What Is a Golden Calf?

Thank you for listening to the river.

Bend Church podcast Riverbend Church exists, Elite all people

to know love and live New Life in Jesus Christ.

We hope that you enjoy this message.

Now this morning, we're closing out a series called.

What if and the premise of this series is no matter who we are,

where we've been what we've gone through or what we're going

through, we all ask, what if questions we all ask?

What if questions about adequacy or inadequacy?

We ask what if questions about Hope or hopelessness?

We asked what if questions about Community or even loneliness.

These are some very, very common questions that we asked some

very personal questions that we ask and here's What we believe

is, we believe that there's not a question that we can ask that

God's word is solid on. There's not a question that we

can ask that God sits there and goes.

Hmm, let me think on that, that's a good one.

You kind of stumped me. God actually has an answer and

not just an answer but direction to our most personal questions.

But here's the thing in order to not just know what God says, but

actually to experience God and what I mean by that is we can

know a lot of facts about God. If you grew up in church and you

You grew up, like, in a family, playing Bible trivia, or

whatever you can do. A lot of details about God, you

can know a lot of facts about God, but when it comes to

actually spirits and God, that's a whole nother ball game.

And what I mean by that is actually experiencing like, we

know God is love, but experiencing the love of God, we

know that God, gives grace, and mercy and kindness and

compassion but to actually experience God's grace, mercy,

kindness and compassion, that's a whole nother ball game, right?

So one of the things that we come back to In this series and

that we've been together Oakwood in this series, is understanding

to bring our most personal questions to God.

We have to first be honest with ourselves about ourselves about

our questions and we have to be honest with ourselves and with

God about God and our questions towards God.

Now, if you grow up in church, like me that can kind of be a

scary thought, being completely honest and open and transparent

with God about what I About God and here's what like we know,

the Bible stories, right? We know that God flooded the

Earth, we know that God rain down fire from heaven.

We know that God smited, his enemies not really a verb that

we use in 2023, but he smited his enemies.

And if we're really being honest, we really don't want to

be on the equation on that side of the equation.

We can't swim that good. We don't want to be crispy and

we really don't want to be smited.

Horse moated, whatever the verb tense.

There is right. And even further, there's a part

of us that we start to think. How arrogant is it of me to

bring my feelings about God to God?

Like when I'm confused about God, when I may be angry about

God or where God has me or maybe I have some doubts about God or

some fears, how arrogant is it of me to bring that to be open

and honest with God? because, you know, he's God, I'm

not And here's what I would tell you.

I would tell you that God knows it all.

Anyway, we might as well be honest with him.

And number two, God is big enough to handle it and loving

enough to goddess through it. Here's my encouragement to you

Gainesville Oakwood online, keep directing your questions to God,

keep directing your honest feelings in your honest.

Thoughts about God toward God and see.

I think this is what Jesus was getting at in part, when he said

this in Matthew 7, keep on asking, you'll receive what you

ask for. Keep on seeking, you'll find

keep on knocking, on the door, will be opened for you, for

everyone who asks receives everyone.

Seeks finds and to everyone who knocks the door will be open to

them. Here's where I would tell you

keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, keep directing

them at God, whatever. What if questions you may have?

Keep on directing them to God. And this morning, I want to end

this series with probably one of the most personal one of the

most profit one of the most common questions that we ask.

We don't give verbage to we don't say out loud because we're

afraid of what it sounds like. If we say out loud and we're

afraid of what other people may think.

If we say it out loud and somehow we think that if God

Hears A say it out loud then it actually matters more or it

offends him more, here's the question.

What if I feel like God's forgotten about me?

You ever ask that question? Like you've ever felt that

question. What if I feel like God has

forgotten about me? This question is, most often

asked on the backside of some trauma.

This question is often asked, maybe on the backside of a

medical diagnosis, this question is asked maybe on the backside

of a shift and relationships with friends or family.

This question is often asked with a shift of financial

situation, maybe it work. This question is often I asked

when you fill in between what was and what will be, but you

kind of in that in between Zone This question is probably the

most personal most private. The most common question that is

not given voice to out loud, but I want to tell you something

Church, there is great precedence.

In this question being asked remember how I told you that the

Bible is never silent on anything that you and I will

ever face go through field or ask this question is actually

personified and exemplified and a passage in the book of Exodus.

If you have a Bible with you, whether it's hard, copy, or

digital, I want to get you to turn over.

To Exodus chapter 24, starting in verse 1.

Exodus 24 · chapter mention

Now, while you're looking for it, let me kind of bring you up

to speed on some context. So we're all on the same page.

The book of Exodus is written about a historical event, the

leaving the Israelites captivity, and they're leaving

slavery. They're leaving captivity out of

Egypt. What I mean by that is the

nation of Israel. The Israelites, the Hebrew

people, the Jews. They were enslaved by the

Egyptians for 100 years. And we know this that God

selected an 80 something-year-old Man by the

name of Moses, to be his primary mouthpiece his deliverer to the

nation of Israel for him to go to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and

says hey got the god of the Israelites said, let him go.

And finally he relents, he lets him go and we know historically

around 14 44 BC that about 2 million Israelites left.

The Empire of Egypt and started their track.

Not just East, but Southeast If they left captivity and during

this track called known as The Exodus during this track, the

God would would guide them through a pillar of cloud by day

and a pillar of Fire by night. And he would do some absolutely

amazing miracles on their behalf.

He would part the Red Sea to where they could walk across on

dry ground. He would feed them daily with

quail. And Manna From Heaven, he would

even when they got thirsty and there were no springs, no Oasis.

And the area he would, he would Instruct Moses to strike a rock.

To speak to a rock and out of that rock, water, would flow

out, and it would give sustenance.

That would give hydration to the people.

He did some amazing miracles on behalf of the people.

So, by the time we get to Exodus chapter 24 and verse 1.

Exodus 24 · chapter mention

The nation of Israel is kind of camped out at the base of Mount

Sinai. Now, to give you some historical

reference, you can actually visit this site today, it's

actually in the middle of the Sinai Peninsula, which is in the

Middle East and it's called Good job will Musa is the name of the

mountain. That's modern-day Mount Sinai.

So here's where we pick up. The Narrative.

It says in verse 1, chapter 24, then the Lord instructed Moses,

and let me kind of go ahead and put a precursor out there to us.

We're going to do a little bit of reading this morning.

Probably more reading than we normally do, just for the just

for the overview of The Narrative of where we're going.

Because we need to get a complete picture of actually

what's going on, a complete context of what's going on.

Verse 1 chapter 24, says the Lord instructed Moses come up

here to me and bring along Aaron nadab a Bahu and the 70, and 70

of Israel's Elders, all of you must worship from a distance,

only Moses allowed to come near to the Lord.

The others must not come near and none of the other people are

allowed to climb up the mountain with him.

Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the

instructions and regulations, the Lord had given him and all

the people answered with one voice, we will do everything,

the Lord has commanded. Then Moses carefully wrote down

all the Lord's instructions. Because if your parent out

there, you feel me, your parent, your kids, when you say, hey,

I'm going, I need you to do this.

What do you do before you leave? You write it down for him,

right? Moses did the same thing.

He wrote down all the Lord's instructions, early.

The next morning, Moses got up, and built an altar at The foot

of the mountain and he also set up 12 pillars, one for each of

the 12 tribes of Israel. Then he sent some of the young

Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice Bulls

as peace, offerings to the Lord. Moses drained, half the blood

from these animals into basins, the other half, he splattered

against the altar, then he took the book of the Covenant and

read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded we will

do everything. The Lord has commanded.

We will obey it and the worship service is about to intensify.

Then Moses took The blood from the basins and splattered it all

over the people declaring look this Blood confirms the

Covenant, the Lord has made with you and giving you these

instructions. That's how you know, they were

serious about it, right? Because half of us are going

man, that's intense and half of us are going.

That's disgusting, but we can all agree.

They were serious about this skip down to verse 15.

He says, then Moses climbed up the mountain and the cloud

covered it, and the glory of the Lord settle down on Mount Sinai.

And the cloud covered it. For six days, on the seventh

day, the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud.

To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain.

The glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming

fire. Then Moses disappeared into the

cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain he remained on the

mountain 40 days and 40 nights. Now you would assume we've got

all his good. Everything's going great, Moses

already given the instructions. The people say, we will obey

everything you say. They have this massive worship

service, everything is good to go.

And then like we just keep going, right?

Well, There's a problem. Here's why I want to get you do

flash over to chapter 32, Exodus chapter 32, Verse one, it says,

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

when the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come down

the mountain. Now remember, 40 days, 40

nights, they hadn't seen from him.

They hadn't seen him, they hadn't heard from him, nothing.

When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come down

the mountain? They gathered around Aaron.

Come on. They said make us some Gods who

can lead us. We don't know what happened to

this fellow. Moses who brought us here from

the land of Egypt. So Aaron said, take the gold

rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters and

bring them to me. All the people took the gold

rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.

Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down and mold it into the

shape of a calf. And when the people saw it, they

exclaimed o Israel. These are the gods who brought

you out of the land of Egypt. Aaron saw how excited the people

were. So he built an altar in front of

the calf, then he announced tomorrow will be a festival to

the Lord. And the people got up early the

next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings.

After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking and they

indulged in Pagan revelry, Here's what I would say to us

whether you're in Gainesville Oakwood or online.

Listen, it would be so easy for us to sit wherever we're sitting

where we're watching. We're tuning in and 2023 and go,

what a bunch of idiots. How in the world could the

Israelites do that? I mean, we read through the

early chapters, we've read it, they lived it, they experienced

it. How in the world?

Could you do that? How in the world?

Could you turn your back on? God, how in the world can you

make a golden calf to replace the God who brought you out of

Egypt? Who part of the Red Sea cause

you to walk across on dry ground fed, you quail and Manna out of

nowhere every single day and then gave you water from a rock.

And then in the in between times, defeated the attacking

armies and Enemies. How in the world?

Could you do that? Here's what I would tell us

church. If we take that posture, I think

that we miss out on what God has for us this morning.

What God wants to teach us this morning?

And here's what I mean. Is an order for us to learn what

God has for us. This morning.

We can't simply be over the narrative.

We have to put ourselves in the narrative and listen to me very

closely. We are you me us?

We are the people of Israel in this narrative.

You want to know why the people of Israel melted down gold and

then made it into a golden calf and worship the golden calf

because they felt forgotten by God.

You want to know why they built an altar?

Most likely on the site that an altar was previously built, 40

days prior. And they had this massive

worship service of over 2 million people, rising up with

one voice, we will obey, we will obey everything that the Lord

has commanded us after 40 days, they built a pagan altar on the

side of that. Why?

Because they felt forgotten by God.

And to serve as a launching pad for where we want to go this

morning is I like this underscores a vital truth.

If you're taking notes with this in your, send your note sheet

vital truth, here it is. We were all made to worship.

We were all made to worship. Whether or not you and I think

of it as worship, we're all made to worship.

Do you know what the most basic the most basic definition of

theology is mind and your thoughts about God, most basic

definition of theology. Our thoughts about God, my

thoughts about God, that means that everyone even an agnostic

or an atheist is a theologian. That doesn't mean that we're

accurate or correct theologians, but we're theologians

nonetheless. Why is that important?

Because we were all made to worship.

We all will worship something. We all will worship someone.

We will either worship God or we will worship something or

someone else. And the place of God, but we

will worship, nonetheless. We will worship.

And when we feel forgotten about God, God, when we feel forgotten

about. God, we are so susceptible to

place something or someone else in the place of worship that

once was reserved for God, think of it this way.

You ever dug a hole in the sand at the beach?

If you don't fill that hole in with something guesses, guess

what's going to happen? It's going to fill in with

something. If you don't intentionally play,

something in that hole. In the sand, in the beach is

going to fill in with something. Same way.

It goes with our worship is when you and I, when we feel

forgotten by God, we become so prone to place something other

than God in the place of God, as the object of our worship.

So before we go any further and I'm packing this text, can I ask

you a really personal question? This is a question that God is

really convicted me of recently. Here it is.

What is my go to golden calf? What's my go to golden calf?

What is the thing or the person that I turn to instead of God

for wisdom guidance Direction. Peace Comfort, courage.

What is my go to golden calf? It can be our spouse.

It can be our our family, our kids, it can be our work.

It can be our friends, it can be other people's advice, it can be

our own personal experience or instincts.

What is ma go to golden calf? When I feel like God has

forgotten about me. What do I turn to to make sense

of life? When you feel like God has

forgotten about you or when you feel that God doesn't have

anything to say about a certain sector or element or facet of

your life, what is your go to golden calf?

We've all got them. We've all got them now.

I do not. Want to dive into this morning,

how to avoid making golden calves in our lives.

Instead of golden calves, make hamburgers.

I'm not diving into that you see.

I think that making golden calves, I think that system is

symptomatic of the overall issue.

What I want to dive into this morning is, what should we do?

What are we called to do from scripture from the word of God?

What are we call to do in those times?

And those seasons in those moments when we feel forgotten

by God, Because if we don't get that right then we're going to

become so prone to making golden calves in our own lives.

So instead of instead of talking about the, the symptomatic issue

of the golden calves, what I want to dive into this morning

as much deeper, it's more of a route.

More of a core question. What do we do when we feel

forgotten by God? So glad you asked if you're

taking notes with us. when I walk through three simple truths

this morning, When I feel forgotten by God, it's important

for me to remember what looks and feels like a consuming fire

is often used by God as a refining fire.

When I feel forgotten by God. What often seems what looks and

feels like a consuming fire is often used by God as a refining

fire. Remember the when we were

reading in Exodus 24, remember what the fire at the summit of

the mountain looked like to the Israelites?

Let me show you this. In verse 17, x is 2417 to the

Israelites at the foot of the mountain.

Remember, Moses is gone up to the mountain, right to the

Israelites at the foot of the mountain.

The glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a what?

Consuming fire. That's how it appeared.

That's how it looked. But just because it looks like a

consuming fire doesn't mean that it was a consuming fire, that's

just how it looked. As a matter of fact, we can read

the rest of Exodus 24. We can read, Exodus, 20:5 all

the way up to 32 X 32 and we discover it was it a consuming

fire? It was a refining.

Fire. Now, what am I talking about

with fires in our lives? Here's what I mean, and I think

that we can all identify, we can all track with this.

Have you ever felt like life just keeps piling up on you?

Like it's one thing after another to where you feel like

you're just about to crack. You feel like you're about to

like just bow under the weight. You feel like you're about to

break. And in all honesty you feel like

you're about to get burned up by life.

That's a fire. And even though, we feel like

they are consuming fires more often than not God's uses the

fires in our lives, those Tom's, those seasons in our lives as

refining fires. Here's what I mean by that is

the is the worker of precious, metals will take gold, for

example. A master Goldsmith.

What this master Goldsmith will do he or she will put a lump of

gold into a basin and then heat that gold up to temperatures

exceeding. 12 thousand one hundred fifty degrees

Fahrenheit, really hot like hotter than the hottest hot

pocket that you've ever had. And that's lava.

But they'll hate that gold up that lump of gold up and they'll

keep heating it up and what ends up happening is you'll start to

see some things bubble to the surface, you'll start to see

some flakes coming to the surface.

And then that Master Goldsmith he or she she'll she'll take a

skimmer and she'll skim across the top and she'll get those

Flakes and she'll like dump them off the technical term for that

is dross, they will draw the dross off the top and then

they'll heat that gold up some more until there's no more

impurities that Rise Up from from up underneath.

So when there's no more impurities, they know that the

gold is purified, our measurement of your unit of

measurement to talk about the purity of gold is carat.

So you can go into a jewelry store and you can look at a gold

bracelet or earrings or necklace or whatever it may be.

And if you see something that is 24 karat gold, 24 Karat means

that denotes that is 100% gold. There is no mixture of copper

silver or any other alloy. However, you can go from 24

Karat. Down to 18, carats 10 14, carats

10, carats 9, carats, the lower. You go in the carrot count, the

higher percentage of impurities in that gold, the lower

percentage of pure gold 24. Carats, the highest from there,

there's a incremental shift down to less purity of gold.

More presents are a higher percentage of a presence of

another alloy. You might say, why is this

important? This is a principle this

actually all throughout. Scripture that God uses refining

fires. Not because he hates us but

because he loves us not because he wants to destroy us, but

because he wants to purify us now because he doesn't like us,

but because he wants to use us and in order to be used for in

the way that he wants to use us and that he knows that we will

be most satisfied in him. We need to be purified of

everything that is not of him. But so easy.

It is so often. It's easy to look at the fires

in our lives and go God why you allow me to go through this?

Where are you? God?

Like, don't you see, don't you care and the entire time God is

going. Yes, I love you.

Ah see, I know I love you so much that I'm sitting here.

I'm trying to purify you. I'm not trying to punish you but

as long as we look at every fire in our lives as A consuming

fire, we will miss out on what God wants to teach us in the

refining fires. So, the first thing that we need

to hold on to the first true that you and I need to hold onto

when we feel that God has forgotten about us, is more

often than not the fires in our lives, they're not consuming

fires. They are refining fires.

And if you surrendered your life to Jesus, then I can make a

strong argument that every fire that we face is the refining.

Fire not a consuming fire. But we see in scripture how the

nation of Israel they miss this. They thought that it was a

consuming fire. They thought they'd look at the

base of the mountain and they go Moses went up there.

It looks like a consuming fire. There's no way that anybody can

make it through that alive. So we skip over 40 days and 40

nights, barely not even six weeks.

Later, the nation of Israel is asking Aaron to make to melt

down their gold and to make an idol for moi because they felt

forgotten by God. God and they did not hold on to

the truth that maybe the fire that they saw, as a consuming

fire, maybe that was a refining fire.

And I got to tell you that, when we miss the point, when we miss

the truth of the fires that were going through and I'm not

minimizing anything that anybody is going through in here or an

oak wood or online. because I know that there's so many of us

that we're going through something that is so hot, so

heavy, so engulfing That we wish that God would pull us out of

that fire. But he has you in the midst of

the fire. He has you where he has you,

when he has you for the purpose that he has, you To teach you

something to purify you to purify me to purify us.

We're going to come back to that principle at the end of our time

together this morning, but because the nation of Israel

missed that point. They also missed the second

truth that I want to go through this morning.

Just as God is present, just as God is present and at work in

the in-between times. God is just as present and at

work in the in-between times as he is, in the perceived

highlight reels of Our Lives. God is just as present and at

work in the in-between times as he is, in the perceived

highlight reels of Our Lives. This means that we know that God

is working. All things for his glory and for

our good, he's working everything to the good of those

who are called according to his purpose that he is just as in

control and just at work. Just as much at work as in

connecting the dots as he is in the dots themselves.

It's so easy for us to kind of take this ESPN, SportsCenter

approach. To the Bible and to our

relationship. We got, here's what I mean by

that, you can tune in to SportsCenter, you can tune in to

YouTube, you can go to, you can go to espn.com or download the

app and they will show you just a barrage of highlights.

They'll show you the home run, they'll show you the diving

catch. So show you the slam dunk.

I'll show you the buzzer beater. Don't show you the amazing

Landing in gymnastics. They'll show you.

The highlights ain't showing you the whole game.

They're not showing you like a 3-1 count.

Whereas you know they threw a fastball over the middle.

They like, all right, even up the count. 32 Full Count,

they're showing you the highlights, right?

It's so easy for us to look at the Bible to look at scripture

and to even look at our relationship with God.

In the same way, we can look at the Bible, we can sit there and

go. Okay, I know the highlights, I

know the highlights. We got Adam and Eve in the

garden. We got Noah.

And the flood, we've got the Exodus and Moses parting the Red

Sea people walking across on dry land.

We've got David killing. Goliath.

We've got Daniel in the Lion's Den.

He wasn't devoured or attacked by the Lions.

We've got Jonah being swallowed up by the whale.

We've got Jesus birth his miracles, his death, his burial,

his resurrection, his Ascension. We've got the ministry and the

Miracles of Paul throughout the New Testament.

Then we've got this the promise of the second coming of Jesus

and let me tell you all those things are historically

accurate, they did happen and or they are yet to happen this

prophecy. They're all historically,

accurate. but every single one of those events happened in the

context of years decades and even centuries in the making

listen, whether you're Gainesville Oakwood online.

I'm more and more convinced that our growth and our relationship

with God is dependent upon our day by day Moment by moment

faithfulness and obedience to him in the seemingly mundane

times. but can I be honest with you that's really hard because

sometimes we think that those times don't matter, God is just

as present in the, in between times of Our Lives, as he is in

our perceived highlight reels. This means, if you are a student

with us or watching With Us online, if your student, you

will grow close to God. If you honor Jesus.

By the way that you do, your schoolwork treat and treat your

classmates and your teachers, if your spouse, if you're, if

you're married in here, you will grow close to God.

If you honor Jesus by unselfishly, loving your spouse.

On Mondays Tuesdays. Wednesdays, Thursdays Fridays,

Saturdays. if you're an employee, you will grow close to

God if you honor Jesus, but doing your job, the best to the

best of your ability without trying to cut corners.

Because you realize you're doing it unto the Lord.

If you're an employer, you will grow close to God.

If you treat your employees with dignity and love and grace, and

mercy, and compassion, and you live as a businessman or

businesswoman, you live with the utmost of Integrity, it's those

day, by day in between times, you see God is just as present

in the in between times as he is in the perceived highlight reels

of Our lives. But in those in-between times,

it is easy to still feel forgotten about God.

Go God, thank you so much for Sunday.

Thank you for allowing me to gather together, and come

together, and be able to sing praises to you, to have to have

Michael in our band lead us and praise.

Thank you so much for teaching me in your word.

Thank you for allowing me to be just surrounded by men and

women, that I know that are for me.

They don't want just from me and Love you and and are so

encouraging. But none of this is here on

Tuesday, right? None of this is here on a

Thursday. So in those in-between times I

want to give you three handles really quick to hold onto.

When we really struggle, that God has seemingly forgotten

about us or when we don't feel close to God, and those in

between times, going to go through them really fast.

Hold on, to God's past faithfulness.

The first handle, hold on to God's past faithfulness.

Can I tell you this? God has never let you down and

he's not going to start now? God has never let you down and

he's not going to start now. Hold on to God's past faithless.

He has always been faithful. He is faithful.

He always will be faithful, but we've got to hold on to that

faith on his that track record number to hold on to God's

personal promises. Years and years and years and

years ago. A very wise mentor of mine told

me this when I was really like struggling with kind of one

in-between times. He told me said Ben never

questioned in the dark what God has revealed to you in the

light. Church.

Got to tell you this Gainesville Oakwood online.

If you're in a mode where you don't feel close to God, and

maybe you even feel forgotten about God, go back to God's

personal promises to you. Don't allow the darkness.

Don't allow what you're going through right now to cause you

to question what God has revealed in the light.

Hold on to God's past promises and then third hold on to God's

perfect timing. Can I tell you something?

That's really frustrating to me about God, since we're being

honest about God, it's really frustrating to me that God's not

early. You ever pray through something

really, really hard. You ever been in a time or

season that you're like God just let it end.

Bring some closure. Bring some finality own to next

chapters. You just pour your heart out to

God. Here like God, where are you?

Listen. God's track record is perfect.

God's promises are perfect but God's timing is also perfect.

God is never early, God is never late.

God is always right on time. God has never really got his

never like God is always right on time. now, some of us we may

be in here, thinking The calls the Israelites lost sight. that

God was just as present and at work in and through them when he

called them to rest and camp at the base of Mount Sinai, as he

was when he split the Red Sea and told me to walk across They

forgot that liar. They thought that God had

forgotten about him. So they turned to another point

of worship, another object of worship.

There's some of us whether you're in the room with us in

Oakwood or online that we sit there and go.

Then I can tell you, I feel like God's forgotten about me after

years and years and years of faithfulness and years, and

years, and years of, praying and years, and years and years of

serving. Been, if I'm honest, I feel like

God's forgotten about me. So yeah, you're talking about

Golden calves. You're talking about turning to

other things or other people as the object, is our ultimate

object as their ultimate source of guidance and wisdom and

Direction and peace and comfort. Yeah.

Right there with them that resonates with me.

Can I give you some hope this morning here?

It is third piece. This morning, Freedom can only

come when we turn back to God. Freedom can only come.

When we turn back to God, let me show you something in.

Exodus 32. And this is in verse 19.

This one Moses was made aware from the top of the mountain.

This is when they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the

dancing and he burned with anger.

He threw the stone tablets to the ground smashing them at the

foot of the mountain. He took the calf, they had made

and burned it. And when he Grant then he

grounded into powder. Threw it into the water and

force the people to drink it. That's intense.

So you've got the people of Israel.

They think that they've been forgotten about forgotten by

God. They think that Moses had been

burned up on the top of the mountain.

They make this golden calf. They start sacrificing this

golden calf. They start you know worshipping

this golden calf, this Idol. God tells Moses from the

mountain, you need to go down your people.

They've turned to idolatry. You go down and take care of

business. Let me tell you what take care

of business, didn't mean. It didn't mean that God Thunders

from the mountains. I'm done with all of you.

Let me go start back with Israel, 2.0 to where these

people, they want like worship the golden calf.

Let me tell you what take care of business means or meant it

meant that the golden calf had to be destroyed, but God didn't

destroy his people. Can I tell you this church in

order for us to experience and to live in the freedom and the

plans, and the mission and the purpose that God has for you,

for me for your family, for my family, for our neighborhoods,

for our community, for our region, for our world.

He's got to destroy the golden calves in our lives.

Not because he hates us, but because he loves us, God knows

that. The only thing that will satisfy

us is him. The only thing that will provide

true Direction and true. Hope to a lost and hurting and

broken world is him. But we've got to destroy the

golden calves in our lives. We've got to destroy those

Idols. Listen, it is so amazing.

You go from this point forward. Let me tell you what happens in.

Let me tell you what God does in his people.

The people they were unfaithful to God.

God was continue to be faithful to the people.

Guess what? You can read.

Exodus, Leviticus Numbers. Deuteronomy first page of the

Book of Joshua. God did deliver his people to

the promised land. Out of those out of that line of

people, he raised up a man by the name of David.

A man took to be king over his Nation, Israel.

And this King David went down in his known as a man, after God's

Own Heart, and out of the line of David, God brought Jesus into

this world, to be our Messiah, to be our savior, to be our

Lord, to be our rescuer, to be our remedy, to Be Our Redeemer.

God did not give up on his people, but he had to destroy

their Idol. Can I tell you this?

God's? Not going to give up on you, but

he has to destroy your idol. I heard a really, I too had a

conversation with a really, really good friend of mine.

A couple weeks ago. I was just been through a lot

and he told me, he said Ben, let me tell you something that I

learned a couple of years ago, God is more than willing to

allow us to hit rock bottom. If Rock Bottom is where we'll

find him. So I'm going to let, you know,

let you in look, kind of kind of behind the scenes early in the

morning on Sunday mornings. When we do run through, we get

to do a service. We call it a VIP service for the

Oakwood campus. Oakwood campus.

Right now they have one service. That means that everybody that

volunteers and serves like in kids ministry, they don't get to

go to the service when the service is happening.

So we do a service for them. And in our VIP service, this is

how we closed out our VIP service this morning.

We prayed For every single person online, every single

person on Gainesville Campus, Oakwood campus.

That we know that God is more than comfortable allow, more

than okay to allow us to hit rock bottom.

If Rock Bottom is where we'll find him but we don't have to

hit rock bottom. God wants to save you from that

heartbreak. And from that heartache, if you

just allow your heart to be tender enough to turn, back to

him to, where you say, God, I've tried every all different types

of golden calves in my life. All different types of Idols.

I've turned to a lot of different advice.

I've turned to a lot of different sources for wisdom and

peace and calm and comfort. And none of them satisfy me.

This is the invitation this morning.

Freedom can be found. Hope can be found only in Jesus

Christ. You Have to hit rock bottom to

find him. This is the open invitation for

you, to experience the grace, and the mercy, and the love and

the Forgiveness of Jesus, but it starts with your surrender.

It starts with our overall hunger and desire to be used by

God in a way far beyond we're allowing him to use us right now

so to help us walk through and set the stage for our time of

response. I want to walk you through three

key questions. And at this time, I know the

Pastor Greg, he's going to take it from here just to kind of

navigate these three questions live in the room, with our

family down at Oakwood. So Pastor Greg, go ahead and

take it from there but up in Gainesville and online.

Let me kind of walk you through three questions and these

questions are in your, in your notes.

Number one, do I feel in some way that God has forgotten about

me? And what has caused me to feel

this way. It starts with being honest,

with yourself about yourself and it starts with being honest,

with God, about what you think about God.

Do I feel in some way that God has forgotten about me and what

has caused me to feel this way? Can I tell you this?

God hasn't forgotten about you. He knows you, he loves you.

He knows you by name. He has plans and purposes for

you. He hasn't forgotten about you.

Question number two. What can God teach me about him

during this time or season? That would be difficult for me

to learn. Otherwise can I lean into this

one for just a second? There are some lessons, some

things that God wants to teach us about him.

That they can only happen in the fire.

They can't happen Outside the Fire.

There's some things that I can learn that I can only learn

about God in my walk with him in times of deep sadness that I

can't learn in times of happiness.

And the same thing is true for you as well, but what do we do?

We try everything that we can to escape the sadness to get out of

the sadness. To get out of the storm to get

out of the fire. Can I just encourage you for a

moment this morning? There are some things that God

can teach us only in this time and only in the season.

And when I start to understand that, when we start to

understand that will Embrace two huge words of encouragement,

number one, is we are in the hands of the master Craftsman.

We are in the hands of a master Craftsman, whose not trying to

destroy us. He's trying to purify us He

doesn't hate us. He loves us.

He's not discarding us. He wants to use us and he will

not allow you to be crushed and consumed because you're in the

hands of the master Craftsman. Perfect, loving heavenly father

that knows what he's doing. And the second word of

encouragement to do that when we start to embrace this truth

right here that there are things that there's some things that

God can only teach me in this time and in the season in the

fire and a refining fire that he can't teach me.

Otherwise is it actually causes me to Lean Into the Fire to go.

God if you have me here for this time for this season to teach me

what you want to teach me, squeeze every drop out of this

lesson on to me and into me because God I don't want to go.

Through this. I don't want to have this lesson

re taught to me. It actually causes me to lean

into the time and into the season, not to try to run away

from it. But then, there's that third

question. And what ways do I need to turn

back to God? And what ways do I need to turn

back to God? That is a simple matter of

surrender to where when you start to understand and when I

start to understand when we start to understand that God, I

turn to this person, or I turn to this outlet for my piece, and

for my goddess and for my direction, instead of turning to

you, God, I don't want to do that anymore.

God replaced that person in my life in that spot.

Replace the joy that I'm chasing after by going hard at work.

Replace that Joy with the joy of being, just your son or your

daughter. In what ways do I need to turn

back to God? God want Idols are in my life,

what golden calves are in my life that you need to destroy,

not to destroy me. But so that I can actually live

in Freedom. Like I said, these are three

reflection questions, personal questions that I don't know how

you're answering this morning. I know how God has beat me up

over it over the past several weeks.

But it's driven me to him, it's driven me.

To prayer, is driven me to community.

His driven me to lean into the time into the season Into the

Fire, not try to shirk away from it.

So here's what I want to do, I want to pray over us and our

band. They're going to come back up

and they're going to lead us in a song.

And if you know what you need to do, the whole is most obedient

boldest thing that, you know, that you need to do is just to

stand and sing with us. Then by all means you do that.

But if you know that you need to come down at these steps at this

Altar and say, God, I need to be reminded that you haven't

forgotten about me. I need to be reminded that you

are just as present in these in between times as you are in the

perceived highlight moments of my life.

God, I need to be reminded that there's hope.

God teach me what you want me to receive out of this time.

And out of the Season, you respond.

However God calls you to respond this morning.

God, we thank you, not just for your word.

But we thank you for your presence.

We thank you for your promise. God.

We thank you for your person who you are.

God, and who you are is a perfect loving heavenly father,

that loves us too much to leave us the way that we are there

for. You will bring us through

refining. Fires got even though from our

perspective, sometimes it looks like they're consuming fires.

What you're doing is For Your Glory and for art, for our good.

So God, I pray that you would bring encouragement to anyone in

here this morning, that Is that they have been forgotten by.

You got that your presence would envelop them and engulf them in

such a way that they know that you are not just with them, God,

you were in them and that you are for them.

Got anything in our lives that we need to lay it down at your

feet. God, We Lay It Down freely and

got any lessons that you want to teach us.

During this time that you have us in during the season that you

have us in God, bring it. Bring it in full measure,

knowing that we are in the hands of a master Craftsman knowing

that you are trying to teach us things about you and our

relationship with you that we can learn in no other context.

We got, we just sometimes, we just need to be reminded of Your

Love in the midst of the process.

So God, however you call us to respond, God, give us the

courage and obedience to do that.

And it's in Jesus name, we pray, amen.

Thank you for listening to the Riverbend Church podcast.

Learn more about who we are as a church and how to connect you

can head over to our website Riverbend Church dot lie.