Pastor Malachi Maillot | What's in your hand? | July 13th, 2025

Well, it's good to be in church, isn't it?

For some of you, I guess.

It's good to be in church.

Yeah, it's a good day.

It's so warm out.

Anyone enjoying the sun yet?

Anybody sick of it?

Someone says, yeah, it's way too hot sometimes, but uh it's a pleasure to be with you this morning.

I feel like it's been a very long time since I've preached on stage.

So I'm gonna have to shake some of the rust out today.

I got Evangeline helping me.

Uh give it up for Van, she's awesome.

I gotta embarrass somebody so I don't feel as embarrassed.

Um we started uh or Pastor Brian started our new series, Everyday Saints.

Uh, and really I'm excited for this series because uh it's really just a testament to really how God works and what he's famous for.

He's truly famous for using the very ordinary for something extraordinary.

The very ordinary people that are sitting next to you, that are sitting across from you, and we we're just going through the the Bible and just kind of highlighting a few of those.

And one particular character I thought uh just stuck out a lot to me in Exodus uh chapter three.

So you guys can go there.

We'll also have it on the screen for you as well.

Exodus chapter three.

And we're gonna read a hefty chunk of the Bible, okay?

So get ready.

So it says awesome, I love that.

Thank you.

So we're gonna read from chapter uh or uh verse one all the way to twelve, and uh I'm just gonna read it just to kind of give us a grasp of what we're gonna be talking about today.

We're gonna pray, and then I'm gonna get into it.

So it says this it says now Moses, this is uh verse one, now Moses, obviously you know who the character is, right, right away, was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Here, the mountain of God.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

Moses said it says he looked and beyond uh he looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

This obviously intrigued Moses enough for him to start talking to himself, saying, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why this bush is not being burned.

He's talking to himself and the sheep.

He's been out in the wilderness a little too long.

Uh it says, When the Lord had saw that he turned aside to see.

Now it's really interesting to note this because uh it's funny because it's almost as if it's showing us that God was waiting for Moses to actually turn his attention, and then he began to speak to him.

He was waiting for him to not be so distracted in this moment and actually say, Hey, I'm gonna actually look in and focus my attention on what's happening.

And it says that God waited and uh for Moses to turn aside, and then it says, God called to him out of the bush.

It says, Moses, Moses, he said, here I am.

Then he said, Do not come near, take your sandals off your feet, for the place which you are standing is holy ground.

He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

And Moses, at to this, he began to realize who was talking to him.

He hits he hid his face, and he was afraid to even look up at God.

Verse 7 says, Then God said, Uh, I have surely I've surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I've heard their cry because of their taskmasters.

I know their sufferings, and I've come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and bring them up out of that land, into a land that is good, broad, and a land that is flowing with milk and honey, to a place where of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, that's a lot of sites.

And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I've seen the oppression in which the Egyptians oppress them.

And in verse 10, this is the important part.

He begins to actually give Moses a pretty crazy task, a little bit daunting for him, and you can kind of see why.

He says, Come, I will send you to Pharaoh, and you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

Verse 11 is probably the most relatable verse and response.

And I would say that if it was me, I would probably have the same response that Moses did at this great task that's kind of been presented to him.

Moses says to God, Who am I?

Who am I that you would call me to do this great thing?

Who who am I?

Like, I'm a nobody.

I'm a I'm a sheep farmer, essentially.

And I've just been in doing this, and like, who am I to do this?

This is a this is way too daunting.

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?

How am I supposed to do this?

And he says this to Moses in response.

He says, I will be with you, and this shall be a sign for you that I have sent you.

And when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.

Let's pray this morning.

Father God, I thank you for your word.

I thank you that it is true.

I thank you that it is a foundation that we can rest on and we can build on.

God, you would soften our hearts today.

Any things that we're thinking about, God, that you would just put those at the back of our minds so we could listen to what you have to say this morning.

In Jesus' mighty name, if you agree, somebody say amen.

Amen.

Hey, can we give it up for uh the worship team this morning and uh and Evangel, Evangeline?

I don't know why I said Evangel.

I call her Evanget sometimes, just for fun.

All right, we'll stop embarrassing you.

How many of you have ever uh made up an excuse any time in your life?

You made up an excuse, whether it was a real excuse or a fake excuse.

You could probably think of the times when you uh felt obligated to go somewhere.

Anybody been in that position before?

Right?

And you you start coming up with excuses, right?

Anybody been there?

Anybody done that?

Who's made like a straight up just fake excuse before?

I'm gonna expose you.

It's okay.

We're all here, we're all we're all humans.

Uh I wanna I wanna tell on myself a little bit, and and maybe this is not like a fake excuse, this is a really good excuse, and I think all the parents in the room will understand me.

Uh, it's like when you have a kid, it's the perfect excuse to get out of everything.

Has anybody been there?

Come on, all the parents are like, amen, brother.

That is why I had kids, okay?

So I don't have to go to social events uh or or when I want to, right?

It's and something you know, sometimes it's intentional, but you know, there's other times where it's unintentional, the kids just going crazy, and it's just like not good.

You just gotta bring that kid home and you get out of things.

But uh, you know, obviously, you know, there's all there's there's times in your life where you're like, you know, I love I love helping people.

I've love I'm a social person for the most part.

I feel like as I get older, I've become more introverted.

I don't know if anybody else relates to that.

Uh I'm like an extroverted introvert, right?

Anybody there?

Anybody one of those?

Or who's the opposite?

Any of the opposites of me?

Introverted extrovert?

Everyone's confused.

It's okay.

Uh we'll move on.

But uh, you know, obviously there's things where, you know, if you have to help someone move, or you have to, you know, like I said, go to this thing, or there's there's things that get busy.

We I know Mel was just talking about how the summer has been like just crazy.

There's things after things after things that we could do.

And sometimes it's just like, hey, the kids got to sleep, can't be there, right?

Anyone guilty of that?

I know I am for sure.

Um, there's this uh there was this kind of funny analogy I thought of when we were first married.

And I don't know if you've ever had that when you were first married.

People just leave you alone, right?

They don't, they don't want to know what you're doing, right?

When you're married, it's like it's like they don't care if like they're just happy if you show up.

There are no questions asked.

Hey, awesome, you came out.

It is it's great to have you here.

They just don't know, they don't want to know what you're doing.

But I think the having a kid is even better because it's like this little human being is just so dependent on you, and like you'll be at a you'll be at something that's just going to let you just both look at each other, you're like, okay, we gotta get this kid home.

It's awesome.

I I I was looking back, and this is where I'll tell on myself.

I've definitely judged people that had kids.

When I was when I was single, okay, when I was single and ignorant, uh, we would be out at this thing and they would have a they had kids at home, either they were getting baby, oh, we gotta get home, it's like seven o'clock or whatever.

And I'm like, oh, just let the kid stay up.

It's fine.

I just want to publicly apologize to anybody that I've ever said that to or thought that of.

Don't let that kid stay up, okay?

It's not good for anybody or anyone, all right?

It is the worst thing and it'll ruin your life.

But uh, I say that to just say this that we are incredible at making excuses, amen.

Right?

Something kind of like you don't really love to admit, but we are, if we look at our life, we're really good at making excuses for things.

Sometimes it's out of selfishness, sometimes it's out of just, you know, you just don't want to be at something.

But uh I think there's also uh something to be said that we can make excuses to our detriment.

Right?

Me and uh I was thinking about this this morning.

Me and my friend, uh, we used to try and like always pay for each other at the restaurant.

You ever try to do that?

And you're like fighting with each with like the credit cards or whatever, and uh he had this funny saying, he's like, Don't choke the blessing.

And and we'd be and it was so awkward because it's like we're sitting at a restaurant and and he goes to pay for me, and I'm like, No, I'm gonna pay for you.

And he would start like in the middle, like in the middle of the restaurant, start like like choking and like making it super embarrassing for me.

He's like, You're choking the blessing, you're choking the blessing, and we it was just a stupid thing, and we obviously like the waiter's sitting there, like, what's wrong with him?

Like, is the food that bad?

But it's this idea that we kind of like make excuses, someone tries to pay for us, or someone gives us a compliment, or there's like an opportunity.

It's almost like we kind of get insecure and we back out, we back away, or we we try to talk ourselves out of something good.

You ever had that happen before?

It's almost as if we we sometimes slip into that idea that we're not worthy, right?

We slip into that idea that we're we're not worth that, or or you know, I'm I you know, you shouldn't do this for me.

I I want to pay you back, or we try to like get that person back, or you know, I don't deserve this.

And I think a lot of us, and I don't I don't want to put everyone in a box, but I but I do think that to some degree, all of us have an insecurity, right?

All of us would walk around with with some sort of insecurity, some more than others, some less than others.

Some don't even know they have an insecurity until something like presents itself and you kind of feel, oh, okay, that's that's where I feel insecure.

But I think that um when it comes to our relationship with God, I think that that can get in the way really quickly because uh when God asks us to do something, usually it's not something very small, right?

When when God calls us to do something, sometimes it's like he'll give us a dream or he'll give us like he'll he'll like uh you know uh uh awaken a calling in us or something, or even even I was just thinking about myself, like when Pastor Brody gave me a phone call to come work here, I was like, no, like it just it scared me.

I I I don't I don't like public speaking even to this day.

Like so there's something to be said that when we let those things invade our life and we let those excuses, kind of like what Moses is doing here, God is calling him to something, and and it's kind of scary, right?

We can all agree it's it's kind of a big task, and I and I and I truly think that God will give you something more than you can handle.

God will give you a dream that's way too big for you.

God will give you a vision for your life that's way too big for you, God will give you a purpose for your life that will probably scare you a little bit.

And and our response is often, God, like, who am I?

Who am I to do such a task?

Who am I?

That's just way out of my league.

And we're completely right when we say, I can't do it, because we can't.

First of all, you know, this is not to put you down, this is just to put us all, this is just to put it in perspective for us.

We are unqualified.

We are a broken, imperfect people.

We mess up all the time.

We're incapable of being perfect.

It's just not who we are, it's not how we were made.

We are not worthy, we are sinful people.

Again, this is not to put you down, but this is just to say, hey, there is someone who is trying to tell you something a little bit different.

You know, Moses asks the question, who am I?

Right?

He's looking inwardly, he's looking at the mirror, and it's all yeah, I don't know if you've ever heard that saying, you're your own worst enemy.

Anybody?

Right?

And we and I'll and and maybe you are a very confident person, but for me, like whenever I look in the mirror, I see flaws.

I know myself better than anybody here, and I know what I've I've done in my past, I know what I have to battle in the future, I know like my own thoughts, I know the things that I have to like correct on myself, I know the times when I get angry and I shouldn't.

I know the times when I'm frustrated when I'm driving through Kelowna because people are just the worst drivers and I'm the best, right?

Anybody been there?

Like, like I know myself, I know that I'm unqualified to be up here, I know that I am unworthy, I know that I'm a sinner, I know those things.

But the bigger question and the better question is not who am I?

It's who is he?

Right?

And and this whole series is about a God who is famous for using very broken people.

That's pretty much all he used in the Bible was broken people.

Using seemingly insignificant people for incredible things.

I just want to go back to this story in Exodus.

Uh the book of Exodus talks uh about how this this this people, the Hebrew people were enslaved uh by the Egyptians for some, I think it was around 400 years.

Pretty intense, right?

Long before Moses was born.

He was kind of born at the tail end of this.

Uh so we have Moses, he's a he's a Hebrew, he's he's a Hebrew raised into Egyptian royalty.

And uh it says in Exodus 2 that Moses gets himself into trouble.

It says he grows up, uh, I think he's probably you know young adult, late teens, and uh he's walking uh through the streets or whatever, and he sees an Egyptian, he's uh Egyptian abusing one of his people.

And so Moses gets this bit of righteous anger and he kills this Egyptian, he buries him in the sand, and he hopes to God that no one finds out, and eventually Pharaoh finds out and he wants to kill him.

So Moses in this chapter three is on the run uh for his life, and he escapes to this place called Middin, as we read.

He meets a family, he gets married, and he goes from literally being royalty to this lowly shepherd that's tending the sheep of his father-in-law, Jethro.

We gotta bring back the name Jethro, okay?

That's a cool name.

I feel like that's gonna be like the next trendy name.

Uh, someone in this room is definitely naming their boy Jethro, and I'm gonna be pumped when I when I hear about it.

Maybe I will, I don't know.

Maybe I'll have all girls, I don't know.

I feel like I'm destined now.

But for for 40 years, right?

Think about that.

For 40 years, he goes from being literal royalty to 40 years of being in this wilderness tending sheep.

Like, imagine that, going from the palace to to having everything probably brought to you, servants, not having to worry about anything, to this place where I would say Moses probably felt like he missed it.

Right?

It's like you know, I kind of missed my calling there.

I kind of missed the boat on that one.

I I kind of took things into my own hands and I kind of screwed this whole thing up.

And I think, you know, maybe even Moses was sitting there thinking that he was being punished for what he did.

Being pulled out of the place of uh, I would say great influence to being with sheep.

So imagine that feeling.

And I'm sure for him, he was probably thinking, well, you know, it's like my prime is kind of gone.

It's been like 40 years.

My calling in life is, I guess it's to tend sheep now.

You know, I I kind of missed out on what God I felt like had for me.

And for, I don't know, I feel like I can guarantee that Moses had these thoughts because he's out in the wilderness.

I don't know if you've just like been on your own for any amount of time.

You just start thinking things.

You start thinking like you're your own little like, you're like bouncing ideas off yourself and you start to go crazy.

Like I'm sure he was thinking these things and and and began to like build these insecurities in himself.

So Exodus 3, God shows up in a burning bush.

How wild would that be?

I don't know if that was like a normal thing in the desert, like spontaneous, just a bush is burning.

But it was enough for for Moses to turn away from what he was doing and to see what was happening.

It said the burning bush was not being consumed.

I believe it was like the first barbecue ever.

Uh that was a joke that just completely went over your heads.

It's fine.

But this burning bush starts to speak to Moses, okay?

And it says that Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight while this bur burning bush is not burned.

And when the Lord saw, he waited till Moses got undistracted, turning his attention.

He began to say, Moses, Moses.

And oftentimes when you see a word back to back, it's not as if God is saying, Moses, Moses, because you know Moses may have been deaf.

It's usually the writer is actually putting those two words in twice to X, like it's like an exclamation point on a word.

So he's probably like, Moses, like get his attention, right?

You see that he says, Moses, he calls him by name.

He says, Here I am, do not come near me, take off your sandals of your feet, and for the for this place where you are standing is holy ground.

He says, I'm the father of your uh I'm the God of your father, Abraham.

I'm the God of Abraham, sorry, God of Isaac, God of Jacob.

So he's kind of giving him context for who he is, who's talking to him.

It says, The Lord has seen, or the Lord says, I have seen the affliction of my people.

I know their sufferings, I've heard their cries.

Um, you know, you think that after 400 years, like you would feel like maybe God wasn't listening.

But God says, No, I have been listening.

I see the suffering, I see what's going on, I am not deaf, I am not blind to it.

And he assures Moses of this, and then he gives him this crazy task.

Because if you look at the context, like Moses has to go to Pharaoh, and this was a different Pharaoh than the one that was trying to kill him, but I'm sure that Moses was famous, right?

It was like you don't really get away with much if you were like a prince in that kind of realm, right?

He was probably famous like the prince who killed the guy and ran away.

Like they probably talked about him.

So I'm sure that Pharaoh would know who Moses was, and you're and he's asking me to go back to that place where they're probably like they would probably kill him.

Like, I'm sure he's scared that they're just gonna like uh like take him captive and kill him right away.

Like, I'm sure that that was probably running through his mind.

But he says, uh, come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people out of Egypt.

So there's this burning bush, audible voice of God, calling him by name, not just like, hey you, I have a job for you.

He says, Moses calls him by name, gives him a purpose, and calls him out.

But what does Moses do?

What does Moses do?

He begins listing off all these excuses of why God should use someone else.

Exodus 3, 11, 12 says, It says, but Moses said to God, Who am I?

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children out of Ezek?

Later on in uh Exodus 4 1 to 5, Moses says, But behold, you know, what if they don't believe me?

What if they don't listen to me?

For they're gonna say, the Lord did not appear to you.

Exodus 4 10.

Moses says to the Lord, Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent.

Even in my past, or since you have spoken to your servant, I am slow in speech and in tongue.

Exodus 4, 13, 17.

He says, But he said, Oh my Lord, please send someone else.

So he's like combating God on this.

And he's like, every every chance he has, he's making excuses.

God, you know, I you gotta send someone else.

How can I be qualified for this?

Well, God, what if they don't what if they don't believe me?

What if they don't listen to me?

What if they just think I'm some crazy sheep farmer?

Right?

Like I've I've been out here, like they they don't know me.

How are they gonna why would they believe me?

Or and that and then he begins to actually attack himself.

Like, I'm actually not good at speaking.

I have a stutter.

I I don't know how to speak in front of people, I don't know how to do this, and then he just straight up says, God, you gotta use someone else.

You gotta use someone else.

Moses tries to talk God of using him, but but God does something great.

And it really shows the character of God to me in this story.

To each excuse, God responds.

Moses says, Who am I?

Where God says, It doesn't really matter who you are, I'm with you.

I'm with you.

And the first point I want To make today, I have two points.

I just want to make two points.

And the first one is this it says, it's not about who you are, it's about who's with you.

It's not about who you are, it's about it's not that you don't matter.

That's not what I'm saying.

It's not about who you are, though.

It's about who's with you.

He says, God says to Moses, to this response, he says, But I will be with you, and this will be a sign for you that I have sent you.

When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve on this mountain.

Or you shall serve God on this mountain.

And Moses asks, you know, who do I say to these people is sending me?

And God says this.

He says, I am who I am.

If they ask who is sending me, tell them the I am has sent you.

And it's and it's kind of funny because I was just thinking about this.

Like, God is not being cryptic when he's saying this.

He's not trying to like confuse Moses.

He's he's just simply saying, I am God.

And not just not just a God, I am the God.

I am the Alpha.

I am the Omega.

There is no other God that is equal to me.

There is no other God that is talking to you right now.

I was always there.

I always will be.

I never change.

I am the faithful one.

I am the one who does not falter.

I am the one who breathed life and created this world.

The I am has sent you.

And the I am is it's such a powerful statement because it's almost as if it requires no other explanation.

It's kind of encompassing everything in this one sentence.

Like the I am has sent you.

And I was just thinking about this.

It's it's crazy.

There's a song called The Same God, and it talks about it is the same God that that that uh split the sea that lives in me.

The same God did these amazing things in the Old Testament that we read about that lives today.

And it's and it's crazy to think that the same God who is the I am speaking to Moses of the burning bush is right here with you and me.

It's not about your faults, it's not about your failures, it's not about you know where you can't or where you can, it's not about your successes, it's not about your ability or your lack.

It's all about the fact that the I am, the God of the universe, is with you.

And you don't need anything else.

You don't need anything else.

See, Moses, he had a he had a list, and I don't know if you have that same kind of list in your head when something good comes along and you start thinking of all the ways that you know you're unqualified, all the ways that you're probably gonna mess it up, all the ways that you know you're just not good enough for this or good enough for that, or you know, God, I've just made this too many mistakes in my life, or whatever that list may be.

But God Moses has this list, and and really he has reasons to back the list, like he straight up murdered a dude, right?

And he hid the guy in the desert.

So he's got some skeletons in his closet.

And I don't know if this is for someone, but this is often what happens when we try to take the call of God into our own strength.

See, because Moses was actually destined to be the instrument in the deliverance of the Hebrew people.

It was a destiny, and you can kind of see how God was setting it up, how God spared his life during the time when Pharaoh was murdering every baby boy that was Hebrew when he was a child.

God spared him enough to raise him up in Pharaoh's house, a literal spot of influence, a Hebrew boy.

I'm I'm sure that he would have known it was a Hebrew.

Right?

But God was sparing his life and raising him up into a place of influence.

And it's and it's and it's almost as if like Moses, he sees like he kind of maybe saw this, or maybe God even spoke to him.

It doesn't actually talk about that, but he be but you see it in the justice in him when he sees one of his people being abused, he just lashes out in anger and he takes the call of God, almost like the destiny and the purpose of God, into his own strength without relying on God.

And what does he do?

He messes it up.

And I think that's often what happens in uh in our life where we maybe you've felt the call of God on your life, or maybe God is giving you a dream, and it's almost as if we get hasty about it or we try to do it in our own timing because God's you know slow for our standards, or like you maybe you've received a like a word from somebody before, or maybe you've actually felt like God has called me to this, but I just don't know when it's gonna happen, and then we we get like impatient.

And I think that's what happens when when we take things into our own hands, because again, in the end of the day, God had a plan regardless of what Moses did, and you see that because his mercy and his grace are shown are shown so much through God's response to him.

Because in the middle of the desert, after 40 years, he comes into this place right where Moses is working, not in the temple, not in a church, not in the middle of prayer, not after a seven-day fast, not after a worship night, but he comes right into his workplace and he meets him and he calls him by name.

That's so powerful to me.

Because it's it's the grace and the mercy, and he doesn't say, hey Moses, remember that guy you killed?

That was a mistake, right?

Like, you you probably shouldn't know.

He he just calls him by name.

He begins to build purpose back into Moses, gives him a calling back into Moses.

And I'm sure again, like, think about the insecurity that Moses deals with, and you can see it in this exchange.

You can see the insecurity in Moses.

It's not hard to see.

Time after time after time, after response after response, he's giving excuses don't use me, don't use me.

But God shows up in the middle of his workplace.

God is not limited by my failure, God is not limited by my past.

The most important thing that we need to understand today, like Moses, is the I am is with us, and that's all we need.

Number two, I want to invite the worship team back up.

Number two is this it's not about what you lack, it's about what you already have.

Exodus four and one.

This is Moses' answer, but behold.

What if they don't believe me?

What if they don't listen to my voice?

Or they will say, The Lord did not appear to you.

And the Lord says to him, David, it's so simple.

Like, what is in your hand?

What is in your hand?

What is in your hand that God has already placed there?

Maybe you asked yourself that this morning.

Like, what has God given me already?

What is in my hands that God has already provided me with?

It's not about the lack.

I think we can get so focused on what we don't have, and we miss the entire point of what God's already given us.

What's in your hand, Moses?

And I like this.

Moses, he responds, he's like, Well, I have this stick.

Right?

What's in your hand, Moses?

I got a stick.

And let me tell you, if you read on the rest of Exodus, what God does with that stick is pretty amazing.

Right?

And so, if God can use a stick, he can use you.

Right?

You can say that to yourself.

If God can use a stick, he can use me.

Yeah, that's gonna be a meme.

Um because you're far more useful than a stick, okay?

Let's get that straight.

But God says to Moses, what's in your hand?

He's like, I got this staff.

Right?

I use this every day.

It's just a it's just a stick, okay?

Like, what am I supposed to do with this?

God says, throw the stick on the ground.

So he throws it on the ground, and it becomes a serpent.

It says Moses ran away from it.

I was just laughing about that.

Because like I was just thinking there's a snake in our uh our front yard the other day, and I took a picture of it, and I showed my wife, and she screamed.

She hates snakes.

And she's like, You and Moses would get along, right?

He's like, throw the stick on the ground, it turns into a serpent, and Moses ran away.

Like, it's just funny to me.

I don't know why.

It's it's just funny to me, but the Lord says to Moses, hey, put out your hand and catch it by the tail.

So he puts out his hand, he catches it by the tail, and turns back into the staff.

He proceeds to tell Moses he he just this is the mercy of God, okay?

If you're reading anything into this, this is the grace of God on Moses' life.

Because Moses was a bit of like a headache for God at this point because he's like, Hey, I have this task for you.

Oh no, no, no, don't use me.

Okay, well, here's a stick, you throw it on the ground, there's a serpent, like, pick it up again.

Like, he's showing Moses, hey, it's all good.

I've got you.

Like he tells Moses to put his hand in his jacket and it comes out with like leprosy.

He's like, put it back in and it comes out clean.

It's like magic tricks with God, okay?

It's just this amazing moment.

But like the patience and the grace and the mercy that God shows him.

Like, you, you, God is being pretty generous here, I would say.

The amount of insecurity that you would have to have to not believe a burning bush that calls you by name in the middle of the wilderness is pretty insane.

But then God goes a step further and he turns a stick into a snake and gives him leprosy and then cleanses it within like seconds.

It's just this crazy moment.

But it's the mercy of God.

It's the grace of God.

And I think we're so hard on ourselves, we screw up once and we're like, man, I'm out.

We think, oh man, I missed it.

Then we begin to make these excuses and excuses, excuses, but the mercy of God just triumphs over all of that.

And the grace of God just trumps all that.

And he continues to say, Hey, no, I've got you.

I've got you.

And after all of this, we see again this crazy insecurity because he says, after the snake and after the leprosy, he says, But I can't speak in public.

God, I oh man, I'm so slow and I stutter, I fumble.

How am I supposed to go before Pharaoh when he wants to kill me?

How am I supposed to talk to this man?

How am I supposed to convince this man to let millions of free labor go away?

Use someone else.

See, Moses was focused on the lack.

He was focused on so much of what he lacked and that insecurity inside of him.

But God reminds him, he says, I love this.

He says, look to your left, look to your right.

Look at the people that I've placed in your life.

He brings up his brother Aaron.

Specifically says, Hey, Aaron is actually a good speaker.

What you're gonna do is you're going to, I'm going to speak to you, and you're gonna relay it to Aaron, and Aaron's gonna be the mouthpiece.

And it's like God had this all set up already.

He started to place people in Moses' life around him.

He says, look to your left, look to your right.

It's not about what you're bad at.

This person's good at that, so use this person, and you're gonna go together and you're gonna get this done.

And I want to say to you, look to your left, look to your right.

These are the people that God has placed in your life.

You're not here by accident.

You're not in this church by accident.

And that's really what church is about.

It's about walking with each other where we're weak and helping each other, where we're where we're you see someone's good in this area, like I'm weak in that area, I'm gonna hang out with that person.

And he's gonna see my blind spots, I'm gonna see his blind spots, we're gonna walk together through this.

And that's what church is about.

See, God had already set this up.

While Moses is wandering through the wilderness for 40 years, thinking, man, I've missed it, man, the call of God's just it's probably passed.

I messed it up, I screwed this up, I made a mistake, I ran away.

But then God comes and meets him.

And it's it's so crazy that he was already setting it all up.

He was already setting it all up.

Didn't matter about the mistake, he was already setting it all up.

And I don't know about you, maybe you're here this morning.

I want you to just close your eyes with me.

Maybe you're here this morning, and you know that God has a call on your life.

You know that God has a purpose for your life.

Maybe it was years ago.

Maybe it was last week when he spoke to you.

Maybe it was at a youth camp when you were 12.

But you know there's a call in your life.

But you feel like because of the mistakes that you've made, or maybe the excuses that you've made that it's disqualified you.

Maybe you feel like Moses, maybe you feel like you've been in a season where it's just dry.

God's not speaking to you, you haven't heard his voice, you don't feel his presence.

Maybe you feel like you're in a season of uh like a desert in your life.

Maybe you feel like you had a call of God in your life, but you missed it.

You feel like, man, I I missed it.

I waited too long, I made the excuses, I made the mistakes, I feel like it's passed over.

Maybe you've asked these questions.

Maybe as I've been talking about it, you've asked these questions like God.

Maybe you feel like, man, like who am I that God would want to use me?

Who am I that God would want to use me for anything?

All I see in myself is failure, all I see is, you know, what good could I do?

Maybe you've asked yourself, you know, what if I fail?

The fear of failure in your life.

You know, what if I just mess this whole thing up?

God, you don't want to use me.

Or what if I'm not enough?

But I'm here to remind you something very simple.

It's not about who you are, it's not about your failures, it's not about your mess ups, it's not about the excuses and the running lists that you probably have.

It's all about who's with you.

And you have to realize, like Moses, who is with you.

It's it's crazy to think about this, really.

When Jesus he was talking to his disciples, he's ready to go, and they had experienced God incarnate, God in flesh, miracle after miracle.

They were nobody's before they met Jesus.

Nobody knew who they were.

Their life was heading nowhere until they met Jesus, and they began to follow him, learn from him, see these crazy things happen.

And they thought, man, we're just gonna hang out with Jesus.

Like he's the guy to hang out with.

And Jesus says to them, it is actually better that I go.

It's actually an advantage to you if I'm not here.

And I believe in my heart that they were probably ticked.

Because how could it be better when we have you, Jesus?

Like we've seen some crazy things.

Jesus says, I am sending my Holy Spirit, and he will be with you, he will guide you.

We actually, it's crazy to think this too.

You know, God comes to Moses in a burning bush, and you're like, I wish I had an experience like that.

But I'm telling you that we actually have an advantage over Moses.

Where Moses couldn't even get close to God because he would die.

Where Jesus made a way for us to be in relationship with him, and not only just in relationship, that he would live in our heart and dwell among us and dwell inside of us, and not only just to live there, that the Holy Spirit would not just live inside of you for living's sake, but to guide you, to give you boldness, to give you the words, to say that you wouldn't know what to say, to give you the opportunity and to and and the way through an opportunity that you would never have an idea of what to do if you ever gave them that opportunity to give you wisdom in moments where you just don't know what to do, and the other people around you don't know what to do, and they wonder why, like you're so smart because you never went to school, but you have the Holy Spirit begin giving you wisdom.

And that's what he does.

He guides you, he gives you boldness, he helps you, he walks with you, he reminds you of scripture when you're feeling insecure.

He reminds you of what God said about you already.

He reminds you of how he sees you, his kids.

He cares about you.

You're not just a number, he knows you by name.

Where God gave Moses a staff and used that staff for amazing things, we have the literal Spirit of God living inside of us.

We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us.

We have 24-7 access to his Holy Spirit.

It doesn't matter where you are, what you're doing, you have access to God.

Isn't that incredible?

You don't have to go 40 years in the desert walking with sheep, waiting till a burning bush shows up in your face.

You can just say, you can just close your eyes when you're in the car, not when you're driving, okay?

I said, close your eyes when you're driving, you'll just no, don't do that.

But you could be sitting at your desk on a Monday morning.

Maybe you're overwhelmed.

Maybe the bills are piling up and you don't know what the answer is.

And you can go to God and say, God, I need your wisdom, I need your help on what to do.

I need your guidance.

And I'm telling you, maybe it's not like a snap of the finger moment where it just happens, but I'm telling you that if you begin to cultivate conversation, cultivate that presence, you go to him, and he's not gonna leave you high and dry.

We have his Holy Spirit walking with us.

Who is with you?

The I am, the creator of the universe, the one who breathed life into the bones of Adam, created everything with his voice, is living with you.

Man, that's something to celebrate about.

That's something to be encouraged about because you can walk out those doors and it doesn't matter what you're facing, he is with you.

The I am is with you.

The God who never fails is with you.

The God who is always faithful is with you.

The God who doesn't have a beginning.

He always was and he always will be is with you today.

Secondly, I want to remind you that it's not about what you lack, it's about what God has already placed in your hands.

God has given you gifts.

God has given each and every one a gift.

You like I said this before and I'll say it again.

The Holy Spirit never shows up without a gift.

So God has given you gifts, God has given you something.

And you might say, well, it's not much, it doesn't matter.

God could do a lot with a little.

This is just a small opportunity, it's not really gonna help.

And start thinking, how does God want to use this?

How can God use this for his glory?

What is in my hands?

What is

Already given me.

Who said, look to the left, look to the right, you have people around you.

That's what church is for.

The strengths of others walking together.

Who is the people that God has placed in your life?

Can I invite you just to stand for a moment?

Keep your eyes closed.

I'm almost done.

Just keep your eyes closed, and maybe maybe for you this morning, you don't even know what this is about.

Maybe you showed up this morning and you're like, I don't know who this Holy Spirit is that you're talking about.

I don't know this Jesus that you're talking about.

And maybe this morning God has been poking at your heart this morning.

And I don't I don't want to miss this opportunity.

I don't want to just walk away from this morning and not give an opportunity.

But if if that's you, if you're saying, hey, like, I've never experienced the love of God, I've never made that decision to follow Him.

I've never invited Jesus to come into my life.

I've never asked Him to save me.

I've never done that before.

And I want to give you this opportunity.

Again, no one's looking around.

Just put just pop your hand up real high.

I just want to know if you're here.

If you're not, it's all good.

Just pop your hand up real high just so I can see it.

Okay, I see that hand.

Thank you.

You can put it down.

See that hand, thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

If you've never made a decision to follow Christ and you want to meet Jesus today, you want him to be the salvation of your soul.

And you want to invite the Holy Spirit to come and dwell inside your heart this morning, to guide you, to help you, to walk with you.

I'm going to invite the church to just pray this prayer with me.

It's going to be a simple prayer.

Those who raise their hand, I just pray that now that you just receive this and just pray this along with me.

Father, Lord Jesus, come into my heart.

God, I know I'm a sinner.

I know I've made mistakes.

But God, I ask for your forgiveness.

I know what you did on the cross.

That you saved my soul.

You redeem my past.

You redeem my present.

And my future is bright.

Father, forgive me.

I invite your Holy Spirit today to live in my heart, to guide me, to walk with me, to help me to live holy.

In Jesus' name.

My life will never be the same.

Amen.

Hey, let's just give it up for those who prayed that prayer this morning.

Amazing.

I just want to, maybe we could just close with that song.

And just uh and just a moment of just responding this morning.

Maybe, again, you're in one of those places that we talked about, and you just you would say, Man, like I've I've been I've been doubting the call of my life.

I've been doubting the call of my life or the purpose of my life, and I've been giving excuses to God.

So right now, you can just close your eyes again, and I would say, just begin to lift your hands.

In this moment, we lift our hands to say, I surrender.

And this is the best posture we can have is I just surrender to you, God.

I surrender those excuses that I've had.

God, I surrender those maybe those even lies that you've told yourself that you're not good enough, that that that call of God has passed you by.

And I'm telling you this morning that if you just begin to surrender those things, God has grace, He has mercy, He has new mercies every single morning for you.

He has a call on your life, He has a purpose and a plan for you.

Whether it's big or small, it doesn't matter.

God has a purpose and a plan for you.

And this morning, I just want us to respond with uh this song and just begin to just lift up those things.

Maybe you've been, again, you've been doubting.

Maybe you feel like you've been passed by.

Maybe you feel like your time is up.

And I'm telling you, if you're still breathing, God still has something for you.

If you're still breathing, God still has a purpose for you.

If you're still breathing, God still has a plan for you.

And I'm telling you, if you're 12 years old today, God has a plan for you.

If you're seven years old today, God has a plan for you.

If you're 30 years old, God has a plan for you.

It doesn't matter if you're 80, God has a plan for you.

So I want to say this again.

Begin to just say whatever you need to say to God right now.

I want that you you have to do business with Him right now.

Whether it's just thank you, God, for the things that you're doing in my life, or God, I repent for the ways that I've been thinking.

But let's just begin to actually do some business with God this morning.

And you just need to say it out loud.

Lift your hands this morning.

Begin to res to let go of those excuses.

Let go of that false.

Those lies that would say you're not good enough.

God doesn't care about the false, He just wants your heart.

He wants a willing heart, and He'll do the rest.

Let's just worship this morning.