Moses and the Burning Bush

So, if you want to know what you're doing with your life, come to the marriage seminar.

I need to know what am I doing with my life, Barbie.

All right.

Are you guys in a good mood this morning?

I hope so.

It's going to be a good … It's going to be a good morning, not because of anything

I've got, but because he's a holy God, and he is here, and he loves you.

He cares about us.

Before we get started, this coming Wednesday is March 5th, I believe.

It is Ash Wednesday, and it marks the beginning of the Lenten season.

I'm going to talk a little about this in the back end of the message, so I'm not going

to teach right now about it, but the reason I wanted to bring it up right now is because

we will be doing devotionals over the 40 days prior to Easter, and they will be posted on

social media and on our app every day in the morning, a three to five-minute devotional

from one of our staff members, just to kind of lead you through each day, and it's going

to pair along the reading that we've been doing on the greatest stories ever told.

So, I encourage you to pick that up as a daily thing that we do as we go into the Lenten

season, and then the following week is Springhouse Conference, and so I hope that you have

registered.

We are excited.

It looks like we've got a couple 300 people that are registered to come, so it's going

to be a good time.

Please bring neighbors, bring friends.

It's not exclusive.

It certainly can be for the community as well.

We'd like them to come and partake and be a part of it.

I think God has some real exciting things then, but God has a habit of saving the best

right now, and so I believe he's got something for us this morning.

We're continuing in the greatest stories ever told, and today we're going to look briefly

at a story that you're actually going to read, I believe, tomorrow, if I've got the plan

correct.

You're actually in it this week, and so we're going to get a little bit of a jump start

on it, but we're going to be looking at Exodus chapter three.

So we're going to stand, and we're going to read from Exodus chapter three, and then we

are going to read a verse from 1 Peter as well.

Now, first service was puny, and I am taking score, so let's do this with a little gusto

this morning.

Here we go.

Is my clicker working?

Moses and the burning bush.

Here we go.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and

led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.

Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up.

So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight, why the bush does not

burn up."

"Do not come any closer," God said.

"Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."

Then he said, "I am the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob."

At this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought

to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.

For it is written, "Be holy because I am holy."

Let's read that last line again.

Be holy because I am holy.

Father, I thank you for your word.

I thank you that it is amazing.

It's extraordinary, your word is.

I pray, Lord, that it would transform our lives.

I pray, Lord, that it permeate all thoughts, God, and ideas, Lord, that it would be supreme.

It would hold the authority in our lives.

I pray, Lord, that it would get down into our spirit and it would transform us today.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

You may be seated this morning in the presence of the Lord.

The greatest stories ever told.

This is a familiar story, I would assume.

Has anybody seen "The Prince of Egypt"?

You see movies that have come out and you,

and, or you've, you've probably seen Moses, the older, the old school.

I'm, you know, I'm gonna watch the cartoon, of course,

but the old, the old school, what's that name?

Moses, 10, oh, the 10, of course, the 10 Commandments.

You see the 10 Commandments, yeah.

(congregation laughing)

You know, these stories, inanimate, I mean, you know,

I'm kinda thinking, what did these people do

without TV and movies, you know, without telling a story?

But really, truly, this story is,

is one of the more well-known stories.

And man, I just, I love the move of God

because I look at the stories in the Old Testament

and I see how it is so woven and put together

to point us to Jesus.

If you pay attention, you can always get a line back

to Jesus, which is the whole point in the first place.

He is the center of all things.

So here we are, the setup is Moses has,

Moses has fled from Egypt, okay?

And we read that, if you're in the Bible reading plan,

you've read that.

He was put on the Nile, he was accepted

into Pharaoh's family, he grew up and was raised there.

He ended up killing a Hebrew worker

and ends up running away from Egypt into the wilderness.

And so here we are, and he's in the wilderness,

he's with his family, he gets married,

he's with his father-in-law, Jethro,

and he's out in the wilderness.

And he's out there tending the flock,

and he looks over and he sees a bush that is burning,

but it's not burning up.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I see a fire anywhere,

it draws my attention.

Anybody draw?

Now, I like to start fires too.

Yeah.

Both metaphorically and physically, yeah.

But you know, I'm drawn to the fire

because you see the big stacks of smoke

coming in the air or fire.

You turn your head and say, "What's going on?"

Something is on fire.

But typically when something's on fire, it's consumed.

And what happened here is Moses looks over,

he sees this bush on fire, which I would assume,

I don't know, but I would assume that's not extraordinary,

the fact that a bush in the wilderness was on fire

because of the climate.

That probably could have happened.

But the fact that the bush was burning,

but it wasn't being consumed was a particular note.

And so he takes his focus off of the flock

and he heads toward this anomaly

and out of the bush comes this voice.

Now, I'm gonna tell you, if I go up to a bush

and I hear a voice, the angel of the Lord said,

"Do not be afraid."

I say, "Too late."

(congregation laughing)

And so the voice of God comes at Moses and he says,

"Do not come closer."

You don't have to tell me twice.

"Do not come closer."

He says, "Take off your shoes, take off your sandals

"for where you are standing is holy ground."

Where you are standing is holy ground.

And Moses obeys, he takes off his sandals

and it says that he holds his arm up

and turns his face away in recognition and acknowledgement

that it was God talking to him.

And then in the discourse, in the conversation,

God is saying, "Moses, I'm gonna send you back to Egypt

"from where you came."

I bet Moses thought to himself prior to that moment,

he was never gonna see that place again.

But he says, "I'm gonna send you back to Egypt

"and I'm gonna use you to deliver

"over nearly 600,000 men, women and their families

"from slavery because I have heard the cry of my people."

And of course, just like many of us, Moses says,

"Oh sure, I'll do it right away.

"What do you want me to do?"

No, Moses renders a bunch of excuses.

"I'm not good enough."

Anybody ever thought they weren't good enough?

Raise your hand.

"I'm not good enough.

"I don't have the answers.

"People won't believe me.

"I don't speak well.

"I'm not qualified."

Moses renders these excuses much like we do

when God tells us to do things, asks us to do things

and toward the end he says, "You know what, God?

"I tell you what, I got a better idea.

"Why don't you send somebody else?"

Has anybody ever gotten to that place with God

where you're like, "Lord, why don't you just

"send somebody else?"

The word tells us that God's anger burned against Moses.

Can I tell you this morning,

when God tells you to do something, you need to obey.

When God tells you to do something,

obedience is always the correct answer.

God's anger burned against Moses

and I believe that it burned against Moses

because God's power was on display right before Moses.

Moses had no reason to not believe what God was saying

and to say to send somebody else,

it wasn't that Moses was capable or incapable of doing it.

What he was saying is, "God, I don't trust

"that you're able to do through me

"what you're saying you can do."

And he's talking to the God of the universe,

the God who breathes stars.

Well, we love the part of the stories

where we get to be used by God.

In fact, I would suggest that most of us think,

think that we want to hear the Lord tell us what to do

so that we can do it.

But I am compelled this morning to back up

to the front part of this story

because we tend to unfortunately gloss over

the initial interaction between God and Moses

and the heart posture with which Moses encountered

a holy God.

How many times, how many times, friends,

do we try to approach God on our own terms?

How many times in life do we attempt to approach God

on our own terms?

These are my girls, Hadassah, Lucy, Ruby, and Nora.

Yes, they are beautiful, thank you.

We were invited to a wedding in Knoxville not too long ago.

Anybody get wedding invitations in the mail?

Okay, I'm about to hurt some of your feelings.

Are you ready?

Get ready, okay?

When I get a wedding invitation in the mail,

and I know you've spent a lot of time

and thought and energy on your wedding invitation, okay?

I open the thing, I pull it out of the envelope,

I look at the name, I look at the date,

I put it in my calendar, and I throw it away.

I'm so sorry I don't have a shoebox

of all your wedding invitations.

I'm not saving all of those things.

But I look at the name, the date, put it on my calendar,

and there we go, okay?

So I got this invitation probably three months

prior to the wedding.

And we are gonna go to this wedding in Knoxville.

And so we load up the car, the van, it's a road trip,

we end up getting to Knoxville, and we get to this wedding.

And of course, the O'Dea family,

we were just so early to this wedding.

We actually, I think they heard our tires come in

as I was slamming on the brake to run out of the car.

Now of course, the wedding was set up

in a very wonderful way.

It was set up in a way that as you are approaching

the outdoor wedding, everybody is facing you

and watching you as you walk in.

So I was very, this is a very,

I'm actually having a deja vu moment right now.

If you were outside, everyone is just staring at me

and my family walking down this path.

But it's not just a straight beeline to the seats.

No, this path goes zig, zag, zig, zag, zig.

And around this beautiful path are some ponds

and some rocks and some decorations and flowers

to which my girls love to pick the flowers,

jump in the puddles, pick up the rocks

and do everything that they're not supposed to do

as the wedding is about to start

and everybody's staring at us coming down this path

on the zigzag, right?

Well, what happens in my mind, and maybe if you're a dad,

maybe this is you as well,

anytime we take our kids somewhere,

I'm thinking what are our kids gonna do?

Like what's the plan for our kids?

And so I'm looking immediately to say,

if Jessica's there, I know she's got kids,

I'm gonna go sit with them and Justin,

we'll get our kids together, whatever.

So I'm looking and I'm noticing as I come down the path,

there are no kids sitting anywhere in the wedding.

There's zero kids.

I'm like, what, why are there no kids?

These people not have kids, what is going on?

So we get to the bottom of the zigzag,

the music has started, the procession has started

and the sister of the groom who we were there to see,

the sister gets up and walks over to me and smiles and says,

"I see you've chosen to bring your kids."

And I said, "Yes."

She said, "I wish I could have brought mine."

And then she went and sat down.

And I realized at that moment,

I should have read the invitation.

Kids were not invited to this wedding.

And so we went and sat down on the back row

and I was probably more strict with my girls

than I've ever been in my life.

And of course, during the recessional,

the very end, that sweet moment where the bride and groom

go down halfway down the aisle

and he swings her back to give her a kiss,

there are four blondies that are playing

in the middle of the aisle in their forever wedding picture.

Thank you very much.

We are a part of their wedding forever.

Here's the point of the story.

You're not allowed to show up any way you want to.

(congregation murmuring)

We're not allowed to show up any way that we want to.

But what about that invitation that just says, "Come," right?

Because we talk about that, like, just come as you are.

All of us, what about that invitation of just,

"Come as you are," all those things.

Guess what?

The invitation is an open door

that gives you access to the throne.

But once you get there, there's some expectations.

There's some expectations.

What you bring and what you don't bring is important.

It's important.

How many times do we show up on our own terms,

lack of regard and consideration and disrespect

run rampant in our culture,

because we are a society of,

"You're not gonna tell me what to do."

We are a, yeah, aren't you glad you came this morning?

(congregation laughing)

You're not gonna tell me what to do.

That is an anthem of the culture.

You are not gonna tell me what to do.

Let's face it, we are adverse

to having authority over us in our lives.

We love authority that doesn't require us to change,

to adjust, to bend,

or we prefer authority that we agree with,

but give us someone that we disagree with,

Houston, we've got a problem.

And then in our ignorance as Christians,

when we don't like what we're being asked to do,

we tout this very dangerous and haughty line,

"I'm not gonna listen to a man, I'm gonna listen to God."

And if your response is that fueled by a disagreement

or your opinion, then you better buckle up

and be ready to listen to the star breather

and do what he tells you to do.

And you're gonna be shocked, I think,

about what he tells you.

How many times have we had an actual burning bush moment?

Now, those exist.

I've had one time in my life

that I've heard the audible voice of God, one time.

Have you had a burning bush moment?

Have you had an extraordinary moment

where there was just,

it was unquestionably God's presence in front of you?

And I would venture to say that a majority of us

have not had those types of moments.

Though God still speaks to us,

he desires to speak to us.

But because we don't typically have burning bush moments,

those supernatural moments

where God's audible voice shows up happens and it's so rare,

when it does, it's not usually with the arrogant,

it's with the humble.

It's with the humble.

It's with those who are ready to listen.

All throughout scripture, God establishes leaders.

He establishes people in authority.

Moses, Samuel, David, Paul, a litany of kings.

There's so many people, I go on and on.

And I believe that it is the Lord's expectation

not that people revere the man,

but revere the God that's been placed in the man

and approach the authority that's been placed

on those people as those who have been anointed

by the God in whom you say you believe.

Do you realize how weighty of a place it is to be

in a position of spiritual authority?

To be in a place where you actively acknowledge

and receive the calling and the anointing

from the most high God and say,

"Lord, use me to serve in a capacity of spiritual authority."

It is a weighty task.

It is a weighty calling.

It's one that shouldn't be taken lightly,

should be treated with respect toward the Lord.

God gives a special dismentation of grace

to those who have been called to those positions.

And I believe how we approach the authority

God has established here on earth

says a lot about how we approach

the holiness we see in God.

We serve a multifaceted God.

He is rich in grace and mercy.

In fact, we are told this,

"For we do not have a high priest

"who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses,

"but we have one who has been tempted in every way

"just as we are, yet he did not sin.

"Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence."

With confidence, we are encouraged

to approach the throne of grace with boldness,

with confidence, but we forget the very next line.

"So that we may obtain," what?

Mercy.

Well, if I'm going to obtain mercy,

that means I'm in a position with which I need mercy.

So when I say, when it says come boldly,

it's not run into God's courts just willy nilly

any way you want to and just treat him as Santa.

It is because of Jesus,

you have access to go right up to the throne of God,

but you understand the very first thing

you're gonna get is mercy.

Yeah.

And then you're gonna receive grace

for the thing that you need.

He is a holy God.

He is a righteous King.

He is Alpha and Omega, the star breather.

He is extravagant, extraordinary, and he is nothing less.

He is so much more than the vocabulary

that I rendered to you this morning.

He is a great, great God.

And sometimes we treat him

like he is some bum on the side of the road

that we get to use for our own vices.

We get to come boldly, come as you are, come one and all.

You don't have to clean yourself up.

All of those have merit and are true.

But when it comes to approaching a holy God,

you might come the way you are,

but you won't leave that way.

You might come the way you are,

but you will not leave the same.

God is constant.

Hebrews 13 tells us that he is the same yesterday,

today, and forevermore,

which means that he was holy yesterday.

He is holy today, and he will be holy forevermore.

All too often, we only consider our part

of the conversation and the relationship

and what we benefit out of it.

We rarely examine how he comes to the conversation

and his expectations.

And he comes as a king, holy, mighty, and exalted.

Some of you may know who this fella is.

This guy, his name is Michael Fagan.

Michael Fagan broke in to the palace of Queen Elizabeth

in 1982.

Fagan scaled his way into the royal history

after a night of drinking.

He climbed over a fence at Buckingham Palace

and made his way up to the drainpipe and onto the roof.

Removing his shoes and socks,

he entered the royal residence through an unlocked window.

From there, he spent some time wandering through the palace,

including triggering the alarm system twice

as he pursued King George V's stamp collection.

Evidently, assuming the alerts were a glitch,

the police on watch turned the alarms back off.

Likewise, in a plan for eventual exit,

Fagan told the son that he broke one of the palace's ashtrays

to get a piece of glass to use to cut through

a pigeon netting on the roof,

accidentally cutting himself in the process.

Ultimately, Fagan made his way

into the residential wing of the palace

and apparently unwittingly to the bedroom

of none other than the queen.

The story goes on that they had an interaction.

The queen was trying to call somebody to help

and nobody was answering the phone.

And he was in the bedroom.

He didn't harm her.

He just wanted to have a conversation.

And then they took him on.

Do you know that there are some places

where you do not have access where you can just walk up

and get in the way that you want to?

Do you know that if you were wanting to go to the White House

and meet the president, regardless of who it is,

you would want to meet the president,

there are protocols, there are things that you have to do

and many of you wouldn't get to do it.

You have access to a holy God.

But there are things in the process of accessing him

that are important, that show to him

from your heart posture that you understand that he's holy,

that he is holy.

Moses understood such a thing.

And he establishes up front his authority with Moses

and he watches to see Moses' reaction.

What is Moses going to do when God says,

"Take off your sandals for the place you are standing

"is holy ground."

Moses obeys.

Moses obeys.

Guys, I believe we are so busy being about ourselves

that many of us wouldn't even realize

there was a burning bush in the first place,

let alone take off our shoes.

There wasn't anything, I believe,

particularly special about the ground

where Moses was standing.

It was because God's presence was there.

Anywhere God's presence resides is a holy place.

Any ground that God is residing in, it's a holy place.

And that place was significant and holy,

not because there was a bush, not because it was burning,

not because Moses was there,

but because God Almighty was there.

Because God Almighty was there.

He required Moses to take off his shoes.

And I believe that He requires us to do the same.

Today, I wanna focus in on what renders us incapable

of taking off the shoes.

I understand that we want to be in the position of Moses,

hearing God say, "Go and do this."

At least we think we do.

We actually don't, but we think we wanna be there.

But before we even get there,

I believe it's poignant and it's important,

especially given the season and time that we're in

approaching Resurrection Sunday

and where we are just culturally,

that we examine our heart posture

when we approach this holy God.

Does He have a plan and a purpose for your life?

Absolutely.

Does He have direction for you?

Yes, He does.

But guys, we've gotta back up and realize

we are less, He is more.

We are small, He is huge.

He is God and we are not.

What shoes are you wearing

that you are not going to render to God?

What shoes are you wearing where you say,

"You're not gonna tell me what to do."

Let's examine some of these potentials.

And maybe like me, you fit into some of these categories.

The first shoe I wanna look at is the shoe of significance.

The shoe of significance.

This shoe says, "I'm important."

This shoe says, "I've got a big boy job

with a big boy title with a big boy office."

This pair of shoes, as we walk around in these shoes says,

"I've got people that I expect to answer to me

and I don't really care to answer to anybody else."

These shoes say, "I've got a portrait of myself

hanging places.

I've got a title that's bigger than my name.

I've got a bank account that shows my significance.

I am important.

And God, while I hear what you're saying

and while I want to do what you tell me to do,

I'm not ready to give up my title and my position

because I'm significant, I'm important."

And God is saying, "Take off the shoes of significance

because I am holy, because I am holy."

I think another pair of shoes that we contend with,

some of us, are the shoes of control.

These are water shoes.

Has anybody ever been white water rafting?

Father's Day weekend, we're going,

if you wanna register in the app.

Shoes of control.

Here's what these do.

These say, "If I'm in control, I won't get hurt.

If I'm in control, if I'm driving the car,

then I can take the safe path and the safe route.

God, where do you want me to go?

Just download it to me and then get out of the way.

I wanna be in control of the situation

so that I can make sure that I don't put myself in jeopardy

or put myself in a position that might be embarrassing

or it might actually put me in a position

that I've actually gotta do what your word says

in front of my friends who are also Christians.

I wanna be in control.

I just wanna, I wanna be in that driver's seat, God.

So just give me the instructions.

I don't want me to get hurt or anybody get hurt.

God, you don't understand.

God says, "I want you to relinquish control

because I am holy, because I am holy."

There are some other shoes up here.

What about this one?

The shoes of busyness.

Shoes of busyness.

I wake up at 5 a.m., I go to bed at 10.

My calendar is full of things to do.

I am going here, I am going there.

I'm involved with this and that

and I want my name on everything.

Don't try to start a ministry without involving me

because I wanna be a part of it.

I need to be in the know.

I need to be able to speak into everybody's life.

Listen, I have FOMO and I cannot miss out.

I want to be a part of what you're doing.

I'm a part of what I'm doing

and guess what, everything I'm doing has Jesus on it

so it must be what I'm supposed to do.

I am so busy, I'm doing this and that

and everyone loves me because I'm involved with it all.

God says, "Be still and know I'm God."

I don't got time.

(congregation applauding)

But God, I don't got time because I'm running around.

I'm doing all the stuff for your glory.

I have no idea who you are.

Take off the shoes of busyness, Kevin,

because I am holy, because I am holy.

Now these are the shoes of confusion.

(congregation laughing)

These shoes say,

I want to go to church.

I want to wear the T-shirt.

I want to participate in your ministry

but I want to live my life the way I want to live it.

These shoes say, God, I know that you've given the word

but your word is open to my interpretation.

I have reinvented my life to be what I want it to be

and so I wear these shoes of confusion

and God, you know what, I come to you in my time

when I need you to just bless me, just bless me

but I need to fit in because my identity

has not been found in you, it's found in everybody else.

Everything else.

God says, take off the shoes of confusion

because I am holy, because I am holy.

Oh, I don't know how you'd like this to happen.

(congregation laughing)

These are the shoes of security.

Am I stepping on many toes today?

(congregation laughing)

I've got copious amounts of cash in my house.

I've got everything needed when Armageddon happens.

And somebody comes and takes over,

come over and hang out with me because I've got a plan.

And you know what, here's the thing,

I disguise it under this clever idea that I'm being wise,

that the Lord has given me wisdom and good stewardship

so I hoard all of these things

so that whenever you're in need, I'm secure

or when something goes down, I'm secure

because I put my faith in worldly things rather than in God.

Because I have forgotten that the beginning of wisdom

is fear of the Lord, not storing up treasures here on earth.

And so I am so secure, hey, I can quit my job,

I can do whatever I want 'cause I got plenty of money,

plenty of things, I am secure.

The Lord says, "Take off the shoes of security."

I am your security, I am holy, I am holy.

Want me to keep going?

These are the shoes of oblivion.

These are my Vegas shoes.

Oblivion, what are the shoes of oblivion?

Oblivion says, I am having a great life.

I have been a part of every party, every scene,

I am enjoying, in fact, I'm enjoying my life so much,

God, I have no room for you in it.

I am oblivious to the fact that you created me,

that you have a plan and a purpose for my life,

that you actually have something for me to do.

I don't need any of that 'cause I'm so distracted

by all of the other fun that I'm having on this earth,

I have no idea that I'm destroying my life,

but I've got a lot of stories to tell.

It's the shoes of oblivion, I have no clue.

God, I had no clue that you actually wanted

to do something through my life.

I'm just out doing my own thing.

Take off the shoes of oblivion because I am holy,

I am holy.

What about the shoes of the past?

Anybody like Bluey?

These are the shoes that we wear

when we refuse to mature and eat meat.

These are the people who show up to church every week

ready to receive and never give.

These are the people who have been around the things

of the Lord, but they no more read the word of God

or try to mature than the man on the moon,

they allow everyone else to put in the work for them.

They are riding on the coattails

of the previous generation's faith.

They don't understand that they've got

a personal relationship with the Lord,

that they've got to cultivate,

that they have to work out their salvation

with fear and trembling.

I'm okay, I'm good, I'll let them do it for me.

Guys, put in the work, I'll reap the benefit.

Take off the shoes of the past because I am holy.

And I don't know, but at least in my life,

this last one's probably the most dangerous.

These are the shoes of complacency.

The shoes of complacency say, I know what the word says,

God, I know what you told me to do, but I don't care.

I'm content, I'm good doing what I'm gonna do.

I get bold, I get, Lord, you have spoken it through people,

the authority of my life, your word,

I've heard the truth over and over again,

but I refuse to change because I am complacent

and I'm content with where I am

and I don't want it to change.

This is dangerous because you acknowledge God almighty

in his voice and you deny it.

You acknowledge what his word says

and you choose not to do it proactively.

Take off the shoes of complacency because I am holy.

Now, maybe I'm the only one

that's put on some of these shoes, I don't know,

but I venture to think that there's a lot of us.

You see, you think it's easy for Moses,

take off the shoes because you stand on holy ground.

You are being asked to do the same thing.

Get into the presence of a holy God

and he is saying, take off the shoes.

Take off the shoes.

What are you bringing to the relationship?

What are you bringing to the communication

and to the conversation that you're not ready to let go of?

Because before God can give you the direction

to go liberate 600,000 people, he's going to say,

I need you to follow me in obedience by rendering the shoes.

I need you to follow me in obedience

in the simple thing that you've got going on right now.

God, I want to know your will for my life.

I want to know your plan.

I want you to give me direction.

Take off the shoes.

First, take off the shoes.

Acknowledge me as holy in your obedience.

I'm not hearing clearly from the Lord.

I don't know if he's supposed to,

I don't trust that guy who's speaking into my life

or that girl who's speaking into my life

or that thing that I've heard from the Lord.

I'm confused, I'm trying to find, find, find,

he's saying, take off the shoes.

Take off the shoes.

And as you do, his presence will become clearer and clearer.

So what does it look like to sacrifice

and to give up some things?

I'm going to transition here

into talking about the Lenten season.

Lent, L-E-N-T is short for Lenten

and it simply means springtime.

There's nothing fancy or particular about that.

The Lenten season is 40 days prior

to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not including Sundays.

40 days before the resurrection Sunday

that we celebrate, not including Sundays.

There is no biblical mandate

that you participate in the Lenten season.

What do I mean by participate in the Lenten season?

Well, traditionally in church culture,

there are things, some traditional things

that the church will do during those 40 days

in preparation of a heart posture leading up to Easter

to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

Primarily fasting is a part of that.

Now, what is fasting?

Fasting is simply giving up or going without something.

Now, traditionally in a broad way,

fasting is doing without food and drink.

But fasting can actually be applied

to anything in your life.

It can be something that you give up.

It could be something like social media.

It could be something like being on the internet

or it could be something like driving

or it could be something like certain parting ways

from certain relationships and things like that.

It can be anything.

Now, what would you choose?

Why would you fast?

What would be the purpose of fasting?

Well, the purpose of fasting is to identify something

in your life that is an everyday thing

that would be a sacrifice that you would give up

that would remind you about Jesus Christ,

that would be replaced.

It's not just about giving up something.

It's about filling what you've given up

with the presence of God, drawing closer to God.

So the purpose of a fast would be to lean in

so that you can be in his presence

and that you can hear his voice more clearly.

And so here at Springhouse, we've taken up the charge

of participating in the Lenten season.

Now, do you have to do this?

No, it's your choice.

You might be looking at me and saying,

you're not gonna tell me what to do.

But if you'll do it, there are some wonderful,

positive spiritual implications.

If you do it the way it's supposed to be done,

you can only win by drawing closer to a holy God.

And so we participate because I wanna be a church

who hears God's voice, not just hears God's voice,

but hears God's voice clearly

and is able to respond clearly.

Now, is it for direction?

Sometimes it's for direction, but for some of you

and for me, maybe this season, you gotta identify the shoes.

Some of you are wearing shoes

you don't even know you're wearing them.

You don't even know they're on your feet.

And maybe this is a season where the Lord wants to say,

hey, I want you to take off those shoes.

Well, God, I didn't even know I had those shoes on.

Yeah, you drew close to me.

Now I wanna illuminate some stuff in your life.

I wanna illuminate some stuff in your life.

It's not about what you give up,

it's about who you give it up for.

So some of you have already heard about the Lenten season

because I have asked the leaders at Springhouse

to identify something that the ministries can fast together.

Now, as soon as I got out, as soon as out of the gate,

I said to the staff, I said, we're gonna fast bread.

The first thing out of people's mouth was,

well, does this count as bread?

Does that count as bread?

What is bread?

Is a thin crust bread?

Is a thick, what is bread?

Can I tell you something?

Look at me right here.

It doesn't matter.

Bread is defined by whatever you need

to give up in your life to draw close to God.

And it's not something where we come in here and say,

Kurt, hey, six days without bread, man, I'm doing it.

I'm doing great.

Because why?

That puts the spotlight on me.

This is what Jesus said about fasting.

And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites,

for they disguise their faces

that their fasting may be seen by others.

Truly, I say to you, they've received the reward.

But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face

that your fasting may not be seen by others,

but by your Father who is in secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The Lenten season and us fasting as a church

has nothing to do with you having conversations

about what the thing is that you succeeded at fasting.

If the conversation is gonna happen,

this is what it should be.

Barbie, let me tell you what God revealed to me today.

Keith, let me tell you what God has downloaded

in my spirit today.

And you start to say, man, Kurt,

you just gotta glow about you.

It seems like you're just, you're just,

you're just joy of the Lord.

And you say, I'm spending more time in his presence.

Because I have intentionally thought about him more

in this season.

And here's the crazy thing.

Resurrection Sunday happens.

Yeah, you might go back to eating bread.

But the hope, the hope is that you so enjoy,

it says in his presence is the fullness of joy.

I've so enjoyed his presence

that I don't wanna lose what I've got.

So I'm gonna continue to lean in.

I'm gonna continue to press in.

And so I encourage you to think

and to pray about something.

Some of you, here's the thing.

I think sometimes it's a little ludicrous

to tell people to pray about what to fast.

Because when you're trying to fast,

you're trying to hear the voice of the Lord.

And if you're not hearing the voice of the Lord,

he's not gonna tell you what to fast

'cause you can't hear what he's saying.

So practically, what's distracting you?

What's in front of your face?

What are you dealing with every day

that you could say, I'm gonna sacrifice this

and it's going to cause me to have to think?

Cause me to have to lean in?

We're believing the Lord for these three things this year.

This is why I want our church to fast together.

Hunger for the word, tears for the lost,

and answer prayers and testimonies in this house.

Have you been praying for these things?

I came down here and presented to the entire congregation

at the beginning of January, this is our prayer direction.

Are you actually praying for these things?

I wanna see the Lord answer these prayers.

These are important.

These are important.

This is my buddy, John.

(gentle music)

The primary reason we fast is to be in the presence of God.

John told me a story, it was a while back.

He was out of town and he encountered some people

who knew me and they had an interaction.

And the interaction was not favorable about me.

It was an interaction and his response in that moment

was, wait a second, what you're saying is so off base.

I know Kevin, that's not who he is.

Now why was John able to respond in that way?

Cause he had spent time with me.

He had been in my presence.

And the more time you spend in the presence of God,

the more you know about the character of God and who he is,

the more you can speak on his behalf.

Now if you've paid attention over the last several months,

I try to give a little antidote like this one,

every message, because here's the point.

How we treat others is a direct reflection

of how holy we believe he is.

How we treat others is a direct reflection

of how holy we believe he is.

Why is that?

Cause God created you.

He created you.

So for me to exercise my opinion about you,

to render something outside of building you up

and loving you just shows how much I think he's not holy.

Take off the shoes, Kevin, because I am holy.

You will not obey a voice you don't recognize.

And as we lean into this season of Lent,

my prayer is that we would recognize

the voice of the Holy Spirit.

May it be through him speaking to us directly.

May it be through the voice of others

that you can line yourself up and understand

that it's not always what you want the answer to be.

It's hearing clearly his voice

and it resonating with your heart.

So many things this week the Lord told me

that I didn't want.

I was like, that's not right.

That's not what I wanna hear.

And it made me course correct.

Why is God course correcting Kevin O'Dea?

Cause I don't look like Jesus yet.

And most of the time when I get into his presence,

these are the things I learn.

How little I really know.

How little I really deserve.

And how little I really have to offer.

Because significant time in his presence

will cause you to realize how small you are

and how holy he is.

Guys, it's all about him.

It's not about us.

It's all about him.

What a privilege it is to be called into his presence.

What a privilege it is that he would say render the shoes.

What a privilege it is that he would say now go

and do what I've told you to do.

Moses was in a privileged state

and he was used because he obeyed.

Will you obey in rendering your shoes?

Because he is holy.

He is holy.

So you're gonna stand with me this morning.

David, when he was worshiping the Lord with no clothes.

True story, no clothes.

They all ridiculed him.

They put him down.

They talked bad about him.

You know what his response was?

I'll become more undignified than this.

You have an opportunity this morning?

'Cause I'm gonna invite you to come to the altar space

and take off your shoes and worship this God.

Come, if you may, if you dare.

Let's worship.

(gentle music)