THROUGH the Valley // Good Shepherd Series (Part 3) // Pastor Drew

The Lord is my

shall not

lead me by

my fears are gone. Though I walk through

the valley

of the shadow of death, I know you are

with me, my father,

my friend.

Your goodness and mercy

will follow me all of my days.

I know by yourers

I'm safe.

Amen. Come on. Who's glad to be here

today?

Oh man, what an incredible I just I I

love what God's doing already here. Uh,

I I believe I just I believe that

there's steps of faith that the Lord has

that he is offering in this room. I

think we see that through the worship. I

think we see that through the word that

that Taylor gave. I love I love I hate

but I love getting placed in a po in in

a position where I go, "God, if you

don't show up, I don't know how this is

going to happen." because he always

shows up in just incredible incredible

ways. And uh we we've been we just had

if you're on our team, if you serve on a

team here, can I hear from you real

quick? Let me hear it. Let's go. We just

had a team night on uh on Friday. Here

we go. And this is our events team that

put it on and designed it all. Can we

get a hand for our events team?

We had a blast getting to highlight and

celebrate all the things that God is

doing and how he is using the multi the

collective of everybody's efforts to be

able to bring about a divine result. We

talked about how we are changing

eternity together. But we're in this

series called the good shepherd and

we're going through Psalm 23

uh as we are as we're preparing for

Easter. And I don't want us to forget as

we're preparing for Easter, I don't want

us to forget the the way that I believe

when you look at how Jesus prepares and

as how how he begins to prepare for what

he knows is coming on the crucifixion

and he begins this journey heading down

to Jerusalem from Galilee. He gets the

mount of transfiguration and then he

begins to head down through uh to to

Jerusalem and it's this beautiful

journey. But what I see is that more

than anything else, more than more than

kick fasting, he does fast. More than

praying, he does pray. But the thing

that I find that marks him most on his

journey is his mission. that he's

incredibly on mission and you see the

every conversation and he stirs up these

these moments with people and we see

that and I want to partner I want to

prepare for Easter in the same way

that's why we have our love into the

light keychain challenge and if you

haven't jumped into it we are three

weeks away this is a perfect opportunity

our love to the light keychain challenge

is our challenge for us to find someone

one person that I will pray for every

single day that they are far from the

Lord but close to me and that my I would

grow in the Lord's heart for this

person. Can we get the the love in the

light challenge uh keychain challenge

slide up? We got find someone who I can

pray for every single day who I can love

them intentionally. I am intentionally

givingever to them. I'm being

sacrificial. whatever it may be. I'm

buying them lunch. I'm buying them

coffee. And whatever it may be, I'm just

intentionally trying to love them and

then I can share my story. We got a few

weeks left to share your God's story

with them. Hey, my pastor said that I

had to do this before Easter. Uh would

you mind if I share a little bit about

just what God's done in my life? And you

don't have to agree with it or anything.

Just like he's making me stupid. is

ridiculous. I can't believe he's doing

this. Right? You can totally blame me.

But what I want for these people, I want

for our ones to find to to just

experience the deep deep love that Jesus

has for them

that can only be truly seen in certain

aspects through the body of Christ,

through his ambassadors.

And it is an honor because every single

one of us were someone's one at one

point.

every single one of us are standing in

the place that we stand because of the

prayers of someone else. So I want to

invite us to see that same mission that

we see in the life of Jesus as we

prepare and then our goal is to have

everybody walk in with a friend with

someone who is in need of the message of

Jesus which is all of us right but to to

walk in on Easter Sunday with a friend

that we can share in this testimony

together. when we do that. And if you

got questions on this, uh it was like

three weeks ago I shared a message that

got dives in deeper. You can go on to

collective omaha.comwatch

and see the love into the light message

there. But we're going to dive in

because we got a ton. I just I feel so

much faith for this service today, for

this message. Uh, if you guys can open

up, if you want to open up in your

Bibles, if you guys got your own Psalm

23 memorization challenge, and then

let's stand up. As we're beginning every

single Sunday, every single message in

this series, we are going to stand. We

are going to read the word of God

together. And uh, we as as we work on

memorizing

Psalm 23 together. Okay. So, let's pray.

Let's read this together. The Lord is my

shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me

lie down in green pastures. He leads me

beside still waters. He restores my

soul. He leads me in paths of

righteousness for his name's sake. Even

though I walk through the valley of the

shadow of death, I will fear no evil,

for you are with me. Your rod and your

staff, they comfort me. You prepare a

table before me. In the presence of my

enemies, you anoint my head with oil. My

cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow

me all the days of my life, and I shall

dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Amen. Amen. Come on, you can be seated.

The Lord is good. He's got good things.

We've talked about this uh this series.

We've talked about God is the good

shepherd and we are the not so great

sheep, right? Anybody relate to that? A

couple weeks ago, we talked about how

sheep to to be compared to a sheep is

not a compliment. Uh sheep are not

particularly smart. They are certainly

not self- sustaining. They are in

desperate need of a leader to be able to

lead them or they will die and or kill

themselves. It is terrible. And so, but

last week we talked about how when we

follow the leading of the good shepherd,

we experience green pastures and still

waters. And there's incredible blessing

in the presence of the Lord. Who can

attest to that? Seeing the blessing that

comes from following the Lord. Come on,

we got some witnesses in here. I love

it. And so it's so great to hear that

when I follow Jesus, life is so easy.

Nothing but green pastures and still

waters.

That cry right there. Yes, you got it. I

don't know whose baby that was, but that

was on Q. That is Yeah, thank you. There

you go. We got Santi coming over here.

Let's go. Making a show here. So here

here's the here here's the whole idea

though I believe that the great that

that how you can describe life walking

with the good shepherd as full of green

pastures and full of still waters. It is

also marked by the some of the deepest

darkest valleys because we are in a

world that is depraved, that is broken,

that is full of sin, that is full of

death.

And it does not the whole goal is not

follow me and your life is easy. That's

not what Jesus is saying. Otherwise, I'm

not following him. I'm following

comfort.

And so we see today what we're going to

be talking us about about is going

through the valley

where we begin in verses four and five

and he leads me beside still waters and

makes me lie down in green pastures.

then leads into this. Even though I walk

through the valley

of the shadow

of death,

I will fear no evil for you are with me.

Later verse five, it says right after

this, it says, "You prepare a table

before me in the presence of my

enemies."

These are these are the this is the I

got to hold with both hands my walk with

Christ. That some seasons are deeply

difficult valley seasons,

deeply dark night of the soul type of

seasons that are so hard where I feel

like I'm surrounded by enemies. Like I

feel I'm surrounded by obstacles that I

don't know how to get through. These are

the hardest seasons. And here's the

message I want us to walk through. I

want us to understand that in these

seasons, what this psalm attests to and

what many of us in this room can attest

to and I want all of us to be able to

stand on is that the Lord's presence is

our greatest hope in the hardest

seasons.

Sometimes

when I hear this,

when I go, I'm walking through the

valley of the shadow of death.

Someone responds with, "Oh, but God's

with you."

Sometimes it's like I think that what

what are you saying? I just got like

this this pillow to squeeze, right? Like

as I'm like, "That doesn't help me. I

don't What does that even mean? God is

with me in this. How do I walk through

this season? It's an incredibly Now, now

this is the the amazing thing about this

is if you look up this psalm, Psalm 23,

it actually

it reveals this this first thing that we

find in the presence of God because

there's special things not just not just

that I'm not alone, though having by my

side is infinitely insanely incredible.

But he actually provides certain things

as we walk through the deepest darkest

valley. He actually gives us some

things. And we see this first of all uh

there's a there's a poetic term called a

kayazm. If you're familiar with a

kayazm, it it is a it's where the poem

is kind of it peaks and then it returns

and it ties into its previous statements

that it has before. And it's this Psalm

23 is a kayazm. It's this it's this

beautiful artistic guys. There's so much

to dive into this. We're just scratching

the surface of the depth of Psalm 23 for

five weeks. We're just scratching the

surface. This is one of those things

that I wish we could dive into and talk

about how the first point talks about

God's dominion and satisfaction in him.

Second is his blessing and his

provision. Third is his peace and

shalom. Fourth is his uh he leads me in

paths of righteousness. That's his

protection.

Then we see even though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death, this

is his divine comfort. And you see that

correlated with your rod and your staff.

say, "Comfort me." And then, but it

peaks right here with this line. I will

fear no evil, for you are with me.

And what this means is that this is the

climactic point in the poem. This is not

one that continues to build up and has a

big climactic point right at the very

end and then summarizes it up with a

period, right? Like this is this is it.

This is the WHOLE POINT OF PSALM 23. I

will fear no evil

for you are with me.

This is one of the most just

extraordinary

revelations that we can have and we're

going to a lot of what we're talking

about is actually going to feed into

this. But this is also reveals the very

first thing that we see when we find in

the hardest seasons God's presence

provides a few things. The first thing

is God's presence provides a freedom

from fear. He removes all fear.

The presence of the shepherd.

We talked about this a little bit last

week. How sheep won't lie down

unless they have all these discomforts,

all these fears, all these issues

relieved.

And sometimes the most timid sheep will

never lie down unless they are within

their gate or

near the shepherd.

The shepherd, the presence of the

shepherd removes

all fear because I know if there's

something that I don't see, the shepherd

sees it. And he's got me. He's with me.

He's led me to great places before. and

he's going to continue to guide me in

this season as well. When we're talking

about the this whole idea of that God's

presence in the deep valley seasons that

God is with us and therefore I have no

fear

because I know that there's something on

the other side of the valley. Amen.

because I've seen him lead me before.

Maybe you haven't. If you're young and

you're walking through some of your

first hard seasons, this is the season

that you get to discover for some of the

first times how God walks you through

the valleys. Not just in the valley, but

through it. And you'll see his

faithfulness. This is why what we're

actually going to be talking In a couple

weeks for Easter, we're going to be

talking about death defeated. And we've

got this the the whole series. This is

what we're it's it's that there is hope

past the hopelessness.

There is light past the darkness. There

is a victory that happens even after the

greatest defeat of death comes. And what

does it look like to stand on the other

side of the valley? Is a big is is a

comparable way to be able to describe

what we're talking about in this series.

So, I want to encourage you guys if you

know of anybody that's like, man, they

could use this that they could see

where's the hope in their situation,

where's the hope in the plan that God

has for them, this is a season, this is

this Easter series is going to be

powerful and deeply impactful, I

believe, for many, many people. And I

believe that there's people in your life

that need this

and that they may not even be your one,

but you may be the person that gives

them the hope of the invitation into

something that that extends beyond their

current season and their current

reality.

So this is so when when we talk about

fear in the valley, the valley is it

it's this incredibly difficult place. In

fact, the word valley uh the Hebrew word

for this is it's not if we can get a

little nerdy. It's not just this like uh

can we can we pull up the title slide

the the through the valley slide. It's

it actually this is a valley but the

specific Hebrew word for this is not

something like this that's like this

lush let's set up towns in this

beautiful mountainous valley area but it

looks can we get the other valley

picture? This is actually a more

accurate picture of what this valley,

this deep chasm, ravine, thin, dark,

shadowy, full of caves on all sides.

Valley.

It this is the type of valley. The

specific word that it's referring to is

a is one that has dangers all around.

There are the the the types of fears and

problems are are uh like you got caves,

you got bandits, you got cougars, you

got all this stuff. But here's the

reality is that I don't have to fear any

of it.

Absolutely any of it.

Because I know the shepherd

is with me.

I want to I want to get deeper into this

in in just a little bit, but

but it's kind of like when I'm with my

kids

and suddenly something

scary happens. A dog's barking at them

and they're not so sure what the intent

of the dog is. Uh or I'm I'm out there

swimming in a pool and they're nervous

and they're like, I'm not sure. I don't

want to go out to the deep end. I don't

want to go. I I I'm nervous about what's

happening. And as soon as I get near

them or they will hide behind me or they

will come up close to me, it's like

suddenly the deep water's not scary

anymore, right?

Suddenly, my daughter is the most like

this out of anybody. She she is so like

frightened, AFRAID, SCARED. I CAN'T BE

LEFT ALONE. BUT IF MORGAN and I are just

near her, she is fearless. She is a

feisty firecracker, right? Like she is

ready to take on absolutely anything.

But man, the second that she thinks that

her mom or dad or that adult or a leader

is not near her, it's incredibly

frightening.

She has this fearlessness that we get

when we're with our good shepherd.

That is the that's the type of

fearlessness

that you get when my kids jump off of a

off of a a landing into the pool and

they would never do that on their own,

but their dad is waiting for them with

open arms.

It's this it's this beautiful place of

going, man, when I recognize the

presence of the shepherd, the fear just

leaves. It begins to subside and

disappear. So we see first of all, the

first thing that the Lord does is his in

in our hardest seasons, God's presence

removes fear.

Then the second is we see that he

strengthens through the journey. His

presence is more than just comfort. He

actually strengthens. And this is this

is that deep dark valley pit that is

incredibly hard, incredibly difficult.

But in our lives, I want us to

understand what a valley season is.

When King David says, "Even though I

walk through the valley of the shadow of

death," what he's not talking about is

he's not talking about, "Oh, my boss, he

just said this about I got this coworker

that talks against me or uh you don't

understand. I yesterday I stubbed my

toe, broke my nail, had a flat tire, and

ran out of gas on the way home, right?

Like this is the valley season for me.

No, that's not the valley season, right?

That's a bad day. I'll give it to you.

That's a hard day. That's no fun. The

deep dark valley seasons are those

seasons that you walk through the you go

these cliffs these things around me are

too high.

They're too big. They're too much.

I feel like if I get a glimpse of hope,

can we pull up that valley picture? That

deep valley picture. If I get a glimpse

of hope, if I see the sun at all, it's

like just for feels so short and then

I'm stuck in the shadows again. and I'm

stuck in the, "Oh man, I thought maybe

that would work out and it didn't." It's

the seasons of I just got that diagnosis

that I never thought I would or again

that I never thought I would have to

deal with. It's the seasons

of I've I have turmoil in my

relationships and the ones closest to me

and I don't know how to reconcile and

make right to this and it it breaks me.

It's the seasons of my marriage is

falling apart or my marriage did fall

apart and now I don't know what to do

with myself. It's the seasons of deep

depression. It's the seasons of I I have

I have no clue how I'm going to make it

and I have no clue how I made it last

month. I have no clue how I'm going to

make it this month. I have no

financially I'm just I'm stuck. I'm

strapped. I'm lost. I'm hope it's it's

it's beyond me. It's this deep dark

valley. And when I think about this,

I think about I think about what David

went through when he was writing, "Even

though I walk through the valley of the

shadow of death."

See, he's a shepherd that gets

valleys. He gets valley seasons. But

this is why I believe that this this had

to be read. This had to be written by

David a little bit later in life. It may

have been written by him when he was in

the valley season

when he was a shepherd boy.

And then he gets anointed and gets a

calling that he never asked for to

become king. He begins to serve in the

palace house. He served and he lived in

his father's house and then he gets to

serve in the king's house in the palace

until the king goes, "You are now my

enemy." And David who fought and

conquered and risked his life for this

king now is getting spears thrown at

him. He has to run away. He who lived in

his father's house in the king's house

now lives in a cave with with a whole

bunch of other people running because

either they're running from convictions,

they're running from debt collectors,

they're running whatever it may be, they

are no longer welcome in their hometown.

And he's with all these misfits, all

these problem makers, all these

troublemakers. And this is where he

finds himself in a place where

everything is lost. The one person that

the the worst person in the entire

kingdom, to hate you, wants him dead and

is literally hunting him.

Even though I walk through the valley of

the shadow of death, when I think about

what the valley season looks like, I'll

think about just last weekend, uh going

to the funeral of my uncle, my favorite

uncle, my dad's oldest brother. And when

I think about the valley of the shadow

of death, I think his what he went

through is very similar to what what I

look at is just unfair.

He is he was a professor at Nebraska

Christian College. Before that, he was a

professor at UNL who's voted multiple

times to be the student's favorite

professor. He taught English. He he was

a deep uh deep thinker. He was a deep

writer. He w and and he was a deeply

inspired evangelist. Everybody he talked

to, he had to share about this

incredible joy and hope and love that he

found. He would hike, he would run, he

would he would hike 14,000 foot

mountains. Not even joking. He'd hit

that peak probably 20 times a year. He

is just in it. He's one of the most

physically fit people I've ever met. He

would He runs minimum seven miles a day.

He is and just extraordinary. And then

he gets diagnosed with throat cancer

after not having smoking a day in his

life.

And what it does is at first they say,

"Hey, what we're going to have to do is

we're going to have to we're gonna have

to do partial partial removing of your

vocal cords."

He's a preacher at a small town for 24

years in Iowa of a small church that

ranged at its biggest about 40

to about five people

in this range. And he would preach

faithfully. And one of the first things

that this cancer did is it removed his

ability to project.

And he's stuck. this whisper and he

can't talk,

but he keeps on going. You would not

believe it. In this picture at the

right, you may not be able to see that

he's actually got in his throat the the

laryangetomy and he's he's at the top of

a mountain and they say, "You probably

won't be able to go for long walks, let

alone runs." And here he is at the top

of a mountain saying, "I'm it's not

going to stop me." He's this incredible

fighter. As it continues to go, it then

takes away his energy and he's not able

to run. It then takes away his uh his

his his disciplehip and he's not able to

communicate at all. And he meets with

all these people and he and he knows

that this is a disease. This is a cancer

that he is just trying to slow. He knows

where it's going. He knows exactly where

he and and never once I ever talked with

him, that I ever prayed with him. Never

once did he not carry this joy like he's

ready to shout

and he could barely speak. Many times he

can't. He just and he writes like this

with excitement and then he'd go home

and he'd sleep for 23 hours a day. And

he's going through this valley of this

shadow of death. And I don't know how he

does it. I do not believe that I carried

the strength within me that he carried

in this way. And he has everything being

stripped, ALL THE GOOD THINGS being

stripped away from him.

And he still carries this joy, still

carries this strength

even though he walks through the valley

of the shadow that is leading directly

towards death.

And modeled this in a way

that I don't even know if I can strive

to

just in an incredibly

humble,

joyfilled way, the spirit strengthened

him.

See, I find that the the hard times a

lot of times we think, man, my season is

really hard. Where's God?

And we ask these questions and the

reality is that hard times don't mean

God's absence. They unlock his presence.

It wasn't until he had all these he

says, "I feel like a robot. I'm just

stuck with all this stuff. I've got I

got ports. I got I got stuff in my my

for my feeding tube. I got stuff in my

throat. I got like all this stuff going

on. I'm always hooked up to something."

And it wasn't until that season that he

began this practice of 40 days in the

wilderness straight just spending time

with the Lord.

See, there's an unlocking of the

presence of God that happens. In fact,

this is why Psalm 34:18 says, "The Lord

Psalms 34:18

is near. He is most near to the

brokenhearted.

His

presence is so much more real

when I'm in the hardest season. Some of

the closest times I've ever felt with

the Lord are not in the pinnacle moments

when everything's going right and the

worship's hitting just right. Oh, I love

it. I love when that's happening. But

some of the times when I needed his

presence the most is when I felt it the

most. The times and for a year and a

half of depression and suicidal thoughts

and And I'm I'm laying I remember laying

in the middle of this nowhere and just

stuck in the snow and screaming at God.

And I didn't hear anything,

but he was there.

There's the times where I I I feel a

level of rejection and fear and attack

and he whispers to me, "I've been in

this pit with you.

I've been deeper in this than you yet

are, and I will walk you out of this

valley, too. It's those seasons

that I've never experienced the presence

of God quite like it. People in

persecuted countries, martyrs describe

and they write in their journals about

they almost crave

the next time that they get beaten for

their faith because

there's never a more a more nearer time

that they have with the Lord.

It's this deep

deep sense of his presence where he

strengthens us. And then we see number

three, he provides all peace and joy.

And he just, this is, this is where it's

crazy. It says, you prepare a table

before me in the presence of my enemies.

In the presence of my enemies. This is

crazy. There's no there's no I've left

the valley.

In the valley,

I dine with the Lord

in the presence

surrounded by opposition,

surrounded by enemies, in the midst of

your struggle, he has a blessing and a

provision for you. In the midst of it,

this is great because the thing I love

about this, if we can pull up uh pro

Psalm 23, four and five, if we can pull

up that slide. The mil the amazing thing

about this is that we don't see never do

you ever see a coinciding with eating

and fearfulness.

When you ever see an animal if if you

that that is chewing chomping on

something and then it gets afraid. What

does it do? First thing it does is drop

it and then it runs. Never in my life

have I ever been like, "Oh, I think

someone's following me. I could really

use a McRib right now." Never in my life

have I done that. Never in my life have

I been like, "Holy smokes, the doctor

just said what? Let's go grab ourselves

a chicken sandwich." Right? I don't.

That's not what it is. Because the whole

idea is I'm in this survival mode. I get

caught in this place. And so if I am

dining with the Lord and the presence of

my enemies, do you know what level of

fearlessness that takes? Do you know

what level of It's not just a removal of

fear. It's a presence of joy. It's a

presence of peace. It's a place where

I'm like I'm sitting here and I'm eating

and I'm like waving to those who are

trying to attack me over there. I don't

LIKE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. DO YOU KNOW

WHO'S WITH ME AT this table? Do you know

who backs me up? Do you know who goes

before me? Do you know who led me into

this valley and is going to walk me

right out of this valley? I don't have

anything to fear.

is this place of peace and of joy. And I

I can't even I can't even describe how

good it is that the presence of God,

what he brings in these hard times. You

prepare a table before me in the

presence of my enemies.

And then we see

we see lastly it said that that in the

hardest seasons God's presence removes

fear strengthens us provides peace and

joy and saves us. Remember

this says

yay though I walk through the valley of

the shadow of death. The hardest,

darkest seasons are never forever.

Even for Uncle Bob, Dr. Bob,

his His season did not end in defeat.

Our seasons are about walking through

these valleys. God. Here, here's one of

the most

it's difficult theology

to believe that God heals, to believe

that God saves, to believe that God

rescues. Because I'll tell you, it's a

lot easier. It's so much easier to just

say, "He doesn't do that anymore." That

was kind of his thing in in when Jesus

was walking around and to initiate his

church. It was a lot that was kind of

what he did back then. He doesn't really

do that anymore. Don't hope for it.

Don't wait. Just like let him strengthen

you. But here's the crazy thing. I live

I have I I have I I live with the

blessing of carrying my daughter because

of the miracles of Christ. I live with

the blessing of my own life because of

the miracles of Christ. There are those

in this room that are only here that

your heart is beating only because of

the miracles of Christ. He does rescue

us. And I will cling to that and I will

ask for that AND I WILL SAY LORD PLEASE

SAVE ME DIVINELY rescue me out of this

deep dark valley. And I believe I

believe counseling is so important. I

believe that that therapy is so

valuable. I believe all this stuff. BUT

MAN, SOMETIMES A couple minutes of deep

prayer with the Lord can absolutely

change it all. I I believe this in the

deepest part of my being because I've

seen it. I've experienced this. He saves

us.

So what that means

is my revelation of his salvation

only comes within the context of the

dark valleys.

Salvation means to save.

I have no idea of what salvation means

if I don't have an idea of what it means

to be in desperate need of being saved,

of being lost, of being stuck in a place

that's beyond me, that's bigger than me,

that I can't get out of on my own. This

is why we cannot view, do not mistake

hard seasons for bad seasons.

Romans 8:28 says, "We know that in all

Romans 8:28

things, God works for the good of those

who love him, who have been called

according to his purpose."

This is what I want us to know as we

stand up in here. I want us to stand up,

stand in faith, stand on the Lord.

Here's what I want us to know. Salvation

is not found only once you've got out of

the valley. Salvation is not provision

isn't given only on the mountain top.

It's right where you are.

It's right where you are. In fact, if

you look at the at a picture of a

valley, can we pull that up one more

time? The deep valley, the deep ravine,

where is the life in this picture?

We see it. The only green you can see is

right at the base. Things don't grow on

the mountain tops.

We grow in the valley seasons. We get to

know the Lord in the valley seasons. We

love the mountain peaks, but that's not

where I find I'm growing. And so after

that, he may be leading me through

another valley, another hard thing. It's

crazy because shepherds would do this

every single year. They'd take their

flock out of the pasture that they're

used to and they'd say, "We're going to

walk up in the heat of the summer. We're

going to begin to so that we avoid that

with all your thick wool. We're going to

walk up." And for weeks,

sometimes months on end, they would walk

up into these mountainous areas where

it's full of fresh, lush pastures.

But the only way you get to the mountain

top is not by climbing the cliffs. You

must walk through the valleys. The

valleys are the path that leads you

right there if you want to get there.

There's no mountain without a valley.

There's no mountaintop experience

without a valley. There's no salvation

without a need to be saved. We must walk

through the valley. at CNN at the

conference Tay was just talking about.

I'm gonna steal the line from JJ and and

tweak it a little bit for this. It's not

in the valley. It's not first the valley

then the promise. It's in the valley

there is the promise. In the valley and

the promise and I can live on that right

here. There is a sustenance that he

wants to give you. You may say, "But I'm

surrounded by my enemies. You don't

understand. hard it is. You didn't

understand this valley season that I'm

in. Even though I walk through the

valley of the shadow of death, I fear no

evil. You've prepared a table before me.

You have a banquet in front of me. Even

though I'm surrounded by my enemies,

this is where I'm going to stand. Can we

pull up I want to pull up the kayasm one

more time. The poem. If you are a

grammar, if you're a grammar geek, this

poem, this song may bother you,

but if you notice, it's very intentional

because it speaks in two different

persons.

He makes me lie down.

He over there restores my soul. He over

there leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake. At the peak of it,

we shift into the first person. I get to

know Christ in the valley season. Even

though I walk through the valley, I know

you are with me. And then it begins to

transition. NOW I KNOW THE LORD. I FEAR

no evil because he it's not just this

aloof creator that I got to heard about

hear about my whole LIFE GROWING UP. NOW

I KNOW YOU and I speak with you. And

it's this deep intimate relationship

that only comes because I walked through

the valley of the shadow of death and

found out that that is exactly where he

was found.

That is exactly where I find him.

This is why Psalm 27:1 David writes

Psalms 27:1

later in a different poem. He says, "The

Lord is my light and my salvation. Who

should I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life.

Who should I be afraid of?

See, the presence of the shepherd

completely removes all fear.

And I want to take this second here

because it's in the valley that we that

we meet Jesus. Jesus himself walked

through the valley. In fact, if you look

at

a map

of where Jesus was on the night that he

was betrayed, and he's on this mountain,

Mount of Olives in what's called the

Garden of Gethsemane. And what he he got

arrested and you'll never guess where

they led him through a valley.

They led him through the kindred valley

and that became their pathway to lead

him to his trials

into his crucifixion.

Jesus knows the valley.

Jesus is in the valley. He's deeper in

the pit than you've ever been. And

that's not comparison thing. That's a

freeing thing. He says, "I will walk you

out of this valley.

There is a hope and a salvation found

even in the valley."

So what I want to ask I want to ask

right here I just I believe that if

we're going to be a part of have real

connection with God real relationship

with others and real impact in the world

and it's going to take some real people

which demands authenticity

and vulnerability

and so that means what how how we

express that here is I want to offer an

opportunity right now

whether you feel like you're walking

through the darkest valley or the

easiest or or you're like, "Ah, it's not

that it feels hard for me, but it's

probably not that hard. It's not it's

not your uncle's story. It's not the

story that I heard over here." But you

may say, "This is this is a valley." If

you're walking in a valley season, could

could I just have you throw your hand up

real quick? Come on, I see it. Come on,

keep your hand up. Keep your hand up.

You're not alone. Come on. I see it. I

see you. You're not alone. Can we our

prayer team. Keep them up. Keep them up.

Prayer team, can we start and get our

leaders? If you're a team lead or a

point person, can you gather around some

of these people? And I want to make sure

that we can get people praying over. You

are not alone. Keep your hand up. Keep

your hand up. This is vulnerability.

This is where victory comes. This is

where it comes. Come on, everybody.

Gather around. Yes. Come on. Keep it

going. And then if you're around them

and you got a prayer to lead all the way

over there, you can put a hand on their

shoulder. You can pray for them. I want

to encourage you. And I want to pray

right now that we would see, can we get

the four points up right now? I want to

pray, begin to pray these things that

God's presence would be felt, that we

would see that all fear is removed in

the mighty name of Jesus. We I believe

that in this valley, Lord, you will

remove fear. It is not the end. It is

not hopeless. It is not a broken

situation. Lord, it's an opportunity for

your restoration in the mighty name of

Jesus. Lord, I pray for those who are

walking

in a place that they cannot walk

themselves. It is too big. It is too

hard. Would you strengthen? Would their

weakness become your strength? Father

God, I pray that in this place as they

are surrounded by enemies, as they're

surrounded by fear, Lord, would they

find peace? Would they find joy? Would

they find sustenance? Would they find

that you have already prepared a

blessing for them right there? Father

God, I do pray. I pray, Father God,

would you save? I I declare miracles in

this place right now. I declare miracles

in this place, Lord. I pray that there

would be a divine healing hand in this

room. Lord, break off depression. Break

off sickness. There is no cancer that is

greater than your name. And so we

declare the name of Jesus over here over

the diagnosis,

over the chronic issues, over the

relationships that are broken. Lord, I

pray would you save us? Would you bring

about a salvation and a healing and a

divine revelation of your spirit?

Holy Spirit, we ask for you. We ask for

you to do what we cannot and walk us and

lead us through this valley.

Hallelujah.

Just keep praying. Just keep praying.

Just keep praying. God's moving right

here. Keep it going.

This is not a time to rush through.

This is not a time

to try to put walls up.

This is a moment of brokenness. This is

a moment of value. This is the moment of

vulnerability. This is the moment when

God draws near

to your broken heart. And I can't

pretend that it's all put together and

hope that I get that nearness. No, it's

the cracks that he fills.

Heavenly Father, I pray your presence

over each person in this room. Heavenly

Father, I pray your grace over every

valley season.

Lord, that we may look ahead and we may

see that this valley is not forever. We

may look ahead and we may see that

you've got a mountain ahead, but you've

got provision. You got blessing right

here. You've got an answer right now.

Mighty God, would you please? Would you

please

I want to before we close out here, I

want to say

I just want to take just a second here.

There is R. Russ came up to me and I

want to honor your guys' time. Uh, and

so what I want to do is I want to

provide an opportunity for you. Russ,

the Lord put a word on his heart and

it's this testimony of trusting God in

the deeper waters. I believe that

there's people in this room that that

word is for. I believe that there's

those of you in this room who God's

saying, "Come on. I want you to go all

in with me." Whether you're in the

valley season or whether that doesn't

even relate to where you're at right

now. And he's saying, "Come. Come on.

Don't just dip your toe in the water. Go

all in." He's got a testimony. Russ has

got a testimony for this. If that's you,

would you meet Russ at the prayer

banner? Don't miss it. I believe he's

got a blessing for a few people in this

room that he's got through his

testimony, through what God's worked in

him. I believe his word is for some of

you in this room. Find him over there as

we get ready to praise the Lord and step

out living in the blessing even in the

valley. Amen. Can we give a hand for the

word of the Lord? Amen. Come on.

>> Thanks so much for watching today's

message. Our prayer is more than the

words that were spoken in the message

that you would remember the things that

God spoke to your heart.

>> Yeah. And no matter what it was that God

spoke to you, I know that part of your

journey is other people being in a

community because we are better

together. So if you made a decision to

follow Jesus today, would you click the

link below and fill out the form? This

is going to help us so that we can

celebrate with you and equip you with

some tools so that your next steps are

great steps.

>> Yeah. Thanks so much for watching. We're

praying for you. We're cheering you on.

We believe that the best days are ahead

of you.