How God Boxes | John Challinor

Amen. Church, you can have a seat. As you do

so, welcome to those of you online. Welcome to

those of you in Pauldin today who are enjoying

breakfast, apparently, again. Seems like a theme.

But also, Baghdad, we're so happy you guys are

with us and that we get to do community alongside

one another, that God is building his family

and his kingdom, and we're excited to see that

through you. Also, the Olson family who are in

northern... Minnesota. I don't think any of us

envy northern Minnesota, but welcome to you.

We're glad you're with us and the entire online

family. Just good morning. Glad you're here.

If you're in the room, welcome to you. We're

excited that you are here. If you are new to

this space, whether that be online or that be

here, just know that we are excited that you're

here. We're thankful that we get to walk this

life out. If you want to know what this is about,

this is about a group of people who believe that

God called their name, right? Called them by

name, showed them. showed up and showed off and

showed them the person of Jesus Christ. And because

of that, by saying yes to Jesus, he places us

in family. And so in family, we get to gather

together. That's his wording, not ours. He chose

family, and we sit here as God's kids. And we

walk through life together, and we're excited

to do that. And so a lot of football jerseys,

a lot of football jerseys. And so all you need

to know is if you're new, that you are welcome

and you are instantly a part of the family if

you also enjoyed the Chiefs losing in week one.

It's just a good family bonding moment, you know?

And then you're also part of the family if you

laugh every time Aaron Rodgers throws a pick

for my Steelers. So there you go. We'll grieve

that together. Okay, here's kind of where we

are launching from today. Is Tuesday, I have

pretty consistent rhythm. I've spent some time

on the message. Tuesday rolls around. Tuesday

afternoon, we go into something called teaching

prep. It's a team of people that sit in a room.

Whoever's communicating, we'll share with them

kind of where they're heading. So I sat there,

I shared where I was heading. Nothing kind of

hit the radar different. Nothing kind of stood

out. And then Wednesday was day full of meetings.

And so Thursday I sit down and I'm like, okay,

I'm going to do my final prep and kind of get

things where it needs to be. And as I sat down,

I just felt like God go, that's not it. And I'm

like, excuse me, it's Thursday. Like Sunday's

coming. And he goes, no, he goes, the message

you have is fine. Which anytime God says it's

fine, it's like, hmm. I was hoping for a little

bit better than fine. And God goes, you can teach

that message. And I felt like where he went was,

that message is an awful lot about you. And by

you, I mean like us -centric. And I felt like

he went, the story of Exodus is about me. And

in that moment, I went, I think I have the wrong

message, right? And so I just started to contextualize,

just started to think of the story of the Exodus,

the story of the Israelites. And if you begin

to look at what God was doing, he is claiming

a people for himself, right? Like he is showing

up and he is telling them, hey, you are my people.

And then he is going to lead them out. And from

the first moment he shows up, he tells them what?

I am going to come and rescue you and you are

going to go and worship me. Now, what happens

next is as the exodus is taking place and they

are leading towards worship, if they would have

walked out in that moment, they did not know

who God was. Think about the context of where

they've been living. Okay, so the Israelites

have been in Egypt and there's some debate on

how long it was. We know from Exodus that there's

a verse that says it was 430 years to the day

when they left Egypt. Now there's debate in the

theological circles. Does that mean that that

goes back to Abraham? So the 430 started when

God showed up to Abraham or did that start when

they actually went into slavery? If you take

the shortest number. They were slaves in Egypt

for 215 years. That's almost as long as America,

just to give you some context, like they're almost

as long as America's been a nation is how long

they were there. That's a long time. That's a

long time to sit in the posture of a slave and

what they have seen over and over in the Egyptians

was abundance and influence. What they'd seen

is economic security. They'd seen this nation

grow on their back, so to speak. And what they

also had seen is a whole bunch of gods that the

Egyptians worshipped. And these gods were like

from just looking from the outside, you go, wow,

their gods are really working for them. Meanwhile,

we're over here oppressed. Meanwhile, we're over

here as slaves. Meanwhile, and so they've seen

these gods of Egypt. and it seems to be working.

Well, then you are God, and you show up to the

cry of the oppressed of the Israelites, and you

go, hey, I'm going to set you free, and we're

going to go worship. Remember where this is going.

He's going to lead them into the wilderness to

a mountain, and at that mountain, he's going

to give them the Ten Commandments. What's the

first commandment? Have no other gods before

me. They've got a whole bunch of gods that seem

to be working, so what does God do? How is God

going to allow them? Because here's something

that's key to your worship. You do not worship

what you do not know. You worship what you know.

And over and over and over and over in Exodus,

what God does is he goes, hey, that you would

know me, that you would know me, that you would

know me, that you would know me. And so what

he's doing is he's allowing them to know him.

Why? Because he wants them to what? To worship

him. And so if you're God and you're going to

show up and you're going to let the Israelites

know, what do you do? Well, this God goes boxing.

He sets up a boxing match. What do I mean by

that? He goes 10 rounds, 10 rounds, but it's

not a boxing match like you have ever seen, right?

Like depending on when you grew up and depending

on like, like boxing was a big thing when I was

growing up. And a fight to go 10 rounds meant

it was a good fight. This is not a good fight.

Here's why. In each round, he brings in a new

opponent. So he goes 10 rounds, but every round

is a new opponent. On top of that, he's not a

good boxer. You know why? Because good boxers,

they don't tell you what they're going to do.

Right? If you got in the ring with somebody and

they're going to fight you, if they came up to

you and went, hey, here's my plan. I'm going

to hit you with a jab. Then I'm going to come

with a hook. And then I'm going to swing a haymaker

and see if it lands. That is not a good boxer.

Yet God rolls up and in each round he goes, hey,

this is what I'm going to do. Here's how I'm

going to hit you. And then he does it. That's

the most baller boss thing you could do. Like

you show up and you go, hey, this is what I'm

going to do. And they're going, well, we got

a God for that. And he goes, and I'm going to

do it. It's this beautiful, why is he driving

it? Why does he set up these fights? Why does

he invite each God into the ring with him? Because

he wants the Israelites to know who he is, why?

So that they will worship him, right? They will

trust him. And so in Exodus chapter seven, Exodus

chapter seven, and verse 17, we find round one.

I wish I had one of those bells. You know what

I mean? Like just round one. This is what the

Lord says. By this, you will know that I am the

Lord. Why is he doing it? So that you will know

who he is. With the staff that is in my hand,

I will strike the water of the Nile and it will

be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will

die. The river will stink and the Egyptians will

not be able to drink its water. Okay, we go,

why is this significant? Well, the Nile to the

Egyptians was lifeblood. It's what irrigated

their fields. It's what they drank from. It's

what they used for purification in their temples.

This water was considered to be the very lifeblood

of the nation. They needed it to exist. In fact,

they had a God, and the depiction of that God

was that the Nile water ran through this God's

veins. That's how much they were connected to

this God and the lifeblood of this water. And

what does God do? God shows up and God goes,

actually, I'm your lifeblood. Hey, Israel, I

know you think the Nile and I know what you've

been taught, but actually I'm your lifeblood.

So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna create,

as we go through this, we're gonna create a list

of all 10 rounds. And as we go through, the list

is this. This is who God is. God is the lifeblood

of you. God is the lifeblood of the Israelites.

And so round one, he's establishing, hey, this

God that you thought controlled the Nile, this

God that you thought had the power to keep the

Nile where it is, I have greater power than that

one. Knockout number one goes to God. Round two,

chapter eight, verse two. If you refuse to let

them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your

whole country. The Nile will team with frogs.

Come up into your palace and your bedroom and

on your bed, into the houses of your officials

and on your people and into your ovens and kneading

troughs. Can we just like go gross? Like, okay,

can you imagine, right? Their beds were lower.

Can you imagine getting out of bed? And you know,

like when, if you're Caleb, maybe that's all

the time you don't see real good. But you know,

you're heading to the bathroom and you put your

foot down. Yeah, we'll leave it there. Verse

four, the frogs will come up on you and your

people and all your officials. And then there's

a conversation because the frogs come and then

Pharaoh and Moses are like, hey, we can remove

them. He's like, pray for me. If you heard Pastor

Todd talk about it, like remove the frogs. And

so Moses goes, well, give me the day. When do

you want them removed? And so in verse 10, it

says, tomorrow, Pharaoh said. Moses replied,

it will be as you say. Why? So that you may know

there is no one like the Lord our God. God, the

frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials

and your people. They will remain only in the

Nile. Okay, so if you're here last week, you

heard Pastor Todd do a whole message on this

plague. And within that, he talks about the goddess

Hecht. And what is interesting with this is everything

he said is true. And also what they believed

is that this God was the one that breathed the

breath of life. And so the reason they thought

and connected life to this is the Nile would

flood and it would go back. And when the Nile

went back, there was frogs everywhere. It was

teeming with new life, right? And so God goes

to, invites into the ring, this frog God. And

in the midst of it now, in the fight of it, he's

declaring, you think you control the breath of

life? You can't even control the frogs. And what

he's establishing is, hey, Israel, I am the one

who gave you breath of life. Breath of life is

given by God. You realize that you're only breathing

right now because he's put the breath of life

into you. I mean, I know you think you work out.

I know you think you eat healthy. I know you

think you got it all dialed in that your diet's

the best and everybody else has got it wrong.

Only drink this many cups of coffee. I appreciate

that. No, do not be sorry. Laugh all the more.

But you realize your very breath right now is

given by him. He is the giver of the breath of

life. I love that you get to the New Testament

and what is the Holy Spirit referred to as he

indwells you? It's breath. That even in your

resurrected life, it is the breath of God that

is put inside of you. And so there's this moment

where God declares in round two, I am the giver

of the breath of life. Round three. Verse 16,

chapter 8, verse 16. Then the Lord said to Moses,

tell Aaron, stretch out your staff, strike the

dust of the ground, and throughout the land of

Egypt, the dust will become gnats. Verse 18.

But when the magicians tried to produce gnats

by their secret arts, they could not, since the

gnats were on people and animals everywhere.

The Egyptian magicians said to Pharaoh, this

is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart was

hard and he would not listen just as the Lord

had said. So now you get into round three and

it's the God Geb. And Geb was considered to be

the earth itself. So the earth was a God, essentially.

And what the belief was around Geb is that he

controlled the dirt. Because he was dirt, he

was sacred. But what he also did is he formed

the dirt into humans, is what they believed.

Now, if you're tracking it all from a biblical

perspective, you go, wait a minute. The beginning

of the story, God Almighty does what? Forms humans

out of dust. And so the Egyptians are ripping

it off and goes, no, no, no, that was Geb that

was doing it. To which God shows up and he goes,

hey, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to

take your dust and make it gnats. What is sacred,

I'm going to make these little bugs that are

everywhere and get in everything. And you can't

stop me. Because you, and if you can't stop me

doing that, there's no way you are the creator

of humans. What is he establishing? He's going,

I am the creator of humans. Maybe just personalize

it. He is the creator of you. That should give

you great hope. This was meant for the Israelites

to bolster their trust and faith by knowing who

God is, by knowing that God created you, that

he formed you, that he knows you, that he created

you personally. That's the beauty of understanding

who God is. Why? Because now I can rest knowing,

knowing that there was intentional design to

you by almighty God, that you would be a display

of his work. And so we go to round four. Verse

21, chapter eight, verse 21. If you do not let

my people go, I will send swarms of flies on

you and your officials, on your people and into

your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will

be full of flies. Even the ground will be covered

with them. Anybody else hate flies? Like it's

just so annoying. Okay, verse 22. But on that

day, I will deal differently with the land of

Goshen where my people live. No swarms of flies

will be there so that you will know that I the

Lord am in this land. Verse 24 begins like this.

And the Lord did this dense swarms of flies.

poured into Pharaoh's house. I don't know how

you feel, but when the Bible uses the term dense,

like I can't even comprehend that. I just see

clouds of flies, right? The closest I can come

is I had a friend who years ago, he went to Alaska

on a camping trip with a buddy. And they just

happened to be there during, there's something

called the seven -year fly, I guess. And they

happen to be there. And he's got this video of

they're in their tent and they're waiting for

their food to cook. And they unzip the tent as

quick as they can, come out, zip it down, go

over to stir the food as quick as they can to

get the lid back on and back in the tent. And

they are covered in flies by the time they get

back in the tent. He's got video of his buddy

running around like trying to eat his food. So

the flies and they're just everywhere. Yeah.

And that's the best I can do. That's not dense

swarms of flies. Well, what is God doing in the

midst of flies? Well, the goddess that was depicted

had a fly head and a human body. And specifically,

this goddess was the one that had sovereign control.

So it meant that they controlled life. specific

goddess also controlled the afterlife, the rebirth.

And so what was believed was this goddess would

not only know when you were going to die, but

also could pick the next pharaoh out of this

rebirth. And so they controlled the afterlife

and life. And what is God doing? He's making

fun of their gods. Right? He's coming along and

going, okay, well, I'll send flies. You control

life and the afterlife. Try controlling flies.

See how that goes. They'll look just like you.

Only God controls life and the afterlife. I never

wonder, you guys, why we get so worked up about

death. We know the one beyond the grave. We get

so worried about, I'm going to pick on old people

for a minute. You just keep trying to stay young.

It's not working. You're fighting what's going

to happen. Death is a part of the journey on

a fallen, broken planet. Here's the good news.

Beyond death, he controls it. It's not out of

his control. What's amazing with this, right,

is he's written to us and he goes, hey, here's

how the story ends. You know what we do? Ah,

there's not enough details. That's just your

control. What he tells you very clearly is Jesus

wins, Satan loses, there's a new heaven and a

new earth where there is no pain, there is no

suffering, there is no war, there is no brokenness,

where he sits as king. So tell me, which part

of that do you go, I don't really want that?

Because here, all there is is pain, suffering,

brokenness, right? So we go on to the next round.

Chapter 9, verse 2. If you refuse to let them

go and continue to hold them back, the hand of

the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your

livestock in the field, on your horses, not the

donkeys, like, come on. And camels and your cattle,

sheep and goats. But the Lord will make a distinction

between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt

so that no animal belonging to the Israelites

will die. Verse six, and the next day the Lord

did it. All the livestock of the Egyptians died.

All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but

not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.

What is happening here? Well, the God in this

was represented in a bull, and the bull was believed

to control the economic environment. The bull

was the one that said these people will be wealthy

and have status, and these people will not. So

now, 215 years, maybe 430 years, depending on

which way you interpret it, the Israelites have

been under this. this empire and the empire keeps

getting richer and richer and status is bigger

and bigger and it's growing and they are oppressed

more and more. And in one moment, in one moment,

they went from the oppressed to the free economically.

Why? Because in this culture, in this culture,

what happened is that if you had livestock, you

were considered wealthy. The bigger amounts of

it you had and the more you controlled it, the

more status you had. And in one moment, God flips

it from rich to poor. He flips that to poor to

rich. The Israelites are now the ones with status

and the ones with livestock. The whole economic

landscape changed in a moment, which tells me

that God is our economic provision. Isn't it

funny? We think we've got to be so smart. I just

got to grind, man, figure out the system. If

I get the numbers right and I just get them to

work against each other and I can figure out

how the best way the market's going to go. You

can't figure out nothing. You know how I know?

COVID. You want to go a step further back? 2008,

there was a housing crash. We are not in control

of the economy. We have a God who is in control

of the economy. And no matter how much you think

you can control it, no matter how much you think

you can work the system, at the end of the day,

God is in control of your economic provision.

That's the bottom line. And it's funny how we

think we have some kind of control. And what

he's teaching them is, hey, Israel, I got you.

What's amazing is when they leave Israel, guess

what the Israelites do? Give them all their gold

and silver. God makes them rich to go into the

wilderness. Next round. Verse eight. Then the

Lord said to Moses and Aaron, take handfuls of

soup from the furnace and have Moses toss it

into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will

become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt

and festering boils will break out on the people

and animals throughout the land. The magicians

could not stand. Verse 11, the magicians could

not stand. The magicians, the one who are supposed

to have power, could not stand before Moses because

of all the boils that were on them and all the

Egyptians. What's fascinating with this is there

was another God that the magicians would invoke

to bring healing. That God was also a warrior.

So if they needed power, they would invoke this

one, this God. And if they needed healing, they

would invoke the same God. The magicians are

the ones that would have invoked what? Healing,

but they could not even bring healing to themselves.

Why? Because what God is establishing is he is

the healer. God is the healer. God's the one

and God alone that brings healing. And somewhere

along the way, we start to trust in all these

different things. Like somewhere along the way,

we're like, okay, modern medicine can fix this.

Okay, if not that, then we can have doctors do

this. Can we just, like, that's valid that those

things work, but can we just step back a layer

and go the only person that brings healing is

God? And if he chooses to use those things, then

so be it. But only God is the one that will bring

healing because he is the only one with the power

to heal. It's interesting since my sabbatical,

I feel like during my sabbatical, God really

like convicted me of, John, your prayers are

too general. And I was like, what do you mean

by that? He goes, well, when you pray, you kind

of give like this whole disclaimer for me versus

just asking specifically what you want. And so

it's been interesting being back. And I'm standing

around and people come up to me and they go,

hey, will you pray for this? And I go, what exactly

do you want? And praying specifically. And every

week since I've been back, pretty much, bar one

maybe, there are stories of healing that are

happening in our church. Miracles that are happening.

Now, I don't tell you that to go, I figured out

the way you got to pray. That's not what this

is about. It's about trust and faith in a God

who is the healer. And we're asking God because

you're the one that's got to do it. You're the

only one that can do it. And that's the reality

of what he's setting down here is you've got

to know that I am your healer, Israel, not this

other God that's been set up. Which then he goes

on to the next round. Chapter 9, verse 14. Or

at this time, I will send a full force of my

plagues against you and against your officials

and your people so that you may know there is

no one like me and all the earth. Why does he

need them to know? Because he's leading them

to worship. You worship what you know. For by

now I could have stretched out my hand and struck

you and your people with a plague that would

have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised

you up for this very purpose. that I might show

you my power and my name might be proclaimed

in all the earth. He goes, hey, I didn't have

to go 10 rounds. We could have got this done

in one. We could have just wiped you off the

face of the earth. But what is God more interested

in? That his people would know him and know what

he is like and trust him and worship out of knowing

who he is. And so God in his grace goes 10 rounds.

Verse 23, when Moses stretched out his staff

towards the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail

and lightning flashed down to the ground. So

the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt. Hail

fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It

was the worst storm. So this hail falls, this

storm happens. And what's interesting is there

was a... A goddess that was depicted when you

see images that would cover the entire earth.

And so what it meant was this goddess controlled

any chaos that happened underneath. So any storm

that came, this goddess was in control of. And

so God shows up and go, hey, it's gonna hail

and it's gonna be the worst storm you've ever

seen and you can't turn it off. Why? Because

your God controls. There's not a storm that happens

that that God can't control. I mean, you think

about it, right? Your boys are in a boat with

Jesus and what happens? He calms the storm because

he has power over nature. What does God want

the Israelites to know? Hey, you're about to

go out into the wilderness where you're camping

for a really long time. And guess what? I control

the weather you will experience, right? He's

establishing this is who I am. This is what I

do. This is my attributes of what I carry. And

he goes, I control nature. Next round, chapter

10, verse two, that you may tell your children

and grandchildren how harshly. how I dealt harshly

with the Egyptians and how I perform my signs

among them that they may know that I am the Lord.

There it is again. You need to know who I am.

Verse 13, so Moses stretched out his staff over

Egypt and the Lord made the east wind blow across

the land all that day and all that night. By

morning, the wind had brought the locusts. They

invaded all Egypt. and settled down in every

area of the country in great numbers. Never before

had there been such a plague of locusts, nor

will there ever be again. They covered all the

ground until it was black. They devoured all

that was left after the hail, everything growing

in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing

green remained on tree or plant in all the land

of Egypt. It's interesting, they believe that

there was a God that controlled the food source.

And in one moment, God goes, I'm going to take

everything green away through locusts. I think

it's interesting for us that we don't live by

daily bread, but God is your food source. God's

the one, right? God's the one that puts food

in your mouth every day. But we don't think of

it that way. You know why? Because we got credit

cards, right? We got stores where I don't even

have to go inside. They just bring it to me,

right? But the reality of what God wants you

to understand of who he is for you is every time

you put food into your mouth, it was a provision

of the hand of God. We're just not as dependent.

You see, if we lived not here, we lived in a

community where we were dependent on farming

to live and dependent on what the earth produced,

because if it doesn't rain enough, all of a sudden

you become really dependent on knowing what?

That God is the one that controls. But when it

comes in a bag and I open it and it's called

chips that are bad for me, right? I'm not aware

of where it came from. And when this moment,

what God's doing, why? Because where are the

Israelites going? They're going to the wilderness.

And when they get there, guess what? They're

going to get hungry. And what do they need to

know about God? That he is their provider, that

when they show up and they're hungry, that he

has the ability to make frosted flakes fall from

the sky that he called manna, right? Like that

he's going to provide. That's what he's getting

at is I am your food source. That you will eat

today because of who I am. Not because of who

you are. Not because of some other God. But because

of who he is. It's interesting. You get down

to verse 21. And this now attacks what was the

most powerful God that Egypt had. It was the

sun god Ra. Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch

out your hand toward the sky so that darkness

spreads over Egypt, darkness that can be felt.

So Moses stretched out his hand towards the sky

and total darkness covered all Egypt for three

days. No one could see anyone else or move about

for about three days, yet all the Israelites

had light in the places where they lived. What's

significant about this is Ra was believed to

be the sun was his chariot, so to speak, that

went around. And when he wasn't there, it was

dark. And when he was there, it was light. And

God just goes, hey, we're going to turn off the

lights for three days. But only on you guys,

not on you guys, because that's how powerful

I am. You realize that your God controls the

light and the darkness? Isn't it amazing when

things get dark, we can often feel like God's

not present? that God's absent, and yet he controls

the darkness and the light. And he's declaring

to the Israelites, this is who I am. He has one

more round in which he invites Pharaoh. Chapter

11, verse 4. So Moses said, this is what the

Lord says. About midnight, I will go throughout

Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die.

From the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on

the throne, to the firstborn son of the female

slave, who is at her hand mill. and the firstborn

of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing

throughout Egypt, worse than there has ever been

or ever will be again. But among the Israelites,

not a dog will bark at any person or animal.

Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction

between Egypt and Israel. The last plague is

Pharaoh's firstborn. Why Pharaoh? Because Pharaoh's

firstborn was his dynasty. This was his legacy.

This is what he was building in his empire. And

in a moment, God shows up and goes, hey, as powerful

and as rich as you are and as far as power and

status throughout the world that you have, none

of that can protect you from me. And he rescues

his people by knockout of Pharaoh. And I think

it's fascinating because your rescue that God

has led for you, is that he has knocked out death

once and for all. He's taken death and all of

its friends and he's knocked them out. How? By

going to a cross. By God showing up, this God

showing up in human form. And going to a cross

for you. Why? So that he could take the weight

of sin and the weight of separation and death

and he could pay the penalty. Why? That you could

have relationship with Almighty God. He had to

knock out death and eventually will knock out

Satan for all time. Why? So that you and me and

humanity can be free. This is where it gets good,

you guys. This is where it gets good. I had a

song in my head and it's kind of on repeat and

it's a worship song and it kind of breaks down

in the middle and I can't tell if the guy's going

spontaneous or if he's just like it was planned.

Doesn't really matter. But there's a moment where

he goes, I see my father. My father's waiting

on the porch for me. And he's speaking of his

heavenly father. Isn't that a beautiful picture?

That the heavenly father is sitting on the porch

waiting. But what this list tells us is what

he's like. That my heavenly father is my lifeblood.

In the person of Jesus and through his blood,

I've been given life. And his blood now runs

through my veins. Right? Like this idea that

that's the connection to this God who is my father,

that he is my life, but that God my father is

my breath of life. That my father is my creator.

That God my father holds life. This life, every

moment of this life and the afterlife. That my

father is my economic provision. That God, my

father is my healing and my protection. That

God, my father, he's in control of all nature.

Nothing's out of his hands. That God, my father

is gonna put food in my body today. That God,

my father, he controls the light and he controls

the darkness. And God, my father rescued me by

knockout. That's your heavenly father who is

waiting on the porch for you to come home and

sit down and enjoy. On your way in, you should

receive one of these. I want to go a step further

if you'll let me. Because what this is called

is communion. And communion is to be able to

sit down. It was done at a table. You sit next

to somebody at a table. And this God is the God

that is showing up. If you can imagine a table

and you've got a seat and there's a seat next

to you, this is the God that is happy, is happy,

that is delighted to sit in that seat with you

and share communion with you. Oh, it's the God

that's lifeblood, that he's holding the very

breath in your lungs right now. that he knows

your needs before you even state them. The God

that's your creator, your sustainer, the God

that is all powerful, is lacking nothing, and

he is sitting at a table with you to share a

meal. So we're going to take some time to reflect.

But do me a favor, don't make this moment about

you. Instead, in a posture of gratitude with

the picture, we're going to leave these up, with

the picture of this God sitting at the table,

just tell him thank you. Just see him for who

he is. And then we'll take it all together. Jesus

gathered his friends, those that he'd spent the

most time with, that he was the most connected

to. And he knew what was coming for them. He

knew what the cross would mean. So what did he

do? He took simple bread at a meal, sitting at

a table with them. And he tells them, remember,

remember. Why remember? Well, see, when I remember,

I remember that God showed up. When I remember,

I remember that he became human for me to go

to a cross to take my sin and my shame and my

punishment and my guilt and take the separation

between God and take death and defeat it so that

I can have life. That's my God. That's who he

is. That's what he does. That I'm forgiven and

free. And so he took bread and he goes, hey,

this is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance

of me. He took a cup of wine and what he connected

to wine was forgiveness, that through his blood

there was forgiveness for all time, for every

sin, none left out. Because he alone is powerful

enough to do it. And so he took a cup and he

handed it to them. He said, take, drink, do this

in remembrance of me. Church, would you do me

a favor? Would you stand where you are? I want

to make one more connection. Because the point

of Exodus is that they would know him to worship

him. That they would know him to worship him.

I don't know how. You feel, but when I look at

this, I get an overwhelming sense to say, what

a God. To take the very breath that he's given

and go, how could I not just give it back? How

can I not just declare back to you, what a God?

How can I hold it within? How can I, knowing

what I know about you, how do I not go and now

worship you? That was the point all along. That

you would take the very breath and give it back

as an act of worship. And so we're going to sing

and we're going to celebrate that if the highest

place you ever reach is his feet, that's okay.

In fact, it's better than okay. If you only ever

hear one word, it's more than enough. Because

we declare, what a God. What a God. Would you

join us as we worship?