Christmas Presence | Part 1 | Dave Nichols

Well, good morning, Two Rivers. Good morning. It

is great to be here with you right

here in live. If you're joining us in

Blend or Amped, good to be with you.

If you're in Roane County or Bearden, awesome

to be with you as well.

Today, we are starting a new series

called Christmas presents, and and I gotta say,

I can't believe I'm saying it.

We're, like, officially in the Christmas season.

So even for those of you some of

you start Christmas season the day after Halloween

now. Like, that's a thing. And some of

you hold out, and you're like, Thanksgiving is

its own day. If you're either one of

those, we're officially in it now.

So all the lights are coming out. The

Christmas trees are coming out. And,

let's be let's just be real. Right? It's

just you and me right here,

right now.

We

we all love to get a good present,

don't we?

I mean, if if you say no, I

don't believe you.

Because a present makes us actually feel seen

and known. That's what a good present will

do. It'll make you feel seen and known.

And this year,

my family gave me one of the best

presents

that I could ever get, ever, really. And

so,

I'm a I'm a dog guy. And if

you're a cat person, like, that's, you know

okay.

Anyway,

but I'm a dog guy. I've always had

multiple dogs. And so growing up, couple dogs,

even early in our marriage, we had two

dogs. But for the last couple years, we've

had one dog, and it's been good. And

we have one in, like, those farragut dogs,

a poodle doodle thing. You know what I'm

talking about? And, she's a great dog. Love

that dog. And,

but we've always had one dog. Well, in

May,

something you need to know about me is

I've always loved hound dogs,

Like like blue tick hounds, which Smokey is,

bloodhounds. Those kind I love the long ears.

I love the howl. I love all of

it, but just have never had access to

one. And so,

fast last May,

a friend of mine that goes to 2

Rivers, she posted on Facebook

that a guy that goes to our Roane

County campus

bred his blue tick hound, and he had

three puppies left that he was trying to

find homes for.

And I'm sitting there, and I'm like,

this is my chance.

Like, I mean, I moved from California six,

seven years ago, and if you're from Tennessee,

you're like, you're still not a native Tennessean.

I'm like, if I get the state dog

of Tennessee,

maybe I can be a Tennessean.

And so I go to my wife. I'm

like, look at these puppies. She's like, oh,

those are really cute. I'm like, I kinda

know the guy that has them. Like, we

should consider. And she's like,

David, it's not the it's not the right

time. It's not a good time. It's so

easy to have one dog. And and, really,

she was right. I mean, having one dog

is easier.

Well so that happened.

The guy found a home for the puppies.

Life is good in the world. Right?

Then we get to July.

So the guy that had the dogs

reached out to me, and he's like, hey.

One of the puppies

was returned. I'm like, oh, so you got

a reject.

And and he's like, no. No. No. No.

It's a it's a great dog. It just

didn't it didn't fit with the family that

it went to, and so they just couldn't

take care of him. And so,

we got him back. He's got all the

markings you want, and he was about

five months old at this point. And I'm

like, how do I play this?

And so I went to my wife. I'm

like, oh, check out this dog. She's like,

he's really cute. I'm like, he's available.

And,

so,

so she I I and I'm thinking in

my head, I gotta play this really cool.

Like, not no not pressure, just kinda

feel this out. So I showed her a

picture of it, and she's like, he's, like,

he's really cute. I'm like, he's available. You

know, we should consider this. And and so

then the next morning, she wakes up and

she's like, are you are you serious about

this dog?

And in the moment, the Holy Spirit gave

me a word.

I think it was.

I said, do you want me to be

honest, or do you want me to be

agreeable?

And she said, well, I want it to

be both. I want you to be honest

and agreeable with what I want. And I

said, well, I really want the dog. And

so then later that day so that was

that morning. She said, hey. Can you send

me the pictures of it? And then she

later that day, she goes, hey. I talked

to my parents, and they would actually be

willing to help with the dog. And and

so I'm sitting there. I'm like, this is

happening.

This is I'm making progress. I'm like, I

still gotta play it cool. Just play it

cool.

So then we get to the next day,

and she says nothing.

Zero nothing.

So it's getting close to lunchtime, and I'm

running home for my lunch break. And my

wife I call her and I said, hey.

We really kinda need to let David out

in Roane County know whether we're gonna get

this dog or not. And she goes, what

dog?

I was so mad.

I was like, what dog? I'm like, the

dog we've been talking about. She's like, we

can't get that dog. I'm like, oh, and

you get to make the decision now? And

so I'm

mad when I get home.

But my family,

they're little boogers.

This is what they did to me. Check

this video out.

Meet Roscoe.

Roscoe?

What the world? He's ours. No. He's not.

Roscoe.

We went and pinned a daughter for you.

Roscoe. Hey. He doesn't know his name yet.

Are you surprised? Yes.

So there's Roscoe.

Meet the newest member. We're officially Tennessee. This

is a smokey dog, and some people are

like, that looks like Smokey. His name's not

Smokey. His name's Roscoe from Dukes of Hazard,

Roscoe p Coltrane. And, so that's where it

comes from.

He has been an amazing addition to the

family. He slobbers, and he's a lot of

work, but he is so fun and such

a lover.

That was a great

present.

I mean, you I mean, they I felt

seen. I felt heard, all of it. He

barfed in the car four times on the

way home when my daughter went to go

pick him up, so that was fun. So

I got to be broken in right away

of cleaning up after having two dogs. You

get what you ask for. You know? And

but he was a great

present.

And this Christmas season,

we're talking about

presents.

We're not talking about the gifts that you're

gonna find under the tree. We're not talking

about a new dog. We're talking about God's

presence with us.

And God's presence with us is actually the

greatest gift that we could ever receive.

This weekend,

here's what we're gonna see as we look

at a passage that's not typically a Christmas

passage, is that Jesus' presence

is the ultimate gift that guides us and

gives us rest.

I look at that big idea, and those

two things, guiding

and rest, those are two things that I

need in my life and my world.

When I take over the steering wheel of

my life and I try

to control my own life and control my

own destiny, I I fail.

I need guidance. I need help

with direction for my life, and I don't

know about you. I need rest.

When we enter a busy season, all you

have to do is head down Turkey Creek

and or any shopping center area, and you

know the craziness that's out there. I need

rest, and I'm not talking about just a

good night's sleep. I need the kind of

soul rest that only God can give.

That's what my heart longs for.

And so we're gonna look a little bit

more

at that as we jump into Exodus 33.

So as you go there, as you turn

there,

this is not a normal Christmas passage. Hey.

Merry Christmas. Exodus is where we're gonna be.

It's kinda

weird. But I gotta give you a little

background to Exodus 33

so that we understand where we're at in

the story.

Now in Exodus chapter three,

God

appears to a guy named Moses in a

burning bush. Moses grew up in Egypt. The

the Israelites, God's chosen people are enslaved

in Egypt, and they've been there for almost

four hundred years. And they're crying out to

God of going, God, rescue us. If we're

your people, get us out of here.

Well, Moses

grew up in Egypt. He knew all the

land of Egypt. He was actually,

like, one of Pharaoh's kinda people,

family members, so to speak.

Well, he killed a guy,

and he went on the run.

And he ended up settling as,

he was a shepherd.

And so he's out with his flock in

the hillsides, and he sees this bush that's

on fire.

And God appears, Yahweh appears to Moses in

this burning bush.

And, and God tells Moses, I've heard the

cries of my people,

and I'm gonna send you, Moses,

And you're gonna go back to Egypt, and

you're gonna rescue them, and you're gonna lead

them out. And Moses is like, woah. Woah.

Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. I think you got

the wrong guy. You know, there was another

shepherd about a mile or two back. I

think that's probably the one you were looking

for. And God goes, no. It's you, Moses.

And and Moses goes, how how do I

know you sent me? I don't even know

your name. And he goes, my name is

Yahweh. I am who I am. I'm sending

you. And Moses goes, no. And God says,

I'm gonna be with you.

And Moses responds essentially by saying, that's not

good enough.

And Moses finally

tells God in this burning bush, send somebody

else. And God says, well, I'm gonna send

Aaron. He's already on the way. He's gonna

help you.

Fast forward in the book of Exodus,

and Moses

leads the people out. He saw the mighty

hand of God

in these

amazing plagues

that God demonstrated,

showing his power

over all the gods of Egypt. And Moses

had a front row seat to the whole

thing. He he led the people out of

Egypt, and they got to the Red Sea.

And there, once again, it looked like they

were trapped, but God shows up again, and

he parts the Red Sea, and the people

walk through on dry ground.

Moses had a front row seat to all

of this.

Fast forward,

God leads them through the wilderness, and he

brings them to a mountain called Mount Sinai.

And it was here that God made a

covenant with the people. And he said, you

are my people. I'm gonna be your God.

And they said, we are in.

Sign us up for that.

And God said,

hey.

Now that we're in this covenant, I'm gonna

move in.

And in Exodus chapter 25 verse eight, God

Exodus 25 · chapter mention

said, make me a tabernacle.

Make me a tent that I'm going to

move in. I'm gonna dwell

right in your midst. And after they made

this covenant,

Moses went up on the mountainside where he

was receiving

the law. What does it look like for

God to live in the midst of the

people?

And it was as he was on the

mountainside,

fire is descending on this mountain billowing, and

the people would have seen it. And they're

at the bottom of the mountain. And in

Exodus chapter 32, the people are like, hey,

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

Aaron.

Do you see that up there? And Aaron's

like, yeah. And we think Moses is probably

dead.

I mean, he's not making it through that.

So here's what we want you to do.

Can you make us a god?

We need a we need a representation.

So what does Aaron do?

Gathers all the jewelry and he forms a

golden calf.

And that's where we pick up in Exodus

Exodus 33 · chapter mention

chapter 33 starting in verse one. Look at

look at what god says. Yahweh said to

Moses,

depart.

Go up from here, you and the people

whom you have brought up out of the

land of Egypt, to the land of which

I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying

to your offspring, I will give it. I

will send an angel before you. Now listen

to that. Listen to that language. I will

send an angel, a representative,

a messenger

who will go before

you.

And I will drive out the Canaanites, the

Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and

all the other ites that can be out

there.

Go up to a land flowing with milk

and honey, but listen to this, but I

will not go up among you, lest I

consume you on the way for you are

a stiff necked people.

So God tells Moses,

y'all pushed it too far this time.

Yeah. I can't go with you because if

I go with you, it's not gonna be

good.

I'll give you everything I promised,

I'm just not gonna go.

Then

in Exodus chapter 33, we have this weird

Exodus 33 · chapter mention

little interjection in verses seven through 11.

It's almost like a flashback as Moses

has been traveling with the Israelites.

It it talks about this tent of meeting

that Moses would set up this tent outside

of camp, and he would go meet with

god

and talk with God as a friend talks

to a friend.

Kind of this weird interjection, but I need

you to remember that piece as we head

into

the rest of the passage that we're gonna

look at today starting in verse 12. So

it almost, like, six and verse 12 almost

connect with a little interjection

of seven through 11.

So

Moses said to the lord in verse 12,

see, you say to me, bring up this

people,

but you have not let me know whom

you will send with me.

So so Moses is referring back. He goes,

God, you said you're gonna send a messenger

that's gonna go before us, but but who

is it and who's actually going

with us? You see the difference between before

and with?

One of them is going before and Moses

goes, no, we need somebody with us. We

need you with us.

Who will you send with me? Yet you

have said, I know you by name, and

you have also found favor in my sight.

Now, therefore, if I found favor in your

sight,

show me now your ways that I may

know you in order to find favor in

your sight. Consider too

that this nation

is your people.

And God said,

my presence will go with you,

and I will give you rest.

And Moses said to him, if your presence

will not go with me, do not bring

us up from here.

For how shall it be known that I

have found favor in your sight, I and

your people? Is it not in your going

with us so that we are distinct,

I and your people, from every other people

on the face of the earth?

And the Lord said to Moses, this very

thing that you have spoken,

I will do.

For you have found favor in my sight,

and I know you by name.

Moses said, please

show me your glory.

And he said, I will make all my

goodness pass before you and will proclaim before

you my name, Yahweh, and I will be

gracious to whom I will be gracious and

I will show mercy on whom I will

show mercy. But he said, you can't see

my face for man shall not see me

and live. And the Lord said, behold, there

is a place by me where you shall

stand on the rock. And while my glory

passes by, I will put you in a

cleft of the rock and I will cover

you with my hand until I have passed

by. Then I will take away my hand

and you shall see my back, but my

face shall not be seen.

The story really picks up

in verse this this kind of section picks

up

really where verse six left off.

God has just said, I'm not gonna go

with you. And Moses begins interceding

and pleading with God to go, God, your

presence

is what matters most. God's presence was everything

to Moses.

And here's something we need to understand about

the nature of God all throughout scripture is

that God dwelling with his people

has always been his plan.

That's always been the plan.

Let let's take a

I would even argue that the overarching theme,

the overarching story of scripture is god making

a way to dwell with his people.

Think back to the very beginning, Genesis. God

created the heavens and the earth and he

created

human beings and he dwelt with them in

a place called what? Eden. Eden was a

mountain top, a place where heaven and earth

collided.

It was where god

dwelt with humanity.

That was the plan. But then what happened?

Sin entered the world. We as people said,

god, we think we can actually live our

lives better

apart from you.

And so we went our own way. And

now we have this chasm. We're no longer

in Eden. And so God

sends a rescue plan. He wants to dwell

with his people. So what happens? He frees

him from slavery, and he tells him in

Exodus,

build me a tabernacle. Why? Because I wanna

dwell right in your midst.

Right in your very midst of your camp,

I wanna be there.

And so he gives him instructions of how

to build a tabernacle. Well, they they march

through the wilderness. They go into the promised

land. They conquer the promised land. The Israelites

end up getting a king. And the second

king they had, his name was David. And

David begins collecting money because he's like, God

should not be dwelling in a tent when

we have permanent houses. And so he said,

I wanna build God a temple, a house,

a permanent place where he can dwell

right in our midst.

And God says, that's a good plan. But

David, you have too much war and blood

on your hands. You can get all the

collections for it, but your son Solomon's gonna

actually do it. So Solomon, his son, builds

the temple

for God to dwell

amongst his people.

Why? Because that's always been his plan.

God dwelt with his people in the temple,

but it's almost as if God was going,

that's not close enough. That's not good enough.

And so we fast forward even more years,

and we get to the New Testament.

And we get to this season that we're

celebrating

now, Christmas,

the celebration

that God took on flesh in the person

of Jesus.

The miracle of Christmas is that God has,

for eternity,

taken on flesh.

Jesus is God with us. Matthew one twenty

five quotes Isaiah seven,

and he writes this about Jesus. Behold, the

virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and

they shall call his name

Emmanuel.

Jesus

is

God

with us, to dwell with us.

He lived a perfect life. He actually went

to a cross

to reconcile

us to God. That that sin that separated

us had to be dealt with and Jesus

took that in himself.

He was crucified. He was killed. And before

he rose

again or before he ascended, he rose again.

Before he ascended back into heaven, he he

tells his disciples,

hey, guys.

It's better that I leave.

And I can imagine his disciples are like,

uh-uh.

It ain't better.

And he goes, no. It is better. And

here's why. Because if I leave, I'm gonna

send my helper, my holy spirit, who's going

to dwell in you. The holy spirit in

us is better than actually Jesus with us.

And that's a crazy fact. Why? Because God

always wants to dwell with his people.

And so right now, God is dwelling with

us by the power of the holy spirit

in

us. God is in us. We are the

dwelling place. Paul writes about that in Corinthians.

I was reading that this morning. We are

the temple

of the Holy Spirit, the very place where

God dwells, and God has a plan.

This isn't the end of the plan of

like, hey, the Holy Spirit's in you. He's

going, no. There's gonna be one day where

I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna reconcile

heaven and earth again, and we are gonna

dwell in a new Eden. And we will

see Jesus face to face. We will be

in his presence forever to the glory of

God.

That's good news.

And you look at the overarching story of

scripture, and God dwelling with his people is

the story.

And God's presence

actually

distinguishes

us as his people.

It distinguishes people then. It distinguishes

us now.

I love the interaction

that that God and Moses had in there

in verses 12 through 23.

Moses tells God,

God, you have told me that I found

favor with you.

You said you know me by name, and

yet now you're saying that you aren't gonna

go with me. And we see the heart

of Moses here.

Moses goes, God, I want to know you

more.

He doesn't begin with pleading. Oh, please, please,

please go with us. He goes, God, no.

No. No. You said I found favor with

you. I wanna know you even more.

And God sees the heart of Moses. And

what does God say to Moses?

God

said, my presence will go with you

and I'm gonna give you rest. You wanna

know the problem with this?

The you there

is singular.

So God sees the heart of Moses

that Moses is going, God, I wanna know

you more. And God sees that. He honors

that, and he's like, Moses, I'm gonna go

with you. Individually, I'll go with you.

The rest of them, stiff necked people. I'm

not going with them.

But what does Moses do?

Moses turns it and he goes, God, it's

not just about me. These are your

people.

He says in verse 30 in in chapter

33 verse 16, he says, is it not

in your going with us so that we

are distinct?

I he but he he flips it, and

your people

from every other people on the face of

the earth.

Moses, they just came from the most powerful

nation

in the world, Egypt.

And Egypt had really tiny gods and really

big gods, and they had idols everywhere,

representations of these gods everywhere. And here comes

the Israelites marching into the wilderness, and they

are not supposed to have any idols.

And Moses goes,

we don't have

what all the other nations have.

But God, what we have is you.

And your presence is what distinguishes

us

as your people.

And what distinguished the Israelites then is still

what distinguishes us now. The very presence of

God

with us is what makes us his people.

It's the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in

us. And God's presence is what distinguishes us

and that presence

is better

than anything else.

I don't know. Maybe you need to be

reminded of that. Maybe that truth needs to

sink in.

God's presence with us is better.

It's better than anything else that this world

can offer.

Moses in Exodus 33

tells God, if you don't go with us,

I'm not going.

God, why? Because your presence is better. How

did how did Moses get to this point?

If you look back in Exodus chapter three,

just thirty chapters ago,

Moses is seeing God in a burning bush,

and God's like, I'm gonna be with you.

I'm gonna be with you. I'm gonna be

with you. And Moses is going, that's not

good enough.

And now we get to chapter 33, and

God said, hey. I'm gonna give you all

the promises that I made,

and I'm gonna even send my representative

with you. I'm gonna send

an angel with you. My messenger will go

before you, and I'm gonna give you all

the promises I made, but I'm just not

gonna go. And Moses

Moses

came to this conclusion. Moses would rather be

in the desert with God than in the

promised land with God's representative.

Moses would rather stay there.

Alright. Then we're staying in the desert, God.

That's what we're gonna do because you're here.

And if you're here, I'm not going there.

This truth about the presence of God and

being in the way Moses was so blown

away

by God's presence and so in awe of

it,

it really struck me in the past few

weeks.

I don't think

I'm that blown away with God's presence in

my life anymore.

I think you could say to me, yeah,

hey, the Holy Spirit, God dwells in you.

And I'm like, yeah. Isn't that cool?

And then I go do my own thing

and I look at what all the world

has to offer and I think somehow that

that's gonna be more fulfilling than God dwelling

in me.

If I'm really honest with you,

I think if God came and made me

a deal and he said, hey. I'm gonna

get you to the promised land

and my representative will go with you, but

my presence isn't gonna go, but I'll have

a representative with you.

I think in order to get out of

sometimes the pain I'm in, the hurt I'm

in, I'm sitting there and I'm looking for

the promised land. And even if God wasn't

in it, I'm like, oh, your representative's there.

I mean, think about it.

Like, if an angel appeared in this room

right now or whatever room you're in, an

angel appears and God's like, that angel's gonna

go with you and I'm gonna take you

to the good land, the land flowing with

milk and honey, the good place.

You wanna go? And I and I'd be

like, yeah. He's like, well, by the way,

little caveat. I'm not going, but my I'd

be like, yeah. That's fine. I mean, you're

representative. I mean, look at that. That's really

cool.

But Moses got to a point, and I

wanna be in that point in in my

life where I long for the presence of

God more than anything.

And so I think I have to reflect

on some questions in my own life, and

I encourage you to reflect on them in

your life. If you're a a student in

here

and you're gonna be entering into relationships, I

know boyfriend, girlfriends are are are a big

deal.

But do we ever pause long enough? Do

you ever pause long enough to ask god

the question,

god, are you in this relationship that I'm

interested in? Because do we long for the

presence of god so much that we say,

god, I would rather not be in that

relationship

if you're not in it. I'd rather stay

here with you.

Do we pause long enough for that?

Do we love the presence of god enough

to say it's worth it for me to

be single a little while longer even though

all my friends are entering into boyfriend girlfriend

relationships?

Maybe you're even a little older and you're

like, oh, I I long to get married.

God, it's better for me to stay single

longer and where you are than to be

in a relationship where you aren't.

It's better.

God, I won't take that job if you're

not going with me.

The benefits are great. The pay is great.

But, God, if you're not in it, your

presence is better than any pay or benefit

package there is.

God, are you more important to me

than a college scholarship?

God,

your presence is better

than a great place

where you're not.

Do we have that longing in our heart?

Do we stop long enough to ask God

the question, God, are you in this?

Sometimes we think, oh, that looks good, and

so we just go after things. But do

we pause long enough to seek the guidance

of God to go, god,

are you in this? Are you are you

going with me in it? Don't just go

before me. Go with me in it.

I know so often

that I think I'm smart enough.

I think I'm good enough

that I don't pause long enough to go,

god, are you in it?

Do you want me to take that job?

Do you want me in that relationship? Do

you want me

to get this dog?

See, do I long

for God

more than I long for the stuff that

he can give?

Do I long for the healing of God

more than I long for the presence of

God?

Do I long for God? Do I want

him to fix my family? Do I do

I just go to him for all the

stuff, the hand stuff that he can give

me? Or or do I just long

for

God?

And I wonder how Moses got to this

point. And remember I said, tuck away verses

seven through 11 about the tent of meeting

where God met with Moses.

Moses had been meeting and being in the

presence of God

all along the journey.

So how did Moses get to a point

in chapter 33

that he said, God, if you're not going,

we're not going.

It's because living intentionally in God's presence actually

transforms

us.

How did Moses get about this transformation? How

did he go from being in chapter three,

god, that's not good enough, to chapter 33

of going, god, I'd rather be in the

desert alone with you than in the promised

land with your representative. God, I need to

be where you are. How did he get

to that point? It took years

of consistently

walking with

Jesus, of being with God

in his presence, and being in the very

presence of God

changes our hearts.

We begin to see things for actually as

they are.

It's stuff.

The the disciples' experiences. The disciples, there was

12 of them, and they were following with

Jesus for years. And they saw the incredible

teaching. They saw his miracles.

But yet when Jesus was going to the

cross, they all ran, including Peter who said,

Jesus, even if I have to die, I'm

going with you. And Jesus goes, well,

are you sure you wanna say that? And

Peter's like, yep. Double down.

Let's go. And what happens?

Jesus looks at him and goes, actually, here's

what's gonna happen. Before the night's over, you're

gonna deny me three times.

And what happens?

All the disciples fled. Peter

left,

denied him three times.

But what happens?

Jesus

raises from the dead.

He ascends back into heaven and we get

to the book of Acts

and the disciples have seen the resurrected

Jesus.

They had spent time with him. They've seen

his truth, and they get to a point

in in the beginning part of acts where

Peter, the very one who denied him three

times, is now going before the Sanhedrin who

had Jesus crucified, and he goes, you killed

him.

That's a bold statement.

It's probably not a good idea. The very

ones that killed Jesus

could have Peter killed. But guess what? He

had peace in the midst of the circumstances,

and he boldly proclaims the truth of who

Jesus was because he didn't fear him.

He knew Jesus rose from the dead, and

he boldly proclaims that truth.

And the Sanhedrin was a little bit confused.

And in Acts chapter four verse 13,

now when they, the Sanhedrin, saw the boldness

of Peter and John and perceived that they

were uneducated,

common men, they were astonished

and they recognized that they had been with

Jesus.

Being with Jesus

transforms us.

It changes us when we stop long enough

to ask for his guidance, to spend time

in his presence. So what does that look

like?

For me, I'm really good at compartmentalizing

things in my life.

I mean, that's just kind of the the

way I function is, like, I'm focused on

one thing

at a time. And I I can focus

there and then I'll focus there. And so

I get up in the morning, and I

do my bible reading, and I read my

bible, and I do the live it out,

and I'm there, and I'm focused, and I'm

like, that was good. But then what happens

is is that too often that stays compartmentalized,

and then I go on with the rest

of my day. And that doesn't touch the

rest of my day.

So how do I remind myself of God's

presence with me throughout the day?

And maybe it looks like this. Are morning

devotionals

a a a part of spending our presence

in Jesus for transformation?

Absolutely. Should we be doing that? Yes.

But maybe it's talking with him throughout the

day.

What if we started thanking him for the

small things?

I know there are some people who are

really good at this. They'll just say thank

you, Jesus, for just random stuff throughout the

day. What what if we became thank you,

Jesus people to to remind ourselves that god

is actually with us? His presence dwells within

us, and it changes everything.

I talked to a guy last night, and

he was like, I sometimes I work on

my car or I'm tinkering with something, and

he's like, I can't find something. Next thing

I know, I find it, and I just

go, thank you, Jesus.

What if we became thank you, Jesus people,

just as a reminder to go God's with

us? What if in the in the hard

times because we all face hard times during

the day. What if in those hard times

we silently cry out to Jesus, Jesus, you're

in this with me. Thank you for that.

What if we rested in him as we

fell asleep at night?

You see,

Jesus' presence is the ultimate gift that guides

us and gives us rest.

What causes anxiety? What causes stress especially this

time of year?

It's when we begin to look around and

we take our eyes off Jesus and we

take our eyes off of his presence with

us and it and we start to get

stressed out.

And Jesus, when we spend time with him

intentionally

in his presence,

we can breathe.

We can slow down

and we can know that we're not alone.

So what are our next steps this week?

What are what are some things that we

can do as we enter this Christmas season,

as we are gonna be shopping and trying

to find the perfect gift and the right

present for the people, should we do that?

Yes. Absolutely

do that.

But we need to be reminded that we're

not alone in the midst of this,

that the greatest present

we've ever received is the very presence of

God with us.

And we need to be reminded of that

continually,

that he is with us. He is with

us. So,

there was a time in my life when

really, it was a college time.

I used to carry ChapStick with me everywhere.

And,

the reason why I stopped carrying ChapStick with

me is,

dryers and ChapStick

don't go well together.

They put nice oil slicks on your clothes

and your wife's clothes, so surprise.

But there was a time where I always

had a ChapStick in my pocket,

and so I intentionally made a decision. Every

time I reach into my pocket and I

feel that chapstick, I wanna be reminded and

I wanna pray.

It it was a tangible

reminder

to spend time with Jesus.

Even as I was just walking down the

street, even as I'm whatever it is, it

it was something that I went, oh, you're

with me, and I and to spend a

moment.

And so here's the first next step. I

I I want you to find something tangible

that will remind you of god's presence throughout

the day. I want you to find it.

If you can find if you already know

what it is somebody last night gave me

one of those little Jesus'.

Yeah. Have you seen those around? They're like

these little Jesus'. They're like, here.

What's something tangible that you see use every

day that you're gonna make an intentional choice

to go, every time I see that, I'm

gonna be reminded

I'm not alone.

God's presence is with me

in everything,

in the good, in the bad, the ugly,

the heart.

He's with me.

Thank you, Jesus.

The next thing we're gonna do is we're

gonna live it out together.

If we're gonna intentionally

wanna be transformed, if we wanna intentionally have

the guidance and the rest that God talks

about in this passage, If we're gonna have

that, we need to spend time with him.

We need to be spending time in his

word. And there's sometimes where it's like, this

is a pretty big book. Where do I

start? What do I do?

This is just a guide to help

with some questions along the way to be

able for you to interact and engage with

God.

So this is a tool

for us to be able to put ourselves

in a position to be transformed, to be

in his presence,

to begin our day.

The last thing that we're gonna do as

a tangible reminder

of god's presence with us is we're gonna

take communion. So I'm gonna invite all of

our venue host, our campus pastors

to start making their way to the front

of the room, and they're gonna lead each

of the venues and the campuses in communion.

And so make sure you have communion

elements. And

I'm gonna pray for us, and then I'm

gonna

throw it over to the campuses. And the

venue pastors, campus pastors will lead through communion

in your rooms.

So, Jesus, thank you

that your presence is with us. It's tangible.

You give us tangible reminders

of going you're with us.

God, thank you that your presence is better

than anything this world can offer.

Would you forgive us for the times

where we think that's the world will offer

us something better and we go after those

things?

God, would you forgive us? Help us to

repent, turn, and course correct, and

and realign our focus on you

so that you can go about the work

of transformation in our hearts.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.