Faith | The Covenant - Genesis 15

Yeah, yeah. How we doing Southland, you guys good? It's good to be with you. Shout out to all five of our campuses. If you're here visiting with us for the first time or this is new for you, it really is an honor to have you come and check out our church. My name is Scott Hatfield and I oversee our family ministries team. And I'm honored today to get to open up God's word and see what God might say to us. That's what we're after. And we're in the middle of a series on Abraham and you're gonna hear me use the word Abram and Abraham. Same person, we'll get there eventually and talk about it. But I just want you to know that so you don't get lost in any of this. But if you would, grab your journals and if you would, get your Bibles. Our text today is Genesis 15. Our key word in this series is faith and today our key word is also faith. We're trying to dig out what faith is. What does it look like in our lives? And what's cool about this is that Scott, when he kicked off this series, he gave this great definition of what faith is. Faith is demonstrative trust that God is who he says he is and he will do everything that he's promised to do. So to kick us off, I wanna talk about a time

when I went skydiving, okay? Anybody else been skydiving in here before? Let me see, wave them high, you bunch of dumb dumbs. Yeah, that's all of us, yeah, yeah. Most of you are smarter than that. Here's the deal. Skydiving is the ultimate demonstration of faith, it is. I mean, when you jump out of a perfectly good plane and you fall at 180 miles an hour and when you pull the strip cord, you gotta believe that that parachute's gonna open up and catch you. I mean, if not, you're just gonna head down really, really quickly and open up your eyes and see Jesus, that would be, I don't know. I mean, it may be a good day, but not a good moment. But anyway, I did this 20 years ago in Barstow, Kentucky with some friends of mine. I don't know if you know this, Barstow's the epicenter of skydiving. I don't know if you knew that, it's unbelievable. Bourbon and no, not skydiving. I didn't even know, you'll find out. Here's how it went, okay? We get there and we meet the crew and I'm gonna be honest, not an impressive bunch to say the least, okay? They usher us into the shed and they pop this VCR tape into a VCR and there's no live instructions.

Like what's gonna happen is on these eight minutes of this VCR tape, it's unbelievable. Like I just was trying to learn how to grill better and so like I watched a video on how to grill better chicken, it was like 13 minutes. Eight minutes to skydive and hope that you don't die, that's the reality. And so after that we, and again, should have deterred us but not enough to deter this bunch of dumb dumbs and so after that we signed some paperwork that basically says if we die, if we're maimed, we can't sue them. We sign it, you know? And then we put on our gear and I meet my new best friend, his name's Jim but I'm gonna call him Dan Aykroyd because he looks like Dan Aykroyd from Ghostbusters and like he's my tandem jumper which means like he's gonna be my backpack and I'm gonna be his baby Bjorn. I'm a big baby in front of him, okay? And you know, when I'm looking at him like, inside I'm like, have you done this before? Is this your first time too? I'm just thinking about all this stuff and then they take us out to where the runway is and it's not even paved, it's bars down Kentucky, it's not Haiti, it's like a third world country. I'm like, what have we gotten ourselves into? And then the plane pulls up, even scarier.

They go, oh yeah, it's an old war plane. Oh, that's awesome. We get inside, there's a dozen bullet holes throughout the cabin. It's like, yeah, that sounds about right. And we still get in. We take off, we go two miles up, the door opens, we all move to our new exit, you can't hear anything and we get there and then my friend who I'm coming out right behind him, I watch him dangle and then they count one, two, three and let go and I'm not kidding you, he's a big boy and when he goes out, in a second, he disappears. He becomes the size of an M&M and everything inside of me is like falling apart, like imploding. My heart is busting out of my chest. I think I almost threw up in my mouth and then we sit down and we dangle our little legs on the side of this plane and this is blowing like crazy and Dan Ackery goes, you ready? And I can't even answer him. Like everything is just shut down. Like ready, ready to poop my pants, I'm ready, you know? So it's like ready or not Jesus, here I come and we count to three and we jump out and it's unbelievable. Listen, if you've ever wondered what it feels like to skydive and you've never done this before, if you've ever had one of those like horrific, terrifying dreams where you wake up from falling and you end up in a cold sweat, it feels like that.

Times a million, that's how it feels. And I actually paid to get a video and I'm gonna show it to you here in a second. It's 20 years old. A couple of things about this video. I just want you to know in the summers, I used to shave my head every summer just so that way if you see me, you go, oh my gosh, was his hair ripped off his scalp at 180 miles an hour? That did not happen, okay? I shaved that day. And then just so you know, the videographer's not here. in it, but I need to tell you about it. He's bald, he's got a handlebar mustache, he's wearing no shoes, he's a hippie. He walks up to me right before we're getting ready to leave and he doesn't look like, but he sounds like Matthew McConaughey. He's like, hey man, you ready to skydive today? I'm like, yeah. And he's like, it's gonna be awesome, man. Blue skies and you know, and just kind of puts it out. I don't know if he stepped on it, he had no shoes on, but then he goes, hey man, you married? I'm like, yeah. He goes, you wanna score some points with the old lady? I'm like, I do not call her that. Never one time.

He goes, listen, ma'am, here's what you do. I'm gonna be flying in closer to you. We're gonna jump out at the same time. But I'm gonna be flying closer to you. You just tell her you love her, tell her she's beautiful. If you got an anniversary coming up, just tell her that. And I'm gonna be honest with you, when I jumped out, I never even thought of my wife. I didn't think about anything. I second guess every decision I've ever made in my life, including that one. And every time he would come in for like a closeup, all I did was, whoa! I had nothing inside other than just sheer fear. That's the reality. So that's enough. Check out this video, I'll show it to you. ["Talking Girls"] ["Talking Girls"] There you go right there, everybody. That's what it, yeah! That's what it looks like when a moron jumps out of a perfectly good plane. That's what that is. I told you he looked just like Dan Aykroyd, didn't I? I mean, you see it, you know? And it's crazy seeing your meat skin flap like a basset hammer at 180 miles an hour. It's gross. I heard you laugh, and I saw you making fun of me. Anyway, hey, one more thing before we leave this story.

Again, Dan Aykroyd comes up to me right before we're getting ready to hop in the plane and get it going, and he goes, hey, I just want to let you know that I'm going to be, you know, we're together. I'm like, yeah, I hope so. And he goes, hey, I'm going to look at the altitude, and when I see that it's time for you to pull the cord, I'm like, wait, I'm pulling the cord? He's like, yeah. I'm like, oh, well, I mean, it would have been cool for you to have that eight-minute exclusive video that you had for us. But he's like, yeah. I'm like, where's the cord? He's like, it's at your waist. He's like, don't pull it right now. I'm like, yeah, okay, duh, you know? So we get out there, and we're flying, and here's the deal. He says, I'm going to point over your shoulder, and you're going to pull. That's it. I had one job. And I don't know that you noticed this in the video, but here's the reality. I never pull the cord. I don't even think about pulling the cord. He points three times over my shoulder, like, pull the cord. I had one job, and I totally forget. I look back and reflect now thinking, like, how far would I have had to fall for me to go, you know, I should probably think about pulling this cord. I can see the words on that sign. That's a problem. Here's the big idea from that story. I'm a piece of work.

And listen, I can totally forget the most important things. I can. And here's what we're going to find today as we dive into Abraham's story. He's a critical character in God's story, and he's a good man of faith, but he's also a piece of work. And here's the deal. He had one job, trust God with all that he is, and he totally forgets. He goes on this journey of faith where, at times, it's utterly breathtaking, where Abraham does these amazing things, amazing trust, amazing obedience, and he trusts him, and God does the remarkable things through him. And then there's these heartbreaking moments where Abraham forgets, and he struggles to trust God. Last week, Matt Williams preached on Genesis 13, and I'm today talking about Genesis 15, and he did a phenomenal job. But before I get into 15, I just want to give you some context as to what's going on in Genesis 14. We see what is to believe to be the first war recorded in the Bible, okay? And here's the deal. Wars can make or break leaders, and war actually makes much of Abraham. There's these four oppressive kings, and what they're doing is they're scheming together, and they're plotting against the people of God, and what they're going to do is they're going to attack them. And so Abraham grabs 318 of his trained warriors, and they go fight, and they push back on these four oppressive kings and their armies. It echoes of the movie 300, where Sparta and Persia are gathered. And Abraham and these warriors are victorious. They protect God's people. They rescue his nephew Lot, and peace is restored. And we come to a high point in Scripture. or Genesis 15, Abraham has come out of war

and he's come in to meet with the Lord and God actually meets with Abraham in a vision. Here's what it says, Genesis 15, one, it says this, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision and then he said this, this is what God said to Abraham, fear not Abraham, I am your shield. He's just come out of war. I mean, think about this, if you understand a little bit more of a story, you know this, Abraham had to be terrified. Most commentaries believe that Abraham was between 75 and 80 years of age in the middle of this battle and he wasn't flying drones and dropping bombs on targets from a secure, reliable base. This is hand-to-hand combat. Like Abraham is having to fight stronger, bigger, quicker, younger warriors. And I wonder just if Abraham put on a little Toby Keith right before this battle, I ain't as good as I once was, but man, I'm as good once as I ever was just trying to pump himself up. But it's in this vision where God whispers to Abraham, Abraham, listen, don't be afraid. I was with you, protecting you in battle. I'm protecting you now. I will continue to protect you. I am your shield. Shield symbolize protection.

Often when we think of weapons of war, we think about the sword and sometimes we forget about the importance, but the shield is equally as important. It would be dumb for us to go into battle with a sword and not have a shield. And God reminds Abraham in this moment, hey, Abraham, I know that you were old. I know that you walked in this war. I was with you. I'm personal and I'm faithful. I am your shield. I am your protection. And I'm not sure what you drug in today with you that's been too heavy for your heart to carry. But what I want you to know is that God doesn't just invite himself into Abraham's life. He's invited himself into your life. He wants to be your protection and your shield and your refuge. When we look back to Genesis 15, one, it says this, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision. Fear not Abraham, I am your shield. And then he says, here's, this is big. Your reward shall be great. He's gonna get a reward. Unbelievable, super excited. And I don't know if it's because of this or whatever,

but I want you to see what Abraham does, how he responds to God here, because it's gonna take a turn. Verses two and three says, but Abraham said, Oh Lord God, what will you give me? And then he says this, for I continue, I continue childless. And the heir of my household is Eliezer of Damascus. And Abraham, he's repeating himself. He says it again. Behold, you have given me no offspring, nothing God. And I, and a member of my household will be my heir for the first time, Abraham gets really, really honest with God. See, many years prior to this moment, God had called him to leave everything that he knew, all of his family, his life, everything that was comfortable for him. And as he follows him, God says, hey, listen, I'm gonna bless you with children. And he's already 75 at that moment. He's gonna bless him with children. And those children are gonna be a blessing to the entire world. And so Abraham went on the ride. And most of the time he obeyed him. And sometimes he didn't, but he tried to trust him. And a lot of years have gone by and here's the deal. No kids, no kids. He's frustrated.

And so when it says, your reward's gonna be great. Abraham goes, okay, cool. Like when? I mean, when's it gonna happen? You said that we were gonna have kids and we haven't. We're childless, no positive pregnancy test. Listen, I don't want a reward, God, I want a son. You promised us, we trusted you. We're old and I guess it's just never gonna happen. We're gonna have to give our inheritance to a servant who lives in our home. All we have is heartache, doubt and heartbreak. Question, you ever felt that way? You ever been waiting on God? Have you ever felt the sting of disappointment? It puts us in a bad place. We can't connect the dots between I love God and he loves me. But why is this not happening? This is what he said he would do. Or at least that's what I thought he said he would do. And it's not happening. My wife and I battled the sting of infertility early on in our marriage. And I'm just gonna say this. If you're going through that right now, our hearts break for you because it's grueling. I mean, I understand completely Abraham's frustration with God here. And here's what's interesting. The enemy loves to throw gasoline on the fires of doubt

that come up in our lives. He loves to kick us when we're down. And he wants to feel the anger that sits deep inside of us. And the enemy wants to sabotage our faith. That's what he's after. If he can't take it away, he'll try to lead us to one of three places. And here's these three places. Number one, something must be wrong with me. Meaning I'm walking with Jesus. I love Jesus, but for some reason, it doesn't feel like things are working out the way that I want them to. And maybe it's just because I'm not doing this very. Good, maybe it's me. Or maybe you get to a place where you go, no, no, no, something must be wrong with God. I mean, he says this stuff in his word and over and over again, and I don't understand why it's not happening in my life. Why is he not showing up here? Maybe these are empty promises. Something must be wrong with God. Or the third place is unbelief. There is no God. And I bet I'd wager that most of us has been at least in one or two or maybe even three of those places in our lives. The lot of roads can lead us there, and maybe for you it has been infertility,

or maybe it's been a bad diagnosis, or maybe you have kids that are self-destructing right now and it's breaking your heart, or addictions, or depression, or loss, or maybe your marriage is like, no one knows it, but your marriage is just hanging on by a thread, or maybe you're trying to recover the pieces and the carnage from a divorce. Maybe right now you're in the middle of deep uncertainty. Broken dreams. You're grieving unmet expectations. And here's the deal. You need to know this. You're not the only one. This room's full of that. And I want you to know that if you are in that spot right now, here's my challenge for you. I want you to do what Abraham did. And here it is. Pour out your heart and have it out with God. I don't know if someone's ever told you to do that, but you can do that. Like he's given us permission to do that. Take a long drive and just go have it out with him, or maybe you grab your one more journal and you just start writing. You start digging out what's been too heavy for your heart to carry. And listen, don't organize your thoughts or dress up your speech.

Pour out your heart. Ask your questions. Tell him how you feel. Tell him what you need. Pour out your heart. It might be the most important thing you do today, or maybe ever. This might be the beginning of breakthrough or healing or restoration with God. And you need to know this. Abraham's not the only one. There's a bunch of people in the Bible who said some really strong things to God, who prayed these really, really hard prayers. I'll just start with three different Psalms. It says this, Psalm 10.1. It says, why, O Lord, do you stand so far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Check out the next verse, Psalm 13. Here's what he says. How long? Catch the how longs. How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? And then Psalm 22. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me

from the words of my groanings? Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. And by night I find no rest. Here's the critical statement that I think is probably the most important thing that I'll say today. Abraham's frustration with God is still faith. And hard prayers are still prayers. Do you realize that? I just don't know if we've been sold a bad bill of goods when it comes to, no, faith is just nice and pristine. It's not polished, it's not. Faith is messy, gritty, and raw. Hard, gut-wrenching, honest prayers are still prayers. I'm so grateful for 1 Peter 5, 7. It says this, casting all your anxieties on him, who God, because he cares for us. God is personal, he's waiting. Bring that stuff to him. He'll meet you in the middle of your deepest frustrations and pain and uncertainty. God knows and he loves us. And man, he is not afraid of your prayers. Psalm 34, 18, it's a promise. It says, the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit. So question, how does God respond to Abraham in the middle of his deep frustration, this gut-wrenching prayer? Check out what it says here, Genesis 15, five.

He says this, and he, God, brought him, Abraham, outside and he said, look toward the heaven and number the stars. And if you're able to number them. Then he said, so shall your offspring be. Here's what's interesting. God didn't get mad at Abraham. He didn't shy away from Abraham. He doesn't tongue lash him, he doesn't belittle him. He doesn't shame Abraham because of his angry outbursts. God meets Abraham with grace, compassion and promise. And look at me, he wants to do the same with you today. See, God takes Abraham outside and he shows him the stars. And before I unpack what God's doing here, I wanna show you a verse that follows seven verses later. Genesis 15, 12, it says this, as the sun was going down. Hold on. Genesis 15, five says, he took him outside to show him the stars. Genesis 15, 12 says, as the sun was going down. What does that mean? I'm not sure if this is in the middle of Abraham's vision. I don't know if it's after the vision, but here's what I believe is happening here because here's the deal. We can't see stars unless it's nighttime. Here's what I think God does. I think God takes Abraham outside in the middle of the day and I think he hits the dimmer switch. And I think he lights up the night sky

to demonstrate his power and the majesty of his creation. I mean, how powerful must that moment have been for Abraham? God reminds Abraham that he is a promise keeper. Let me go back to Genesis 15, five. It says, he brought him outside, said, look toward the heaven and number the stars if you're able to number them. Then he said, Abraham, this whole kid thing, so shall your offspring be. Hey, Abraham, just because it hasn't happened yet, it doesn't mean that it's not gonna happen. I wonder if Copley borrowed the lines from Genesis 15. Hey, Abraham, look at the stars. Look how they shine for you. Hey, can you number them? Hey, you're asking about your family. Do you wanna know how big your family's gonna be, Abraham? Take a look up there. It's gonna be that big. Abraham is going to be the father of nations. His offspring will outnumber the stars. Critical descendants will come from God's promised covenant with Abraham. People like Isaac and Jacob and Moses and King David are some of those bright stars. Jesus the Messiah will be a descendant of God's covenant promise with Abraham. He's the brightest of those stars. God reminds Abraham that the promise he made back in Genesis 12 is gonna happen.

He's still good for it. The God we serve is a promise keeper. So don't miss this. Abraham experiences a God moment. I don't know if you ever heard that term or not, but God moments are these undeniable, holy moments, divine appointments. Someone called them God wings, so where God clears his throat to let you know that he's there, that he's with us. It's in these moments that God, he pulls back the curtain so that we can experience his power, his presence, and his promises. God moments are where we actually see the fingerprints of God's hands on the windows of our hearts and the windows of our lives. And he did this for Abraham, and he does it again and again throughout the scriptures. In the Old Testament, here's just a few. Moses and the Red Sea. David killing Goliath with one smooth stone. Daniel, his protection through the night in the lion's den. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in that fiery furnace, all God moments. In the New Testament, these disciples that follow Jesus, that walk with Jesus for three and a half years, they had God moment after God moment after God moment. They see Jesus walk on water. They see Jesus look at a storm that's raging, and he says, hey, be still.

And just like that, it's calm. Jesus takes a kid's Lunchable and feeds 5,000 people. Jesus commands demons to leave people, and they don't argue with Jesus, they obey him. Jesus says the words, Lazarus come out after being dead for four days, and Lazarus is resurrected. These are more than God wings. These are like God elbows, God moments. These moments where God moves, and it's undeniable. And I'm just gonna tell you this, over the last 30 years, I can't believe the amount of God moments he's allowed me to see in my life as I followed him. And listen, there have been moments that I've prayed for. And there've been moments that I never saw coming. And there've been moments where I've been extremely frustrated and angry with God. And there's been these moments where I'm just completely grateful for all that God's done, that I never saw it coming, and tears are streaming down my face. Too many to count over the last 30 years. But can I just share one with you for the sake of time? I gave my life to Jesus when I was 17. I was a junior in high school. And right after that, my youth pastor came to me and said, hey, Scott, I really think you should pray about going into ministry. And I'm like, me? Yeah, I think you have a gift. I think God's got a calling in your life.

And all I heard was, there's no way. People like me don't go into ministry. People like that have my family, and my story, and my shame, and my background, and my baggage. There's no way that God could use them to do that. And so I ended up getting an athletic scholarship to a big university in Kentucky. And I go there, and I have a great year, a great season. I meet my wife at this college. And in the middle of this year, you guys, God wrecks me. Like, I thought I had some life figured out, and all of a sudden, it's like, I'm not. I'm not supposed to be here. And so I start praying about it. I asked some people to pray about it with me. I asked some people that have wisdom to speak wisdom into me. And then finally, I go up to Cincinnati Bible College just to check out the school to go. I mean, can somebody like me come to this school? And I'll be honest, my dad was really skeptical of all of this. And in the middle of trying to make this decision, the staff from Cincinnati Bible College drove from Cincinnati to Louisville, and they came and they met my dad and I. And here's what happened right before that. My dad says, son, can we talk? I said, sure, yeah, dad, what's up? He said, listen, I wanna tell you something.

I'm really proud of you. He said, you're the first kid in our entire family to go to college. And you got a scholarship. And you're doing a phenomenal job on the team. But I need you to know this, people change their majors all the time. And if you leave this school in this spot on the team, they're gonna fill it with somebody else. I really wish you wouldn't go. And then he said, but listen, if you think that God's calling you to do this, I want you to know that I wanna help you, I wanna support you. And I've done the math. And here's what you need to know. I don't have a lot of money. But here's what I can give. I can give you $860 a semester for your school. I said, yeah, no problem, dad, thank you. I understand. The group from the school gets there 10 minutes after we have this conversation. They walk us through the academic side, the benefits of going to Cincinnati Bible College. And they finally get to the finances, which is what my dad was most interested in. And they talked about the cost of tuition, room and board. And then from there, they begin to talk about these grants and these scholarships that I didn't apply for

and didn't know that I was getting. And then they said, hey, here's also some money that your home church is going to give to support you because they believe that God's calling you to ministry. They had this balance sheet. And when it was all said and done, they flipped it around. And the amount that I owed was exactly the amount of money that my dad said that he could give to support me, $860, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I don't wanna stop right now. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I gave my son for you. Follow, follow me. God moment. Maybe you said in church services during worship sets and you're singing and you see the words and you hear the music and all of a sudden it just becomes more than a song. Like God moves closer to you than the person sitting next to you and he moves in to meet right beside you and reveal himself in the middle of your circumstances in real time and he just tells you who he is or he reminds you of who you are because of Jesus. He reminds you of his promises. Maybe you sat in church and you've listened to some preaching and you go, man, there's a bunch of people, there are thousands of people in there and it feels like this sermon's only for me. Like someone followed you around and they got inside your house and they watched your life and then they wrote something that was only exclusively, specifically for you. Like God met you in the middle of all these people and he just talked to you. I need you to know this. I love.

a teaching team, humble, gifted, passionate people. But we are not, we are not that good. God's trying to meet with you. He's trying to connect with you. He wants to have an encounter with you. And listen, Southland, every single week, right over here, we see these powerful God moments in these baptistries where God writes brand new stories of one more and one more and one more. Unforgettable, undeniable, indisputable God moments. I just want to ask, if you've ever experienced a God moment, it doesn't matter big or small, can you, would you just raise your hand? I just want to see, look in the room, look around. Listen, here's the deal. It's a room full of people whose lives have been changed and addictions have been broken and marriages have been redeemed and families have been restored and stories have been rewritten because God is the author of our stories. Aren't you thankful for the fact that God would move toward us so that we could experience these amazing God moments? And here's the deal I want you to know today, he's still in the God moment business, he is. I want to go back to Abraham's response to this God moment that he had with God in Genesis 15. Here it is, verse six. And he, Abraham, this is big, believed the Lord.

And God counted it to him as righteousness. Abraham looks up at all those stars in the middle of the day and God declares this promise covenant with Abraham and it says, he believed. And listen, this is not in your notes anywhere, it's not gonna be on the screen, but would you just write this down? Abraham trusted the author of his story. He trusted the author of his story. God did that for Abraham. He's done that for me. He's done that for so many people in this room and so many people in our church. And if you're pursuing Jesus, trying to figure all this out, I need you to know this, God's not playing hide and seek with you. He's pursuing you, he's here. And he's not satisfied with casual belief. He wants to transform your faith. There's a passage that summarizes how we feel when we experience these God moments in our lives. And I finally found it, it's this powerful sentence that comes from David in Psalm 8, 4. It says, who am I, God, that you are mindful of me? And I'll just make this personal for myself. Who am I, God, that you would pursue me in spite of me? Who am I, God, that you would chase down a hard-hearted, angry, rebellious, broken kid from a broken family and shower me with your grace and adopt me into your family

and call me to partner with you to help others know the love of God through the sacrifice of your son, our King, Jesus? It's why I love Jesus. It's why I love our church. Because we're a church full of people that were skeptical and prideful and wayward and reckless and broken, the worst of sinners, who had an encounter with God where he did more than wink. Jesus broke through to rescue us, to hijack our stories, to adopt us into his family and to make us family. He's given us purpose and hope. God's writing a different story in our lives. It's Psalm 8, 4. Who am I, God, who are we that you are mindful of us? As I was preparing for this message just a few weeks ago, I was hijacked by this new worship song by Brandon Lake called The Author. And my wife, Sarah, and I were sitting on the couch and we were just looking at YouTube and we saw this. We thought, oh, we love him, we'll check out this song. And we had no idea how impactful this song would be for us. Like we were moved, like overwhelmed, tears running down our face, and it became a God moment for us. And my prayer is that it will be a God moment for you. So just sit back and hear the words of this song. ♪ I picked up the book for the first time in ages ♪

♪ Still washed and clean with the dust on the pages ♪ ♪ My life is a story I struggle to write ♪ ♪ But is it one worth telling, is it one you write? ♪ ♪ Mm, mm, so who am I, who am I? ♪ ♪ Am I just a poor preacher's prodigal son? ♪ ♪ A troubled child running wild, chasing the glory instead? ♪ of the one who says that I, even I have something still left to offer. So who am I? Who am I? Wishing the pen in the hands of the author. Like every good story, you learn from the loss. And I lost the part every time I played God. And I live in the moment you already wrote. There's proof that I'm someone, yes, someone you love. So who am I? Who am I? Am I just a poor preacher's prodigal son? A troubled child running wild, chasing the glory instead of the one who says that I, even I have something still left to offer. So who am I? Who am I? Wishing the pen in the hands of the author. I see trauma. I see words. You see something you can't work with. I see weakness. I see failure. You see something good on paper. And I've seen ashes turn to beauty. I've felt death working through me. And I've seen panic turn to power. Felt your peace in my darkest hour. What grace is this? Call me by name. Again and again and again and again. What grace is this? Crossed out my shame.

And gives me again and again and again and again and again. So who am I? Who am I? Am I just a poor preacher's prodigal son? A troubled child running wild, chasing the glory instead of the one who says that I, even I have something still left to offer. So who am I? Who am I? Wishing the pen in the hands of the author. I'm making the pen in the hands of the author. I'm making the pen in the hands of the author. I'm making the pen in the hands of the author. Let me close with a question. Aren't you tired of the story that you've been writing? Like you've had the pen in your hand your whole life. It's been charging and doing and achieving and chasing and controlling and white knuckling and it's been okay. But there've been a lot of shame, a lot of brokenness, a lot of blood in your background when it comes to seeing people get hurt by it. And something's been missing. Friend, you were never meant to take the pen. I was never meant to take the pen and write my own story because God is the author of our stories. He's personal. And man, he has a plan for your life. And he's inviting you to a life of faith. 2 Peter 1, 3 through 4, it says this, everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know personally and intimately the one Jesus who invited us to God, the best invitation we've ever received. Prince, he's inviting you to a brand new story and a brand new life.

And here's the deal, God writes the best stories. He's done that for Abraham, He's done that for me and thousands of people in our church. And friend, He can do that for you and He wants to do that for you today. Our prayer team's gonna be available as soon as I get done praying up front and I want you to know that if you've got something that's just been too heavy for you to carry, man, would you move out of your seat and come talk with them? They'd be honored to pray for you. And if you go, hey, I got a lot of questions about Jesus, I'm not sure about all this stuff. Yeah, man, move out of your seat and go talk to somebody who may just have some answers to some of the questions that you've been wanting to ask. Or for you, maybe you've just stacked up a lot of God moments and you go, I don't have any more questions. I need to say yes to this invitation. I want Him to write my story. And move from your seat and talk to our prayer team. We would be so honored to talk with you and celebrate this new life in Christ and see you in the waters over there of our baptistries being another one more for God. Let me close with this. Let Jesus be your shield. And let Jesus be your great reward. And let Him be the author of your story.

Let me pray, okay? Father, thank you so much for today. Honored and humbled to get to open up your word in such a beautiful, wonderful place. It's changed my life. God, I thank you so much for the stories in this room, stories at all five of our campuses. God, I'm thankful for how you move toward us. And you're never afraid of our frustrations. God, you're that good. And so God, whatever is going on, whatever it is that you want to do today, whatever it is that we need to lay down, would you shake that from our hands? God, if there's something that you're trying to give us, would you just help us to open up our posture and put our hands out so that we could receive it? God, thank you so much for the power of your word. Thank you so much for all that you're doing in and through our church. We're grateful people. Today, we celebrate you, the author of our stories. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.