GOD IS GREAT

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for tuning in.

We live in strange times, don't we?

Yeah.

We live in uncertain times, we live in turbulent times, we live in transient times.

It just feels like the world is moving faster and faster.

AI is raising the questions about the future of work, how we live, what does it even mean to be human.

And we're trying to navigate all of this while just figuring out our own lives.

Work, school, dating, marriage, kids, future.

Life is becoming increasingly confusing and complex.

Got a little confession uh for you.

Uh I've been loving trees lately.

I know, hard right turn.

There you go.

And one clapper in the front for the trees.

Um it may be because I'm getting older and that's just something that happens.

I don't know.

This is my first time getting older.

Uh so it's like uh maybe that's just part of it.

You start to love trees more.

Um, but I think it's because like when you begin to look in God's word and how often he uses trees to describe our spiritual life and what he wants to do in you, you begin to look at him differently.

You know, Psalm 1 describes the flourishing life.

Like a tree planted by streams of water.

Uh I lived across the street from a park.

Every morning I wake up and I have like my coffee and my time with Jesus at my kitchenette, and I just look at the park.

There's these beautiful, mature redwood and oak trees.

This is one of those trees.

This is an incredibly awesome oak tree.

It's filled, the park is filled with these.

There's something like majestic, breathtaking about a mature tree.

Like it's strength, it's beauty, it's presence.

And this tree, like, if you got up close, if you show up to my house and you're welcome and go across the streets of the park, like like you would say, like it's it's seen some things.

I wonder how many seasons it's been through, how many storms it's weathered, or years of drought it's endured.

And yet it's still standing, still growing, still giving life.

It's so deeply rooted that whatever comes its way, it can face with confidence.

But if we're honest, most of us don't feel like this sturdy, mighty oak tree.

We kind of feel like this little ginkgo tree.

Um I purchased this a few weeks ago because we're trying to plant a couple trees in the front of our house.

Um this this ginkgo tree has had a rough go already.

Um like literally this morning I was loading it into my car and I broke a branch on it.

And it's droopy, trying to keep it alive, you know.

Um, trying to use it as illustration and keep it alive to plant.

Branches are broken off.

It's easily shaken.

It's in this pot, and so it's like, man, I can shake it.

If a strong wind comes, it's just gonna knock it over.

If a heat wave hits like today, it will wither and die.

And honestly, I think we probably feel a whole lot more like this little ginkgo tree.

Easily shaken than the oak tree.

In fact, when we hear words like rooted, resilient, strong, you're gonna like, honestly, I'm just trying to make it through the week without getting knocked over.

And yet, we long.

There's this long, there's hope.

How do you like experience this rooted, resilient, established life?

Uh the question we're asking throughout this series is how do we become a deeply rooted people in a transient world?

Our prayer for awakening, our prayer for you, for us, is that God would establish us as a strong, mature, life-giving church for generations to come.

And so we're embarking on a six-week series together called Rooted.

Would you say that with me?

Rooted.

Oh God, I was nervous.

I wasn't sure how it was gonna go.

You did great.

Uh, rooted, yes, rooted.

And this is more than a series for us at awakening.

This is actually a new season God is inviting us in to as a church.

That's why you have this book, this rooted guidebook.

Would you grab it?

It was on your chairs, grab it, pick it up.

I want to take some moments before we dive into the sermon to walk you through this because this is significant, this matters.

And if you would open your guidebook up to the very first page, it says, This book belongs to.

Write your name in it.

This is beautiful, it's got great content to help you grow.

Uh, and we spent money on it, so value it.

This book belongs to, and if you flip the next page, you'll see the table of contents.

I just want to walk you through uh what you can find and expect.

Uh, you'll notice that down on um week one, sermon notes, page 16, you're gonna see there's sermon notes, there's daily devotional, and there's small group curriculum.

Bring this book with you every week.

This will take place for our notes and bulletin every week.

We're gonna have this for six weeks.

There's place for you to take notes, and then at the end of the sermon, there's reflection questions so you can begin to apply and put into practice the very things that we're talking about and learning together.

Then you'll notice there's a daily devotional.

To get into God's word regularly, uh, each day, whether it's in the morning or over lunch or before bed, keep this guidebook somewhere where you can see it and use it.

And then small group curriculum.

Uh, our all of us are going through this together.

If you're not in a small group, get in one.

Join one.

There's a table right outside, the delkeys are there, they would love to meet you.

And if you're like, I don't know if I could commit to a small group, that seems a little intimidating.

That's okay.

We have a class starting tomorrow, rooted, and it's six weeks, and you just commit to six weeks.

You just go like, okay, I can join Mondays at, I think it's seven o'clock at our offices.

Join us there.

Okay, so what exactly is rooted?

Well, let me tell you.

Rooted is a season of us deepening our faith and preparing a ministry home for the mission God has entrusted to us.

Now, there's two parts to this journey.

First, rooted is a six-week teaching series through Psalm 90.

We want to long to be a rooted people in a transient world.

Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses.

It's the oldest psalm that we have in the book of Psalms is attributed to Moses, the great leader and liberator of the people of Israel.

Moses knew what it was like to lead a people on the move toward a future home, setting up and tearing down not just the tent of tabernacles and the tent of meetings, but their houses and everything else, wandering through the wilderness, constant change, living with uncertainty about what tomorrow would bring.

He knew what it meant to lead a transient people who needed to be rooted in an unchanging God.

It's a timely psalm for our world and for us, because we're asking a very similar question they're asking.

How do you live rooted when everything around us keeps changing?

And so, over in the next six weeks, we're going to dive into this Psalm 90 together and we're going to look at how do we become rooted in his presence.

That's today.

Next week, rooted in eternity, rooted in holiness, rooted in wisdom, rooted in mercy, and then rooted for generations.

Our prayer is that we become so deeply rooted in God, grow strong in our faith, and that our lives would bear fruit for generations to come.

And part of the way God deepens our roots is by calling us to take a step of faith.

And rooted is also a two-year generosity initiative to prepare and secure a permanent ministry home, a rooted people in a transient world, and a place of rootedness in a transient world.

To fulfill the mission God has entrusted to us, we need more than a Sunday gathering space.

We need a permanent ministry home where people can belong, be formed, and put down roots, a place where we can gather through the week, grow as disciples, and be equipped to carry the love of Jesus to Silicon Valley and beyond.

A home that helps us live out our mission to awaken this generation to new life in Christ.

And here's what I love: we get to help prepare a place for people we haven't yet met.

People who have discovered Jesus, families who will find community, kids who will grow up knowing they are loved by God and have a place in his family.

Rooted in Silicon Valley for this generation.

We are for this generation and for generations to come.

Okay.

Now that you got the lay of the land, let's get into this rooted journey.

You ready?

You with me?

Oh, thank God.

Hey, would you turn in your books with me to page 17 and we begin with week one?

God is great.

Would you say that?

God is great.

God is great.

What do you build your life on when everything around you keeps changing?

Moses begins his prayer this way: Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

Before the mountains were born, or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

A rooted life begins with the greatness of God.

A rooted life looks up to see who God is and responds in the light of who he is.

A.W.

Tozer in his classic, The Knowledge of the Holy, writes this.

He says, What comes to our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

And then he goes on to tell us why.

He says this, that we tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God.

And a little bit later on, he explains the problem with this, though.

He says, left to ourselves, we tend to immediately reduce God to manageable terms.

We want to get him where we can use him, or at least know where he is when we need them.

We want a God we can in some measure control.

A rooted life, a resilient life, begins with the greatness of God.

The Church of Jesus needs to reclaim once more a high and holy view of God, to look up and see God who is great and mighty.

Like what comes to your mind when you think about God?

Well, let me share what came to Moses' mind when he thought about God.

He begins with God is the creator and sustainer of all things.

Lord, you've been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

And before the mountains were born, or you brought forth the whole world.

He begins with Lord.

That word Lord in the Hebrew is Adonai.

In fact, in your Bibles, in your English translations, anytime you see the Lord, uh the word Lord in the Old Testament capitalized all caps, uh, it's speaking of his covenant name, Yahweh.

I am who I am.

When it's uh written out this way, Lord, it's translating the word Adonai, which means um the creator and the ruler of the universe.

Moses begins his prayer with recognizing who he's praying to.

Lord Adonai, ruler and creator of all there is.

And he brings the image of the mountains, the mountains which are immovable, the mountains which seem like they're permanent, they've always been there.

I mean, they were here way before us, and they'll be here way after us.

And he reminds us that even the mountains had a beginning.

Before the mountains existed, God was.

Before anything was created, God was.

R.

C.

Sprohl writes this about God.

He says, the God we worship is the God who has always been.

He alone can create beings because he alone has the power of being.

He is not nothing, he is not chance, he is pure being.

The one who has the power to be all by himself.

Before the mountains were born, you brought forth the whole earth.

Moses is ascribing to God first that God is self-existent.

No one created God, he has always existed and he created everything, and he is self-sufficient.

God depends on nothing outside of himself.

Everything depends on him.

The universe depends on God for its existence, but God does not depend on the universe for his.

There's nothing before God, nor is there anything more basic or fundamental than God.

So listen up.

You are not a cosmic accident.

You are God's creation.

And we were once again reminded that our existence is dependent upon the creator and sustainer of the universe.

You know, in the West, the church, we've largely absorbed the worldview shaped by materialism and secular humanism.

Materialism is that matter is all that matters, that's all that is, and human secular humanism is human reason and the ability, and our ability is our ultimate guide.

Look within yourself.

And so we try to navigate life without God.

It's infiltrated the church and believers.

We believe God is a creator, but live as if the what we can see is all there is.

We may say God is the sustainer, but we live as though everything depends on us.

Oh, what a weight we carry.

We were never intended to.

And in doing so, we've reduced the creator God to a coping strategy for life.

God, would you just relieve this anxiety, this pressure?

But we resist surrendering the things we're trying to control.

God, would you bless my plans?

But we rarely stop to ask what he wants.

Would you make me feel secure?

And yet our deepest confidence is still in our income, our abilities, or our carefully managed lives.

God, we want your comfort, but we resist your leadership.

A rooted life begins with the greatness of God.

God is the creator and sustainer of all things.

The one who gave me life is the one I can trust with my life.

And Moses goes on to say, God is eternal and unchanging.

From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

There has never been a moment when God was not.

There will never be a moment when he ceases to be.

Eternal means that God has no beginning and no end.

And what's incredible is through all that, God remains fully and perfectly himself.

The theological word for this is immutable.

God does not change his nature, his character, or his promises.

Theologian A.W.

Pink says it this way: He cannot change for the better, for he is already perfect.

And being perfect, he cannot change for the worse.

This is such good news.

And here's the reason why.

You never have to wonder which version of God you're going to get.

God doesn't change.

He's perfectly consistent.

He doesn't have good days or bad days.

God never learns anything new, for he knows all things, and as a result, nothing catches him by surprise.

God doesn't become wiser with experience and he doesn't grow weary with age.

His goodness doesn't depend on his mood or you.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And why this matters so much for us today is our lives are in constant change, aren't they?

And life is just painfully brief.

We'll talk more about that next week.

And where do you find comfort?

Where do you find stability?

Where do you find hope?

Where do you find a sense of rootedness?

God is the only completely dependable being in the universe because he's both eternal and unchangeable.

And so what surrounds us may change, but the one who holds us never will.

The circumstances around us are changing.

The future that you're stepping into, and the plans that you had, and the dreams that you had, and the health issue that just showed up.

Things are changing, but the one who holds you, the great God of the universe, the ruler, the sustainer, the creator, the one who spoke, and everything came into existence.

And right now he holds everything together and he holds your life.

And he is in control.

Like who he is is the foundation for a rooted life, not your circumstances.

And this is why Moses says this in light of the greatness of who God is, that he is the creator, sustainer, eternal, unchanging one.

This invitation is amazing as God is our true home.

God is our true home.

Notice what he says, Lord, you have been the R.

Dwelling place.

Adonai, creator, ruler, you've been the R Dwelling place.

Dwelling place, a place of safety, home, refuge, shelter.

It's personal.

It's not you are a dwelling place, a place of shelter, a refuge, a home.

And it's not for those out there or somebody else.

God, you're, you're my dwelling place, you're my refuge, my home.

The God who created everything invites us to live in relationship with him.

And through Jesus, he's opened the way for us to come back home.

Through his death and resurrection, he reconciles us to God.

You know, Moses knew what it was like to live on the move, to lead people through uncertainty, to have no permanent address, to wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.

That's a long time.

And even in the midst of it, he could say, God, you've been our home.

From the wilderness to Silicon Valley, the human ache hasn't changed.

See, the invitation in the midst of a chaotic, ever-changing, fast-paced, transient world.

God.

You, your presence, who you are.

Is my refuge.

The place my soul longs.

What I am created for.

See, we long for somewhere to belong, somewhere we can rest, somewhere secure enough to hold the weight of our lives.

And we look for that home almost everywhere else but God.

In our work, our relationships, our bank accounts, our ability to keep everything under control.

We think like, oh, once this part of my life settles down, then I'll be okay.

Once I just get through this season.

But Moses is describing a home we can have even in the midst of the wildernesses of life.

You don't have to wait for your life to settle down to become deeply rooted in God.

You don't need to know the future of AI or the future of your job.

You don't need to have the uncertainty resolved, or your present circumstances do not need to change.

To become deeply rooted.

The permanence our heart longs for can only be found in the presence of God.

So let me ask you, where have you been living lately?

Not like your real address, you know.

You're like, oh, should I write that down?

Like, what have you been dwelling in?

What does your mind go to?

What consumes it?

Maybe it's the future.

As you're rehearsing everything that could go wrong, or maybe it's the past as you replaying the things you cannot change, maybe it's other people's opinion, wondering if you'll ever be enough.

What have you been depending on to make you feel secure?

And I promise you.

No matter what you're going through, no matter how dark whatever you're walking through, how great the trial that you're in, or how like unimaginable and how difficult, whatever it is, I don't want to I just promise you that no matter what you're walking through, God is greater still.

You have a great God, all powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, the creator, sustainer of the universe, and he says, I'm with you, and I want to lead you, and I want to walk through with you through whatever you're going through.

A rooted life begins looking up.

God, you're great.

When life gets full, look up.

When you're overwhelmed, look up.

When fear threatens your peace, look up.

I mean, would you make Moses' prayer your prayer?

The very first thing he speaks, he reminds himself.

He reminds us.

I don't know.

Create a ruler.

You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

Before the mountains were born, or you, you know, made the world from everlasting to everlasting.

This is who you are.

In that fact, I rest, because I can rest in you and your greatness.

Would you make Moses' prayer your prayer?

Or you just begin to remind yourself.

You begin to look up.

When anxiety and fear begin to shake you to the core, you go, you know what?

My God is greater still.

In fact, this week, would you make room for him?

Would you open your guidebook?

Would you go through the daily devotionals?

Talk to him honestly.

God, you're great, and I'm really scared.

God, you're great, but I don't, I need wisdom in this moment.

I don't know what to say, what to do, or how to move.

God, you're great.

And I need to remind myself that you're with me in this moment.

I have some reflection questions.

I want to invite you just to ask, maybe journal, talk over with a friend or your maybe a spouse.

What change or uncertainty is creating the most anxiety in you right now?

Just begin to identify.

What am I depending on to make me feel secure?

You'll identify that's what that's what I'm dwelling in.

And then specifically, what would it look like to make God's presence my dwelling place this week?

Allow my mind to dwell on, okay, I don't I don't know the future.

But I know the one who knows.

And that's enough for me.

I don't know how tomorrow's gonna shape up.

But I know the one who knows.

And I can rest in him.

The rooted life begins with the greatness of God.

Live in the greatness of God.

Don't just visit it on Sunday.

Live in it.

Turn to his presence.

God, would you?

I long to make you the home.

Just where I dwell, where my mind goes to, the first thought and the last thought of my day.

And that brings us to the question for us as a church.

The question for us as the church is what does it look like for awakening to become a deeply rooted in this season as we journey to this two-part to be a people deeply rooted in a transient world and a place of rootedness in a transient world?

For 40 years, Moses led his people, the people of Israel, through the wilderness, setting up, tearing down, moving from place to place.

We don't know exactly when he wrote Psalm 90.

Some scholars actually suggest that potentially he wrote it near the end of his life, standing on Mount Nebo, looking into the promised land, pinning these words as Israel steps in from their transient season into their long-term home.

Like here's what you need to be rooted no matter where you are.

That God has always been their home.

And as they step into this new season, he will remain their true home.

Circumstances were about to change, but their dependence on God would remain.

And as I look at awakening over the last 14 years, God has been so faithful to us.

Temporary space at Del Mar that we've been such a privilege to be here for 14 years.

We've seen people meet Jesus, find community, and grow deep roots.

And now it's the time to prepare a permanent ministry home that expands our ministry capacity to awaken this generation to new life.

And Jesus.

But you know what I meant.

Like I'm so grateful for Del Mar, grateful for every temporary space, grateful for every Sunday we set up and tear down, grateful for every person who's met Jesus, been baptized, found community, discovered their calling, and sent out from these places the seven people that were baptized on our birthday.

Hallelujah.

Amen.

That was a good place for you to be there too with me, but that next time we'll think about this.

Like we just celebrated a couple of weeks, seven people just declaring their faith and trust in Jesus.

Del Mar has served us so well, and we'll continue to love and support and serve Del Mar no matter where we call home.

But there comes a moment when continued growth requires room for the roots to grow deeper and the branches spread wider.

We believe we've reached that moment.

So would you do this with me?

Would you turn to page seven in our rooted as we just unpack the second part of Rooted, what it is for us, and we'll be journeying both through the entire series.

That Rooted is a two-year generosity initiative to raise five million toward securing and preparing a permanent ministry home for awakening.

Here's the really good news.

Because the sacrificial generosity of the church, we already have 1.3 million set aside toward a permanent ministry home, those funds are invested while we actively search.

And so we're not waiting two years to begin looking.

We're looking now.

We have a strong building team actively, aggressively searching for properties and negotiating with owners right now as we speak.

And Awakening's generosity has made it possible.

From the beginning, we knew that those seed gifts would be the very first step toward a permanent ministry home, and now we're taking the next step.

Through rooted, we're seeking to raise an additional$5 million over the next two years toward the purchase or securing and preparing of that home.

This home will move us beyond the limitations of a Sunday-only venue and expand our capacity throughout the week to gather, disciple, train, and send.

That we would be a place of rootedness in a transient world.

And you know this.

Awakening, we've never been defined by a building simply because we don't have one.

We're people formed by the presence of God.

But place matters.

A permanent ministry home will help us create space throughout the week where people can encounter Jesus, find belonging, grow in faith, and put down spiritual roots.

And this is more than a building project.

Rooted is about establishing, um, sorry, more than rooted, is about establishing a permanent place of rootedness in Jesus.

And my wife and I have had the opportunity to get to meet with lots of people over the last month.

And what I'm so excited about this season, why I want us to lean in.

And I already know that God in a moment can provide a building.

I also know that five million isn't a lot to him.

What I'm so excited about is I believe what God is going to do in us.

What he wants to form in us.

Well, Jenny and I have just kept talking about is like we're excited how he wants to prepare us as a church for the place that he has us so that we can step fully into the ministry he's called us of awakening this generation to new life in Christ.

Like we're thrilled, like God, you the minute you grow in faith is because you take a step of faith and you begin to see him show up and be faithful, and that's what we're excited to see.

That rootedness in us and through us.

That we'd be rooted in his presence, that we'd be a house of prayer creating space for life-changing encounters with God.

Just a few weeks ago we had a vision night.

It was so great.

And uh Central Christian Church opened up their space to us.

It was awesome.

We didn't know where we were gonna meet, and we finally had a place.

And it was so nice for the band to not like have to set up and we could just be church.

And remember sitting at the front, and like it's so hard for us to have any other gatherings outside of this gathering.

This takes so much time.

We have a Saturday setup team, and we have a Sunday morning setup team, and then we don't really linger that much after this service because we're busy tearing everything down.

I'm like, I'm so excited.

I was sitting at the front of that watching our church just pray and worship and in groups praying, and I was like in tears.

Like, oh, I just want to do this.

I want to be with you and do that.

Rooted in his way, a place where people learn to follow Jesus, practice his ways, and grow into mature disciples, and that we have space for our high school, our college, our young professionals, our young families, our not so young families, our older, not so young.

Anyways, it keeps going.

Rooted in his mission, a strategic training center, raising up and sending out the next generation of world changers.

So, like on our birthday, we celebrated and commissioned 10 proteges.

I I can't wait where we can do even more of that, more schools of faith.

And what happens in Silicon Valley shapes the entire world, and we want to be a strategic training center and ascending.

The gospel always sends us for the sake of those who don't know him and rooted for generations that we would have a lasting spiritual home that provides a strong foundation for generations to come.

You know, 14 years ago, um Jenny and I, you guys have heard the story.

Most of you have.

And for 14 years, we've gotten to have a front row seat to Jesus changing lives, hundreds and hundreds of lives.

And it's like, God, I'm so glad that in that moment you like kind of pushed us out because we needed a little bit of pushing with a group of others that we just stepped out.

And my gosh, thank you for what you're doing now.

And then, like both Jenny and I like the way we talk about this season, 2026, rooted.

There's something in us that has that same sense of that first season.

Gosh, man, we were excited and terrified.

I think that's where God wants us, by the way.

Both.

That this has the same like significance.

We have the same excitement and we're nervous.

Like, God, we're I don't know how you're gonna do it all.

I'm just trusting God, you're great and you're mighty, and you're fighting in us into it, so let's go, baby.

And the cool part is we're not just stepping out and on the edge of stepping in.

It's like we get to do this as a community together.

We get to do this as a community together.

And and we get to do this not for our sake.

So cool because it's for the sake of those who are not here yet that desperately need to hear the gospel for the sake of this generation.

We get to do this not for our comfort.

Because, you know, these chairs that could be a little bit more comfortable, and that'd be nice.

No, no, no, we get to do it because God has called you by name and he has saved you by name, and he sends you out to declare his name to a hurting and broken world, and that we would create space for people to encounter Jesus.

So let me ask you to just do this this season.

Just two things.

One, would you lean in?

Not asking you to do anything else, just lean in.

Commit to six weeks.

Like commit to a small group.

Use this book for goodness' sake.

We spent money on it.

Be nice to it.

Would you lean in?

Maybe you've just been kind of on the outskirts or you're brand new, you're just checking us out.

Just six weeks, check us out for six weeks and go like maybe God is doing something here, maybe God is wanting to do something in me.

And the second thing is, would you seek God?

That's it.

There's only things I'm asking you to do.

Would you lean in and would you seek God?

Would you pray this prayer, Heavenly Father?

What do you want to do in me?

What do you want to do in me?

Because I know so many of us are feeling shaken, and he longs for you to experience his rootedness, his strength, his resilience.

What do you want to do in me?

And what do you want to do through me?

What do you want to do in me?

And what do you want to do through me?

And that we might be a people that greatly trust our great God so that we can see Him do what only He can do and then we're going to share the stories about it.

So would you stand with me as we close in worship?

Let me pray.

Heavenly Father, you have been faithful through every generation.

And you have been so faithful to us.

Thank you.

Thank you for every life you have changed and every place you have provided for us.

And God, would you forgive us for looking to temporary things for the security only you can give?

Oh God, make us a church that roots our identity, our confidence, our future in your unchanging presence.

And would you show us what you want to do in us and through us?

Give us faith to trust and courage to obey.

Establish the work of our hands for your glory and for generations to come.

In Jesus' name.

And all God's people said.

Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.