some of you today,
1270. 41:04you're going to take a step you've never
1271. 41:06taken before
1272. 41:07to step into whatever God put you on
1273. 41:08this planet to accomplish.
1274. 41:11So, right now, at all of our campuses,
1275. 41:12would you guys do this? Would you bow
1276. 41:13your heads and close your eyes?
1277. 41:14And I'll pray for you.
1278. 41:16And Father, would you please, like right
1279. 41:18now, would you preach [music] the sermon
1280. 41:19that I cannot preach inside the chest of
1281. 41:21men and women? I pray that literally
1282. 41:23right now, that like specific things
1283. 41:25would be dropping into people's hearts.
1284. 41:27Things that some of them need to leave,
1285. 41:30places that some of them need to go,
1286. 41:32callings they need to step into, names,
1287. 41:35like specific names of people that are
1288. 41:36close to them but far from you. It's
1289. 41:39like they need to be that person that's
1290. 41:40going, I'mma bring one more.
1291. 41:42But Father, would you please lead them
1292. 41:44in paths of righteousness for your
1293. 41:45name's sake. I pray that for them they
1294. 41:47be so full of the spirit of God that
1295. 41:49this week it would be like your word
1296. 41:51says, it would feel like there is a
1297. 41:52voice behind them saying, this [music]
1298. 41:54is the way, walk in it, and they would
1299. 41:56turn neither to the right nor to the
1300. 41:58left, but they would fix their eyes on
1301. 42:00Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of
1302. 42:02their faith.
1303. 42:04So, Father, move us as disciples towards
1304. 42:07your purposes. I pray that in the
1305. 42:08crucified, risen name of Jesus Christ,
1306. 42:11and all guest people said, "Amen. Amen.
1307. 42:14Amen. Amen."