Christine Caine | Intimacy vs Connection

Hey, we're Todd and Julie Mullins, Senior Pastors here at Christ Fellowship Church, and we're so glad that you're tuning in for service today. Yeah, Christ Fellowship is one church that meets in lots of different locations, including right here with you. Yeah, and our prayer for you today is that you would sense God's love for you. See, I don't personally know all that you're going through today and what you're up against, but God does. And He hears your prayers, and He knows your name, and He's right here for you today as you call out to Him. Yeah, thanks again for joining with us today. We love you, and we're praying for you. You gave it all so that we could experience life and life to the full. Oh, welcome to church. The presence of the Lord is in this place, and we are going to enter in with praise and thanksgiving. Jump on your feet. Let's lift up our voices in worship today. We sing together. I praise when I'm doubting. I praise when I'm numbered. I praise what's surrounding. As praise hits the waters, my enemies drowning. Oh, we sing together. As long as I'm breathing, I've got a reason to praise. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. I'll praise when I feel it. I'll praise when I don't. I'll praise because I know. I'll praise because I know.

You're still in control. Oh, Your praise is a weapon. My praise is a weapon. It's more than a sound. It's an ease. My praise is a shout that brings Jericho down. We sing as long as I'm breathing. As long as I'm breathing, I've got a reason to praise. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. I won't be quiet. I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Oh, we've got a reason to praise. I'll praise because you're sobbing. I'll praise because you're aching. I'll praise because you rose and defeated the grave. I'll praise because you're faithful. I'll praise because you're true. I'll praise because there's nobody. Oh, come on, church. ♪ I'm praised cause you're sovereign ♪ ♪ Praised cause you reign ♪ ♪ Praised cause you rose and defeated the grave ♪ ♪ I'm praised cause you're faithful ♪ ♪ Praised cause you're true ♪ ♪ Praised cause there's nobody but you ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul ♪

All God's children. ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul ♪ All God's. ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul ♪ I'm gonna praise you. ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul ♪ I won't be quiet. I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? Praise the Lord. ♪ Praise the Lord, oh my soul ♪ Let everything. For that has breath. Praise the Lord. Let everything. If you've got breath! Praise the Lord. Let everything. That has breath. Praise the Lord! Let everything. Oh, if you breathe, Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord. Give Him glory. Let everything. Come on, some of you just need to let it release today. A praise offering to the Lord. A thank you to the Lord. Oh, we trust in you, Jesus. We are yours today. Our eyes are on you. Come on, our confidence today is Him. Blessed assurance. Jesus is mine. He's been my boatman in the fire. Time after time. Oh, yes, He is. Born of His Spirit. Oh, we are washed today. He washed me in His blood. And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough. Oh, thank you, Lord. So I trust in God. My Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. Oh, perfect submission. All is at rest. I know the author of tomorrow is born in my state. Oh, thank you, Lord.

So this is my story. This is my song. I praise Him, my risen King. Yes, He is. Oh, thank you, Lord. Oh, I trust in God. My Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. Oh, no, no, no. I trust in God. My Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. Oh, He will never fail. Come on, church, you believe that today? Oh, you're an unfailing God. And all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Oh, this is my confidence and joy today. Oh, call on the name of the Lord. Say, I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I solved the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. That's why I trust Him. That's why I trust Him. I solved the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. I solved the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. I solved the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. That's why I trust him.

That's why I trust him. I solved the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. I solved the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. I solved the Lord, and he heard, and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him, God My Savior, who will never fail He will never fail I trust him, God My Savior, who will never fail He will never fail That's why I trust him, God He will never fail Can I just sing his endurance over you today, that you would continue to trust him? Can I sing that grace over you? Wait on the Lord Just wait on the Lord He will renew your strength So wait, I say Wait on the Lord He will give you strength Wait on the Lord He will renew your strength So wait, I say I will wait on the Lord Just wait on the Lord He will renew your strength So wait, I say Wait on the Lord I know that good things are worth waiting for.

Can I tell you today that when you wait on the Lord, you're waiting on a good thing. Lamentations 3 says that those who wait on the Lord, the Lord is good to them. But sometimes we have to wait. It's the reality of life. Sometimes there's prayers that are prayed time and time again. Is it because God's not faithful? No. I just think there's lessons to be learned. There's trust to be built. There's things God needs to do inside of us. And I know in a room this size or those joining with us online today, you are waiting on something. Can I tell you he's worth waiting on today? What I want to encourage you with in this moment, the moment of where you know you want to be or the prayer that you want answered. But the reality that you're living in is to continue waiting. Let him renew your strength. Continue to ask, to seek, to knock. And you are going to find maybe not the answer you were looking for. Maybe something even better. His presence, his kindness, his goodness, and his peace. So I'm not sure what you're waiting on today. But what we're going to do, and it's one of my favorite things that we do as a church. We take time in our worship services to pray. And maybe you've been at Christ Fellowship for a while and you've seen people come forward for prayer. Maybe you've never been bold enough to come down. Today's your day. This is the moment. I want to invite our prayer team. They're going to begin to fill the front. Joining online, there's actually people there who are ready to pray with you as well. Maybe you're carrying something that you've prayed for before. It's time to pray again.

Maybe you stopped praying and believing for that kid to come home. Or for the marriage to be restored. Or for the financial breakthrough. For the job that you know God has. Today, I want to encourage you to wait on the Lord. To pray again. To seek Him. And watch what God does inside of your life. So right now, you can make your way out of your seat. You can come down for prayer. It would be our honor to pray with you today. Amen. He will renew your strength So wait, I say Wait on the Lord Wait on the Lord The worship team, if you see people who need prayer He will renew your strength So wait, I say Wait on the Lord Wait on the Lord He will renew your strength So wait, I say They that wait on the Lord Shall renew you their strength They shall mount up on wings Like an eagle is sore They shall walk and not get weary They shall run and not faint So wait on the Lord

We will wait on the Lord One more time, that's scripture They shall wait on the Lord He shall renew you their strength They shall mount up on wings Like an eagle is sore They shall walk and not get weary They shall run and not faint Wait on the Lord I'll wait on the Lord We wait on the Lord I will wait on the Lord I'll wait on the Lord Wait on the Lord The righteous will not be forsaken, no The righteous will not be forsaken, no I could sing Your name for all my life And still find more to love each time Jesus be the name ever on my lips It's sweeter every time that I call on it Church, can we call on that name? I could sing Your name for all my life And still find more to love each time Jesus be the name ever on my lips Oh, that name is sweeter It's sweeter every time that I call on it There's just something about Your name That makes me cry holy There is no other name There is no other name

There is no other name Jesus, You're worthy You have been the friend who never left I won't forget Your faithful Jesus be the name ever on my lips ♪ Oh how sweet the name ♪ ♪ Sweeter every time that I call on it ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ That makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus you're worthy ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name Jesus ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ Oh that makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus you're worthy ♪ ♪ Hold on we take a moment to just tell you you're worthy ♪ ♪ Oh tell you you're holy ♪ ♪ No greater name ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus your name is like the morning light ♪ ♪ The one the darkness can't deny ♪ ♪ The resurrection and the light ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus your name can save, your name can heal ♪

♪ Your name can make the storm be still, you never fail, you never will ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus the bread of life broken for us ♪ ♪ The wounded and the worthy one, the first to lack is still to come ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus the King, the one, the well, the great ♪ ♪ The Lord who will forever reign, the name above all other names ♪ ♪ Jesus, oh Jesus be the name, oh be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus be the name that gets all the glory, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, oh be the name, Jesus be the name ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus be the name that gets all the glory, oh Jesus your name is the life broken for us ♪ ♪ The wounded and the worthy one, the first to lack is still to come ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus the King, the one, the well, the great ♪ ♪ The Lord who will forever reign, the name above all other names ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name, oh be your name, oh be your name, be your name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, oh be your name, oh be your name ♪ Come on, give Jesus praise today! Would you pray with me? Jesus, there is no name like your name. Your name brings peace in the middle of storms, your name brings hope in the darkest night. Your name brings healing when the doctors say there's no hope. Your name is above every name and in your name today we find everything that we possibly could need. But the greatest thing we find in your name is salvation. We find hope eternal because through you and your name and your sacrifice we have hope today. So we celebrate you, we celebrate your love, we celebrate your name, we celebrate your strength. We celebrate everything that you are for us today. It's in your name that we gather, it's in your name that we sing these songs, it's in your name that we pray. And everybody said, amen, amen, amen. Church, you can be seated today. Good morning, church! I am so fired up to be here. I was thinking when Pastor Todd was introducing me that after about 15 years, I think I'm like just part of the teaching team here. This is where, unofficially, this is where I am.

And I have to say, I'm thrilled for everyone that's watching online, all of our campuses, because I have been the person on the other side of the camera for the last few weeks as we've been going through our series on Moses. And I'm closing our series today. But I do need to say that I am here today with the most ravishing piece of masculine flesh on planet Earth. Now, Pastor Todd, I'm sorry. I'm talking about Nick, my husband. And we just celebrated, like a couple of months ago, 30 years of marriage, which is pretty awesome. And he is just the love of my life. He was telling me, as you guys have been on the A21 journey with us from the beginning, whether you know it or not, so much of your giving and missions has gone to help us do the work that we do around the world. And just in this last month, we have had, in the last four weeks, 60 rescues, including a four-year-old boy in Texas last week. So I just want you to know that it is phenomenal. It is making such a difference. This is the year that I turned the big six-O. And you might be wondering why is she starting the end of our series on Moses talking about being 60? Because he didn't really even get going until 80. We know that, we learned that in week one. But so I'm not even getting going yet. But I am telling everyone everywhere I go, because I refuse to only celebrate one day. So my actual birthday is September the 23rd, but I'm celebrating 365 days of being 60.

That's why I have decided. And I decided to do 60 things that I've never done before. And I'm well on track for doing that. And so, you know, I'd never seen the Northern Lights. So we went to Alaska and saw the Northern Lights. And I, you know, Nick took me to an igloo since I'd never done that before. And that was a once and done, it was great. And so then I also hiked in the Dolomites. I'd never done that a couple of weeks ago. I wake surfed, which I thought was pretty awesome that my 60-year-old body could get up and do that. I'm giving thanks to God. And, you know, I even, I'd been ministering in Texas for well over 30 years and had never partaken of Whataburger. And there's another once and done in my life because I am from the land of in and out. And so we will be serving that at the marriage supper of the land. So anyway, I have been enjoying this year. And I just want everyone to know that, you know, serving Jesus, I'm like, I always said when I was younger that it ought to get better. You can't tell me that you've been fixing your eyes on Jesus and in my case, it's 38 years by the grace of God. And that the older you get, you get more grumpy or more miserable. I mean, I don't know who you're fixing your eyes on, but it mightn't be Jesus because to fix your eyes on Jesus for 38 years,

you ought to be more full of love, more full of joy, more full of peace, more full of kindness, more full of goodness, more full of long suffering, more full, there are people that I meet, they go, well, I've been in the way for 50 years and they look like they've been sucking lemons. I'm like, could you get out of the way? But anyway, I'm like, could you take a spiritual enema and have a release and have some joy? The joy of the Lord ought to be our strength. I want to show a younger generation. I'm not saying life gets easier, but I am saying he is worthy to go all the way to the finish line, serving him. So I think the greatest gift I could give to the younger generation is the gift of finishing strong and showing them that Jesus Christ is worthy to cross that finish line full of joy. Well, you know, in the last few years, there is no doubt that what psychologists would say is one of the greatest issues. And I think Pastor Julie preached on this last year is the whole issue of loneliness. I mean, they're calling it like it's the huge endemic in the world. They're saying that, you know, over 40% of all adults are saying that they're profoundly lonely. And definitely when we get down to Gen Z, it goes, the stats go through the roof. Over 80% of young people have severe anxiety

and depression linked to loneliness and the ramifications for the future are huge. I can tell you, running a global anti-trafficking organization, some of the results of that in real time, in real life, this has got real world boots on the ground ramifications. You know, one of the things we're most involved in right now is helping to fight online child exploitation because that hits everybody everywhere, whether we're here in, you know, Southern California and I mean, here at Christ Fellowship, you're like, you just keep reproducing like rabbits. So wherever I'm talking to you right now, so I know we're like in Canada, you're like on Mars. You've gone on one of Elon's rockets to Mars. So there's a Christ Fellowship. So the fact is, I love that. I love that so much. But the truth is, it doesn't matter who I'm speaking to and where you are. This is impacting your community, kids in your schools. Each of us, I could ask questions here, are one degree removed of knowing someone whose child was groomed online, ended up sending images that, you know, have come back to haunt them and to cause a lot of problems and cause psychological problems for young people. Just in this last month, out of those stats that I gave you, there was a young girl. She was 12 years old, and she thought she was making a friend

with an older 15-year-old girl, and she had been so lonely, and her parents had broken up. There was just a whole back story to her loneliness. So she was spending a lot of time online. But the, who she thought was this like 15, 16-year-old older girl was actually a 25-year-old man that was grooming her, and she ended up sending photos, and this man, you know, released it to all of her social media followers, and just this young girl, you know, tried to commit suicide. I mean, it was horrific. But I do want you to know that because, you know, we were involved with law enforcement, we were able to put that guy away for 40 years. And I'm telling you, so I hope that he doesn't come out. But I need you to know this is happening in schools everywhere. This is happening to kids that are your friends' kids, and it's not just something that is happening overseas. Anyone that has a phone, that is happening. Guys playing computer games, and because of the gaming industry, the young boys are being groomed in numbers that we've never seen. I've been on the fight for this for 19 years on the front line. And we're seeing things that we've never seen, and particularly young teenage boys. Again, a lot of this is linked to loneliness. They're spending more and more and more time online. And the interesting thing is there's a whole thing called the artificial synthetic intimacy industry. That's quite wild, that we're now even got categories

for this thing. And in order to kind of try to alleviate this loneliness, young people and older people are developing in what they think are intimate relationships with like chat boxes. And they're becoming like their best friends. So that's where they're getting their emotional needs met. And they're, you know, in some cases, physical. It's amazing the kind of relationship that they're building, because they don't know how to build relationships personally, or they're feeling so lonely, or just so excluded from what's going on that literally, they think the chat box that they're talking to is a person. And it's because a part of the culture that we've created. We have such a connection culture. We don't have an intimacy culture. We have a connection culture. We just love to send people real. People have entire friendships based on a real. Look, I like a good real myself. But occasionally, like how are you would be a nice thing as well. And so we think we're intimate because we send the latest real or a quick text just checking in, how are you doing. And we just think that that is intimacy. You're like, they're my best friend. Don't even know what's going on. I laugh with my husband often. He'll go out with the guys and I'll come back and I'll go,

well, because I know from the wives, you know, that the whole world's falling apart. And he's like, oh, no, they're great. They're great. We just throw that. They're great, mate. They're awesome. And I'm like, no, actually, they're not. Did you ask the next question? Like, how is it? But there's this quick connection. And there's a place for connection. Quick text, just checking in how you're going. But you can't sustain any kind of long-term relationship like that and you don't build intimacy. If all Nick and I ever did was send a quick text to each other, we do that and that serves a purpose. But that is not the foundation of our marriage or our relationship, not a quick text. But the truth is we have confused that in our world of social media and DMs and texting and reels and just a quick message, an instant message. We have just become this connection culture that doesn't know what intimacy is. And so what we do is we walk around and go, hey, Siri, how do I feel today? Alexa, what might I want for dinner? Chatty, what do I think about? And we're walking around and we're raising an entire generation that's talking to a thing and thinking

because this thing answers back and tells me what I want to hear because it has learned how to read me and what I like. And I mean, it's gone into my algorithm and I've told it what I like and what I like to listen to and what I like to think about and what I like to talk about. So this thing is just going to feed me what I want and it's not even real. But a whole generation is being raised not even aware that it's not. Now, the fact is we're older, some of us in this room, and so we knew a life before the internet. We, my children can't believe that I was alive when dinosaurs roamed the earth and there was no internet and there was no social media and that I was old school and that, you know, we didn't go on the internet or we weren't swiping. through other people's lives to try to discover what we wanted to do with our life. Back in our day, we actually had to go into a prayer closet and we actually had to pray and get from God what God wanted us to do with our life. We learned to hear the voice of God because we learned to pray. We learned to build intimacy with God. But we have a generation that kind of checks in with God but doesn't know how to build intimacy with God. And perhaps as we wrap up this whole series, we started in week one when we learned about the fact that God chooses highly unlikely people to affect his purpose on the earth,

which is each and every one of us. We saw the questions Moses asked God, which is the ones we always do. God, who am I? Who are you? What on earth can I do? What could you do with my life? We're still asking those in 2026. We saw in the second week that we all face our Red Seas. God is the God that makes a way where there is no way. He makes the impossible possible. He makes the impossible possible. I mean, God is a miracle working God. I mean, it is awesome. But you notice through it all, what we're seeing is the hand of God. It's God that confronts Moses in a burning bush. God starts talking to him. It is God that parts a Red Sea. It's not Moses. It's God that does that. And last week, apart from the fact that I learned not to power lift, I'll tell you that much, I also did learn last week that, you know, God gives us his commandments, not in order to punish us or restrict us, but in fact, to liberate us, to live the life that he's called us to live. But throughout the whole thread of Moses's life, and where we're wrapping it all up today,

is the greatest gift and the greatest lesson that Moses gives us are not the great accomplishments or exploits that were done in and through his life. It was the intimacy he had with the God that did the miracles in his life. And that is the greatest gift that God affords us. Can I tell you, as a woman that's been in full-time vocational ministry for 37 years, by the grace of God, I've had the opportunity to do amazing things and see God move mightily across the globe, to build a global anti-trafficking organization, to do some incredible things. Can I tell you, the older I get, the thing that I realize is the most precious gift that God's given me is himself. The greatest promise of the Bible is that he has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Now, when you're young and you wanna do awesome things, you think, that's cool, thanks God. It's like, you know, this old grandparent, you're still, you're always gonna be there. And then as you walk with God more and more, you realize, oh God, please don't ever leave me or forsake me. You are the one constant. And we're gonna see in Exodus chapter 33 today that this gift of intimacy is the greatest gift. Just before I pick up and read this to you, let me just give you a little bit of a backstory.

We heard last week how in Exodus 19, 20, God spoke at the base of the mountain to all of Israel, and then Moses went up to the mountain. Well, you know, while he's up there for 40 days and 40 nights, you're thinking, that's not long. We're only talking three and a half months out of slavery. So three and a half months ago, they were building the pyramids, being beaten, working day and night, and now they're out in the wilderness. But I just want you to see how quickly you can forget the good things God has done for you. We're talking three and a half months. We're under 110 days from building bricks in the sun and having no rights and being a slave. It only took less than four months for Moses to be up on a mountain. While God is giving him the 10 commandments to teach the people how to flourish in life, how to thrive in life, Moses is up there, and they're like, Moses has been gone too long. Moses has just been gone too long. So they build like a golden calf under the leadership of Aaron, who I don't know what he must have been smoking that day. And so they're building this golden calf. They just lost their mind. This is how fickle we are. You know, within three and a half months of being set free, we're like, we gotta build a calf because where is Moses?

And then Moses comes down, and you know, he sees there's a party going on, and he's like, Aaron, what's going on? Aaron's like, I don't know what's going on. They just gave me some gold. I threw it in the fire, and there's the calf. Like, I'm like, wow, that's our excuses. We just come up with crazy things. Well, then it gets, you know, Moses is, he's still got that temper in there. He's not totally sanctified. So he's throwing those stone tablets down and takes the powder, puts it in the water supply, and says, drink that. And then a whole bunch of people are killed, and the whole thing is a mess. Welcome to the traumatized people of the children of Israel as we step into chapter 33. So 33 verses one to 11. I'm going to read this to you. This is the word of the Lord. It says, the Lord spoke to Moses, go up from here, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt to the, sorry, I just wanna say like the Lord's all of a sudden. Go up, you and the people that you brought up, okay? So out of the land of Egypt to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I will give it to your offspring. I will send an angel ahead of you,

and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hethites, Pezites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people. Otherwise, I might destroy you on the way. God's actually doing them a favor. It's like, you might die if I come, so I'm not coming. When the people heard this bad news, they mourned and didn't put on their jewelry. For the Lord said to Moses, tell the Israelites, you are a stiff-necked people. If I went up with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now, take off your jewelry, and I'll decide what to do with you. So the Israelites remained stripped of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward. Now, Moses took a tent and pitched it outside the camp. At a distance from the camp, he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone who wanted to consult the Lord would go to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand up, each one at the door of his tent, and they would watch Moses until he entered the tent. When Moses entered the tent, a pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance to the tent,

and the Lord would speak with Moses. As all the people saw the pillar of cloud remaining at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up and then bow in worship, each one at the door of his tent. The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. His assistants, the young man Joshua, son of Nun, would not leave the inside of the tent. So what we see, I mean, initially, obviously we see that God is not happy. And in verses one to six, you see that the children of Israel took off their jewelry, but they started mourning as soon as they realized, because God said, you're still gonna go in. I'm gonna keep my word. You're gonna go into the promised land, that land flowing with milk and honey. That was always the goal. The wilderness was never the goal. The wilderness is where I took you out of Egypt, so Egypt could come out of you, and you could be prepared to become the person that I need you to be. Because a person that leaves slavery, you have to be a different person to go into a promised land. You've got a certain mentality, a certain way of thinking, a certain formation that happened with intergenerational 430 years of slavery.

They thought a certain way, they acted a certain way. And so they were full of Egypt. So even though they were physically free, they still were not free in their thinking. And the wilderness is just a period of time where God was taking Egypt out of them. So he said, I always promised you the promised land. You're gonna go in, but here's the proviso. I'm actually not going in with you. I'm gonna send an angel who's gonna accompany you. And so you're gonna get the promise. You're gonna get the fruitfulness of the land. You're gonna get the possession. Everything I said I'm gonna give you, I'm gonna give you, but it comes without my presence. Now, of course, I'm not talking about the omnipresence of God, but I'm talking about the manifest presence of God. You're going with them into the promised land. And what happens is they start to mourn. And Moses is starting to freak out. It's like, I don't, we don't want to go if you're not coming with us. You are actually the God, I don't want the promise without your presence. I would rather have your presence than have the promise without you. I'd rather be here in the desert with you than in the promised land without you. And can I say that's a great thing

for all of us to remember. It is much better to be in a difficult circumstance with the presence of God than to be in the midst of having everything without the presence of God. And so they start to mourn and they rip themselves of all their jewelry. They take it all off. And what happens is Moses established the tent of meeting outside of the camp. God's like, okay, my presence will be here in the tent of meeting. And he would go. And it said everyone could go, but they were too scared to go because they disobeyed God. So they would watch Moses go. How often do we watch someone else go into the presence of God? They would watch Moses go in. They would bow as he goes in. Because there's a lot of people, they kind of want to linger around the outskirts of the presence. I'll come to church, but I'm going to sit right at the back. I'm not talking to the back row right now. Don't freak out. And I'm going to kind of watch you worship. I'm going to watch you go down for prayer.

I'm going to watch you connect to a small group. No, no, no. I like to be around, but I'm not getting that close. God, myself. So they're watching Moses from a distance even though everyone had access. It's amazing how often everyone has access but we just think it's the elite that will go in. And so they're watching Moses and the scripture says Moses is talking to God face to face. That's how friends talk. We even have FaceTime because we talk face to face. I mean, God is giving, He's showing us features of human friendship and human relationship to say this is the kind of friendship that I'm talking about. This is the kind of intimacy that I'm talking about. Now, of course, we know that we can't see the face of God and live. So of course, take the metaphor here. But they're speaking alike. They're speaking face to face. There's an intimacy there. And of course, humans, we have speech. It's a human trait. So the writer here is giving God this human trait saying, look, He's speaking like a friend, like a friend speaks face to face. I'm trying to give you human analogies

of how intimate a relationship with God you can have. He's not like some distant person up there in the sky. Now, if you came from a background like mine, I came from a staunch Greek Orthodox background. We were not encouraged to go straight to God. In fact, I had to go to the priest. I had to kiss his ring and kiss the Bible. And I never knew I could read the Bible. Only the priest could read the Bible. So when I first got saved, I slept with the Bible under my pillow for six months because I didn't know that I could read it. I thought sort of like, good luck, it's gonna come in by osmosis. It was kind of like this strange thing. But the fact is that I was taught that you have to go through someone else that's gonna go to God on your behalf. But here we know that they're talking face to face, that you could go straight to Him. And this would have been a very unique relationship with God, especially in ancient Near Eastern culture, that you could actually talk to God at the Tent of Meeting. And what's so interesting is Moses had his assistant Joshua and the scripture says that even when Moses left the Tent of Meeting to go and do his work, Joshua lingered, Joshua stayed. And so I'm wondering, imagine how many conversations that Joshua overheard between God and Moses. And what is unique about that is,

I wanna speak to every parent that's listening to me, every person that has anything to do with a young person. The greatest gift we can give the next generation is not all this awesome stuff that we do, but that they would see that we talk with God, that they would overhear our conversations with God. I've got two daughters and I don't want the greatest legacy that I leave that they say, well, mom and dad built 821 or mom and dad did Propel or mom was this preacher. I want them, and I think the greatest gift we've given them is they come downstairs in the morning and they see their dad with his Bible talking to God or they see their mom talking to God. That is the greatest gift you can give a generation is your intimacy with God. So Joshua, because remember, Joshua was gonna need to know that. In Joshua chapter five, when the Lord said to him, Joshua chapter one, verse five, Moses, my servant is dead and then he goes on, he says, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. He didn't say, I'm gonna do the same thing with you that I did with Moses. I need you to be the same leader that Moses was. I need you to be, no, no, no. He said, this is the promise I'm giving you, my presence, my presence, and this is what we need more than anything else in 2026 is the presence of God. That is what differentiates us just like it differentiated Moses.

Moses didn't go to God like he was a lawyer because that's how some of us go. It's like, okay, can you, I'm gonna argue my case of why I should be in your presence or why you should forgive me or like some judge. Like I'm so scared, like I'm waiting for a judgment every time, I'm not really gonna pray because I'm so scared that God's gonna hit me over the head and punish me for what I did last night. That's how some of us go to him or like he's a police officer and he's gonna write us a ticket. Or that he's like a CEO. Let me give you my list of accomplishments. I'm gonna give, I want a performance review. It's so amazing how so often we go to God and in a way that is not like a friend, not in any intimate way, more like he's a CEO or a police officer or a lawyer and we go in with fear and trepidation. So we think, you know what, I probably won't go in really because he's gonna be angry with me or it's gonna be hard or I'm not gonna go in because I did pray once for that person to be healed and they died. I did pray that he would save my marriage and we ended up divorced. I did pray some of us won't come forward during prayer time because we're thinking, not sure this stuff really works.

I kind of threw one up. I talked to him once, and I'm so disappointed that I'm too scared to go again. And so what happens is we just pull away. Yes, we come to church. Yes, we live outwardly godly lives, but our hearts are not in it. And God wants our hearts above everything else. That's where intimacy come from. Nick doesn't want just the covenant I made. We celebrated 30 years. It's not like, well, you know, I told you I loved you and on our wedding day, if I change my mind, I'll let you know. It's not like that, but some of us, that's what it's like. Well, I said a prayer. If I change my mind, I'll let you know, but I'm not really, I really, you know, life has just been life-ing, and I'm too scared to be disappointed, or I'm too scared you're gonna come down on me like a ton of bricks, or I'm too scared you're not gonna give me the thing that I want, so I'm gonna orbit around your presence, but not really get into it. And so many of us settle for that kind of relationship with God. We're heaven-bound. It's not an issue of salvation,

but we miss both the intimacy and the power that comes from that intimacy. What God has allowed us to do on the earth, it's not because of a gift or talent that he gave us, but it's those that know that God will do great exploits. There is a direct correlation between intimacy with God and effectiveness for God on the earth. And a lot of us, we're scrolling and swiping, and I want 10 tips to the best life, and I want 10 tips on how I'm gonna, and yet God's like, I'm here. I'm actually the goal and the source. And what you and I have today, what you and I have today is what he, Moses, absolutely, desperately, desperately longed for, because you and I carry the presence. You go further on in Exodus 33, and I mean, it is very stunning to me that Moses is like, if your presence doesn't go with us, I'm not going. And he's saying, Lord, I wanna see your glory. Now, this is the same Moses that had seen God deal with the plagues. He'd talked to a burning bush. He had seen a Red Sea part. I mean, you'd think, well, you've seen the glory of God. You've seen a lot of signs and wonders and miracles. You've seen manna from heaven. What do you mean you want to see his glory? How much more can there be? He said, no, no, I don't wanna just see the acts of God.

I want the weight of God, the glory of God. And the Lord said, okay, I'm gonna let my goodness pass by you, because to God, his glory and his goodness are synonymous. And if you understand Psalm 119, verse 68 says, God is good, God does good. You don't have to fear a God that is good and does good. You don't have to try to hide and run away from the presence of a God. You think the glory of God, it sounds so mystical. So like, oh my gosh, this is so weird. This kabod, this glory, this weight, I'm not worthy. And the Lord's like, oh, I'll let my goodness pass by you. My glory and my goodness, I wanna be good to you. You're seeing my glory when you come into intimacy with me and relationship with me, and you will see my goodness. I wonder if you've ever thought God's glory is his goodness. And God wants to be good to you, but you get close enough to him, and you will find that he is a good father. You know, my daughters, I've never seen my daughters get up from when they were kids, they're 24 and 20 now, and crawl down the hall with fear and trepidation and just like knock with a big stick, you know, five meters away from the room and go, fathereth, nicketh, I beseecheth, may I come into thy president in King James Englishest. They're like balling to Nick. And they're just like, Daddy, even to this day,

Sophia, who's studying in Paris, I need to tell you, you know, when she wants something from her dad or she wants to talk to him, she just picks up that phone. She never checks to see what time it might be in North America when she's calling. She just balls in boldly and calls him and talks to him. And I wonder whether that's the kind of relationship you have with God, because that's accessible to us. What do I want to tell you? That we have what Moses would have desperately wanted because you and I, Scripture says, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You and I actually carry the presence of God. If you are born again, Ephesians 5 says, you've been sealed until the day of redemption with the Holy Spirit of God. We are God carriers. We are, we learned last week, we're a royal priesthood, a holy nation. We have been set apart. God's own possession, and when we've been saved, we are filled with the Spirit of God. So what they had to go outside to the tent and meeting for, and obviously then the tabernacle and the temple, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Do you realize we carry the Spirit of God? It is a bizarre concept to think about, but that's exactly who we are. We carry the presence, and we also have access to the presence.

We are living in a time in church history, and on the Christian calendar, the Old Testament saints would have loved to be us, because we are this side of the cross, and the Holy Spirit has come down, and you and I carry the Spirit of God, and the writer to the Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19 to 22 says, therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, He has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain that is through His flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscious, and our bodies washed in pure water. So here is the deal. You and I get to enter boldly into the throne room of God. So not only do we carry the Spirit of God, we can enter because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross, who has washed away all of our sins. We walk boldly into the throne room, not in our own righteousness, but in His. And so many of us, we just skirt on the outskirts, and the Lord's like, oh no, come boldly, come boldly. We have what Moses could have only dreamt about.

He had a kind of intimacy, talked with God face to face, said, Lord, show me your glory. You and I carry that. The Holy Spirit of God dwells in us if we are born again believers, dwells in us, sealed us until the day of redemption. And we can enter boldly into the throne room. Do you realise this side of the cross? We get access to God like other saints would have only dreamt of. Why would we waste that? And there is nothing higher, no greater privilege than both to carry the presence and be His light in the midst of a broken world. We carry His presence, and He says, I'm sending you into a lost and a broken world with my presence, because you are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. My presence in you is gonna sustain you when the world around you is trying to crush you. And then when you're feeling weak, boldly come in. Get refreshed, get strengthened, and go out again. That's what this whole thing's about. When you understand intimacy with God, it's both for our personal relationship with Him and our source of strength to do what we're on the earth to do for Him. I wonder if you know Him this morning. Not do you know about Him, but do you know Him? And if you don't, right here, right now, online,

all of our campuses, wherever you're sitting, I wanna give you the opportunity to make your peace with God to address the spiritual condition of your heart. The Bible says there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. There is no sin that you have committed that is too big to separate you from God's forgiveness, God's love, God's goodness, God's kindness. And today, wherever you are, if you're away from God, maybe you've never ever surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, or perhaps you once did, but if you're honest today, you've been away from Him, cold in your heart, today I wanna encourage you, come home to Him, don't run from Him. Come boldly and receive His forgiveness, His love, His grace, and His mercy. I just want every head bowed and every eye closed wherever you are, all of our campuses. And today, if you say, Chris, I want what you're talking about, I need a fresh start with Jesus Christ, either for the very first time, or I've been away from God, cold in my heart, but I want what you're talking about, I wanna pray with you, just right there where you're sitting, a very simple but powerful prayer. If you say, Chris, would you include me in that prayer? I wanna fresh start with Jesus. Would you just raise your hand, wherever you are, all across here, thank you.

I mean, that's awesome. Keep them going up, that's awesome. I can see you all over, all over, literally. This is wonderful, all of our campuses. Keep that hand up high. I'm gonna pray a prayer. I want the whole room to pray this out loud after me, especially all of you with your hands raised. But I want the whole room to pray this. We're gonna add our faith to the faith of the people that raised their hand this morning. So church, let's say this out loud. Dear Jesus, I raise my hand today. because I recognize my need for you I ask that you would forgive me for all of my sins that you would give me a fresh start today and a hope for the future I want to be a Christian a follower of Jesus Christ every single day for the rest of my life in Jesus name amen amen thank you church you