Exodus Part 3

Good morning, church. We're going to waste no time. We're going to praise the Lord this morning. Lift this song up with us. Come on. I praise when I'm sure. And praise when I'm doubting. And I praise when I'm loving. And praise when surrounded. Because praise is the water my enemies drown in. 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. Sing it out. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. I praise when I feel it. And praise when I don't. Oh, I praise as I know. Yes, they're in control. Yes, you are. My praise is a weapon. It's more than a sound. Yeah. My praise is a shout that brings Jericho down. As long as I'm breathing, I've got a reason to praise. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. Good morning.

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, my soul. You've got a reason to praise. He's wounded. He's faithful. He's sovereign. He's true. He rose and defeated the grave. We give all our worship, all our adoration to you, Jesus. Come on, we sing. I praise because you're sovereign. Praise because you reign. I praise because you rose and defeated the grave. I praise because you reign. Praise because you're true. Praise because you're sobinary. I pray. I praise because you're sovereign. Praise because you reign. Praise because you rose and defeated the grave. I praise because you reign. Praise because you're true. Praise because there's nobody greater than you.

Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. And I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? Oh, I won't be quiet. I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? Oh, I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I got to praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. We praise him. I tell my soul to stay. Yeah. We praise the Lord. We praise the Lord. And that's such a fitting response to the revelation of who God is, to give him praise. Like, if your God is faithful. if your God is sovereign if he rules and reigns and rose and defeated the grave he's worthy of some praise amen come on he's worthy of our worship let's

practice a praise right now because we're not done yet we're gonna keep praising him in this place wherever you're watching from worshiping from this morning we're gonna give him praise he's revealed himself to be a God who shows up a God who's faithful to his promises regardless of how it feels what it looks like when our backs are against the wall if we've still got breath in our lungs he's still working he's still moving amen we've been looking into the Old Testament looking back to see how God showed up for his people back then how when the people of God were up against the Red Sea with the Egyptian army bearing down on them how God parted the waters so they could walk through on dry land when they were wandering around in the wilderness nothing to eat he sends manna from heaven but they don't know where to go he reveals himself as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night so they know where to go he's leading them in the wilderness and he does the same for us we're believing today but he's still making a way where there seems to be no way he's the kind of God who's faithful who shows up who's always on time so our team wrote this song like almost a year ago we've been holding on to it for this moment for this day believing this is a song that our church needs to declare right now that God is Yahweh who rules and reigns forever he's got the name above every other name and when our back is to the sea he's faithful so the bridge of the song it comes at you pretty quick I just want to read the lyrics of this bridge so when we get to that part of the song you've already heard it once you can really latch on to it but it just paints so beautifully puts into words it's a song what I was just sharing a moment ago and so let me read these words let them sink in and claim it as a promise for you for yourself this morning that God's faithful to you he's not done yet so it says now my back is to the sea the promise land in front of me for every great thing that you've done there are greater things to come amen if you led with cloud and fire through the day and through the night then you'll guide my every step keep me in your light if you held back every drop of the wild and untamed sea you can chart a path before me far beyond what I can see and like the bread fell down

from heaven and the water from the stone you can fill my weary soul again breathe life into these bones you make good on every promise you won't leave the ones you love it's not by might it's not by power but by my spirit says the Lord amen so Yahweh we look to you this morning forever and always you reign you rule would you stir us up to faith this morning as you reveal yourself as the one who's sovereign over all that God is faithful to every promise we trust in you we praise you you reveal within the flame on Holy I am that I am, You say And who else is like You? No one beside You No one beside You Who else is like You? No one beside You No one beside You Yahweh, Yahweh You reign forever and always Yahweh, Yahweh You reign forever and always You're a God who saves the sane All of heaven and earth proclaim You are faithful to the ones who call Your name And who else is like You? There's no one beside you, no one beside you We sing who else is like our God? Who else is like you? There's no one beside you, no one beside you We sing Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh Yahweh, forever and always Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh

We sing Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh Yahweh, forever and always Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh Forever and always Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh Now my back is to the sea The promise laid in front of me For every great thing that you've done There are greater things to come And if you live without a fire Through the day and through the night You will guide my every step You will keep me in your light And if you held back every drop Of the wild and hunting sea You can chart a path before me Far beyond what I can see Like the bread left down from heaven And the water from the stone You can fill my weary soul Again, breathe life into these bones You make good on every promise You won't leave the ones you love Not by might, not by power But my spirit says, Lord Yahweh, Yahweh You reign forever and always Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh You reign forever and always Yahweh, Yahweh

Who else is like you? No one besides you No one besides you Who else is like you? Who else is like you? There's no one besides you No one, no one besides you Who else is like you? And who else is like you? No one besides you No one besides you And we sing, Yahweh Come on, lift it up Yahweh You reign forever and always Sing Yahweh Yahweh, Yahweh You reign forever and always Sing Yahweh Yahweh, Yahweh You reign forever and always Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh You reign forever and always You reign forever Oh, you make a way when there is no way No one is holy like you are, God Name above every name You are faithful to the ones who call on Your name No other God like You, God No throne is higher

No name is greater than the name of Jesus We sing holy, holy, holy Worthy are You, Lord Holy, holy, holy Worthy are You, God Great is Your name and greatly to be praised Yes, You are, Jesus Then sings my soul My Saviour God, to Thee, Amen How great Thou art How great Thou art Then sings my soul My Saviour God, to Thee How great Thou art How great Thou art Yes, You are, Father We sing of Your greatness Holy, holy are You Worthy is Your name Oh Lord, my God Oh Lord, my God When I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made I see the stars I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout the universe displayed Then sings my soul My Saviour God, to Thee How great Thou art How great Thou art

Then sings my soul My Saviour God, to Thee How great Thou art How great Thou art And when I think of God His Son of Mary Sending Him to die Oh, I scarce can take it in That on that cross My burden lightly bearing He bled and died to take away Oh, we sing my soul Then sings my soul My Saviour God, to Thee Sing how great Thou art How great Thou art Then sings my soul My Saviour God, to Thee How great Thou art How great Thou art Oh, how great You are How great You are And when Christ shall come With shout of acclamation And take me home What joy shall fill my heart Then I shall bow In humble adoration ♪ And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art ♪ ♪ And then sing to my soul, my Savior God, how great Thou art ♪

♪ And how great Thou art, and then sing to my soul, my God ♪ ♪ And then sing to my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, how great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪ ♪ And sing to my soul, and then sing to my soul, my Savior God, how great You are, God, how great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪ ♪ And sing to my soul, and then sing to my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, how great Thou art, how great Thou art, how great Thou art, how great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪ Well, good morning, everyone. It's so good to be back with you guys. Happy Sunday. Happy Sunday. My name is Kyle Worsham. I'm the multiplication pastor here at Abundant Life. And I'm Kylie Conniff. I'm our online ministries leader. Hey, it is such a good Sunday, but I just want to tell you, God is moving. And we want to connect with you because this church, I mean, God is just doing some stuff. So many things, all the time. And we want you to be a part. We want God to move through you and to use you in your community, your job, your family, whatever. There's so many ways for you to get connected and to take those next steps, not only with Abundant Life, but with Jesus. And so if you're interested, go to abundant-life.com slash connect and let us know how we can come alongside of you. Also, a great way to connect is our church houses. Now, Kylie, I don't know if we've got to tell everybody. It's been a little bit since we've kind of given a little bit of an update on what's going on with church houses because it's been a lot. Guys, I can't even tell you all the stories, but here's some highlights. There was a baptism on Ridge, Kansas with Jim Potts. Amanda, you guys are killing it. We're also praying for the team down there.

Also, we had four baptisms in Belgrade, Montana. And I don't know if we're too early on this. Dusty, please forgive me if this is too early, but Dusty is actually going and his wife are going to be like multiplying the Belgrade church house into Bozeman, Montana. So you're in that area. You need to get connected to one of our two church houses in the Gallatin Valley. Man, we also are launching one in Germany, like the country of Germany. We're international. We've been international. We've been international, but now it's like, man, we're moving. We're more international. And so, man, there's so many ways for you to connect. If you want to make an impact in your community and do it in a really practical way of launching a church house in your home, would you go to abundant-life.com slash church-house and let's see how God will use you in your community. Well, hey, Church, we talked about this last week, but we want to just remind you in a few weeks on January 31st, if you are in the Kansas City area or if you're not, find a church house, connect with them. We're going to be touching base on what we've been calling our A-Life discipleship journey. This is something we've been doing for the past year and we're continuing forward in that. We want to be living the abundant life. And so there have been all kinds of things that have been surrounding the A-Life. Part of it is like church houses and seeing them grow and seeing lives change. And so we want to invite you on January 31st. If you're in the metro, join us.

If not, connect with your church house leader. And we're just going to have a time where we're going to kind of update you on what's been going on with A-Life and where we're going for the next year in our A-Life journey. Well, Church, we've got a great morning with Pastor Chad. It's going to be great. We're going to be back in Exodus to take a minute and we'll continue on in our morning of worship. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ In 1961, there's a football coach named Vince Lombardi who coached the Green Bay Packers. They just came from a dismal championship game in 1960. So when Vince Lombardi had 36 veterans on his team, his famous speech of, this is a football, tackling, passing, catching. His men need to master the basics, the fundamentals of football. And that's a lot like what Discipleship One is, is that we need to have biblical fundamentals and the basics of reaching other people. We made D1 a priority when we started. We had a couple that discipled us and invested time in us, and we wanted to do the same. Yeah, we realized that we wanted to serve, and the only way to serve was to go through the basics. For a new believer, I just think that, you know, you got to start with salvation and then build on that. Going through D1, that weekly work that they do and then come back and talk about it is very, very important for a new believer. There's always a question that I'm not prepared for, and it makes me research that answer and come back the next week and say, here's what I found. Here's the possible answer to your question. I'm learning the whole time that we're discipling somebody. When you take this class, when you take this course, we do need to go out and mentor others.

We can know the plays, we can know the Bible, but if you're sitting on the bench and you're not getting into the game, the Bible says, go ye therefore and teach all nations. You know, we're in Next Steps class as hosts, and we're at the Next Steps desk every Sunday all during the week. It's meeting new people and sharing our faith. I'm not doing it because I have to, because of my religion. I do it because of my faith, and I want to serve, and I want to serve Christ, and I want to serve the church as a whole. A-Life to me is basically serving because I want to, not because I have to. The Lord can accomplish His purpose without me, yet He invites me to participate in something that is everlasting, and that is to see lives changed by Jesus. Well, good morning, church. If you have a copy of God's Word, why don't you grab it, find the book of Exodus chapter 19. If you're new to the Bible, you picked a great day to come to church because you're going to be really glad that you are going to just have to find the book of Exodus. You go Genesis, then Exodus. It's just the second book in the Bible, chapter 19, and I'm so glad to get into God's Word, and man, praise God for what God is doing in people like Tom and D. Myers' life. It made their tribe increase, people that are saying, man, we want to continue to put our hand to the work of God and be a part of what God is doing to invest the word of God into the next generation and to other people, and so praise God for them. Pastor Phil is in El Salvador today, so we want to be praying for Pastor Phil because he's preaching at one of our sister churches that we've supported for over 30 years down there. And so we want to pray for him, but I would think more importantly, we want to pray for our Latino and Latina brothers and sisters down there because y'all know how Pastor Phil be cooking when he's preaching, right? And he's having to preach through a translator, okay, and so imagine him hitting alliteration and then the translator's like, you know, hey, senor, you know, please slow down, right?

I mean, just like we got to process, you know, anyway. And so praying for the church, and man, I'm just so excited to be a part of a church that the ministry never, the sun never sets on the ministry at Abundant Life is what we'd like to say, and so praise God that we have a team that's down in El Salvador getting to do that. I don't know what your life has brought to you, but for me, around this time of the year, several years ago, we were like really, the hope was rising, and we were thinking, man, it's a new year, fresh start, fresh beginnings, because my brother and I just picked up my dad from rehab. The reason why my dad was in rehab is because he had gone to jail, and they were going to shorten his sentence if he went through rehab, and so we're like, all right, dad's getting out sooner. We went and picked him up out in West Texas from this rehab place, and we got back to East Texas where I was living at the time, and we're like, all right, man, new year, new dad. I mean, he was literally just locked up. He was literally in bondage, and we're like, all right, we are on the pathway to abundance. We're going from bondage to abundance, fresh start, and we're good. We're going to learn from that mistake, and we're going to learn from being locked up, but now, now, it's a fresh start. It's new beginnings, and I wish I could tell you that, man, that was kind of a ripple in our family history, and that was the end of it, and we never ... We're turned back and we move from bondage to abundance. But that's not my story. And that's not many people's story. And so I don't know if y'all know this or not, but we actually have a campus of abundant life at Tipton Prison. And so we're praying that when those men get out of prison, that they get on the pathway from bondage to abundance

and they never look back, amen? We can encourage them right now. And we're praying for you men. But it's easier said than done. And so my dad, he struggled like many people struggle. And a few years down the road, he's back in the same things that once got him in jail and he finds himself back in jail, back in bondage. And then we're like, all right, we go through the process. He's locked up a little bit longer. Then he gets out. We're like, all right, dad, we're rallying around you. And then a few years later for a third time, he's locked up. And we're just like, oh my goodness. And we started getting exasperated, and when are you gonna learn? And when are you gonna get out of this bondage for good? But here's what I learned, that the pathway from bondage to abundance is far more difficult than you realize. And the reason why I start there telling stories about my father is because my father's story physically is in many ways my story spiritually. Like, I don't know if you've had a season in your life where you're trying to follow Jesus Christ and you're like, man, I'm about that A life and I'm gonna change and I'm gonna get out of this bondage and you see God deliver you and you're like,

God, thank you for your forgiveness. But then I found myself in seasons in this roundabout of ridiculousness where I'm like, delivered from my bondage on the path towards abundance, temptation, sin, back in the bondage. God, I'm so sorry, would you deliver me? Delivered from the bondage, back on the path to abundance, temptation, sin, back in the bondage. And then I don't know if you're anything like me, but if you're in that vicious cycle of ridiculousness where you're just on repeat of bondage, deliverance, path to abundance, temptation, sin, back into it, at some point, you're gonna get sick and tired of being sick and tired. And at some point, you're gonna come to places like this and hear about how God has a life for you and life abundantly for you. And now he has abundance for you in a promised land spiritually. And you're gonna wanna allow him to intersect your life and to break that vicious cycle so that you can get on the pathway to abundance. And that's what we're running after, y'all. Because Jesus comes and he says this, there's an enemy that has come to steal, kill, and destroy, but we are about that a life in these two years where we're saying, man, we wanna get on the path of abundance. Because Jesus said that though that enemy's come

to steal, kill, and destroy, he wants to keep you in that vicious cycle. Jesus says, I have come to give you life and life abundantly. And one of the key ingredients that you're gonna need in order to experience the promised land spiritually, in order to experience the a life, in order to move from bondage to abundance is one of the key ingredients that you're gonna need is God's word. God's word. God has a word for you this morning. If you're taking notes, I've titled this message, When God Speaks. When God Speaks. Because we're looking at the first time in the Bible when God is gonna speak to a group of people. He's already spoke the world into existence, he spoke to individuals, but now he's opening up his mouth and he's speaking to his people and God has a word for you. Now, if you're new to the story of Exodus, we just kind of been on a high level running through the story of God's people in the book of Exodus. And what we've seen is that God delivered his people from a death angel and he got them out of sins, or he got them out of Egyptian slavery. And that's all symbolic of God

getting us out of sin slavery. And then last week we said, many of you, your backs are against the wall. And we saw how God parted the Red Sea and he allowed his people to go from the land of Egypt into the wilderness on their way to the promised land. And many of you, you had come last week, said, man, my back's against the wall. You stood up at all of our campuses and we prayed as a body and said, God, you did it before, would you do it again? Would you create breakthrough in this person's situation? And we're believing God is doing that and he's working in your life. And what's happened since then is that God's people, now they're on the other side of the Red Sea and they're headed towards the promised land, but God's taken them the long way. And I don't know if you know this or not, but sometimes God is not so interested about the destination as he is about the journey. Because before God can get you to the place of promised land living, he's got to foster in you a heart of dependence. If you're gonna experience abundance spiritually, you're gonna need to learn dependence spiritually. So sometimes God takes us the long way. Because if you're anything like me, I can be stubborn as a mule at times. And I need God to teach me some things.

So they're on this road trip, and imagine their road trip is much like a road trip that you've taken. They've got all the kids in the van and you get down the highway about 45 minutes and then you automatically start hearing the I'm hungry and I'm thirsty, you know, you pull over to quick trip, you get the beef jerky and the soda and you get back in an hour later, I got to use the bathroom and just all the chirping, right? That's what they're doing from Exodus 14 to 19. They get a little squirmish along the way, Moses. holds his hands up, they dominate, and they find their way to Mount Sinai, one of the most iconic places in all of the Bible, because this is the place where God speaks for the first time to a group of people. What God's doing is he's revealing himself. And what I wanna do this morning is I wanna answer three important questions. Who is God, who are you, and how do we respond? And so here we go in Exodus chapter 19, picking up in verse 16. It says this, now it came to pass on the third day. Now, God does some of his greatest work on the third day. If you're new to the Bible, just stay tuned because there's a resurrection coming on the third day

later on in the pages. Anyway, and so on the third day, what's happened up until this point, Moses has told the people, hey, you better get ready because God's gonna meet with us on the third day. Now, I love this because Moses gets out ahead. He's basically saying, hey, we're going to church this weekend. I don't know how your house works, but sometimes I gotta tell my girls, hey, in two days, I need you to be thinking what you gonna wear to church, all right? Let's go ahead and get there, all right? Because I ain't waking up on Sunday morning to have a little crisis of a wardrobe, all right? And so Moses is basically, hey, y'all get ready because we're gonna have church in a couple of days, and then this is what happens when they go to church. It says, now it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain. And the sound of trumpet was very loud so that all the people who were in the camp, they trembled. Point number one, if you're taking notes, you just write this down. Who is God? Who is God? God is meeting with his people on this mountain, and he's showing us some things about his character. He's continuing to reveal himself to these people.

In an effect, he's revealing himself to us. And this is one of the most important questions that we could ask when we read the Bible. When you're reading the Bible, God has disclosed himself openly to you, and we should be building our theology from the book. We should be building our understanding of God from the Bible. One theologian said this, that the most important thing in a man's life is what comes to mind when he thinks about God. So who is God? And do you know God? And have you built a theology based upon God's word? Up until this point in the story, God has been revealing himself to these people. Basically, he's flexing his might and his awesomeness. And so it's on brand that when he shows up at this mountain, he shows up in thundering and in lightning and in loud trumpets. And the people, when they encounter God, they are trembling. If you're taking notes, you can just write this down. There are four things that we see about God from this chapter. The first thing that God is, God is awesome. He's awesome. Now, that was like a great spot for an amen. And so, you know, there are some times when, you know, I just need a little help out there, guys, okay?

So I don't know what was going on in Blue Springs or the crossroads, or I don't know what y'all said, but here in Lee's Summit, I'm gonna give you another chance, okay? All right? Before I give you that chance, here's the reason why I think there was silence. Because we've diluted this word awesome. You know, like your burrito you had this weekend, that was awesome. You know, the fact that the Bills lost, that was awesome. You know, if we can't win, they can't either, right? Yeah? You know, that thing that happened, that was awesome. We have no more adjectives that are reserved for the Almighty. And so we, in our language, we just kind of, you know, flippantly use these superlatives to describe the most ordinary of things. But we come into this space and there should be some words that maybe we reserve for the Almighty. And what if it would be like just a little challenge? Once you mark the number of times you use the word awesome, and just stop using it for those things and reserve it for God. You know, your burrito was good, but it wasn't awesome. God is awesome, right? That you would reserve some of those adjectives. So here we go, y'all ready? Y'all ready?

In light of all of that, four things you need to know about God. First thing is that God is awesome. Amen, that's right, that's right. And he's showing himself up to be big and mighty. Again, there's thunder and light. I don't know if you've had a close encounter with this type of power before, but it radically changes who you are. When I was in high school, I went out to get something out of the car when I was at my school and me and my friend Tootie, we went out to the car together. That wasn't his real name, his nickname. Anyway, so Tootie and I get out there and I had parked right next to a handicapped parking spot where there was a metal pole in the parking lot. And there was a lightning storm, but you know, I'm 17. I'm like, strike me, you know, just full of arrogance. A 17-year-old, lightning struck the pole right next to me and Tootie. And we immediately jump in the car, slam the door, and we were shaking like a flag in a tornado, y'all. I mean, we were scared because when you have an encounter with that sort of power, it puts you in your right place. That is powerful and you are not. He is God, and you are not. He is a problem solver, and your problem is not too big for him. He is sovereign, and you are not.

And so he's showing up in this place, and he's saying, this is who I am. And you are gonna be trembling at the thought of seeing God Almighty. This is why the word of God picks up on. This isn't some rare closet tucked away in the Bible that God's like, oh yeah, and by the way, I'm awesome. No, he's saying it all over the pages of Scripture. But it says this, that God dwells in unapproachable light in 1 Timothy 6, 16. It says this, that no one can see God and live in Exodus 33. It says in Hebrews that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God, that when we get a glimpse of the glory of God, it should be belittling to us, because we see the creator, and we are but the creation. God is awesome. The second thing that we see from this section of God's word is not only is he awesome, but God is amplified. He is amplified. We see that the trumpets are loud. I mean, the thought that comes to my mind is, I don't know if you've, you probably have around this part of the world, but you've been around when a tornado's coming through, and the sirens are wailing, and there's no denying that something forceful is on the horizon.

And the tornadoes, or the sirens are wailing, and it's loud, and it's chaotic, and everyone, it's like attention, attention, something mighty and awesome is on the way. And this is the picture that God is making his presence known. There's no denying this. He's not sneaking in. He's like, I am God, and you are my people, and I've got a word for you. Now, the thing that I think's amazing is that it tells us here in this one verse, but it tells us this over and over in this story is that God shows up, thunder, lightning, and a thick cloud is on the mountain too. What does that mean? Well, the third thing you need to know about God is not only is he awesome, not only is he amplified, but he is available. He's available. And so if you've come in here, and you're like, all right, yeah, like universe, and stars, and lightning, and thunder, like yeah, God, he's just big, and disconnected, and he's out there, but there's no way that I can come to his presence. But what we're learning about God is that he wants to make himself available, that it is his grace to shroud his glory in a cloud so that we can come near,

that God is not gonna compromise his character in order to cater towards your humanity. And so he's gonna cloud himself so that we can come close and have relationship with him. And this is an amazing truth about God Almighty, that though he is great, though he is mighty, though he is awesome, he's closer than your skin. And there's nowhere that you can go where he is not. And he wants you to have availability. He wants to have relationship. Why? Well, there's many reasons why. But the main reason in this passage why God is shrouding himself in a cloud and coming close to the people is because he's about to speak, and he wants them to be able to hear. And so the fourth thing you need to know about God according to this passage is that God is awesome, he's amplified, he's available, and he's audible. Listen, God speaks. He has a word for you. We don't have to guess what God is like. We don't have to guess the way of God. He wants to make himself known plainly, primarily through his word. And this is the first time in history that God is speaking to his people collectively. Again, he's already spoke the world into existence, and then he's spoken to individuals like Abraham,

and Adam, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph. But now he's gathering all of his people, and he's like, I've got a word for all of y'all. He's got a word for you this morning. I don't know if you were paying attention earlier, but the video that we saw here, it referenced one of the most famous coaches of all time, Vince Lombardi, holding up that football to the Packers that year, saying, this is a football. And the reason why he was doing that, I'm assuming, is because he's like, man, we will never get beyond the fundamentals of the game. And I don't want you to think that your past, even just the most basic thing, don't become familiar with this basic thing and then get comfortable with it. But you gotta understand that what you do with this thing, this is the foundation, and we'll never graduate beyond this thing. And so in light of Coach Lombardi doing that with his Packers, I wanted to share something with you this morning that maybe you haven't thought about. This is a Bible. This is God's holy word. It is inerrant. It is infallible. It is inspired by God Almighty. This is a Bible. And we will never get beyond the borders of the Bible

unto some new revelation, because everything that God wanted us to know has been written down. within the covers of this book. This is a Bible that we are gonna continue to stand unapologetically on the Word of God, even when the culture's coming against us, because this is a Bible. And so we're gonna gather here weekly, and we're gonna open up the Word of God, because God has a word for Abundant Life Church, and God has a word for us. This is a Bible, and I wanna invite you to build your life personally on this book, that you would never graduate from this book, that you would grab a hold of this book, that you would download this book, and you would daily read this book and build your life upon this book. This is a Bible. God has spoken a word to you plainly, and everything that you need for life and for godliness is in this book. This is a Bible, and God's character has been made known to you through this book, and his way has been made known to you through this book, so may you be a man or a woman of one book. This is a Bible, and God has spoken to you and to me, and we will never get beyond the fundamentals of our faith. This is why D1, the things we were talking about

in the video earlier, and learning the basics of God, that's why no one's graduated beyond that, and we need people to go through those processes and remember what God is like and his way and then to teach other people and so on and so forth, and God is a God who speaks, and he has a word for you. Now, it's important that we understand this, that what God is about to say to his people, I think sometimes we're like, all right, like I know what's coming. You know, God is a God that speaks, and he's about to lay out what he wants from me, and I'm gonna just get to the pragmatic side of what does it look like to be a follower of God, and so like here we go. Like I know it's coming, the 10 Commandments, and the 10 Commandments are about to come at this place, but it's interesting when you look at the chapter in chapter 19, what God says first before he gets to the 10 Commandments, and within the next few minutes, I wanna talk about that, because here's what I know to be true, that there's a unique distinction of Christianity where God declares your status and your identity before your obedience and your activity, and this is grace, and so God, before he gets to the 10 Commandments, before he says anything about what you need to do, he reminds his people of who they are to him and what he has done for them,

and this is so important, because once we establish our theology, God is now about to establish our meology, all right, and he's gonna help us understand who we are and our identity. Here's what it says in Exodus, going back to the beginning of the chapter, in verse three, 19, verse three, it says this. It says, then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountains, saying, thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel. He's like, tell this to the folks. He says, you have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. He says, now therefore, if you indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel, is what God tells Moses. God is shaping their identity. He's reminding them of their salvation, and then he's envisioning for them their special place in his life before he ever tells them what he wants them to do. Point number two, if you're taking notes,

you could write this down. Who am I? Man, what an important question to ask. I don't know if you know this or not, but in our culture right now, all of our identities as image bearers of God is under attack. There's so much cultural confusion about who we are, just in the most basic biological sense. There's so much cultural confusion about who we are and who defines us and who has the ultimate truth and the final say. And we've come in here to open up God's word and to hear what God has to say about us, because this awesome, amplified, available, audible God has some things to say about you and about me. So who are you? Not what do you do, not what do other people say about you, but who are you according to what God says? And I believe so many of the problems in my life and in your life could be resolved if I simply believed what God said about me. I mean, some of you are coming here and you're in your 50s and you're still reeling, because if you were to dig through the dirt of your life, you would find a root of somebody that said something about you in fifth grade. And so you've led a bully from fifth grade to find decades in your life.

That's crazy. Some of you, you have made yourself to be the some. total of your doings, and so man, because you have this certain profession or this certain profession, that is why you're significant. What happens when you retire? Some of you have made your golf score or your performances or your accolades or the big buck you shot or whatever the thing is that you have accomplished in life, that's what makes you significant. And then there is a God that speaks a louder word, that speaks a more sure word of a more certain identity, and that's what we have to reclaim this morning because God has some things to say about you and about me. Because we need to know this truth, that who I am is determined by whose I am. It's about who you belong to. God has the final word in your life. It doesn't matter what others say about you, it doesn't matter what you say about you, it matters what God says about you. He's the one that knit you together in your mother's womb. He's the one that has defined you and called you, and he's the one that has the ultimate authority because he made you and he bought you. And it's whose you are that defines who you are. And so who are you according to God? Well, four things we see in this passage right here that God is wanting us to latch hold of is this,

that God says that you are first of all rescued. You're rescued. Again, he's like Moses, tell them and remind them of how I saved them. And the order of grace is that they are saved not because of their obedience or because of any of their diligence or really anything they've done. They are saved primarily because of God's goodness. God saved them. He's the saving agent. He rescued them. They didn't flap their way out of Egypt. God snatched them like an eagle and took them out. And this is what he does for you and me. God saves you not because you're savable. God saves you because he is love. And he is the one that has rescued you and this is your identity. You didn't have to earn this thing. You didn't have to work for it if you know Christ. He gave it to you. The second thing he says about you is he says this, you are treasured. The phrase he uses in this text is that you are my special treasure. It's this idea of like you're God's jewel. I don't know if you have any jewelry at the house, but we got some jewelry at the house and we got it locked up like Fort Knox, all right?

So don't come at me, all right? You ain't getting past the defense and you definitely ain't cracking the code, all right? But we have this jewelry and it's like this special jewelry that my wife has that her family's like passed down. And it's like, and then every time we bring it out, it's like, wow, you know? Don't touch it, don't wear it, you know? You got something like that, you're like, why don't we ever wear this stuff? Anyway, that's a different thing. So it's special, special, it's valuable. It's like, it's beautiful and it's legacy and it's all of these things, it's story and that's how God sees you. God isn't some distant heavenly father with a furrowed brow going, you're a little much. He sees you as his special treasure. This is who you are. And when are you gonna start believing what God says about you? You're valuable, you're loved, you're cherished. God likes you, all right? He's not like, yeah, I love, you know, like I love everybody, but I don't really, you know? No, he made you with all your idiosyncrasies. He loves you. He's wild about you. The Bible says he exalts over you with dancing and singing, and listen,

some of us think that that is a reality for some future better version of us. But God says, no, right where you are. And I know it all. And you're my special treasure. This is who you are. The next thing he tells us is not only you rescued or treasured, but you're also a priest. You're a priest. Now, this doesn't mean that we have callers out in the lobby and everyone's gonna go and have some holy clothes and do some priestly things, right, don't get it twisted. What it means when you are called to be a nation of priests, he's saying that all of my people are gonna be my representatives. What does a priest do? Basically, a priest introduces people that don't know God to God. The priest is like, bro, I know God, and I know you don't know him, let me hook you up. And the priest represents God wherever he goes. Tom and D. Meyer, they are priests. They are representing God, serving in the local church. I know Tom likes to fish and play golf, and so he's a priest when he's fishing and playing golf. You are a priest when you're at your job. You are a priest if you're a stay-at-home mom. You are a priest when you go to the gym. You are a priest when you're playing golf.

You are a priest wherever you go because you represent God wherever you go, and this is who you are. And so your priestly call permeates any vocation or any recreational thing that you do, and you are the ambassador of Christ, and you represent him to a watching world, and this is your identity. What does that mean? God doesn't just wanna rescue you. God doesn't just wanna delight in you. He wants to deploy you. give you a purpose and a calling that will permeate wherever you go, permeate whatever you do, whatever season of life you're in. He wants to use you. What a privilege. This is who we are. We're not relegated to the sidelines of ministry until we get some theology degree or some credentials. He says, because I called you, I equip you, you got work to do. You're a priest. The fourth thing that we see is this, is that you're called to be a holy nation. A holy nation. This word holy can be a very familiar word in a context like this, but oftentimes we miss its significance

or even its meaning. The word holy literally means that you're set apart, you're different. That we have to reclaim the call to holiness in our culture today. Listen, if you are following God and you think that the culture is never going to disagree with that decision to follow God, then you misunderstand who you are. You've misunderstood who you are. God has called you to be holy, to be set apart. So there's gonna be times where you're gonna look different than the world. There's gonna be times because of your decision to follow Christ and your identity as a holy blood-bought son or daughter of the living God is going to rage against the current of the culture. And so the way this looks in my family is I've got two teenage daughters, and I don't know if you've looked at the wardrobe choices for women lately, but it ain't easy, all right? It ain't easy going and shopping for these girls. And so we got out ahead of this, and one of our family values is holiness because we believe what the Bible says, that God is holy. And he says, therefore, you should be holy, all right? And so we talk with our girls. We say, hey, because we're called to be holy, there's gonna be certain things you can't wear

because we want you to cherish your body and protect the things, right? Now, that doesn't mean we're making our own clothes. All right, don't get it twisted, okay? We still dripping in Nike and all that kind of stuff, but we just gotta be careful, okay? Gotta be careful. And because of who we are, it determines how we live. I'll tell them there's gonna be jokes y'all aren't gonna know. There's gonna be movies that y'all aren't gonna be able to quote. There's gonna be songs. You may not know the hook on them because you're called to be holy. There's gonna be a time where you're gonna stand out. You're gonna be different. And the reason why the church has lost its power is because we've lost our distinctiveness. We're called to be salt. We're called to be light. And so, if you look a little bit different, that's a part of who you are. We're called to be a holy nation. And so, when Moses is speaking this word, when God's speaking this word, he's like, guys, this is who you are. This is who you're called to be. Now, I don't know if you caught this condition that's in this text.

Some of you, you caught that and you thought, uh-oh. Because basically, the way it reads is that God says, I saved you and if you listen to my word and you keep my covenant, then you will be these things. And when you read in Exodus 19, like you have the people, they hear this word. I love this because it's me. They reply, we will obey everything. And I'm like, how many times have I prayed, God, I am so sorry. I'll never sin again. You know, I think God's like, okay, yeah, whatever. We'll see you next time, right? And they just like, we'll obey everything. And so, like, if you're reading this at face value, it seems like it's saying, if you do this perfectly, then you will be these things to me. And then we come into this place and we're like, well, ain't nobody perfect, I ain't perfect, so I guess this doesn't count for me. I must have a different identity. You just gotta keep reading the Bible. And what you're gonna see is that it just seems like the more God says things like this, you're about to get the 10 commandments and all the laws, and by the end of the Old Testament, like the people of God are just like, man, God, I want to be your special treasure. I want to be, you know, your holy nation, and I want to be your kingdom of priests,

but God, I can't keep up my end of the deal. And I'm just weighted down by all of my disobedience. And it seems like God is whetting the appetite for Jesus Christ. Because the reality is, you can't. And so God, in his goodness, sent his son, Jesus, to do everything that we couldn't do. He lived the sinless life. He perfectly obeyed. He upheld the covenant. So the invitation of the Bible, the greatest invitation, is that you put your faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, and that you get dubbed all of these things that we just talked about because of what Jesus has done, not what you have done. And so the author of the New Testament, one of the authors of the New Testament, Peter, one of Jesus' best friends, he would pick up on the language of Exodus 19, and he would say this to people that have put their faith in Jesus Christ. He would say this, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. His own special. so people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light, who were once not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. And so here's the good news. If you have placed your faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross

and the fact that he rose from the grave, ascended to the right hand of the Father and is coming back someday for his church, if you have put your faith and trust in that, then everything that Jesus secured in his identity is now transferred to you, that you're a co-heir with Christ and so God looks at you and he says, this is what I think about you. You're my special treasure. You're rescued. You're a priest. You're holy. Not because of anything that you've done. Because of your faith in Christ. I feel like we've lost some of that. A couple of years ago I was traveling to Alaska to preach and I got ready to take my last leg of my flights and I couldn't find my driver's license. And so I was like, uh-oh, I guess I'm not gonna be able to get there, but the airline was like, hey, we'll actually let you fly on our airline to get there, but you're not gonna be able to come back until you get your ID. So I was like, okay, no problem, no problem. I'll find it, I'll find it. And so I finally get to Alaska and I'm rummaging through all my backpack and my luggage and I'm like, gotta find my driver's license. I lost my ID.

I'm like, I gotta find this. And I'm like, surely I'll find it. And I can't find it. And the last person that I wanted to call and admit that I lost my driver's license was my wife. And so I call her up and I'm like, hey, babe. You'll never believe what happened. I lost my driver's license. And I don't know about y'all, but man, when I'm traveling, my wife lives at a nine. And so any sort of thing, like she got to a 10 pretty quick, you know. She's like, what? You know, and how did that happen? I don't know, I don't know, but we'll figure it out, we'll figure it out. So we start like figuring out how to get a new license, get it UPSed up to Alaska so I can get home. I can't get home. I've lost my ID. That evening I'm getting ready to preach and I pull out my Bible out of my bag. I open it up and I'm like, that's where I put it. It's right there. I'm not making this up, you know. And I was so grateful that I found my ID. And then I'm like, and of course, I found it in the word of God. That's kind of a cheesy story that actually did happen. But let me preach to you for a second.

Some of y'all have come here this morning and you have lost your identity. You don't know where you lost it and you've been searching for it for years, but you cannot find it. You do not know who you are. You do not know who you are. And you've let somebody define who you are. You've let you define who you are. But deep down inside, you don't know who you are. And listen, because you don't know who you are, it's impacting your household. It's impacting your workplace. It's causing problems to all of the people around you that love you because simply you don't know who you are. And the only place that you're gonna find your identity is in God's word. God says you're chosen. God says you're loved. God said he knit you together in your mother's womb, that you're fearfully and wonderfully made, that you're a treasure, that you're beautiful, that you have purpose. You're no longer condemned if you're in Christ, that you're saved, that you've been bought with a price. And the list goes on and on and on. And this is who you are. If you've lost your identity, I promise you if you'll open up God's word, you'll find it. So how do we respond?

What does it look like for us with this truth? What do we do? Well, what it says in the scripture is that Moses got all the people together. And he says this in chapter 19. He says this, he tells them in verse 17, and Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God. And they stood at the foot of the mountain. They're getting ready to respond. Point number three, and finally, if you're taking notes, you can write this down. How do I respond? Well, let me give you two ways that you can respond quickly. One, here in a second, we're all gonna stand and we're gonna worship. That's what these people are doing. They're standing and they're ready to experience and encounter the living God. Some of you, the way that you need to respond to the word of God is you need to respond the way that my father responded. Before my daddy died, he went in for a procedure on his heart to have a stent put in. And he was really nervous about what would happen. He was scared to die. And I called him, he was smoking a cigarette out in the parking lot, getting ready to go in for surgery. Like, well, anyway.

I could tell he was scared. I said, well, you scared, daddy? He said, yeah. He said, I'm scared. Scared I'm gonna die. I said, well, are you ready to die? I began to share with him how Jesus died for his sin, rose from the grave, and if he put his faith and trust in Christ, even if he died, it's gonna be okay. And he says, well, I've done that. I said, well, if the worst happens, you'll be all right. Some of y'all, you need to put your faith and trust in Christ. Others of you, you need to do what I did when these truths were becoming a reality to me for the first time. When I was 20 years old, what broke the cycle of me being in bondage and got me on the path to abundance was I expanded my understanding of who God is. I was gripped by the greatness of God. And then I began to walk in the birthright of the believer that I am who he says I am. And I don't have to be defined by my past sins or defined by the sins of my family, but I'm gonna walk on purpose and on assignment and follow Christ. And what that looked like for me practically is I have done a lot of worship since then

and I got to work. And so here in a second, we're gonna stand, I'm gonna pray, we're all gonna sing at every campus. And then I'm gonna come out, campus pastor's gonna come out with that song, dismiss us, and we're gonna get to work. And some of you, you need to get off the sideline, put your hand to the work. But your identity always precedes your activity. I wanna invite you all to stand, every campus, every location, stand up. Just like they did that day, they came to the mountain and they stood up and they got ready to worship. We're gonna lock in right here. We're not gonna rush this moment. We're gonna go vertical just for a couple of minutes before we get to work. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for today. God, you are awesome. You are amplified. You are available. You are audible. And God, I just pray that you would secure an identity in all of us and that you would speak to us clearly. In Jesus' name, I pray, amen. Come on, we sing. ♪ Sing Yahweh, Yahweh, lift up the name ♪ ♪ You reign forever and always ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh, You reign forever ♪

♪ We sing Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh ♪ ♪ Yahweh, You reign forever and always ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh, You reign forever, You reign ♪ ♪ Sing now my back is to the sea ♪ ♪ The promised land in front of me ♪ ♪ Every great thing that You've done ♪ ♪ There are greater things to come ♪ ♪ And if You led with cloud and fire ♪ ♪ Through the day and through the night ♪ ♪ You will guide my every step ♪ ♪ You will keep me in Your light ♪ ♪ And if You held back every drop of the wild and unseen sea ♪ ♪ You can chart a path before me, far beyond what I can see ♪ ♪ Like the bread fell down from heaven ♪ ♪ And the water from the stone ♪ ♪ You can fill my weary soul again ♪ ♪ Bring life into these bones ♪ ♪ You make good on every promise ♪ ♪ You only eat the ones You love ♪ ♪ Not my money, not my power ♪ ♪ But my spirit says the Lord ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh, You reign forever and always ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh, You reign forever and always ♪ ♪ Forever and always ♪ ♪ And who else is like You that no one beside You ♪ ♪ And no one beside You, no one beside You ♪ ♪ Oh yes, who else is like You that no one beside You ♪ ♪ And no one beside You ♪ ♪ Always sing Yahweh, Yahweh, sing it out ♪ ♪ Yahweh, You reign forever and always ♪

♪ Yahweh, Yahweh, You reign forever and always ♪ You reign forever and always One more time we sing Yahweh Yahweh Yahweh You reign forever and always Yahweh Yahweh Yahweh You reign forever and always