People of Grit: Week 5

Let me begin and ask you what does it feel.

Like when you have to wait? When you have to

wait for something or wait on someone. If you're a sibling,

or maybe you live with roommates and you have to

share a bathroom, that's no fun waiting for your turn.

Or if you're watching something on the internet and your

WiFi is slow and it's buffering, waiting for the lag

to catch up and download, that's not very fun. I

remember in January when Lauren and I were waiting for

our baby, Shepherd to be born.

It was a Tuesday in January, and.

I was at work and Lauren was at home, and

Lauren began to go into labor Tuesday morning. Now, for

some labor lasts for many, many hours, so Lauren wanted

to stay at home as long as she could before

going to the hospital. But Shepherd was not the only

thing we were waiting for that day. It just so

happened on that same day, on that Tuesday in January,

we had a plumbing problem in our house and so

one of our bath wasn't working. There was drainage issues,

and Lauren's.

Car would not start.

So we are waiting for a plumber, waiting for a

Triple A repair, and waiting for a baby, and where

was I not at home? So just imagine Lauren dealing

with all of this. Let me share with you some

of the text messages that she and I exchanged that day.

Lauren says, there's a little water on the floor from

the toilet, and I say, not today, satan.

Lauren says, I can't go into labor without a toilet.

I mean, that's that's reasonable, Like, that's that's not too

much to ask. I'm trying to be helpful, and I

say you can also try using a plunger, you know,

trying to offer solution, and Lauren says, I'm not doing

any plunging right now.

I'll let you interpret the tone of that text.

So Lauren was waiting for a plumber, waiting for Triple

A repair and wait, waiting for a baby, and where

was I not at home? Thankfully, the plumber and Triple

A showed up, and Lauren took this picture of our

driveway just so I could use it one day in

a sermon.

There's a Triple A and the plumber.

And no mother wants to be waiting on a car mechanic,

waiting on a plumber and waiting on a baby. Thankfully,

they got everything fixed, and then Lauren sent me this

text message, let me know when you're on your way home.

I came home just in time to go straight to

the hospital, and then Shepherd was born a little bit

later that night. What does waiting feel like? Let me

ask it this way. How does it feel when you

wait for God? Don't you wish you could just send

God a text message? Let me know when you're on

your way. What are you waiting for right now in

your life? What are you waiting for? What breakthrough are

you waiting for? Are you waiting for healing or a cure?

Are you waiting for something at your job, maybe a

new job?

Or are you waiting for a decision. There might be

somebody listening who's waiting.

For a decision from a court, a decision from a boss.

Or are you waiting for the check to get deposited?

What are you waiting for in your life right now?

The big idea of this message today, the one thing

that I want you to remember today is that people

of Grit wait for the Lord.

People of Grit wait for the Lord. This is the

main point throughout this series. We've said that people.

Of Grit are determined, people of Grit are bold, people

of Grit are fearless. All these things, and today I

want to say, people of Grit wait for the Lord.

Often we think about grit having to do with like

not giving up and doing whatever it takes, and it

is those things.

But there's another piece of grit that includes patience and

trust and waiting.

Take a look at this scripture in Psalm fortyvers verse one.

It says I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned

to me and heard my cry. Now recently I learned

something about this particular verse. This verse in Psalm forty

was originally written by King David in the Hebrew language,

and in the original Hebrew text, the word patiently is

not used in Hebrew.

Now, there is a Hebrew.

Word for patient, but it's not used in this text. Actually,

what is used in this text is the word wait

in Hebrew is repeated two times, so literally it reads

I waited and waited for the Lord.

I waited and waited for the Lord. People of Grit

wait for the Lord. People of Grit wait for his answer.

We wait for his voice, we wait for his timing.

Mark Vrogop writes Waiting is what you do when you

can't do what you want to do. When you can't

fix the problem, you wait and wait. When you can't

solve the issue, You wait and wait when you can't

control the outcomes, When you can't change that person, you

wait and wait. People of grit wait for the Lord.

Maybe you've been praying for something and it feels like

God hasn't heard you, or you've been praying for something

for a long time and you're still waiting for an answer.

You're still waiting to hear from God.

Or maybe you feel like giving up because you haven't

received what you've been praying for. Someone might be praying

every day for something that you care about, a relationship,

a breakthrough, and it just seems like God doesn't hear

when you pray. God always hears your prayer. God always

hears your prayer, and God answers our prayers in one

of three ways. God will say yes, no, or wait

when you pray. God's answer to your prayer comes as yes, no,

or wait, or some combination of all three.

You know, we love that first answer.

We love it when God says yes, when we receive

what we want, what we've been praying for. It's those

other two answers that we really don't like very much.

Those are more of a struggle. And what do we

do when God says wait? What do we do if

God says no? I think many of us might get frustrated,

might feel disappointed, might feel let down, might even get

depressed or even angry. And if we're being really honest,

when God says no to something we've prayed for.

Sometimes we doubt that we can actually trust God. Why

does God say no? Why does God say wait?

Well, I'd be a really poor pastor if I told

you I knew the answer to that question for every situation.

I honestly don't know why God might say wait or

God might say no.

But here's what I want to say. You may not

know why, but you do know who.

You may not know why the answer was no, but

you do know who.

You may not know.

Why you're waiting, why there's the delay, but you know who.

You know the God who you can trust even in

the waiting. You can trust that He is good.

Even in the waiting.

You know him and He is with you while you wait.

In Daniel chapter ten, we see Daniel waiting for an answer.

From the Lord. Look at Daniel chapter ten, verse one.

In the third year of Cyrus, King of Persia, a

revelation was given to Daniel, who was called also called Baltachesar.

Now Daniel, if you remember, he was grew up in Judah,

in the Israelite nation, and then he was deported out

of Judah to Babylon when he was a teenager. And

Daniel has been living in Babylon for more than seventy years.

And now he's in his eighties or in his nineties,

and it's been seventy long years of waiting, seventy years

since he's seen his homeland, seventy years of praying, seventy

years of asking God, seventy years of trusting and hoping,

and finally King Cyrus becomes king, and Cyrus gives permission

for some of the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and

begin rebuilding the Temple.

Things are happening. Progress is happening.

And so now here in Daniel chapter ten, Daniel is

praying to God asking for a vision.

For the nation of Israel to come. Let's keep reading

in verse two.

At that time, I Daniel mourned for three weeks. I

ate no choice food, No meat or wine touched my lips,

and I use no lotion at all for three until

the three weeks were over.

Now, what's Daniel doing.

Is Daniel going on a dietz Is he trying to

lose some weight?

What Daniel's doing is he's fasting. He's abstaining from certain foods.

He's fasting in order to re seve God's answer, in

order to hear from God. Fasting is a spiritual practice

that strengthens our faith. Fasting allows us to hear what

God wants to share with us. Fasting reminds our heart

and our body that we need God. I like to

think of it this way. Fasting shrinks your stomach and opens.

Your ears while you wait.

While you're waiting and you're fasting, you feel those hunger pains.

Those hunger pains are a reminder that we need God.

It's a reminder that as much as we need food

to survive, we need God even more if we want

to thrive. And this text in Daniel ten has inspired

something called the Daniel Fast. The Daniel fast is when

you might dedicate three weeks to go without certain foods

like meat and delicacies, and only eat some things like fruit, vegetables, water,

those kind of things. And it's a three week fast

to dedicate time to hear from God into pray. You see,

fasting concentrates your mind and it concentrates your body to

receive from God, to hear God.

It opens your ears. Mark Batterson writes.

Very rarely does our first prayer request hit the bullseye

of God's good, pleasing and perfect will. Most prayer requests

must be refined. Fasting is a way of refining our

prayer requests. Fasting is a way of tuning our ears

our hearts to hear from God. And if you want

to learn more about fasting, if you want to try

hearing from God through fasting, there's a prayer and fasting

guide that can help you. You can find that on

the Church of the Crossing mobile app where we take

message notes, or there's a paper copy at the desk

in the lobby that explains more. So, Daniel is fasting,

He's fasting for three weeks and praying to hear from God.

Let's read what happens at the end of those three weeks.

In verse four, On the twenty fourth of the first month,

as I was standing on the bank of the great river,

the Tigris. I looked up, and there before me was

a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine

gold from Oupahs around his waist. Now this is an angel,

a divine messenger that God sent to Daniel to give

him an answer. Let's look closely at verse twelve. Then

the angel continued, do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the

first day that you set your mind to gain understanding

and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard,

and I have come in response to them. So on

the first day that Daniel prayed, God heard. Daniel fasted

for twenty one days before the angel came. But on

the first day of that prayer and fasting, God heard

and dispatched an answer.

Verse thirteen.

The angel goes on, But the Prince of the Persian

kingdom resisted me twenty one days. This is an evil spirit,

a demonic spirit resists the angel of God for twenty

one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, one

of the angels of God, came to help me because

I was detained there with the King of Persia. Now

I have come to explain to you what will happen

to your people in the future for the vision concerns

of time yet to come. So Daniel on day one

decided to pray and fast, and his prayer was heard

in heaven. And on day one, God's an angel to

answer that prayer, and Daniel faster for twenty one days.

His answer was delayed for three weeks because of resistance.

Have you ever been delayed when.

You're traveling, like a delayed flight or a canceled flight,

or maybe construction on the highway.

Have you ever been delayed? I'll tell you this story.

It's a little bit embarrassing to share, but years ago,

I was on my way to an appointment and I

left my house with plenty of time to arrive on time,

early in time for this appointment. But I did not

anticipate construction traffic on the highway. And so as I'm

driving to this appointment, I hit construction traffic and the

whole highway comes to a standstill. They funnel us down

to one lane and I can't get off, I can't

turn around. I'm stuck in this traffic, just inching forward.

With every inch that we crawled forward, I watched the

minutes on the clock tick by, knowing that I'm gonna

be late. I'm running late for this appointment. Once the

traffic cleared up, I floored it. I went as fast

as I could to make up time because I did

not want to be late for this appointment. And as

I'm driving down the highway, I see something in my mirror.

I see the flashing red and blue lights of the police.

I got pulled over for speeding.

Now, let me take a moment, kids, young drivers, speeding

is wrong.

I was wrong. Take this as a warning. My life

is a warning to you. Do not do that.

So the police officer pulled me over, and I tried

to explain the police officer that I'm a pastor. I'm

on my way to disappointment. I can't be late for this.

Did I mention where I was going. I was on

my way to officiate a funeral. I was running late

for a funeral. Just imagine the grieving family at the

funeral home and the pastor is nowhere to be found.

Everybody's coming in, family, friends, to pay their respects, and

there's no pastor there. Well, the police officer did not

have mercy and still gave me a ticket and let

me go, and I drove as quickly and as safely

as I could to get to.

The funeral home.

And I pulled into the parking lot of the funeral home,

and I walked into the funeral home with one minute

before the service.

Was scheduled to start. I had sixty seconds to spare.

I wasn't late, just delayed. Daniel. His answer was delayed

because of spiritual resistance.

God heard his prayer on day one, send an answer

by way of angel on day one, but there was

spiritual resistance in the supernatural world. Spiritual resistance tries to

delay your answer. While you wait, you may not even

see or know what's happening when spiritual irresistance comes against

what you're praying for. Notice what we read in our text,

the angel sent by God contended with the evil spirit

for twenty one days. How long was Daniel fasting and

praying twenty one days?

I wonder what.

If Daniel had stopped praying on day twenty, what would

have happened?

Would he have gotten his answer?

Now? The text doesn't say that, but I wonder, if

you have stopped praying on day twenty, might he not

have received the answer?

Might he not have seen the breakthrough?

I wonder if Daniel's fasting and praying was adding strength

to this spiritual struggle. I wonder if all that fasting

and praying was creating and conditioning Daniel to receive what

God had to give him.

People of Grit wait for the Lord even when there's

spiritual resistance. We wait on God even when.

Evil comes against us, even when there's evil forces working

against us, even when it tries to intercept and delay

your answer. We wait for the Lord because I want

to tell you that God is greater than every resistance.

God is more powerful than any evil that's coming against

you or trying to delay your answer.

It's possible that in your.

Waiting, God is conditioning your soul to be ready to

receive what He wants to give you. How have you

experienced spiritual resistance? Years ago, when I was a youth pastor,

I was leading a weekend spiritual retreat for high school students,

and I was praying that God would do great things

at this retreat. I was praying for miracles, I was

praying for salvations. I was praying for breakthrough in students' lives.

Just transformation is praying for big things. And so in

the months before this event. I decided to do a

twenty one day prayer and fasting, and just like Daniel,

I didn't eat meat and gave up snacks and just

ate fruit, vegetables, water, those kind of things for twenty

one days, and every day I prayed for this for

this upcoming retreat. I even went to the campground the

retreat center, and I walked the campus praying that God

would do things when our group got there. And then

on day nineteen of my praying and fasting, there was

spiritual resistance. I was notified by the camp where we

were going to hold this event that that organization was

going to dramatically increase the cost of us using their facility.

Now this was a problem because it was a huge cost.

They were getting pressure.

From their insurance company and there's all these details about

this insurance and liability that they had to cover. They

couldn't afford it. We couldn't afford it. I'd already had

people signing up. I couldn't go back to families and

students and asked them to pay more money.

I didn't have extra budget money.

Like this was a problem, and if we didn't solve this,

then this event was not gonna happen r at the

very least, we'd have to look.

For another place more affordable. And just as I was

about to panic.

I realized, this is why I've been praying and fasting

for nineteen days. I didn't know on day one I

was gonna meet resistance on day nineteen, but those days

of fasting and praying had built my faith in God,

my trusting God, my confidence that he was going to

solve the solution, and so I trusted him and I said, God,

I know that you have a plan. Twenty four hours later,

the very next day, the camp director called me and

somehow they solved this problem. It was not going to

be a cost to our group. They were satisfied on

their end. Everything was taken care of and it was

just eliminated. It was taken care of, and then the

next day we signed the contract to rent and reserve

that facility. That was day twenty one of a twenty

one day prayer and fasting. I didn't know on day

one exactly what I was praying for, but all those

days of prayer and fasting built my faith to be

ready when I met spiritual resistance. So when you encounter resistance,

when you're waiting on God, and there are spiritual resistance.

Do not give up. Don't give in when there's resistance.

Keep praying, keep knocking, keep asking, keep fasting, keep contending.

Daniel receives strength from the Lord we see in verse thirteen.

The angel continues and says, the prince of the Persian

Kingdom resisted me twenty one days. Then Michael, one of

the chief princes, one of God's angels, came to help me.

When you meet spiritual resistance, God helps you. God fights

for you. God dispatches his angels on your behalf. Warren

Worsby writes, when we pray, God directs the armies of

heaven to fight on our behalf. Even though we may

know nothing about the battles that are being waged in

this invisible war, we know that there is victory over

every evil resistance because of Jesus. When Jesus died on

the cross, he defeated the devil.

When he rose from the dead, he conquered death and

all evil. So we know that all resistance must bow

to the name of Jesus.

That whatever resistance and whatever evil you are confronted with

in this life, God's love is greater than that resistance.

His love goes before you, his love comes behind you.

He helps you, and he fights for you.

Spiritual resistance is a reality for the Christian life. And

that's why I want to tell you next week there's

gonna be an event called Contending for the Kingdom where

we're going to learn tools and equipping about spiritual warfare,

about contending when there's resistance and when there's evil forces

at work. If you want to learn about that event,

you can visit the church website for more. So, Daniel

was facing spiritual resistance, but God gave him strength as

he was waiting for the Lord. We read in verse eighteen,

Daniel says again, the one who touched me like a

man looked at the one who looked like a man

touched me and gave me strength. Do not be afraid,

you who are highly esteemed, He said, peace, be strong.

Now be strong.

God gives you supernatural strength when you wait for the Lord,

when you are praying, when you are waiting, when you

are trusting, He gives you strength and endurance to keep waiting.

I love this story of Daniel.

I love this Daniel chapter ten story because it reminds

me of something that happened in my life that I

will never forget.

A couple of years ago, I had this terrible toothache.

I was just in so much pain. I couldn't eat,

I couldn't chew. I was just miserable. And so finally

I gave in and I went to the dentist, and.

The dentist took one look and told me that I

had a wisdom tooth that needed to be removed. And

before I could think twice, they numbed me up and

pulled that tooth right out. And I was so relieved

that the pain was gone. I was grateful that my

physical pain was gone.

But then I got an.

Emotional pain when the dentist gave me the bill. I

did not expect this bill. This was an expensive procedure.

I hadn't planned on this. I hadn't prepared for this.

This surprised me, and I didn't know exactly how I

was going to pay for this unexpected expense. Two days later,

I opened my mailbox and I had a letter from

a relative. This relative had no idea that I had

a toothache. This relative had no clue that I had

been to the dentist. This relative had no knowledge of

this large expense in my life. And the note from

the relative said, Andrew, I was thinking about you, and

I felt prompted to send you this gift just to

bless you.

And there was a check for an amount that covered

that unexpected expense.

The best part of that story is the date on

that check was the same day that I was.

At the dentist two days earlier.

The date that this person wrote that check was the

same day that I was at the dentist getting this cost.

Even before I knew the expense, God was providing away.

God was providing a solution. So here's what I'm saying

to you. If you pray really hard and you go

home today, there might be money in your mailbox.

Absolutely not. That is not what I'm saying at all.

I'm not preaching a prosperity gospel. I don't believe in healthy,

wealthy preaching. That's not what I'm saying.

I told you that story because it's a reminder of

what Jesus has done for us spiritually. Because all of

us we are spiritually bankrupt. Our sin, our rebellion, has

bankrupt us, and we are doomed a punishment and death.

But two thousand years ago, Jesus paid the price to.

Pay off our debt.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus paid the cost for our forgiveness.

Jesus paid the price for our eternal life. And so now,

when you come against resistance, you draw on the deposit

that Jesus made. When you're fighting for healing, when you're

fighting through treatment, when you get a diagnosis, you draw

on the deposit that Jesus made. When you come against

addiction and grief and depression, you.

Draw on Jesus's deposit.

When you feel mistreated and cheated, you are not defeated

because he paid the price. And I want to say

that if there's somebody who thinks that you should end

your own life, look to the one who gave his

life for you. Because there is hope in Jesus. He

gives us strength when we wait for the Lord, we

can trust him even while we're waiting for the breakthrough.

While we're waiting for the answer.

We said that God hears our prayers, and God answers

our prayers yes, no or wait? What do we do

when God says no? How does it feel when you're

told no? Long time ago, I was thinking about the

idea of planting a new church, starting a new church.

And so the church that.

I was currently serving at sent me in Lauren to

a pastor's boot camp.

This is a real thing.

And for two days there were couples from all over

the country being assessed and evaluated for possibly starting new churches.

And for these two days it was intense.

At the end of the two days, the assessment group

would give a grade to each couple, and that grade

could range from yes, you should start a new church

to know you're not qualified to do this. And so

for those two days, we had to do Bible knowledge exams,

we took multiple personality profile tests, there were group presentations,

there was role play fundraising, how to fundraise, you had

to preach a sermon.

On the spot, like there was all this. It was intense.

It kind of felt like pastor reality TV.

And nobody wanted to get voted off, you know, alliances

and all this. And so at the end of the

two days, Lauren and I met with the assessment team

and they told us, no, you're not ready to start

a new church.

And I felt hurt. My ego felt hurt. I was disappointed,

and I felt a little bit embarrassed.

Too, they told me no. How does it feel when

you get told no? What does it feel like when

God says no? What do we do when you've been

praying for healing, praying for a miracle, and that healing

doesn't come in this life, but it comes in heaven.

How does that feel?

What do you do when you're praying for a new

job but God says no? Or you've been praying for

your marriage but your spouse still walks out. What do

we do when we pray for our loved one who's

in the hospital but they pass away.

What do we do when we say no when God

says no. Well, like we said earlier, you may not

know why God says no, but you can know who.

Even when God says no, you can trust the God

who you know. You can trust that he hears your prayers.

You can trust that He is with you. You can

trust that he knows what you're going through. That's why

people of grit wait for the Lord. And I want

to say that there are some insensitive Christians who will

try to justify why God says no, and they have

these cute little sayings, but they're really harsh and hurtful.

Saying is like, well, God's teaching you a lesson, there's

something to learn, or you know, just have more faith.

You know, that's called faith shaming. You need more faith

and God will.

God will give you the miracle.

Or there's the one that says, well, maybe is there

any unconfessed sin that's blocking your prayer? You need to

confess your sin. All of those responses are cruel on.

Christian and unbiblical.

And if you've been wounded by that, today, in the

name of Jesus, we break that off and we reject

those responses.

In Jesus's name.

People of Grit wait for the Lord. People of Grit

wait for the Lord. And sometimes God says no.

But hear me. When God says no, that might not

be a bad thing. No is not always bad. Sometimes

no can be good.

Do you know what the greatest prayer answer no was.

It's the prayer that Jesus prayed on the night before

his death. Jesus was in the garden and he was praying.

We read in Luke twenty two. Jesus went out as

usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.

On reaching the place, he said to them, pray that

you will not fall into temptation.

He withdrew about a stone's.

Throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, father, if you

are willing, take this cup from me, He's saying, take

this cup of suffering, take away the pain, take away

the rejection, take the cross away, take this cup from me.

Yet not my will, but yours be done.

Jesus asked the father to intervene and stop what was

about to happen.

But how did the father answer the son? The father

said no, Jesus was still arrested. Jesus was still beaten

and flogged. Jesus was nailed to the cross. Jesus died.

The father did not stop him from dying.

The greatest prayer answer knows the prayer that Jesus prayed.

But just because the father said no, that does not

mean the father rejected the son. Keep reading verse twenty two,

says father, if you're willing take this cup from me,

Yet not my will, but yours be done.

What do we read?

In verse forty three, An angel from heaven appeared to

him and what and strengthened him. Even when the father

said no to Jesus, he sent him more strength.

Just like God sent an angel to Daniel. He sent

an angel to Jesus.

The Father gave Jesus more strength and courage and power

to endure. When God says no, he is still with

you while you wait.

You are not waiting alone. You are not.

Rejected, You are not in the dark. God is not

silent when you are waiting. I believe that God comes

closer to us even when we wait for him, Even

when he says no and we're in the middle of

pain and disappointment, His presence is with us, and we

can hear him while we're waiting. Remember, not every no

is a bad thing. Sometimes no can be good.

When God said no to Jesus, it was for good.

If the Father said yes to Jesus, then there would

be no hope for you and me. If he said yes,

evil would have won. The devil would have won.

We would be doomed.

There would be no gospel if the Father had said yes.

But the Father said no, And the Gospel is built

on this answer. No. For our sake, Praise be to

God that he said no, and Jesus died waiting.

Jesus was in the garden waiting. Jesus was arrested waiting.

Jesus was flogged waiting.

His hands and his feet were nailed while he was waiting,

and Jesus died waiting. What was he waiting for? He

was waiting for Sunday. He was waiting for the resurrection.

He was waiting for the stone to be rolled away

and the victory to be declared. So let me tell you,

on the other side of your waiting is resurrection.

On the other side of your longing, and your praying

is resurrection. On the other side of your tears.

And you're desperation in your crist for help, there is

a resurrection waiting for you.

God knows what he's doing. He's not surprised by your circumstance.

You may be surprised, you may be disoriented, you may

be confused.

But God is not.

He's not up in heaven scratching his head saying, oh man,

I didn't expect that God is in control.

There's always resurrection on the other side of your waiting.

People of grit wait for the Lord.

Daniel waited for the Lord, and he heard from God.

We read in Daniel ten nineteen when the Angel spoke

to me. I was strengthened and said, speak, my Lord,

since you have given me strength.

Daniel said, speak. He was ready to hear from God.

So when your situation is serious, when your troubles are

very scary, you are going to be able to hear

from God. When you're waiting on the Lord, he will

speak to you. Even in disappointment. You can hear him,

even in the pain, in a long journey of treatment,

even when you're facing that financial tragedy. God is with you.

He does not withhold his presence from you. He is

near to you while you wait, people of grit, wait

for the Lord. I want to end just with one

more story of how I've experienced God's goodness.

While I wait for him. Some of you know some

of the details of this story.

When Lauren and I lived in Pennsylvania, Lauren worked for

Starbucks Coffee and she had a great job there. She

was promoted, she excelled, But after a while that specific

job just kind of wore her down and it wasn't

fulfilling her God given calling. And so in twenty seventeen,

Lauren started praying about a new job. In fact, this

picture on the screen is a picture of her prayer

journal where she's praying for a new job. And then

in November of twenty seventeen, we learned about an opening

at a nonprofit organization and this job description was perfect

for Lauren. We thought she was a great match, and

so she submitted an application and we.

Waited and waited and we waited. There was no response,

no call, no.

Interview, nothing, and we felt really disappointed because we had

prayed about this, we had worked on this, we had

waited for this, and we really felt like this was

an answer no, but it was really an answer wait.

And so we kept praying all of twenty seventeen. We

kept praying all of.

Twenty eighteen until twenty nineteen when Church of the Crossing

invited Lauren and I to come here and join the

team here, and Lauren was asked to become the manager

of the Haverstick, our coffee shop and coworking space here

on our campus. Matching her background in business and coffee

with her calling and passion to serve God and serve

people is a perfect fit. And you know what the

best part about that was. Do you remember when Lauren

applied for that other job, Remember when she started praying

for a new job. It was November of twenty seventeen.

Do you know when Church of the Crossing open the

Haverstick November of twenty seventeen. God was already providing an answer.

God was already working even though we could not see it.

We had to trust him.

We had to wait, We had to keep taking one

step at a time, waiting for the Lord.

He was already working on our behalf.

It took us more than two years to see the

solution that we were praying for. Remember, when God says no,

it does not mean it's bad. When God says wait,

there may be something better. There is goodness on the

other side of waiting. So if you are waiting on

the Lord, do not give up.

If you are waiting and.

Praying, keep praying, keep fasting, keep seeking, keep knocking.

People of grit, wait for the Lord.

I want to invite all of us to take a

moment and personally respond to what we've heard today. Let

you take a moment to bow your head with me

and turn your thoughts and attention to the Lord. And

if there is something that you are waiting for, if

there's something that you are praying for, would you tell

the Lord that you are waiting and praying. Would you

ask him for the faith and the trust to keep praying.

If there's someone listening who's experienced delay and what you're

waiting for, and you feel ashamed, like it's your fault,

or you're blaming yourself, or there's something that you've done

to make this delay, I believe God wants.

To encourage you that it is not your fault. The

delay is not caused by you. Would you just ask

the Lord to give you a renew faith to continue

to wait. And if there's someone listening.

And you've been told the answer no, God has said

no to what you've prayed for, would you ask God

to give you the faith and the.

Peace to trust him to trust his goodness.

I pray that if you have received an answer no,

that you feel more of God's presence even today, that

you know you're not alone, that the Lord is with you,

and the Lord is going to provide, that the Lord

is going to lead, That the Lord is right there

with you. Even if you feel like you are in

your guard and praying take this cup from me, the

Lord is with.

You in the garden. And finally, if you're listening to this.

And you are not in a relationship with Jesus, you

are far from God and you've been waiting for God

to give you a sign or waiting for God to.

Grab you.

This might be your sign right now that God wants

a relationship with you.

And if you want a saving.

Relationship with God, and then I invite you to just

simply pray this prayer after me in your heart, say,

Dear God, I admit that I'm a sinner. I believe

Jesus died for my forgiveness. I believe he rose from

the dead to save me. And today I confess that

Jesus is Lord of my life.

Amen, I'll pray for all of us. God.

I pray that you would give us the faith and

the courage to trust you, to wait for you.

And God, may our joy increase as.

We obey you, and as we follow you each day,

each step at a time, and we pray.

All of this in the name of Jesus.

Amen, I think it's appropriate that we receive communion.

We talked about that night where Jesus prayed in the garden,

and just before he went to the garden, he was

with his twelve disciples and he gave them communion, the

Lord's Supper, and he told us, then, when we eat

this bread, when we drink the wine.

We do so in remembrance of his sacrifice.

So we receive these elements today, remembering what Jesus has

done and celebrating the resurrection. And so as we prepare

to receive these, would you search your heart and take

a moment. If there's anything that you need to confess

to the Lord, or any sin you need to ask

for his forgiveness.

You can do so. Now.

Now together, let's receive the cracker, the body of Jesus,

and let's receive the juice his blood.

Amen.