God Is Faithful: It’s Bigger Than You Think - Pastor Tyronne Gross Jr. | Midtown Elk Grove

My name is Tyrone, one of the pastors here, and I truly believe that you are here for a reason.

Um, this is not by accident, amen.

But this this is one of my my favorite Sundays of the year.

This is one of my favorite.

There's moments throughout the year that I look forward to, and this is one of those.

It's kind of like a reset and it just kind of gives a little bit more life.

Now, I I know you guys came in and you smelled the food and it smells good, so that's not the only reason why I'm excited about today.

Um, but the food does smell good and it's gonna taste good too, amen.

Can we give it up for everybody, uh our fellas out there that especially my brother Kevin, he's he's been on it.

Um but but another outside of the food and the barbecue, it's the community.

Um you guys have heard me say this before.

Um, we are a church for this community.

Whether they come to this church or not, like I truly believe we are called to serve the community.

We can invite them, but it's not for us to wait for them to come here.

You know, it's it's our opportunity to serve them.

So even when we say, like, hey, this is a community event, even if you don't come to service, you can come and be blessed.

You can still come connect.

And I truly believe that's who we are.

And that's one of the reasons why I love you all, and this is this um Sunday gets me excited, amen.

So, um, yeah, can you just give it up for yourself this morning?

That you woke up, amen.

Now, I I know it might have seemed a little a little odd, maybe you know, me walking out here with a backpack, but that there was there was a reason that I I carried this backpack when I came out here.

Um one was because you guys know this is the backpack giveaway school supply, and and that's absolutely amazing.

And if you had an opportunity to give, I just want to thank you for that.

But but the other reason is also our goal is to give everything out, and but if but we also are gonna be going to some of our schools and taking it to the schools.

You know, we service our schools, the foster um students that need backpacks.

This is something that we've been doing before we even started having services.

And so if you're someone here that is not in need, um, or you're not grabbing something for someone else, you still have an opportunity to give because over the next couple weeks we will be going by the schools to give out backpacks, amen.

And so, but but there's another reason why I grabbed this backpack today, because um in this backpack, um there's um pencils and um the essentials, notebooks, paper, all the things that a student needs to be successful for the school year, amen.

But but the backpack, it it also represents something a little bit bigger than this.

And that's for some, this backpack is gonna represent relief or hope or one less burden that they have to carry.

Because backpacks today are a little bit more expensive than when we grew up, and so this is a blessing to some.

So some some students are gonna be excited about receiving this backpack.

Amen.

But the the other thing is as I was preparing for today, and I was thinking about um, you know, the backpack giveaway and all those different things, and I felt God asked me, Tyrone, how many backpacks are you carrying?

And and at first it was just like, how many backpacks am I carrying?

But then it hit me.

It was not necessarily the backpacks, it's how many blessings am I carrying that I no longer recognize as a blessing?

How many things do we have today that we were praying for years ago?

Maybe you were praying for your family, you were praying for opportunity, you were praying for healing, you were praying for the doors to be opened, but somewhere along the journey, the blessing became ordinary.

The miracles just became a routine, or the answer prayer became another responsibility.

Maybe that's just me, but but I bring this up because if we're not careful, um, we'll spend so much time looking at what we don't have and we'll miss everything that God has done or God is doing.

Amen.

I think one of the greatest dangers in the Christian life isn't that God stops being faithful, it's that we stop recognizing his faithfulness.

See, maybe it's because God's faithfulness, we look at it too small, like, oh, his faithfulness is it's not a big deal.

We we reduced his faithfulness to just answered prayers or when life is going good.

So when life gets difficult, when when the answers that we're looking for don't come right away, or are the blessings, the things that we pray for, it's taking a little bit longer.

We start asking God, where are you?

God, what are you doing?

The title of the message this morning is God is Faithful, it's bigger than you think.

God is faithful, it's bigger than you think.

Now, over the last several weeks, we've been in this sermon series and we've been uh they're talking about who is God.

And we revealed and we've learned that God is Elohim, God is truth, God is provider, God is the great I am.

Um, just a few weeks ago, Pastor Susie stood right here and she talked about God is faithful.

She taught us that God keeps his promises, that his character never changes, and that he can always be trusted.

Amen.

Today is not the same message.

I believe today's message is the next step.

Because knowing God is faithful and recognizing his faithfulness aren't always the same thing.

If God is who we've been learning him to be, then we need to learn how to recognize him in every season of our lives.

So if you have your Bible, um, we're gonna be in Deuteronomy chapter 8 this morning.

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

Deuteronomy chapter 8.

Deuteronomy 8 · chapter mention

But before we read this, I want us to keep this thought in mind.

I want us to keep this thought in mind.

Um, God's faithfulness isn't measured by whether our circumstances change.

It's revealed in the fact that God's character never changes, amen.

And as we read this, um I don't want us to only pay attention to what the Israel went through.

I want us to pay attention to how God responds through each and every season, amen.

So, Deuteronomy 8, I'm gonna start reading at verse number one.

It reads, Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live in increase and may enter in the possessed the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

He humbled you, causing you to hunger, and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestor had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

Let us pray.

Father God, I want to thank you for this day.

Lord, I just ask you to use me, speak through me this morning.

Allow this message to touch the hearts of your people.

Allow everyone to grab hold of what they need from your word today.

Remove me out the way, Lord.

I just thank you for what you've done, what you're doing, Lord, and we just thank you for this moment.

We ask all these things in your mighty name we pray.

Amen.

Um, some some biblical background before we go a little bit further.

I want us to picture the moment that Israel is standing at the edge of everything God promised.

They're standing at the edge.

40 years they were wondering, they were learning, and they were depending on God, and now the promised land is right here.

The home that God had had told them about, it's right here.

Now, knowing that the promised land is right here, this should be Moses' victory speech.

This should be the moment he says, Go enjoy everything that God has prepared for you.

Like 40 years, it's right here.

Like that should have been the speech.

But instead, he says, Remember.

He says, remember.

Why does he say remember?

Because Moses understood something every one of us needs to understand.

The greatest danger wasn't the wilderness.

The greatest danger was forgetting God once they entered into the promised land.

See, in the wilderness, they knew that they needed God.

See, every morning they needed manna for the food that God gave day after day that came from heaven, right?

Every step required his direction, his presence.

God was there.

But the way God was about to provide was getting ready to change.

There was getting ready to be no more manna.

Now there was going to be crops and homes and harvests, opportunity, their own ability.

The way God provided was changing, but God wasn't.

God wasn't changing.

The way God provides changes, but the God who provides never does.

Amen?

That's what Moses wanted them to remember.

And I believe that's what God wants us to remember today.

So here's the question I want us to wrestle with this morning.

How do we become the kind of people who recognize God's faithfulness in every season of our lives?

Moses gives us three answers to this.

Answer number one is remember his faithfulness.

Remember his faithfulness.

Now, remembering it, it sounds easy.

It sounds simple.

Like, how could I forget what God has done for me?

Like, I could remember that.

Of course, right?

But when Moses says remember, he it he isn't saying, don't forget the facts.

He's saying don't forget what God has done.

Because without remembering, without remembering what God has done, if you forget it, uh you have to hold on to it because how you remember will determine how you trust God today in this moment.

Amen.

Verse 2 says, Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness.

Did you notice what Moses didn't say?

He doesn't say remember the wilderness.

He says, Remember the Lord who led you through the wilderness.

There's a difference.

Because if all you do is remember the pain, you'll miss the God who carried you through the pain.

Some of us remember the bad report, but we've forgotten the peace that God gave us.

See, we remember the heartbreak.

We remember, you know, but we we we don't remember the people that God sent us, you know, through that trouble.

We we remember the loss, but we've forgotten everything God has sustained.

Moses isn't asking Israel to remember events, he's asking them to remember God.

Because when you remember God, you begin to see your story differently.

When you remember God, you begin to see your story differently.

Let me ask you something.

What was the biggest prayer, you know, about five years ago that you asked God for?

Or maybe, maybe it was 10 years or 20 years.

What was the biggest thing that that kept you up at night?

Or that you that you just kept asking God to do for you?

What was it?

I want you to take a moment and think back to what that was.

And maybe, maybe it wasn't 10 years ago, maybe it was just last year.

Maybe it was last year.

You you know, at the beginning of the school year for a student, you know, you were you were praying uh to make sure that you like, I gotta pass these classes, or or if you for the athletes, maybe you were just like, I'm trying to make the team.

Or maybe you were saying, like, I'm trying to get connected to the right people.

I need some good people in my life.

Or maybe it was just, I need your help, Lord, to get through the situation that's taking place in my home.

Whether 10 years or 10 months, some of us are standing in something today that once that the something, some of us are standing in something today that we once asked God to deliver us through.

We're standing in that right now.

So let me ask you this question.

If God had showed you your life today, back when you prayed for it, would you say, Whoo, that's exactly what I asked for?

I'm gonna say it again.

If God showed you your life today, back when you were praying for that thing, would you be able to say, Lord, that is exactly what I wanted?

See, I wonder how many times that our prayers, you know, that we're living out these prayers, but we forgot to thank God for them.

Some of us were praying for our family or praying for a family.

Some of us start praying for a job, but now it's just like, oh, I can't stand the boss.

I can't stand these co-workers.

You know, some of us were playing for God just to make a way.

I'm gonna go back to this backpack.

Remember this backpack, right?

I said, this backpack, it represents um all the things a student would need, right?

To be successful.

All the essentials are in this backpack for the year, right?

Now, for my parents, you guys know where I'm gonna go with this.

Once the backpack's there, oh excited, I got me a new backpack, all these different things, right?

But then just give it a few weeks.

That backpack is, you know, just tossed on the floor.

Uh, it's left in the car.

It's what?

It's it's it's lost.

It's like, hold on, like, you need a new backpack.

You were so excited about this.

What do you mean?

Because what once was a blessing eventually becomes familiar.

And if we're not careful, we'll do the same thing with the blessings that God gives us.

It's amazing how quickly answered prayers become everyday life.

I'm gonna say that for the people in the back.

It's amazing how answered prayers become everyday life.

David, he understood this.

That's why in Psalms 103 he says, Praise the Lord my soul, and forget not all his habits.

See, David understood.

He he had to preach to himself, he had to encourage himself because he understood something about human nature.

We naturally remember pain.

We naturally remember pain, but we have to intentionally remember provision.

Nobody has to remind us of the hurt.

No one has to remind us about who wronged us.

We will hang on to that thing forever.

I remember what you did to me.

We don't need to be reminded about that, but we have to remind ourselves about the prayers God answers, the doors that he opened, the strength that he gave us, how he showed up.

Because remembrance is spiritual discipline.

See, the enemy doesn't always have to steal your blessing, he just has to get you to forget where it came from.

If he could get you to focus on everything else but what God did for you, you'll stop thanking God for what he's already done.

Instead of living in gratitude, you'll begin to live in frustration.

Not because God stopped being faithful, but because you stopped remembering.

That's why Moses tells Israel to remember before they enter into the promised land because if they forget what God did for them in the wilderness, they may stop recognizing Him once life gets better.

Prosperity, success, comfort aren't the problem.

Forgetfulness is the problem.

And prosperity without remembrance eventually produces pride.

So before we move on, I let me challenge you with this.

Before you ask God for another blessing, thank him for the last one.

Before you complain, I want you to remember.

Before you panic, I need you to remember.

Before you decide God has forgotten about you, Lord, where are you?

Remember.

Don't allow what's become familiar to make you forget what was once a miracle in your life.

Amen?

The more intentionally you remember, the more natural you recognize God's working in your life in this moment today, in this season.

The way God provides may change, but the God who provides never does.

But what happens?

What happens when the seasons don't change?

What happens when we we we stay in a season just a little bit longer than our own comfort?

What happens when the prayer that you prayed is taking too long?

You have not seen the answer, you have not got the breakthrough.

Can we still call God faithful?

Can we still call God faithful when we get the bad news?

Moses says absolutely, because God's faithfulness isn't only seen when he brings us through, it's also seen when he's doing while we're going through it.

Here's answer number two.

Recognize him in every season.

Recognize him in every season.

Verse 3 says, He humbled you, causing you to hunger, and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Your clothes did not wear out, your feet did not swell during these forty years.

Know then in your heart that a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him.

He humbled you, causing you to hunger, then feeding you with manna, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

I want us to notice something.

The wilderness wasn't proof that God had abandoned them.

It was the place where God was developing them.

God was developing them in the wilderness.

God could have taken Israel from Egypt straight into the promised land.

He's God.

He could have said, All right, we're gonna go from here to here.

So then if God can go from here to here, why the wilderness?

Why?

Was God lost?

God wasn't lost.

Was God late?

No.

Was God unfaithful?

Absolutely not.

God wasn't just leading Israel to a new place, He was using the journey to change them.

He was using the journey to change them.

See, sometimes we're so focused on where we're going that we miss what God is doing along the way.

We're so focused on where we're going that we lose focus on what God is doing along the way.

See, the wilderness was not just about the destination, it was about transformation.

God wasn't just trying to get Israel out of Egypt, He was trying to get Egypt out of Israel.

So let me ask you, what is God trying to get out of you?

Is it fear?

Is it control?

Is it pride?

Is it uh um bitterness?

Self-reliance.

What is God trying to remove out of you?

What is he trying to do right now in this season of your life?

What is he trying to stir up right now?

Saying, I need you to let go of this.

Because maybe the very thing that you're asking God to remove is the very thing that he's using to reshape you.

Maybe he's teaching you that your value isn't determined by athletes if you start.

Whether you get the invitation from, you know, so-so.

I didn't get invited to the party.

Whether um, whether people follow you on social media, whether they like you, whether someone approves of you, maybe he's teaching you that you can trust him even when you don't understand.

I think one of the greatest misunderstandings is believing that if God is faithful, he will always change our circumstances.

If God is faithful, he will always change what's happening.

But scripture, it teaches us something deeper.

God's faithfulness isn't proven by changing of circumstances.

It's proven by remaining the same in every circumstance.

See, the wilderness it changed, God didn't.

The provision changed, God didn't.

Their emotions and their understanding changed, but God didn't.

In 2 Timothy 2.13, it says, if we are faithless, he remains faithful because he cannot deny himself.

I love this verse.

Because it doesn't say God remains faithful because we have always been faithful.

It says he remains faithful because that's who he is.

Our confidence isn't built on our consistency.

Our confidence is built in his.

God is steady.

This is where I have seen God's faithfulness in my own life.

Most of you, if you've been here, you know my story.

Nine-year-old kid dreaming of an NFL.

Dreaming of it, right?

You know, I believe God placed that dream in my heart.

I truly do.

And God opened that door.

But blowing out my knee, that wasn't a part of the dream.

I didn't dream that.

I didn't see that happening.

And I remember sitting there with the knee injury, and I was and I'm just like, Lord, I wasn't thinking about what God was going to produce, do it.

I'm just sitting there like, what is going on?

This was not a part of the plan.

I'm thinking, if I'm being honest, I was thinking about all the things that I lost.

Money.

Status.

All this.

I'm thinking about all that.

And I'm saying, God, you aren't faithful.

God, where are you?

This was not.

Can I be honest?

That's how I felt.

But looking back now, I realized that God wasn't done right in my story.

I thought faithfulness was gonna look one way, but God was doing something bigger than I could even see.

He was doing something like this.

See, I prayed for the NFL and God answered it.

It happened.

It just didn't unfold the way I exactly planned it.

And after the NFL, guess what?

I'm praying.

I was like, Lord, I'm gonna wanna work a nine of five.

Man, I'm not saying nine and five is bad.

I'm saying, Lord, I don't want to work a nine of five.

That's not for me.

That's what I'm saying, Lord.

I don't want to do it.

God answered that too.

I just didn't understand that purpose was gonna require more than my comfort ever would.

I'm like, whoo, be careful what you ask for.

I'm already considered the nine of five sound good right now.

I can just turn it off.

We can just, I'm just saying.

As we're getting ready to celebrate five years of ministry this November, we can look back on some of the same things.

There's there's been seasons full of questions.

Even last year, this time, this service, moving from two services back to one, it did not seem like progress.

It was like, Lord, what are you doing?

It didn't seem like progress, but but I can see how God carried us through that season because God has been doing something here that I can't even explain.

Seeing people being healed, seeing marriages be restored, seeing young people be baptized.

We are more spiritually healthy right now than we can ever imagine because God has been faithful because He had a plan that we couldn't see.

It doesn't always go the way we want.

But he always moves the way we need, amen.

Maybe the problem isn't that God hasn't been faithful.

Maybe our expectations have become the filter through which we judge his faithfulness.

Don't allow expectation of what God should do blind you of what God is already doing.

Sometimes we decide faithfulness, sometimes we decide what faithfulness should look like.

You know, we decide like, you know what?

Faithfulness must mean I got that job, that I'm accepted, and everyone likes me.

That's God's faithful because everybody likes me.

The doors just keep open.

That's God is faithful because that door opened and I'm able to walk through it.

But what if God's faithfulness is all isn't always revealed in the in the things that we want?

What if his faithfulness is in the doors that he closed?

What if his faithfulness is in the people that he removes from your life?

Are we gonna be obedient and say, like, you know what, I need to go in this direction?

Or the strength that he gives us when things don't go our way?

What if God's answered the prayer and it's just not the picture that we painted?

Amen.

What if the opportunity came?

What if the opportunity came, but it brought a responsibility that we didn't even want.

Some of us prayed for kids.

And that's a lot at times.

We can be honest.

Some of us pray for a spouse.

My wife get on my nerves.

You know what I mean?

But God is faithful.

You know what I mean?

Like, I is she still in here?

See, she not.

Yeah, I'm gonna get in trouble later.

It's all good.

The way God provides may change, but the God who provides never does, amen.

In the wilderness there was manna.

In the promised land, there was the harvest.

Different provision, same provider.

Sometimes God provides through a miracle, a person, or an opportunity, but sometimes he closes a door that we've been trying to force open.

Sometimes he closes the doors that we've been trying to force open.

Sometimes God gives us abundance.

And sometimes he gives us just enough.

Different methods, same God.

Different methods, same God.

So instead of asking God, why haven't you changed my situation?

Maybe begin asking God, what are you trying to show me about yourself in this season?

Because every season reveals something about who God is.

The mountaintop reveals his generosity, the valley reveals his presence.

The waiting in the wilderness revealed his faithfulness.

Every season becomes another opportunity to know him more deeply.

So if remembering helps us recognize God's faithfulness and recognizing his faithfulness changes how we see in every season, then the final question is this how should we recognize God's faithfulness?

How does it change our lives?

How does God's faithfulness change our lives?

Answer number three is this live from his faithfulness.

Verse 7 says, For the land your God is bringing you into, a good land, a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills, a land with wheat and barley vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil, and honey.

A land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing, a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

Moses begins describing the land God promised them.

He begins describing it the streams, the wheat, the barley, the vines, the fig trees, um, the bread without scarcity, the homes, all these different things, everything he had they have been waiting for was finally right there.

Like I said at the beginning, this should cause for the celebration.

But God instead he gives a warning.

Verse 11 says, Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God.

Don't miss that.

God isn't saying, Be careful that you don't lose the land, be careful you don't lose your home.

No, he says, be careful that you don't lose sight of him.

Be careful because blessings have a way of making us forget the blesser.

We pray for the blessing, and then we become so busy managing the blessing that we spend less time with God.

I know that's not nobody in here.

We pray for the opportunity, and then we become too busy to thank him when he opens the door.

I'm guilty of it.

I'm guilty of it.

This is why Moses keeps saying, remember, remember, remember, verse 18.

Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability.

I want you to think about that.

I know everybody in here, you work very hard.

You work hard, you you sacrifice, you put in time.

But who gave you the strength?

Who gave you the strength?

Who gave you the mind?

Who gave you the opportunity?

Who put the right people in your life?

Who opened the doors that nobody else could open?

We need to understand even your ability is a gift.

So the goal isn't only to remember what God has done, the goal is to let his faithfulness change the way you live your life.

When you recognize that everything that you have comes from God, gratitude replaces entitlement.

Humility replaces pride, and worship replaces worry.

And here's something practical I want all of us to do this week.

I want us to write down three places where you can see God's faithfulness, one from your past, one in your present, and one thing and one area that you're still waiting on.

Remember what he has done, recognize what he's doing, and trust him when you cannot see it.

Amen.

It's also the strength he gives you while you wait.

There's power in the wait, there's learning in the wait.

The people that he placed in your life for a reason, what he's trying to build in you.

The door's closing to protect you.

But if you really want to know whether God is faithful, if you really want to know if he's faithful, don't start by looking at your circumstances.

We have to start looking at Jesus.

Don't look at your circumstances to determine if God has been faithful.

We have to look at Jesus.

The greatest evidence of God's faithfulness isn't the biggest answer to prayer in your life.

It's the greatest promise he kept.

It's the greatest promise we kept.

Because from the beginning, what happened?

God promised us a savior.

He promised us a savior generation after generation.

They waited.

Kings failed.

Prophets came.

People wondered.

Israel, they were unfaithful again and again.

But God never stopped being faithful.

Every promise, it pointed to Jesus.

Every sacrifice pointed to Jesus.

Every prophecy, it pointed to Jesus.

And on the day, one day, what happened?

God kept his promise.

He kept his word.

Jesus came.

Jesus came.

He took the weight of our sins.

For some of us, you know, church goers or we've been grew up in a church.

I think at times we take that for granted.

He took the weight of our sins.

So that we can be forgiven.

So that we can be restored back to God.

And giving us a new life.

A new life.

He died the death that each and every one of us deserve.

Do we understand that this flesh is wicked?

You know, we we fall short every single day.

We serve a perfect God.

And I want us to really understand what that means.

God is holy, God is perfect, and he cannot accept our sin.

So without Jesus, without Jesus, it's a wrap for us.

There's another place for us.

But because of Jesus, when we accept Jesus in our lives, when we accept him in our hearts, you know, when God looks down, he no longer sees Tyrone.

He no longer sees you.

His perfect son who died for you, who paid the price for your sins.

And because of that, we have a place with our Father.

And he rose again.

Amen.

So if you ever wonder whether God is faithful, don't start by looking at your life.

Start by looking at the cross.

Start by looking at the cross because the cross will forever settle the question.

It will always point you back to God's faithfulness.

I'm getting ready to close.

All summer we've been learning who God is.

Today my prayer is that we begin recognizing not only the miracles, not only the breakthroughs, but that we recognize and we and we pay attention to the ordinary moments.

That we're thankful for the for being blessed to see another day.

Life is short.

Comfortable in the uncomfortable way.

Because if God is who we've been learning him to be, then we need to learn to recognize him in every season of our lives.

But eventually the pencils are gonna wear down.

The notebooks will be filled with all the assignments, the folders are gonna wear out.

But there is one thing that will never, never, never will, and that is God's faithfulness.

So before you complain this week, remember, before you panic this week, remember, before you start wondering, God, where are you?

Look again and remember.

Don't allow your expectation of what God should do, blind you to what God is already doing in your life.

Everybody in this room, you are blessed, you are loved.

The way God provides may change, but the God who provides never will.

God is faithful, amen.