Enduring the Desert: Finding Hope in God’s Timing

• Endurance [01:03:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines endurance as essential for participating with God, noting that sometimes the thing to endure is God himself, his timing, or his slowness.
• God's Timing [01:05:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that God's timing is a 'design feature' and that believers should not look to revivals, politics, or their own lives to understand God's timing, but rather to the Bible.
• Disappointment and Hope [01:07:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses the 'higher hope' of bringing heaven to earth, explaining that unmet expectations lead to disappointment, which endurance helps us overcome.
• Endurance and Discouragement [01:13:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor warns that looking only at the current state of the church, politics, or personal life can lead to discouragement and wrong conclusions about God's activity.
• Faith and Death [01:13:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using Hebrews 11, the pastor explains that many believers died in faith without receiving their promises, emphasizing that faith is not contingent on earthly fulfillment.
• Heavenly Homeland [01:15:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights the biblical concept of believers seeking a heavenly homeland, viewing their current earthly life as a pilgrimage.
• Purpose and Work [01:18:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor debunks the idea that 'it's not doing, it's being,' asserting that God designed humans to do work and find satisfaction in it, even if earthly dreams aren't fulfilled.
• Church History and Revival [01:22:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using the example of St. Helena's Anglican Church, the pastor illustrates that churches endure through 'ebb and flow' and that experiencing a past revival makes the current 'ebb' harder to endure, yet still part of God's plan.
• God's Patience [01:29:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > Citing 2 Peter 3:9, the pastor explains that God's perceived 'slowness' is actually patience, intended to prevent perishing and allow for a deeper understanding of His timing.
• God's Patience and Timing [01:29:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that God's perceived 'slowness' is actually patience, designed to prevent perishing and allow for repentance, using 2 Peter 3:9.
• Ordinary Life vs. Extraordinary Moments [01:34:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that God cares about 'ordinary days' and 'ebb and flow,' countering the cultural idea that only 'fiery' or 'history-making' moments matter.
• Long-Term Perspective (Generational Work) [01:32:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using analogies of sequoia trees and cathedral builders, the pastor encourages believers to trust God's multi-generational plans rather than focusing on short-term results.
• Identity and Humility [01:36:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor debunks the 'history maker' narrative, asserting that while people are 'special' in a personal sense, they are not 'superheroes' or the center of history; Jesus is.
• Embracing the 'Desert Season' [01:42:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor reframes spiritual dryness or discouragement not as a failure, but as a divine tool to reveal God's character, urging believers to embrace it rather than resist it.

• Sermon Illustration [00:59:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about visiting a church called 'Banner Elk Christian Fellowship' where the pastor claimed they had no membership, only 'fellowship,' and that if you came twice, you were 'in.'
• Sermon Illustration [01:00:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references a book by Scott McKnight titled 'Reading Romans backwards,' noting that the Apostle Paul chose a woman, Phoebe, to read his letter to the house churches, illustrating biblical precedents for women in ministry.
• Sermon Illustration [01:02:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor mentions that Mary Magdalene was the 'apostle to the apostles' because she was the first to let the world know Jesus had risen.
• Sermon Illustration [01:14:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wife Amy and him playing pickleball for the first time, joking that they are 'coming after you guys' (the congregation).
• Sermon Illustration [01:14:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wife Tommy and himself playing pickleball for the first time, noting that Tommy (who lives to 125) says they can't keep up, illustrating the inevitability of death and the futility of trying to avoid it.
• Sermon Illustration [01:20:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references Elon Musk becoming the first trillionaire, using it to illustrate the absurdity of earthly wealth compared to the infinite value of knowing Christ.
• Sermon Illustration [01:22:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts visiting St. Helena's Anglican Church in Beaufort, South Carolina, noting its founding in 1712 and its history of enduring wars and experiencing revivals, to illustrate endurance and faith.
• Sermon Illustration [01:31:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of myopia (nearsightedness) to describe how believers often have a limited view of God's work, only seeing the immediate 'prophetic' moments while missing the broader picture.
• Sermon Illustration [01:33:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the historical fact that God planted sequoia trees 1,100 years ago, illustrating that God works on a timescale that often exceeds human lifespans.
• Sermon Illustration [01:33:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites the historical example of people in the Middle Ages building cathedrals, knowing they would never see the finished product, to illustrate faithful long-term service.
• Sermon Illustration [01:35:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the 'old Bill Johnson anecdote' about not remembering what one had for lunch in 1986, yet acknowledging it was still important and fed them, to illustrate the value of ordinary days.
• Sermon Illustration [01:36:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the cultural narrative of being a 'history maker' (often leading to disappointment) with the reality of being a 'cathedral builder' or 'sequoia planter' who may not see the finished product.
• Sermon Illustration [01:38:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the example of Elon Musk and his trillion dollars to contrast worldly 'greatness' with the 'surpassing greatness' found in knowing Christ in an ordinary life.
• Sermon Illustration [01:42:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about being tempted to find a way out of a 'dry season' or 'desert place' in his own life, only to learn that God sent it to reveal something about Himself.

• Pastoral Charge [01:19:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor calls the congregation to continue praying for and laying hands on the sick, maintaining faith even when results are not immediately visible.
• Pastoral Charge [01:42:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > Stand up to receive prayer for freedom from discouragement and tension regarding life's arc.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:00:00] I had the mute on. Sorry. Whoa. Good morning. Much better. There's a mute button on these things. That's good. Hey, go ahead and stand with me, please. Let's get right into it. Let's get in
[00:00:37] and get to it. Psalm 36 verse 7. How precious is your mercy God and the sons of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of your house and
[00:01:14] you allow them to drink from the river of your delights for the fountain of life is with you in your light we see light so let that be a song on your lips this morning of thankfulness of
[00:01:33] gratitude to the king of kings and lord of lords thank you lord thank you lord that we get to take refuge in the shadow of your wings today and thank you lord that we get to drink of your abundance
[00:01:48] of your abundance in your house thank you lord for your everlasting river of delights thank you Lord for a new day thank you for a new day we delight in you Jesus thank you for your life
[00:02:12] and your light thank you for giving us ears to hear and eyes to see what you're doing today mark us with your glory today today is a new day fresh with life today is a Kairos moment
[00:02:35] we get to step into face to face with God right now. The veil has been torn face to face with him right now,

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:02:46] right now. Thank you, Jesus. I'm just thinking of all the different yeses that have been

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:39:32] said in the room to the Lord. Just the unknown yes that only you and him know about.
[00:39:42] We're singing songs that we've, I mean, some of you have been singing for a long time.
[00:39:46] I think one of those was, I'm not very good with it.
[00:39:51] Christ for the Nations, maybe.
[00:39:54] I mean, shoot, some of you have been marked by God in so many different movements.
[00:39:59] And things rise and fall, right?
[00:40:02] People are people.
[00:40:03] But what's true is the Lord.
[00:40:05] And I just felt a sense of all the yeses people have said to the Lord throughout the ages.
[00:40:12] and just how just the fragrance of the Lord just comes into the room and you just get arrested once again.
[00:40:22] You just get taken away.
[00:40:24] And some songs are just, they're honestly easy to sing because they're simple and it's just, but they just stand the test of time.
[00:40:37] And it's so great when the God of the ages comes into the room and you're singing a song you've probably sung for how many decades maybe, and he just captures you in a moment. It's the same words. It's the same melody. Sometimes Seth will take it to a
[00:41:01] different octave that you can't sing, and that's okay because he's that good. But God takes you and he hits you right there in the moment. And I'm just thinking of all these yeses I've said in my
[00:41:15] life and, um, that nobody knows about except for him. And then I'm like, this whole room is just filled with that. Um, and I just thought of this and of course it's father's day. So cheesy me
[00:41:32] thinking of things, but Galatians four, even so we, when we were children were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son born
[00:41:46] of a woman, that's really important. Born under the law, that's also important. To redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, sons and daughters, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out,
[00:42:13] Abba, Father. Therefore, you're no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. When you just boil it all down, it's just back to the heart of God.
[00:42:32] It's just back to the garden, back to where it started. And that's why we just can't escape worship. That's why we just can't do this. Some people are like, why do you guys sing forever?
[00:42:44] It's like, man, I don't know. Wait till you get to heaven, man. I don't know. This is a small interlude. This is a small moment in the blip of time of eternity. But honestly, I don't mind
[00:43:02] singing forever. I've sat in churches where you sing for two hours and God's not in the room.
[00:43:07] I mean, I don't know if you heard that last part. But I mean, we could sing until we're blue in the face. But man, what matters most is you connecting to the heart of the Father and recognizing that
[00:43:21] he's been reaching out to you the entire time. It's not about a special song or a moment like God. The moment where you realize God's here is the moment you realize he's always been here
[00:43:32] and you're just becoming aware to that. So just appreciate the worship team and just for showing up, right? For showing up and people up here have kids and responsibilities and they're just showing up and pouring out.
[00:43:48] And so, and, you know, honestly, this place runs on people that just show up and pour out.
[00:43:55] And so a segue into, I think we need more volunteers.
[00:44:00] I think specifically in that, the back part over there was sound media.
[00:44:07] We need people to make me sound good and look good at the same time.
[00:44:12] And so we desperately need your help.
[00:44:13] um uh yeah i'm a dad so i just have a lot of father's jokes i actually had a bunch of them written down if i had enough time but we're gonna lose people so um it is father's day happy
[00:44:30] father's day we just we just want a nice steak we want a nice just a lounge in a chair and a nice steak and maybe watch a world cup game or two and um steak sports and the other s is songs of
[00:44:54] adoration we want songs of adoration so those are the three s's women write that down and we are yeah we're losing tithers we are losing first-time visitors they're gone people are in the parking lot there's pandemonium yeah i had to recover i think you guys have experienced the weird part
[00:45:19] me the last couple of months that I've been up here. Um, yeah, you're the only one that likes that. So, um, here are others, a few others. Um, now I'm trapped up here by myself. Uh,
[00:45:33] real quick, we're going to do, we're going to do tithes and offerings on that happy note. Um, yeah. So ushers, if you'd come forward, please rescue me here. Um, but there is such a rich
[00:45:56] history in this house. And honestly, it's just because of you all sitting here. My wife and I have been only coming here for four years, so we're still newcomers, according to everybody else, because everyone's been here for years upon years. But man, it's so sweet how God just shows up
[00:46:12] when we're together. It's real sweet. And I would just encourage you to just not let go of that.
[00:46:19] Keep pressing into that. Sweet. So Lord, we just thank you. Thank you for your kingdom, that you're always advancing, that you're always moving, that you're always grabbing after the hearts that don't need you or want you.
[00:46:31] God, you don't relent, you don't give up.
[00:46:33] So Lord, I thank you for what we're able to give today into your kingdom, into your house.
[00:46:38] Thank you, Lord, for the ways that we're able to support different ministries.
[00:46:41] We're able to support families, those at the Father's table.
[00:46:45] I know we're gonna have an announcement for that, but just whatever's in your heart, just, God, we say yes.
[00:46:51] We say yes, yet again, to what you've placed in our hearts and in our lives.
[00:46:55] We say yes to you.
[00:46:57] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:47:03] And I think we can dismiss the kids.
[00:47:06] No, not yet.
[00:47:09] Oh, yeah, the scanning thing.
[00:47:11] So it's a QR code.
[00:47:14] Don't take a picture of it.
[00:47:15] You've got to hold your camera up to it, and don't take a picture of it.
[00:47:19] Because you'll have that picture forever, and it won't do anything for you.
[00:47:23] There's, like, a little link that pops up, I think, at the bottom.
[00:47:27] when you hold your camera in front of it.
[00:47:29] So there's a QR code probably in the seat in front of you.
[00:47:33] And that's just ways, one, for you to give, one, to connect.
[00:47:40] That's just ways to give.
[00:47:41] But there's so many different, I think it takes you to links to so many different opportunities.
[00:47:45] Yeah, the volunteer page to sign up.
[00:47:49] Yeah, there's all sorts of ways to get involved.
[00:47:55] Yeah, I'll never do announcements.
[00:47:58] I mean, it's just awkward silences in between sentences.
[00:48:02] I think that's it.
[00:48:04] Is that it?
[00:48:07] Thank you, Corey.
[00:48:08] So encouraging.
[00:48:10] Kids, K through fifth grade, middle school, high school, or stay here, but K through fifth grade, you're dismissed.
[00:48:18] You're free to go.
[00:48:21] Enjoy.
[00:48:23] Get your river bucks.
[00:48:32] Yes, and we have a testimony.
[00:48:34] Miss Margaret, would you mind coming up?
[00:48:38] Thank you.
[00:48:38] and I'll bring the podium up, so you're good.

[00:48:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:48:59] Good morning, everybody.
[00:49:00] I got a story for you.
[00:49:03] I have to make it quick, which is too bad, because it's a long story, but I'll make it quick.
[00:49:08] So 11 1⁄2 years ago, I stood right here, right in the front here, and I had an 11-year-old?
[00:49:19] No, sorry, 7, 8, and 10-year-old.
[00:49:22] They were my great-grandchildren, and three days before Christmas, They had lost their mother.
[00:49:29] The oldest one, who was 10, had already lost her father and her sister in a car accident when she was eight weeks old.
[00:49:37] And the other two had an MIA father.
[00:49:42] But they had a father.
[00:49:47] So we prayed.
[00:49:49] They were heartbroken.
[00:49:51] They came from their testimony, not mine.
[00:49:53] They came from not a very good background.
[00:49:56] But let me tell you what the Lord did for them.
[00:49:59] In May of this year, the last one graduated.
[00:50:06] Yes.
[00:50:07] All three of them graduated with honors.
[00:50:10] And let me just talk.
[00:50:11] I need to talk to the youth here.
[00:50:13] If you come from a background that's what you feel is not ideal or you feel you're not smart, you feel you're not pretty, you feel you're not popular hang on to the hem of Jesus and watch what he will do for you because
[00:50:30] I'm going to tell you what he did for these girls all three of these girls they were they had missed so much school from uh not a very good background before they came here and um the Lord put all
[00:50:45] three in one school. Like I said, they all graduated on the honor roll. Emily just made the dean's list at CPCC. Heaven just made the chancellor's list, which I had no idea what it was. But I can tell you kids, okay, when you have no words, here's your word. God help. Here's your
[00:51:12] word jesus here's your word i'm quitting but jesus thank goodness you don't i also want to talk happy father's day to all these great men in here and women who aren't fathers too um these kids need
[00:51:32] you i was three generations they speak another language i had to learn another language you know I seriously did there I was three generations think about that think what I mean I couldn't do it you know I had to be the Lord I was old I was already retired you know I was living on a
[00:51:51] fixed income and I had three girls no less thank you Jesus thank you Lord but there are people here who I know have a heart for children but they're not moving on it move on it pray ask the Lord who
[00:52:08] who does he want you to minister to the bible says that the older generations to raise up the younger generations we have got to do that i am so grateful for this body i'm grateful for people
[00:52:20] like tony baker who two months after getting these girls it was a father-daughter dance and he danced the feet out of emily's stocking for dean who took emily my harley girl on a motorcycle ride and so many others. I mean, I've got to keep time short. But I just want to thank
[00:52:42] you all. I want to encourage you kids, hang on to the hem of Jesus. Your friends are going to have fancy clothes, fancy cars, go on vacations, great boyfriends, great girlfriends, but you have Jesus. Don't ever forget it. Thank you. Man, that is so powerful. No, no. Thank you so much.

[00:53:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:53:30] my grandma's birthday was the other day and she passed away and you remind me a lot of her. So, I mean, just, they're so special to have people in your life that just lay it down and don't know
[00:53:43] what you're laying down and you count the costs and you just go for it. And I just thank you so much. Thanks for releasing that to everybody. That's so sweet. Thank you. Announcements.

[00:53:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:53:58] announcements here we go morning morning everyone happy father's day to all the great fathers the stepfathers and the mothers that stepped up to be a father we see you guys happy father's day to the people online okay i got a few announcements this morning so first things first the church
[00:54:29] board game night it's happening this saturday june 27th sorry at 6 p.m in the back building um you are welcome to bring a game but there are a lot of games already so you don't really have to
[00:54:45] um but you can bring a snack to share that would be lovely it's catered more for adults which i'm supposed to say that and but if you have any questions you can contact cory cory say
[00:54:59] whoop whoop whoop whoop yep uh or you can email him at cory at riverlifefellowship.com all right next newcomers meet and greet so that is happening sunday june 28th after service it'll be in the lily pad room so you're just gonna get out of here go down that hallway find lily pad
[00:55:21] room and there you go um if you are new or if you've been coming here for a few months maybe four years as erin said since that's apparently a newcomer uh you are welcome to go and meet people
[00:55:35] from the church meet important leaders and learn about river life and just get acquainted with the community so that's really good whoop whoop next we got one fest young adults listen up uh this is
[00:55:51] also for high school graduates um mark your calendar for july 10th 6 30 p.m there's an event called one fest it's a new thing i guess it's in the lake norman area there's going to be a taco
[00:56:03] bar outdoor games and a worship service it is at life fellowship not river life fellowship just take out the river it's in cornelius uh you can invite your friends i think that'd be cool so yeah contact Oliver I don't know where he is right now whoop whoop there we go or you can email
[00:56:25] him oliver at riverlifefellowship.com I'm speeding through these announcements if oh thank you thank you all right whoop whoop I'm getting some whoop whoops right now all right last we have VBS so Tori gave me this paper oh yeah let's clap for that Tori gave me this paper it is in the lobby
[00:56:52] so thank the lord that we have a bunch of volunteers there's an abundance so Tori really wanted me to harp on registering your kids get your kids going get your friends kids going ask them hey do you have any buddies that you want to go to VBS with and give them this paper it'll be
[00:57:13] out in the lobby like I said there's a QR code that you can scan not take a picture of and it has information about VBS so yeah front kids invite your friends all right that was an
[00:57:29] awesome today we got a little treat this morning Andy come on up indeed all right let's let's reach our hands towards Andy I think he needs it this morning thank you I'm sorry thank you Lord for
[00:58:02] Andy Lord God and he's got so much goodness in his heart and I just pray Lord that he can just share that that goodness that comes from you Lord Jesus Lord God I just pray for anything
[00:58:14] over our eyes any burdens over our shoulders that are just not allowing us to really hear from you, Lord God. I pray that we can just get that lifted off from us and we are able to really
[00:58:27] hear what you have to say and live it out throughout our week, Lord. In your name we pray, amen.

[00:58:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:58:35] Aren't you glad you go to a church where they'll let you laugh? I mean, I don't want to go to the church that won't let you laugh. The side effect of faith is that you get a sense of humor, you
[00:58:49] know. Man, Life Fellowship. Feel sorry for those guys. They subtracted the river, River Life Fellowship. You know, I've been fussing at Byron for a few years now to get rid of the fellowship from the name because nobody knows what that means. And Amy and I were at a little church
[00:59:12] up in Banner Elk on Wednesday night. And the pastor said to us that the church is called Banner Elk Christian Fellowship. And the pastor said to us, we're a fellowship. We don't have a membership. And what that means is if you come twice, you're in. I thought, okay, I've never
[00:59:31] known what fellowship means. That makes sense to me now. I'm in. I'm all in. Okay. Byron resisted me for years and he was right. Okay. I got a message, but I do want to do one little thing
[00:59:46] before I start my message, I want to do a little bit of public theology for the sake of the body of Christ. There's something that happened in the greater body this past week. Our brothers and
[01:00:00] sisters in the Southern Baptist Convention, who we love, we bless, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. But they just passed this vote and they made it official that not only could a woman not be ordained as a pastor, but they cannot do any function that might be pastoral.
[01:00:25] And they solidified it. Not looking for any boos or hisses. I just want to say, I'm reading this book. I have this book in my library by a professor of New Testament theology at Northern Seminary. His name's Scott McKnight. He wrote a book a few years ago called Reading
[01:00:43] Romans backwards. And it's really a contextual look at the book of Romans. But he starts the entire book with this one thing. And if you could just bear with me, it's so fascinating. It was at
[01:00:55] least fascinating to me. But the deal is this. The book of Romans was not heard by any human being.
[01:01:03] The first time it was heard, guess who it came through? It came through a woman. It came through a woman named Phoebe, and she read it to five different house churches in Rome. Okay, so here's
[01:01:17] what Professor McKnight says. The Apostle Paul is one of the most influential thinkers in the history of the Christian world, and most influential among his writings is his letters to the Romans.
[01:01:30] This oft-claimed patriarchal male asks a wealthy, influential female, Phoebe, not only to deliver his prized letter, but also to read it to each of the five or six or more house churches in Rome.
[01:01:47] Letters in Paul's world were the embodied, inscripted presence of the letter writer, in this case, Paul. He chose a woman to embody his letter, which means the face of Paul is experienced as the face of Phoebe. Before anyone hears the letter, they encounter the body of
[01:02:08] Phoebe in their midst. That's just one of many biblical precedences in the New Testament where we see women preaching, teaching, prophesying, evangelizing, and what's the other one? Yeah, there's the fivefold. I was thinking of the fivefold, but yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know
[01:02:31] if there were any female apostles, but maybe you could call Mary Magdalene. I mean, she was the first one to let people, the world know that Jesus had risen from the dead. That feels a little
[01:02:41] apostolic to me, you know? I mean, she was the apostle to the apostles, right? She gave the original message of the gospel to the apostles. So, well, today, that was my preamble. I'm really going to try to keep this short. Pray for me, because it's Father's Day, and we know, you know,
[01:02:58] that you guys have those three S's to think about, you know? Thank you, Aaron, for that. You are amazing. My main text this morning is a very short one. It's Hebrews 10.36. How do I get this
[01:03:15] ring out of the mic? Anybody help me? Do I just hold it closer? Okay, thanks. All right. Hebrews 10.36. I believe I have this in the ESV. I read this and this just hit me so hard. For you have
[01:03:31] need of endurance. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promises. All right? So it's real simple. I'm keeping it meat and potatoes
[01:03:50] today. I want to talk to you today about having endurance. So the thing is this. If you are going to actively participate with God, walk with God in your life, and you have a desire to be part
[01:04:05] of his plan, it is essential that you have the ability to endure. So me personally, not talking for you, but I have very little ability to endure within myself. But God does, and he lives in me.
[01:04:23] and because of this, we can let his endurance be our endurance. Amen? All right. So this is kind of like Captain Obvious preaching right now. We all have circumstances in our natural lives that require endurance. Would you agree with that? Yes. All right. But strangely enough, sometimes the
[01:04:51] thing that we must endure is God himself. I know that sounds weird, but the deal is this. God is not someone we can easily figure out, so his unwillingness to be boxed in and neatly categorized
[01:05:14] requires you and I to endure his reality that we don't yet quite understand, all right?
[01:05:26] Sometimes your life mystifies you.
[01:05:30] This is not a design flaw.
[01:05:32] This is a design feature.
[01:05:39] Sometimes the thing that must be endured is God's timing.
[01:05:51] So here's the thing.
[01:05:53] I think the human condition is pretty well understood worldwide.
[01:06:00] Life is hard for everybody, but I want to submit to you something.
[01:06:05] It's not that life is harder for Christians, but we have a unique tension when it comes to difficulty.
[01:06:15] We have sometimes, we have a strange or absurd problem that people who aren't believers, they don't face it, okay?
[01:06:28] And the problem is this.
[01:06:30] our baseline assumption is hope, not despair. We are people who have extremely high expectations of God. Yeah? Yeah. We are people who anticipate that the goodness of God will break through in the here and now. Yeah? So kind of in the story of the body of Christ,
[01:07:02] somewhere along the line, everybody's hope was in heaven, but somewhere along the line we decided that we could get heaven to earth, and we started praying those prayers, right? We started believing that God would do mighty things in the world today before we die, right? So that might be
[01:07:24] actually a higher hope than just, you know, the sweet by and by coming to you when you die, all right the problem with that higher hope is that it creates more difficulty for you because the higher your anticipation of god the greater your expectation that he's going to do
[01:07:43] something in the here and now the harder your fall is when that expectation is not met and when when expectations aren't met then disappointment comes and when disappointment comes, we start leaving behind those expectations in order to cope. So God's answer to this for us
[01:08:15] is endurance. Endurance is the thing that keeps us from giving up hope. Endurance is the thing that keeps us from living our life set by disappointment rather than by greater expectation.
[01:08:36] I, for one, have been formed by disappointment.
[01:08:40] Anybody else know what I'm talking about?
[01:08:42] You have these failures, these things that didn't work out the way you prayed that they would, and you're left with having to figure out what happened, all right?
[01:08:55] So we actually believe that God will break through into the here and now.
[01:09:01] We pray for it.
[01:09:02] We prophesy it.
[01:09:03] We actually do real work that brings actual goodness into the world, because this is what we believe, that Jesus Christ is not a God who is merely asking his people to be a people who
[01:09:19] just sit around thinking deep thoughts about God. Yeah? That's right. We're not those people.
[01:09:25] God did not ask that of us. We believe that God has called us to participate hate with his son, Jesus Christ, in loving the world, not in theory, but in actuality.
[01:09:42] I don't mean to offend you with my next statement, but here goes. Sometimes it seems like we are more invested in that plan than God is. Sometimes, I learned this life from my kids, life be life in,
[01:10:00] You know, sometimes life be lifin' and we get confused by the lack of breakthrough we're experiencing.
[01:10:10] Have you ever had that experience?
[01:10:12] Like you did everything within your power to confess that the breakthrough was coming and the breakthrough didn't come when you thought it was going to come.
[01:10:23] Yeah, that's a common experience among charismatics, right?
[01:10:26] Yeah, we are the people of perpetual disappointment.
[01:10:29] Yeah. Thank you for laughing. Sometimes it's hard for us to see God's goodness in the land of the living, all right? But today, I really believe this. I believe that God wants to give us a greater understanding of his slowness, of his quickness, just his general timing with how
[01:10:58] he is interacting with the world, okay? So if you want to have a better understanding of God's timing, well, first of all, you don't have to be a prophet. Yeah, lots of prophets make a lot of
[01:11:13] money telling you that they're the only ones who understand God's timing. That's not true, okay?
[01:11:21] Anybody who can read the Bible can have a good understanding of God's timing, all right? So if you want to have a better understanding of God's timing, then there are three places that you must avoid. There are three places that I do not look at when I want to know what God's doing.
[01:11:41] All right? First place, I don't look. I don't look at revivals, and I don't look at the lack of revivals. I don't set my eyes on revivals or lack of revivals if I want to understand what God
[01:11:56] is doing. The second place I don't look is I don't look at politics if I want to know what God's doing. The third place that I don't look if I want to know what God is doing is I don't look at my
[01:12:12] life. Revivals start and end. Politicians come and go. My life is a mixed bag of experiences and a completely unreliable source of information as to what God is exactly working on.
[01:12:35] It's really true, Larry.
[01:12:42] If I only look at the state of the church, wait, let me back up.
[01:12:46] Do I believe that God works through revivals?
[01:12:48] 100%, absolutely.
[01:12:50] Do I believe that God works through politics?
[01:12:54] Maybe.
[01:12:56] No, I actually do.
[01:12:57] I actually believe that.
[01:12:59] Do I believe that God works through my life?
[01:13:01] Yes, I do.
[01:13:03] I actually believe that.
[01:13:04] But if I only looked at the state of the church, the state of politics, or the state of my life, I might grow discouraged. I might come to the wrong conclusion about the state of things.
[01:13:17] I might say something like God used to do things, but he's not doing things so much anymore.
[01:13:23] So where do we look? Where do we look for encouragement? Let's look at what the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 11. You probably know this verse. This is a really good verse.
[01:13:40] it starts as kind of a downer though. Lots of the Bible is a real big downer. I don't know if you've noticed this. Starting at verse 13, these all died in faith. Do you know lots of people die while
[01:13:59] they're having faith? You may have thought that having faith would get you out of that, but it doesn't. Death is the most inevitable thing. We work really hard to like kind of avoid it and
[01:14:14] manage it, and you should. You know, I'm not planning on dying young. I want to live to 125 like Tommy. But you know, it's like, hey, let me just tell you this. Tommy and Libby are expert
[01:14:26] pickleball players, and now Amy and I are. We played pickleball for the first time this week, so we're coming after you guys. Not a chance, Tommy says. You can't keep up. So where do we
[01:14:41] look. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but have, where do they set their eyes? They're not looking at revival. They're not looking at politics. They're not even looking at their own lives. They set their eyes afar. They've seen these promises, not having received the
[01:15:00] promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them. And this is key. They embraced them, they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. That's a positive confession. I'm a stranger and a pilgrim on planet earth. Paul goes on, for those, or the writer of
[01:15:25] Hebrews, I'm sorry, for those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. You know, this is kind of the baseline longing of all of our hearts. Every human being is that we seek
[01:15:39] a homeland where everybody can be safe and secure and prosperous and healthy these are good things to desire these folks didn't get it in this life but they saw the promises of all these things
[01:15:52] far off and they confessed that this thing that they were experiencing now wasn't all there is and they saw their homeland in the distance and it says they embraced it and confessed it and truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out that means if they
[01:16:16] thought long and hard about the place that they had been they would have had opportunity to return to that place what you think about is where you're headed what you confess is where you're going
[01:16:32] but now they desire a better that is a heavenly country therefore God is not ashamed to be their be called their God for he has prepared a city for them that's a confession that we should all
[01:16:49] be embracing and confessing God has prepared a city for us so having said all that here's what I want you to know guys it is a normal part of the Christian life for believers to die without
[01:17:06] seeing their wildest hopes and dreams realized. Not every dream that you have in your heart is going to be fulfilled while you're alive on planet earth. You know, we will be singing in heaven, but there's a lot of work to do too. I'm a songwriter and a writer, but I have a dream in
[01:17:32] my heart to also be a visual painter. And my guess is I don't have enough years in my life left to fulfill that part. But I don't think I'm going to be sitting around in the new earth, in the new
[01:17:44] Jerusalem, twiddling my thumbs with nothing to do. I believe God deposits things in you that you do not have enough years in your life to fulfill, but those desires are not in vain. You will be at work
[01:18:03] in the eschaton. That's good news because you were actually designed, you were created to do stuff.
[01:18:12] You know, people say it's not doing, it's being. That sounds really spiritual and great. It's not true. God designed you to do stuff. It's a good thing. You don't want to get all your identity
[01:18:23] identity from that stuff, but man, when you're doing stuff and you're doing the thing that God created you to do, there's a sense of satisfaction that comes into your body that you can't deny.
[01:18:34] That's a godly thing. So there is absolute biblical precedent for faithful followers of Jesus Christ to die without having gone on a European vacation or getting a brand new Chevy Silverado, or becoming successful in business, or successful in artistic endeavors, or successful
[01:19:00] in ministry, or successful in receiving supernatural interventions like healings or deliverances or all the other wonderful miracles that we contend for, we will never stop believing the Lord for things. Amen? Like, that's kind of, not kind of, that's in our DNA. When we need help,
[01:19:22] we ask our Heavenly Father for help. We're going to keep doing it. We're going to lay hands on the sick. The Bible says to do that. Gather the people, gather the elders, lay hands on the sick, and they
[01:19:33] will recover. We believe that. But we don't always see it, and we don't have to give up just because we don't see it because we have endurance. The thing that allows us to endure without getting
[01:19:54] discouraged is that we see the promises from afar and we embrace them. And we confess that we are strangers and pilgrims of the earth. So this is actually a real practical thing you can do.
[01:20:07] You can embrace the promise of God and you can confess that you are a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth. But what, so what are the promises of God that we're embracing? Some of the promises
[01:20:20] of God are for here and now. He is with us always. He is our comforter. He is our provider. He is the one who leads us and guides us. But some of these promises are eternal. We are no longer slaves to
[01:20:34] the fear of death because God has prepared for us a heavenly city where every tear will be wiped away. You know, in the news this week, Elon Musk, you know, he becomes the first trillionaire in
[01:20:47] history. And of course, after that fact happens, there's a trillion opinions about that, you know.
[01:20:54] And it's fascinating to see people react to this thing. But honestly, all I could think of was a mere trillion dollars that's what that that's what that guy gets a mere trillion dollars what is that it's like not even a real thing it's like it's like a an idea it's an idea managed by
[01:21:23] an algorithm i don't know i mean i know that there's practical applications to a trillion dollars i mean i don't want less money i want more money but at some point this just becomes absurd
[01:21:35] right? Like, like a trillion dollars. Who cares? Once you've tasted the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ, everything just becomes a shrug. Paul said it like this. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ. Jesus, my Lord, for his sake,
[01:22:03] I have discarded everything else counting it all garbage so that I could gain Christ a trillion dollars so what do we need provision in our lives of course we do do we do we have
[01:22:18] times when we don't have all the provision that we need or desire of course but you know it's like I find out things about Jesus Christ when I have all my needs met and I find out other things about
[01:22:32] him when I don't have all my needs met. I'm good in both. So this is kind of crazy. A number of weeks ago, I had the great privilege of playing music at a church in Beaufort, South Carolina.
[01:22:52] The church was called St. Helena's Anglican Church. It was a beautiful old white building.
[01:22:59] It was surrounded by sprawling coastal oaks. But the thing that was the most striking about this church was the age. This church was established in 1712, okay? So 63 years before the United States of America was founded. So imagine the history that this particular part of the body
[01:23:21] of Christ had witnessed and been part of and endured, okay? St. Helena's lived through the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and all the wars that followed. They lived through all of them.
[01:23:34] They lived through Y2K and 9-11 and, you know, all the things that all the doomsday people were declaring.
[01:23:43] This is the end. This is the end. You know, so not only did St. Helena's witness the birth of the United States, but they also have a history of revival.
[01:23:58] All right? In 1831, 119 years after the church began, think about that. That's a long time.
[01:24:09] St. Helena's was the location of a great revival known as the Great Beaufort Revival.
[01:24:14] Historians note that ordinary life in Beaufort came to a standstill as the spirit swept through the town. And just one of the results of this awakening is that 39 men from the church entered the ministry, including the first Episcopal missionary to China. So I was thinking about
[01:24:34] this, and I was thinking, you know what's harder than being a church that has never experienced a revival or an outpouring of the Spirit? You know what's harder than being a church or a body
[01:24:47] that's never experienced that? It's being a church where one has happened, where it's not happening any longer. That's harder. It's because you've experienced some goodness in a way that you hadn't experienced before. It flowed, and then it ebbed, and then you get to endure the ebb.
[01:25:13] You got to enjoy the flow, then you endure the ebb. So, but this is where I really got blown away. Here is a current vision statement that I found in St. Helena's newcomer handout. Can you
[01:25:35] imagine being a newcomer to a church that was 300 years old? I mean, that's pretty crazy, but this is what they said. We are committed to the faith that has been revealed in Holy Scripture, which we
[01:25:48] understand to be the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. We ascribe to the apostolic statement of faith, a belief in God the Father, creator of mankind and all the world, a belief in
[01:26:00] God the Son who redeemed us by his death on the cross for our sins, and a belief in God the Holy Spirit who sustains us and conforms us into the image of Jesus Christ our Lord. Now listen closely
[01:26:14] to what they say next. While we are thankful for our deep and rich historic roots, St. Helena's is not a museum. We are a vibrant worshiping community, and we have experienced all the ebbs and flows of vitality of church life. Thankfully, the gospel of Jesus Christ is still being faithfully
[01:26:37] preached, and we are ever mindful of the great Beaufort revival of 1831. We are praying for a second spring, another great outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will bear much fruit for the kingdom of God. Now, you want to talk about endurance, y'all. We had an outpouring here in 2006 to 2009,
[01:27:03] something like that. And sometimes we can get a little discouraged. That has been a few couple years since the last thing. These people have been going on, well, I did the math. It's a lot of years. It's a lot of years. You sometimes think that something's wrong with you or something's
[01:27:25] wrong with your church. Maybe you're not singing the right songs anymore. Maybe the worship team is not as good as they used to be. Maybe something has changed in the atmosphere. Maybe you're just enduring God's timing. Maybe you're just living in the plans and purposes of God, but you don't
[01:27:48] recognize it because it came looking like something that you don't recognize. Now this this is an extremely extraordinary statement there's so much bold faith in this statement they are gambling this church they're gambling it all on christ knowing full well that many before
[01:28:13] them died not seeing the fulfilled hope of an outpouring of the spirit and yet they press on and they keep contending.
[01:28:23] Like, imagine being born after that revival that happened in 1831 and then dying before the next one came.
[01:28:35] Maybe you lived your whole life never seeing a move of the Spirit like the elders talked about in the past and the preacher said was on its way, but you died before it came.
[01:28:50] Does that mean your life amounted to nothing No. Does that mean you are out of step with God? No. It means you are living in the plans and purposes of God. And they just looked different than the past and the future. It's a design
[01:29:07] feature. So God is giving us a better understanding of what he's actually doing.
[01:29:17] 2 Peter 3.9. I love this verse so much. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise.
[01:29:25] as some understand slowness.
[01:29:28] So what that tells us is that there is an understanding to be had about what God is doing and how he moves.
[01:29:35] You can misunderstand him and you can understand him.
[01:29:39] We wanna go from misunderstanding to understanding, amen?
[01:29:44] Instead, he is patient with you.
[01:29:46] Gosh, I love this, y'all.
[01:29:48] The Lord is patient with us, not only us, but the whole world.
[01:29:51] The Lord is patient with you because he doesn't want anyone to perish.
[01:29:56] Why is the Lord patient?
[01:29:58] Why is the Lord slow?
[01:29:59] Why is the Lord not moving at your timing?
[01:30:01] Because he doesn't want anyone to perish.
[01:30:05] He wants everybody to come to repentance.
[01:30:10] Isn't it wonderful hearing that God is patient and wants everyone to be saved?
[01:30:15] I love that so much.
[01:30:18] If God is patient, then we can be patient too.
[01:30:22] God wants us to grow in our patience.
[01:30:25] real practical he wants us to treat our spouses with patience our children our friends our co-workers and people in traffic with patience um i was thinking about myopia my op you know that word myopia my it's like when you get myopic vision you can kind of only see things i i'm
[01:31:02] nearsighted, I wear glasses and contacts. If I take my glasses off for my contacts out, I can literally only see like this. And I feel like a lot of the prophetic words and the messages that
[01:31:19] we've been enduring for the last 15 or 20 years have been, they've been like this. What is God doing now? What is God doing now? But the problem with this is that if this is all you're looking at
[01:31:38] and this is all you're talking about, what you're neglecting is that you're denying kind of in a way that there's a whole lot of other stuff going on out there that you can't see. And so we honestly,
[01:31:52] we have to continually remind ourselves to walk humbly and to acknowledge, if to nobody else, at least to ourselves, that the information that we have, although it may be true and real, is only one part of the entire thing that God is doing. So if you might feel like you're losing in
[01:32:20] your little part, you can't conclude that God's losing because he's just not. One thing that I've noticed is that lots of times we become discouraged about life when we only focus on the short term.
[01:32:41] But it is really helpful to continually remind yourself that what God is up to takes generations.
[01:32:50] It doesn't take your generations.
[01:32:53] It takes all the generations.
[01:32:56] And God is not shy about working through centuries.
[01:33:00] I think about, you know, God planting a sequoia 1,100 years ago.
[01:33:06] It was almost like he didn't get the memo that the last days were upon us.
[01:33:11] So he just went through the world planting sequoias.
[01:33:15] And then in the Middle Ages, people started building cathedrals where the people who laid the foundation of the cathedral did it knowing they wouldn't see the end of the cathedral.
[01:33:32] They wouldn't see the finished product.
[01:33:35] Imagine giving your whole life to a project where you didn't get to see and enjoy the finished outcome.
[01:33:43] That's the thing that we're all part of.
[01:33:46] We're not going to see the final outcome in our lifetime.
[01:33:50] That doesn't mean we're doing it wrong.
[01:33:53] You have to be careful not to get discouraged by focusing on this week's news.
[01:34:04] You have to be careful not to get discouraged by focusing only on what God did in the past.
[01:34:11] God cares about revivals.
[01:34:13] He sends them, but he also cares about all the days in between the outpourings of his spirit.
[01:34:21] God deeply cares about your ordinary days.
[01:34:28] When you are in Christ, there is no such thing as a meaningless day.
[01:34:33] I was in worship this morning and I was thinking about how grateful I am to all the people who serve in this church for one reason or another.
[01:34:44] But obviously, we're always looking at the worship team.
[01:34:46] And, you know, some days are hotter than others and we kind of love the fiery days more than we like the days that, you know, where you don't like the songs, you know.
[01:34:56] I'm not saying that was me today. I'm just kind of, you know, I'm just kind of like reading your all's mail, you know, like.
[01:35:03] But I was just thinking about how grateful I am that even the days where it doesn't feel like we're ramping up the mountain, they're still so meaningful.
[01:35:14] they're still important they they still i mean it's it's that old bill johnson anecdote it's like you don't remember what you had for lunch in 1986 or some of you in the early 2000s but it
[01:35:30] still fed you right it still was important to you you needed that meal so maybe the worship team is on fire, or maybe they're not. Either way, our eyes are fixed on Christ. Maybe the preacher is
[01:35:47] preaching good, or maybe he's not. Either way, our eyes are fixed on Christ. God cares about the acceleration, and he also cares about the deceleration, if that's a word. He cares about the ebb and the flow. So I'm going to close. I didn't go 30 minutes, but I think I'm only going
[01:36:09] 40. Here's what I want you to know. Your life is important. Your life counts. It's special and it's meaningful. But at the same time, you're not that special. All right. I've been thinking about this a lot because I'm a part of a generation where my entire youth and young adulthood, there
[01:36:31] was always a preacher on the stage who was telling me, you're a history maker. You're going to change the nations. You're going to do the biggest things anybody has ever seen anybody do in all of
[01:36:47] history. It was nice. It was nice to hear. But so many people got messed up because they heard those words and how they interpreted it was that we were all going to be standing on stages in front of
[01:37:04] thousands of people preaching whatever thing. And so we got totally let down when we found out we were going to be just like everybody else and had to take garbage out on Wednesday nights.
[01:37:20] Your ordinary life really matters to the Lord. So whether you're preaching in front of thousands or you work a workaday job and you're raising your family or you're single and you're just living your life, your life is important to God. Okay, you don't have to be amazing. So in evangelical
[01:37:41] world, we just told kids, you're special. You're the most important thing. You're, and I just want to tell those kids, no, you're not special. You're not special. But you know, Mr. Rogers got it right
[01:37:52] because he was telling all these kids watching him, like, you're special. I think that's good.
[01:37:57] I mean, people are special, but that's more of a, like, you're just special in your little life.
[01:38:03] That's enough. That's enough. That's sufficient for us. We all don't have to be superheroes, great preachers, great ministry leaders, great whatever. You know, I mean, Elon Musk, everybody talks about him and all he gets is a trillion dollars. You all have the surpassing
[01:38:23] greatness of knowing Christ in your little ordinary life. But it's really a great relief to know this. Not everything is riding on you. You have a part to play, but it's just a part.
[01:38:45] Keep praying, don't grow weary doing good, but know that the purposes of God do not require you to be frantic.
[01:38:58] They require you to be patient.
[01:39:02] The plans of God do not require that you get everything exactly right in your life.
[01:39:11] The purposes of God require that you are steadfast in counting on Jesus alone.
[01:39:17] we are cathedral builders and we are sequoia planters disappointment and unmet expectations can make you come come to the wrong conclusions about the lord you might conclude maybe you've thought this in this church that god was finished with us but you might conclude and you might
[01:39:41] conclude that god was too slow well i'm just here to tell you that you are wrong yeah god is not through with us. He's not through with this church. So in closing, I want to give you a
[01:39:54] thought experiment. Maybe you've not thought about this before. I want you to think about this this week. Imagine that God wants to use River Life Fellowship, River Life Fellowship Church, not just in this moment that we're alive, but imagine that this place will still be preaching the gospel
[01:40:20] in 300 years. It really changes the way you view a Sunday morning. It really changes the way you view your whole life. It takes you out of being the center point of history and it puts Jesus
[01:40:40] Christ back in the middle. Because if God is patient and he wants no one to perish and everyone to come to repentance, then I'm pretty sure he's got all the time that he needs for that.
[01:40:56] And maybe you think he's coming back next year.
[01:41:00] I don't know.
[01:41:00] Maybe he is.
[01:41:01] But it's equally as possible that he's still got 10,000 years up his sleeve.
[01:41:06] And that this is the infancy of River Life Fellowship, not the middle age.
[01:41:17] Amen?
[01:41:20] Praise the Lord.
[01:41:23] So, I mean, real simple.
[01:41:27] I just want to, during worship, I just was hearing there's dead places in hearts that need to be resurrected.
[01:41:34] Maybe you've just been beaten up by discouragement.
[01:41:38] This is real simple.
[01:41:38] This is not anything deep.
[01:41:40] Not everything's gotta be deep and emotional to get the Lord to touch you.
[01:41:45] If you want to be freed from discouragement over anything, it could be anything, but I am thinking more along the lines of what I was preaching about, like just the overall arc of your life,
[01:41:59] having maybe you've experienced more failures than victories, and your question is, what exactly does this mean, and what exactly are you doing with my life, Lord? If you've had any kind of questions or tension around that, why don't you
[01:42:15] just stand up, and I'm going to just pray over you right now. Amen, amen, yeah. I think we can have like a backing track or something, make it spiritual. Sometimes when I'm going through a
[01:42:40] dry season, I'm tempted to find my way out of it. But I learned that that keeps me there longer because the desert season, the desert place was sent to me by God because he wanted to reveal
[01:42:58] something about himself to me that I couldn't get in the garden. And so maybe rather than resisting the lack, resisting the lack of rain, resisting the desert season of your life, maybe you embrace it.
[01:43:22] Maybe you just look it in the eyes and you say, not my will, Lord, but thine be done.
[01:43:31] Well, Heavenly Father, you've taught us that we can come freely to you and often and boldly to your throne of grace. We believe that when we come to you as your children, asking you for things,
[01:43:48] that you give us what we need. We ask you for bread and you don't give us a stone.
[01:43:56] We ask you for fish, protein. You don't give us poison in the serpent. We know and trust that you have a heart for us, a heart of tenderness, a heart of passion, a father's heart that wants to guide us
[01:44:16] into green pastures.
[01:44:20] So right now, what we wanna do, Lord, is we want to submit any disappointments that we've had, any discouragement, any misunderstanding of your plans and purposes in our life, any inner vows that we've made against you any wrong conclusions that we've come to about you
[01:44:44] lord we we submit all those to you right now and we ask that you bring a greater awareness of your beauty into our lives lord open the eyes of our heart to see your radical beauty
[01:45:04] lord in every place where there might be a question a mystification we ask that your presence would just fill those places lord we we do thank you that you are doing a new thing but we also thank
[01:45:26] you that you're doing a long thing and sometimes lord today doesn't look exactly like we thought it should, but we receive it. We receive this day that you have made, oh Lord. We thank you that you
[01:45:46] are the Lord of our lives. We ask all this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Thanks, Andy. That's

[01:46:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:46:06] sweet. You want to do one song? Get into one. We'll do one song before we leave. If you'd stand with me, please, together as a community, as a family. And I would encourage you as we get into this,
[01:46:42] if something rises in your heart towards somebody around you, whether it's just a simple encouraging word or it's deeply profound, whatever that is, I would encourage you to step out of your little bubble, step out of your box, reach out, comfort those that are around you, speak life into those
[01:46:59] around you. Um, so into the practical word that Andy gave today. So thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for the word given, received. God, I thank you for planting it deep in my heart. Thank you,
[01:47:22] Lord, that you would, that you would touch my life. That right now in the altar of your presence, I lay it down. I lay myself down to you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Yeah. Thank you, Lord. You touch
[01:47:42] my life first. Help me to be a better husband, a better wife, a better parent, a better friend.
[01:47:56] Thank you, Lord. Touch my life first. If I could invite the ministry team to come up.
[01:48:02] and as we get into this, if you have any need, whether it's physical, soul need, you have an ailment in your body, come on up. We believe the Lord wants to touch you today, and sow a seed of healing in your life, and those of you that need prayer and help, we have
[01:48:29] close friends of the house that are here that have been trained and equipped. They would love to pray for you, to pray with you. But yeah, as we get into this last song, I may just have a
[01:48:42] blessed week and fix your eyes on the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the center of your

[01:48:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:48:48] life. Thank you. Sing this with me. I will give. And I will give you all my worship. I will give you all my praise. You alone, I long. You alone are worthy. We'll sing that again. And I will give
[01:49:26] Thank you Lord for your presence today. Thank you Lord for marking us with something different,

[01:53:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:53:49] with something new. Thank you for your everlasting word. And I just felt like, just to piggyback on what you're saying, I just felt like honesty is very important and that that just stands the test of time
[01:54:05] as you just, us being present in response to what God's doing and saying.
[01:54:12] And so, Lord, I just, I pray that, well, just, I repent.
[01:54:17] We repent, Lord, of any moment where we're just going through the motion and filling it maybe with empty words.
[01:54:29] May we present ourselves to you, Lord, fully, wholly to you, Jesus, to have your way with us, Lord.
[01:54:37] We thank you, Lord, for your will in my life, for your will in our lives.
[01:54:43] We say yes.
[01:54:45] We say yes again.
[01:54:48] Thank you, Jesus.
[01:54:51] Amen, amen.
[01:54:52] Well, bless you all.
[01:54:54] Don't forget to give an encouraging word to somebody.
[01:54:57] It doesn't have to be completely profound, a kind word.
[01:55:00] May you have a blessed week.