STRAIGHT LINE, CROOKED STICKS: God's Promises within Liminal Spaces

Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because

he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he

holds the future. because you live. The Resurrection

Life Sunday Sermon is brought to you by Resurrection

Life Church in Apex, North Carolina, a congregation

of the Presbyterian Church in America. Resurrection

Life Church is pastored by Dr. Mark Kadech. This

week, mark the beginning of a new chapter for

Resurrection Life as we move to Felton Grove

High School in Apex and Holly Springs. We also

began a new sermon series called Straight Line

Crooked Stakes. Pastor Mark will be looking at

a collection of Old Testament characters who

play a role in God's redemptive plan. Not major

players, more like supporting cast. And our first,

Balaam and his talking dog. All right, so Straight

Line. Crooked Sticks is our new sermon series,

and we're going to be starting where else? It's

the most obvious story, Numbers 22. I'm sure

you have all that chapter memorized out of the

Old Testament. And why not start with a guy named

Balaam, you know, and King Balak. And so please

turn to Numbers 22. We're going to read the whole

chapter. It's a really entertaining story. It's

actually one of my favorites from the Old Testament.

And for those of you who are smiling, you know

the story. And you know, kind of... Sort of like

how the ridiculousness of it, which we'll jump

into and explain later. If you have your Bibles,

it's verses one, the whole chapter is verses

one to 41. So it's a long chapter, but it's easy

to follow along. Even for the kids here this

morning, it's a narrative, right? So it's a story.

And so even if you're not reading along with

the words, try to pay attention to this story.

So Numbers 22. So it says this, then the people

of Israel set out and camped in the plains of

Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho. For those

of you who have no idea what that means or the

importance of that, we're going to dive into

that in our introduction. Verse one is important.

And Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel

had done to the Amorites. They just fought the

Amorites and they beat them. Israel did. And

Moab was in great dread of the people because

they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of

the people of Israel. And Moab said to the elders

of Midian, this horde will now lick up all that

is around us as the ox licks up the grass of

the field. So Balak, the son of Zippor, who was

king of Moab at the time, sent messengers to

Balaam, the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near

the river at the land of the people of Amah.

to call him, saying, behold, a people has come

to Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and

they are dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse

this people for me, since they are too mighty

for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them

and drive them from the land, for I know that

he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you

curse is cursed. Okay, so King Balak's like,

oh no, there's these people that are on the plains

of Moab. We gotta get rid of them. They've been

defeating people. And so let's get rid of them.

I'm gonna get this guy, Balaam, who's gonna curse

them. So the elders of Moab and the elders of

Midian departed with the fees of divination in

their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave

him Balak's message. And he said to them, lodge

here tonight and I will bring back word to you

as the Lord speaks to me. So the princes of Moab

stayed with Balaam and God came to Balaam and

said, who are these men with you? And Balaam

said to God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of

Moab, has sent to me saying, behold, a people

has come out of Egypt and it covers the face

of the earth. Now come curse them for me. Perhaps

I shall be able to fight against them and drive

them out. And God said to Balaam, you shall not

go with them. You shall not curse the people,

for they are blessed. So Balaam rose in the morning

and said to the princes of Balak, Go to your

own land, for the Lord has refused to let me

go with you. So the princes of Moab rose and

went to Balak and said, Balaam refuses to come

with us. Once again, Balak sent princes, more

in number and more honorable than these, and

they came to Balaam and said to him, Thus says

Balak, the son of Zippor, Let nothing hinder

you from coming to me, for I will surely do you

great honor, and whatever you say to me, I will

do. Come, curse this people for me. But Balaam

answered and said to the servants of Balak, though

Balak were to give me his house full of silver

and gold, I cannot go beyond the command of the

Lord my God to do less or more. So you too, please

stay here tonight that I may know more what the

Lord will say to me. And God came to Balaam at

night and said to him, if the men have come to

call you, rise and go with them, but only do

what I tell you. So Balaam rose in the morning

and settled his donkey and went with the princes

of Moab. But the Lord's anger was kindled because

he went. And the angel of the Lord took his stand

in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding

on the donkey and his two servants were with

him. And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord

standing in the road with a drawn sword in hand.

And the donkey turned aside out of the road and

went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey

to turn her into the road. Then the angel of

the Lord stood in a narrow path between vineyards

with a wall on either side. And when the donkey

saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against

the wall and pressed Balaam's foot against the

wall, and he struck her again. Then the angel

of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow

place where there was no way to turn either to

the right or to the left. And when the donkey

saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under

Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he

struck the donkey with his staff. And then the

Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she

said to Balaam, What have I done to you that

you have struck me these three times? And Balaam

said to the donkey, Wow, you can talk? No, that's

not what he says. Balaam said to the donkey,

because you have made a fool of me, I wish I

had a sword in my hand for then I would kill

you. And the donkey said to Balaam, am I not

your donkey on which you have ridden all your

life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat

you this way? And he said, no. Then the Lord

opened the eyes of Balaam. And he saw the angel

of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn

sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell

on his face. And the angel of the Lord said to

him, why have you struck your donkey these three

times? Behold, I've come out to oppose you because

your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw

me and turned aside before me these three times.

If she had not turned aside for me, surely just

now I would have killed you and let her live.

Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I

have sinned. for I did not know that you stood

in the road against me. Now, therefore, if it

is evil in your side, I will turn back. And the

angel of the Lord said to Balaam, go with the

men, but speak only the word that I tell you.

So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went

out to meet him in the city of Moab on the border

formed by Arnon at the extremity of the border.

And Balak said to Balaam, did I not send to you

to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I

not able to honor you? And Balaam said to Balak,

behold, I've come to you. Have I now any power

of my own to speak anything? The word that God

puts in my mouth, that must I speak. Then Balaam

went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Hazoth.

And Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep and sent

for Balaam and for the princes who were with

him. And in the morning Balak took Balaam and

brought him up to Bamath -Baal, and from there

he saw a fraction of the people. So far the reading

of God's word. Brothers and sisters in Jesus

Christ, the title of the sermon is God's Promises

Within Liminal Spaces. God's Promises Within

Liminal Spaces. I want to read for you two promises

that were given to Abraham many years before

this. Genesis 12 marks God's plan A of redemption

throughout the entire Old Testament fulfilled

ultimately in Jesus. Genesis 12 is the pivot

point in the Bible where before that humanity

is trying to find their own way and God says,

nope, it's going to be my way. And so he pulls

Abraham. He says this, I will make you a great

nation and I will bless you and make your name

great so that you will be a blessing. I will

bless those who bless you. And him who dishonors

you, I will curse. And in you, all the families

of the earth will be blessed. So there's a promise

of blessing right at the beginning of the call

of Abraham. And then there's also a promise just

a few chapters later of land. Genesis 17, eight

says this. And I will give to you and to your

offspring after you the land of your sojourners,

all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession,

and I will be their God. And so that's why the

first part of this title, this sermon, is God's

promises. They set the stage for all of redemptive

history. And then we have, well, within liminal

spaces. Well, what does liminal mean? Liminal

just means like door, like you're at the foot

of the door, like the threshold of a door, okay?

So you're in a place of transition. So Israel,

in our story, is at the very place that God promised

Abraham in Genesis 17. There's a lot of geopolitical

stuff going on in the chapters before this. Israel

defeats the Amorites, defeats different kings

in that region, one of them famously known as

Og. Unfortunate name that is, right? So you have

King Balak, who's in Moab, who's like, oh my

goodness, what are we going to do? This group

is on the doorstep of Canaan, and they're creating

all kinds of chaos. Who are these people? Where

did they come from? And so you have king of Moab,

all right? So Moab's further south here. But

you'll notice in Numbers 22, Israel is actually

resting, camping, right across from Jericho over

the river. And so you'll see Jericho in the green

there just above the Salt Sea. And that's because

the Amorites defeated Moab. So this is the Amorite

country now. But it's still known as the Plains

of Moab. And so they have this land that's there,

sort of like how things have, you know, we've

experienced some name changes recently with bodies

of water, right? So this is a similar kind of

deal. It's no longer Moab, but it remains called,

named, entitled the Plains of Moab, okay? So

that's where they are. And Balak doesn't like

them being there. Balak does not like them being

there. And he can say, hey, look, we can't beat

them physically. Doesn't look like we could beat

them physically. we're going to beat them another

way. We're going to beat them spiritually. And

so Numbers 22 really asks this question, will

God's people enter the promised land as a blessed

people? Will they get the promise of blessing

along with the land? We're going to unpack this

chapter with two main points. Attempts... to

thwart God's blessing. We're just going to look

at a few highlights from Numbers 22. There's

a lot to unpack. We're not going to unpack everything,

but we're going to unpack some of the main points

here. And then we're going to talk about, okay,

well, why this story? Why is this story recorded

in the Bible? And what does that have to do with

us today? So let's look at this first point then,

attempts to thwart God's blessing. Thwart is

another really cool word. Thwart can mean like

a crossway, like crossways, or against the grain.

So God's blessing, let me back this up here for

a second. God's blessing is intended for Israel

to be in this liminal space as a doorway to go

in. But now there's these plans to thwart God's

plan, to go against the grain. And so King Balak

wants to provide this curse. That's how he wants

to create this boundary. He wants to curse them

so that rather than them expand and advance,

they will revert and reduce. And so what does

he do? He hires Balaam. Now, Balaam is from Pether.

Balaam, son of Beor. And Balaam's actually a

big deal. Balaam was a famous prophet. Diviner,

actually, is his title. And we know that he's

famous partly because we have archaeological

evidence. Not only because we have scripture

in Numbers 22, but we actually have some architecture.

We have a finding in 1967 called the Dear Allah

Writings. And literally names Balaam, son of

Beor, seer of the gods. Seer is another word

for prophet in the Old Testament. So you could

have prophet, you could have seer. Diviner was

foul ball. You weren't supposed to be a diviner

if you were a prophet. But you could be a prophet,

you could be a seer. He's named here as a seer

of the gods. Some of the writings, it's called

the Diyar Allah writings, are just saturated

with, as Roy Gaines specifically writes, saturated

with polytheism. So he would have been... Mixing

with all kinds of religion, which is fascinating

because it literally says that he inquires of

the Lord, Yahweh. So he's using God's covenantal

name. So there's debate or whether, was this

guy like a monotheist eventually? We know from

these early writings that he was a polytheist,

but then maybe he converted. Like, who knows?

We just don't know. What we do know is that his

heart wasn't always in the right place. Anyway,

so he's from far away, 400 miles away. But it's

interesting to note, though, that if you look

at this map here, this red square rectangle here,

is that little red rectangle there? That's where

the findings of the writings are there. Tell,

dear Allah. That's where this archaeological

find was. Massively important, massively, just

a very important find. Balaam's name is associated

with the meaning devourer or destroyer of people.

So Balak is like, look, I'm going to hire out

this seer, this diviner, who's a destroyer of

people. And he's going to come in here and he's

going to curse. He's going to curse Israel. That's

the plan. And so we have Balak's first delegation

that's sent. Again, 400, some say 450 miles away.

It's a far journey. It takes at least probably

like three weeks to get there. So you have this

delegation party that goes there, and they find

Balaam. They're like, hey, Balaam, we want you

to come. We want you to curse these people over

there. It's getting some chaos. And he's like,

well, let me inquire of the Lord. And he does.

And the Lord says, don't go. They go, okay, I'm

not going to go. Three weeks, and then sometime

later, there's another delegation that sends.

So that delegation comes back. Three weeks travel,

right? Balaam's like, no, I'm not going to take

no for an answer. Sends another delegation out,

more money, more prestige, more princes. It's

a delegation that's pretty impressive, must have

been very impressive. So Balaam, again, he seeks

God's direction. And he says, verse 18, I could

not go beyond the command of the Lord my God

to do less or more. Now there's reason to suggest

that he's probably like, he's like saying this,

and it sounds good. But his heart isn't in the

right spot. Like it's almost as if he's eyeing

the honorarium saying like, I could go and maybe

I'll inquire again. You know what? I should inquire

again. And he does. And he inquires again. The

Lord's like, fine, go with them. And there's

some subtleties in the Hebrew that's interesting

that we won't get into now. But there's reasons

to suggest these subtle hints that Balaam's heart

is not in the right spot. He inquires again.

And the Lord says, go with them, fine. But don't

go with them for their purpose. It's almost as

if the Lord is saying to him, you can go with

them geographically. You can go, but just don't

go with them. Don't go with their motivation.

Don't go with their aspirations. Don't go with

their purposes. Because it feels kind of odd

when you read it. just naturally, where the Lord

says, don't go. Fine, go. I'm going to send an

angel to kill you a long way. I'm out of you.

It feels a little odd. But when you look at what

is happening here, we understand God knows our

hearts. And God knows Balaam's heart. And he

knows that he's leaving with the wrong motivation.

He knows, you know, there's that, like, let's

go the next morning. There's an urgency to him.

He's like, let's go. before the Lord changes

his mind again and tells me to stay because I

don't want this money. He even goes to inquire

again of the Lord. Yeah, maybe he'll change his

mind. So it's just some interesting, subtle nuances

to the text because what we do know is that in

2 Peter 2, 15 to 16, Peter writes this about

Balaam. Forsaking the right way, they have gone

astray. He's talking about false teachers. They

have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor.

who loved gain from wrongdoing. Who loved gain

from wrongdoing. He sees the gain, but is willing

to go against God's grain. It's interesting,

you know, we don't have a whole lot of time to

deal with this, but it's interesting to me that

you can obey God's orders or be permitted to

do something and still get it wrong. You can

come across like you're doing it right, but in

your heart you know you're doing it for the wrong

reasons. And I think there's just this wonderful

kind of warning challenge for us today to even

think, like, God wants our hearts in our obedience.

He doesn't want us to obey him just to obey him,

to chuck off a box of obedience. He wants our

hearts. He wants our hearts. Okay, so let's move

on here. Here we are with Balaam's travels, and

Balaam is on his donkey. She's been his donkey

for a long time, apparently his whole life. And

it's interesting, again, that Balaam is referred

to in the archaeological evidence as a seer,

right? And that he doesn't see a thing. He doesn't

see a thing. The thing he's supposed to be seeing,

he doesn't see it. All he sees is this. route

that's being changed by his donkey. He's getting

away. The donkey's stopping him from what is

to come. The honorarium, whatever it may be that

he has on his heart. And the Lord knows his motivation

isn't right, and so the donkey's like, oh no,

there's an angel flying with a sword over there,

and I don't know what an adversary looks like

in spiritual terms, but I imagine that's pretty

scary. And so the donkey moves away. The donkey

moves away, takes a sharp turn, scrapes his leg

along a wall, then he gets to a point where there's

nowhere to go, so the donkey sits on Balaam.

And Balaam's just like whacking the donkey. And

this is like this ridiculous moment, right? This

ridiculous scene where Balaam is underneath that

donkey trying to beat the donkey. And the donkey

meanwhile is like, what? I'm saving your life

here, pal. The donkey is saving his life from

impending doom. And in response, Balaam goes

and beats the donkey. That's like irony number

one. Irony number two, Balaam argues with the

donkey rather than expressing surprise by the

fact that the donkey can talk. Only two times

in the Bible does an animal talk, the serpent

in Genesis and then here in this passage. And

again, the irony that Balaam is a renowned seer

and he can't see the very thing that the Lord

has sent him. He meets with Balak finally, and

Balak props him up in different positions to

curse Israel. It's a fascinating kind of time.

Balaam recognizes that he's a sinner. He actually

says some really... Interesting words here. Again,

makes you wonder what is going on in Balaam's

heart. He says, I've sinned, for I did not know

that you stood on the road against me. Now, therefore,

if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.

He's willing to go back. So Balaam does some

things right. But the Lord says, no, no, no,

go. I'm going to prove my power through you.

I'm going to show you that I'm going to win this.

And when we look at chapters 23 and 24, which

we obviously didn't read, We see each time Balak

asks Balaam to prophesy, Balaam to curse, Balaam

can't do it. Over and over again, three different

times. And so we have three times the Lord stops

him and tries to get his attention. And then

three times Balaam gives this oracle towards

Israel. And each time, it's like Balaam's dealing

with a donkey. Dealing with a physical donkey

or dealing with Balak the donkey. Example number

one is Numbers 23, verse 8, where Balaam says

Numbers 23:8

this in this oracle, right? He's supposed to

curse. That's what he's getting paid for. Instead,

he says, how can I curse whom God has not cursed?

And how can I denounce whom the Lord has not

denounced? Then you have the second oracle in

chapter 23, verse 20. Part of it says this. Behold,

I received a command to bless. He has blessed,

and I cannot revoke it. Then the third oracle,

24, 9. Blessed are those who bless you, and cursed

are those who curse you. Sounds very similar

to Genesis 12, one language, right? God is using

Balaam to fulfill the promise to bless these

people in this liminal space before they go into

Canaan. Balaam doesn't just not cave to curse.

He can't curse. He can't do it. He could only

bless. Those are the words coming out of his

mouth. And so when we look at this really interesting,

somewhat bizarre story. There are some really

important things we could learn from this story.

We're going to go to part two here. Part two

asks these questions like, why this story? Why

this story here now? I think what's helpful for

us today is it says something very important

about who our God is. And it says something very

important about what we need to do. What we need

to do. Let's start with what it says about God.

We have to understand. that in Israel's history,

they are in a very precarious spot there on the

plains of Moab. And God reminds them through

this story, I am sovereign. I am sovereign. There's

like this cosmic battle going on in this chapter.

And whenever there's any attempt to thwart God's

plan, as we read through scripture, God shouts

back, I am sovereign here. I'm the king. Like

humanity's attempt to thwart God's plan of redemption

is something like this. Let's get the world's

most powerful prophet. Let's get all of our money

together. Let's find our finest dignitaries.

And let's plot out how to curse these people.

This is like a Tower of Babel moment, really.

Let's dream and scheme how we could stop this

God. And what happens? God wins. And he wins

every time. To thwart God's plan to bless his

people is laughable. And I think that's one of

the reasons why this story is so ridiculous.

It is laughable to go against God's plan. He's

too strong. He's too sovereign. He gave a promise

to bless and he gave a promise of land. He will

deliver because he is sovereign. This is no ordinary

God. No, this is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and

Jacob. This is the God who created all things.

This is the God who works through time and space.

This is no ordinary God. It's like this Andy

Mineo moment where God shouts back at King Bela,

like, you can't stop me. And if you get that

reference, that's awesome. For those of you who

don't, you need to listen to the song. Andy Mineo,

you can't stop me. It's great. You can't stop

God. You can't stop this God. Scripture is filled

with people who wanted to thwart God's plan.

Humanity built the Tower of Babel. Joseph's brother

selling Joseph into slavery. Pharaoh thinking

that he could actually stop. Israel from leaving

Egypt. Jonah trying to run away from God's plan.

King Herod killing all the baby boys in Bethlehem

when Jesus was born. Ultimately, the greatest

recorded story of humanity thwarting God's plan

of redemption is through Jesus Christ. Where

Judas has this Balaam moment where he betrays

the Son of God with 30 pieces of silver. And

then you have Peter who denies Jesus three times

before another animal sort of speaks. where the

rooster crows and reminds Peter that he's just

denied his Lord three times. The chief priests

and elders in Jesus' day, made up of God's people,

the leaders, tried to assassinate Jesus several

times before they actually succeeded. And then

other geopolitical involvement with Pontius Pilate

gave up Jesus to what? To appease the crowd,

save face, and restore his reputation. And then

people mock Jesus and then they spit on Jesus

and they're like, finally, we're going to get

rid of this guy. But even through all the attempts

to thwart God's promises to bless us prevails

because by cursing Jesus, we are blessed. Galatians

3 .13 says this, Christ redeemed us from the

curse, the curse of the law by becoming a curse

for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone

who is hanged on a tree. So then Christ Jesus,

the blessing of Abraham, might come to the Gentiles

so that we might receive the promised spirit

through faith. We tried to snuff the son of God

out, but through his death, we experienced forever

blessing. And just to be specific on what that

blessing is, what is that blessing? That blessing

is forgiveness. That through Jesus' curse on

the cross, he took that curse away from us. It's

the blessing of forever life. You know, the promise

that we get to live forever with our resurrected

Jesus in the new heaven and the new earth. As

Galatians 3 pointed out, that the promise of

being adopted into his family, even for Gentiles,

brought into the family, purely integrated to

make a whole new humanity under Christ. The promise

of the Holy Spirit to help us along this journey

of faith every step of the way. These are the

promises that we have been given and God is sure

to deliver. And that is, That brings us to kind

of our second point of application. A word for

us is this, to trust that God is sovereign. To

trust it inside your soul. Like Israel, we are

in a liminal space. Numbers 22 marks, just again,

a significant moment in their history. Just on

the doorstep of Canaan, the place of blessing.

And what is this liminal space about? It's about

how to live in that. The land across the river.

How do we live across the Jordan? Well, that's

what Deuteronomy is all about. There's a whole

book, and we focused on this whole book not that

long ago. This whole book where there's like

one big sermon. And God's saying, you want to

go beyond this liminal space? Well, this is how

you follow me. The plains of Moab was a place

of preparation, a place of transition. It was

a place to learn or relearn the law. That's what

Deuteronomy means, second law. They needed the

law to be repeated to them because if you want

to live out there, you've got to be present in

this liminal space to learn, to understand what

it means to follow Jesus before we go over there.

Folks, we are in such a place. Like Penny Road

Elementary, like Apex Middle, like Fulton Grove,

we are in a liminal space here. And you know

what the Lord asks of us today? Do you trust

in my sovereignty? Do you trust in my sovereignty

enough to deliver on my promises? I don't always

deliver on my promises. I know that. I try to

be very careful. I say to my kids, I promise

I'll do that. And then that comes back to haunt

me. There is now this, I must be a little lenient,

a little bit more lenient with Lily because every

time she asks me something and I say, well, maybe,

and she says, oh, well, maybe just means yes,

Dad. I'm like, oh, okay. Apparently I give in

eventually. How much more can we trust in God's

sovereignty to deliver on his promises to us?

He's the great, good, loving Father. And so while

we are in this liminal space, God begins our

journey with this reminder about himself. I am

sovereign. I'm sovereign over all geopolitical

issues. I am sovereign over all spiritual issues.

I am in control. I know what I'm doing, and I

know what I'm doing through you during this time

of transition, during this time of preparation

to learn how to follow Jesus. So we need to do

this as a church, as we think about this space,

as we think about this space being a place where,

hey, this is transitionary. We don't know how

long we're going to be here, but while we are

here, The Lord is preparing us for what's next.

Because we're always dealing with change. We're

always dealing with change. And there's always

such anxiety that happens often when there's

change. Some of you just changed jobs. Or you're

trying to change to a new career. Some of you

changing back to school. Entering into a new

grade. Some of you thinking, should I go back

to school? Some of you changing to a new house.

Or a new apartment. Some of you are changing

to the reality of having another child. Or having

young children. Or having even grandchildren

perhaps. Going to kindergarten for the first

time. All of us are going through transition.

All the time. Life is filled with liminal spaces.

We are constantly at a crossroads and thresholds.

And each time, so often, we miss out on what

the Lord is teaching us. And we can cling to

worry over trust. and anxiety over confidence.

The liminal places, these doorsteps of life,

folks, we often miss out on what the Lord is

preparing for us. And so let's start off strong,

shall we? Trusting in God's sovereignty. Do you

trust that he is sovereign as we, as you, enter

new places and spaces? Folks, he has us exactly

where he wants us. He has you exactly where he

wants you. He's active. He's alive. He's pushing

and prodding and preparing along the way. He's

aware. He's concerned for our well -being, for

your well -being. So let's use this time to grow,

to grow in depth as believers in Jesus, to grow

an understanding of how to live for Jesus, how

to love, love like Jesus. Let's not waste. Liminal

space. Let's not waste liminal space. Own it

as a way in which the Lord is reminding you and

me, the Lord shouting at us, I am sovereign.

And so as I wrap up, just to remind us, Jesus

has won. There's victory in Jesus. And God promises

to continue to bless us today. Even in this liminal

space, right here at Felton Grove High School,

this space does not belong to us. We are merely

on a doorstep and a threshold that we could enjoy.

We are in this place for a reason, for a season.

This space is our plains of Moab, time of preparation

and of obedience, a time of blessing to face

the future with confidence and comfort in our

Lord Jesus Christ. Let's trust, trust in God's

sovereignty throughout. Remembering the promise

that was given to Abraham, I will make you a

great nation and I will bless you and make your

name great. I will do it so that you will be

a blessing. This is like a guarantee. And so

we, folks, we are called to be a blessing. God

has blessed us for us to be a blessing. For us

to be a blessing of all the families of the earth,

it says in Genesis 12. So wherever that may find

you, wherever neighborhood you may find yourself.

The neighborhoods around this school, Felton

Grove, Feltonville, Windermere, Colvin, Hollybrook,

Briarwood Farms, Marion, Fair Oaks, Newberry

Park, Scotts Laurel, Pemberley, Arbor Creek,

Wood Creek, there's about 215 ,000 people in

a five -mile radius of this school. And many

of them are waiting. Many of them are waiting

to feel the promises, the blessings of our Lord.

This is a spiritual battle, but the Lord is sovereign.

And we can trust that he will deliver on his

promise to us as his blessing. In the name of

the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank

you for this opportunity to focus on this very

unique story of Numbers 22. Surprises, curveballs

along the way. Lord, what a great reminder, Lord,

as your people sat on the plains of Moab many

years ago and as there are all these things that

are swirling around them, plots to stop them,

plots to curse them. Lord, we are so thankful

that you always win. You always win. And we could

find comfort in that and confidence in that.

and so help us to trust that you know what you're

doing with us and that you will bless us while

we are in this this liminal space and that you

will bless us to be a blessing as we go and as

we seek to share the blessings and the promises

that you have given us through jesus christ to

others give us strength give us courage to do

so help us to be in this space to prepare prepare

for what's to come, to learn obedience, to learn

what it means to follow Jesus, to learn how to

love. Lord, do all these things through your

Holy Spirit. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.

You have been listening to the Resurrection Life

Sunday Sermon from Resurrection Life Church in

Apex, North Carolina. Resurrection Life is now

meeting at our new location in Felton Grove High

School off Stevenson Road, Apex, just outside

Holly Springs. Resurrection Life is pastored

by Dr. Mark Konech. Join us this Sunday morning

at 10 a .m. for worship in the new Felton Grove

High School Auditorium. And if you found this

podcast to be a blessing to you, share it with

a friend. And be sure to subscribe on Spotify,

Apple, or GoodPods so you don't miss next week's

Resurrection Life Sunday service. Because I know

just because he lives.