Return To Design: You Both Have A Plan

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Amen.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we uh we speak your name because in your name we find something we don't find anywhere else.

The Bible says that your name is a strong tower and that the righteous run in and find strength.

Uh in the book of Acts, it says there's no name given under heaven whereby which men shall be saved except at the name of Jesus.

And so we reject the cultural gospel that says there are many roads that lead to God.

No, there's not.

There's one, and it comes through Jesus.

This is why you said in John's gospel, I am the door, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man comes to the Father except through me.

There's an exclusivity to Christianity, and there's a universality to it.

It is for everyone.

The Bible says, Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

And so this is the way it happens.

It's most like God to make God central to everything God does.

The world works, God.

We understand that the world works because God is central to what God is doing in the world.

Because God's purposes depend on somebody as certain as God.

And we are great with that.

Matter of fact, the more we understand that and help us to understand it even more today, the more life makes sense.

And that you've bestowed upon us the dignity of participation.

You said, Come on, I want to involve you in what I'm doing to change the world.

So we're not just down here making money and paying our bills.

We are swept up in the king and kingdom, what God is doing in the world.

So our lives are infused with purpose.

Help us to understand that today, God, as we open up your scripture, illuminate, make it clear to our head and our heart so it finds expression in our hands this week.

We pray in Jesus' name when everyone said, Amen.

You can have a see.

If you got a Bible, I invite you to take and open up to Genesis chapter 11.

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, don't sweat it, it'll come up on the screen.

We are finishing today a series that would have been in entitled Return to Design, where basically we went back and looked at the first 11 chapters of the first book of the Bible because we believe there that God designs the world.

God kind of says, Hey, here's the way the world is designed to be.

And it's easy to look around in our culture nowadays and kind of go, man, the world is jacked up.

And you start thinking, is there really a God and is he good?

And if that's really true, then why is the world like it is?

I had a conversation not long ago with a man, and he said, Well, I basically think man is inherently good and capable of everything that he needs.

And I said, Let me ask you a question.

How many people are there in the world right now?

And he goes, I don't know.

I said, just for just just for the record, there's 7.8 billion.

He goes, okay, I said, so if you got 7.8 billion, I said, you're a smart person, okay?

I may be wrong here, but if there's 7.8 billion people in the world and they're all good, as you say, and they're capable of doing what humanity needs, if 7.8 billion people are all good and doing good work, why is the world not a better place?

He said, Oh, I never thought about it like that.

And I said, I just think you should think about it, because if your hope is in humanity and the goodness of humanity, you should ask yourself, why haven't they accomplished already what you say they're capable of?

And he's like, Man, you seem to have thought about this.

What do you do for a living?

I just I I work on the weekends.

He's like, Are you independently wealthy?

Absolutely I am.

Absolutely I am.

And he goes, I said, I'm just I just think you should think about that, okay?

It's a that that's all we're saying.

Is that God designed the world to be a certain way, uh, and the world's the way it is because not because God's not good or not in control, but the world's the way it is because man is by nature and choice sinful.

And with sin comes consequences.

So we are way downstream from this river of consequences that's been multiplying every day.

It's more and more wickedness gets proliferated in our culture.

Now, by the way, we don't get mad at culture.

We don't go picket and shout and yeah, no, we engage the culture because that's what God's doing.

God is redeeming everything that He created.

And so today we'll finish the series in chapter 11.

And I want to talk about this simple phrase: you both have a plan.

You both have a plan.

Now, I'll unpack this more towards the end, but I do a lot of, I call it spiritual direction.

Some people call it counseling.

Uh, and I and I use three foundational statements when people they come, they say, Well, here's my situation, blah, blah, blah.

And I say, Okay, here's the problem, okay?

Number one, you both have a plan for your life.

You have a plan, and God has a plan.

One of those plans is gonna be realized at the expense of the other.

A man recently said to me, and I say that again, I said, You have a plan for your life, God has a plan for your life.

One of those plans is gonna be realized at the expense of the other.

Either God's plan for your life is gonna be realized and you're gonna have to give up your plan, or your plan's gonna realize and you're gonna miss out on God's plan.

He thought that doesn't sound very encouraging.

It's not.

Uh, that's why there's so much anxiety and depression.

We're not we're not experiencing God's plan for our life.

Secondly, one of you people in this relationship has all the power, knows everything, and and and and and can be trusted.

Because you got the problem, the bigger problem is that only one of you has all this.

And he's like, uh-uh-oh, okay.

And here's the core problem.

You think you're that person.

And the guy's like, Oh, hang on a second.

I said, Yeah, you're getting it.

You're getting it.

Now that'll make you a bad person.

God reveals things like that just to say, hey, pump the brakes.

Is this the way we want to do life?

And this is what we see in Genesis chapter 11.

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

God's saying to these people, hey, basically both of us have a plan.

Which one do you think you can trust more?

Let's just read.

And by the way, uh, by way of introduction, chapter 10 and chapter 11 are not chronological.

Chapter 11 talks about all the nations and all the languages.

Chapter 10 does.

It's called the Table of Nations.

Chapter 11 of Genesis kind of goes, Oh, by the way, let me explain what you just read.

Here's how that happened as we drop in.

It's a very familiar story to some of you.

It's called the Tower of Babel, it's the story we're going to read about.

But really, it's not about a tower, it's about a city.

Let me just read Genesis chapter 11, verse 1.

Genesis 11:1

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.

And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar.

They settled there.

And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.

And they had bricks for stone and bitumen for mortar.

And then they said, Come, let us build ourselves ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

And the Lord came down to see the city, and the tower which the children of man had built.

And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.

So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of uh of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

Therefore, its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the languages of all the earth, and from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

There's four things I want you to see in the text this morning.

And the first one is simply this that God designed us to live in unified oneness.

God designed us to live in unified oneness.

It's verse one.

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.

Can you imagine the world we live in right now?

If we had one language and the same words, what it would be like?

God designed us to live in unified oneness.

Now just let that sink in for a moment.

Think about all the nations and all the hostilities.

Jesus says in Matthew's gospel in chapter 24, he says that one of the signs that the end of the world is coming.

It's not that COVID happens.

He says, nation will rise against nation.

Uh, that there's going to be this global conflict kind of taking place.

And so just think about again, God designed us to live in unified oneness.

Think about the aggression of North Korea and China.

And right now, as we said in this build in this building, Russia is amassing troops on the border of Crimea.

And so, again, nation rises against nation, and yet God designed it to be for us to live in this unified oneness.

Now, if you wonder uh what's that like, think of all the nations of the world.

Now, in case you're wondering, currently there are 195 nations in the world, 193 or what's called member states of the United Nations.

There's two that are non-member observer states.

A little fun fact here, kids the sea city, S E E, which is Vatican City, excuse me, the Holy See is what it's called.

SEE, and that's Vatican City, and then Palestine.

Uh they're not allowed to be part of the United Nations.

And so there's 195 countries, and God designed all of them to live in unified oneness.

Can you imagine turning on the TV and the news coming on?

They say, hey, folks, there's no tragedies, there's no bad news to report today.

Have a nice night.

No, but they lead every night, it's called the T's.

They lead with COVID deaths and blah, blah, blah, just more and more fear-mongering.

Now, the nations, 195 nations, blah, blah, blah.

Let me bring it down to where you live.

Uh, how many of you have ever heard the word clicks?

If you've heard the word clicks before, say amen.

If you want to see how destructive human nature can be, watch the way high school girls talk about and treat each other.

I say that as a father of two girls.

I'm not saying guys are any better, but man, the things that kids text and say to each other, I'm like, you shouldn't do.

What?

You are you serious?

Now, why do I bring that up?

Because if you just want to see how far we are from unified oneness, walk into a high school cafeteria and you realize that there's some people sit by themselves every day, and that's an indictment on everybody else in that entire cafeteria, especially if you call yourself a Christ follower.

That is an indictment upon you because one of the things Jesus says is, Hey, the way the world will know that we're Christians is by the way we love one another.

We should love one another in a way that kind of magnifies and manifests this unified oneness.

This past week, I'm having lunch with a friend of mine, it's a pastor here in town.

Uh, and and and we get together, and he's he texted me before, a couple hours before, and said, Hey, when we're done, can you take me back to my office?

And I was like, Yeah, sure, absolutely.

And so uh I have two pickups because I'm I'm that wealthy, amen.

Uh, and so I was in my older truck, it's like a 2002 Ford, got a big caved-in rear quarter panel, and I love it.

I paid$3,000 for it about 14 years ago.

And my wife is like, Really?

And I'm like, watch your mouth, woman.

And she goes, Why do you drive that?

You have a nicer truck because these trucks are like women.

If you don't take them out on town, they get a little mouthy.

She's like, Really?

And I said, I'm talking about the truck, not women, it's just a it's just an analogy.

You need to leave now.

And so I left and I went and met my friend uh for lunch in Zoe's kitchen in downtown in Town Square, and we're standing line talking.

And I said, What's the deal?

Your car in the shop?

Because now we're down to two cars, and my family, and I I'm not gonna buy a car until they get uh you know cheaper.

They're so high because of the chip shortage.

And I said, Yeah, I've heard that you know it's probably gonna be spring of next year.

And I met a guy this morning who works for Broom if you need a car.

And he goes, No, no, no, 2023.

And I'm like, Oh man.

So we're standing in line.

I said, Hey man, instead of me taking you back to your all to your church, why don't you just mind just drive back to my church and get out, and you can have my truck.

I've got another one.

No, no, I couldn't have you do that.

Why not?

Well, I mean, I'm sure there's somebody that needs your truck more than I do.

I said, Man, just take it.

It's no big deal.

I've got it seriously.

He goes, No, no, no, I'm sure there's somebody that needs it more than I do.

And I said, name them.

Now, at this point, the guy in line behind us is snickering because he's trying not to eavesdrop, but he's listening.

And I said, just name them.

Name one person that needs to use my truck.

Well, you know, are you sure?

Are you sure?

Dude, listen, this is the way we're supposed to be towards each other.

The book of Acts, the church exploded because people shared not just themselves, but their stuff with each other, and nobody had need.

Can you imagine living in a world where nobody has need?

You see, when there's divisiveness, that never happens.

When there's unity, where there's just unified oneness, it happens.

Now, by the way, if you want to see just how divided we are, this past week there was a trial on, I don't know if you heard about it, but a guy named Kyle Rittenhaus, he's a white kid, shot three other white kids and the media, three other white men, and two of them died.

That's terrible.

People lost their life.

But the media branded him a white supremacist because he shot white people.

And I'm like, See, here's the thing: we inject race into everything nowadays because we want to divide.

Is racism real?

Absolutely.

Is this a case of racism?

Absolutely not.

But the way you keep it stirred up is you just keep beating that drum.

This this divisive hate in our culture, and everything flows to someone's personal narrative.

And again, I just want to say it sounds really naive for me to say God designed us to live in unified oneness.

Here's the second thing you see in the text.

We were not designed for self-worship.

We were not designed for self-worship.

Now, if you look in the mirror and you think you're talking to God, you're not gonna like this part.

Okay?

Look at verse 2.

What do you mean, self-worship?

Verse 2 says this, and as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shannar and settled there.

And they said to one another, Come let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.

And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar, and they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

Now, when I say we were not designed for self-worship, this is what I mean.

We were created for all, created to worship something beyond ourselves, that gives us a sense of proportion and place.

You should be around things that remind you how big God is and how small you are.

Because without that, you're gonna either be depressed or in your mind you're gonna become a deity.

Let me say that again.

You were designed to be around, to have experiences of awe that bring you the sense of proportion and place.

Hey, I I realize my place.

We want the tower to reach into the heavens.

It's you're back to Genesis 3, where the serpent says to Eve, Oh, God's afraid you'll be like him.

They're saying, Hey, because of human ingenuity and agency, we are going to exist on the same level with God.

Now, by the way, sometimes somebody asks me, they said, Do you think Jesus was sarcastic?

I said, Well, when you're smarter than everybody in the room, you come off as sarcastic.

These people are gonna build a tower into the heavens, and it's so tall, God has to come down to even see it.

Think about it.

We're gonna make a name for ourselves.

And God's like, I can't see anything.

Let me come down there and see it.

Do not waste your life trying to make a name for yourself.

Matter of fact, you should ask yourself is my social media, my IG, my Twitter, all that stuff, how much of my life and energy is all given towards making a name for yourself?

Or do you believe in a God that will take care of your name and your reputation?

Psalm 62, about verse 5 to 8, says, My salvation and my honor depends on God.

What people think about you and your name and your reputation, that depends on God too.

When I say we're not made for self-worship, you maybe think, what do you mean?

Self-worship is the fastest growing religion in the world today.

Matter of fact, some people love themselves so much they married themselves.

I'm not making that up.

I I was I was researching for today, and a lady was engaged, and she just thought, you know what?

I'm not as fulfilled as I thought I would be.

But by the way, if you get married, your partner cannot meet every one of your needs.

I tell people this in premarital counseling, and they look at me like, oh what?

I say, no, no, this person's not gonna meet all your needs.

You realize that.

I mean, I'm sure he's great, but you got other needs he can't meet, and you got needs that she can't meet.

And they're like, oh no, we're soulmates.

Nah, stop talking.

Like right now, my wife is at a beach house in Florida with some girlfriends because she has needs that I can't meet.

Like they sit on the beach every night and watch the sun go down.

I just think that's the dumbest thing in the world.

And then she's, I mean, she's almost crying.

Tell me about it on the phone.

And then we watch the moon come up.

And I'm in mind, like, happens every night.

What are you crying about?

Not my need.

I bless it.

I think it's great.

She left on Thursday.

She won't get back till tomorrow night.

And she goes, I just I could stay here for another month.

And I thought, that can be arranged.

Me and the dog are holding it down up in this crib.

Now I love my wife, but she's got needs that I can't meet.

She gets together with two girlfriends and they talk and they talk all breath.

You're like, some people love themselves so much they marry themselves.

I'm not making it up.

This girl, she she was engaged and she said, you know what?

I don't think you can meet my deepest needs, all my needs.

And I'm like, he can't.

So she broke up and married herself.

I'm not making this up.

Had a wedding ceremony.

Wait for it.

That's not the crazy part.

Here's the crazy part.

People came.

I mean, I found a picture and there's people in the crowd, her close family and friends, and I just think, What are you doing?

Had pictures, flowers, the whole nine yards, catering.

You can see self-worship is the fastest growing religion in the world right now, which explains why so many people can be so wrong and yet so confident.

There's a book, David Kinneman and Gabe Lyons wrote a book called Good Faith.

Uh, the subtitle of the book, Good Faith, is Being a Christian When Society Thinks You're Irrelevant and Extreme.

And they just give some statistics from one of the chapters.

They just talk about how we're no longer God focused, we're self-focused.

People have uh no, no, no, no God image, no sense of who God is, but they have a great self-image.

And he says, again, they give three statistics.

Listen to how high these are.

The percentages.

84% of Americans believe that enjoying yourself is the highest goal of life.

86% believe that to enjoy yourself, you must pursue the things you desire most.

91% affirm this statement.

To find yourself, look within yourself.

Now, is it any wonder that we're a nation of neurotic, anxiety plagued, anxiety-plagued all-moral entities just bumping into each other, trying to hook up on Tinder or get with somebody so we don't feel so alone?

Listen, when you focus on yourself like that, you will have a deep sense of loneliness the rest of your life.

You just will.

Now, uh, self-worship.

So I just plunged on self-worship.

I was like, really, this is not a oh, yes, it is.

Yes, it is.

Some of you would never say it like this, but the reason some of you post everything you do on Instagram is because you worship yourself and you want everybody else to worship the vacation you just took.

You want everybody to be envious.

Look at where I am, and you're not.

Just have the courage to say that instead of vacay with the family.

I'm like, that's your ninth vacation this year.

What are you?

A European?

Okay.

And cats get 12 weeks of vacation.

I got nothing against vacation.

Go on vacation.

But here's the thing: I don't need to know what you had for dinner.

I don't care.

You're not that interesting to me.

Somebody said, Hey man, I'm blowing up on social media.

You check me out.

I'm not on social media, and they're like, What?

How are you breathing?

I will get on social media, any of it Facebook, IG, Twitter.

The next time I meet somebody who is as interesting in person as they appear to be online.

I'm not moving there yet.

Anyway, there's a professor at Biola University.

His name is Thaddeus Williams.

He really researched uh self-worship.

And Thaddeus Williams, he kind of says, hey, he's not endorsing this, but he says there's six commandments uh uh to self-worship.

Now, by the way, biola stands for the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.

But you can't get young people to come to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, but if you call it biola, that's hip.

And so he's a professor there, Thaddeus Williams.

He says these are the six commands of self-worship.

He's not condoning this, he's just he's almost mocking this, and he has a hashtag for everyone.

This gets bad.

So just brace yourself.

Number one, your mind is the source and standard of truth, so no matter what, trust yourself.

Hashtag the answers are within.

Number two, your emotions are authoritative, so never question or let anyone else question your feelings.

Hashtag follow your heart.

Number three, you are sovereign.

So flex your omnipotence and bend the universe around your dreams and desires.

Hashtag live your truth.

Oh yeah, we're just getting warmed up here, kids.

Number four, you are supreme, so always act according to your chief end to glorify and enjoy yourself forever.

Hashtag YOLO.

Now, for those of you that drive a minivan and listen to Van Morrison, YOLO stands for you only live once.

Number five, you are the sumum bonum, the standard of goodness.

So don't let anyone oppress you with the antiquated notion of being a sinner who needs grace.

Hashtag never change.

Number six, you are the creator.

And now we will stick the landing.

You are the creator, so use that limitless creative power to craft your identity and purpose.

Hashtag authenticity.

Now, as crazy as that sounds, this is exactly what you see being played out in Genesis 11, verse 4.

Genesis 11:4

Look at what they said.

People respond to their fear.

You should ask yourself, what are your core fears?

What are the fears that concern you, that drive you?

Because they get to the plane of Shannar, look at it.

And they said, Come let us build bricks and burn them thoroughly.

And it had bricks for some stone and bitumen for mortar.

Bitumen is that that's not a word you've heard this week.

And when I say bitumen, some of you are kind of like, Be careful, be sure and sound that out.

Basically, it's oil that they would leave out, it would get exposed and get sticky.

It's almost like a like like a liquidy form of asphalt.

And then they said, Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower when it's top in the heavens and let us make a name for ourselves.

Here's this part.

Here's the fear, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

See, instead of worshiping, they start off worshiping God, but but instead they begin to translate things to the filter of their willingness.

And they're supposed to fill the earth.

See, this is a direct violation, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

This is a direct contradiction to what God said to Adam and Eve when he said, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.

And people were so sinful.

God said, I'm gonna just wipe out everybody and start over with Noah.

And in chapter 9, he said the same thing to Noah and his descendants: be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.

That is the command, fill the earth.

The fear for these people is lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

And so they're supposed to go and they just chose to stay.

Now, what what what is the big deal?

This is self-worship.

I value what I think and feel more than I value what God says.

And by the way, we're the same way.

We translate God's directions through the filter of our willingness.

Well, I know the Bible says blah, blah, blah, but you know, we're gonna get married one day.

Tell me how that changes the nature of this in the meantime.

Here's the third thing you see in the text.

You were designed, get ready.

You're gonna be glad you came.

You were designed to experience disappointment.

I know, sexy, right?

If you're visiting you today, you're probably like, we found our church.

You were designed, I was designed to experience disappointment.

Yeah, what do you mean?

Look at verse five.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.

And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have all one language.

And this is only the beginning of what they will do, and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

Come, let us go down there and there confuse their language so that they may not understand one another's speech.

God could have come down and just knocked the tower over, but they would have just ingenuity and agency would have taken over.

They didn't just rebuild it.

So, what did God do?

God brought a consequence that would be far-reaching.

God just said, I'm gonna confuse your language.

They don't they can't cooperate and work together.

Now, when I say you were designed to experience disappointment, this is due to the fact that you're not always gonna get your way.

And the reason you're not always gonna get your way is because the Bible teaches that God's ways are higher than our ways, and God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

We think on the plane of self.

God thinks on the plane of sovereign.

He's got the whole world, and he's got a plan for every bit of it.

And so sometimes you are not going to get your way.

I would say it like this: one of the greatest expressions of God's mercy is what he doesn't allow.

And what he doesn't allow, these people, you see, we make it like, oh, well, God's jealous.

They're gonna be like him.

No, that's the lie that the serpent told Eve back in the garden.

We continue to fall for that.

No, no, no.

What God, it's important we understand what's happening here.

It's not like God's threatened by human progress or agency or ingenuity or technology or capacity.

This act of building a city is defiant disobedience to the clear command of God.

And if they succeed at this first step away from dependence on God, then in their minds, they'll be bolstered towards future disobedience.

It's uh one of the primary differences in humanity and God.

We think in terms of consequences, God thinks in terms of command.

Let me say that again.

We think in terms of consequences.

God thinks in terms of command.

What do you mean?

When I say we think in terms of consequences, it sounds like this.

Well, I mean, I did that, nothing bad really happened, so it can't be that bad.

God thinks in terms like this.

I told him what to do, and he disobeyed me by not trusting my command.

Therefore, I cannot trust him with any more commands.

And then you wake up one day, you're 40 or 50, and you have this deep gnawing feeling.

It's really anxiety, and it's undiagnosed.

You think you're a workaholic.

No, no, no.

So there's something driving you because deep at your core, men, you have this deep sense that this all depends on you, and you better not screw it up.

You got to be better than your dad, a better provider, and all this kind of stuff.

And so you are driven, but you're not called.

And it weighs heavy on you.

Your wife doesn't know because you don't have language for it, it's down here, and you can't access that feeling, much less be vulnerable with it.

So letting us have what we want, by the way, is one of the most severe forms of punishment in all the Bible.

So it's not a matter of getting away with it as much as being given over to it.

And so God comes down and says, not that I'm envious, oh my gosh, they're gonna build a city and not need me.

No, no, no, no.

They're not gonna understand consequence.

And I want them and everyone who comes after them to understand I mean what I say and I say what I mean.

And God just confuses their language, and they are scattered, which brings us to the last thing in the text.

The fourth thing is God designed us to trust his plan.

God designed us to trust his plan.

It is bigger and more far-reaching than we can imagine.

It's not just for us in our lifetime, it is for our legacy, it is for your children and your children's children.

What are you saying?

Look at verse 8.

So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

Therefore, its name was called Babel, because they were there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

God has a plan, his plan is going to be realized, and it's either going to be realized through command or through consequence.

What you do not submit to is command.

You will experience this consequence.

Let me say that again.

What you do not submit to is command.

You will experience this consequence.

God told them, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth.

They get out to a nice open plain in the area of Shannar outside of Babylon.

They're like, hey, this is good.

They got a good elementary school right there.

It feeds into that middle school and it feeds into this high school.

If I can get somebody to build me a church four minutes from my house, so I don't have to drive any further than that, but I will drive 150 miles for a softball tournament.

Whoopsie.

It's a 14-minute drive.

I'm just gonna stay and watch it on TV.

Okay.

All right.

God designed us to trust his plan.

The plan is bigger and far more far-reaching.

See, here's the problem.

You have a plan for your life, God has a plan for your life.

That's the problem.

The bigger problem is that one of you knows everything, has more power and be and can be trusted.

The core problem is that you think you're that person.

Now, here's where it gets really personal.

If you're single and you're dating somebody and she has a plan for her life and she's moving on with her plan, you're back here kind of thinking, hey, I gotta set my game up.

And so you start just making stuff up.

So she feels comfortable.

Or you start making stuff up so he feels comfortable.

Maybe you're dating somebody and he's into his career, and you're back here like, uh, uh, uh, uh it's okay just to say, hey, God, I don't know what the plan is, but if you'll show me, I'll submit to it.

I walked out those doors right there one Sunday, back in 2005.

And a guy followed me out to my suburban.

He goes, Hey man, people are writing notes and putting them in the offering plate and saying, Hey, have y'all talked to this church was without a pastor?

Would you they're putting notes and saying, Hey, would you talk to Neil about being the pastor?

He goes to church here, he's not here a lot, but because he travels, he walked followed me out there and he goes, Hey man, would you even be interested in being the pastor of this church?

And I said, Out of my faith-filled heart, you have lost your mind.

And he said, I mean, I said, No, it's nothing wrong.

I no, no, I no, no, I could never do that.

Thank you, but no, thank you.

And then I gave him the Baptist no, I'll pray about it.

Sixteen years later.

Here we are.

Why?

Because look at me, best decision ever made.

I feel like Brad Pitt in the movie Fury.

Best job I ever had.

Now, in my mind, I would have never chosen this.

Because I traveled all over the country preaching to different people, places.

Basically, I lived in hotels and ate out for a living.

It was a tough gig.

I would blow in, blow up, blow out.

Now you people have my cell phone number.

Yeah.

Best thing ever happened to me.

Again.

Again, what we don't acknowledge is command, we experience as consequence.

This is a pattern all through the Bible.

It's not just here.

Oh, we don't want to be scattered over the whole earth.

No, God wants the knowledge of the glory of the Lord to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

You see it in the book of Acts.

It's repeated.

It's not just a one-off thing in the book of Acts.

Don't turn there.

But in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, God says to his people, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.

Acts 1:8

Jerusalem is kind of where they were.

But we're going to go to this thing's going to spread to Judea and Samaria.

And so they said, Oh, that's awesome.

And they did nothing.

They just sat there.

They just stayed in place because they were fearful.

And then a man named Stephen preaches the gospel and gets killed for it in chapter 7 of Acts.

Acts 8:1

Chapter 8, verse 1 of Acts.

You got Acts 1.8.

And then you got Acts 8.1.

8.1 says that after this, after the death of Stephen, a persecution broke out against the church, and they were scattered as far as guess where?

Judea and Samaria.

Here's why.

Because what you do not submit to as a command, you will experience as a consequence.

And it's not because God's mad, it's that God has a plan and it's going to be realized.

And when He reveals the plan to you, He was bestowing upon you the dignity of contribution.

They are scattered all over the face of the earth in Genesis 11.

This is how expansive the plan is, okay?

They're scattered in Genesis 11.

Last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 7, verse 9, we read these words.

Revelation 7:9

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.

They're scattered in Genesis and they're gathered from all over the earth in Revelation.

Why?

Because God has a plan for all the nations of the earth, all 195 of them.

And it's not just who's got the biggest, baddest military and can invade whoever they want, who's the global superpower.

It's do you believe in a God that has a plan, not just for the nations, but for your life?

And by the way, what we just read in Revelation happens because in the next chapter, chapter 12 of Genesis, God tells a man named Abram to leave the land of his forefathers and go to a place that will show him.

And then God says, This I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great.

Sound familiar?

These knuckleheads in chapter 11 said, We're gonna build a tower into the heaven and make a name for ourselves.

And God says in chapter 12 to a faithful man named Abram, hey, don't waste your life doing that.

I'll make your name great.

You just obey me.

And Abram, verse 4 of chapter 12 says, and so Abram left.

He was 75 years old.

Backed up the rider truck.

Beep, beep, beep.

I need to get all your stuff on here.

We're moving.

Where are we going?

I don't know.

Just get in.

Download that playlist and let's get going.

Now, why do I tell you all that?

Because Abram's leaving is what saves those who stayed.

He's the father of many nations.

You're in this room as a descendant of Abraham.

That's what God's looking for.

He's just looking for men and women that are just tired of your little plans, your business model, you're oh, hey, I'm gonna do this and go do that, and then we're gonna move here, and then we're gonna, and ee, dee, dee, dee.

And when we retire, we'll move somewhere where we know absolutely nobody.

Maybe that's not the American dream.

Maybe that's the American nightmare.

God, here's what it comes down to.

Do you believe that God has a plan for your life that is very personal?

It's good.

It's not to harm you, it's to prosper you, it's not to curse you, it's to bless you.

And do you believe, do you go on to believe that maybe the reason you don't understand that plan and enjoy that plan and experience that plan is because you don't seek after God with your whole heart.

Let's pray together.

If you're a guest, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible, and then we'd like to give you some space to think about it.

We think you're intelligent beings.

And one of the things you should do when you come to church is you should use your mind, you should think.

And so some questions will come up on the screen.

Clyde will come and he'll he'll sing something over us.

And this time is for us just to think about okay, what do what do I walk away with as a result of what I heard from God's word today?

Let me voice a prayer.

God, thanks for the Bible.

It's not a book written by man, it's inspired by God, recorded by man, and it is the truth, and it sets us free.

Liberate us.

I pray for anyone in this room that's like, hey, I don't know what the plan is.

That's great.

Just tell God.

God loves broken, dependent men who don't know what to do.

So, Holy Spirit, brood over us while we think to the glory of God.

Father, we understand today that you're God with a plan.

And there's a purpose to the plan.

And we were created, we were designed by you to be the medium through which your plan finds expression.

Whether it's that's I own a company and we're very successful to the glory of God.

Not going to become some rich, arrogant jerk who gets further and further away from God the more God blesses me.

So, Lord, I pray you'd bless my people.

Pray you'd open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing upon them they're not able to receive.

Pressed together, shaken, overflowing, poured right in their lap.

We'd stop scrambling around like it all depends on us.

You have a plan, and the plan is good.

So increase our capacity to trust you and look to you.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

If you're a guest, I want to say thanks.

You're always welcome here.

Uh uh, and so you're welcome.

Your questions are welcome.

Uh, and so hopefully, if you haven't already, you'll pull one of those guest cards in the seat back pocket in your row, fill it out on your way out here in just a minute.

Just drop it in the wooden box by the door.

That's also where we receive our offering.

Uh, and so if today's a day you worship God through obedience or generosity, that's where you take care of that as well.

We got just two or three things we want you to be aware of.

So let's check out our video announcements.

Thank you for joining us today.

Here's some things we want you to know.

The Family Christmas party is coming up on December 4th.

Join us for gingerbread, Christmas carols, train rides, and more.

It's a great time to invite your neighbors.

The Advent Kids Choir is still open for registration.

If your child is five or older and loves to sing, we would love to have them.

The varsity is a quarterly lunch for men and women 60 and over.

Our next gathering is December 8th.

We will have lunch, sing some Christmas carols, and hear meaningful content relevant to the season.

For all these events, take the next step by heading to grandparkway.org/slash events to register.

If you're new or would like someone to pray with you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

We'd like to conclude our service with a spoken blessing.

So if you would stand to your feet.

Now, before you hold your hands out, look at me.

Look around.

I want you to look around and see somebody around you you don't know.

And when you're dismissed here in a minute, introduce yourself to them.

Yes.

Yes.

Yeah.

You feel that energy?

Somebody go, ready to go in my truck.

You let us out a little early today, you long-winded preacher.

Stop crying.

You were created to be disappointed, remember.

I'm here to introduce you to that part of God's will for your life.

Just go over and meet people.

Hey, my name's Dave.

What's your name?

I don't know you.

We're going to the same church.

Hold your hands out.

Your God is not only good, he has a plan.

And his plan is to bless you, to prosper you, not to harm you.

And you'll search for him and you'll find him and you search for him with your whole heart.

Depart now.

Give your whole heart to experiencing God's plan for your life.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.