Exodus Part 4

Well, good morning and welcome to church, everybody. Hey, we're in Kansas City. We're experiencing this snowstorm, cold, but we're in church. So I just want to invite you to worship this morning. Hey, feel free to come down here to the bowl if you guys want to and fill this up. And we'll just worship this morning. So I just want to invite you online across the country to sing to Jesus. He's the way maker. He's the one that has changed everything. So let's sing to him this morning. Come on, sing this to Him. He's a way maker, sing it to Him. Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. You are here, touching every heart. I worship You. I worship You. You are here. Yes, You are. We worship You, Jesus. I worship You. You are here to turn lives around. I worship You. I worship You, Jesus. You are here, mending every heart. I worship You. I worship You. Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. Yes, Jesus.

Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. We worship You, Jesus, too. Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. That's who You are. Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness. My God, that is who You are. We declare that's who You are, Jesus. That is who You are. That's who You are. That is who You are. You're worthy. That is who You are. You're holy. That is who You are. You're the way maker. That is who You are. That is who You are. That is who You are. Oh, that's who you are You're the Holy King Worthy of all we can be We worship and adore We lift up your name in this place Sing holy, holy, holy Worthy, worthy, worthy Even when I don't see it, you're working Even when I don't feel it, you're working You never stop, you never stop working

You never stop, you never stop working Even when I don't see it, you're working Even when I don't feel it, you're working You never stop, you never stop working You never stop, you never stop working Even when I don't see it, you're working Even when I don't feel it, you're working You never stop, you never stop working You never stop, you never stop working Even when I don't see it, you're working Even when I don't feel it, you're working You never stop, you never stop working You never stop, you never stop working Way maker, miracle worker Promise keeper, light in the darkness My God, that is who you are You're the way maker Yes, you are Miracle worker Promise keeper, light in the darkness My God, that is who you are Oh, that is who you are Yes, Jesus, that is who you are We declare this That is who you are That is who you are No one can stand against you Jesus, you're the way maker That is who you are That is who you are

That is who you are Come on, let's sing this one more time Way maker, miracle worker Promise keeper, light in the darkness My God, that is who you are You're the way maker Yes, you are Way maker, miracle worker Promise keeper, light in the darkness My God, that is who you are Yes, Jesus Oh, that is who he is, amen That's the God we worship this morning He's Yahweh, he rules and reigns There's nothing that can stop him There's nothing that's too hard for him So God, we put our faith in you For you to stir our faith in you this morning As we lift up the name above every other name Lift this new song today Declaring that you are who you say you are Who is like the Lord? We sing Who else is like you? There's no one beside you No one beside you We sing it again We sing 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 fakes the sin All of heaven and earth proclaim You are faithful to no one ♪ Those who call Your name ♪ ♪ And who else is like You ♪ ♪ No one beside You ♪ ♪ There's no one beside You ♪ ♪ Oh we sing ♪ ♪ Who else is like You ♪ ♪ There's no one, there's no one beside You ♪ ♪ Oh we sing Yahweh, He rules, He reigns ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh ♪ ♪ You reign forever and always ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh ♪ ♪ You reign forever, forever and always ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh ♪ ♪ You reign forever and always ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh ♪ ♪ You reign forever and always ♪ ♪ And always ♪ ♪ Oh You never leave ♪ ♪ Through the day and through the night ♪ ♪ You will guide my every step ♪ ♪ You will 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 ♪

♪ Like the bread fell down from heaven ♪ ♪ And the water from the stone can fill my weary soul again ♪ ♪ You feed life into these bones ♪ ♪ You make good on every promise ♪ ♪ You won't leave the ones You love ♪ ♪ It's not by might and not by power ♪ ♪ But my spirit says, Lord ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh ♪ ♪ You reign forever and always ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh ♪ ♪ You reign forever and who else is like the Lord? ♪ ♪ And who else is like You? ♪ ♪ There's no one beside You, there's no one beside You ♪ ♪ No, and who else is like You? ♪ ♪ There's no one, and there's no one beside You ♪ ♪ Who else is like the Lord? There's no one beside You ♪ ♪ And there's no one beside You, Lord ♪ Come on, lift up His Name one more time we sing. ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh, You reign forever and always ♪ ♪ Yahweh, Yahweh, You reign forever and always ♪ ♪ You reign forever and always ♪ Come on, give Him praise today, He rules, He reigns. Hear this saying yesterday, today forever. You're worthy of our praise today, God. Hey. And the world needs to hear that story that He's Yahweh. He's a life changer. Let's sing this, lift up this song, this place. How He's changed us, all right? Come on.

♪ Would you thirsty in search of living water ♪ You've got to sing, of what the Lord has done Sing, of what the Lord has done If you know what it feels like to be dead and now alive You've got to sing, and you've got to sing of what the Lord has done For the lifeless who walked to a place like thunder And every orphan whose father called his name And for every single captive who was a sinner now his name Come and join the song of the redeemed Oh, you've got to sing, of what the Lord has done Oh, sing, of what the Lord has done If you know what it feels like to be dead and now alive You've got to sing, and you've got to sing of what the Lord has done Oh, lift up your hands, all who are free Say so, say so, all the redeemed And lift up a shout, and let the earth ring Say so, say so Oh, lift up your hands, all who are free Say so, say so We live redeemed Lift up a shout, all the earth rings Say so, say so, all the redeemed Come tell the story of all that you've seen Say so, say so, all the redeemed Come and declare, all who believe Say so, say so, all the redeemed Say so, say so, all the redeemed Say so, say so, all the redeemed You've got to sing, of what the Lord has done Sing, of what the Lord has done If you know what it feels like to be dead and now alive

You've got to sing, and you've got to sing You've got to sing, of what the Lord has done We sing, of what the Lord has done If you know what it feels like to be dead and now alive You've got to sing, and you've got to sing Of what the Lord has done Oh, thank you, Jesus You've changed us Oh, yeah My name's Kyle Worsham. I'm the multiplication pastor here at Abundant Life. And I'm Kylie. I'm the online ministry leader. Hey, no matter where you are, we want to connect with you. I know, I hope that as you're attending online, you're attending in person, maybe at a church house, you're looking for ways to get connected to what God is doing through Abundant Life. And I want to invite you to go to abundant-life.com slash connect because there's so many ways for us and you to join each other on the spiritual journey with Jesus. Maybe it's getting baptized. Maybe it's, I need to know how to follow Jesus' discipleship, ministries. There's so many ways for you to get connected. Speaking of connect, we got to go to our Warrensburg church house. It was so fun. It was so fun.

Thanks for having us. Oh, my gosh. McDaniel's team, you were killing it over there. I mean, we had team members literally in tears through what God was doing. And I mean, you got to experience the end, what happened. So if you don't know, something our church houses do every week is after the sermon, they gather around and they talk about what did God say to me? What am I going to do about it? And so to witness that, I mean, we had older people. We had as young as 12 that were taking notes and saying, hey, this is what God said to me. And it was just really sweet. And it was one of the coolest things that I've witnessed. I mean, there is like a really young little boy that immediately jumped up. and said, hey, I know what God's saying to me, what I can do about it. And so if you're interested, you're looking for a church near you, maybe you're called to live on mission, or maybe just abundant life is your church and you need to start reaching people, being living proof in your area, I wanna invite you to go to abundant-life.com slash church-house. You can learn where they're at across the world

and maybe if God's calling you, please pursue it. Here's what we'll say. If you can love people and push play, you can start a church house. Well, church, we wanna invite you again to the A Life Vision Gathering on the 31st. We've been telling you, I think we've been telling you the 30th. That's my mistake. It is gonna be on the 31st, 6.30 p.m. Central Time. Get with your church house. If you're in the Kansas City area, join us at one of our campuses. But what that time is, is as we've been in this A Life journey the last few years, pursuing that abundant life, we're gonna kind of gather, we're gonna refresh, we're gonna get some updates on what has God done in the last few years. Where are we going? What does that look like for us corporately as a church to pursue that abundant life and individually? So go to abundant-life.com slash A-Life for more information. Church, if you call this home, we wanna be a genuine. ["True Faith in Christ"] True faith in Christ is just believing the unseen, you know, the unknown, and really banking on it. It's not about only the big picture things, the big picture decisions,

or big picture moves we make in life. It's so much more about the little steps, the little things. Living the A Life has broken the chain of shame. I think it's so easy for us as humans to feel shame in our life. He takes the shackles off of us. We no longer have to feel shame. When I am believing Christ's words, and His words are present, active, participle, it looks like resurrection. ["True Faith in Christ"] Church, give Jesus the glory today. Would you praise Him? He is so worthy. On a cold, snowy Sunday. Hey, I remember there was a time when I first started, days like this, you literally just lost. People couldn't come to church, and you know, back in those olden days. You remember tapes? Get a tape of the sermon. Some of you are going, I have no idea what you're talking about. Yeah, I know, but back in the day, it was get a tape of the sermon. You couldn't watch online. Hey, the good news is thousands of you are home watching right now.

I'm praying, I'm praying, that whether you're here, or whether you're there, you'll give God your full attention for the next 40 minutes of your life. Is that a deal? This age of distraction, I'm telling you, God wants to get our attention. He wants to bring about something new, a transformation in all of our lives. And that's why we're in this series on the Exodus, because the Exodus story, in some way, it is a metaphor of our journey spiritually. Remember, we're in this two-year disruptive journey called the A-Life. It comes from John 10, and verse 10, Jesus said the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I've come to give you life. You're gonna have it more abundantly, and we're entering into what amounts to the midway point of this journey very soon in all of our lives. And it's a pivotal moment. It's a critical moment where decisions are being made. How much difference one week makes. So one week ago right now, I'm preaching in San Salvador, El Salvador. It's 85 degrees outside. But for me at the time, it was like coming full circle. It was one of those moments in my life that I really felt like had come 360.

So here I am preaching in Vida Nueva, New Life Church in San Salvador. This is Pastor Julio Contreras. And I'm opening up that Sunday sermon, and I was sharing with them that actually my first time in the country was January 1995, and the picture I'm showing is right back here. You talk about kind of a coming full circle. Pastor Julio is a young pastor in 1995, and I'm not at all Pastor Phil at this time in my life. That's Officer Hopper. Yeah, I'm a SWAT cop. That's all I am. I have no idea I'm gonna be in ministry, have no idea I'm ever gonna be a pastor. I've gone on my first ever mission trip, first time ever out of the country, and 31 years almost to the day later, I'm preaching in San Salvador again, and Pastor Julio's translating for me once again. You talk about a coming full circle kind of moment. I began to think about this while I was here, guys. Listen, you talk about this concept we're gonna talk about today. I want you to see how crucial it is you understand the implication. I remember thinking in this moment, because in this moment, I'm preaching my first ever sermon. I mean, I'm calling it a sermon,

but I use that very loosely. I'd never preached anything before. It's like, you know, we're street preaching on San Salvador back then, and it's my first ever gospel sermon. I call it a sermon. I didn't know what I was doing. I'm just trying to tell. about Jesus, what he did, how he died for our sin, how he rose again. I mean, it's like a five or ten minute sermon on the streets of San Salvador. Some of you are going, Phil, you can't say anything in five or ten minutes. Yeah, I don't believe it, but that's what it was, right? I'm telling you guys, this was a scary moment. This is like out-of-body moment for me. I'm a SWAT cop. I've been in scary places. I've done scary things. I've been shot at at close range. That's scary. Winston Churchill said, there's nothing more exhilarating than being shot at and missed. You talk about the ultimate adrenaline dump. Man, that's me. I mean, I've been in scary places. I've never been so scared than I was in this moment. It was out-of-body. It was surreal. I remember thinking at the time how that decision to go on that trip, listen, it set in motion a series of other decisions that would ultimately bring me five years later to sacrifice a career to answer my call. You see, with every decision, it's setting in motion a chain reaction of other decisions, and the summation of your life is simply decisions. Decisions take you to your destination. This is what I want you to see today. Listen carefully. It's decisions, not good intentions, that define your destination. With every single decision, you're either making a deposit or a withdrawal in your future. Decisions are like dollars. You get them back with interest. That interest either works for you or it begins to work against you. Listen, if you're in your 20s and 30s today, today you're making decisions that will define how you're going to live in your 50s and 60s. I want you to understand the implication when I look at my own life. As of 2000, March, I went to bid a cop. I wake up a pastor. I didn't just get there. It was a series of decisions I made. When I think about pursuing the promised land of my life, the A life, I mean the abundant life, it really happened in March of 2000 when I made that decision that was really scary at the time to sacrifice a career to answer my call. For 25 years, I've been making

conquest of the promised land in my life, all that God promised me and all that God has destined for me. That's the journey that we're now on. I pray that today you'll start making decisions that you really understand will one day be the summation of your life, your ultimate destination as you make the A life your destination and you begin making conquest of the promised land that God has promised you for your life personally. When Jesus said, I've come that you might have life and you can have it more abundantly, you're going to make deposits in your future or you're going to make withdrawals in your future, but every single one of us with every single decision, you're going to make a withdrawal. You're going to make a deposit. Today's a day of decision as it was in number 13. Last week, Chad preached this amazing message at Mount Sinai. You remember the next stop after the Red Sea, Moses led them to Mount Sinai where the first time ever God begins revealing himself to men and women through written revelation. It was there they began to learn a lot about God, but listen carefully. You can know a lot about God and still not fully trust God. Every single decision is a trust test. Moses now leads them to a place in number 13 called Kadesh Barnea. It is a moment of decision. Will they go forward by faith or will they be paralyzed by fear? Look at what it says now. Number 13 in verse one, it says this, and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. Now God is repeating this promise again. The ancient land of Canaan, God promised Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 15 as an everlasting possession. They spent 400 years down in Egypt. Now God has sent a deliverer by the name of Moses, said to Pharaoh, let my people go. He delivers them out of captivity and slavery. Now he's leading them on this journey to the promised land that God promised would flow with milk and honey. Now listen carefully. It is theirs already by divine declaration, but they still have to take possession. Do you understand that is a picture of our life? What is yours by divine declaration? It is the real estate, the real estate, not a literal piece of real estate. You have no piece of land God has given you like the ancient Hebrews, but you have your real estate as a child of God. It is the A life, the abundant life. It is yours by divine declaration, by divine proclamation, yet it's up to you to still take possession. And here's the moment God is going to send them into the land to finally take possession. He says, I'm giving you this land from each tribe. He says, I want you to send their fathers. You shall send a man, everyone, a leader among them. Now they departed most in 12 spies, one, one from each tribe. And now they departed and came.

back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation, the children of Israel, in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and that's important. I'm gonna tell you about Kadesh in a moment. They're at Kadesh Barnea, it's very significant. Says they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. So they've gone into the ancient land of Canaan, what we call today the land of Israel, and they've spied it out. They've said, yes, we've gone about it and we've walked among it and we've seen who lives there and we have seen the fruit of the land. And it's exactly as God described it, it's exactly as God promised it, look at what it says. Then they told him and said, we went to the land where you sent us and truly, it flows with milk and honey and this is its fruit. They actually brought back some of the fruit. They brought clusters of grape and grapes the size of cantaloupe. I mean, it's amazing. I mean, it's fruitful, it's beautiful, it's bountiful. Just as God described it, a land that would flow with milk and honey. Now, it's a metaphor. When it talks about flowing with milk, it speaks of a well-watered grass.

In the ancient days, every economy was driven by agriculture, it was an agricultural society. So you looked for places where you could have lots of flocks and lots of herds. So it's speaking of, it's a well-watered area, lots of grass. The honey speaks of trees, honeybees need trees. And so in this ancient part of the world, where it's mostly desert and mountainous areas, all the ancient people wanted this piece of real estate. In fact, the Valley of the Jezreel, also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is some of the most fought-over piece of ground ever in human history. Everybody wanted it for this reason because it really was a land that flowed with milk and honey. If you ever go on the Holy Land tour with me, we will once again stand in the Valley of Megiddo, the Jezreel Valley, and you'll see even today, it's a land of fertility, it's a land of beauty and bounty in an otherwise rather mountainous, arid part of the world. He says it's exactly the way God promised it. It's a land that flows with milk and honey. It's a place we can build lives abundantly. Now look at what it says. Nevertheless, all right, here's the moment. Yeah, it's exactly what God said. It's a land of beauty and bounty. It's fruitful, it's plentiful.

Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, here it comes, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Now Anak was a Nephilim. He was one of the giants. We saw the descendants of this giants here. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan. Then Caleb quieted the people. He was one of the 12. Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses said, let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it. You have two men of the 12, Joshua and Caleb, who said, yes, there's some big old boys over there. Yes, there are giants in the land, but God has said it, and if God has said it, we can possess it because God will perform whatever he has promised. Let us go up at once and take it. I told you what faith is. I'm gonna repeat this over and over again in this series. It's really a series on faith. Faith is acting like something is so when it isn't so, so it will be so because God said it's so. Everybody say, because God said it's so.

Yeah, everybody in the living room right now, I'm talking to you, because God said it's so. Everybody say that, one, two, three. Because God said it's so. What will you believe? Listen, faith is acting like something is so when it isn't so, so it'll be so because God said it's so. Caleb is saying, hey, God said it's so. He's like, I know it's not so, not right now, but God said it's so. Let's go up at once and take it so it will be so. See his face. He simply believes that God will do whatever he has said. He simply believes God will perform whatever he has promised. But the 10 had a louder voice than the two. Listen carefully, who you surround yourself with, your inner circle, your community, you're defining your future. You tell me your friends, I'll tell you your future. Now we need friends of all kinds. We need acquaintances of all kinds. We need a large sphere, believer, unbeliever. Those who follow Jesus, those don't. We can't reach people who need Jesus, but we don't know anybody who needs Jesus, yes? But listen, when it comes to your inner circle, who you surround yourself with is critical. You either surround yourself with people like Caleb who's gonna encourage you in your faith,

that's gonna run with you in your journey, that has a. can-do mentality. If God said it, He will do it. Or you'll surround yourself with people. Moreover, nevertheless, yes we know what God has said, but I don't believe He can. Because here's the reality, faith is contagious, but unbelief is too. Unbelief begins to spread throughout the entire camp of Israel. Fear, insecurity, worry, anxiety, we can't do it. But the men who had gone up with him said, we're not able, no we're not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land, which they had spied out, saying, the land through which we have gone is spies, it's the land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants, that the sins of Anna came from the giants, and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight. Now they literally saw a race of giants there. This isn't a metaphor, a literal race of giants. Genesis 6-4 is written in the days of Noah, listen carefully to what it says. And there were giants in the earth in those days. And also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and giants were born unto them. Now there's no debate in my mind who the sons of God are that took themselves daughters of men. Because Bnei Elohim is the literal rending son of God. Bnei Elohim is found only four times in scripture. One in Genesis 6, kind of unclear who are they. But three times it's used in Job, it's very, very clear who they are. Job chapter 1, Job chapter 2, Job 38 and verse 7, and each time that phrase is used, Bnei Elohim, sons of God, it always speaks of angels. What was happening in the days of Noah, fallen angels were cohabitating with the daughters of men. You see, Satan knew the promise of Genesis 3-15 that one day the seed of the woman, a savior king would come and crush his head. What was he doing in the days of Noah? He was mingling demonic seed with the woman's seed to keep the promised seed from ever emerging. He was literally bringing a hybrid race of his own. And from that illegal union came a race of giants. Now you know why God had to destroy the earth. But it says there was one man, Noah, who was perfect from his generations. Genesis chapter 8, perfect from his generations, meaning there was no demonic seed in his ancestry. Now Genesis 6-4, it was in those days and also

after that. When was the after that? In the days of the conquest. For 400 years while the Israelites were in captivity and slavery in Egypt, Satan was seeding a race of giants in Canaan, knowing that one day they would leave Egypt and try to make conquest of the land. And understand, the ancient Hebrews understood the implication. In their mind they were going into battle not just with giants, they were literal giants, hand-to-hand combat with giants. But they understood the Nephilim, where the Nephilim came from. We're talking about humans that were partly seeded with demons. You better believe they were scared. And listen very carefully. John 10-10 gives us the battle lines as it was in the days of the conquest of the ancient Hebrews. It is still today. The very same adversary. He's a thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And what will you believe? I want you to understand there are a lot of people saying, well the Bible is just made up stories. You can't really believe it. It's just a metaphor. Now I want you to understand archaeology always proves the historicity of the Bible. These were literal giants. In the 1960s, I just want you to know a little bit, just because people will say, well this is just made up. No, it's real. I'm telling you archaeology always supports the historicity of the Bible. So in the 1960s a farmer was tilling up a new field in the Jezreel Valley in the modern day nation of Israel. And in tilling up that field, he uncovers an ancient cache of weapons, bronze age weapons. And what they found was startling. So archaeologists went to the site, found a bunch of bronze age spear points and some chain mail. And I want you to see what they found here. They found a spear point, several spear points that size. Now just to give this a little understanding of what the significance of this is, from the bronze age, and many thousands of spear points have been found from the bronze age, this is the normal size spear point. the Bronze Age spear. But in this cache of weapons, this is what they found. Now the archaeologists not only found spear points this size, but clearly they'd be used in combat. A spear point that had been bent, that had grooves out of the sides, clearly from metal-on-metal combat. I mean this was a spear that was used in combat. Now what they said was a normal human being could not wield a spear this size. Spears in the ancient days had to be used in such a way that the opponent could not dodge them. They couldn't see it coming. So we're talking

a spear like this was meant for precision strikes. It had to be used with a lot of agility and precision so your opponent couldn't get out of the way. On the other hand, a normal-sized man trying to wield something this size would be very cumbersome in battle. The point is it wasn't a normal-sized human that used something this size. You can Google this. You can check it out for yourself if you want to. I'm not making this up. Once again, archaeology tells us the historicity of this literal race of giants. Here's one more I'm going to share with you. So there was actually the library of Ramses the Great that was uncovered in ancient Egypt. So the Egyptians always wanted to control this part of the world. It was kind of a land bridge between Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa. And it was a very fertile area. They wanted to control this part of the world. It was a trade route. In the official library of Ramses the Great, they found this document right here. This would have dated from the time of the conquest, biblical history that we're now reading. Here's what this Egyptian report says about the land of which we're now reading. The valley, the Jezreel Valley, is infested with Shashu. Some of them are four cubits or five cubits, seven and a half to eight feet tall, from head to foot, fierce of face, their heart is not mild, and they hearken not to coaxing. Now we can all agree Pharaoh Ramses was not a Bible believer. He wasn't trying to prove the Bible was true, yes? But yet that was found in his official documents, official report of the land. It was an important trade route to the Egyptians saying, hey beware, there's some giants in there. Now the average size man at this time was about five foot, five foot two. If you're going into combat with an eight foot man and you're five foot two, you're at a distinct disadvantage, yes? This is moral combat. By it all, it tells you also why God was saying drive them out of the land. These were not simply peace-loving tribes minding their own business when the Hebrews showed up. These were demonically seated people doing demonic things. God says drive them out, all of them. And I want you to see the reality and how it applies to our life today personally. An entire generation had enough faith to get out of Egypt, but not enough faith to get into the promised land. They were what I call unbelieving

believers. They got right on the brink of crossing over into the land, but they said, oh no, we won't go. Fear, unbelief spread throughout the camp. And I want you to see what happens. They had enough faith to get out of Egypt, not enough faith to get in the promised land. And that is where the average Christian lives today. You got enough faith to get into heaven, just not enough faith to get through that trial, temptation, tribulation, depression. Enough faith to get into heaven. Yes, you know you're forgiven. You've been delivered from sin's penalty. You have faith to be forgiven, but not enough faith to be delivered from sin's power. And this is what happens to the average Christian. This is why I decided to do this series, part of the A Life, because the average Christian lives and dies all of their life, just like this first generation that left Egypt. Listen, this entire generation that left Egyptian tyranny got stuck halfway in their journey. In fact, what we know is all of them would die in the wilderness. They would wander in the wilderness for the next 40 years of their life. God had promised them a land. He promised them a beautiful land, a bountiful land, a plentiful land, a fruitful land. But they would choose to live instead in the desert, wandering, drifting aimlessly over and over again, walking in circles, going nowhere out of fear, insecurity. I want you to see that as a picture of so many. And I'm praying that this year, as we pursue the A Life together, you'll take your next step. That you will not live in the wilderness of mediocrity. That you won't live in the wilderness of apathy, the wilderness of a complete captivity. That you'll take a next step, no matter how risky, living dangerously to make conquest of the promised land, the abundant life. That you won't get stuck halfway. That you won't resign yourself to what is, but rather what will be. Because God will perform whatever he's promised. This entire generation that left Egypt. in tyranny, they got stuck in their journey. Many of us here are stuck today. Many of us right now watching from our homes are stuck. You wish so much on the outset of 2026 it'd be different than 2025. What's going to be different? Nothing is going to be different apart from decisions to follow Jesus no matter how hard, no matter the cost. Though they

were no longer in slavery, they live like they were still in captivity. Think about that a moment. They were redeemed from slavery. Yet for 40 years they lived like they were still slaves. They lived in captivity practically even though they'd been redeemed from captivity positionally. Do you understand as a child of God, you have a positional reality, you have a practical reality. Positionally you are free already. Jesus has delivered you from your anxiety, from your worry, from your fear. He has delivered you from your depression, that addiction, that prison of emotion. I'm trying to say whatever keeps you and binds you from living the abundant life in Christ. Satan is a liar. He is a thief and he wants to create counterfeit realities to keep you from living life abundantly. That's what happened to these ancient Hebrews. He creates a counterfeit reality. Now the giants were real. Your depression is real. Your anxiety is real. That addiction is real. The giants are real. But it's that counterfeit reality that says those giants are too large that keeps you from living practically everything Jesus has already given you positionally as a child of God. So what will you do? Who will you believe? And what are the next steps in your life? There are two reasons I'm convinced that we don't make conquest of the promised land. That we just accept what is. Quiet resignation. Yeah I have this addiction. I'll carry it for life. Oh my issue is anxiety. It paralyzes me daily. Whatever that is for you is this quiet resignation to keep you in the wilderness from crossing over. Two reasons I'm convinced. Same two reasons for the ancient Hebrews. One fear and insecurity. Fear and insecurity. I want you to see what happens here. The devil prepares giants in our lives to keep us from taking our next steps with God. Now the giants today aren't literal giants. They're not eight foot giants wielding very large spears. Oh but the giants are just as real. The giant in your life is whatever it is you feel like has overcome you that you can't break free from. It might be your marriage. It'll never be what I wished it would be. It might be your finances. I'll never recover again from that bad decision. It might be a career. It might be a dream that has died. It might be honestly a negative emotion. Bitterness. Unforgiveness. Satan wants to leverage those things against you because he's a thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But what will you believe? Listen I learned a long time ago the only way to overcome fear and insecurity, listen carefully, courage, is not the absence of fear. It is the absence of self. As long as you're trying to hang on to your life, save your life, preserve

your life, run from pain, as long as you're trying to hang on to stability, security, you'll live nothing but a life of worry and anxiety. I can tell you personally guys, listen, I resisted the call of God in my life out of fear. Scared of failure. Scared of failure. I didn't want to fail. I mean honestly it may have been scary getting shot at at close range but frankly if I died in the line of duty at least I could die with honor. In my mind that was better than living as a failure. I was fearful of failure and I ran from the call of God. I resisted the call of God. It didn't make sense. I had barely started seminary. I don't know how to preach. I don't know how to pastor a church. Want me to serve a drug warrant? I'm your guy. I'm telling you I was scared. And this was one of the passages that God used in my life at the time. I took a deep dive into Numbers 13 and Numbers 14. God used this passage in my life to help me get over my fear. I realized what happened to these ancient Hebrews. They stayed in the wilderness to save their life. To hang on to their lives. Instead of being willing to cross over and and potentially give their lives and die. And what happened? Instead of hanging on to their lives, they lost their lives. They all died in the wilderness. Here's the paradox of the Christian life. You want to live fearless, let go of your life and live selfless. What do you fear? Because fear is the number one thing that Satan uses against us. Take some inventory, what do you fear? That which you fear the most reveals that which you trust God with the least. And Satan knows your fear, he's gonna leverage it against you. How do you overcome it?

Jesus told us how in Mark chapter eight. In the Mark chapter eight, listen carefully to what Jesus said. He that will seek to save his life will lose it. But whoever will lose his life for my sake in the Gospels, the same shall save it. You see the paradox? The way you get over your fear is what Paul called the crucified life. Galatians two verse 20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave his life for me. The apostle Paul said, listen, the way you get over your fear and live a fearless life is the crucified life. Listen, when you've been crucified, you've died. And when you've let go of your life and died, you've got nothing left to lose. I'll tell you what gives me the greatest anxiety. It's when I start thinking about myself. Man, how will I look? I don't wanna look like a fool. I don't wanna be a failure. But all of a sudden, it's all about me, right? And I'm trying to tell you, that every one of us gets scared.

Listen, I would like to tell you 26 years later, I never get scared. Can I just tell you, listen, 26 years in, you need to know this, I still get scared. I'd like you to thank Pastor Phil, man. He is just so fearless. He's just so faithful. He is always just fearless, courageous, brave. No, I'm trying to tell you, I still get scared. I still get scared of failure. But there's something that scares me more. Mediocrity. What scares me more is getting to heaven one day, standing at the judgment seat of Christ, and only then seeing all that could've been, all that God could've done, if I would've just believed a little more, taken that next step, no matter how scary. Can I tell you right now, honestly, in my own life, I mean, think about our church, the A-Life initiatives we're trying to do together. We just launched Johnson County campus, because 600,000 people live in that part of our city, and we wanna reach people that are far from God, and so we're going to different parts of the metro. Hey, we just launched Johnson County, we put all the chips in the middle. I mean, it's like, all the chips are in. We bet the farm again. That's what we've done over and over again.

It's called faith. If it comes with a guarantee, it's not faith. If it's not risky, it's not faith. So here we are, we go all in in Johnson County. Now, guess what we're gonna do? We're gonna launch A Bundle of Life Northland this year. Great idea, yeah. Can I tell you something? I don't know how we're gonna do it all. If that's scary for you, think about it's scary for me. I'm the one that said we're gonna do it. I'm telling you, when I stop to think about it, I get scared, because I still don't wanna fail. I don't wanna look like a fool. Phil, you led us there. But can I tell you what scares me more? Getting to heaven and finding out I didn't believe enough. If I fail, I want it to be because I tried too much, not because I tried too little. And here in the early days, 25 years ago, all we got was a little broken down kingdom hall, little parking lot the size of a postage stamp. I mean, hey, when you got nothing to lose, it's easy to risk it all. You know, we failed then. Everybody would've patted Phil on the back, Phil, you gave it your best, good try. I'm thinking about it, 25, 26 years in now, we got a lot more to lose now. And this is when a lot of churches start to play it safe,

no longer wanna risk, just hang on to what we have, just contain it, just control it. I'm trying to tell you, that is the kiss of death. And it's true in your life. What is it do you need to surrender? That thing you're hanging on to out of fear is the very thing that Satan wants to leverage against you to keep you from living in the abundant life, the A-life, making conquests. of the promised land. Fear, insecurity, I'm telling you, we all get scared. I wake up scared sometimes. And this is when you have to come back to what you know. No matter what you see, you gotta go on what God has said. Because sometimes what I see is an impossibility. I can't make it make sense. I don't know how we're gonna do it all. But I'm trying to tell you, over and over again, faith is believing it is so when it isn't so because God said it's so, so I'm gonna act like it's so. We're going forward by faith, even when it feels risky and dangerous. Because faith that isn't risky isn't faith. Hey, for you, maybe it's your marriage. Honestly, for some of us, it's our marriage. You fear getting hurt, taking a risk, and it still didn't work. For some of us, it's our past, the betrayal, the pain, the heartache, the heartbreak. For some, it's the pain of the present.

Don't feel sorry for me, but my life is full of bad news. I mean, I'm serious, guys. I'm a pastor of a large church. I get bad news every day. Somebody's little grandbaby died this week. Yeah, grandbabies. That's what I fear the most. I got more to worry about than ever because I got more people in my life than ever that I love, that I care about. What are you gonna do? How will you live? Everything belongs to God. My future, my finances, my career, vocation, my family, everything belongs to Him. Will you trust Him? That's always the test. There's a second thing. It's apathy, it's complacency. It's fear and insecurity. The giants are too large. Too much of a risk. This is just too hard. You gotta reach in. It's about a year-long process, getting free from those things that control you, negative emotions, that addiction, whatever it is. It's about a year-long process. It's a risk, and it's gonna be hard. You're gonna have to face the pain instead of run away.

Everything comes with a risk. Will you go forward by faith? And where there is faith, there's always the action that follows. There's always the next step. But this is how you make conquest of the promised land. It's never with this quiet resignation, well, I can't change it. It's trusting God to do what He said He'll do, and where there is belief, there is obedience. Caleb said, let's go forward and take it. We can possess it. But Ten said, oh no. The giants are too large. We'll stay. And it was there in the wilderness they chose apathy and complacency. It's not lost on me. They camped at a place called Kadesh Barnea. The devil is satisfied to leave you alone and let you camp all of your life. You were made for conquest, but most of us will camp. At Kadesh Barnea, it means wilderness sanctuary. Now, this is one way God used this passage in my life 25 years ago. I realized for me, my career, my police car, it was my wilderness sanctuary. Like, it was my Kadesh Barnea. Yeah, it came with some risk, it came with some danger,

but honestly, man, it was easy. It represented security, stability, retirement, vacation, benefits. And for me at the time, I realized this is a God, God will let me camp here the rest of my life. And Satan will too. He would love you to enter into a peaceful coalition. He'll pretty much leave you alone, let you live a comfortable life. But the A life is not meant to say average, A as in average, it's meant to be A as in abundant. And honestly, I think all that I would have lost, that I would have never known, had I not taken the risk, and left a faith that was cozy for one that is far more costly. All that I would have never got to see. And I would have never known. Listen, for some of us, one day we're going to die having never fully lived. And that could have been me. We're all gonna die someday. The question is, will you fully live? The ancient Hebrews, they would all live a full life. They would all die of old age in the wilderness. The devil pretty much left them alone. The giants were over there, they stayed over there. They said on their side, we'll stay on our side. They're into a peaceful coalition. We'll just stay over here, quiet resignation.

And yeah, they got to live a little bit longer, but they never got to see all that could be. With everything in me, I'm trying all I can. I really am. I want you to know everything Jesus has for you. I want our church to know everything that God could do. I want to apply it as a church family. I want to apply it in your life individually. I want you to know in your life all that could be. The idolatry of security, apathy, or choosing what is easy may feel like a sanctuary, but it will become your cemetery. And that's what happened to this first generation of Hebrews. They chose the idolatry of safety, the idolatry of security, the idolatry of a wilderness sanctuary. Kadesh Barnea was a desert oasis. That's what it was. They'd come back there over and over again, but it was never the promised land. The idolatry of American Christianity. Safety, security, God keep me comfortable and cozy. Oh, Satan loves that idol. Because as long as that's your idol, you're not a danger to the enemy, and you were made to be a danger. You're a threat. If you walk in your true identity that Chad talked about a week ago, the fact that you're a priest and a king already,

you walk in that identity as a child of God, that you're filled with the Spirit of God, that you have the power of God upon your life, that you have the unction, the anointing of the Spirit of God upon you, and you are the end of the spear and the hand of God, you would be amazed what God could do not just in you and through you. But what does this mean? First Corinthians 10, verse one, Paul told us the implication. He does a flyover here of the Exodus story, kind of a 30,000-foot flyover right here in First Corinthians 10. "'Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware "'that our fathers, the Hebrew patriarchs, "'were under the cloud.'" That was God. He led them as a pillar of fire by night, a cloud by day. "'All passed through the sea, the Red Sea.'" We've been there. "'Were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. "'All ate the same spiritual food.'" Speaking of that miracle food from heaven, the manna that came down from heaven. "'And all drank the same spiritual drink, "'for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, "'and that rock was Christ.'" See, all of this was a metaphor, manna that came down from heaven, that miracle bread.

Jesus said, I'm the manna that comes down from heaven. I'm that bread that this spoke of. Moses struck the rock, and out of a rock came water that would water a million people and their livestock in the middle of a desert, and that rock was Christ. He, in fact, is the rock of ages, the cornerstone. This said, when you drink of me, you'll never thirst. He's the living water. All of this is a metaphor now of our journey. It's more than history, but with most of them, God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Imagine a million Hebrews set free, yet each of them would die because they tried to save their life. They would lose their life. Now, these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted, and do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play, nor let us commit sexual immorality. as some of them did, and one day 23,000 fell. Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents. Nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Let it not be said of us in the ages to come. Let your children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren remember your faith, that your legacy changed the family tree. Jesus calls us not to come and live, but to come and die, and only once we've died can we live the abundant life. Jesus, I pray for every person, God in heaven, please, I pray, that the Holy Spirit of God would move us in whatever way you need to. Listen carefully, those of you at home, please, don't look at your phone yet. Don't go for that cup of coffee yet, not yet. Take inventory right now, listen to the still, small voice. Of God's Holy Spirit, what's next? Your next step. Faith in action, it's obedience in motion. This is how you take possession of the promised land, the A-life. Re-engage, it's like re-gen for marriages. Re-gen, make this the year, get set free. Discipleship one, Chad talked about it a week ago, I'm gonna grow in the scriptures. Can't grow spiritually if you're not growing scripturally. For some of us, it's simply saying yes to Jesus for the first time. I'm gonna pray a simple prayer of faith, I want you to pray this with me. If you want to know with certainty that you have been set free from sin's penalty, anywhere you are in the world right now,

right here in this auditorium, Blue Springs, Crossroads, Lee's Summit, Independence, Johnson County, men of Tipton, right now I want you to pray. If you don't know for certain your home is heaven or that you've been forgiven, you can't take the next step until you take the first step, pray with me right now. Jesus, I believe that you died for my sin, that you rose again, that you're alive today. And today I receive you by faith as my Savior, my King. Forgive me of my sin, make me a new creation. In Jesus' name, with every head bowed, listen carefully, if you just prayed with me, I want you to text the name Jesus to this number, listen carefully, 68618. Jesus, J-E-S-U-S, to 68618. You've taken the first and most important step, but it is not the last step. If you'll text Jesus to that number, 68618, one of our staff is gonna reach out to you and help you take your next step to follow Jesus. I wanna sing to the King as a faith declaration at every campus, stand with us right now, right there in your home, in your living room, would you stand right now and sing to the King this song as a faith declaration as we cross over into the promised land. Come on, we declare. ♪ I'm no longer a slave to fear ♪ ♪ I am a child of God ♪

Come on, if you know it, sing today. ♪ That I'm no longer a slave to fear, we declare ♪ ♪ Yes, I am a child of God, I'm no longer ♪ ♪ No, I'm no longer a slave to fear ♪ ♪ Oh, I am a child of God, I'm no longer a slave to fear ♪ ♪ Yes, I am a child of God, you've split the sea, we declare ♪ ♪ Yes, I am a child of God, I'm no longer a slave to fear ♪ ♪ You split the sea so I could walk right through it ♪ ♪ Oh, I am a child of God, I'm no longer a slave to fear ♪ ♪ My fears were drowned in perfect love, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ You rescued me so I could stand, hey ♪ ♪ Come on declare today I am a child ♪ ♪ Now you split the sea, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ You split the sea so I could walk right through it ♪ ♪ My fears were drowned in perfect love, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ You rescued me so I could stand, hey, hey ♪ ♪ I am a child of I'm no longer, and I'm no longer a slave ♪ ♪ To fear, oh I am a child of God ♪ ♪ No I'm no longer a slave to fear ♪ ♪ And I am a child of God, lift your voices and sing ♪ ♪ I'm no longer a slave to fear ♪ ♪ I am a child, one more time we sing ♪ ♪ I'm no longer a slave to fear ♪ ♪ I am a child of God ♪