The Substance of Things Hoped For

Well, today we're gonna dive into something a little different.

The substance of things hope for.

We talk about faith, when we talk about life, when we talk about the church, you know, life can be hard, not always dramatically, but often quietly and persistently.

You ever felt that?

You ever felt like if it's not one thing, it's another thing?

You ever felt that?

Um sometimes when it rains, it's pours, you know, days run together, work feels repetitive, prayers seem unanswered, hope feels distant.

And we're gonna be looking at a few chapters today and a few verses and a few different books, and we're gonna go to the book of Ecclesiastes today, who, which was written by King Solomon, and uh Solomon was the wisest.

It was David's son, if you remember David.

David's son, Solomon.

And uh Solomon was wise, he had everything you could ever want.

And he writes this book of Ecclesiastes, and if you've never read the book of Ecclesiastes, I challenge you to go home and do it because it's a really good book.

I really enjoy reading Ecclesiastes.

And he really talks about life and his time on this earth and everything else.

And it's in this passage that we understand that he speaks on, you know, the vanities of vanities.

All is vanity, all is uh, all is the same.

And when we talk about our worth in this life, and we talk about everything we go through and all of our struggles, and and we talk about all these different things that we carry in here, because if we're honest with each other, we're all carrying something in a different capacity in some different way.

And I think if we're really honest, we would say there's days that we just look at ourselves and say, why am I even doing this?

You ever been there?

You ever been there?

I've been there, and I think a lot of people have been there.

Today, I want to speak to you something the Lord's really laid up on my heart this past week, and I want to talk to you about what faith really is.

The substance of things hope for.

What is faith?

What is I want you to be challenged today by understanding what is your faith and what does it actually mean to say that I have faith.

Faith.

Faith is a verb, it is not something we say, it is in a way we live, it is an action, it is how we move, despite circumstances, despite what's around us, despite what people are saying, despite what people are thinking, faith is what will define who we are and how we operate as Christians.

No ands if or buts about it.

Your faith.

So let's jump into it.

If you go to Hebrews 11 and 1, we all know this verse pretty well, I think.

It says it like this.

Now, faith is confidence in what we hope for, and assurance about what we do not see.

Now, isn't this an intriguing verse?

You've heard it your whole life.

But when we really think about it, now faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see.

It is the substance of what we hope for and the assurance of what we do not see.

My friends, I think there's been many times in my life when we talk about what is faith in our life and and how we we walk through it.

Um faith does not pretend that the hardness isn't there.

It is the solid present reality of what we hope for even when we cannot see it.

So here's the thing.

I have faith this morning.

I have faith that God is good, I have faith that God is gracious, I have faith that God will meet me in my circumstances.

However, in that faith, there are answers that I still have not seen in my life yet.

Does that make sense?

I believe he's going to come through.

I believe he's going to make a way, I believe he's going to provide.

But also in that, there are situations that are still unfolding in our lives that we are having to hang and trust and hope for God to move in.

Everybody understand that.

You don't know the full story.

I don't know the full story.

I am just probably in the middle of the story of life.

You don't know how many days you have, you don't know how many days are numbered.

You don't know when you'll take your last breath.

Okay, but you didn't know the day you would be born either, did you?

You had no idea.

Who does?

The author of your life who is writing your story, and the only thing that you have in this life will be your faith.

That's it.

Faith.

And the question is not whether you have faith, the question is, what do you have faith in?

That's the question.

Where's your faith?

Where is that verb actually moving?

And where is it leading you?

And how is it leading you?

Because if your faith is in anything else other than Christ, you are be led, you are being led in a direction that was not intended by the author of your life.

You understand that?

That's why we have to stay close to the Lord.

That's why we have to stay close to God.

Faith is not the absence of questions.

I have a million of them, church.

I have a lot of questions in my life.

It is the presence of substance when answers are still invisible.

And the question that I have for you today, the question that I have for you is what is the substance that you're leaning on for the things you're hoping for?

That's the question.

What is the substance that you're leaning into for the things that you're hoping for in your life?

And the things that you're hoping for in your life, is that actually what God even wants for you?

Because I feel a lot of times what we're about to get into, we call ourselves the things that God never actually called us to.

Because we were hoping for things in our life that we thought would fulfill us.

And now we called ourselves and relied our faith in a substance that has brought us to a place where we actually thought we were hoping to get to, and now we're here and we don't know if this is what we were really meant for at all.

Whew.

That's a heavy place, isn't it?

That's a heavy place.

Faith does not pretend the hardness isn't there.

Faith says, I am longing to believe in something that I believe is going to bring me to a place that I've always hoped for.

See, the teacher in Ecclesiastes is honest about life under the sun.

He says it like this What has been will be again.

What has been done will be done again.

There is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2 and 11 says, Yet when I surveyed Solomon speaking, all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless.

A chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun.

That's really motivational, isn't it?

This is what Solomon's saying.

He says it like this generations come and go, the sun rises and set.

Much of what we chase feels like chasing after the wind.

It's like sin in our hands that just slips through our fingertips.

All these things that we're doing and all these things we call ourselves to.

Is it really what God designed you and I to do?

Where's our faith?

Where's our action?

Where are we moving toward?

Says it like this in Ecclesiastes 3 and 11.

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Somebody say everything.

Everything.

He's made everything beautiful in its time.

He also set eternity in the human heart.

I want you to think about this, man.

I want you to think about this this morning and where we're going and what we're talking about because this is so big.

He has set it in your heart.

Even if your heartbeat spiritually is on life support, he has set it in your heart to keep you reminding that there is something that you're hoping for that you don't even realize, but he is the creator.

And if you could move, if you could move yourself closer to him, if you would draw into him, you would understand who he is and what he is and what he wants to do in your life.

And all these things, all these things that we've tried to fill our life up with, all these things in the world that the world keeps telling us this is new and this is great and this is better, all these different opinions that we try to eat and try to feed our soul with and say, This will fill me up.

Let me tell you, there's only one that's going to satisfy your soul.

There's only one that's going to fill up your days from left to right, and it's going to be the one that has set eternity into your heart.

And you can't lie about that because you know it's true.

You know there is a longing in your heart for something greater.

And that something greater is the one that created you.

Yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to the end.

The teacher does not leave us in despair, though.

Simple gifts of life are from the hands of God.

And he says it this he says, I know there's nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.

That's a whole verse that I could break down for a whole sermon on another day.

He says it like this that each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all of their toll.

This is the gift of God.

This is a gift of God.

I think sometimes we are way too busy.

I'm gonna preach to myself for a moment.

Okay?

Because I'm I'm number one in this.

Alright?

This is pure conviction coming from me to you.

There are times that we are way too busy.

That we never allow the creator to actually speak when he wants to speak.

What we do is we create time slots.

And we say, God, in this time slot, I'll be available for you.

In this time slot, I'll write my sermon this week.

In this time slot, I'll study this week.

In this time slot, I'll read my Bible this week.

In this time slot, I'll pray this week.

And oftentimes I can become the biggest hypocrite because when I tell you to be on God's time and not your own time, I can find myself doing the same thing, telling God, you're on my time.

This is my week.

This is my schedule.

I got four kids.

I'm doing this, this, and this.

I got a lot to do.

So-and-so needs me.

I'll get back to you at 8 p.m.

tonight.

And they're in these moments that the Bible tells us, wait, to eat and drink and to find satisfaction in their toll?

Let me ask you a question.

How many of you can honestly say that you're finding satisfaction in what you're doing every day?

Just asking a question.

How many of us can actually say that we're finding satisfaction in our toll?

And then we have to ask the question and actually do some soul searching and ask, is this what God actually called us to?

Is it what God's calling us to?

And you know what?

There's seasons where yes, it is what God's calling you to, but it's not an easy season.

But what I find oftentimes in those seasons scripturally, when he tells us to eat and drink, I can find myself, I don't want to do that.

I don't want to be around anybody, I don't want to eat with anybody, I don't want to hang out with anybody because I'm not finding satisfaction in my life altogether in this moment and season of life.

That's hard.

We have to step up and then start to unravel something.

Let me ask you this.

Let me ask you this.

And then we'll get on with the scriptures.

Not you, not the polished you, not the not the you that walks through the door and hey, how are you?

Good, everything's good.

Not that.

This you if your soul was an actual visible city, what would your city look like?

Think about that.

I want you to think about that this morning.

If I was to visit the city of your soul, would it be a place of joy and sunshine and everybody was in harmony?

Or would it have like smog like crazy and it would just be a place that was super polluted?

I think a lot of times what happens is we don't realize that everything that's going on in our life, we don't actually question anything.

We're just doing.

And then we're left here sitting, wondering, God, where are you?

God, what am I supposed to do?

You seem so distant, you seem so far away from me.

And we forgot that this life was a gift from God.

This life was a gift from God.

And we're trading it because we put our faith in what the world told us to when He said, No, no, no, no.

The things that you're hoping for and what you actually want are from me and me alone, and you have to come to me.

And so I have to do self-inventory and say, God, how many times this week did I actually come to you?

How many times when I was frustrated, did I actually come to you?

How many times when I was sad did I actually come to you?

How many times when I was crying, did I actually come to you?

How many times?

Because what I notice about myself oftentimes is that I always go to someone else or something else to try to feed my soul.

And let me tell you, college football on Saturdays doesn't do it for me anymore.

It doesn't work.

I have to go to Jesus because he's the only thing that satisfies our soul.

Ecclesiastes 12 13 says, Now all has been heard.

Here's the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.

Now the teacher does not leave us in despair.

He gives us this.

He gives us this.

And this is what I love.

This is what I love about Solomon's writings.

Because he leads us straight into understanding that all of our joy and our happiness and everything that we have can only come from God alone.

Do you understand that?

Like not the fake smile on you, or not even the smile, but the joy.

The joy cannot be stolen from you if it comes from the Lord.

It cannot take it.

But the question is, how are we spending our time with the Lord?

Solomon had all these things.

You can go read the book of Ecclesiastes, it talks about it.

But Solomon had all these things.

He had all you could ever want.

You name it, he had it, and he kept saying, none of these things made me actually happy.

None of these things made me truly content.

Nothing did it.

All has been heard.

Here's the conclusion that Solomon came to in his life that the only thing that matters is to fear God, keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.

So I sit here today preaching to you, preaching to myself.

If we know that the scriptures are true, and I believe they are, 100%, and we know what we're going through in our lives, why do we not begin to hope and desire and make our faith active toward Him and not all the other things that we keep running to?

Be honest with yourself, check into yourself, do inventory.

Look, God, why am I running to this?

Why am I going to this?

Because I'm telling you, I'm telling you, God knows you better than you know yourself.

And He does not His will that any should perish, but all to have eternal life.

And I'm not just talking about heaven, but eternity starts right now.

And if you don't want to be with Him now, why would you want to be with Him in eternity?

It doesn't make sense.

But I think the truth is this.

I think the truth is this.

I think when we talk about faith, I think when we talk about faith, sometimes we can.

I hate using the analogy of fire insurance, but yeah.

I think when we talk about faith, sometimes we don't actually understand what faith is.

The Bible tells us all have a measure of faith.

But faith is active, and your faith grows in the Lord, with the Lord.

And this idea that church is church is what creates faith.

Church is good, man.

And I'm glad you're here, and I want to do this every day for the rest of my life, okay?

Listen to me.

But if you don't have quiet spaces with the Lord, you're missing the boat, my friends.

Because those quiet spaces are going to do more for you with him than anything else is going to do.

I hope you see that.

I hope you see that.

I hope you see.

I hope you see that he's the answer.

Let's talk about faith.

Says it like this.

By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would receive his inheritance, obeyed and went.

And even though he did not know where he was going, by faith, he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country.

He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were promised heirs with him of the same promise.

Now, I want to talk about this because I just took you guys through a little run through, a very short run through of Ecclesiastes.

When we talk about life, life is hard.

Life is great.

There's good days, there's hard days, there's bad days, there's better days.

But when we're talking about the thing hope for, the substance hope for, you have to understand, and this is why I started with Ecclesiastes, is because the thing that you want in this life is not something that you will find because of you or something you build or something you do.

It won't be.

The only thing you're gonna find in this life that brings you pure joy and hope is Jesus.

That's it.

And we're gonna transition here for a second from talking about hard life because let's all, let's all, if I could show of hands today, don't do it.

But if I could show of hands of people that would say life hasn't always been easy, I think everybody would raise their hands.

Right?

Would you would you say that?

If you didn't, man, I would love to hear what you're doing and also like why you're not just called up to heaven like the rest of them.

But if if your life, if you can honestly sit here and say, if your life has ever been hard or if there's something you're going through, because I know for a fact every person in this room is going through something.

Every one of you.

It may be on different levels, but you're going through something.

You're dealing with something, you've seen something, mentally something's happened.

Okay?

And that is not the excuse.

Can I say that?

That is not the excuse you can use.

You cannot use the excuse of saying, well, this happened or that happened, and that's why I'm not.

No, your faith cannot be predicated on life circumstances.

I'm gonna stop you right there.

It cannot be.

And Ecclesiastes Solomon is telling us, telling us, the purpose of life, and the purpose of this life is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul in hopes that he can direct you from why you were created.

And I think this is why I have to preach this to get this a little backwards, because we live in a society that says, find your own truth, do you, Nike, just do it.

All this other dumb stuff that's put out here.

Let me remind you, you were created by God for God.

This life was never supposed to belong to you.

It was life that he gave you so that you could worship him and live freely in his freedom so that he could be using you.

You understand that?

So let's get that out of the way right now.

This life is not your own.

For the man that tries to find it, loses, and the one that loses it finds it.

This life is not your own.

So quit thinking that.

Throw it out the window.

Because the life that you're trying to save, you probably hate.

And the life that he has for you, you would love so much better.

You would love so much better.

And this is what happens to people that find their faith.

This is what happens.

In Hebrews 11, 9 through 10, it says, by faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country.

He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob.

This is the scriptures we're reading.

And it's in this moment, can you imagine Abraham, who has no idea his family served pagan gods?

He's just listening to God.

He's trying to figure out, but he doesn't have the direction.

He doesn't know where he's going.

He has very minimal instructions.

He can't pull out his iPhone and tap in.

Okay?

It doesn't work that way.

He can't use Chad GPT.

Is this really God?

Like, he can't do it.

Alright?

It's him and his creator, but you know how he has to have that connection?

He had to.

To a silent place.

He had to be willing to remove himself from everybody and everything.

He had to be willing to tap into the Holy Spirit that was trying to direct him.

And he leaves his place to go be like a stranger in a foreign land.

And I love this because it says, for he was looking forward.

Somebody say, looking forward.

Looking forward to the city with foundations, who architect and builder is God.

So let's go back to Ecclesiastes for a moment.

There's nothing new under the sun.

There's nothing new.

There's never going to be anything new.

You are on this earth.

You and I will one day die.

Another generation will be raised, and they will die too.

Nothing is new.

There is only one thing that is true, and it is that God's word has to be living in us.

And if it is, he will supply our every need and give us our purpose so that we can be destined into our spiritual life that is to come.

Eternity and the things you cannot see are more real than this test right here on earth that you can see.

That's the fact.

So Abraham understood it because he began to walk with the Lord.

Walk with the Lord.

Everywhere he went, he began to walk with the Lord.

I don't know where I'm going.

I don't know why you're calling me to this.

I don't know.

But here's what I know.

Every day I wake up, God, I want to walk with you.

I don't want to go anywhere that you're not going because I know that when I'm with you, I can look forward to the city and the foundations whose architect is not me.

It is not myself.

It is you, Lord.

You are the builder.

You are the king.

You're the one doing it.

And I don't have to know all the plans all the time.

And I don't have to understand it all the time.

And I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.

And I don't know what's going to happen next week.

And I'm not even going to plan for it.

I'm just going to stay faithful to you right here in this moment.

And sometimes I just think that we're so busy.

We're so busy.

We're already scheduling next week and next month and in six months and next year.

And we've not even left room for God.

You wanna know why?

Because we ain't walking with God.

We say a lot of good things.

We say a lot of good spiritual quotes.

We post things on Facebook or on Instagram and everything else.

But the true question remains: when you got up, did you spend time with him?

Did you even talk to him?

Did you even acknowledge him?

Did you even ask him?

What about you?

I know there's days I wake up, I get going so fast, I don't even think about it, man.

And I'm ashamed to say that.

But it's the reality because everything that's pulling at me, but the true reality is that I wasn't looking forward.

I wasn't looking forward.

I wasn't looking forward.

Let me ask you this.

When was the last time you were actually looking forward to what God was about to do in your life?

When was the last time you actually had that childlike wonder in your soul?

Like, man.

I'll tell you a story real quick.

So I'm attempting to coach a football team with Brad and these guys.

And and I uh I remember our first game, it got canceled.

But I remember the night before I literally told my wife, I think this is the first time in a long time I actually feel childlike wonder.

Like I'm excited.

You remember when you were a kid and you would you would sleep or try to sleep before the first day of school, maybe it was first grade or second grade or something, and you couldn't sleep because you were so excited?

You remember that?

You remember when you were gonna take a trip on a vacation or something, and you couldn't sleep?

You put on all nighter because you were so pumped about it?

That excitement?

When's the last time you had that?

And what I found in my own self-inventory church is that because I haven't at times walked with the Lord the way he's calling me to walk with him, I'm not looking forward to what's coming.

Because I'm not even in on it.

Because my soul's caring about what I can see versus what I can't see.

Man, what would happen if we came back to the heart of it?

Him, Jesus, the King of Kings.

What would happen if wouldn't it be crazy if there was an actual creator, which there is, but if we would believe it to our core that he designed us for a purpose and has a plan for us and wants to spend time with us, he wants to spend time with us.

What would happen?

And you know, Brett coaching this team might have taught me more spiritually than anything.

Because when I'm in prayer and I say, God, I just want the boys to want it, and he responds to me, I know how it feels.

I just want you to want it, Tyler.

I just want them to want it too, Tyler.

I want them to want me that gave up my life for for all of you.

I just want you to want it.

I want you to look forward to the city with foundations, who's building it for you.

Jesus said it like this.

He said, I go to prepare a place for you.

And if it wasn't true, I wouldn't tell you.

He has you in mind, and all he wants is for you to want it.

And every day we let the world steal our joy.

We let social media rob us of our identity.

We we battle with comparison and everything else that comes against.

What if I told you that there's nothing new under the sun, but there's a new day with him?

For the Bible says that his mercy is new every day.

What if I told you that if you gave him everything that you had, your whole heart, soul, and mind, that every day would be like a new day for you because in him and in his truth you can look forward to tomorrow.

And that's what I've been having to pray.

Hold on, God.

Quit letting my faith.

See, my faith, my faith, my faith.

It's been it's been building into other things.

It's been building into what my hands have been making and what I've been doing and what I've been trying to do, and what I'm learning because that can't fill me up.

That doesn't do it.

Every day is the same day, every day will be the same because I'm building it and I'm doing it.

But when I let go of that and I get in prayer and I say, God, what is it that you have for me?

Ooh, his foundations and his cities and his creation for your life and my life.

So much better because he builds it and he's the architect.

So the question is not whether I have faith or not.

The question is, where have I been putting my faith and my hope?

That's the question.

I'm gonna hurry up.

Abraham believed the Lord.

Somebody said, believe.

Believe.

He believed the Lord.

He believed.

That's it.

He believed.

So when I'm sitting in my office on Saturday nights and I'm I'm trusting that he's going to do what he's going to do, I have to believe.

But see, believe is we can use that word, guys.

We can use that, we can use that so easily.

Well, I believe the Lord.

No, do you?

I believe the Lord.

No.

If I believe the Lord, my life will show it.

And I'm not talking about with you.

I'm talking about in my personal life.

When I wake up, when I spend time with the Lord, when I when I make time for him, not on his time, but my time, my life will show it.

This is not about proving to your neighbor.

It is not about proving to anyone in the church, okay, we can all do a good job of faking it and going through the motions.

I'm not here for that.

I'm talking about in my life when nobody else can see, because I'm telling you, the emptiness that you feel is not because of what you're showing the world.

It's because of the quiet places of what people can't see.

And the true reality is we have to replace those things with what the world has fed us to put our faith in and begin to read his word that is the food to our body, that is the nutrition to our soul.

We need it.

We need it desperately.

We need it desperately.

We need it desperately.

Romans 4 3 says it like this.

What does scripture say?

Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

You know, this is this is now Romans, which reads this.

Old Testament and New Testament.

Let me let me tell you this.

How hard is it to believe?

This this is where I'm we're coming to a close here.

How hard is it to believe?

You know, when we read in the New Testament, we find those that will encounter Christ on judgment day and they'll say, Father, we cast out demons in your names.

We did all these things, and he'll say, Depart from me, I never knew you.

Like I never knew you.

You remember the rich man in which he comes to Jesus and he says, Lord, I've done all these good deeds.

And he said, What else must I do to inherit the kingdom of God?

And Jesus said, Sell your possessions, or give them all the way to the poor and then follow me.

And he left sad because he couldn't.

Here's the reality of this believing is not the same as saying.

Let me make it clear.

Because they were close, he was close to their lips, but far from their hearts.

Believing is living.

Do you hear me?

Believing is living.

And the reason why Abraham believed was not just because he said I believed, but he began to move.

And the reason Abraham believed was because he trusted God with his whole heart, so much so that he was willing to give up everything to pursue after him.

And it was credited to him as righteousness, not based on what he said, but in how he lived.

And I want to make sure here in this room this morning that we understand that how we live is a lot more important than what we say.

I know it's tough, but it's true.

I'm tired of seeing people thrown to the wayside by the enemy because we think we're doing all the right things when really we're being fed lies from the enemy.

Let me tell you right now, I'm glad you're here, but faithful attendance is not what's going to get you into heaven.

I'm thankful that you're able to serve, but you serving isn't what's going to get you into heaven.

And I'm thankful for all you do.

But hear me out.

Your personal relationship with the Lord and how you actually live with him and in him and him through you is what's going to save you.

That's it.

Not my preaching, not my words, not my good deeds, but my actual relationship with the Lord in the quiet spaces, in the dark moments, behind closed doors.

That will be the relationship that allows me to hear, well done, good and faithful servant.

And that is it alone.

All these people, Hebrews 11, 13, were still living by faith when they died.

They did not receive the things promised.

Are you okay with that?

All these people, when we talk about Hebrews chapter 11, all these people were still living by faith when they died.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

They were living by the word of the Lord when they died, and they did not receive the things promised.

They only saw them and welcomed them from afar, talking the Old Testament, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

I want to talk for one more moment about the whole story.

Okay, the whole story.

Because there's promises that are God wants to give you for your life that aren't just meant for your life.

Because you can't be a part of the full story and the consciousness that you know as humanity.

Okay?

Abraham trusted God and believed, but he didn't get to see the full story.

Moses didn't get to enter into the promised land.

They didn't get to see the same full story, but they were a part of the story and they realized that their life was not their own, that it belonged to God, and if they gave him everything, one day they were going to get a greater promise.

And the question here it comes back to the simplicity of asking ourselves: are we living this life for us or are we living it for the kingdom of God?

That's it.

And then if we are living it for the kingdom of God, we have to admit that we're foreigners here and we have to treat our life as so and hope that every day that we wake up that we're actually pursuing the kingdom of God and our faith is actually active, moving toward him.

Here it goes, 2 Corinthians 1.20.

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ, and so through him the amen is spoken by us to the glory of God.

I am just fully committed to believing that he has it all in control, and I do not.

Guys, I I don't I I can't worry about it anymore.

I can't, I can only control the controllables, and it's laughable that that's even a phrase because you really can't control anything.

You are not the author of the story.

God is.

So I want to stay as close to him as I can in hopes that whatever this fool's story is, that I'm not getting in the way of messing it up.

And I promise you, you're not.

Because he already knows.

But there's just this hunger inside of me.

There's this hunger inside of me because I see so many people going through it, man.

And I don't know, and I will never judge you.

I won't.

But I don't know what you're going through.

I don't know what your situation may be.

And I don't have to know.

And I if you want to tell me, we can talk, but I don't have to know.

Here's what I want you to know.

The thing that you think that's filling you up is not it if it's not him.

And it's a lie from hell.

That's what I want you to know.

And I want you to know that there's nothing out there that's going to satisfy your soul in that emptiness that you feel if it's not him.

And I need you to know that I know it's not um popular, but like prayer, prayer really does work, man.

And you need to do it, and I need to do it.

And we need to spend time with the Lord.

And it doesn't mean we sit there and we talk for 30 minutes.

Sometimes it can just be sitting for 30 minutes and just letting him move us.

Sometimes, sometimes it might be you have the words, sometimes you don't, but you know what?

The Holy Spirit, what we were talking about in Sunday school today, the Holy Spirit intercedes.

God knows what you're dealing with, but you got to go to Him.

Quit going to people that don't actually care.

Quit thinking that everybody's going to get the depth of your soul.

They don't.

Quit thinking that you're going to figure it out by turning to something else.

You're not.

The only way this is going to work for you is for you to connect and reconnect with your creator.

And sometimes that means just opening your Bible in bed and putting your face in it, man.

Sometimes that means getting down and crying at your stool.

I don't know what it looks like for you.

I know what it looks like for me.

But that's what he wants.

That's what he wants.

There was an old preacher named Cody Marks that preached a message one time that said, We're too close to get too far.

And it was a message that touched my soul.

But I need you to hear me.

We are way too close to the end of all this to get too far from the Lord.

I know they've been saying end times here and here and here, but look, man, I don't know when it's going to snow, but I know when it's winter.

Let me just put that plainly.

And I want you to know that you don't have to live this life trying to figure it out.

And you don't have to live this life trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.

You've got to give it up to the one that does.

And you've got to give it up to the one that created you and formed you and knows you and wants you.

And then I think we can actually get to being the people that God's called us to be.

This is the moment where we talk about mundane.

Life is mundane.

Life is hard.

You know?

Mundane.

Wake up.

Here, let me tell you my schedule real quick, okay?

You wake up.

Been trying to go to the gym.

Failed at that lately.

Four kids, man.

And then my wife needs help with the kids, which they're my kids, so yes, that's appropriate.

I'm processing things, trying to figure out things.

I'm busy just like you.

What I found out is they're all excuses.

They're all excuses.

You always have enough time for God.

And if you say you don't, it's an excuse.

You wanna know why?

Because 2,000 years ago he got on a cross and he had time for you.

That's it.

And I know it's a different sermon today, and I know it's a little more home today.

But I had a responsibility to preach this to you today.

Because he preached it to me first.

I want my kids to grow up with a dad that lives it, not just preaches it.

I want to live in a community that knows that their pastor walks with the Lord, just doesn't talk about the Lord.

But more than that, I want to wake up every day looking forward to what he wants to do in my life because I actually know it.

And I'm actually excited about his kingdom more than I am building my own.

And if we can get more excited about building his kingdom than building our own, I promise you.

Everything will begin to change.

Would you stand with me, worship team as they come?

I uh I'm thankful that God saves people like me and people like you.

I'm thankful that he came for people like me and people like you.

Us.

I'm glad.

But let me tell you the real reason.

Why God, I felt well.

When you find yourself in your carpet of your office crying out to God because he hit you so hard with conviction, you know when he's speaking to you.

And we released this week that I have a new book coming out in January.

Super excited about it.

Not because I wrote it, but because I believe you're gonna see grace in a whole new way that you've never seen it.

And I don't say that lightly.

I didn't recreate any scriptures, I didn't add to the word, take away from the word.

I just know how God speaks to me.

And this is the first time on grace that I've actually felt like I've we've written it, we've edited it, we've done all these things, and I look at it and I actually say, Wow, God, you're amazing.

I'm telling you that because when I got the email back that it had past all reviews for publishing, I didn't get excited about it.

I was just thinking about the next one.

What will I write now?

Why am I asking myself, what will I write now?

God hasn't asked me to write anything else now.

He asked me to write this and I did it, and I'm not even why is there not any satisfaction?

You wanna know why?

Because when we begin to think that it's about what we build with our hands, we quit looking forward to the things that God is wanting to build for our lives ahead of us.

When we quit communicating with our creator, when we quit having personal time with our communicator.

Listen, Josiah Queen's got a song that says, if I only ate it on Sundays, my body would basically fail.

That's how he words it.

If I only ate on Sundays, if I only ate on Sundays, if I only talked to the Lord on Sundays, I have no hope, guys.

We have to have a personal relationship with the Lord.

And your faith and my faith has to be in him.

And faith is active.

It's not how we say it, it's how we live it.

It's what we do.

It's how we open our Bibles at the kitchen table in the morning or in the evening.

It's how we actually get on our knees and pray with our family.

I'm gonna challenge you right now.

You ready for it?

And I'm done.

Here's the challenge.

Pray with your spouse.

You don't like that, do you?

Because it's uncomfortable.

Pray with your spouse.

If you don't, if it feels weird, guess what?

That's the enemy, dude.

You want a stronger marriage?

Pray with your spouse.

Read the word with your spouse.

Fast with your spouse.

Do it together.

Quit making it about you and what is uncomfortable to you and start asking the creator what he gave you her as a help meet.

He said it was good for men not to be alone.

Look at her as that and pray with your spouse.

Pray with your kids.

Pray with your family.

And if you say you don't have time for that, I don't know what I think about you.

Honestly, there's nothing more important.

There's nothing more important.

Pray with your kids.

Be the person God's calling you to be.

Let's not just talk about it.

Let's actually do it.

Amen.

Pray with me.

Father, we love you.

God, every day is a new day.

But nothing is new under the sun according to your word.

Even when men think their acknowledge increases, it really doesn't.

God, we only use like 10% of our brains.

And I question if I use that much.

Lord, I I thank you.

I thank you that you don't give up on people.

I thank you that you give us reminders that our fulfillment isn't going to come from the things we do.

It's not going to come from the achievements of hand claps from people.

It's not going to come from anything.

It's you.

Lord, I pray that when we do what we do, Lord, that you would be the front and center of it.

When we go to work, that you would be at the front and center of it.

That we truly would give our life up to follow you.

God, that we would we would be about your kingdom.

And in that, Lord, in that, Lord, people would see you and not me.

That my kids would see you and not me, and my wife would see you and not me.

God, help me be the man you've called me to be.

Help us be the people you've called us to be.

Lord, let us get back to the faith that sees best in the dark because you're guiding us.

God, I pray for every person in this room right now, everyone that's going through a battle, everyone that's dealing with any type of mental struggle, depression, anxiety.

God, I pray for any person that's going through medical issues or health issues.

God, I pray that we would see that you are the answer in the midst of our storms.

God, that you're on the boat too.

And Lord, you may be sleeping, it feels like, but you're well aware.

You're there.

And God, I pray right now that we would just turn our face toward you.

Lord, that we would believe you are who you say you are, and that you're going to do what you say you're going to do.

God, we give you praise and glory and all these things.

Help us to live a faith that's active, not just by what we say, but well, Father, let it be true and intimate, God.

Lord, nobody else has any other business about how personal our relationship is with you in the secret spaces.

Let it be real, let it be true.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.