Answering The Call

Hello, and welcome to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast.

Thank you so much for listening.

We're startup church.

We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together.

And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect, be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more.

You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that.

We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today.

Good morning, everyone.

So great to be with you all.

It really is my honor to be here with you.

Thank you.

So great to see Jaren's grandma and grandpa here.

Love of the Singh family and he's right, Ronnie, Ronnie's like my daughter.

She was with us in Columbia, Missouri, then she moved with us to St. Louis.

Now she's in Lawrence, Kansas with a great young man.

She married Perry Tong and we miss her dearly.

But yes, we hear all about Jaren and Bianca and Ronnie's nieces, who I don't think they like me very much yet, but because they're all frowning at me the whole time.

It's a little stuff.

I have to grow on them.

But it's just good to be with you.

Let me just first say this, that coming in here reminded me of when I was a baby Christian.

I was reached out, so I went to the University of Nebraska.

I'm from New Orleans, Louisiana.

That's where I grew up.

My wife is from Cincinnati, Ohio.

And I was at the University of Nebraska, which is where I got my scholarship to go there and play football.

And I was sort of cruising along in my life.

And so on my dorm floor, Harper Hall, one morning I had it on my mind to go to church.

I really didn't go to church much.

I went just to kind of, you know, I'll go to church, you know, because, you know, as an athlete, you ought to include God in your life.

It's kind of the way I thought.

And so this is one Sunday morning.

I'm going to go to church, but I'm a black man.

And, you know, I can't go to church unless my pants are creased and my shirt has been ironed.

So I need an iron.

It's a Sunday morning.

And so I'm looking for an iron on my dorm floor.

I don't have one.

So I look down the hall and the doors open and it shines, the sun shining through, beaming against the wall.

And I thought, maybe that guy's got an iron.

So I go down there.

It's Aaron Breffert.

I'm a total jerk.

I walk in, I go, hey, he goes, yeah, I said, you got an iron?

He goes, no, I don't.

But my room, my friend's got one.

I'll run upstairs and get it for you.

I'm like, thanks.

So he brings me this iron back.

I'm a total jerk.

I use the iron, I don't even bring it back.

I keep it in my room for days.

He comes knocking on my door later.

He goes, hey, you got that iron?

I go, oh, yeah, forgot to bring it back to you.

He goes, oh, yeah, by the way, you want to come to Bible talk?

And I'm like, well, I did just go to church.

I said I needed an iron to go to church.

You got me.

I go to that Bible talk.

I meet Aaron, meet Kurt Simmons.

They studied a Bible with me.

February 22nd, 1991, I get baptized in Holmes Lake in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Aaron breaks the ice for me because I wanted to get baptized out on a lake.

And so it was great because Kurt says, it's freezing out there, though, but I want to do it in the lake.

So Aaron, go break the ice.

So Aaron goes in there breaking the ice so that I could get in this water.

Well, you have been that for me my whole Christian life, always kind of breaking the ice for me.

When I heard what happened to Aaron, I was so grateful that I agreed this past spring to come on this golf trip with you, you know, typically.

So, hey, I'm like, yeah, we'll do it someday.

But you really never know when your last day is going to be.

And so one of the things I love and I appreciate about Aaron is that ever since I've known him, he's been a man of God who has answered God's call in his life.

Aaron grew up in Colorado.

He was a Colorado Buffalo fan.

And in those days, Nebraska and Colorado football had a huge rivalry.

He was roommates with a Colorado Buffalo football player.

He was on the University of Colorado campus living his best life.

And he got called.

There was a mission team that were going to plant in Lincoln, Nebraska.

He's a baby Christian in state tuition.

And he decided, you know what?

I'm going to go on my enemy's campus and I'm going to share my faith and try to bring people to Jesus.

When I met him, he was just an average guy to me.

I would later on find out what an extraordinary man of God he really is.

To leave in-state tuition, all the parents out there know what in-state tuition means, as opposed to out-state tuition.

To leave Colorado and to come to the University of Nebraska, not knowing that he would bump into me, not knowing that I would become a disciple, not knowing the number of people that I would reach out to over the years, not knowing someday that I would be a church leader and who I would become.

I'm grateful that there's men like you that answer God's call.

And I think Jaron, Jaron and all of you that moved here to plant this church, when you look around, I do believe this is the smallest you'll ever be.

God is already doing great things in and through you.

He will continue to do great things in and through you.

No matter how small you are now, and no matter how awkward it feels, I walked into, the first time I went to church, I walked into the Cornhusker Hotel.

That's where the church is.

I don't know if they put an airport.

That's actually the name of the hotel.

It's the Cornhusker Hotel.

It was a room that was much bigger than this.

In those days, they put out the number for the congregation and they set out about a hundred more because they were like, God's going to fill the room, you know?

And I walked in, there were a ton of empty seats in the back.

And obviously I took the seat way in the back row, but it wasn't long before I moved up front after I became a disciple.

And so I'm grateful to see the Kalamazoo Church, because I know that you are listening to God's call and answering God's call.

And I praise God, there are still missionaries out there like you Kelman, who you don't know Ronnie, if you don't know Jaron and Ronnie's father, he went on a mission team from Milwaukee to Madison, Wisconsin, and now he's a missionary again here in Kalamazoo.

So I appreciate seeing you.

You inspire my faith.

And I hope this morning, this message will just remind you of who you are, but as well, call you higher.

Amen?

Okay.

That's a pretty long introduction.

We're going to be here a couple hours.

You guys are all settled in?

That's true.

I do have a tea time.

Let's get going.

Let's pray.

Russ is looking at me like, yeah, dude, we got to, we got to get out of here.

Let's pray.

God, we love you.

We thank you for how awesome you are.

We, uh, we just, uh, we just, we just, we're in love with you.

Father, I know that, uh, we just kind of, we, we go through many moments in our lives, God, just throughout our days or just so many moments, God, when we, we kind of, we, we struggle and we struggle with who we are.

We struggle with, you are the same yesterday, today and forever, but we struggle God with who you are.

Where are you?

We thank you, God, that you're always there, that you're attentive to us.

That even when we're going through the most difficult times, those are the moments that you're nearest to us where you can't keep your hands off of us.

You just, you love us so much.

And so God, no matter where we are today, no matter what we're going through, as the brother said at the beginning, God, whether we're hurting, father, whether we come in here riding high or feeling low, God, I pray or somewhere in between.

God, I pray that you will touch our hearts.

You will inspire us this morning.

You will move us.

God, I pray that we can just kind of, just kind of keep coming back to you and looking to you and drawing near to you.

We need you.

We love you.

We thank you.

You are awesome.

You're amazing.

We pray this in your son, Jesus name.

Amen.

The biblical narrative is about a loving God who calls mankind into right relationship with him and really with one another.

That's the biblical narrative.

A great and awesome God that no, we are not perfect though.

We've made mistakes.

He has always called us and drawing us near to him so that we can be in right relationship with him, but also that we can be in relation, right relationship with one another.

I do believe that God is the answer for all that is ailing humanity.

He is the answer for all the isms.

Okay.

That are hurting humanity.

God called Adam, God called Noah, God called Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel called Joseph called Moses called Samuel, David, Solomon, Queen Esther.

He called, call Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel.

He called the 12 minor prophets from Hosea to Malachi, and then he called himself in the form of Jesus.

God became flesh so that he can come down.

He called the apostles to follow Jesus.

And he called us as a church, called us to go and make disciples of all nations to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

He called us to it.

He gave us the Holy spirit that would help us and aid us.

Because whenever God calls us, he is always with us to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28, 18 to 20, God calls, but some answer the calling.

Others may choose to ignore or make excuses for not answering the calling, but God calls all.

So today's message is really about answering God's call.

So calling us today, we sang this song, you know, I think it's amen.

See him in the church, calling us to work.

Amen.

And God's mission is vast and wide.

And as I said, he wants to bring all people in a right relationship with him, but he also wants us to be in right relationship to one another.

But when God calls us, we struggle with God's calling.

I want to look at a character here in the Bible in Moses, someone that we're very, we can look at any of those characters, whether it's Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, but I want to look at Moses here because Moses' story is, well, it's somewhat familiar to most of us.

And it is a very, it's a story that I believe really relates to who we are and where we are.

We can see ourselves in Moses.

In Exodus chapter two, even if you don't read the Bible very much, you've probably seen Moses' story on the big screen at some point.

Chapter two, verse one, it says, Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son.

When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.

But when she could not hide him, when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket, put him in it and coated it with tar and pitch.

Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.

His sister, praise God for her, stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile, the babe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank.

She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it.

She opened it and saw the baby.

He was crying.

She felt sorry for him.

This is the one, this is one of the Hebrew babies, she said.

Then her sister, then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?

Yes, go, she answered.

So the girl went and got the baby's mother.

Pharaoh's daughter said to her, take this baby and nurse him for me.

I will pay you.

So the woman took the baby and nursed him.

When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son.

She named him Moses saying, I drew him out of the water.

One day after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor.

He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people, looking this way and that and seeing the one who killed the Egyptian, hit him in the sand.

The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting.

He asked the one in the wrong, why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?

Man said, who made you ruler and judge of us?

Are you thinking of killing me as you kill the Egyptian?

Then Moses was afraid and thought what I did must have become known.

Of course, when Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went and lived in Midian where he sat down by a well.

We're familiar with this story, right?

It's a, it's a very cool story real quickly, right?

We've got this baby and I love the Bible.

You know, a Hebrew says that, um, uh, Pharaoh's mother realized that that Moses was not ordinary from the point he was born.

And I, I know every parent, we look at our children and go, this baby's not ordinary.

Now they might be very ordinary, but we still think this baby's not ordinary.

There's something special about my child, right?

What parent doesn't believe that?

I officiate sports, I officiate basketball and volleyball.

And I can tell you, and when I'm doing basketball and I watch, I could tell the parents think their kids really are not ordinary.

I'm going, your kid's less than ordinary when it comes to basketball.

The parents out there losing their mind.

I'm going, this kid is never going to play.

Okay, whatever.

You know, this kid's not even going to make their JV team, but you know, but most of us don't feel like our kids are ordinary.

But Moses, there's clearly something special about him.

There is something special about all of our children.

It may not have anything to do with sports academics, but they may be special.

Amen.

But I love this story that the mother, what great faith she had because at some point every parent needs to send their kid on down the Nile and let them go.

She'll sort of let go and let God.

You know what I mean?

There, there, there's moments you feel like there's nothing else I can do.

I've just got to let go and let God.

It's really interesting because she lets go and lets God and she gets paid to take care of her child.

I want you to imagine that moms, you're being paid to nurse your own child.

That's a pretty good gig.

I love the sister too.

She goes along, she follows.

I love, she just goes, do you want me to go find someone to nurse the child?

Like I might know a woman who could do this, you know, but it says as he grows up, Moses had this longing side of him.

I got to put something inside of him that said, you know, I want you, you aren't ordinary something.

I need you to do something.

And I think Moses is longing trying to figure out what his real relationship, what his true identity is.

He knows that he knows that he's Hebrew, but he's also being raised in the palace.

Nevermind the trauma.

I can't imagine the story of growing up.

So, so when you were a baby, we found you in the now back on back up here a second.

How did I get adopted again?

I'm saying, but he's wrestling, struggling, struggling with where do I fit in?

I'm, I'm not really, I really don't belong in the palace, but this is a pretty nice comfortable life in the palace.

This is pretty good.

I feel like I belong out here with these people, but that's hard work they're doing y'all.

I feel like I belong out there with them and I'm really, I'm torn.

I'm having a bit of a, what's I think the new term is hybrid identity.

I'm having a bit of an identity crisis.

I'm not really sure where I belong.

And so he goes out one day and he sees an Egyptian abusing one of his people.

They, this is my opportunity to get in good with my peeps.

You know what I'm saying?

And so he does that.

He, he kills them.

And the next day he goes, he's going out.

He goes, Hey guys, I'm going to mediate your conflict.

And the peeps, they're not really down with him.

So now Moses doesn't have a place at all where he fits and in a little fear he runs.

So he goes off, he's in Midian and you know the story, 40 years later, God has still called him to do something great, but Moses hasn't pieced it together yet.

He really doesn't know.

He's just sort of, he's in Midian and really he's developed.

Even in Midian, I'd say a relatively comfortable life.

It's very different than the palace, but he's got a wife.

He's a sheep herder.

Life's simple.

I gotta be honest with you.

I live in a city of St. Louis now.

I can't wait till I retire.

I'm a country boy.

What I want to do is I want to go live where there are no people.

I live in a city of St. Louis now.

I literally can touch my neighbor's house from my window.

They know all my business.

They're in on my business.

I'm in their business.

We're close.

I got this much grass.

I got a gas lawnmower.

I used to live in a house that had more lawn.

I got a backpack blower.

I pull that thing out to blow my leaves.

My neighbors are like, okay.

And I'm not getting rid of it because I'm moving onto a property where I'm going to be able to use my big backpack blower and blow leaves and grass.

But I, I like the simple life.

I like the simple life and Moses now he's comfortable in a different way.

He's got a simple life.

He's got a wife.

He's got a great father-in-law in Jethro and he's just a sheep herder.

It's not the palace life because there's a lot of things that are simple where we kind of can live easy.

There's the palace simplicity or luxury, but there's also a bit of some, I'm good.

It's just me taking care of my family.

I'm good.

And then God steps in again.

We know the burning bush story, right?

What God shows Moses a burning bush and then God walks up to Moses and goes, Hey, come here.

Good.

Nope.

I'm not.

I got shows him the burning bush and God always has a burning bush.

God always shows us at some point he goes, I have a plan for you.

I'm calling you to do something great.

I have vision.

I have plans for you.

I want you to do something great.

And I'm telling you, he calls us at the oddest times.

It doesn't matter whether you're living in the palace or whether you're living out on the planes, but God will call you to do something great.

And when God shows us the burning bush, we all have that thing inside of us that goes, but God, come on now.

I mean, you sure you want me to do that right now?

I mean, not now.

God later.

This was a story in my life.

Even when I became a Christian, I remember going to church growing up and I would listen to the stories and the sermons.

And in my mind I went, yeah, this whole commitment to Jesus thing, it sounds great, but I'm going to do that later in life when I've settled down.

And I remember studying the Bible with Aaron and, and I could tell not too far into our Bible study series that they like expecting me to start living this stuff out.

And I'm like, okay, I'm thinking I would do this a little later in life.

Like when I get married and settled down, which I was never going to do, by the way, like when I'm old and decrepit and settled down, then I'll follow Jesus.

And they're like, no, these are the best time.

But I'm in college, I'm an athlete.

I mean, the honeys are all over me right now.

You know what honeys means?

Girls, girls.

I mean, I'm at the, I'm at the university of Nebraska.

I mean, you know, Aaron calls me a star.

It wasn't really a star, but I was a starter.

I wasn't a star, but it didn't really matter.

And to link, you know, Lincoln, Nebraska, I had an Husker gear.

I walked around and the girls gave me a lot of attention and I liked it.

Not only that, I had big dreams and big plans for my life and they didn't really, I wanted to include God in him, but I didn't want God to be in control of him.

You know what I'm saying?

I want God to be in my life, but I want God to control my life.

That's craziness.

And they were expecting me to make Jesus Lord and Jesus really be in control of my life.

I'm like, no, no, no.

And I think Moses is feeling the same thing.

It's like, yeah, God, I don't know.

And what God calls Moses to do is a little crazy.

Now God calls Moses to lead his people, a nation of people.

And I realized that most of us will not get called to lead a million people out in the desert.

That's probably not going to happen.

But I do believe God is calling you to lead one person, yourself, your family, your neighbor, your coworker, it and bro.

Sometimes those people feel like a million people, you know what I'm saying?

But he is calling you to lead those people to do something great.

And if you came here on a mission team, you came here because you have answered God's call in some way, somehow.

But when God calls us, we have many excuses.

And I'm just going to give you the five that Moses gave God.

And there really are five excuses that sort of play out in my life as well.

And I'm sure there are a few more.

This is a five that Moses gave.

And I think they really are appropriate to who we are.

The first is, you know what?

I'm not adequate for the task.

Moses felt inadequate.

He felt like I'm just not the right person for this.

And Moses was right by himself.

He's not adequate.

He's not the guy that can get it done.

But God says to Moses in chapter three, verse 12, he says, I will be with you.

The deliverance of God's people or whatever God calls us to do, it never depends on our ability.

Just like it didn't depend on Moses' ability, but it depends on the presence and the power of God.

That's what we've always got to be tapped into, to God's power and God's presence.

This is a call, I believe, for Christians.

We have to be tapped into God's presence and God's power in our life.

God is present now.

He's a powerful God, always has been, and he is present today.

Today.

Church, don't ever be so deceived to believe that your Christian life comes down to you knowing enough.

If you are tapped into God's power and you're tapped into his presence in your life and you're walking every day and knowing that he is powerful and that he is there with you, that he is really with you until the end of the age, you will live differently.

Your Bible studies will be different.

Your quiet times will be different.

The way you talk to and treat your neighbor and the way you carry yourself.

If you really believe God's presence with you, you will be different in every way and everything you do.

You are adequate for the task.

You know, in the next one, he goes, well, I don't know enough.

And you're right, you don't know enough.

And you know what?

You're never going to know everything.

You're never going to know everything.

And he's, you know, he says, what if they ask me what your name is?

How am I going to clearly articulate what your name is?

And how am I going to be able to say it?

And I love God's response.

I am who I am.

Moses went, that's not a name.

My name is Moses.

What's your name?

My name is I am who I am going.

I don't think it's going to work.

God, can you just give me a different name?

I am.

I am like, wow.

Well, God says, look.

I am and this is a quote, I'm not smart enough, I'm not capable enough, but he says, I am.

That's the answer to everything.

But God, I'm not smart enough.

And God says, I am.

I'm not capable enough.

And God goes, I am.

I'm not cool enough.

And God goes, I am.

The answer to all your problems, God says, I am.

So whatever you think, God goes, I am.

What a revelation, right?

I am.

We just need to think about God.

Whatever your issues are in your life, God goes, I am.

The next is, what if the people won't take me serious?

You know, I'm a guy that likes to have my ducks in order.

And some of you, I'm sure, are better than me.

And so even if I'm gonna do something like, okay, let's think about everything we haven't thought of, right?

We got a pilot over here, there's a checklist, okay?

Okay, what if this and what if that?

And I really want my pilot to be having thought through all the what ifs.

You know what I mean?

Like, did you go through all the checklists?

Have you thought about all the what ifs?

You know what I mean?

On my way over here, I hit a bunch of turbulence coming in, I'm just going, wow.

I can't even imagine, because I'm not a pilot, I can't imagine flying through turbulence.

And it was some of the roughest turbulence I've ever hit.

And I was thinking, I really hope my pilot at least got, I thought about that, I hope my pilot at least got bees in school, you know what I mean?

It was just a practice, like, what if my pilot was a bee student, you know what I'm saying?

Whatever, you know?

But I mean, what if?

You know, sometimes we can what if ourselves right out of faith.

What if this happens, and what if that happens, and what if that, and that's what Moses is doing, he goes, what if the people don't take me seriously?

We can what if ourselves right out of faith.

Because once we've checked everything, we think we've checked all the boxes, and I'm telling you, when you're dealing with people, when you're dealing with God and you're dealing with people, God throws things our way for which we don't know always how it's going to work out.

Again, the Lord counted Moses' excuse.

The people didn't take Moses serious.

He gave him three signs, which God always does.

The next is, well, I'm not good at public speaking, and I love this, Moses goes, you know what, I don't speak that well, and I really believe that Moses struggled with the Hebrew language.

I do believe that.

I believe he was a baby, he grew up in, he spoke Egyptian really well.

And then he went to Midian, so when was he gonna have really good Hebrew, I think he struggled.

I don't even speak their language that well.

I'm not one of their people.

And God goes, I got this, I'll speak for you.

Aaron, Aaron will do the talking.

God says, I got this.

Moses goes, you know, and God, do you know the Gallup poll?

70% of people afraid of public speaking.

God goes, it doesn't really matter.

There's a little Seinfeld bit about that.

So that means at a funeral, okay, most of the people would rather be in the coffin than up speaking, you know?

And the last, of course, is just, I don't wanna do it.

I just don't wanna do it, God.

And this is really what it comes down to.

When God calls us, asks us to do anything, we just can have this spirit of, you know what, no thank you, I just don't wanna do it.

I'm not gonna listen to God, I don't wanna do it.

And this is at the core of it.

This is not really an excuse.

This is just flat out our unwillingness to do what God calls us to do.

And God calls us to do a number of things.

You read the Bible, he calls us to be in a right relationship with him, which we know, that means we need to be spending as much time with God as possible.

But do I need to read my Bible daily?

Sure, do I need to pray daily?

Yes, why do I have to do it daily?

Why do you wanna go to heaven and be with God if you don't wanna spend time with God daily?

I shouldn't have to read my Bible every day.

Okay, well then, why do you wanna go to heaven then?

Well, I just want all the good stuff.

Well, so you just want palace life, you know what I mean?

No, no, he just didn't wanna do it, which is what we can struggle with.

And there's plenty of other excuses we come up with.

I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm too traumatized, I'm too this, you don't understand my childhood, you don't understand my upbringing, you don't understand how I've been treated by black people, by white people, by Hispanic people, by people with long curly hair.

You don't understand my life, you don't understand my circumstance, you don't understand my challenge, you don't understand my difficulties, you don't know the troubles I've been through in life.

To all of which God says, I've called you to do something great.

And so God answers Moses with each of his excuses.

But what excuses are you dragging around?

What excuses are you making for not answering God's call?

What excuses are you making for not doing the good that you know you oughta do?

All of us have adopted some excuses.

Maybe it's not one of those five, or maybe you didn't find it, but they're the excuses that you make or that I make regularly for not doing what God has called us to do.

And I believe excuses come down to basically, we're fearful.

Moses' excuses all revolved around one common theme, he was fearful, Moses fearful.

Moses wasn't afraid of Pharaoh.

I don't believe he was afraid of Pharaoh.

I believe Moses was fearful of the people of Israel.

I don't think he was afraid of Pharaoh.

And you'll see that as you read through.

Every time God told him to go back to Pharaoh, he went back.

But the people of Israel, I don't speak like them, I don't really even look like them, they don't really accept me.

Whatever he feared.

Fear is the reason we make a ton of excuses in our life.

And men, we're not very good at admitting we're fearful.

But we fearful, we're fearful, we fearful, you know what I mean?

And so I want to challenge us to confront our fears here.

Moses confronted fears and excuses.

And there's really just seven quick things to confront your fears.

We just got to always remember that God will help us.

No matter what you're going through, God will help.

He promised to be with you always to the very end of the age.

Whatever reason you are struggling with going, taking that next step, whatever it might be, if it's overcoming a specific sin, whatever it might be, God will help you.

The second is when God calls you, he just wants you to be yourself and let him be God.

When God called Moses, he goes, but what about this and what about that?

God goes, hey, you just be yourself.

I know who you are.

I know how you speak.

I know how you look.

I know what I got into.

When God called Vince Hawkins, he knew what he was getting into.

I'm not surprised in God.

I'm going, God, but what do I got?

Vince, I know you.

I know you well.

And I got you into, I know exactly what I was getting when I chose Vince Hawkins.

I know exactly what I'm getting to.

I know you and you just be Vince and let me be the I am.

Let me be God.

You know, the next is do it afraid.

You know, the answer to God's call, you got to do things afraid.

If you're waiting until the fear is gone, then you're not going to do anything.

You're just going to be waiting.

I just got to wait till I get up the courage.

You ever hear that?

Got to get up the courage.

I mean, you can think about that when you're young.

You know, the kid standing on the edge of the pool that's going to go, he's never going to get up the courage.

You're just going, stop thinking and jump.

You know what I mean?

God doesn't do that.

God actually just says jump.

And if anybody's walking about push, ah, don't push him.

Don't push him.

Let them jump.

Because if they jump, they'll jump again.

If you push them, they won't, they won't even go back to the edge.

You know what I mean?

They'll be looking behind them the whole time.

And they'll be angry with the person that pushed them.

You know what I'm saying?

No, no, no, they have to jump.

But you got to do it afraid.

If you're fearful, whatever that thing is, do it afraid.

That's the best, right?

Isn't that the most, isn't that the most exciting part of a roller coaster?

Go, go, oh yeah.

And you do it.

Do you like, that was awesome.

That was awesome.

It was awesome that I went afraid.

It's a high of doing the thing even when you're afraid.

That is a Christian life.

I'm telling you, being a Christian is not easy.

It is not for the faint of heart.

It is really for people that will do it afraid.

Anyone that tells you that all you got to do of Christianity is easy, they're not doing Christianity right, amen.

When you're following God, you're following God.

You're gonna do things afraid and that's the bottom line.

Expect resistance.

You know, the bottom line is Moses, all of his fears, some of his fears all came true.

What if they resist me?

Well, they did resist.

He got those people, he got them out of Egypt, okay.

Pharaoh resisted him, first of all.

But even the people of Israel, they resisted.

Every time he caused, every time something great happened, the people were like, oh, we want to go back.

And they were resistant, they were prideful, and there was a rebellion, and it was a mess, the Israelites.

But you need to expect resistance if you're gonna follow God.

If you're gonna answer God's call, there will be resistance.

If you haven't faced resistance here in Kalamazoo yet, and I'm sure you have, there will be more.

There will be challenges.

There will be times where you won't be able to find a place to meet.

It'll be difficult, and listen, I believe for Christians, it's gonna get more difficult.

As we take a stand about simple things as what it means to be a man and a woman, there will be resistance.

I mean, basic things.

Basic things.

Like what it means to be a man and a woman, there will be resistance.

Much less all the nuanced stuff that's out there.

There will be resistance, there will be challenges, there will be trouble.

But you need to expect resistance.

If you're coming into this, if you're thinking following God's call is gonna be man, it's gonna be like being in the palace.

No, no, no, no, no.

That's a different life.

That's a, and that's on the other side of the Jordan River anyway, man.

When we get to really be with Jesus, then we will be walking streets paved with gold.

But until now, we're on the side of wandering the desert, amen?

Amen.

The next, if at first, try, try again.

You follow Moses' story, I want you to know that Moses had to go back to Pharaoh how many times?

How many plagues?

He had to go back to Moses over and over and over again.

That's what it means to be a Christian.

You just gotta get up and do it again.

But I wouldn't share it out of faith, that doesn't work.

And we try to have people at home that doesn't work.

And we've done this and it doesn't work.

But the Christian life is about try, try, try again.

Every time Moses went back to Pharaoh, Moses goes, get out of here.

And God goes, go back again.

And I believe that is the Christian life.

God looks out at us, he goes, he sees us.

Every time you fall, God goes, come on, get back up again.

Every time you blow it, God goes, come on, go back at it again.

No matter what stupid thing you've done, every time God goes, come on, go again.

I can use you, but God, I'm a murderer.

I know, but I can use you.

I failed, I know, but I can use you.

I've tried, you don't know how many times I've blown it.

And God goes, come on, get up.

And every time you get up and you go again, God goes, that's my guy, that's my gal.

Christian life is not about just perfection.

So stop pretending to be perfect.

It's way too hard anyway.

And you're lousy at it.

You're just gonna make mistakes.

You're gonna blow it and God goes, that's okay, try again.

And isn't that awesome that God's that way?

That he's in there, try again.

Just try again.

Get up, try again, just go back at it.

Because if at first, you just keep trying again.

And conflicts and struggles, they build character.

Moses learned this, that all the struggles and all the conflicts, all it's doing is building character.

Moses learned to obey despite how he felt.

Moses learned that God is 100% faithful and Moses could trust God with his life.

Moses learned how to hear from God and not second guess himself because that's what he did.

He second guessed himself all the time before he decided to follow God.

Moses learned how to handle conflict and confront people when they were wrong.

Moses learned that God's plan and purpose for his life was better than anything he could plan for himself.

Moses learned that persistence and never give up is the way of God.

Moses learned to stay focused on his goal and not give in to distractions.

Moses learned how to embrace mistakes and failures to propel him forward.

Moses learned to base his identity on God and find security in him only.

Moses learned not to give in to fear, but to do it afraid.

Moses learned that God loved and accepted him just the way he was, all of his insecurities.

He took it all, God wanted it.

Moses learned how to be a leader by serving others and listening to them.

Moses learned some great lessons from God.

And finally, Moses learned how to leave a faith legacy.

Moses left a faith legacy.

We're gonna close with three short passages.

Joshua chapter four.

Actually, Joshua chapter three, verse 14 first.

Joshua 3, 14.

It says, so when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.

Now the Jordan is at flood stage, all during harvest.

Yet as soon as the priests who carried the Ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing.

It piled up in a heap, a great distance away.

Let's stop here for a second.

We know the story of Moses, and Moses got to the Jordan River, but he wasn't able to cross the Jordan River and take the people into the promised land.

But his second guy, Joshua, the second in command, the guy that Moses raised up, Joshua, he took the people across the Jordan River.

And look at the story of Joshua.

Joshua was with Moses when he crossed the Red Sea.

He remembered when they reached the water's edge and the Red Sea opened and all the people crossed over.

Now Joshua, he's ready to cross the Jordan River, and how would he know except, you know, take the Ark of the Covenant, step into the Jordan, and the water piled up, and the people crossed the Jordan River.

I imagine that Joshua went, this is just like it was with Moses.

Because Moses, he was faithful.

All that followed him were faithful.

The story is also of Caleb and Joshua, chapter 14, six through 13.

Joshua 14 · chapter mention

You can look at it later.

But you remember the story of Caleb who was also with Joshua and Moses.

Caleb, as they entered into, as they got across, Caleb said, give me this hill country.

I'm as vigorous today as I was this morning.

And I still can fight.

Give me this hill country.

Moses left a legacy of faith.

Joshua, Caleb.

And then, of course, my favorite story in Joshua, chapter 24, verse eight.

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

We know this one very well, families.

This has gotta be part of every family's devotional at some point.

But in Joshua 24, verse eight, it says, Joshua's kind of wrapping up here.

He says, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who live east of the Jordan.

They fought against you.

But I gave them into your hands.

I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land.

Balak, son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel.

He sent Balaam, son of Beor, to put a curse on you.

But I would not listen to Balaam.

So he blessed you again and again, and I deliver you out of their hands.

Then you crossed the Jordan, came across the Jericho.

The citizens of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hittites, the Jebusites.

And I gave them into your hands.

I sent the horned ahead of you, which drove them out before you, also the two Amorite kings.

You did not do it with your own sword and bow.

So I gave you a land on which you did not toil, and cities you did not build.

And you lived in them and ate from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.

And then Joshua closes with this.

This is our fear of the Lord, and serve him with all your faithfulness.

Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourself this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Amen.

You will leave a great legacy of faith if you will answer God's call.

Moses answered despite all his difficulties, and there were many excuses and many fears, and when you face many fears and excuses, and I'm telling you, the enemy will keep sending you things in your life that will distract you.

Brothers and sisters, now is the time for God's people to not shut God out.

Now is the time for us to allow him to move in our lives like never before.

Too many of us are cowering, giving in, giving up.

Too many of us are given in the fear of our weaknesses, our struggles, given in the fear of our spouses, our children, fear of our past, fear of a number of things, fear of the next strand of COVID, fear of the police, fear of politicians, fear of the next election, fear of our boss, fear of old age, fear of staging life, fear of our neighbor, fear, and many, many, many more things.

But God is calling us to surrender our fears to him.

Surrender your fears, surrender your excuses to him, and let him challenge us onward to new heights.

Let's overcome our fears and answer God's call.

Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast.

If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected.

Please go to kalamazoo.church and fill in your information to come to a Sunday service or any other event that we have going on.

In any case, you'll be hearing from us next week.