Exodus: The Power of Everyone

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Amen.

Let's pray together.

God, there's our prayer.

Make of us men and women of courage so we can face what lies before us.

We don't want to be a people of complaining.

We want to be a people of consequence.

Lord, we don't want to just be rich in potential and really lean on accomplishment.

And so when the hymn writer says, bring our bud to glorious flower, we don't even think about God in those majestic kind of ways anymore.

And so we want to be provoked, God, in how we think about you and what you're doing in the world.

And we want to we want our lives to be aimed at and invested in that.

And so, Holy Spirit, speak to us today.

Provoke us towards godly thinking.

We we I I pray for us today what Peter said when he said in 2 Peter, this is now my second epistle to you.

And I've written both of them to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.

God, stimulate, provoke, fill us today, we ask in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

You can have a seat.

If you've got a Bible, I invite you to open it up to Exodus chapter 35.

Exodus 35 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, there's one on your row.

I'm on page 75 in your pew Bible.

And if you're our guest today, we're going to the book of Exodus and we're almost to the end.

We've got two more sermons in Exodus.

And so you can stop sending me emails and asking me how long we're going to be in Exodus.

Uh, you babies.

Anyway, uh, so I want to talk to you this morning uh about the power of everyone.

The power of everyone.

And here's what I want to do I want to read a long section uh uh of Exodus, and so the the good part of that is uh a lot of Bible reading means less time for Neil, and that's a good thing, amen?

Don't say that with so much gusto.

Uh and and but but I I want to point out some things, but let me just say this.

There's a part of the book of Exodus towards the end that starts sounding repetitive because God tells Moses up on the mountain, and now Moses is coming down and he's telling the people they're gonna actually do what God told them they were gonna do.

But let me just speak to this.

This is free.

When there's repetition, this part of Exodus, it's really two things God does.

Uh God reminds them of two truths.

Number one, I've not changed my mind about dwelling with you as my people, because they committed horrible idolatry, they were unfaithful, they committed spiritual adultery, they were unfaithful to God a couple chapters ago, and and God was not happy with them.

But but now he's kind of saying, Hey, I've not changed my mind about you.

I want to dwell with you, I want to be with you.

And it really gets us ready for Jesus in the incarnation that's coming up in Advent.

But the second thing is, God says, I've not changed my mind and I've not changed my mission.

What does that mean?

I still plan on using you.

So when we read that today, what I want you to hear from this is despite what you may have done, God wants to live inside of you and he wants to use you for his glory.

Let me say that again.

It doesn't matter what you've done, and I'm not I'm I'm not minimizing sin.

Sin is horrible, uh, but but it doesn't change the fact that God still wants to live inside of you, okay?

And he still wants to use you for his glory.

All right?

That's why there's repetition in the Bible.

And so I want to start reading Exodus chapter 35, verse 4, as we think about the power of everyone.

Exodus 35:4

And the Bible says this.

Verse 4 Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded.

Take from among you a contribution to the Lord.

Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution: gold and silver and bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goat's hair, tanned rams, skins and goat skins, acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breast piece.

Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded, the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its frames, its bars, its pillars and its bases, the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen, the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of presence, the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light, and the altar of incense with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the door at the door of the tabernacle, the altar of burnt offering with its grating of bronze, its poles and its utensils, the basin and its stand, the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, the screen of the gate of the court, the pegs of the tabernacle, and the pegs of the court, and their cords, the finely worked garments for ministering in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priest.

And then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses, and they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and they brought their Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.

And so they came, both men and women, all who were of a willing heart, brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets and all sorts of gold objects, and every man dedicated an offering of gold to the Lord.

And everyone who possessed the blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine twine or fine linen or goat's hair or tanned ramskins or goat skins brought them.

Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord's contribution.

Everyone who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it.

And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, and all the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goat's hair, and all the leaders brought onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breast piece, and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.

And all the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done, brought it as a free will offering to the Lord.

And then Moses said to the people of Israel, See, the Lord is has called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, and cutting stones for setting and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.

And he has inspired him to teach both him and a holyab, the son of Ahizamak, of the tribe of Dan, and he has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen or by a weaver, by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

Bezalel and Aholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.

And Moses called Bezalel and the Holy Ab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill and whose heart stirred him up to come do the work after they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work of the sanctuary.

They still kept bringing him free will offerings every morning, so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he that he was doing, and said to Moses, The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.

So Moses gave the command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.

So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had they had was sufficient to do all the work and more.

End of story.

Some of you are like, You're gonna read the rest of the whole book?

Come on, dude.

I wanted you to get the flow of the narrative and kind of the big picture of what is happening here.

And I wanted you to get a sense of the every oneness of the when I say the power of everyone.

You got skilled uh uh uh artisans and craftsmen, you got men, you got women, you got leaders, you got people that got a lot of stuff, you got people that got like a goat skin, and that's basically it.

But this is what this is what we mean when we talk about the power of everyone.

Let me make some observations from the text today.

Number one is simply this is that giving comes from the heart.

Giving comes from the heart.

He says it first of all in verse five, and he repeats it all the way through of anyone who is of a willing heart, of a willing heart.

Uh Exodus 35, verse 5, right off the top.

Exodus 35:5

He says, Take from among you a contribution to the Lord.

Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution.

And then he lists off the different starts of gold, silver, and bronze, and just kind of goes on from there.

What do you mean when you say giving comes from the heart?

It's always been that way.

That's why if you're if you're new to our church, we don't believe in guilt and manipulation and pressure, and we don't tell sad stories and kind of go, don't you want to help?

Come on.

Here's why.

And I had lunch with a guy a while back, and and and he said, he's new to our church.

He said, No, I kind of know y'all don't like put a big emphasis on the offering.

And you don't even take up an offering.

I said, we receive an offering every Sunday.

We have wooden boxes by the doors.

I said, but yeah, I mean, I've never been at a church where they didn't make a big deal out of the offering.

And I said, This is not about pressure from the top, this is about understanding from within.

And he's like, uh, and I said, the Bible's, it's all about your heart.

Giving comes from the heart.

And he said, Well, I'd hate to say, I'd hate to be in your position.

I said, What do you mean?

I mean the well-being of you and your staff and everything depends on these people's hearts.

And I said, Absolutely.

That's how we pay the bills, that's how the staff gets their salary paid, that's how my kids eat, that's how my daughter goes to college.

And then he was just like, I'll tell you what, boy.

And I said, You're thinking about people's heart, like in terms of maybe what your heart is like.

But here's the great news of the gospel.

Way back in Ezekiel 36, God says, What did I say?

Do I?

What his heart, yeah.

His heart.

I mean, here we we project because he's thinking, hey, I'm thinking, I love the guy.

I'm like, hey, just because your heart is like the Grinch, it's just shrunk up like a raisin, not everybody's that way.

Because we project on the people, hey, I'm I'm assuming everybody thinks about this whole giving thing the way I do.

And this guy's a good guy, but he's kind of like, hey, on, you know, I'm and I'm like, just relax, just relax.

There's no pressure coming from this.

We we think, hey, if everybody kind of did it the way I did it, eh, that might not be a bad thing.

It might be a horrible thing.

But the Bible comes along, it's always said this.

This is the Old Testament, all through Exodus, over and over.

He says, Whoever's of a willing heart, who's ever of a willing heart, and by the way, once your heart gets to the place of willingness, it will wreck your life.

It won't just stop with giving.

It'll be about everything across the board.

Because you'll begin to experience what Christianity is all about, and you'll never want to go back to any other way of living ever again.

You just won't.

It will mess you up.

This is what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 6.

2 Corinthians 9:6

Paul says, the point is this.

See, we're in the Old Testament.

I'm reading now from the New Testament.

It says all through the Bible, it's just about, hey, God has a great belief in what He has the capacity to do to your heart.

Ezekiel 36, he says, I'll take out your heart of stone, and I'll put a heart of flesh in you, and I'll move you to follow my decrees.

You should ask yourself this question this morning.

What moves me these days?

What moves me?

What inspires me?

Because Paul says this.

He says, the point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.

Whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each one must give as he's decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Yeah, it's just it's it's all through the Bible.

Giving comes from the heart.

And God has a great confidence and his capacity to change a person's heart because in your heart, that's a birthplace of gratitude.

When you understand the gospel, and gratitude is a response to grace, and it begins to permeate every part of your life.

Second thing the Bible tells us this morning is that, hey, be skilled at something.

Be skilled at something.

Look at verse 10 in chapter 35.

Look at verse 10, he says, Let every skilled craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded, colon, double space.

And then he begins to lift off all this stuff.

He says, Hey, let every skilled craftsman come among you and uh and come and make all that the Lord has commanded, the tabernacle, its tent, its cover.

And he lifts off.

By the way, in case you're wondering, there's 49 things listed there.

Why?

Because you required skilled people.

It's skilled people.

You can be skilled at something.

We've lost this in America because we don't focus on making things as much as we focus on making money.

And so for a lot of people, a job is just a means to an end.

A job is just a means to a paycheck.

And those are the people that hate their job.

They're miserable.

They're just kind of like, ah, I've got to go endure this for 14 more days, and then I got a paycheck.

And then 14 more days of misery, and then another paycheck.

Beloved, ask yourself, is this the way God called you and created you to live?

We have lost a sense of skilled artisan and craftsmanship.

The Bible says, every skilled craftsman, just focus on that for just a second.

Every skilled craftsman.

I was at a dinner a while back, and uh after dinner, they took the plates away, and under the plate was a little card and had questions on it.

I think it's called table topics or something like that.

And so under my plate was you turned, and then the lady said, Oh, before we have dessert, and I was like, Great, awesome.

We're gonna play word games.

Uh they took the plates away and she said, Before we have dessert and coffee, everybody turn your card over and we'll just have a tape uh uh table uh topic conversation.

And everyone had to read their question.

Mine was, if you could make any one thing, what would you make?

And so I put that to you this morning.

If you could make any one thing, not on the list there, there's 49 things listed, random things.

It says utensils like four different times for different things.

But if you had the power to make any one thing, what would you make?

So I read my card, and one guy said I'd make I would invent a cure for cancer.

He lost his grandmother and his mother both to cancer.

And then it got all kind of somber and stuff, and people were kind of like, mmm, oh, okay.

Then and then we just around the table, everyone asked, and everybody got to answer the questions.

And so the Bible says to us this morning, hey, be skilled at something.

Don't just get a job, get a craft, be good at something.

Third thing the Bible tells us is that God uses then to prepare us for now.

God uses then to prepare us for now.

Has there ever been a time when God did something that you didn't understand until much later?

If it hadn't happened yet, brace yourself.

It's going to happen.

And in in our text this morning, when I say God uses then to prepare us for now, here's what I'm talking about.

Because he starts talking in verse 20.

Look at what he says.

He says, and all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses, and they came after they heard the instruction, and they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and he brought the Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting and all its service and for all the holy garments.

They're not just building a building, they got to furnish this bad boy, and then they got to keep the thing going.

And look what happens in verse 22.

So they came, both men and women, all who were of a willing heart, and they brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets and all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord.

Ask yourself this question: where did they get all this stuff?

There were slaves in Egypt.

They get released from slavery.

They've been on a journey of Exodus to get to the promised land the whole time.

So where did they get all this gold and silver and bronze and all these fine twined linens?

Where did they get that?

They got it from the Egyptians, way back in chapter 12.

Remember in chapter 12 in like 1987?

Remember that?

And they're getting ready to leave.

And the Bible says this in chapter 12.

You can check them.

It says God made the Egyptians favorably disposed to the Israelites.

And they were so sick of them because God sent the plagues and they said, Hey, give us silver and gold and nice clothes.

We're going somewhere.

We want to get our dress up on.

And so they did.

They just said, Here, take the silver and gold.

Here's my wife's ring.

Just get out of here, you miserable people.

Your God is punishing us.

We've had enough.

And so they have all this stuff.

And so they're on a journey and they're kind of like, hey, we got all this stuff.

And all of a sudden, you see, here's what I'm saying to you.

God does things years ago, months ago, that we don't understand in the moment, hey, the significance or the bigness of what God's going to do.

But now all of a sudden, we see that God furnishes the tabernacle with all this stuff they got from the Egyptians.

They use this stuff to capture the majesty and the holy otherness of God.

And everybody has something to give.

So when I say God uses then to prepare us for now, that's what I mean.

Let me bring it down to where we live in this room this morning.

There's a lady that goes to our church, her name is Stephanie Price.

And almost every Sunday, Stephanie Price makes a beeline to me.

Now, if you know Stephanie Price right now, you're smiling.

You're like, oh yeah, that is Stephanie Price.

She makes a beeline to me, Pastor, I got something to tell you.

And I was like, imagine that.

You got something to tell me.

And so over a year ago, she comes to me and she goes, Pastor, I want you and Marcia to come to this fundraising dinner.

And I'm like, Do I have to dress up?

I hate dressing up to eat.

Can't we just wear?

I'll give you extra money if you let me wear jeans and a t-shirt.

I'll give you double if you let me wear jeans and a wife beater undershirt and flip-flops.

And she's like, shut up.

Here, gives me this flyer.

And she's like, Yeah, this is for an organization called Life House.

I believe in this.

I'm and it's a crisis pregnancy home for pregnant uh teenagers, pregnant women.

And she gives me all the rundown and she goes, there's one in Houston, and I'm praying they bring one to Fort Bend County.

And in my mind, I'm thinking, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, thanks.

And I said, listen, after I preach three times on a Sunday, I don't want to go home, put on a suit, and go to dinner at night.

I want to just sit in my backyard and just stare at the moon, okay?

She goes, Well, I'm gonna invite your wife.

So she does.

And we go.

And it's in a hotel in downtown Houston.

For the record, I live in Sugarland.

I don't go to Houston unless I've got a doctor's appointment, okay?

I got everything I need out here in the burbs, okay?

I love the suburbs.

I ain't gotta go live in there.

So we drive down there, my wife's giving me the little pat.

You know how your wife is meant?

This is gonna be good.

Stop petting me.

I'm not a kitten, okay?

I'm good, I'm all here.

They got steak.

So I get there, we have a little pass, we go in.

It's nice, it's beautiful.

It's well, most of these things, by the time they serve your food, it's cold.

And sometimes when things don't go like they should, I put on the hat that says general manager of the universe, and I start giving them advice about how they could do it better.

I know none of you do that, but I was impressed because this thing ran really well.

It was smooth.

Things started when they should have started, they ended when they should have ended.

The food was actually good.

It was still warm when we got to eat it.

They had a guest speaker, then they, hey, flip over your cards on the thing.

And so I thought, where's the$5 contribution box?

There we go.

I'll write that in.

Uh and we're driving home, and I just thought, I thought this in my mind.

And Stephanie Price is like, well, you know, Pastor, I'm praying that God brings us to Fort Bing County.

We need this, and I'm just like, I can't do everything.

And so I drive home and I thought, this will get Stephanie Price off my back for at least two Sundays.

But here's the beautiful thing about Stephanie.

She's like, hey, if I'm bugging you, just tell me I'll go bug somebody else.

She's relentless.

And I'm like, no, you're not bugging me.

I I get it.

I get I'm great.

I'll be praying for Lifehouse.

Why do I tell you that?

Because sometimes God uses then to prepare us for now.

About a month ago, I wanted to meet with Don and I went to our ministry coordinator, Amy's desk, I said, Hey, is Don available?

And she goes, No, he's with somebody.

And I said, Who is he with?

She goes, He's with the Lady Sue Baumgartner.

And I was like, I don't know that name.

She said, She's with an organization called Lighthouse.

And I was like, shut up.

I could tell you more, but I brought you a video that kind of tells the story better than I can.

Now you may be wondering, what's that got to do with the point that God uses then to prepare us for now?

Because what God sent in motion uh through my crazy friend Stephanie uh has come to fruition.

Lifehouse now has a home here in Richmond.

Uh and they have furniture and stuff, and and oh, now they've got my wife involved and the women's ministry involved, and and my wife's like, oh, well, you don't have sheets and dishes and stuff.

Why don't you go register somewhere?

Uh and we'll we'll we'll we'll give our people an opportunity to do that.

And so you'll be you'll be hearing more about that because we want to help uh they have a home, we want to help them make it a place uh of blessing.

And so uh this is one of our new missional relationships with Lifehouse.

Matter of fact, the director Sue Baumgarner is in our service, she's right over here.

Sue, would you stand up?

Uh Sue will be available after the service.

If you have any questions about Life House and what they do, but the home, like I said, they have two homes in Houston, I believe.

Is it two you have in Houston?

Two houses, and one they just recently acquired here in Richmond.

And so we want to be a part, we want to partner with people like this.

And God set all this into motion over a year ago.

When a lady came up to me and go, I want you, Pastor, I want you and your wife to come to this fundraising dinner.

And I was like, I don't have any money.

What do you want to mean?

I'll come there eat the food.

Okay, great.

Well, I want you to come.

I want you to hear about this great ministry.

And so now this great ministry is not just a great ministry, it's a great ministry here in our city, and it's one of our new mission relationships.

Why?

Because God uses then to prepare us for now.

So whatever's going on around you right now, don't evaluate it and trash it and throw it away.

Just ask the Holy Spirit, hey, how might you use this in the future?

Yeah, you got a few more minutes in you so I can finish the sermon, or you want to go home now?

Let's vote.

I'm just kidding.

You said keep going, right?

All right, I'm for you, young lady.

Uh, here's the fourth thing I want to say, and I'm glad you said that.

How old are you right here in the front row, young lady?

11.

You know what?

I was 11 once.

About 10 years ago, my wife says.

Uh anyway, here's the fourth thing.

You write this down, okay?

God uses women to accomplish his purposes.

God uses women.

I just point this out.

Look at verse 25.

It says that every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they brought all they'd spun in purple, blue, and purple, and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

Verse 26, all the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill.

All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill.

When I say God uses women to accomplish his purposes, I say this because I think sometimes.

We're so focused on what women shouldn't be doing that we lose sight of what they can do and are doing.

And so, and we're not that we're not one of those churches.

We believe, ladies, that you are gifted, you're inspired, you have spiritual gifts, you have capacity, you have skill, and you can use that in the workplace and in the marketplace, and you don't have to check it at the door when you come to the church.

Do you hear what I'm saying?

Now, some of you are coming like, oh, be careful.

I'm gonna call the complimentarian police.

Call them.

I don't care.

I'm just telling you that God uses here what here's what I don't want you to do.

So if you're 11 or you're 21 or whatever, because here's what girls do.

I believe there's so much.

I raised both my daughters, telling them this, okay?

And my one that's off at college, she's experiencing now.

I told him, hey, when you meet a guy, here's the mistake that girls make.

And almost our culture teaches girls this.

Hey, when you see a guy and you like him and he likes you, then you make him the center of your world and you just do whatever you got to do to stay in that relationship.

Well, what happens is that girl stops developing into the woman God's called her to be.

If the relationship ends, she is lost.

And so her insecurity says to her, get in another relationship.

So she gets another relationship and does the same thing with a different man.

And so she goes into adulthood as a woman who's underdeveloped and doesn't believe I'm skilled, I'm gifted, I'm called, okay?

God's gonna use me.

She thinks I got to be in this relationship with this man.

So I preach that to my daughters all the time.

My oldest goes off to college.

She meets this guy, and he's like, hey, hey, hey.

And she said, I said, here's the deal, Masson, just because someone likes you, you ain't gotta like them back.

You be tactful, you be you be a graceful person, that's who you are, but don't tolerate this nonsense.

Some guy like just asking you to coffee every other day, and all of a sudden you're in a relationship with him.

And so she said, Yeah, I had to tell this guy, you know what, I really I'm not interested in a day relationship.

I just want to enjoy college for like a year.

And he said to her back, Well, yeah, yeah, I don't need to spend time with you because I start feeling something besides you're kind of aggressive and kind of bossy.

I started losing my peripheral vision.

She said, What do you mean?

He said, Well, when we were working out the other day, you were just like speaking up and everything.

You just speak your mind.

And I'm like, Yeah, yeah.

And I said, Well, I was talking to her on the phone, and she's, I said, Well, how's school?

And she was telling me, she goes, Yeah, I had this weird experience.

And I was like, What's his first and last name?

I've been making a visit to Waco over here and putting a beat down on some fool.

Here's the deal.

You're 11, right?

Look at me.

Don't ever just think, I gotta just be whoever this guy wants me to be, whoever this boy wants me to be to stay in this relationship.

Because the only person you're created to think that way about is God.

Boys are not God.

Some of them think they are, but they're not.

That's free.

Because here's the thing.

When you go to bed, my 11-year-old friend, here's the thing you tell yourself.

You know what?

God uses women to accomplish his purposes.

The fifth thing the Bible tells us is that giving is proportional.

Verse 27 says, and the leaders, the leaders, uh, and the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breast piece, and it goes on to talk about spices and oils.

I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but when we talk about the leaders, it's not talking about Moses and Aaron.

These are people that had more money than others, and so they could give in proportion to what they had.

And so that's why I say giving is proportional.

It's not like, hey, if people have a lot of money and give a lot of money, they're better or more special, or God loves them more.

No, he doesn't.

God blessed those people in the first place, and they're just being good stewards of what God's blessed them with.

Sixth thing the text tells us is this God uses artisans and artists.

God uses artisans and artists.

You say, I don't know what you mean.

Look at verse 30.

You still with me?

Uh it says, Then Moses said to the people of Israel, see, the Lord is called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, the tribe of Judah, and he's filled them with the Spirit of God.

Down in verse 34, it says, and he has inspired him to teach.

Now hear that again.

When I say God uses artisans and artists, preachers aren't the only people that God uses.

Please do not limit God to such a shallow, pathetic gene pool is preachers.

Don't in your prayers and in your thinking, don't just think preachers are the hope of the world.

Because if they are, we're in deep weeds, beloved.

No, God uses artisans and artists.

The three things I pointed out, God says about this guy, Bezalael, he says he's called him, he's filled him with the Spirit of God.

By the way, this is the first person in the Bible that was filled with the Spirit.

And it wasn't a preacher, it's a guy.

Bezalael's his name.

Bezalael was a craftsman.

He knew how to build stuff and make stuff, he knew how to work with wood and metal.

And God called him and he filled him with the spirit of God, and he inspired him.

Ask yourself this question: if these three things were true of you, how would it change the way you go you work tomorrow?

God's called me.

God's filled me with a spirit, and God has inspired me.

Bezalel.

Let me give you a modern-day version of Bezalel.

Anybody recognize this cat right here?

You're like, that's my grandpa.

This is a modern-day Bezalel.

I'll tell you a little bit about him, okay?

That may jog your memory.

He's one of six human beings in the history of civilization who's won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal, the two highest civilian honors that our country gives.

This man is one of them, along with the Nobel Peace Prize.

There's only six people in the world that have done that.

And he's one of them.

And y'all are like, that's great.

That doesn't tell me anything about it.

Here's another hint.

Time magazine said this about him.

It is possible, even probable, that no other human being made a greater humanitarian impact in the 20th century.

Now you're really curious.

Anyone?

Anything?

I'll give you a little more information on him.

He went to school in the country in a one-room schoolroom.

Went on to college, graduated college, went to work for the forestry department.

He thought, you know what?

I think there's something else I'm supposed to be doing.

Because back to college at the University of Minnesota, as my mom says it.

Graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1942 with a PhD in plant pathology and genetics.

You're like, I got nothing.

His name's Norman Borlog.

Oh, that explains it.

Norman Borlog, he developed high-yield, disease-resistant strains of wheat that could flourish and famine plague third world countries.

India, the nation of India gave him their second highest honor.

They rarely bestow that upon a foreigner.

In some parts of the world, he's considered a God.

When he won the, I mean, people just go crazy when the guy shows up.

It's estimated that he has saved hundreds of millions of lives and prevented people from starving.

Because he's an agronomist.

So, if you're sitting out there and you're thinking, oh, this is well and good, but I'm not a preacher, you don't have to be a preacher.

Some of you people, some of you cats in the oil industry are gonna have to figure out how to frack without water.

And we're about to we're about to shake Oklahoma to death.

I know y'all are gonna come to me and go, that's really not fracking, it's not the problem.

Okay, whatever you gotta tell yourself.

But it's men that men and women that set their mind to, hey, how do I solve that problem?

Not for the sake of profit, but for the sake of advancement.

Norman Borlaug, Bezalel.

Why?

Because God uses artists and artisans.

Last thing I want to say to you this morning, this morning is simply this is just the power of everyone.

The power of everyone.

Chapter 36, verse 2, Moses called Bezalel and the holy ab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill and everyone whose heart stirred him up to come and do the work.

You gotta have a balance of the two.

There's mind people and there's heart people.

You gotta ask yourself today, am I more of a head person or a heart person?

There's there's people in our church that are head people.

I'm more of a heart person.

Uh I try to be a head person, but I'm more of a heart person.

Like when we had our hilarious Sunday offering, there's a man in our church that said, Hey, I'd like to put together some models of giving that that run along the lines of if we if we paid another million dollars down, uh, or if we paid nothing, if we looked at building a sanctuary, or if we paid a million dollars down, or if we waited to pay the whole thing off, I'll I'll run some models for you.

And I was like, great.

I had no idea what he's talking about.

I was like, awesome, awesome.

Can I get a corn dog and some tater tots with that?

And so sure enough, he comes back and sends it to me, and I was just like, all right, yeah, that looks official.

And so I take it to my head friend who's like a financial guru genius, and I said, Can you look at that and explain that to me in like layman's terms?

And he's like, Oh, this is brilliant, this is great.

Who did this?

I said, It's a guy in our church.

He's like you, like smart.

Uh just just tell me in layman's terms what he goes, can I take this and noodle around with it?

I may want to add something to it.

I said, That'd be great.

How about y'all get together and have a nerd coffee, okay?

And he's like, awesome.

And he says, because he's a smart aleck, he said, You don't call a nerd after he graduates college, don't you?

And I said, No, you're boss.

It takes both.

It takes both.

It is the sheer mercy of God that God didn't make everybody like you.

That's an amen from the kid.

So when I say the power of everyone, what do you mean?

Here's what it comes down to.

I don't know if you know it or not, but the Chicago Cubs won the World Series this past week.

Yes.

Unless you've been living in a cave.

I stayed up for game seven, watched the whole thing, 18-minute rain delay.

They tie the game up in the eighth.

Are you kidding me?

Did you throw it anywhere but down inside?

That's the only way he can turn on the pitch.

Throws it down inside, home run.

I was like, somebody's gonna kill a goat when this is over.

This is not good.

But the cubbies come back.

They have an inspiring speech.

They come back and they win.

Everyone's going crazy, they're going ski goggles and they're spraying champagne everywhere.

And everybody went to bed.

I stayed up because I'm a nerd and I'm just watching.

And all of a sudden, they get the general manager, Theo Epstein, he's the vice president of baseball operations, and they interviewed him because he's the guy that turned around the Boston Red Sox.

And so the Cubs hired him to come turn them around to build from the farm system on up.

And they stuck a microphone and they said, How's this feel?

First thing Theo Epstein says, on the pitcher's mound, covered with champagne, he says, This what makes a great organization is a thousand little sacrifices that people make when no one is looking.

And I reached for my remote so I could just pause the TV and just let that just wash over me.

What makes a great organization?

What makes a great organization is a thousand little sacrifices that people make when no one is looking.

I would tweak that just a little bit and I'll be done this morning.

What makes a great church is a thousand little sacrifices that people make when no one is looking.

And that's what you see in Exodus 35.

Is these people accomplishing great things because they're all making a thousand little sacrifices when no one is looking.

And beloved, that's what I mean when I talk about the power of everyone.

Let's pray together.

Just take a moment and just ask the Holy Spirit what he said to you today.

If you're a guest, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible even the difficult parts, even the parts that are kind of like, what's this got to do with me and my marriage?

More than you realize.

We like to teach the Bible, then just give you some mental space to think about it for a minute.

And so let's just do that.

Let's think about what has God said to us today.

This is not a production as much as it is an invitation.

God is inviting you to be a part of what He's doing in the world and to be the people, to be the men and women that God does it through.

Father, we hear you calling us to rise up this morning.

We hear you calling little girls to not let their identity be girlfriend.

We let it to be a child of God, a called, skilled, gifted, competent woman who's got something to say and something to do because you put it in her heart to do it.

We hear you calling us to be the church that establishes relationships with quality organizations that do kingdom work.

We hear you today, Lord.

We hear you loud and clear.

So we are without excuse for our neutrality, our mediocrity, and our indifference.

And that's not who we are.

So we relish the opportunity to join you in what you're doing in this world, to tell the story of redemption in a thousand different ways.

We want to be the church is the great organization full of people who make a thousand sacrifices.

That is our privilege today, God.

So we say thank you to you.

And we say that in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you're our guest today, uh, when you came in, you were given a little worship folder, and on the far right side is a tear-off portion.

Hopefully, you've had a chance to fill that out.

If you would just tear it off and drop it in one of these wooden boxes by the doors, that's also where we receive our offering.

So if today's the day you worship through obedience or through generosity, that's where you'll do that as well, okay?

If you're our guest, let me just acknowledge something.

Our service went a little long today.

Usually I preach about 22 minutes and it all rhymes.

And no.

I told Christy Golson, and she said, How long do I take?

I said, Take as long as you want.

And I meant that.

Uh and I wanted you to see Life House, and we didn't want to just show it at the beginning when most of y'all aren't here.

Amen.

Uh so anyway, if you're our guest today, just know our service went a little bit long.

That's not an apology, that's an explanation.

Okay?

Stand to your feet.

I'm gonna ask Christy and Sue Baumgartner and myself and some of our other pastors will be available down front.

If you have any questions about Life House, some of you ladies are kind of like, I wash laundry and uh just come to Christy and say, hey, can you pray for me?

Because I think you get it.

Okay?

These Yehos up there on the stage, they don't get it.

They think they do, but so anyway, by the way, never trust a preacher that thinks he's the only person that has something to say.

And that's from a preacher.

Hold your hands out.

Your God has called you, He's filled you with His Spirit, and He's inspired you to do something specific for His glory and for your pleasure.

Depart now and live in that happy place between God's glory and your pleasure.

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

Bless you, you dismiss.