Beyond the Burning Bush: Is Your Calling Fueled by God’s Presence or Your Own Performance?

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
God Bless!

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
To sing of my Savior's name

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Isn't God good today, man?
[00:06:54] Come on, sing this with me.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]:
Christ is my firm foundation The rock on which I stand When everything around me is shaken I've never been more glad
[00:07:15] I put my faith in Jesus He's never let me down He's faithful through generations So why would He fail He won't

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
He won't come on sing this like you mean it church come on cause I still got joy in chaos I've got peace that makes no sense so I won't be going under I'm not held by my own strength
[00:08:09] We're faithful in every season
[00:08:54] Come on, sing it out, church.
[00:08:57] Christ is my friend.
[00:09:01] It's the rock, the rock on which I stand.
[00:09:06] Everything around me is shaking.
[00:09:12] I've never, I've never been born alone.
[00:09:16] And I put my faith in Jesus.
[00:09:25] Faithful through challenge

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Lord, we just thank you that your promises are true this morning.
[00:10:03] Lord, that no matter what circumstance, what situation we are in, Lord, you are present with us.
[00:10:08] Your word never fails, Lord, and so we just proclaim these things over our lives today.
[00:10:12] Come on, let's sing this with me.

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Rain came, blue, but my house was built on you.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
You and I'm gonna make it through.
[00:10:31] Come on, sing that again.
[00:10:32] Rain came.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Rain came and blew, but my house was built on you.
[00:10:40] Amen.
[00:10:41] Church, come on.
[00:10:42] I'm safe.
[00:10:46] I'm safe with you and I'm gonna make it through.
[00:10:50] Sing that again.
[00:10:51] Come on.
[00:10:56] I'm safe with you, I'm gonna make
[00:11:34] I'll never be more glad that I put my faith in Jesus

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
He won't.
[00:12:28] He won't.
[00:12:29] Yes, Lord, Your promises are true.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
He won't fail.

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
He won't fail.
[00:12:41] No, He won't.
[00:12:44] Come in front.
[00:12:45] Give Him praise this morning.

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Blessed assurance Jesus is mine He's been my fourth man in the fire Time after time Born of His Spirit Washed in His blood
[00:13:35] and what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough.
[00:13:45] I trust in God, my Savior, the One who will live
[00:14:04] I trust in God my Savior the one Who will never fail He will never fail Perfect submission
[00:14:30] All is at rest I know the author of tomorrow Has ordered my steps So this is my story This is my song Praising my risen King
[00:15:59] I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered
[00:17:23] I trust in God my Savior the one who will never fail He will never fail I trust in God my Savior the one who will never fail

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
He will never fail I trust in God You know church sometimes what we need the presence of God is healing touch it's right in front of us

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
but we serve a God who will not force it on you and some of you I just see it you're on a precipice of experiencing something so much deeper and maybe it's pride maybe it's you're uncomfortable maybe you don't think you're good enough for what God has in store for you and I just want to let you know that all those things man you're right on the edge
[00:18:36] And worship is one of those times where we can step into the presence of God or His Holy Spirit.
[00:18:42] We can actually tangibly, even sometimes physically, emotionally feel His presence.
[00:18:47] I think it encapsulates all of our being.
[00:18:52] and we are a church that never misses an opportunity to worship and some of us this morning maybe it was the treacherous conditions out here you know that you were so worried about or or maybe it's that circumstance that you know you have to deal with and so there's that stress of tomorrow maybe Monday at work but church we never want to miss these opportunities
[00:19:16] to engage to push in to receive all that the Lord has for you because he has something for you today and it is tragic when we walk away and we don't receive it he's sitting there with hands open wanting to like give it to us and we are closed off and we wonder why we don't experience the miraculous we wonder why we don't experience his healing yet at the same time we are disengaged
[00:19:47] and so I just want to say this again church we never miss an opportunity to worship God amen church we never miss an opportunity because we know that even in the midst of worship even when it's all about him his love is so massive that he he in that time even then he makes it about us amen he shows up in our lives
[00:20:10] and so I just want to encourage you as this morning continues as you continue through this fast that we are a week in our 21 day fast don't miss these opportunities don't miss the the opportunities that God is showing up and saying I want to do something in your life but you're just too busy you're too you know thinking about the next thing God will only meet you in the present right now
[00:20:38] And so make your hearts available to what the Lord wants to speak.
[00:20:42] He's willing.
[00:20:42] He's able.
[00:20:45] And so that's our prayer, Lord.
[00:20:46] We make ourselves available this morning to all that you have for us.
[00:20:51] Speak to us.
[00:20:52] Heal us.
[00:20:54] Break down the pride and the walls of fear and shame that we have constructed.
[00:21:02] And allow your Holy Spirit to do the healing work that only you can do.
[00:21:07] We receive that today.
[00:21:09] We trust you, Lord.
[00:21:11] We receive that today.
[00:21:12] We trust your name, Lord.

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
We trust your name, Lord.
[00:21:23] It is so sweet to trust in Jesus.
[00:21:39] The Lord has promised upon His promise just to the Savior all.
[00:22:02] Just in Jesus.
[00:22:13] Just to take Him as His Word.
[00:22:21] Just to rest upon His breast.
[00:22:25] Just to know the Savior.
[00:22:29] Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I've proved Him more than all.
[00:22:46] Jesus, Jesus.
[00:23:00] Jesus, Jesus, how I trust in thee, how I root in your render.
[00:23:25] Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, hope for ways to truth.
[00:23:31] All for grace to trust in you.

[00:23:51] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Teach us to trust your word.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
We love you, Jesus.
[00:23:56] God, won't you guide each step we take?
[00:24:00] I'll fix our eyes on you this morning.
[00:24:04] What a privilege it is to join our brothers and sisters and worship your holy name.
[00:24:13] Teach us to trust God.
[00:24:16] Teach us to walk by faith.
[00:24:19] Remind us of who you are, of your character, of your kindness, of your goodness, of your faithfulness that's never failed.
[00:24:33] We love you, Jesus.
[00:24:34] And we all said, Amen.
[00:24:37] Amen.
[00:24:37] Well, listen, before you take a seat, won't you just turn, share love with one another, find someone new.
[00:24:43] Welcome to Grace.

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning church family!
[00:25:23] Oh man, it is so good to be here with you guys and see your beautiful faces.
[00:25:29] For those of you who I have not had a chance to meet, my name is Colby and I am currently the Children's Ministry Director here.
[00:25:36] But in two weeks, we'll be officially your Communications and Media Director.
[00:25:44] So, thank you.
[00:25:47] Thank you.
[00:25:48] Thank you guys.
[00:25:51] That's not why I said that.
[00:25:52] Oh my goodness.
[00:25:54] If this is your first time here at Grace Covenant, we are genuinely so happy that you chose today of all days to take a step into our doors.
[00:26:04] And we want to meet you.
[00:26:06] So if you would please on your way out stop by Guest Central so we can do just that and we have a special gift for you as well.
[00:26:13] There's some awesome t-shirts and they have a special phrase on them that we would love to teach you about.
[00:26:20] There are so many amazing things going on at Grace Covenant and I don't have time to tell you about all of them but as you walked in today you received your worship guide so please be sure to look through that because there are so many ways to get connected to your family.
[00:26:35] A few of them I want to highlight coming up next weekend January 25th after both services we will have a missions interest meeting on your way and you also received a little bit of information about that but come if you received this card and there was a little tug in your heart that says man I would love to step into missions I would love to get my children into another country to see how amazing they have it here if you're just looking to be the hands and feet of Jesus y'all
[00:27:05] Go to that interest meeting next weekend.
[00:27:09] Can I get a show of hands?
[00:27:11] How many ladies in here are joining me for the Women's Conference?
[00:27:15] Yeah!
[00:27:16] I see a lot of ladies' hands not raised.
[00:27:18] That's okay.
[00:27:18] You still have time to sign up.
[00:27:20] It's going to be an amazing time.
[00:27:21] Ladies, you know as well as I do, a lot of times our cup is the last one that we fill up.
[00:27:27] and Nikki one one time shared the wisdom with me that we can't serve from an empty cup so come get your cup filled up it's going to be an amazing time filled with worship and just being fed the good word amen
[00:27:41] Lastly, baptism service coming up February 15th.
[00:27:45] This is an amazing opportunity to give an outward expression of an internal transformation that's happened.
[00:27:53] If you have not been baptized before or perhaps you were baptized as an infant and would like to make that personal decision, we would love to come alongside you and be a part of that amazing opportunity.
[00:28:07] So come celebrate with us.
[00:28:08] If you are interested in doing that, there is a lobby outside in the lobby.
[00:28:14] Please sign up for that.
[00:28:18] We now want to move into a time of tithes and offering.
[00:28:20] We are so excited for the generosity of our church and so grateful for God's provision.
[00:28:28] Amen.
[00:28:29] Amen.
[00:28:30] There are three ways that you can give here at Grace Covenant online, through the app, or at our offering boxes at the back of the church.
[00:28:38] Would you all pray with me?
[00:28:43] Heavenly Father, we thank you for your presence this morning.
[00:28:49] We thank you, Lord, that you are the almighty provider.
[00:28:55] 10 out of 10 times when there is a need you have filled it in your timing and we thank you for that we thank you for the opportunity to lord to give back to you what you have graciously given to us we pray as a church god that those offerings
[00:29:13] would do nothing but help build your kingdom to spread your word and to bring more people into your light.
[00:29:22] Lord, I pray over Pastor Steve this morning as he delivers the message.
[00:29:25] May we all have hearts and ears open to receive and give him the wisdom and the truth he needs to spread.
[00:29:33] We thank you, Lord, for this opportunity, and it's in Jesus' name we pray.

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Thank you, Coby.
[00:29:46] Good morning.
[00:29:47] Pastor Steve, I'm the campus pastor here at Grace Covenant Mooresville.
[00:29:50] I want to welcome you here today.
[00:29:52] It is a joy to be with you today, a joy to be able to worship with you, to be able to dive into God's Word together.
[00:29:59] Two things before, or one thing really before, ah, two things.
[00:30:05] Before I jump into my message, first of all, on your way out the door on the right-hand side, Chris Baker will be sitting at this table with a lot of baby bottles.
[00:30:14] You may be wondering what that is.
[00:30:15] Well, we're partnering with the Crisis Pregnancy Center
[00:30:17] and pretty much wait I'm sorry that's not the correct it is the Community Pregnancy Center sorry and we would we were partnering with them this is an organization that we've partnered with before and we absolutely love the work that they are doing they are on the front lines and are just doing amazing amazing work
[00:30:37] So it's a very, very simple fundraiser.
[00:30:40] You take the bottle and you fill it up with coins, cash, checks, whatever you want.
[00:30:44] Like whatever feels right to you, whatever the Lord is speaking to you about.
[00:30:49] And then you bring it back here.
[00:30:50] We'll make sure it gets to them.
[00:30:52] And I believe the collection date, do we have the collection date on the screen?
[00:30:56] We do not.
[00:30:58] The 15th of February?
[00:31:00] February 15th so listen I don't really have coins anymore I don't even do you guys anybody have coins um so okay a couple of you do well all of those coins can go into the bottle if you don't have coins like I said feel free to bills checks you can even uh hit the QR code on the screen
[00:31:19] and this listen this is not this is not about Grace Covenant Morrisville we are simply partnering with an organization in our community that we believe is doing great work and we'd love to give you that opportunity to partner with them as well amen so make sure you grab one of those bottles and have it back by February 15th additionally I wanted to let you know that we are right on the edge right almost finished with the plans for our phase one construction
[00:31:48] So yes, thank you.
[00:31:49] I know some of you guys are like, what is going on?
[00:31:53] Well, this is how construction works.
[00:31:55] They tell you it's going to take six months, and then it usually takes like twice as long.
[00:31:59] That's just always the way it works with construction.
[00:32:01] Those of you who have been a part of that know exactly what I'm talking about.
[00:32:05] But we're just in the stage that we have to do things right.
[00:32:08] It's a lot cheaper to use an eraser on a piece of paper.
[00:32:12] Then it is to take down a wall after it's been constructed.
[00:32:15] So we are doing our due diligence and making sure it is a great space and we are maximizing those funds.
[00:32:22] I'm hoping within the next two or three weeks, we're going to be getting those to you, showing you exactly what that looks like.
[00:32:30] We will be building a 25-foot addition onto the front of this building, expanding our sanctuary, and we're gutting the hole.
[00:32:37] Other building and completely redoing it for our children's and our youth ministry to make it much more efficient really phase one is all about maximizing the space that god's already given us and we have already some plans for phase two that i think is absolutely amazing because healthy things grow amen and when things grow you guys remember when you were young and you had i used to we used to call them growing pains and you guys you guys remember i'm talking about like why is my leg so sore my mom would just be like oh it's growing pains and i'm like
[00:33:06] God's my right leg is my right leg growing in my left like what's going on here like that's how a kid thinks but we're about to enter into some growing pains because change always brings like change pain doesn't it it always is difficult and um but the cost is worth it the cost of being able to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ amen absolutely worth it and so those things are on the horizon and wanted to let you be aware of that
[00:33:32] But this morning we are continuing in week three of our series Fire and Cloud as we're journeying through the book of Exodus together.
[00:33:39] And I absolutely love this book and these stories that we're jumping into.
[00:33:45] And I want to encourage you as I've encouraged you before that we don't read this like it's a history book.
[00:33:49] It's not a history book.
[00:33:51] And so we read it differently than if we were in history class and opening the book and looking for facts and dates and all of those things.
[00:33:57] This is a hysterical narrative that is revealing to us the nature of God.
[00:34:03] Who is He?
[00:34:04] How does He interact with people, broken people?
[00:34:08] And if you remember a couple weeks ago we started in the first chapter and we talked about Egypt and how Egypt in Scripture is a picture of bondage and sin and that God never wants us to dally with that.
[00:34:19] He never wants us to take it casually.
[00:34:26] God always wants to bring you out of Egypt and we saw last week that he also has to engage in the process of taking Egypt out of you.
[00:34:34] God doesn't bless what destroys you.
[00:34:36] He will not bless sin in your life.
[00:34:39] Last week we talked about the desert, how Moses got into the desert because of his own decisions and it's that in-between place, that space where we can either waste
[00:34:50] or we can be formed and if you remember last week i said that the answer in the desert is always to draw deeper with the lord doing more isn't the goal but being with him is the goal and that brings us to exodus chapter 3 this morning and i'm not even going to be able to get through all of our scriptures that i was hoping to get through today but this is absolutely a critical section of scripture as god is revealing himself
[00:35:17] To Moses.
[00:35:18] And as you know, those of you who have already joined us, we're going to be doing this in expository teaching.
[00:35:24] And so there are a lot of things in this scripture.
[00:35:29] It is jam-packed, and I do not have enough time to dive into these points as much as I'd like to.
[00:35:40] The good news is, is you guys have time outside of here to do so, don't you?
[00:35:44] So make sure you're journaling, writing down what the Lord is speaking to you.
[00:35:47] We're in the middle of a...
[00:35:51] 7 days into a 21 day fast and so what a great opportunity you know we're making space to hear from the Lord well this is a great opportunity I believe he's gonna speak to you today and I want you to I want to encourage you to take these points and further develop them this week because I'm gonna hit on some things maybe you just need to jot it down and I need to get back to that and really dive into what the Lord is speaking to me about that amen
[00:36:18] Are we ready?
[00:36:19] Exodus chapter 3, starting at the first verse, but let's pray.
[00:36:23] Lord, thank you for your word.
[00:36:24] We acknowledge its authority.
[00:36:27] We acknowledge its power, that it can transform lives.
[00:36:31] We receive it today, and we open our hearts to receive your truth.
[00:36:36] Speak to us, transform us, Lord.
[00:36:39] Whatever you need to do in us, we give you permission.
[00:36:41] And if that's your prayer, say amen.
[00:36:44] Exodus 3, verse 1 says this, Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.
[00:36:52] And he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness, and he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
[00:36:57] Horeb is also Sinai.
[00:36:58] We're going to recognize that mountain in the coming weeks.
[00:37:01] And so a little bit of understanding of what's going on.
[00:37:03] For those of you who have missed the last two weeks, I encourage you to check those out on YouTube or gracecovenant.org.
[00:37:08] Moses was raised in Pharaoh's household.
[00:37:11] This was the most influential person in that time period.
[00:37:15] And yet somehow, Moses doesn't allow that to cause him to go numb.
[00:37:21] He chooses to open his eyes to see what's happening around him, and he chooses to see the suffering of his people, the Hebrews.
[00:37:28] He could have walked away.
[00:37:28] He could have lived a
[00:37:30] And I think by that point, something was already stirring in him, right?
[00:37:39] This quiet sense of calling, this quiet sense that there's something more than just me doing the Monday day-to-day stuff.
[00:37:48] There's something more than me just going to work nine to five and getting a paycheck every week and having the weekends off and hoping for a vacation two weeks out of the year.
[00:37:56] Amen?
[00:37:57] But he's young.
[00:37:59] And so we saw last week that sometimes calling plus immaturity can be a little bit volatile because he wants justice.
[00:38:07] He wants to do something about his people who are enslaved by the Egyptians, but he reaches for this in the flesh.
[00:38:15] He sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and he takes matters into his own hand and instead of trusting God's timing and God's way, he takes control.
[00:38:24] He murders the Egyptian and just like that, the story that he imagines for himself, it absolutely shatters.
[00:38:32] The Deliverer becomes a criminal, and then Moses has to go on the run.
[00:38:36] They're out for him.
[00:38:37] He flees to the desert.
[00:38:38] He's humbled.
[00:38:39] He's humiliated, utterly deflated.
[00:38:42] He still has a passion, we see.
[00:38:45] I encourage you to listen to last week.
[00:38:46] He gets married to a lady out there, and then he starts watching sheep for his father-in-law.
[00:38:53] So take a step back and imagine the emotional whiplash this guy has just experienced.
[00:38:58] He's raised in power and wealth and blessing and now, at this point, he's 80 years old, he's practically living in his father-in-law's basement working a humiliating job that has no future.
[00:39:12] Moses was trained for influence and now he's living in obscurity.
[00:39:16] He dreamed for purpose and now he's just simply trying to make it through the day.
[00:39:21] Can you feel kind of his inner world?
[00:39:23] The regret, the shame, the, man, I blew it.
[00:39:28] Man, I had an opportunity.
[00:39:29] The slow death of excitement you ever experienced, that quiet question that creeps up, did I miss my moment?
[00:39:38] Did I ruin my calling?
[00:39:39] Am I unusable by the Lord?
[00:39:41] And that's why Exodus 3.1 is so loaded.
[00:39:46] This is Moses at his lowest point.
[00:39:51] He's in the desert doing a job that the Egyptians said was deplorable, absolutely disgusting.
[00:39:58] He has no future.
[00:39:59] And it's right there when all of his strength is gone, when his identity has been stripped down to its core, that's when God shows up.
[00:40:09] This is where God often meets us, church.
[00:40:12] I love what Charles Spurgeon said as he reflected on the 142nd Psalm.
[00:40:17] He said this, Let's continue with the Scripture, Exodus 3.
[00:40:33] We're going to continue in verse 2.
[00:40:35] It's a little bit of a lengthy one, so stay with me here.
[00:40:38] There,
[00:40:40] In the desert, in Moses' most desperate place there,
[00:40:48] The angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.
[00:40:52] And Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, this is interesting, it did not burn up.
[00:40:58] So Moses thought, I will go over and see this strange sight, why the bush does not burn up.
[00:41:04] And when the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, Moses, Moses.
[00:41:11] And Moses said, Here I am.
[00:41:14] Do not come any closer, God said.
[00:41:15] Take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
[00:41:21] And then he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
[00:41:27] And at this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
[00:41:33] And then the Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.
[00:41:38] I've heard them cry out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned.
[00:41:43] I don't like that word.
[00:41:44] It's much more intense.
[00:41:46] I hear their cries.
[00:41:46] I'm concerned about their suffering.
[00:41:49] And so I've come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land.
[00:41:58] Do you hear God's heart?
[00:42:00] A land that's flowing with milk and honey, the home of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites and all the other sites.
[00:42:10] Now the cry of the Israelites have reached me and I've seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them and God's not happy about it.
[00:42:18] And so now go.
[00:42:20] I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.
[00:42:27] But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?
[00:42:35] So let's stop here for a moment because this is really a beautiful picture of being human, isn't it?
[00:42:41] I mean, think about this scenario.
[00:42:42] God comes down.
[00:42:45] meets with Moses, reveals himself to Moses, and then he begins to patiently explain, listen, I see what's happening, and it's breaking my heart, and I've got to do something about it, and so I want you to bring them out, right?
[00:43:00] And I'm going to lead them to a place of prosperity and joy and peace.
[00:43:05] And Moses is sitting there, and his response kind of reveals what's under the surface as God is speaking.
[00:43:11] What does he say?
[00:43:12] I can't do that.
[00:43:16] Me?
[00:43:16] No, I'm a nobody.
[00:43:20] Now, have you guys heard those words before?
[00:43:24] because scholars will often point out that Moses is echoing what he heard about 40 years earlier, back in Exodus 2, verse 14, when Moses, when he first tried to step up, when he first tried to do something, you guys remember?
[00:43:36] What did the Israelite that he actually saved from being beaten by the Egyptian, what did he say to Moses?
[00:43:44] He said, who made you ruler and judge over us?
[00:43:46] In other words, who do you think you are?
[00:43:51] Who are you?
[00:43:54] I want you to think about this for a moment.
[00:43:58] Moses stands before the God that created everything, who's describing the great things he is about to do, and Moses can't see past the label that was spoken over him 40 years earlier.
[00:44:20] Words have meaning, don't they?
[00:44:24] Who am I?
[00:44:25] I can't do this.
[00:44:27] Moses was still listening to his wound.
[00:44:29] And that's how criticism works when it lodges deep in our hearts, doesn't it?
[00:44:33] It stopped being something that was said to you and it becomes something that you start saying to yourself.
[00:44:38] And many of us know that experience from a parent, a teacher, a coach, a spouse, maybe even a pastor.
[00:44:44] Words that didn't just sting in the moment, words that actually settled into your identity.
[00:44:49] And when you're about to step forward, when you're about to do something amazing for God, obedience, take a risk, lead, serve, apply, speak up in those moments when you know you're supposed to speak up, that voice begins to be the soundtrack in your head, doesn't it?
[00:45:04] Who do you think you are?
[00:45:06] You're not smart enough, you're not gifted enough, you've waited too long, it's already passed, you've already ruined it, you've missed your calling.
[00:45:14] And so Moses in this moment, he shows us something really important that, listen, calling doesn't replace the process of healing in our lives.
[00:45:21] You guys realize that?
[00:45:23] Just because you're called doesn't mean you get to jump past all the processes that God is doing in you.
[00:45:30] And this really matters for spiritual people who are serious about serving Jesus because spiritual maturity is never just about what we can do for God.
[00:45:40] It's about what God's doing in us.
[00:45:42] Our calling can grow.
[00:45:44] Listen, our influence can grow.
[00:45:46] Our responsibility can grow, and most likely they will.
[00:45:49] And at the same time, our pursuit of spiritual health has to stay the non-negotiable in our lives.
[00:45:59] Amen?
[00:46:00] It's easy to assume that God is using us, that we must be fine.
[00:46:04] We're okay.
[00:46:04] I'm kind of in ministry.
[00:46:05] I'm doing my thing.
[00:46:06] I'm serving on Sunday.
[00:46:07] I'm good to go.
[00:46:08] My kids seem healthy.
[00:46:10] My marriage seems okay.
[00:46:12] But here Moses reminds us that God's hand on your life and God's healing in your life often happen at the same time.
[00:46:18] The Lord can be speaking clearly to you while you're still carrying old fears and hurts and shame and doubts.
[00:46:26] And so here's the invitation.
[00:46:28] that we always keep pursuing wholeness.
[00:46:32] We keep doing the deep work.
[00:46:34] We keep bringing our inner world into the light, our patterns and our wounds and our anxieties, our reactions and our defenses.
[00:46:44] Calling, it doesn't remove the need for healing.
[00:46:48] In fact, if you're in ministry, if you're serving, the more leadership you move into,
[00:46:57] It makes the need for healing even more urgent because your unhealed places will always try to shape how you lead people, how you love people, how you respond, how you see yourself, how you see God.
[00:47:10] And so Moses stands on holy ground and he still feels the weight of those old wounds.
[00:47:17] And I love how God responds to him in that place of vulnerability, in that place of shame and brokenness, of not even seeing the reality of who he is.
[00:47:27] We see God's response in Exodus 3.12.
[00:47:29] It says, And God said, I will be with you.
[00:47:37] I will be with you.
[00:47:38] And this will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you.
[00:47:43] When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.
[00:47:51] And so the answer here to all of Moses' worries and fears is not like, hey, you just gotta get over it or get better.
[00:47:58] Moses doesn't need more leadership conferences.
[00:48:00] He doesn't need to go back to college.
[00:48:02] Listen, Moses needs to stick with God.
[00:48:07] because calling is first and foremost about connection.
[00:48:14] Talents matter.
[00:48:16] Skills are great.
[00:48:18] Experiences are needed.
[00:48:20] God uses all of those things.
[00:48:22] He built you with wiring and gifts on purpose, but calling, it rises and falls on connection.
[00:48:31] Because if your life is disconnected from God, eventually even your gifts become burdens.
[00:48:36] And everybody who's been in ministry long enough knows this.
[00:48:40] Your strengths start to strain.
[00:48:42] Your serving turns into resentment.
[00:48:44] Your passion turns into exhaustion.
[00:48:47] God never intended your calling to run, listen, on your personality and your performance.
[00:48:55] You realize that?
[00:49:00] Calling, it's meant to run on presence.
[00:49:04] And that's why God's first answer to Moses, it's not a strategy.
[00:49:07] It's not like, hey, we're gonna go in and we're gonna come in from the left here.
[00:49:11] It is about relationships.
[00:49:14] Don't worry, Moses, I know you have concerns and you should, but I will be with you.
[00:49:22] I will be with you.
[00:49:24] A gift without proximity to God becomes fragile because it relies on the wrong fuel.
[00:49:32] Listen, if you're not connected to God, you start pulling from adrenaline and approval
[00:49:38] and Fear and Control and Ambition, anything but the Spirit and that fuel, it will always run out.
[00:49:46] Do you guys, anybody know what I'm talking about?
[00:49:49] The healthiest thing you can do for your calling is protect your closeness to the Lord because proximity changes everything.
[00:49:57] It's a tragedy when we try to do God's work while we are spiritually drained.
[00:50:05] And the invitation today is simple.
[00:50:08] Come back to the source.
[00:50:10] Return to His presence.
[00:50:11] That's why worship is so important and coming together and celebrating these songs together.
[00:50:16] Let your life be fueled by what God supplies, not what you can manufacture because we need to be mindful that, listen, your calling will outgrow your capacity.
[00:50:28] Did you hear me?
[00:50:30] Some of you need to write this down.
[00:50:31] Your calling, what God is asking of you, it will outgrow your capacity, what you can do in your own strength.
[00:50:43] Your assignment will exceed your natural abilities, but that's not a problem when you stay close to God, is it?
[00:50:57] And so Moses, his confidence won't come from discovering how gifted he is.
[00:51:02] It comes from learning that God will be with him and that God is more than enough.
[00:51:05] Talents, abilities are great.
[00:51:07] Connection, however, is central.
[00:51:12] If you want to stay warm, you got to be near the fire.
[00:51:17] Amen?
[00:51:19] So let's continue in Exodus 3, verse 13.
[00:51:22] It says, Moses said to God,
[00:51:26] Well, suppose I do go to the Israelites and I say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, what is his name?
[00:51:35] Then what shall I tell them?
[00:51:38] God said to Moses, I am who I am.
[00:51:44] This is what you are to say to the Israelites, I am has sent me to you.
[00:51:51] God also said to Moses say to the Israelites the Lord the God of your fathers this is the God of covenant the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you this is my name forever the name you shall call me from generation to generation and so there's so much going on here and like I said I encourage you to take some time later write down some notes and come back and meditate on what the Lord's speaking to you here Moses knows
[00:52:19] What he's walking into.
[00:52:20] If he's obedient, he knows about Pharaoh.
[00:52:24] He knows what Pharaoh's capable of.
[00:52:27] He's about to speak to people who have been crushed by slavery for generations, right?
[00:52:33] He knows this is an impossible task.
[00:52:37] And so he's basically saying to God, God, I need to know who you are.
[00:52:41] If you're gonna send me on this task, I need to know that you can do what you say you can do.
[00:52:49] and and back in this day i know today we've talked about this some but in and today we kind of like look at the best baby names of 2026 and we're like well that sounds really good and but listen in this day um names carried weight sometimes they would actually wait seasons and kind of understand the personality of the child before they even named them but a name carried weight it told you who you were dealing with it told you about that person's character
[00:53:17] is actually part of their identity.
[00:53:19] It told you what kind of authority that person held.
[00:53:24] And here, what's so interesting about the scripture, when Moses asked, who should I say is sending me?
[00:53:32] God responds with a name.
[00:53:37] I am who I am.
[00:53:40] Tell them that I am has sent me.
[00:53:45] It's easy to miss this, but this is God revealing His personal name, Yahweh, to Moses.
[00:53:54] You see, in Genesis, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob use this personal name.
[00:53:59] The patriarchs often used his name.
[00:54:01] They knew him by it.
[00:54:03] But, you know, as we get through Exodus, so far the people mainly refer to God as Elohim, which is kind of like a title, like, you know, Mr. President or, you know, It Was Respectful, Your Honor.
[00:54:14] Something like a title, It Was Respectful, But Not Very Intimate.
[00:54:18] Somewhere along the name, along the way, they had forgotten who God was.
[00:54:23] And God had become distant to them and distance creates a sense of distrust and even fear.
[00:54:29] And so in this moment with Moses, God reintroduces himself to him and he tells Moses his name.
[00:54:39] Which is God's way of saying, Moses, I'm not distant.
[00:54:44] I'm not theoretical.
[00:54:46] You're not just going to talk about me anymore like I'm some idea.
[00:54:51] You're going to know me because a name invites closeness.
[00:54:55] And then God says this, I am who I am.
[00:55:00] God is saying, I don't have an origin story.
[00:55:04] All the gods that you're trying to compare me to, all the boxes that you're trying to fit me in, it will blow them wide open.
[00:55:13] No one started me.
[00:55:14] No one sustains me.
[00:55:15] No one defines me.
[00:55:16] I'm not becoming something.
[00:55:18] I am.
[00:55:19] I exist.
[00:55:20] And if you're listening to me this morning and you're thinking, man, my head is exploding just trying to think about that, absolutely.
[00:55:27] Because we are time-bound people.
[00:55:29] We're always thinking in terms of beginning and end and start and end.
[00:55:33] God's not like that.
[00:55:35] God is the one who is steady, faithful, and always present.
[00:55:41] You know, we do live in a world and in a time where I so much appreciate science.
[00:55:47] We can study galaxies.
[00:55:48] We can describe the expansion of our universe.
[00:55:50] So many amazing discoveries that have been found.
[00:55:55] We can learn so much about our world.
[00:55:58] Listen, but there's one caveat.
[00:55:59] We can learn so much about our world after the beginning.
[00:56:04] You guys realize that?
[00:56:05] After the beginning, we know a lot.
[00:56:10] And yet even the sharpest minds still bump into questions that they cannot fully escape.
[00:56:15] In fact, Carl Sagan said that the universe is not obliged to make sense to us.
[00:56:20] In other words, human understanding has limits.
[00:56:25] Because nature, it can describe processes inside of our universe, but questions about the ultimate source and the beginning, they keep coming back.
[00:56:36] Why is there anything at all?
[00:56:38] Why is there order?
[00:56:39] Why are there physical laws?
[00:56:42] Why does something exist instead of nothing?
[00:56:45] And church, the brightest, most educated minds, they have no answers.
[00:56:50] They recognize that everything that we see as physical, there's no explanation to how it got here.
[00:56:59] But scripture approaches this boundary differently.
[00:57:01] Because the Bible never claims to satisfy every curiosity.
[00:57:06] Instead, it names what has to be true.
[00:57:09] It recognizes that there are some things that nature alone can't explain.
[00:57:15] There are some things that are above nature.
[00:57:19] Do you guys know what that makes them?
[00:57:21] That makes them supernatural, right?
[00:57:23] Not spooky, not irrational or deceptions like on Scooby-Doo, not like that.
[00:57:29] Simply above nature.
[00:57:31] There's something that cannot be explained and everybody knows it.
[00:57:39] And in Exodus 3, God reveals himself as that reality.
[00:57:42] I'm the one that you're looking for.
[00:57:43] I'm the great I am.
[00:57:44] The one without beginning or end.
[00:57:46] I am the eternal presence.
[00:57:48] The one who is.
[00:57:51] And Moses, you know, think about Moses in that time period.
[00:57:54] They'd have like a God of a tree or a God of a sun or a God of this region.
[00:57:58] And so he's thinking, who am I dealing with?
[00:58:00] Am I dealing with a God that just has like this limited power over this area or of the mountains?
[00:58:05] And God kind of blows that all out of the water.
[00:58:07] He says, no, no, I am.
[00:58:09] In other words, before everything else exists, I am.
[00:58:12] Under everything, I am holding everything together.
[00:58:16] I am.
[00:58:20] And that matters to Moses because Moses is about to do something bigger than himself.
[00:58:28] He's about to walk into a situation that in his own strength he cannot change.
[00:58:33] He already attempted deliverance once, and we saw how that went last week, didn't we?
[00:58:39] He thought he was doing it right.
[00:58:40] He took control.
[00:58:40] It ended in blood.
[00:58:42] This history, by the way, it repeats throughout Scripture.
[00:58:46] Right?
[00:58:48] The people of God, they have a heart for God.
[00:58:51] They see what God wants to do or is going to do, and they always try to take it into our own hands, don't we?
[00:58:56] In fact, you look at the story of Abraham.
[00:58:59] What did they do?
[00:59:00] God said, I'm going to make you into a great nation.
[00:59:02] They were super old.
[00:59:03] They couldn't have kids.
[00:59:04] And so Abraham's wife said, hey, why don't you take my maid servant and we can have a kid through her?
[00:59:09] Well, how did that go?
[00:59:11] That caused generations of struggle, right?
[00:59:14] And then we look at Jacob's family.
[00:59:16] They do the same thing.
[00:59:17] Rebekah at the beginning, she knows that the younger son will rule over the older, like it was prophesied right when he was born, right?
[00:59:26] Right when Jacob and Esau were born.
[00:59:29] And yet she tries to manipulate this situation that ends up separating their family and causing division for decades.
[00:59:39] One shortcut creates a long trail.
[00:59:44] You see, the promises were real, but the shortcuts, they were costly.
[00:59:53] But after every one of our failures, God's promises still prevail.
[00:59:57] Amen?
[00:59:57] And that's why Exodus 3, it is so merciful.
[01:00:03] God meets Moses.
[01:00:05] Think about it.
[01:00:06] Moses, the murderer.
[01:00:08] Moses, the one who ran away in the desert with his tail between his legs, the one who's living in his father-in-law's basement in a dead-end career.
[01:00:26] The message is simple, Moses.
[01:00:28] This will not be powered by your impulse.
[01:00:31] Your adrenaline will not be what sustains this.
[01:00:34] Your wisdom, your abilities, they're not going to carry this.
[01:00:37] This will flow.
[01:00:38] It must flow from who I am.
[01:00:45] And so now I want to say this because we're talking about God's will and we're talking about doing this right and that can be hard.
[01:00:53] Like where are those boundaries?
[01:00:54] At what point am I stepping into my own strength?
[01:00:59] At what point am I not relying on God, right?
[01:01:02] And am I doing this in my own strength?
[01:01:04] There's a lot of questions with this and even, you know, do I just kind of sit back and wait?
[01:01:11] Do I need to work?
[01:01:13] Should I just sit home and expect God to pay the bills for me?
[01:01:15] How do I engage this?
[01:01:17] How do I set up those boundaries where I'm working and I'm functioning in God's strength and not pushing it from my own?
[01:01:24] How do we do this?
[01:01:24] Well, there's two things.
[01:01:25] I think those are great questions.
[01:01:27] And those are struggles that all of us should be working through.
[01:01:31] And there's two things this morning I briefly want to go through.
[01:01:34] to kind of help you see some simple markers that help us know when we're doing it God's way.
[01:01:39] And the first one is this, God's way stays within God's word.
[01:01:45] Can I get an amen on that one?
[01:01:47] God's ways stay within God's word.
[01:01:51] And so as you're looking at your life and you're looking at the struggles and the situations and the future that you believe God has in store for you, understand,
[01:02:01] God's ways stay within God's word.
[01:02:06] This is one of the most evident signs that we've drifted into my strength is when we start cutting corners to get what we believe God has promised.
[01:02:15] God does not want you to cut corners.
[01:02:18] God's will and God's word do not compete.
[01:02:24] Let me say that again.
[01:02:25] God's will and God's word do not compete.
[01:02:29] Which means if the path that you are taking requires disobedience, compromise, secrecy, manipulation, rationalizing sin, let me just be very clear, that isn't God's way.
[01:02:43] Even if your goal sounds spiritual.
[01:02:47] Amen?
[01:02:49] I feel called to marriage.
[01:02:50] But if you're moving towards it by ignoring sexual integrity, emotional boundaries, wise counsel, a godly desire doesn't justify ungodly steps.
[01:03:02] You're in Egypt.
[01:03:03] God wants you out.
[01:03:05] God wants to bless my family, doesn't he?
[01:03:08] But the plan involves deception and shady business, unethical choices, maybe even harming people to get ahead.
[01:03:15] Some of you, you feel like you're called to leadership.
[01:03:18] I'm called to lead, but you're trying to get there through control and gossip and undermining others, platform chasing.
[01:03:26] You see, God cares about what you're building, and He cares about how you build it.
[01:03:31] In the kingdom of God, the end doesn't justify the means, and so God's ways stay within God's word, amen?
[01:03:39] Second, God's ways produce God's peace.
[01:03:44] Now this one is a little bit nuanced because stepping on in faith, it will be stretching.
[01:03:48] I'm not saying that you're always going to be easy and you don't have to take chances or risks.
[01:03:52] That's not what we're saying here.
[01:03:53] Moses was absolutely stretched.
[01:03:56] Courage doesn't always feel calm, but there's a difference between holy weight and anxious striving.
[01:04:05] And I think we know the difference.
[01:04:08] When you're moving in God's strength, there's a steadiness underneath you.
[01:04:11] And we need to be clear here, it's not the absence of challenge, right?
[01:04:17] But it's the presence of peace in the middle of that challenge.
[01:04:21] You see, when it's my strength, you often feel the fruit show up in your body and in your mind.
[01:04:26] When I'm trying to make it happen,
[01:04:29] A restlessness.
[01:04:31] You can't sleep.
[01:04:32] Your mind won't stop spinning.
[01:04:34] You're snapping at people you love.
[01:04:36] You're carrying it like it depends on you.
[01:04:40] Well, God's way doesn't require you to live emotionally hijacked.
[01:04:48] His yoke
[01:04:49] is real and it's good.
[01:04:51] His burden is real and it's light compared to the burden of control.
[01:04:55] And so the summary, the answer, as we said last week, we're gonna come back to this, the answer is always a deeper walk with God.
[01:05:01] The answer always is proximity to God.
[01:05:09] and so this morning I want to take a few moments here if we could bow our heads I want to give you an opportunity to respond I have more and more have been been loving our time of responding I think it's essential if you're anxious about this if you're wanting to move on to the next thing because you don't think it's important I encourage you it is important there's something the Lord wants to speak to you
[01:05:32] Today, every day, and we want to make space for that and it's uncomfortable for some of us, but that's okay.
[01:05:39] We'll get through that together.
[01:05:41] First of all, if you've never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and you want to do so today, I want to encourage you.
[01:05:47] This is the absolute best decision of your life.
[01:05:50] Maybe you've gone to church for a long time.
[01:05:52] Maybe you even went to church as a child.
[01:05:55] You stepped away, and now you're coming back.
[01:05:57] Well, it could be any number of scenarios, but today is the day of salvation, and you know it.
[01:06:03] You feel the Holy Spirit prompting in your life.
[01:06:05] I want to take a moment to acknowledge that and give you space to respond, if that's you.
[01:06:09] If you don't mind, with every eye closed, heads bow, if you could just raise your hand, I want to pray with you today.
[01:06:13] If not, that's fine.
[01:06:14] We do this every week, and I'm not going to force it, but man, I want to make sure you have an opportunity to do so.
[01:06:19] If that's you, just raise your hand this morning.
[01:06:21] We'd love to pray with you.
[01:06:22] If not, that's fine.
[01:06:23] We'll move on.
[01:06:24] Amen.
[01:06:25] Amen.
[01:06:27] Additionally, for everyone here this morning, I want to pray for you as well.
[01:06:34] Because here's the reality, Moses was walking, he was going about his day, he was doing what he was supposed to do, the drudgery of his work, and he looked over and he saw something out of the ordinary.
[01:06:49] And he had to make a decision, am I gonna make space for that?
[01:06:53] Am I just going to keep going with the rat race or am I going to turn aside and see what this anomaly is?
[01:07:05] And Moses decides to turn.
[01:07:08] He decides to keep his eyes open.
[01:07:11] He still has his eyes open looking for the Lord, looking for what God is doing, and he sees something.
[01:07:18] And so today I want to pray for some of us because some of us, we have gotten into a routine where we are missing the burning bushes all around us.
[01:07:27] We're missing the evidence of God moving all around us.
[01:07:31] We're wondering where He is.
[01:07:32] We're doubting His existence.
[01:07:34] All of those things while around us the supernatural is taking place and lives are being transformed.
[01:07:42] And so this morning, if you just feel, I just want to pray with you, if you just feel like you've been a little bit on the up and up and a little bit tight in your anxiety and in your time and you've just not made space for the Lord, I want to pray for you that we would just make space, we would have a heart and a mind that's calm to see what God is doing in us and through us.
[01:08:03] So if that's you this morning, if you'd like to join me in this prayer, I just encourage you to posture yourself in such a way to pray and receive today.
[01:08:12] So Father, we just thank you that you still speak today.
[01:08:15] Thank you that you still call people by name.
[01:08:19] Thank you that you meet us in ordinary places, work days and routines and desert seasons right where we are.
[01:08:28] And this morning, Lord, we ask for eyes to see.
[01:08:32] We ask for the awareness that Moses had, the presence of mind to notice when you're drawing near to us.
[01:08:40] Help us to recognize the burning bush moments in our lives, those holy interruptions where you're inviting us deeper.
[01:08:46] And God, for so many of us, those moments look very practical.
[01:08:51] Some of us are sensing a nudge to return to you to rebuild a prayer life, to open our word.
[01:08:56] Again, those are very practical responses to make space for your presence instead of living so hurried and rushed.
[01:09:03] We've got to get on to the next event.
[01:09:06] And all the while, we're missing peace.
[01:09:09] For some of us, it's a step of obedience we've been whispering about, that you've been whispering about, a conversation that we've avoided, a confession we've delayed, a relationship boundary we need to set, a habit that we just need to lay down, a step towards integrity in how we live and how we date and how we work and how we handle money.
[01:09:30] For some, it's a calling to serve, to stop spectating and staying on the sidelines and to step into mission.
[01:09:37] And for some it's surrender in the places where we've been carrying things in our own strength.
[01:09:43] Anxiety about provision, pressure to control outcomes, fear that if we don't hold it together, everything will fall apart.
[01:09:54] And so Holy Spirit, we bring these areas to you right now.
[01:09:57] This morning we lay down our self-reliance, we lay down our striving, we lay down the need to manage everything, and we choose trust.
[01:10:07] Let's say that out loud.
[01:10:08] I choose trust.
[01:10:10] Say that again.
[01:10:10] I choose trust.
[01:10:12] I choose faith.
[01:10:15] And so Lord, teach us the pace of your presence.
[01:10:21] Teach us to move with you, not ahead.
[01:10:22] Teach us to do the right things, the right way, with the right fuel.
[01:10:27] And I pray peace over every home and family and marriage and relationship.
[01:10:34] Not the absence of challenge in those things, but the presence of your steadiness underneath it all.
[01:10:41] God, make us people who stay near the fire, the people who walk with the great I Am.
[01:10:45] Amen.
[01:10:47] Amen.
[01:10:47] Amen.
[01:10:47] Let's stand together.
[01:10:51] I want to speak a blessing over you today.
[01:10:53] I encourage you to continue this week in the fast.
[01:10:58] Make sure that you grab one of those bottles on the way out.
[01:11:01] We'd love to join with you in that as we're serving those in our community.
[01:11:05] But I'd like to speak a blessing over you this morning before you go.
[01:11:09] So the Lord bless you and keep you.
[01:11:12] The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
[01:11:16] Lord, turn his face towards you and give you peace.
[01:11:21] Amen.
[01:11:22] Amen.
[01:11:23] Have a great week.