Contagious Courage | John Challinor

Morning, church. Welcome to those of you on our

online fam, Baghdad, that is you. We are so glad

that you are gathering this morning and that

you are creating community right where you are.

Pauldin, that's you. Your community is rallied

around breakfast, so hope you enjoyed and got

to partake today. There's a couple of people

I noticed. There's a lady online named Barbie.

How do you not shout out Barbie, right? And Ash

Fork. And then Frank and Loma Linda. We're just

super excited that you are with us and we get

to do this. Can we just say hi to all of our

online fam today? And then welcome to you who

are in the room. And man, I get it. I get it,

right? Like to come to a space. where you don't

even know if you're going to get a seat at this

service. By the way, we do have other services

that have seats, just so you guys know. Same

teacher, same band, like everything's the same.

So just so you guys are aware of that. But also

along with that though, like there's a factor

of showing up to a church and putting yourself

in a crowd of people and you not even knowing.

what you think about this, right? Like you're

still processing what karaoke was, right? Like

you just, we just went through, no, karaoke didn't

land. Okay, fine. We'll carry on. Thanks for

leaving me just dead up here. You guys are great.

But you're still processing, you're still processing

what just happened. And now you're processing

like, am I going to stay? Because it took an

amazing act of courage for you to just get through

the doors. Like courage is a synonym for faith.

And one of the things that we build kind of this

on is a belief that you were created by God.

That requires courage to accept. That not only

did God create you, but the same God showed up

on the planet in the form of Jesus to go to a

cross to show you how much he loves you. That

takes a level of courage to go, I'm going to

trust that God. And then on top of that, for

God to show up, pay the penalty for your sins,

create a way for you to have a relationship with

God. And then on top of that, for him to put

his Holy Spirit inside of you when you step in

by courage. Here's what it does in my world.

Is it allows me to have confidence. That right

here, right now, one, you're not here by chance.

There's a God who is in control of much more

than you think. Two, that God wants to speak

to you this morning. He wants a personal conversation

with you. That's the confidence of what this

is. If you're here and you're going, okay, wow

us, we're not going to wow you. It's not going

to happen. Because that's not what this is about.

What this is about is trusting that the Holy

Spirit is going to take whatever we talk about

and he is going to translate it to you. Because

you need a personal moment with Almighty God

today. In the midst of everyone else going, I

need that too. And so I got a question for you

kind of as we... As we start, one to let God

begin to kind of personally apply in your life.

What is God asking you to have courage with today?

What is God asking you to have courage? And if

you put courage in the category of, if I ask

the question, what is God asking you to have

faith? That's such a lofty, big, I have faith

in God. That's such a big conversation that's

not really measurable. But courage is measurable.

Courage is an action. Courage is a step I take

forward. And so for you, As the Holy Spirit is

present, as the Holy Spirit is speaking, whether

that's here in the room or it's across screens,

into a living room in Baghdad, or sorry, a school

in Baghdad and a living room in Paulding, and

wherever else there's a screen, we have the same

question. What is God calling you to live by

courage? Why courage? Because we're told to live

by faith, not by sight. You're called to live

by faith. This life is supposed to be lived by

steps of courage, steps of faith. So what is

God calling you? I'll give you an example from

my life. I got one of my babies who is a freshman

this year. Yeah, you guys get it. You guys get

it. You know the courage to take my freshman

and put her in public school? Right. There's

easier ways. Right. But to take my freshman and

go, no, you are called to be the what? Light.

You're called to be the light. You're called

into. Right. Like, I'm not throwing shade. This

is just our journey. This is what God's convinced

us of. That the place that my baby needs to be

is in amongst her peers. Right. And in amongst

her peers. I understand. I hear the stories.

I hear the conversations that surround her every

day. I understand that it's not an easy space

to be, right? But for us, it takes courage of

faith. I drop her off every Thursday and Friday,

and I'll watch these. By the way, what is the

deal with the small backpacks? We're talking

like football players with a tiny Hello Kitty

backpack. I don't know what that's about. I don't

know what that's about. So needless to say, I

have to have courage. I see the football player

with his little backpack. But that's just what

God's calling me to in this season. To not shy

away, to walk by faith and not by sight, because

sight is everything around. Right? We're not

called to that. So what is God calling you to?

Because it's a personal conversation. If you're

here and you don't have a conversation with God

about what he's calling you to by faith, then

this doesn't matter. Let's be honest. But he

wants to talk to you. And so we're in a collection.

It's in the book of Exodus, second book of the

Bible. We're in a collection called Snapshots.

And Snapshots is just this. Could we grab these

quick photos, right? Like your Polaroid. You

snap your Polaroid. And you never knew what you

were going to get. And now they've come back

around and they're cool again. And so you're

still doing it, right? But you just don't know

what you're going to get. You don't know if it's

a good picture or not, but you snapped the moment.

You captured the moment. And that's all we're

doing through Exodus, just capturing these moments.

And hopefully by the end, there's a collage,

right? And when we look at the collage of what

we have in pictures from walking through this

story, what we go is, wow, what a God. It paints

a picture of him, right? Like, what a God. That's

a God I can put my faith in. And that's the hope

of kind of as we walk through this collection.

And so last week, if you were here, we talked

about a guy named Moses. And we're going to continue

to talk about Moses and his journey as God led

this exodus. One of the things that's important

to know is what we read about physically. is

a picture of your spiritual exodus, right? So

when you read this, what it's doing is painting

a picture of what's happened to you in a very

spiritual sense through the cross and through

what Jesus has done and how you've been set free.

And so last week we ended on chapter three, verse

12. And God said, I will be with you and this

will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent

you. When you have brought... brought the people

out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.

Okay, so God's speaking to Moses. He goes, hey,

here's what's going to happen. You're going to

lead these people out. Right before this, two

verses before, he says, so go. Why? So when you

get there, you can tell Pharaoh, let my people

go, and you are going to lead my people out.

They're going to go, and they're going to worship

me. Okay, so we could call that. In Moses's world,

God has spoke to him and his step of courage

is that I'm going to go and I'm going to tell

Pharaoh. And what's going to happen is there's

a specific outcome that's coming. Right. And

that outcome is that this nation of Israel that

is under the oppression of the Egyptians, they

will be set free and they will worship God. That's

the outcome. That's the premise that he is going

to the nation of Israel with. Now, in between

there, if you were here last week, in between

there, what you get, and if not, you should go

back and catch up because it all builds on each

other. But what you get out of this is a very

real conversation between God and Moses. And

Moses is going, hey, I stutter. I don't think

I should be going and talking to the emperor.

I don't think this is my deal. And over through

those conversations, it finally gets to the point

where he's like, would you choose somebody else?

Like, please send somebody else. And God goes,

no, you're my guy. And so what you have is you

have this wrestling between this verse and where

we pick up. Now in chapter five, the end of chapter

four, right before the verses we're about to

read, Moses shows up and he tells all of the

Israelite elders, right? Like he gathers them

together and he goes, this is what God's going

to do. I'm going to go to Pharaoh. And when I

go to Pharaoh, I'm going to go, let my people

go. And we're going to walk out, right? Because

that's what God said. And we're going to go worship.

Chapter 5, verse 1. Afterward, Moses and Aaron

went to Pharaoh and said, this is what the Lord,

the God of Israel, says. Let my people go so

that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.

So Moses has done what he's supposed to, right?

Pharaoh says, who is the Lord that I should obey

him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord.

I will not let Israel go. If you were here last

week, you know one of the fears that was genuine

to Moses. is that he would show up and he would

go, hey, the Lord has told me, and he would get

the question, well, what's his name? Who is the

Lord? And so his fear that he started this with,

even though the outcome's told, his fears are

beginning to come true. Verse three says, then

they said, the God of the Hebrews, so now Moses

is telling him, the God of the Hebrews has met

with us. Now let us take a three -day journey

into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the

Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues

or with the sword. But the king of Egypt said,

Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people

away from their labor? Get back to your work.

Then Pharaoh said, look, the people of the land

are now numerous, and you are stopping them from

working. That same day, Pharaoh gave this order.

To the slave drivers and the overseers in charge

of the people, you are no longer to supply the

people with straw for making bricks. Let them

go and gather their own straw, but require them

to make the same number of bricks as before.

Don't reduce the quota. They are lazy and that

is why they are crying out. Let us go and sacrifice

to our God. Make the work harder for the people

so that they keep working and pay no attention

to the lies. So Moses, remember, Moses has an

outcome. The outcome is I go, I go to Pharaoh

and I tell Pharaoh what's going to happen. And

then Pharaoh goes, oh, Moses, that sounds so

good. Why don't you just take the whole nation?

Just take them all and go worship. Right. Like

that's the assumption of what's going to happen.

I'm going to show up and I'm going to say what

God told me to say. And then there's going to

be this outcome. The only problem is he shows

up and instantly Pharaoh goes, I don't think

so. In fact, let me double down with you. We're

going to remove the straw that is needed for

making these bricks. You're going to have to

go collect your own. But we're going to press

you a little harder. You don't have to be a businessman

to get this. This is pretty much common sense.

If you have a quota to meet and your supply is

being provided for you and you remove the supply,

but you have the same amount of people working,

you're not going to meet your quota. It's just

not going to happen. Pharaoh knows that. He's

oppressing them. He's pressing into. And so within

that then, it carries on down to verse 17. Pharaoh

said, lazy, that is what you are, lazy. That

is why you keep saying, let us go and sacrifice

to the Lord. Now get to work, you will not be

given any straw, yet you must produce your full

quota of bricks. The Israelite overseers realized

that they were in trouble when they were told

the Israelite overseers realized they were in

trouble. You are not to reduce, when they were

told you were not to reduce the number of bricks

required for you each day. When they left Pharaoh,

so when the Israelites leave Pharaoh, they found

Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them. And they

said, may the Lord look on you and judge you.

You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his

officials and have put a sword in their hands

to kill us. So what's... What's transgressed

is, hey, I got an outcome. It's going to be awesome.

I show up and speak for God. They're going to

let those people go. And Pharaoh doubles down.

And then it gets worse. Because now the people

that you came to let go, they're looking at you

and going, you made life harder, not easier.

You showed up and said you were going to make

life better, not worse. I wonder how many of

us. Have been given an outcome by God. Like God's

spoken something to you. And you've been given

this outcome by God. And he's asking you to step

into it with courage. To follow what he showed

you. But in the midst of following him, it got

harder, not easier. It became more difficult.

and took a turn that you didn't anticipate. When

I was six weeks old, my mom, because I don't

really remember, but my mom told me I was pretty

sick. And at six weeks, she started to notice

that I couldn't keep any food down. But I hadn't

lost weight. I still looked healthy. But she

knew something was wrong. So she over the next

10 days, she took me to the doctors three times

and kept saying something is wrong with him.

Something is wrong with him. To which the doctor

was kind of like, well, everything isn't showing

what you're telling us. So let's just let's just

wait and see. So she took me home. It was about

two weeks later. She's changing my diaper and

she just begins to cry because of what she's

seeing my body is is rejecting. And as she's

crying, my dad comes in and he's comforting her

and asking her or she just states to him, we're

going to lose him. He's going to die. She's like,

I know it. To which my dad tells her, I was just

praying and God has told me that he is going

to be a preacher of the word someday. And so.

God gives a clear outcome. But from that moment,

my mom decided, and this is years ago and it

was in England, you could have the emergency

doctor come to your house, right? And so she

makes a call to the doctor and says, hey, he's

not healthy. Like you've got to come and see

him. And so the doctor says, you know, it was

a Sunday. He goes, I got other visits to do and

then I'll get to you at some point. So my dad,

there's a good Baptist joke in here that we were

there whenever the doors were open, you know,

Sunday morning, Sunday evening type thing. So

he goes to Sunday evening service. And what's

beautiful is Sunday evening service, because

of what was going on, they all came to our house.

And so now there's an elder praying over me,

my dad anointing me with oil. And then the entire.

church at that time, or if you'd ever come along,

we're all in the living room on their knees praying.

And it's at that moment that the emergency doctor

shows up and has to walk through all these people

praying to get to this baby. He takes one look

and instantly after checking, he goes, we got

to get this baby to the hospital. And so The

ambulance comes, takes me to the hospital. I

end up getting put in an isolated ICU, which

what that meant is my mom could put on all the

gear, you know, the gowns and gear up, but couldn't

touch me, could only observe what was happening.

You ever see an outcome promised? What was promised?

The outcome was that he will be a what? He's

going to be a preacher of the word. But it got

worse, not better. It got more difficult, not

easier. It took a turn to where now I'm in ICU.

And sometimes I think we can get lost in the

outcome and miss the process. I think sometimes

what we do is we want the outcome and we make

the outcome what's important. And God's going,

don't miss the process. Here's what I mean. It

carries on in verse 22, chapter 5, verse 22.

Moses returned to the Lord and said, why? Why

have you brought trouble on this people? Is this

why you sent me? Wait a minute. He knows, right?

He knows the outcome. The outcome wasn't to bring

trouble. But in the process now, it's got harder

and trouble has showed up. And what is he questioning?

He's questioning the what? What God had told

him. He's questioning the outcome. And I don't

know how you live and how that works, but isn't

it easy that when it gets difficult, we can start

to question what God has told us? Isn't it interesting

that we begin to question, did God really? And

so Moses carries on verse 23. Ever since I went

to Pharaoh to speak in your name. He has brought

trouble on this people and all, and you have

not rescued your people. You have not done the

outcome. You have not rescued your people at

all. Chapter six, verse one, then the Lord said

to Moses, so now God speaks to Moses. Now you

will see what I will do to Pharaoh because of

my mighty hand, he will let them go. Because

of my mighty hand, he will drive them out of

his country. God also said to Moses, I am the

Lord. I appear to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Catch this, catch this. As what? God Almighty.

But by my name, the Lord, I did not make myself

fully known to them. I also established my covenant

with them to give them the land of Canaan. where

they have resided as foreigners. Moreover, I

have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom

the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered

my covenant. But he goes this, he goes, here's

what's happened so far. All of the people of

the faith, Abraham. Isaac, Jacob, the heroes

of the faith, they knew God as God Almighty,

right? Like the name for that is El Shaddai.

The translation of that is powerful provider.

The way that they knew God is that God was a

powerful provider. But God goes, I'm not interested

in you knowing me as a powerful provider. What

did that mean in their day? That he was powerful

enough to make a promise. What was the promise?

That I'm going to lead you to a promised land.

Right now and in the midst of slavery, God's

going, I'm going to prove to you and show you

something else in the midst of the process. Because

the process, I believe, matters more than the

outcome. Because in the process, what God's doing

when it gets harder. God is trying to show you

something you would never seen if you hadn't

gone through what you're going through. And what

happens in this moment is God goes, hey, you

knew me as God Almighty, but now I want you to

know me as faithful. Now I want you to know me

as the God who is faithful, that what I promised.

I will bring to happen. Listen, this is so important

to your faith. You know why? Because what we

are promised is that when we die, we are absent.

As believers, absent in the body is what? Present

with who? With the Lord, right? Like we're promised

through the cross that there is life beyond the

grave with God. We're promised a new heavens

and a new earth. But if God's not faithful, you

guys, That's not happening. If all of a sudden

God's not faithful and you're like, I got a reason

to second guess. This is why it's so important

that we build our faith on the person that God

is in the story that he writes. Why? Because

God is the one that's going, you got to see me

as faithful. You got to see me as the God that

what I say I will do, I will be faithful to make

it happen. That's why this is so important that

it's only, only in the process that God can help

you see him for who he is. But you know what

we don't like? We don't like it when it gets

harder, do we? I don't. I don't like it when

it gets harder. I want God to tell me what it's

going to be and let's get there. And God goes,

but you would miss learning and growing in who

I am. Because the process matters. The process

is what will grow you into the person that God's

calling you to be. And if you short circuit the

process, you will miss the God who is faithful.

If you short circuit the process, you will never

become more like Jesus. I don't know about you

guys. Like we're told, right? Like one of the

goals of this life is that you would be more

like Jesus, that I would be more like Jesus.

The only problem is I know when I look at me,

there's a whole lot that's not like Jesus. So

this is gonna be a difficult road. He's gotta

keep chipping away. He's gotta chip away at my

sin. He's gotta chip away at where my will is

my will and not his will. He's gotta keep working

on me. Why? Because he's transforming me. He's

told me. Romans 8, he's gonna transform me into

the person of Jesus. That's what's happening.

And he's going to be faithful because he's God.

He's going to be faithful to bring that transformation

no matter how painful it is. Why? Because it

is more vital that you become the person you

were created to be instead of the person that

has the easy way and thinks you get to the outcome

that you want. God's going, no, no, no, there's

a different outcome. But to get there, you got

to go through the process. There's no shortcuts.

I love how this carries on because listen who's

doing it, by the way, listen who's doing it.

So God's proving he's faithful, right? Chapter

six, verse six. Therefore say to the Israelites,

I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under

the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from

being slaves to them. I will redeem you with

an outstretched arm and with a mighty acts of

judgment. I will take you as my own people. I

will be your God. then you will know that I am

the Lord your God who brought you out from under

the yoke of the Egyptians, and I will bring you

to the land I swore with uplifted hands to give

to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob. I will give it

to you as a possession. I am the Lord. I am the

one who is faithful. I'm going to do it. How

many times is Moses' name in there? How many

times do we see an outcome and go, I'm gonna

help God out. God's like, I don't need your help,

champ. God goes, I need you to see me for who

I am because that'll transform your life. Moses

reported to the Israelites. So Moses takes this

like, God's gonna do it. And he goes to the Israelites

and he's all pumped up because he went to church

that day. But they did not. Listen, they did

not listen to him. Because of their discouragement

and harsh labor. Wait. They did not listen. Why?

Because of the harsh labor. Remember, what have

they been told? The outcome is. You go tell Pharaoh

and we all march along singing, right? But what's

happened is the labors got harsh. And so what

the outcome is that they stop listening. I wonder

how many times we stopped listening to the Holy

Spirit. We stopped listening to God because it

just got hard along the way. And there's a word

in here, you guys. Because of their Discouragement.

Because of their discouragement. Wait, wait,

wait. They stopped listening because it was hard.

But it was a lack of courage. The original in

this word is amazing. Right? Like I'm probably

going to butcher this, but it's kotsar rua. Right?

Like that's the original. Why does it matter?

Because kotsar is shortness. And what is ruah?

If you've been around church, you've probably

heard it. It's often translated spirit. It's

often translated the breath of God. What do they

have? They have a shortness of what? The life

source they've been given. We get it. Discouragement

feels like my spirit got crushed, right? What

this is doing is putting language to what that

looks like. That there is a shortness, a shortness.

Of spirit. How does that translate? That in the

midst of whatever you're going through, whatever

happens, there is often this shortness inside

of me of what? Of spirit. Now, bring this because

the physical picture is always a picture of what?

Our spiritual journey. Go to the spiritual journey.

What's been put inside of you by the person of

Jesus, by his rescue of you? The Holy Spirit.

What does discouragement look like when you know

I should walk by faith and God's asking me to

step in by courage and I can't step in by courage?

Why is that? Because along the way there has

been a shortness of what? The Holy Spirit leading

you and you leading you. There's a shortness

of me resting in the Holy Spirit. And what happens

is I become discouraged. I lack courage to step

in. The gift that you've been given to have power

to do the things that God's called you to do.

When you have a shortness of spirit, you'll always

lack courage. Why? Because you're called to walk

by faith. What is the Holy Spirit going to do?

He's going to empower you to walk by faith, not

sight. And then listen, listen to what happens

when we become discouraged. Verse 10. Then the

Lord said to Moses, go tell Pharaoh, king of

Egypt, to let the Israelites go out of his country.

But Moses said to the Lord, if the Israelites

will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen

to me since I speak with faltering lips? If you

were here last week, what was Moses' concern?

I stutter. I can't do this. I can't. God, you

know how bad I am with words. And the discouragement

of others carries over to who? To Moses. Why?

Because we were made to be contagious to one

another. Here's what I mean. So then you have

the divisions of the people, chapter 7. Then

the Lord said to Moses, See, I have made you

like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will

be your prophet. You are to say everything I

command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell

Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.

but I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And though

I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he

will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand

on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment, I

will bring out my divisions, my people, the Israelites

and the Egyptians catches and the Egyptians.

So God's going to do all that. Why? And the Egyptians

will know that I. You catch what happened right

there, right? What did he say the goal was before?

That Moses and the Israelites would know him

as what? The God who is faithful. What happens

in this moment is he now takes the word know,

the exact same word, and that word know now connects

to who? To all of the Egyptians, what is God

doing through Moses and Aaron? He is showing

the entire world the God who is faithful. And

so what happens, what happens in this moment

is the faith of Moses and Aaron becomes contagious

to everyone around them. Your faith is contagious

to everyone around you. That's how God designed

this, that when I see you step out by courage,

it gives me the courage to step out by courage.

But when you lack faith, guess what? It's equally

as contagious. Because what happens is when you

lack faith, it will affect everybody around you.

How do I know that? Last verse, verse six. Moses

and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them.

Moses and Aaron did what? just as the Lord commanded

them. Even though it was hard, what did they

do? Step out by courage and do what God told

them to. What's the outcome? That the entire

known world found what? The God who is faithful.

That's what this is about. It's about being faithful

in the midst of what you can't see. It's about

standing with courage in a space where you don't

know the outcome. It's about understanding the

process. Why is this gathering so important?

Why is it so important that even online in multiple

spaces, we gather together? Why is it so important?

Because your faith is contagious. We were talking

about it in our teaching prep this week. And

we're talking about how in scripture, Pastor

Ben was like, hey, you remember those stories?

where you see Peter and it's right after the

resurrection and right after the disappointment,

what do they do? They go, Peter goes, I'm going

fishing. And what happens? I'm going with you.

Why? Because it's contagious. But you also have

Paul who writes, hey, as I'm living, do likewise.

Let me be a model as I follow Christ. Pastor

Todd, being the coach that he is, In the same

meeting goes, you got to be the thermostat, not

the thermometer. You got to set the temperature

for people's faith. That's the gift that you

have. That when you step out by courage, guess

what? The people around you step out by courage,

by faith. And they step in. Why is this gathering

so important? Because you have the chance in

here every single week as we gather to let your

faith be an encouragement to those that don't

have faith. What do I mean by that? That for

some people, just the courage, the courage to

sit in the room today, we applaud you. But for

some of you, some of you, you came in and you're

in the process and it's really hard today. Like

you're barely hanging on. You're barely like

had the courage to come to church, let alone

live by faith. And then there's others of you

that you're in a time of like, man, I am my faith

high, if you like. Man, I've just seen the outcome

of God and I'm walking on this solid foundation

of his faithfulness. Here's what happens in this

room when we worship in song. Is you get a chance

to take the faith that you have and make it contagious.

The song we're about to sing, it's declarative.

You're good and I've witnessed it. Has anybody,

anybody here or online or in one of our locations,

has anybody witnessed the goodness of God? Then

what you need to do is declare it. I've witnessed

it. You're strong. Anybody seen the strength

of God show up in their life? A quarter of you

compared to last time. That's fine. But you're

strong and I've witnessed it. You're constant.

What is constant? It's faithful. You said you

would do it and you've done it. And I've witnessed

it. Anybody witness the faithfulness of God,

the consistency of God? You love, you love. And

I've witnessed it. Why is it so important? Because

for you, you get to declare what I've seen God

Almighty do. And that spreads. And the song even

catches that. Like, let's go declare it over

our cities. Let's go declare it over our homes.

Why? Because your faith is contagious. So if

you would stand, we are going to sing together

because your faith is contagious.