Charge - Lift

It was a few weeks ago.

I was at lunch with a pastor friend of mine.

And this pastor friend of mine asked if we could get lunch.

And I know that he's gone through some difficult times, some challenges, some hardship.

He's even dealt with some depression over the years.

And we uh met for lunch, and I could tell when we got into the restaurant and into the booth, the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

And so we started to have a conversation.

He was telling me about all the different pressures that are going on in his life at the time, whether that was in the ministry, also financially and with relationships.

And uh he was extremely troubled.

And then he said these all-important words that very few, very, very, uh, very rarely get uttered.

And these are the words, these three words he said, I need help.

And so we began to talk and began to make some plans and pray for one another.

And what I said to him in the conversation is in reference to the scripture that we're gonna talk about today.

But what I told him was, I said, Man, I'm so glad that you said what you said that you're here right now, that you're asking for help.

And I said, There are so many people in your life right now that want to hold you up and hold your arms up.

And when I said that to him, his eyes welled up with tears.

And he said, Man, I'm I'm so that that spoke to me so much.

I'm so thankful that you said that.

The title of the message this morning is Lift.

Everybody say lift.

And I'm not sure uh how you've walked in this week and what's gone on in the journey of your week, but I know that I know that there's some people in our church this last week who've lost loved ones, walking through a challenging week with tragedy.

I know others that over the last few weeks have been in a really down and trying time, even to the point where it's been tough maybe even to get out of bed, they've told me.

And there's times where we find ourselves where whatever it is that life is throwing at us, that sometimes it feels like, man, I can't even lift my head, I can't even maybe take a step out of bed because I've gone through this tragedy, there's been this hardship, there's been the relationship that has ended or been broken, and you just think to yourself, is it even really worth it to get up and take one step in front of the next?

And you ask the question, where is God?

Where's God?

Now you may not be in that state right now today, that may not be what your week looked like or the last few weeks have looked like, but what we do know is that life is filled with valleys and mountains, isn't it?

That just because that's not your week right now doesn't mean that some point later down the future that you may not find yourself in a state where you're just thinking, man, I am just tired of all this.

God.

And what do you do in those times?

What do you do when you find yourself in the moment where you're like, I just don't have anything left in the tank.

And we're gonna take a look at a story in the Old Testament.

We've been in this series the last three weeks.

This is the last week of our uh series that we've talked about charges.

We've talked about these different battles that been that have happened in the Old Testament, and the one that we're gonna talk about today has some similar and some familiar characters with Joshua and Moses.

And where we are in the scripture is that the people of God have been rescued out of Egypt in their slavery.

Moses has just walked up to the Red Sea and put his staff into the water and is split in two, and the Israelites have walked across on dry ground, being saved from the Egyptian army as they head towards the promised land.

And they've not yet reached Mount Sinai where they're going to get the Ten Commandments and then be able to continue to move towards the promised land.

And right after this miracle that happens of the Red Sea, all of a sudden they find themselves in another battle.

There's this group of people called the Amalekites that see them coming through the land and want to fight and have a battle.

Now, if you've been paying attention since May, what's interesting about the Amalekites is that they're descendants of Esau.

They're descendants of Esau.

And the people of God that are now walking through and heading towards the promised land, they're descendants of Jacob.

And so now, generations later, this conflict is still going on between Jacob and Esau and their descendants, and we find ourselves in what happens in this battle starting in verse 8.

While the people of Israel were still at uh Rephredim, the warriors of Amelech attacked them.

Moses commanded Joshua, choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amelech for us.

Tomorrow I will stand at the top of the hill.

So Joshua Moses had commanded.

As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage.

But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage.

Moses' arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold him up.

So Aaron and her found a stone for him to sit on, and they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands, and his hands held steady until sunset.

And as a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amelech in battle.

You heard last Sunday, as Kyle and he gave his message and talked about Joshua, the same Joshua that later would be in a battle where the sun stood still.

We see from this passage and the last three passages that we've talked about on the last three weeks that God wants to partner with people.

And what's interesting about this story in particular is that Moses is the man.

Moses has been the man.

Moses has been the man that has led the people out of Egypt.

He stood in the gap.

God used him to separate and to part the sea.

But at this point in the story, Moses could not do it on his own.

He needed others' help.

And so do you.

See, we have to, as followers of Jesus and people of the way, and the way that God has set up, the way that we walk with him, that we have to let others lift us up.

And you've got to let others lift you up as well.

How in the world can we, can you get help if you won't ask for it?

You know, we're not supposed to do this life alone.

One of our 10 value statements that we talk about here at Multiply, one of them is we bring others with us.

And what that means is it comes from the fact that God has told us that it's not good for man to be alone.

But we should be doing life together.

That church, it's uh it was meant for us as the body of Christ to be a team sport, not a solo assignment.

And so as we bring others with us, we have to allow others into our life for us to be able to say and at times be vulnerable and have to say, hey, I need help.

And then actually let them do that.

Now, that right there is farther and more than most people are willing to do.

Most people think, you know, I'm just gonna grit it through, I'm just gonna make this happen myself.

And Moses is standing up at the top of the hill, and he's holding up the staff of God, and he's giving it all of his might, and he's trying to make it happen on his own, and slowly over time, he's getting more tired and more tired and more tired and more tired, and as his staff and as his arms are dropping down, the battle is being lost.

And Moses, who's been the man, has to be humble enough to allow for some help.

And what this help comes from and what this help is, is lifting up others, which is also what we need to do.

We need to be actively lifting up others.

It is so much easier to drag one another down, isn't it?

It's so much easier for us to be critics.

It's so much easier for us to be judgmental, isn't it, church?

But instead for us to step up and say, you know what, we're gonna lift up somebody else.

We're gonna speak life, we're gonna be encouraging, we're going to actually uh see what's going on in their life, and instead of ignoring it or instead of being like, oh, well, they're figuring that out, I don't know if I should say anything, for you just to open your mouth, to say something, to be encouraging to someone, to take an act of trying to lift somebody up, because it's so much easier for us to get in this mindset and to get into a place where we're willing to tear others down, sit in judgment and not understanding what they're going through, and not trying to be a help.

In the same way, and this is the Moses, the leader.

He's the man, he's the man that God called.

He's the one that's supposed to have it all figured out.

We, as followers of Jesus, we should also be lifting up our leaders.

We started the service this morning by praying for our leaders.

We have 115 more days until the election in November.

That's a long time, isn't it?

And in the midst of all the things that are happening in our nation, we need to be in prayer for our leaders and for uh the leaders here locally, for the leaders nationally, for us to lift up and pray that God's hand would help, would guide, and we need to lift up those that are in leadership.

I got very encouraged last night because after the news of what happened and late into the night, one of our volunteer leaders texted me last night way late and sent me a message and just said, Hey, uh, we're heading out on vacation in the morning, but I want to let you know that I'm praying for you ahead of tomorrow service.

And it meant so much to me.

It meant so much to me because in that moment when I got that, I was reading that message, and I just felt like, man, my arms got lifted up a little bit.

And so as we're lifting up the people that are around us, our nation lifting up in prayer, we also need to lift up our eyes to the one who is the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus.

The only one where our hope comes from is in Jesus Christ.

He is the only solid rock on which we stand.

He is the only one that is not shifting sand.

And the scripture that I go back to time and time again, especially in times when people are in need, when people have medical things, when when when folks are heading into the hospital, when stuff is going on in life that are these challenges, in in uh Psalm 121.

And I pray this for them, and over there I say, I pray, I lift my eyes up to the hills.

From where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

We lift up our eyes.

And I just want to say this for some of us that we've got our head so far down looking at all of our problems, and you're getting to the point where you're so tired that you can't even pick your head up.

Sometimes you need somebody to look at you and say, Lift your head up.

Lift your head up, lift your head up beyond what the present circumstances circumstance is, but lift your eyes toward the Lord.

A couple of weeks ago, and when I were in a we were in a conversation with another friend who, a Christian leader, and she was telling us about, she's in children's children's ministry.

She was telling us about back in 2018 when she went through the darkest time in her life.

She got to a point where she was so overcome by depression, she was having suicidal thoughts.

And she said, there were a lot of people and Christians that were around me that said a lot of things that were not helpful.

But the one thing that was helpful, she said, This is so interesting.

She said, the one thing that was helpful to me during 2018, during that year, was when people would tell me stories of other people getting through what I was already going through.

When people would tell me a story of somebody else who'd had victory over what I was going through, that's what really lifted me up.

And in the same way for us, the thing that you went through that God got you through, it's not just meant for you.

It's meant for you to speak to somebody else and give them encouragement of something that you went through that God brought you through and the testimony now that you can speak to someone and say, lift your head up, keep going.

Let me hold up your arm.

Let me lift up your chin.

Look towards God because I've walked through this and you're going to make it through, too.

You're gonna make it through that battle.

You're gonna make it through that challenge.

Just keep your head up.

And not just your head up, but also your hands up.

Your hands up lifted towards heaven.

The greatest of all time, Muhammad Ali.

All the great wins that he had in the ring, we all know him.

One of our favorite Kentuckians.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

But all the great things that he did in the ring, it wasn't until at the end of the match when his arm got lifted up by the referee was when he had victory.

And for us, we have to as well lift up our hands towards God and lift up the Lord.

This is what Jesus said about himself.

Look at this.

This is John 12, 31 through 32.

He says, the time for judging this world has come when Satan, the ruler of this world, would be cast out.

And then he said this, and when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.

And so this morning, church, we are here to lift up the glory of God.

We're here to lift up the name of Jesus.

We're here to lift up his name.

And when we do that, that's gonna draw everyone unto him.

As we lift up.

And so that means for some of you who are in the room who you've never opened up your mouth to worship and lift up the name of Jesus, it's time for you to lift him up.

For those of you that have never raised your hands towards heaven, as a sign of surrender and of worship, it's time to lift up towards Jesus so that he can do a work that you can never do.

Here's what I'm trying to say.

Last week, Emily and I, we got to have a great time vacation together.

We went out west, saw some friends, we got on an airplane, which isn't just a modern miracle that that hunk of metal can get up off of that off of off of that ground and lift all the way up.

But it's because of a concept in physics called lift.

Now, I'm not about to try to teach you anything about physics right now.

Because I took physics in high school for seven days, and I'm like, I'm not doing this anymore, and I dropped out of that class and took another class because I'm like, this is not for me.

But what I do know is that the lift that lifts the airplane up with these wings, that the lift, it's a force, and the force comes from the pressure that's on the wings.

Now, I don't know what pressures are going on in your life right now, but I'm gonna assume you've got some pressures just like I do.

And when you have those pressures, you gotta let God take those pressures and not take you down, but instead lift you up and through those pressures to graduate your faith to two new levels and new heights.

It's not his plan for you to be in a state where you're saying, I don't even need to live anymore.

I can't make it through this, I can't get to the other side, this financial situation, this bank, I'm not gonna ever be able to pay off this debt.

I'm not ever gonna be able to get out of this situation, but instead, that the pressures in life that are coming towards you that it would lift you up and raise you up to where God is making you and placing you and putting you for his purposes, not to take you out, but for you to take off, to where God's leading you, and but you gotta you gotta lift, you gotta lift those eyes up towards the hills.

You gotta lift up those hands and surrender to God, and as you take charge, to take charge may be just to simply say, I need help.

I need help to say it to God, I need help.

Just imagine.

Just imagine because you may not feel like this now, but I I know, I know that it's God's plan for you that you would have people in your life who are around you who are ready, willing, and waiting to lift up your arms.

So if you don't have those people right now, God is calling you into a new place and a new season, that you would have those people in your life, that you would have other believers who will lift you up in prayer.

And when you say, Hey, pray for me about this, I'm going through this, then you know that's not just gonna get forgotten, or you're just gonna get an emoji, but that person's actually gonna, they're actually gonna lift, they're actually gonna lift.

And I know that because that's how God has designed our Christian walk for us to be a body of Christ, loving, supporting, caring for one another.

Now I'll say this.

You may be here today.

You can't even imagine what I'm talking about because you have not yet, you have not lifted up your heart, your mind, your eyes toward Jesus and asked him to take over.

Ask for him to take charge.

Ask for him to forgive you, to change you, to save you.

Can I just tell you today is that day for you?

If you've not yet done it, you don't need to wait one more day.

You need to let God take charge.

And as he does, he will, he's going to purchase you with his blood on the cross and resurrection.

The new life that he walked out of the grave with will all of a sudden be transferred over to you, and you will be made alive in Christ, walking out of the grave and lifted up.

I'm gonna pray over us now.

So if you bow your heads, Father, all across this room, there are just pressures in this room, God.

There are pressures that are trying to push in on every side.

But God, we know, Lord, we know that God we are crushed but not abandoned.

That God, you never let us go.

That God, we're not forsaken.

But instead, God, you love us, you see us, you care for us, you've forgiven us.

And God, I pray all across the room and for myself, God, that we would be in a place, Lord, a place of lifting up those around us, lifting up our mind, our eyes towards you, God, when the pressures of life come.

So, God, I pray right now, all across the room, God, I pray faith and faithfulness over the believers that are in this room.

That God, that the pressures that are on them, God, that they're not gonna take them out, but instead that they're gonna take off because of your power.

Father, I I want to pray now across the room for anybody who's here.

Who has not given over their life to you for salvation?

That maybe in the room right now, they just they don't know.

They genuinely don't know if they've ever done it before.

But today, God, is their day.

And so, Father, if there's anybody in the room today, Father, I pray, God, right now, that they would make things right with you.

That they would pray in their heart and mind something like this Jesus, save me.

Forgive me.

Cleanse me by the power of the cross.

I want to be alive now and to eternity.

I give you my life.

Take charge so that I can walk with you in forgiveness and in freedom.

Now into eternity.

Nobody looking around today is your day for you to pray that, for you to be sure that you are saved and walking with Jesus.

Today is your day.

I want to ask you to take that action.

An action of raising your hand to lift it up towards heaven as a sign to God.

And so that I can pray for you.

So if that's you today, at the count of three, I want you to raise that hand up as a sign to heaven.

Ready, one, two, three.

Right here.

Right here.

I see you right here, brother.

I see you two over here.

Thank you for raising your hand.

Anyone else?

Anyone else?

If you raise your hand, raise it up one more time.

Father, I thank you, God, for these that have taken that step in action today.

To give their life over to you, to be sure.

God, I pray, Lord, that their decision today, God, that it would be sealed by heaven, that it would be a genuine from a sincere place and heart.

And that, God, because of this decision today, they'll walk with you from now into eternity.

So we thank you.

We praise you, God, for your goodness, your mercy, and your love.

In the strong name of Jesus.

And everybody said, Amen.

Church, will you stand to your feet as we sing and celebrate and worship?