The Revelation of Waiting | What the Golden Calf Reveals About Our Hearts

If you guys have not had the chance to

meet Shane Britain, it's a fine young

man here. My friend's going to help us

kick off our service. If you would stand

for the reading of God's word, we're

going to get into our anchor passage.

>> When the people saw that Moses was so

long and coming down from the mountain,

they gathered around Aaron and said,

"Come, make us gods who will go before

us."

As for this fellow Moses, who brought us

up out of Egypt, we don't know what has

happened to him. Aaron answered them,

"Take off the gold earrings that your

wives, your sons, and your daughters are

wearing, and bring them to me." So all

the people took off their earrings and

brought them to Aaron. He took what they

handed him and made it into an idol cast

in the shape of a calf, fashioning it

with a tool. Then they said, "These are

your gods, Israel, who brought you up

out of Egypt." When Aaron saw this, he

built an altar in front of the calf and

announced, "Tomorrow there will be a

festival to the Lord." So the next day,

the people rose early and sacrificed

burnt offerings and presented fellowship

offerings.

Afterwards, they sat down and to eat and

drink and got up to indulge in rivalry.

When the Lord said to Moses, "Go down

because your people whom you brought up

out of Egypt have become corrupt, they

have been quick to turn away from what I

commanded them and have made themselves

an idol cast in the shape of a calf.

They have bowed down to it and

sacrificed to it and have said, "These

are your gods, Israel, who brought you

up out of Egypt.

Thank you, Shane.

So, uh, welcome you guys. If I have not

had the chance to meet you yet, uh, my

name is Ralph Garcia, and I get the

amazing privilege of serving as a pastor

here. And what Shane just read to us is,

uh, Exodus chapter 32. And it's going to

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

be our anchor passage. We've been

working our way through Exodus uh for

the better half of I don't know feels

like maybe four or five months. And

we've been able to glean so much from

this ancient text. And um I have a

question though before we dive into our

our uh talk this morning. Um what's the

longest you've ever waited for

something? Like is there something that

you can remember where you just waited

and waited and it felt like it just

never came and so then you were like,

"Hey, I'm going to actually take this

into my own hands and then you tried to

make it happen and then it doesn't

actually work out that great." Um, as I

was thinking about the Israelites here

and their struggle, um, I was

remembering a time when this rang true

in my life. Uh, I was in basic training

at Fort Knox, Kentucky. And uh a part of

that the whole idea there is that

everything is regimented right when you

eat when you sleep what you do your

entire day and this includes uh your

food. And so uh you weren't allowed to

eat sugary foods uh you weren't allowed

to like indulge in desserts. Everything

was like square meal and it was all for

a purpose and it was good. But after

about three or four months, man, those

cravings for that, for the for the sweet

things got really really tough. And so

there's a portion where you have to go

serve in the kitchen. They call it like

kitchen patrol or KP. And you're

basically a glorified dishwasher. You're

taking out trash. So, uh, a part of the

installation though on the base are

civilians. And on their side of the chow

hall, they have suites and they have all

the good stuff. And so, a part of my

duties was to take out the trash. And so

you see where this is going. So I I I'm

taking out the trash and I flip the lid

on the dumpster and I go to throw in and

behold

my eyes feast upon a box. It was a I

remember it was a white box and I can

see some leftover chocolate cake is

sitting in the box. So I had a decision

to make.

I just throw the trash, close the lid

like I never saw it on this thing that

I've been waiting for, thinking,

dreaming about. When I graduate, I'm

going to have something sweet. So, your

boy faltered. Okay, knees got weak and I

was like, I'm going for it. So, I jump

inside the dumpster, guys. All right,

Lord. All right, I feel you guys judging

me already. All right, I'm in the

dumpster. I close the lid down, right?

So, I can still see. And I open this box

and I go to town on this cake. Boom. I

mean, by the fistful, man. I'm at it,

right? It's I'm like, "This is so good."

And then the lid lifts

and I'm like this

redhanded, dude. And I'm thinking, if

this is my drill instructor, like, I'm

dead. Like, I'm done. Thank God it was a

civilian cook. And he has this cigarette

dangling out of his mouth and he goes,

"Hey, son. I serve too. I got your back.

Go ahead.

He's smoking sir and I'm like, "Thank

you." And I and I go back at it.

It felt good going in. I paid for it

later. I'll tell you that much. I don't

think you're meant to consume that

amount of sweets when you haven't had it

in such a long time. I'll just I'll just

say that much. So, what I thought was

taking it in my own hands actually ended

up um not working out so great. But I

thought of that story when I'm thinking

about the Israelites in this calf.

strangely enough because at the end of

the day they're like waiting for God to

do something. Moses had left the Bible

says for 40 days and he's up on the

mountain meeting with God and the people

aren't like privy to all the details and

so they're just waiting and they're

waiting and they're waiting and 40 days

seems like a long time but also remember

that they waited for hundreds of years

to become free from Egypt. But now

they've been introduced to this personal

God. He even tells them his name and he

says, "My name is Yahweh, the God that

has always been and will always be." And

so now they have this new relationship

with him where they get things a lot

faster. Like they come up to the sea,

the Egyptians are following them like,

"What shall we do?" And God parts the

sea. And then they're in the wilderness

and like, "We're hungry. There's nothing

to eat." And God drops bread from

heaven. And they're like, "We're

thirsty. What shall we drink?" And he

strikes a rock.

And so they're being retrained that this

God is present. He's here. He's near.

But then they hit this kind of dry spell

and they're like, "Where is God?"

And they do something that we're all

prone to doing. And that's reverting

back to what we have known. They start

to doubt God again. They're like, "Where

is he? He's not showing up. I know what

we'll do. We'll take this into our own

hands. We'll jump in the dumpster. And

that's exactly what they do. As Shane

read for us, they start to uh take the

things the plunder actually that Katie

brought up in the beginning. And as she

was saying, I was reading I'm even

making that connection. I'm like, "Wow,

we can use good things for bad. We can

internet, right? Social media. We can go

on and on and on." But in this context,

the Israelites are taking what was meant

for good, a reminder of their freedom

actually that God plundered and then

shared in that delight with them and

they're actually now going to use it to

go against God. And I thought, man,

there is a lesson in there for me. And I

believe it's true for me. It's probably

true for some of you in the room. So

that's what we're going to spend some

time looking at because the question for

the Israelites is not has God been

faithful, right? They have seen his

faithfulness. The question is will they

trust him when they can't see him and

they can't feel him and they can't

control him.

Let's jump back into the text real

quick. If you have your Bibles with you,

you can kind of keep it open there to

Exodus chapter 32. If you didn't bring

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

one with you, there should be one in the

in the back of the pew in your row. And

if you don't own one at all, take that

home with you as your gift uh as a gift

from us to you. Can't think of a better

gift to give someone than the word of

God. Amen. So, Exodus 32,

uh it says, "When the people saw that

Moses was so long in coming down,

check this out. They they use a phrase

here that I think we should hone in on.

It says, "Come make us gods." plural

who will go before us. As for this

fellow Moses, who knows what happened to

the guy. They just like wrote him off.

Poor dude. They're like, I don't know

the guy, right? But I think what's

interesting is that they say, "Come make

gods for us plural."

Well, remember where they came from?

They came from Israel, a polytheistic

culture that had multiple gods. Where

would they get this idea that there's

more than one God? is from spending time

in slavery and in Egypt. And the Bible

doesn't go into a bunch of detail about

how that impressed or formed them, but

we have to imagine it had some influence

on them because they're using this type

of language that there's more than one

God. But the point is, I see, is that

they're reverting back to what they knew

first. And that one phrase, I think, is

important because what we say often

reveals what's inside of our heart.

And so before we judge them too harshly,

I I know that I've been in seasons of of

real waiting for things that I've been

believing God for. I know a lot of you

can can relate to that. And sometimes

waiting can feel like suffering.

It really can. It depends on what you're

waiting for. But I just want to say this

upfront and something that I've learned

through seasons of waiting is that God

never waste the waiting. Actually, he

never wastes what feels hard.

He never wastes seasons of suffering.

And I think that's what the Israelites

are are are struggling with. They're

like, "This just feels bad, so it must

be bad. That this feels hard, so this

must not be from God. We must go and do

something about this."

And I think there's a good lesson here

that God is saying, actually, while you

guys were waiting,

what is God actually doing in the

waiting? What is Moses doing in the

waiting of this perceived struggle?

They're actually up on the mountain

forming something that's good for them.

They weren't just like taking a vacation

or a hiatus. They were actually forming

and crafting the Ten Commandments. God

has given it to Moses and this was going

to be a good thing for them.

But they do what so many of us do. They

fill in the blank with their own story

when they perceive God to be silent

instead of going to the father and

asking him to speak his truth. Man, I am

I am guilty of doing that. And we can

see that here.

Remember God used the wilderness for the

Israelites as a sort of classroom. And

for those of you that knew the late

great Kathleen Condi, she she said one

time that there are lessons that can

only be learned in the school of

suffering.

There are some things that we will only

learn when we can only depend on God for

the next thing. There's an intimacy

that's born that we want. We just don't

want to go through the process to get to

that place because it's hard. But man,

there's a beauty in it. And and the

Bible saying there's a fruit in that

when we allow ourselves to be shaped and

formed by seasons of suffering and

waiting.

And the Bible makes it clear there can

be different reasons for suffering.

Sometimes it's just our own folly. Like

when I jumped in the dumpster, right?

It's just like, man, sometimes we just

make dumb decisions and there's

consequences of that. We that we can't

blame God for that, right? Sometimes

it's connected to something spiritual.

There's definitely references in the

Bible of that case. Oftentimes, it's

pretty obvious and people are able to

discern and pray and and come against

that. But what I'm talking about this

morning is just there's a waiting. There

feels like can be a suffering and the

waiting for God to move

and we see examples of pain and

suffering and I think for us it's just

it can be a reminder that this place is

actually not our home.

The Bible says that God has set eternity

in the hearts of men and women that

there's something that lives in us that

knows that that is actually not the

design. And that's why it stirs up in us

a righteous indignation. When we see

injustice, when we see suffering, we go,

"Man, that's not right."

And God would agree with you. It goes

back to the garden, right? Last week, we

we held the Bible and said, "These two

pages were harmony, right? And the rest

of this is God pursuing right

relationship back with us."

Hebrews 13:14 says it this way. You can

Hebrews 13:14

write it down in your notes. Hebrews

Hebrews 13:14

13:14 says, "For here we do not have an

enduring city." Meaning what we see here

on earth, but we are looking for the

city that is to come. The problem we see

in Exodus is that their eyes are fixed

on what's immediately right in front of

them.

But there's a call to lift our eyes

above our problems, beyond our

struggles, beyond our difficult seasons.

And here's another truth that I held on

to this week that God can use anything

that was meant for evil for good. He is

a God who redeems all things. And so

sometimes what we perceive is hard or or

a trying season is exactly what we

should be walking through to become more

and more of what God has called out in

our lives.

And so that's what's happening here.

They're telling themselves a different

story. They're filling in the gap with

perceived silence from God.

And what they're learning the hard way

is that trust in God has to trump our

fears of what God is maybe not doing in

our lives. His truth has to drive out.

The Bible says that his love drives out

fear. His perfect love drives out fear.

and they were afraid that the hard time

that the the silence and the suffering

they were feeling could actually be used

for good.

Hebrews 2 verse 10 can write this one

Hebrews 2:10

down as well points this out very

clearly that God uses suffering and hard

things

for a good purpose. It says, "In

bringing many sons and daughters to

glory, it was fitting that God, for whom

and through whom everything exists,

should make the pioneer of their

salvation, which is who? Jesus, perfect

through what he suffered."

If Jesus suffered, guys, if he waited on

the cross for God to answer, how much

more we

In fact, Jesus says, "In this life, you

will have trouble." He says, "But what?"

But do not worry.

I have overcome the world. Put your

faith in me. Again, lift your eyes up

above this thing that's coming against

you and focus your eyes on the author

and perfector of our faith, who through

what he suffered

brought to life, brought salvation to

all those that would put their faith in

him. The fruit on the other side of

perseverance, guys, is so worth walking

through the hard times. And I love what

Hannah shared this the word about not

shrinking back because sometimes when we

butt up against those things, the

temptation is just to go back the other

way and go, "Man, there was less

resistance on this side." But man,

that's that's actually worse than the

trial. The shrinking back is worse than

the hardship.

It's worse because now we're stuck on on

something hard that we can't overcome

without God instead of partnering with

them through it and saying, "God, I'm

going to hold your hand. I'm going to

walk through this thing and I believe

that you're with me."

Paul calls this out in his own life.

Second Corinthians, he talks about a

thorn in his flesh

and he pleads with God to take it away,

but it remains. what he says in response

to this.

He says uh in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But

2 Corinthians 12:9

he, God,

said to me, "My grace is sufficient for

you, for my power is made perfect in

weakness. Therefore, Paul says, I will

boast

all the more gladly about my weaknesses,

so that Christ's power

may rest on me. That is why for Christ's

sake, I delight in weakness, in insults,

hardships, persecutions, and

difficulties. For when I am weak, then I

am strong.

Man, come on, Paul.

Yeah, he's saying, "Okay, we're being

opposed, but guess what? God's grace is

sufficient for us. He will see us

through this, guys. We're fighting from

a place of victory.

We're not trying to get to victory.

We're not struggling and striving to win

and overcome darkness. Darkness has been

defeated.

Sin dealt its final blow."

That is where we find our hope in God's

grace that it is sufficient for us. It

is sufficient for you. And the point of

the text is that Paul's saying that when

we submit our suffering and our weakness

before God, it can actually become a

strength. sometimes a jumpoff point for

ministry, for presence that with the

same comfort we've received from God in

these hard times, we now share with

others. How can you share comfort with

someone who's gone through a hard time

if you've never been through a hard

time? We can't give away what we don't

have.

So, let us not shrink back from hardship

or trial because we know that there is a

fruit and we stand on the promises of

God.

that that will be redeemed for his glory

and his goodness.

I love that so much.

All right, so let's move on here. What

else can we take from this text?

So, the Israelites are using something

that was meant for good, for bad. We

mentioned that, right? They're

fashioning an an idol, but I want to

catch what what their purpose actually

is. says that we want someone to go

before us.

And that in of itself is like that

that's not bad. What they're desiring is

actually a good thing. They're like, "We

want to be led again. We feel alone. We

want someone to go before us and lead

us. We actually don't want to do this on

our own." So, there's a hint of of good.

And guys, that's where that's where

idols come from. They're not entirely

made up of something evil. They're

actually a lot of times good intentions

and good desires gone arry and they

start getting placed before God

and we stop we stop believing that he's

going to do those things and we take

them in our own hands. And here I think

is a visual image of that.

And I started thinking about my own

life.

I'm like, man, how can this creep into

my own heart that I would use good

things, good pursuits, and if I'm not

careful, man, those things can become

idols in my life.

Cloaked in in in good, cloaked in even

truth. The enemy comes alongside truth,

guys. If it was like behind door A is

evil and behind door B is good, we would

never go through door A. It's not that

black and white. He's craftier than

that. And sometimes he'll masquerade

truth and and what we perceive to be

good things,

but he'll divorce those things from the

covering of God. And he'll say, "You go

get go get those things on your own.

Craft that idol out of the good things

that you have. You don't need anything

else from God. You have everything you

need to make that idol." It's those lies

that we can make silent agreements with

that start to derail

our journey with God.

But there's good news here.

There's good news that God is a God who

pursues us, who doesn't give up on us.

I think of the story in Hosea where he

he's forced to to marry this prostitute

and she goes out and she leaves him and

and there's a lot of suffering in there.

But we see this picture of God going

back and looking for her in the dark

places redeeming her again humbling

himself like, "Hey, have have you seen

my wife?" Like I'm looking for her.

Why? Because his love and his pursuit

for her is all that matters.

And that's the good news that even when

we we find ourselves like the Israelites

chasing after idols, chasing after

lesser things

instead of shame and guilt, man, the

Holy Spirit comes alongside and he calls

us back into right thinking and he uses

the word of God to do that. He uses

people in our lives to speak that out in

us.

I think about what God had spoken over

them just prior to all of this when he

he spoke identity. He said, "You guys

are a royal priesthood."

That's what he called them. Treasure. He

called them.

Man, there there is there is a power

when we gather. There is a power about

being a royal priesthood that we would

go at this together.

And so we see the Israelites, they get

what they wanted. They craft this calf

and then what? And that's the thing

about these crazy ideas that we have

that hey, I'll fix this. I'll make this

right. I'll pursue this and then we do

the thing. And then what? We're still

sitting in the same spot, right? Because

those things are powerless to overcome

the things that we're actually

struggling against. They made this calf

and it did nothing.

It actually did nothing for them. Did it

lead them anywhere? Nope. Did it talk to

them? Did it reveal truth to them? Nope.

It actually sat idly by while they

completely indulged in what the Bible

described as realry. There there's some

scholars that look deeper into that and

go, "Man, it it alludes to some pretty

maybe dark things that they were that

they were doing." It wasn't glorifying

to God. Let's suffice to say that much.

Did this calf care? Did this calf say,

"Hey guys, you're a royal priesthood.

What are you doing?" To God, you are a

treasure.

put down those ways. No, it didn't say

anything.

Contrast that to the father's heart for

us who pursues us and calls us back into

himself over and over again. Remember

how we started this series? We said

something that we were going to hang on

to that we are going to see again and

again. And it was true in in chapter 1

and it's true in chapter 32. The Exodus

is not so much about God getting his

people out of Egypt, but getting Egypt

out of the people.

He had to get Egypt out of their hearts.

And guys, I know that's been true in my

life often. Again and again, God is

calling out the things in my heart that

I can go back to in times where I feel

like, God, you're not you're not

answering this prayer.

And I thought about how this has shown

up in my life in a real way. Um, so

after the military, I I joined the

police department. And the in the

military, you learn a complete different

phonetic alphabet like alpha, bravo,

foxtrot, all the things for the

alphabet. The mil the the police have a

completely different phonetic alphabet.

And I was like, man, this is going to be

hard for me. For years, I memorized this

and I spoke this and now you want me to

completely switch it up. There's some

that are the same, but mostly it's

different. So, I go through the whole

academy. I learn it. I'm like, man, I

got this down. I use it a couple times

in the field. And then the first time

I'm like chasing the car and I'm trying

to get the license plate and the

adrenaline's pumping a little bit and

I'm on the radio and I start calling out

the license plate and I start using the

military phonetic alphabet and I didn't

even realize I was doing the moment till

after my training officer was like,

"Hey, did you realize that you were

using the completely wrong phonetic

alphabet?" And I was like, man, that

came out of me because that what was

deepest in me. I learned that first.

That had the deepest roots. And when

things were good and calm and in the

classroom, yeah, I alpha boy Charlie, I

sprouted off all day long. But man, when

that adrenaline hit, when that hard time

came, when the pressure was on, man,

what came out of me is what was deepest

in me. And guys, that is the true, it

translates to everything spiritually. If

we're not making God first place, if

we're not praying in the good times, on

the good days, if we're not spending

time with the father, we're not gonna

all of a sudden become these spiritual

superheroes when we come up against

obstacles. We're just not. We're going

to do exactly what the Israelites are

doing. They're going to go back to what

they knew.

And this is why it is so important that

we allow ourselves and we ask God to

form us, to transform us. And this does

happen. We we get we get um a a

supernatural gifting of this when we put

our faith in Jesus. He says we become

new creations. We have a new heart. We

have a new mind. And this gives us a

head start in this. But he also calls us

to abide in him. He also says abide in

me.

And that looks like disciplehip as well.

Coming alongside one another. Iron

sharpening iron. This is the call on our

lives.

And so if fear has trained us,

if we're not being rooted and

established in Christ, we will resort

back to fear when hard time when hard

times come. If if control has trained

us, we'll revert back to control when

hard times come.

But if the Holy Spirit is training us in

righteousness

and holiness,

then that's what we will revert to when

hard times come.

And that too is a gift of God. All we

need to do is be willing to receive that

and ask for it. God, shape me, mold me

to what you want me to be.

We must not give up, guys. We must not

shrink back from these things. This is

what we're learning from the Israelites

thousands of years ago. And it's true

for us.

All right, let's move on here. So, we've

learned a couple things, right?

God doesn't waste the waiting. Sometimes

we perceive his silence as a no, but

really he's working on our behalf. We've

seen that so far in our texts. We've

learned that if we don't allow him to

form us, something else will form us.

Something else will shape us if we're

not allowing him to do it. And the last

thing I want to look at today is again,

it's so easy to criticize these guys.

Hindsight, right? So you go, "Doug,

guys, God was with you, man. Come on, 40

days. You couldn't hack it." Like, it's

so easy for us to cast that judgment on

him.

But the most challenging part of my week

as as I wrestled with this

was just

humbly coming before God and saying,

"Lord, have I used good things in my

life to create a golden calf somewhere

in my heart?"

Man, this is a good question.

And this is something that I can

struggle with even as a pastor is like

studying God's word and and and and

trying to bring a message is not the

same thing as spending time with God and

saying, "God, I just want to hear from

you. What do you have for me?"

And and I and I was just I was moved

gently into this into this time of

reflection.

And I thought about how all the warnings

in the Old Testament about not bringing

idols into the temple, it was like, man,

don't desecrate the temple. And the good

news, I didn't see anyone walking in

here with the golden calf under their

arm. That's great. We're off to a good

start.

But I would submit to you this, it's

much easier to deal with that than

what's in here. The idols that are in

here, the things where we stray off from

in here are much harder. It's easier to

see someone walking in with a golden

cap. Say, "Hey, brother. How's it going?

What you got there?"

But the only way we get into each

other's hearts is by being with one

another, by walking with one another, by

praying for one another. God, give me a

word for my brother. Give me a word for

my sister.

And again, no stones, no judgment. But I

I feel like I want to leave room for

here for us to come before God humbly

without shame, without guilt.

Just ask the Holy Spirit, are there

places in my heart where I've used the

good things, the good pursuits,

and they've start to become idols? I've

been going to those things first.

I want to I want to cast those things

out. I want to release myself from those

things. Jesus was pretty serious about

this. We see him in the temple when he

flips the tables over. He's like, "Don't

make a mockery of my of my father's

house. Don't do that. Just don't come.

But don't do this. Don't mock God."

He was passionate about that.

He wanted them to bring their own

offering, their own hearts.

And and this can creep into the church

so easily. We're thinking, "I'm doing

this for God. I'm doing this for God.

I'm doing this for God."

And sometimes if we're honest, we can be

doing it for ourselves.

We can be doing it for ourselves.

I think Katrina hit on that. It's like,

man, yeah, it can feel like like a

checklist. And it feels heavy if we

don't get it right.

I think God wants to release so many of

us from that.

So many I know can relate to that.

So in in talking about idols and things,

I think it's helpful to put language

behind that because maybe that's not an

idea that or or word that we use often.

So these are some of the things as I was

doing inventory and and saw these things

pop up in my life. Maybe maybe you can

uh identify with some of these things. I

thought man what what can be an idol for

me?

I I think it starts with uh for me just

like wanting to protect myself.

Noah Noah did a beautiful job sharing a

couple weeks back about this very thing.

Like, man, this this this

desire for us to protect our reputation,

to protect how people perceive us, man,

it's hard. And and how that can look is

like when we're we're at work and

someone's gossiping about somebody else

and and we want to join in because we

don't want to be looked at as like, oh,

you know, we we want to we want to fit

in, right? And it's like, man, it's hard

to take that stance. We care about what

people think. And I just started to to

think about how that shows up in my

life. Other things that can be idols

that are that are good. Remember, these

are good things, guys. They just take

the wrong place, right? Relationships

can become idols. Our spouses,

our children can become idols in our

lives. good, great, beautiful gifts,

but man, we can start to put them in the

wrong place. And what happens is we

start putting a weight on them, a

God-sized weight, a God-sized burden

that they cannot carry. And then they

let us down and we get mad at them.

We're like, "You let us down." It's

because we're we're putting this burden.

God is saying, "The these things are

good. Just put them in the right order,

guys. These are all things that the

enemy can craft and use to be used

against us.

But I want to close with this um final

encouragement. And again, I want to

intentionally leave some room here just

for us to respond.

But what Paul said, I think he hit it on

the head when he said that God's grace

is sufficient for us.

And Paul would later go on to say in

Philippians 3 chapter 7,

he says, "But whatever were gains to me,

I now consider loss for the sake of

Christ.

What is more, I consider everything a

loss because of the surpassing worth of

knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. for whose

sake I have lost all things. I consider

them garbage

that I may gain Christ and be found in

him. Not having a righteousness of my

own that comes from the law, but that

which is through faith in Christ, the

righteousness that comes from God on the

basis of faith.

Guys, the cross changes everything.

The cross changes changes everything.

And so I feel like the invitation this

morning is to bring those things before

the cross.

Just say, "God, I want to loosen my grip

from things that I've put in the wrong

order

in the wrong place. Even things that

were meant for good." See, God God takes

things that were meant for evil and he

makes them for good. And sometimes we

take things that were meant for good and

we use them for things that are not

good. And so this morning,

if if you feel stirred and encouraged as

I have this week, just to go before God,

I love how how David, King David, would

pursue God's heart, even when he had so

many reasons to to have shame and and

guilt uh lead him in the opposite

direction.

Psalm 139. He's like, "God, search me.

Search my heart, Lord. Is there any

offensive way in me at all? I don't want

it." But our egos and our pride, they

want to protect that. They go, "No, what

what do people think about you,

man? May we have this same heart of a

man who fell over and over again flat on

his face.

But David was one of the best repenters.

He kept coming back to God, believing

him that he could forgive his dirt and

his shames and his dirty rags. It was

like, God again, would you search me? I

feel like that's the word for us this

morning. Lord, would you search my

heart? We want revival, guys. We want

our families to be strong and together.

We want our community

to be on fire for the Lord. But that

can't happen if we're gripping on to

lesser things. If we have replica gods

in our life,

we have to let those things go.

And we have to let God come be God.

worship team, prayer team, would you

join me?

I um my mom was a uh diehard Oprah

Winfrey fan and uh she always had it on

and I remember years back now um I was

at her house and uh there was an

interview uh with this actress uh Kirsty

Ali and uh she's pretty famous actress

like was on Cheers for a long time and

she was talking about her childhood and

how she grew up cleaning cleaning houses

with her mom and uh she said there was

this one house, this really huge mansion

that she would go to and no one would

talk to her in in the home. There were

girls her age and they just kind of

ignored her because she was the house

cleaner. But the mother of the house uh

became a sort of mother to her and

believed in her and would call out good

things in her life. And Oprah asked her,

"Hey, this huge house, like how did you

clean it? Like such a huge house, how

did you maintain it? How did it always

look so good?" and she said, "I'll give

you the secret to a clean house. You got

to get down on your hands and your knees

because that's the only way to really

clean a house because it's then that you

can see the dirt up close. It's then

that you can get in the nooks, in the

crannies. And I don't know why that

Well, I think I do know why God called

that to mind this week.

Is that Yeah. God, am I willing to get

low? Am I willing to come low before you

and posture you? Not for show,

because that's what my heart desires is

to be with you. Would I be willing to

come low? Would you show me where I need

to clean my house? Would you clean it

for me?

I want to read this verse over you. If

you would just close your eyes and

receive this encouragement.

The table is open in the back for

communion.

Jesus' body broken for us. His blood

poured out.

Before we go and receive that and have a

timely response, please receive this

word.

Philippians 3:10.

Philippians 3:10

It's Paul speaking. I want to know

Christ. A good thing, right? This is a

good desire. I want to know Christ. Yes.

to know the power of his resurrection

and participation in his sufferings,

becoming like him in his death so that

somehow

attaining the resurrection from the

dead. Not that I have already obtained

all this or have already arrived at my

goal, but I press on to take hold of

that for which Christ Jesus took hold of

me. Brothers and sisters, I do not

consider myself yet to have taken hold

of it. But one thing I do, forgetting

what is behind, straining toward what is

ahead, I press on toward the goal to win

the prize for which God has called me

heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us

then, church, all of us

who are mature should take such a view

of things. And if at some point you

think differently, that too God will

make clear.

Only let us live up to what we have

already attained.

Join together in following my example,

brothers and sisters,

just as you have us as a model. Keep

your eyes

on those who live as we do. For as often

I have told you before and now tell you

again, even with tears, many live as

enemies of the cross of Christ. Their

destiny is their destruction. Their God

is their stomach and their glory is in

their shame. Their mind is set on

earthly things.

But you, church,

our citizenship is in heaven. Yeah. And

we eagerly await a savior from there,

the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power

that enables him to bring everything

under his control will transform

our lowly bodies so that they will be

like his glorious

body. Church,

we are being transformed

by the precious blood of Christ who

suffered, who believed God, who was

raised in glory. And he's saying,

"Follow me.

Follow me in this way. Believe me.

Trust me.

Put these lesser things down.

You've been redeemed

and I love you. So Lord, as we come

before you now, God,

with humble hearts,

we say shame and fear be gone in Jesus

name. We cast those things out.

We break up with our past from the

things that once shaped us and formed us

and identified us. That is not who we

are, God. And so we cast those things

out from the living temple that is our

body purchased with your blood.

You rose and you said it is finished.

So we come under the complete work, the

finished work of the cross this morning,

God. And as we respond,

may fear not keep us in our seat, but

may we come before you and say, God,

search me.

Whatever is offensive in me, I release

it and I let it go. And we believe you,

God, that you will continue to sanctify

us more and more into your image. God,

thank you for your mercy. Thank you for

the cross that speaks a better word,

that speaks truth over our lives. And we

receive that this morning in Jesus name.

Amen.