His Word - Week 1 - Pastor Elissa Kinser

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. I am excited about today because

today is Student Sunday. So you have seen some

of our students maybe greeting, maybe running

around from their greeting position, maybe in

the cafe, maybe back in Kidstown. But regardless,

we just love the opportunity to get to see them

use their gifts. Of course, you guys got to see

this morning as some of our younger ones started

off with worship. and then some of our older

ones leading in worship this morning. And it's

just an incredible thing to be able to see what

God has already placed inside them and then just

let it continue to grow. Here at LifeHouse, if

you serve with us at all, you've probably heard

us say, like, we get to, which comes from Mark

10, 45, and it specifically talks about the fact

that for even the Son of Man came to... not to

be served, but to serve and to give his life

as a ransom. And so basically they then have

an opportunity and you as anytime we serve, we

have an opportunity to represent Christ. And

it is an honor to watch them and I am blown away.

They did an incredible job this morning. Another

thing I wanted to mention is I... Totally understand

if I hear your stomach grumbling this morning.

I know we just wrapped up at the movies where

we had our movie snacks and our media. I have

neither of those things for you this morning.

So thanks for being here. But you did get an

hour of sleep, right? You got an extra hour.

So you should be a little bit extra rested. I

have to turn my lock screen on because it is

going dark on me. One second. There we go. Cool.

But yeah, so you do get an extra hour of sleep,

which is great, except for the fact that it also

means it puts you one hour closer to lunchtime.

So your stomach, again, grumbling. I should have

thought that one forward and been able to bring

some type of snack. My apologies. Bear with me.

Lunchtime is coming. And then, of course, you

may notice that our front pew is rather empty

this morning, other than my handsome husband.

But Pastor Kip and Dixie and their incredible

family are all on vacation this week. So they

are surrounded by the hospitality of Mickey and

friends. So they're in good hands. But I want

to let you know that you guys are in good hands

as well. That didn't work. It's still walking.

You guys are in good hands as well. We are here

for you. So if you need us in any way this week,

if you need prayer, if you just need to reach

out and talk to somebody, I am more than happy

to talk. I'm a bit of a chatterbox when you get

me one -on -one. So please reach out to me. I

am here for you guys. Let me pray over this morning

and then we'll get into the word. Heavenly Father,

God, we thank you for this morning. God, I thank

you for the opportunity to come here today to

share what you have placed on my heart. Father,

I pray that this morning that it's not just me,

that it's not about the accolades or anybody

telling me that, oh, that was a good message.

I don't care about that. I just care about the

fact that it is a good message that you have

planted, that you have... created father that

you can edify my words so that even in the times

that i have prepared over this message god that

if there are things that i need to say that haven't

said father that your words come out and father

that as we listen to the words that are in your

scripture this morning and as we think about

the revelations that come from your divine holy

spirit god that we just allow those things into

our hearts and into our spirits this morning

so that it's not just a message that is spoken

and then immediately off our heads when we're

on to lunch, but something that continues to

sit with us and to grow in us. So, Father, we

thank you for this morning, and we pray that

you have your way. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

All right. I really have to figure out why my

screen is still locking. My apologies. Usually

it does not do this. I have it set that it shouldn't.

Anyways, I'll figure it out. Okay, so be honest

with me this morning. Now, of course, it is church,

and so you should be honest regardless, inside

and outside of the church. But if you're honest

with me this morning, how many of you have ever

lost something important? Okay, so I don't even

have to give you examples, but you probably have

ever misplaced your keys or your wallet or maybe

even your mind while searching for one of those

things. Yeah, it happens. And then... If you

find that item or when you finally find that

item, sometimes you've possibly heard the phrase,

well, it's always the last place you look. Have

you heard that before? Yes. Which like makes

sense, right? It's kind of a strange phrase because

if it's the first, like if it's the last place

you look, like you're done looking because why

would you continue to look afterwards? That wouldn't

make any sense. So then have you ever lost something

that was literally right on you? So let's say

it's like your sunglasses or your readers or

maybe even your cell phone that's in your hand,

but you're frantically searching everywhere for

it. Happens to me all the time, unfortunately.

And it's so funny because it's like, well, I've

had it the whole time and I just didn't realize

it. And so now I wonder how many of us live like

that when it comes to the Lord? He's right here,

but instead of being like, okay, there he is,

it's, well, let me search over here and over

here and over here and over here. I'm just going

to search everywhere but where he is. When it

comes to God, we have to let him be the first

place we look. Everybody say first place. Right.

First place we look, we cannot let him be the

last place we look. Jesus said it this way in

Matthew 6. 6 .33, it says, but seek first the

kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all

these things will be added to you. That verse

sits right in the middle of the Sermon on the

Mount. Basically, Jesus is teaching about all

sorts of things. He's talking about worry, priorities,

trust. He's reminding us that if we seek God

first, everything else will find its proper place.

But if we're honest, when we need something,

prayer is not. oftentimes our first response

it's usually like to google something and i'm

not saying that when it comes to google that

you need to throw your phone out the window especially

these beautiful stained glass windows do not

recommend but some of us tend to have more faith

in google than we do in god or we'll talk to

siri before we talk to the savior we'll check

our own understanding like maybe we know something

that he doesn't which of course is ridiculous

We'll scroll through advice from influencers

on social media, and maybe we'll even ask AI

to solve our problems. But I'm not saying that

those things are evil either. Google absolutely

can be helpful. AI can be a useful tool. And

social media can be a platform for good, despite

what some people think. However, when we let

those things be the very first place we look,

that's the problem. It's the risk of then finding

a shallow response or even an inherently wrong

response. And then in the midst of all that,

we let the chaos and the confusion and all sorts

of questions begin to just pile up on top of

each other. And then to some, Google, social

media, AI, they can even become, to some people,

an acceptable substitution to our Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit. Now, before you look at me and

say like, whoa, Pastor Alyssa, that is a bold

claim. Okay, bear with me. People go to Google

for what? Information. So they'll go for Google

because they think it has all the knowledge and

all of the wisdom. Instead of God, who we do

believe is all -knowing. He does have all of

the knowledge. They'll go to things like social

media for connection. We reach out or we post

things on social media because we want other

people to like or to see what we're doing or

to bond with us in some way. Or we'll try to

get approval from there, which is what we're

supposed to look for in Jesus Christ. Jesus came

so that he could have relationship with these

people. He would walk alongside them. He would

be with them in the good times, the bad times,

the hard times, and so on. And then whenever

it comes to AI, okay, so we know that AI, it

does a lot of great things. It can, you know,

organize our thoughts. It can find us information

and help to slim down our process. But where

people fall into traps is that they'll fall into

things of artificial inspiration instead of seeking

out divine revelation. So they'll settle with

going to these sources for guidance. They won't

bother consulting with the word or they won't

listen to those nudges of the Holy Spirit within

them because they've been pacified by a worldly

response that was good enough. But life isn't

always like that. There are certain places in

scripture that we have read about it or that

we are well aware that we are supposed to go

to God first. If you take Proverbs 3 verse 9,

Proverbs 3:9

it says, honor the Lord with your wealth, with

the first fruits of all your crops. And now we

often hear that mostly referred to when we talk

about tithing. And it's a reference to money,

but it can't stop there. It applies to our searches

too. God has to be the very first in our search,

first in our seeking. When we seek him first,

the clarity can begin to rise from the confusion

and peace can begin to fill the chaos. Strength

can show up where there once was weakness. But

that's easier said than done. especially in a

world where everyone is busy. When we all have

different problems and different things going

on, we think, well, certainly if I have all these

things going on, then they probably have things

going on and I don't want to bother them with

my things because then their things will pile

up with my things and it just gets all sorts

of confusing. But where we go wrong is we think

that that same principle then applies to God

as well. We lump the Lord into that category

when God is saying, I am right here. I have what

you need, but I need you to ask me. I want you

to ask me. I want to have that relationship,

that communication with you. So before you ask

God, or before you ask Google, ask God. Before

you reach out, reach up, and let him be the first

place you look. And I get that sometimes, though,

when we do finally seek out to God, He speaks,

but we do not understand. He gives us an answer

that does not make sense in our current or present

situation, but that's not the point either. Seeking

God means trusting what we don't understand.

So my mom is here today, and so this story applies

to her, but it speaks about me growing up as

a child and honestly still today. My mom is one

of the most incredible organizers that I have

ever met, to the point where she also helped

pack Ryan and I up when we moved out of our house

and pretty much fully unpacked us to get us all

organized in our house. It was a huge blessing,

but because of that, I still don't know where

certain things are, and Ryan definitely doesn't

know. But whenever I was growing up, and even

still today if I go home, whenever I started

getting interested in baking or cooking, I would

go to ask her for an ingredient. And if I didn't

know where it was, if I rummaged through the

cabinets already and it wasn't there, I would

go to her and say, all right, I need... condensed

milk or something like that. I don't know, some

ingredient. I need this ingredient. And she'd

be like, okay, without even looking up, she could

be like on her phone or reading her Kindle or

something without even looking up. She'd be like,

yeah, okay. So if you go downstairs, you, it's

on the second row, second shelf, follow this

way. It's up here, right between this and right

below the green beans. And I'd be like, got it.

Off I went. So I'll go search, following there.

I'd be like, okay, it's on this row. Do this,

go this way. It's on this shelf, green beans.

Nope, nope, it's not there. So you look around.

So you're like, okay, maybe it's like near the

green beans. Maybe she's like slightly wrong.

She's most of the time not wrong. So then I go

back upstairs after not being able to find it.

And I say, okay, well, I can't find it. She goes

downstairs. And about 10 seconds later, she returns

with the item exactly where she said it was.

Has this ever happened to you? Where it feels

like somebody just pulled something out of thin

air and you're like, there is no way. There is,

I just looked there. It was just not there. But

obviously it was there. And regardless of how

it got there or whether it was there the whole

time or not, you were just thankful that somebody

helped you find it. So that feeling of not being

able to find something that they just gave you

the instructions for, it's frustrating, right?

Sometimes it's even a little bit humiliating

because you're like, I should have been able

to do that. I can follow instructions. Likewise,

we live in an age now that we are obsessed with

the answers and knowing exactly what the answer

is. Like we ask questions, how do I fix this?

Why did that happen? What's next? But here's

the thing. If we are to seek the answers first,

we will always end up with more questions. For

instance, when I was younger, this is not related

to that story. Similar story though, just because

my mind goes all sorts of places to follow along.

When I was younger, I would get curiosities about

random things. Have you ever been in an underwater

tunnel? Yeah. Is anybody ever curious about how

that was built? Okay. I was, and I still am because

I never really found the answer, and here's why.

Because when I would go to look up the answer,

it wouldn't be the short, like, well, this is

how it's built that I wanted. It was like, okay,

well, while I'm looking it up, it tried to give

me an answer, but I didn't understand those answers,

so let me think about it myself. What if, you

know, it was built underground, and then they

just sucked out all the water. Okay, well then

if it was that way, then did the construction

workers have to wear scuba gear? Were they scuba

certified? So I would continue to go down through

all of these questions, trying to figure out

the answer. Still don't know. If you do know

the answer and you want to give me a very short

response, tell me later. But anyways, I know

that those examples seem silly, but the concept

is that every time we have a question, it's easy

for us to have more and more and more questions

when we're seeking out the answer. And so in

a deeper, a more spiritual sense, getting away

from those examples, we often start with why.

Why am I suffering? Why is my relationship not

working? Why is the world so unfair? And we assume

then that understanding will lead us to peace.

But peace doesn't come from understanding. It

comes from encounter. Peace is a person. When

we seek the answer, which is the Lord, you'll

start to understand your questions. So if you

think about some people in the Bible, so take

Job, for instance. Job was a righteous man of

God, as Scripture declares. Satan believed that

God was basically just protecting him. And that

was the only reason that he was following God.

He was following all of these things. And that

certainly if God allowed it, that he would curse

God and just be like, okay, I'm done with this.

And so the Lord allowed it. The Lord allowed

Satan to go ahead and test him, to take away

his property, to take away his wealth, to take

away his family and even his own physical health.

Job then asked why for 37 chapters. The book

of Job is lengthy in nature, but for 37 chapters

of those, he asked why. Why is this happening?

And so on. And his friends tried to answer questions

as well. But when God finally spoke to him, he

did not answer a single one of Job's questions

directly. He revealed himself instead. Job said

in Job 42, verse 5, now my eyes have seen you.

Job 42:5

It wasn't about the specific answer to all of

the problems, all of the whys, but my eyes have

seen you, the Lord. Now we take Moses. Moses

was the leader of the Israelite people, but he

was worried about his own lack of confidence,

his own stuttering, his own speaking abilities.

He didn't think he could do it. thinking that

surely others could be better for the job. He

asked for explanations. He asked, okay, well,

who am I or how am I going to lead? And God did

not answer those questions immediately, but he

said in Exodus 3 verse 12, I will be with you.

Exodus 3:12

Again, it wasn't the answer to those specific

questions, but it was that God's presence would

be with him. And then Paul. Paul was once on

the other side of faith, who persecuted Christians.

And later he was converted into the faith, and

now we know him more as the influential apostle.

We know him as a missionary, or we know him as

the author of many, many books of our New Testament.

And so he asked for the thorn in his flesh to

be removed. He pled with God three separate times

to say, God, remove this from my life so that

I don't have to deal with it anymore. But God

responded. He didn't explain it away, but he

said, in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 9, my

2 Corinthians 12:9

grace is sufficient for you. He did not explain

all of the answers or all the questions that

he had, but he said that my grace is going to

cover it all. In each case, God did not give

them those direct answers, but he gave himself.

And sometimes that's the case. When we truly

want the answer, our questions will make sense

in his presence instead. And when we think we

want the answers, we have to be okay knowing

that we can trust the very one who has them,

even if we don't understand them. I think about

when Jesus spoke to his disciples on the night

of his betrayal. He was surrounded by all of

these people that he trusted and people that

he'd walked through and been through, but still

when he knelt down to wash their feet, he said,

you do not understand now what I am doing, but

later you will understand. It wasn't about the

specific moment he knew what was going on. They

didn't, but he promised them that they would.

And so when we can't see the reason, we have

to trust the relationship. And when we can't

trace his hand in it all, we still have to trust

his heart. Because seeking a life or a life seeking

Jesus changes everything. We must persistently

seek him to change the atmosphere around us.

And that's what we are as believers. As persistent

seekers, we can change the atmosphere. Jesus

told a story about the parable of the lost coin.

This is in Luke chapter 15, verse eight. It says,

Luke 15 · chapter mention

suppose a woman has 10 silver coins and loses

one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house

and search carefully until she finds it? And

when she finds it, she calls her friends and

neighbors together and says, rejoice with me,

I have found my lost coin. In the same way, I

tell you, there is more rejoicing, or there is

rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God

over one sinner who repents. So I have a question,

another question, I'll keep you engaged here.

Does anybody have a favorite piece of clothing?

Sweatshirt, sweatpants, something that you consistently

go back to? I'm going to tell on my husband.

A couple years ago, for Ryan's birthday, I got

him a sweatshirt. Royal blue sweatshirt, and

he loves it. In fact, actually, it's in the car.

He didn't wear it this morning. That was kind

of disappointing. But anyways, if this sweatshirt,

he's not a sweatshirt person. I'll put it out

that way. Like, if he doesn't have to wear a

sweatshirt or even pants, he won't. He'll wear

jeans, but, you know, sparingly. Anyways. This

sweatshirt, I got him a couple years ago for

his birthday. And because of that sweatshirt,

because of the connection to it or whatever,

maybe it's the comfort, I don't know. I like

to think it's because it's custom. But anyways,

he will search and seek for it specifically.

He has maybe 10, 15 other sweatshirts. But if

that sweatshirt is available, he's putting it

on. If it's in the laundry, he might consider

grabbing it out of the laundry. But either way,

he's specifically seeking that specific one.

And so if he can't find it, if it's not in the

laundry, he'll go look in the car and see if

it's there. He'll look and see if he left it

on the couch. He'll look and see it if he left

it on the porch or something different. But he'll

find out, he'll turn over the house and he'll

figure out where this sweatshirt is so that he

can wear it. So just like the woman in the parable,

if this has ever been you, maybe your favorite

item, and you're specifically seeking out one

specific thing, and you need to find it for whatever

reason, you are willing to change things that

are around. Or even if you do find it, you might

throw it on right away, like I said, or you might

happily yell across the house to whoever was

around when you were looking for it, and you're

like, I found it! And then maybe they'll ask

you a question and they'll say, well, where did

you find it? How did you find it? And you are

more than happy to tell them because it's bringing

them into your story. You're excited about this

thing that you have now found that you were once

separated from. And in the parable, the woman

did not just stumble across this coin by accident.

So she had 10, lost one, and she searched, she

worked, she paid attention. But she didn't just

hope that the coin would roll back into her hand.

She didn't wait for time to fix it. She searched

carefully until she found it. That phrase until

she found it means she didn't stop halfway. She

didn't let distractions, she didn't let discouragement

or any delay stop her search or pull her away.

She knew that something of value was missing

and so she was not going to rest until it was

restored. If I could get the worship team to

start to get back ready. That's what seeking

God should look like for us. It's not half -hearted.

It's not convenient. It's not casual, but it's

intentional. It is persistent and wholehearted

pursuit. We won't find this deep peace by chance.

We're not going to find real joy without intention

because the moment we start seeking God with

our whole heart, he promises to be found by us.

Once we realize that, our whole approach to life

can begin to change. Seeking God doesn't just

bring clarity, but it brings transformation.

The woman didn't just find what she lost, but

her whole house changed. The light came on. She

lit the lamp. The dust was cleared. She swept

the floors. And joy broke out when she invited

people in. When we start seeking, our atmosphere

begins to shift. Light can break into dark places.

Joy can replace apathy. And purpose replaces

all sorts of confusion. But that kind of transformation

only happens when seeking God is our first response.

and not our last resort. That's what it means

to me, God, that first place we look, as I mentioned

before. When something is missing, we go to him

first. When something feels off, we seek him

first. And when something is broken, we call

on him first. When we start seeking him, We do

start to have a little bit more questions, but

when we desire to know things like, who is God

or why did he make me? We shouldn't be afraid

of the deeper questions when it comes to him.

We should continue to be persistent in the things

that we ask. So whenever it comes to the Lord,

it's then shifting to things like, how does that

mean? What does that mean for how I'm supposed

to live? How can I know him better? And what

is he teaching me through this? This morning,

I'm going to ask if everyone would stand with

me. And if you're able, I'd actually love for

you to join me up front, if you're comfortable.

If you're new here, that's fine. But while I

was preparing for this message, Jane, come down

if you want to hang out with me. Just be a little

closer. While I was preparing for this message,

I was reminded of Luke chapter 19, verse 10.

Luke 19:10

It says, for the Son of Man came to seek and

save the lost. He came, and therefore I speak

this morning to serve as a reminder that even

when we struggle in our search, God has not stopped

pursuing us. He's been seeking us out, and he

never gets tired of that pursuit. But we do.

We get tired. We get bored. We get impatient.

And so think about it this morning. Think about

what the Holy Spirit could be speaking to you

and asking you this morning. What is it that

you have stopped searching for? What have you

left lost because the search started to feel

too difficult? Where have you settled for nine

coins when God has called you to search for all

10? Maybe the reason you haven't find the answer

that you're looking for is because you're looking

for all of these answers instead of seeking out

the answer. Maybe you've been seeking help. Instead

of seeking his presence, you've been looking

everywhere else first, and he's just been waiting

for you to look up. It's time to light the lamp

again. It's time to sweep the floor again. It's

time to seek again with passion, with prayer,

and with persistence. Matthew 7 says, on asking

and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on

seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking and

the door will be open to you for everyone who

asks receives and everyone who seeks finds. And

to everyone who knocks, the door will be open.

to this message from Lifehouse Church. We pray

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