It's Been a Minute - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. to come before the King. Amen?

Because that's why we come together, is to praise

Jesus and to experience God. But we have something

special taking place this morning, and it's a

child dedication. And we are blessed at LifeHouse.

in so many ways, but we have an abundance of

children here at Lifehouse. Actually, we have

a great span the whole way across the age board.

I don't know if you know that or not, but we've

got young people, we've got kids, we've got teenagers,

we've got young parents, we've got parents of

teenagers, we've got older people, and we've

got some people that are even a little older

than older, okay? It's true. That's probably

me, honestly. I probably fall into that category.

But we are blessed, and we have this child dedication

this morning with the host settlers, and we're

super excited. But we want you first to turn

your attention to the screens so you can watch

a little video and really kind of really get

to know this family just a little bit more and

this little guy named Leland. Everybody say it

together. I know. Every time. Every time. Well,

I'm going to ask if Lucas and Nikki would bring

Leland and they would come to the stage. And

we really just want to take this time in this

ceremony as we get ready to dedicate this child

back to the Lord. And we do believe in child

dedication here at LifeHouse. Child dedication

is really all about the parents taking the time

to say, God, you've given us this amazing gift.

We want to give this gift. Back to you. It's

the parents recognizing, really, the infinite

and the eternal value. Come on, they want to

see you all. You all get out of front here. All

right. It's the parents recognizing, really,

the infinite value and this eternal idea of following

Jesus and raising your child to do that. And

I thank you both today for making that commitment,

coming up together, and saying we're going to

do this in front of others and in front of the

church and in front of family. Love all the support

you got here. Come on, give this family a hand

right here. Yeah, lots of support here. Yeah.

And it really is a joint effort. It's the parents

primarily that are dedicating this job back,

but it is the family in support, and it is the

church family coming together and say, we're

backing you up in this. We believe in what you're

doing. And I grew up in the church. I remember

a community of believers around me. I remember

them praying over me. I remember family praying

over me, and I remember how important that was.

in concert with the parents, right? My parents

in raising a child up. So, little Leland, he

is looking sharp today, all right? Leland Trejo

Sellers, I love it. We want to take time. And

listen, there's no better story in all of Scripture

than that which is of Hannah, and it gives a

really a picture in 1 Samuel chapter 1 of really

1 Samuel 1 · chapter mention

what dedication is. And the story really kind

of goes like this. For years, Hannah experiences

She's childless. She's unable to have children.

And it's only in this barrenness that she becomes

so frustrated. And she literally is harassed

by her family and people in the community of

that day because she was unable to have children.

And in an effort, in a state of so brokenheartedness,

she goes to the temple. She goes to a place of

worship. And there she begins to weep and pray

uncontrollably. And almost to the point that...

You know, those who were in charge of the temple

thought that she was drunk and thought that she

was a little bit out of her mind. But it's in

this place of frustration that God answers her

prayer of having a child. And it really comes

to God to move in her life. And 1 Samuel 1 .11

says this, Then she, Hannah, made a vow and said

to the Lord of hosts, If you indeed look on my

affliction of your maidservant and remember me

and not forget your maidservant, but will give

your maidservant a male child, then I will give

him to the Lord all the days of his life. Hannah

vows a vow and God honors that vow and gives

her a son and staying true to what she spoke.

She brings her son Samuel back into the house

of the Lord to dedicate him back to God and literally

leave him there. That was common in that day.

And she stays true to this. And as I was thinking

about that, you know, it's something that she

actually took the child back and the child grew

up in the church. How many of you would like

to leave your children at the church today? I

know. Some of the parents here are like, well,

there's days we would just leave them. We do

not have that policy here. So we just want to

let you know that ahead of time. But in 1 Samuel

1 20, it says, therefore, I also have lent him

to the Lord. As long as he lives, he shall be

lent to the Lord. And that word lent means to

give back unconditionally in dedication to God.

And that's what Lucas and Nikki are doing today.

They're symbolically saying, Lord, you have blessed

us with Leland, and now we place him just back

into your hands. We want Leland to experience

salvation and the grace and sacrifice that Jesus

made. We want the Holy Spirit to be active and

engaged in Leland's life. We want the Father's

plans of promise to unfold in his future. So

we place him in your hands. So Jesus' parents

did something very similar to this as well. They

brought Jesus, even Jesus, into the temple. In

Luke 22, it says, when the days of our purification

according to the law of Moses were completed,

they brought him, Jesus, to Jerusalem to present

him to the Lord. Even Jesus' parents gave their

son back to God in this very same kind of way.

So Lucas and Nikki, this seems like a simple

act, a simple ceremony, but comes with great

responsibility and great promise on your son.

It's in this action that you are not only affirming

God's prior claim on your child's life, but committing

yourselves to raise Leland in God's way. He's

getting a little upset about all this. And in

God's path, according to God's plan. So today

we're committing to pray over Leland. And really

to pray over Leland, not just today, but daily.

And I know they do this as parents. This is a

wonderful couple in the church. They've been

an integral part of LifeHouse. And now we're

going to pray over Leland and really just look

for God's hand in his life. And I'm a grandfather

now. And as my children grew and are now adults,

I used to pray on the regular daily, you know,

God get their hearts. Because I knew if God got

their hearts, right? that he would have all of

them. So you too, pray a similar prayer. You

may have a prayer that you pray over your children

currently, but pray that God captures their heart

and his heart in particular today, all right?

So Lucas and Nikki, pray something, that kind

of prayer. And if you would, and I don't know

if I've ever done this in dedication, I don't

know why I feel this way with you two, but find

that phrase between the two of you. Find that

one common thing that you're going to pray over

your children and do it. You might already do

this. Maybe it's just a confirmation of what

you're already doing. But I feel strongly about

this. It has something to do with Leland's future

and what you're going to pray. So today, we're

going to pray over Leland. We're going to pray

a prayer of dedication. I am going to lightly

lay my hand on his back so he does not get upset.

I think I've already made him upset. Oh, you

just need to stage. That's all he needs. Yeah.

But we're just going to pray, and I want you

just to come together. Father. I thank you for

this couple, Lord. I thank you for their dedication

to you, God, their heart to follow after God,

to follow Jesus, your son, for the Holy Spirit

being active in their life. And I thank you for

this son that you gave them that they're now

dedicating back to you. God, I pray, God, for

your hand upon his future. I pray, God, that

this family gives... has wisdom and direction

as he grows. And God, as both their children

grow, and Lord, as they raise Graceland as well,

Lord, I pray, God, that you would touch them,

and Lord, be with them. And Lord, I pray your

hand on Leland as he becomes a man of God before

you. And we just give you praise and glory in

Jesus' name. And amen. Amen. I know, I know,

buddy, this is tough, huh? It's scary up here.

But with this, we want to do several things.

Just to mark the day. We like to do a couple

things, and one is to give some roses. And I

don't know if you can see this from there, but

these roses are different colors, and they each

represent something. The white rose really represents

the love of Jesus Christ. And the red rose represents

the bloodline and really the love of the parents.

And the pink represents the child. And it's the

love of Jesus and it is the love of the parents

coming together that really is going to show

Leland the way in life. He's going to grow and

know how and where to go because of that love.

So I'm going to set that here because you all

have your hands full. With that as well, we'd

like to give him a Bible, a beginner's Bible.

And this is the Word of God. We believe this

is the lamp, right? The Word of God says that

to our feet and a light to our path. And we want

that for Leland, so we're going to give you the

Bible. And also a certificate to commemorate

the day. and to mark the day of this dedication.

This is incredible that you're doing this. This

is an amazing thing. Church, if you would, would

you lay your hand this way? I feel led to do

this today. I don't know why, but I just want

you just to pray over Leland. I believe there's

something in his future that God's got marked

out. God's speaking that into my spirit, and

I don't want to be disobedient in that. So as

you two parents, just lay hands on him. Father,

we thank you. God, as Leland goes forward, God,

I pray, God, the word says that the steps of

a righteous man are ordered by God. I pray that

you walk out his steps. Lord God, that you have

your hand upon him, and Lord, we just give you

praise and glory and honor. honor in Jesus' name.

And amen. Amen. Church, are you willing to back

this family up? Yes. All right. I know they're

willing to walk through. God bless you. Thank

you. Would you give them another hand as they

go down this morning? Hey, listen, if you're

a parent, you need six hands and a wheelbarrow

to get everything where you need to go. Amen?

It's true. I watch all these young parents here

at LifeHouse, and man, I remember the days when

our three children were little. And man, you

just about need a pickup truck to go anywhere

to get everything where you're going. But it

is so good, and we are blessed. And thank you

to the Hosteller family. Thank you. for trusting

us to do this dedication today. And we love doing

that. We love spending the time to do it. But

I'm going to start off this message this morning

asking you a question. How many of you have ever

walked into a room somewhere and you got into

the room in the middle of the room somewhere

and completely forgot why you were there? Come

on. How many did it this week? Yeah. Wow. Okay.

Maybe I should say this again, short memory term

problem here. We've done that, right? All of

us, we've walked into a room, got in the center

of the room, stood still and thought, why in

the world am I here? And here's what you do.

You stand still for a second, and in your mind,

right, you replay. How many of you rewind? You

go back. You're thinking, what did I do in the

last 30 seconds of my life? And you start to

replay it, and you stand particularly still just

so that nothing gets in the way of all that.

And when you can't recall it, you'll get really

crazy, and you'll go back into the room you just

came from, and you'll stand still there for a

second just to reboot. Amen? Hoping that if you

step through again, you might remember. And if

you get extremely desperate, you will ask a family

member, why in the world did I come in here?

And it's the last resort because you know they're

going to make fun of you. Right? They're going

to say, what, you're losing it, man. Right? They're

going to say things that, some kind of pull it

together kind of statement is going to come out

of their mouth towards you. And it's easy. You

know, in a heartbeat, we can forget what we're

doing. You know, it can be this minute, and one

minute later, and you're in a different room,

and you forget why you were even there. Turn

to somebody sitting beside you right now, say,

why'd you come in here? Come on. Maybe say, why

did I come in here? Why am I here? All right?

How many know it can happen quick? Sometimes

it's just a minute, right? Sometimes we forget.

And here's the thing. Sometimes we forget Jesus

that quickly. Sometimes. Sometimes he's the furthest

thing from our mind. In the very next minute,

and previously we were thinking about it. And

I know you're thinking about them right now because

you're in church, right? We've worshiped the

Lord this morning. We've heard about his name.

We've prayed this morning. And right now it's

easy. We're remembering and we're thinking. And

if you come back to Revive tonight, which is

amazing, you can come back and pray. We spent

an hour singing and we're praying. And it's going

to be easy to remember. You're probably not going

to forget in that kind of setting of any kind.

But how many know Monday comes around? with amazing

regularity, right? Monday morning is going to

come back around. And Monday morning, you're

going to step into some kind of routine. You're

going to go back to work, whatever it is. And

sometimes it can be completely, you can go from

Monday to Wednesday and you realize, I never

even really thought about Jesus. It's Wednesday

sometime. It's Tuesday. You haven't paid attention

to Jesus. You haven't paid attention to the Holy

Spirit. You forgot why you were in the room.

You forgot that he owns the room, right? And

it can happen. And if that happens to you, honestly,

you're in good company. Because I don't know

if you know this or not, but in God's word, Jesus'

parents actually lost him for a bit of time when

he was a kid, right? Luke chapter 2 verse 43

Luke 2:43

tells us that Jesus' parents and their family

used to take a trip yearly. They would go to

Jerusalem. And when they would get to Jerusalem,

they would celebrate Passover. And then that

whole tribe of people, whether it was relatives

or friends, they would go back to their homes.

They'd go back to their own towns. And one time

when that took place, they forgot Jesus. They

left him in Jerusalem. He was just a kid. And

they started down the road. They got about a

day down the road, and they realized Jesus was

nowhere to be found. So they turned around and

went back. And when he got back to Jerusalem,

they found him in the temple, teaching in the

temple. They forgot Jesus in the next minute.

His parents did. And if I'm being completely

transparent, it happened in our family once.

I left my son at church one time. Dixie and I,

true story. When my son was little, you know,

when he was young, Dixie and I both drove separate

vehicles to church, and I took one vehicle and

went home, and she took the other, and we got

home, and we started out with three children

and only had two when we got back. And just about

the time we figured it out, the phone rang, and

it was the pastor who says, uh, I got one of

your children here. How many know that's an awkward

moment? Right? We left him there. But it is that

quick. It is that quick that we can get caught

up in doing whatever we're doing in life, and

we can forget about Jesus. And sometimes it's

days, sometimes it's minutes, sometimes it's

weeks. For some people, it's even years. And

God's people, Israel, had this problem big time.

Big time. They got lost. and they would forget

Jesus, and they lost it. They lost it spiritually.

They lost it physically. They forgot God so much

that actually they ended up in exile. They forgot

about God completely, and they ended up being

exiled into different countries, and literally

the nation of Israel broke up and went to other

places, literally standing in a room and completely

forgetting God, all because they were not engaged

in the things they constantly um, keep us, uh,

keeping God in mind, keeping God at the forefront

of our lives. So if you got your Bible this morning,

I want you to turn to Exodus chapter 19. We're

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

going to start off in Exodus chapter 19. We're

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

going to take a look at the nation of Israel

and their forgetfulness. And then we're going

to flip back on over to Exodus 32, one through

eight. And I'm going to pray while you're turning,

and then I'm going to give you a little lead

up to that scripture. Father, we thank you for

this day. We thank you for the opportunity to

be in your house. I thank you, Lord, God, that

you go before us. I thank you, Lord, for children

that you have blessed us with, and Lord, that

we can dedicate and give back to you. I thank

you, Lord, God, for your word, Lord, that shows

us, and Lord, is truly a light to us. And we

ask, God, that you would write it on our hearts,

write it on our minds, God, that we might walk

worthy and righteously before you. In Jesus'

name, and everybody say it together. Amen. Amen.

Well, just to give you a little lead up to where

we're going to start, the nation of Israel is

enslaved by Egypt for 400 years. And it's all

they've known for 400 years. And God sends a

man named Moses out of the backside of the desert.

And he meets with Moses and he tells him, I want

you to go to Egypt and I want you to confront

Pharaoh and tell Pharaoh to let my people go.

He says, instruct them. If Pharaoh asks who's

asking this, what God is asking this, tell him,

I am. How many of you know that's a name for

God? I am. So Moses does this. He's obedient,

and he goes to Pharaoh, and he says, I want you

to release the Israelites. I want you to release

them from slavery. They need to be free. They

need to go and worship in the wilderness, and

you need to let them go. And Pharaoh refuses.

Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, refuses. And from

that point on, Moses says, well, God's going

to do a little convincing. He's going to convince

you to do this. So the Lord sends 10 plagues.

Say 10. 10 plagues. On Pharaoh and all of Egypt.

Israel's living right next door in Goshen. And

none of these plagues touch the Israelites. But

all of these plagues fall on Egypt. First one

was he turned the water into blood. The water

became undrinkable in the Nile River. It became

undrinkable in the ponds that surrounded that

area. They could not drink. Secondly, he sent

frogs. How many of you like frogs? I know, they're

cute. Unless there's a hundred of them in your

kitchen, right? Jumping on top of you. There

was this one, frogs came. I don't know if it's

a herd of frogs. What do you call frogs when

they're a whole big bunch? I'm not sure. I didn't

look that one up. All right. But he sent a lot

of frogs, right? And then he sent gnats. And

then he sent flies. And then there was livestock

pestilence where the livestock began to die off.

Boils, the people of Egypt began to suffer boils.

And Pharaoh would just keep hardening his heart

and he wouldn't let them go. And God sent hail.

He sent locusts to eat every green thing that

was in Egypt. Never touched. Goshen, where the

Israelites were living. And darkness fell on

Egypt at one point. This was the ninth plague

that God sends. It falls on Egypt for three days.

And for three days, it's dark in Egypt, right?

And Goshen, right next to where the Israelites

are, it's light. And Pharaoh still won't bend.

So God sends the death angel as the tenth plague.

And all the firstborn in Egypt die, including

Pharaoh's son. And finally, Pharaoh breaks. He

releases them. No war, right? No battle. God

walks the Israelites out of Egypt. Not only do

they walk out free, but the Egyptians literally

pay them to go. They give them money. They give

them gold. They give them whatever they need.

They basically pay them to leave. And once they

leave, they go into the wilderness. They come

to the Red Sea. And all of a sudden, Pharaoh

has what I would call decision remorse. He decides

this was a bad idea. So he gathers the army.

He goes in an effort to retrieve all these Israelites,

a million plus people, and bring them back and

enslave them again. And Israel's back is against

the Red Sea. And here comes Pharaoh and the army.

God splits the Red Sea. opens it. The Israelites

walk across on dry land, get to the other side,

right? If you've ever seen it in the movies,

it's awesome, right? And Pharaoh and his armies

charge into the sea that's opened up by God himself.

And as they get into the center of that, God

collapses the water. Israel's safe on the other

side and wipes out Pharaoh and the entire army.

Now, if you were an Israelite and you witnessed

all this stuff happening firsthand. How many

think it would be hard to forget God? It would

be hard. I'd be like, that's incredible. That's

amazing. And it doesn't even stop there. They

go into the wilderness. God gives them food every

single morning. Manna on the ground. They don't

even have to work for food. It's laying on the

ground. They can pick it up and eat it. They

get thirsty at one point in Rahitim, the place

called Rahitim, and God instructs Moses, just

smack the rock with your stick, right, with your

rod that I've given you, the staff that I've

given you. Smack the rock, and water gushes out

of a rock for a million plus people. They witness

all of this, all of Israel. Amalek comes to fight

against them. and war against Israel as they're

traveling through. And God has Moses stand with

that same rod in the air. And as long as Moses

had the rod in the air, they would win over Amalek.

They would come out on top with the battle. And

when Moses' arms started getting tired, Aaron

and Hur came, and they held up his arm, and they

won over Amalek. And even at another point in

this journey, everybody in this country, everybody

amongst these people are witnessing this. At

another point, they find water again, and it's

bitter, and God makes it sweet to drink. It was

poisonous, and he purifies it in an instant.

Everything they touch is miracles, blessings,

God's hand, abundance. It's crazy. God even calls

them his own special people. In Exodus 19, it

says this, Say treasure. treasure to me above

all people, for all the earth is mine, and you

shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy

nation. These are the words which you shall speak

to the children of Israel. At this particular

time, Israel is the golden child of all the people

on the earth. How many of you are the golden

child in your family? Come on. Be proud. Nobody

wants to admit their siblings are sitting here.

All right. How many know it's good to be the

golden child, right? How many of you are like,

I'm the complete opposite of the golden child,

right? Some of you are like, that's not me. But

it's good to be the golden child. It's good to

be in a place of favor. This was Israel. Favor

is good when it comes to God. It is good. Israel

is crazy blessed, highly favored. And you would

think at this point in the relationship, it would

be literally impossible for them to forget God.

You would think it was completely unthinkable,

unimaginable, that in a minute they could forget

God. But it's in their travels into the promised

land that Moses ends up going into a mountain,

up to Mount Sinai, to hear from God. and get

the laws that God wants to give him to govern

this group of people. And they, he's gone. Moses

is gone for 40 days. And honestly, in the grand

scheme of things, it's a minute. He's gone for

a minute and the people of Israel lose their

minds. Exodus 32, one says this, when the people

saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain.

He's up there meeting with God for them, right?

The people gathered together to Aaron and said

to him, come make us gods that shall go before

us. Are you kidding me? For as for Moses, this

man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,

we do not know what has become of him. Moses

is speaking to God on their behalf. He's only

been gone for 40 days at a seminar with the Lord

himself, right? Getting these laws. And they

forget God. They want to make other gods, right?

They forget that the ocean split for them. They

forget that God's provided the food. They're

still picking up manna every single day in the

morning. And they literally forget God. And verse

2, Aaron, who is one of the leaders, one of Moses'

right -hand men, right? And Aaron said to them,

Break off the golden earring, which is in the

ears of your wives, your sons, your daughters,

and bring them to me. So all the people broke

off the golden earrings, which were in the ears,

and brought them to Aram. And he received the

gold from their hand, and he fashioned it. And

with an engraving tool, he made a molded calf.

And then he said, this is your God, O Israel,

that brought you. out of the land of Egypt. Not

only do they forget God, they make an idol, and

they attribute their success of getting free

from freedom from this golden cow, a cow. So

when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before the

Lord. And Aaron made a proclamation and said,

tomorrow is the feast of the Lord. Then they

rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings,

brought peace offerings, and the people sat down

to eat and drink and rose up to play. And the

Lord, now listen, Moses is still up in the mountain

with the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, go get

down for your people whom you brought out of

the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.

They have turned aside quickly out of the way

which I commanded them. It's only been a minute,

right? And they've made themselves a molded calf

and worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said,

this is your God, O Israel, that brought you

out of the land of Egypt. Now, when I first read

this, I thought, what's wrong with these people?

I mean, are they crazy? You know, was there a

problem with the water that their memories were

that short? Moses is gone for 40 days, and the

God who walks them through all this, they completely

forget. Not only that, they take off their earrings

and build a calf to worship. But here's the thing.

Honestly, honestly, if we're not careful, it

can be a minute just for us. and we'll forget

God. I read in another place in scripture this

week, it was part of my devotions this week,

you know, as I was meeting with God, the God

of the universe, that's how we say it here, it's

not really devotions, you meet with the God of

the universe every single day, you should. And

as I was in his word, I read this story about

Peter, and Peter, you know, Peter was one of

the disciples, and he was in Jesus' inner circle.

There were 12, but there were three that was

in his inner circle. Peter, James, and John were

kind of those closest to him. And Peter, at one

point, in Scripture, the disciples are all together,

and they're all having this discussion, who's

the greatest? It's kind of like a family meal,

right? Like, I am the greatest. They were all

getting together, and they were all bragging

about who's the greatest, and he was one of them.

He was in the whole deal, right? And in the next

breath, he tells Jesus, you know, he's kind of

beating his chest. I don't know if he literally

beat his chest, but kind of in a way, he was

beating his chest, and he's saying, Jesus, if

you go to prison, even if you have to die, Jesus,

I'm with you. Do you know a day later, he denies

knowing Jesus three times? In a minute. This

is Peter. In a minute. And if we're not careful,

we can get engaged in things, and we will forget

God in a minute. I got a good friend who this

happened to. Just not too long ago. And I literally

sat down with him. And he's the same thing. God

blessed his, he served God for decades. And God

blessed his family. And literally a miracle took

place in his family with one of his children.

It's an amazing story. And he lost his ever living

mind. He walked away from God in an area of his

life. And I sat across from the table from him.

And I confronted him on it. And he said, you

know what he said? I'm willing to forget God

in this area. He didn't word it just like that,

but that's what he essentially said to me. I'm

willing to forget God in this area of my life.

In a minute, in a minute, how's it happen? Well,

I think Exodus 2018 reveals exactly how this

happens. And a little context again, God physically

shows up on Mount Sinai, same mountain we were

just talking about with Moses in the other scene.

And this mountain is located right next to where

Israel is camping. They're nomads. They're living

in tents and traveling. And Exodus 20, 18 says

this. Now, all the people witnessed the thundering

and the lightning flashes and the sound of the

trumpet and the mountain smoking. And when the

people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.

God showed up on the mountain to meet with Moses

and actually to meet with Israel, and it freaked

them out. There was thundering. There was lightning.

God's presence was there. And 19 says, and they

said to Moses, you speak with us and we'll hear,

but let not God speak with us lest we die. And

Moses said to the people, do not fear for God

has come to test you and that this fear may be

before you so that you may not sin. And verse

21, I think, nails it. So the people stood afar

off. But Moses drew near to the thick darkness

where God was. I believe that Israel forgot God

in a moment for the exact same reason that we

forget God in the next minute. If we are standing

too far away from God on a daily basis, right,

when I no longer want to experience God for myself,

right, or for ourselves, we will forget God in

a minute. If we no longer want to experience

God. You know, we will forget God in a minute.

And I'm talking about a daily experience with

him. I'm not talking about this special moment,

right? The sea splitting moment. That's not what

I'm talking about. When you no longer hear God

for yourself, when you begin to rely on a secondhand

source to hear God all the time. Sometimes we

hear, you're hearing secondhand today from me,

right? That's okay sometimes. Sometimes even

somebody will come up and give you a word of

scripture. But if you're hearing it secondhand

all the time, you're missing it. You're standing

far from God. You need to hear God in your heart,

in your life. I need to hear God on a daily basis.

When we no longer desire his presence. When we

don't want to stand in his presence and the Holy

Spirit stir us, right? When we no longer fear

him and respect his position and who he is. You

know, is he a God of love? Absolutely, but he's

also a God of judgment. When we don't fear that,

when we don't submit ourselves personally to

his influence in our lives, I'll forget God in

a minute. Here's the thing. Miracles will not

cause you to remember God. They won't. Daily

provision in your life, even from the hand of

God, manna, right, will not help you remember

God. Even God crushing your enemy for you, Amalek,

crushing them, will not help you remember God.

It is his voice and it is his presence in my

daily life that keeps me from forgetting God.

I must meet with God on the mountain. I got to

meet with him on the mountain. I got to hear

him. I got to be where he's at. I got to feel

his presence in the thunder, right? The only

person in this whole group who never forgot God

in all of Israel was Moses. And Moses was the

only one going up the mountain. He was the only

one. He was cheering them on. God wanted to meet

with all of Israel. That last scripture I read

you, that he wanted to meet with all of them.

He wanted them to experience him. And they said

no. We'll just stand far off and you tell us

what it's like secondhand, Moses. We'll get the

secondhand account. We'll settle for a secondhand

account. And here's the thing. If you settle

for a secondhand account, if you just go to church

and you're not meeting with them on your own

in the daily, you'll forget them in a moment.

You'll be okay with standing far from God. We

won't know what it is to feel his thunder and

his lightning. How many know it is one thing?

I love watching things out in nature. It's one

thing to watch thunder and lightning, or actually

watch the lightning and hear the thunder from

a distance. Where we live, we live kind of up

on a hill where Dixie and I live, and we can

see storms coming from a long way. And it's an

incredible thing to watch a thunderstorm roll

in, and I can see the lightning, and I can hear

the thunder, right? How many know you count in

seconds just to know how far away it is? You

know, you'll do that. I do that kind of thing.

And I'll watch that roll in. It is a different

thing if you're standing beside a lightning strike.

I've been close where lightning hits. You can

feel the electricity in the air. You can feel

the power. And when it explodes, when that explosion

of electricity takes place, there's 300 million

volts in a lightning strike. 300 million. There's

120 in your receptacle in your house, all right?

300 million. It's when you experience God. There's

got to be an experience there. Worship team,

if you'd come. You've got to experience his presence.

They forgot God in a minute. Even with the miracles,

even with the provision, even with God trouncing

their enemies, they forgot God. They told God,

you speak with us. We'll listen to you. Secondhand.

We're not going to meet with God. We might die.

We don't want to experience him, right? They

settled for a secondhand word. They settled for

a secondhand account of his presence. A secondhand

experience. They settled for an inspirational

moment with God. It would have been incredibly

inspirational to see the Red Sea part. And to

cross. And to go over and drive. Incredibly inspirational.

You might even get inspired this morning, but

how many know that wears off by the end of lunch?

Right? Or by the end of supper. You will do the

unthinkable. I will do the unthinkable and forget

about God if I am not in his presence, if I am

not meeting with him daily. I'm going to ask

if you'd stand. See, here's the thing. It's in

the daily of life. It's in the daily of getting

into God's presence. It's in the moment when

I meet with the creator of all the universe and

not just call it a devotional time, right? For

a couple minutes in the Bible or a scripture

of the day. That's a great way to start, but

it's really about connecting with God. It's in

those moments where I'm alone with God that God

messes with my theology, right? My belief about

him. It's where that starts to really get all

fleshed out. It's where I stay close enough to

him that he can mess with my Christology. I start

to understand Jesus' role in my life. He starts

to change my psychology, right? How my mind thinks.

My sociology and how I relate and work with other

people. My biology, right? Because I start to

listen to what he even says to do with my body.

And I even made one up, your finance -ology.

What do you do in your finances? I don't think

that's really a thing. I tried to look it up.

Moses was the one. and God's presence. Moses

was the one going up the mountain. Moses was

the one seeking to hear God's word. And not for

one minute did Moses forget God. When an entire

nation of people forgot God, Moses was standing

in front of them saying, what is gone? How have

you lost this? Right? How have you lost it? You

forgot God. You took earrings out of your ears,

molded it into something you wanted it to be,

and that's what you're following. That's what

you're worshiping. I'm asking you to bow your

heads. I want you to ask yourself today, are

you settling for a second -hand account of God,

keeping God at arm's length, admiring it all

the way, watching Him like He's a thunderstorm

in the distance? He's amazing. You might even

say things like he's incredible. I can't even

tell you all the things that he's doing that

I can see from a distance. But are you feeling

the thunder of his presence? Do you feel the

electricity of the spirit in your own life? Do

you allow God's heat to come upon you and be

a convicting spirit? a convicting word in your

soul? Do you invite him to come in and convict

you and say, Lord, if there's any wicked way

in me, if there's this place that I should not

be going into or this place in my mind that I

should not be thinking on, God, I want to feel

your heat. I want to feel the conviction. Am

I acknowledging his constant presence even on

a busy Monday? Even on a busy Monday. It is your

ability to hear God, to know his presence, to

sense his presence, that will keep you from forgetting

him in the next minute. Father, I come to you

for each person in the house this morning. God,

they're asking themselves probing questions right

at the moment. Am I experiencing you, God? Or

am I just settling for a secondhand experience?

Jesus, you sent the Holy Spirit. So that each

one of us could know your presence in our lives.

You said when you come and you come to me that

the Holy Spirit would come to dwell in you. And

you can even be baptized and full of the Spirit.

And you will know my power. You will know my

presence. You will know who I am. You will know

the lightning. You will know the thunder. Lord,

I pray, God, that today we will not settle for

secondhand. We cannot settle for secondhand.

We will forget you. We'll get our eyes. We'll

take off the earring. We'll mold something that

we want to make it to be. And we'll follow that.

Father, I thank you for each one that's in the

house. And if you're here today, and every head

bowed and every eye closed, if you're here today

and you kind of feel like it's just been a secondhand

experience lately, right? I'm not saying you're

not saved. I'm not saying... you're not following

Jesus, but it's just kind of been a secondhand

experience. If that's you, raise your hand and

put it right back down. I'm not going to make

you do anything, but if that's you, just acknowledge

it. This is the way you acknowledge it. Thank

you for the honesty. See, multiple hands, many

hands. Just raise it up, put it back down. This

is you acknowledging between you and God. Not

a secondhand experience. I am one secondhand.

You need to tell Him that. You need to tell them

that in prayer right now. I told you, I'm not

going to make you do anything else. You just

pray right now. God, I do not want a secondhand

experience. I need you. I need your presence.

I need to know you're there. I need to feel that

thunder. We're a people who feel. And God, I

pray, while I know your word in my head, I need

to know you in my heart. In Jesus' name. In Jesus'

name. Now keep your heads bowed. I want to give

one more opportunity. If you're in the house

this morning and you don't know Jesus is Lord

and Savior of your life, this might be the first

time you heard the Word of God or maybe you've

heard the Word for a long time, but you don't

want to stand far off anymore. Now's the time.

Now's the time you want to come close to God.

Jesus made provision for that. He died on a cross.

We're about to celebrate this in two weeks. He

died on a cross. He went into a grave and He

rose from that grave and He paid the price for

our sin so that we could come. And experience

him. So that we could come close to him. Heaven

would be ours and hell would be a place that

we would never go to. He made this way. He made

this provision. And if that's you in the house

today. And you want God to come into your life.

You want to experience him first hand. And you've

never made that commitment before. And today

you want to do that. You decided today. I want

to follow Jesus. I want to experience God. I

want to know. If that's you, raise your hand.

Put it up. And then put it right back down. Thank

you for those hands. Thank you for those hands.

The Word of God says that here's the only requirement.

All you've got to do is believe in your heart

that Jesus rose from the grave and that He made

provision for you. All you've got to do is believe

and you've got to confess that to Him in prayer.

That means you just speak it out to Him right

now in prayer. You can whisper it to Him. You

can say, Jesus, I want you to come into my life.

I commit my life to you today. I'm going to walk

beside you. Lord, I want you in my heart. I want

you in my life. I want to know your presence.

And Lord, I commit to follow you today. In Jesus'

name. Amen. And it is that simple. Come on. A

couple people in the kingdom today. Come on.

Give the Lord a hand. Give him a hand. Come on.

Don't forget God. You've got to get with him.

You gotta know him. You gotta experience him.

You can't go off the person, look at the person

beside you, you cannot go, look at him right

now, just stare at him. You cannot go off their

experience. You can't do it. Second hand, as

amazing as it might be, that story might be,

you gotta get with him. to this message from

Lifehouse Church. We pray that you were impacted

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