Holding On w/ Austin French

Good morning, everybody, welcome to The Crossing. My name is Diego, I get to be one of the youth pastors here at the Chesterfield campus. Thank you, that's right, those are the teenagers. Before we start, we're about to get started, just two things, number one, we're gonna be taking communion during the service, so if you haven't grabbed your elements yet, they're at the tables all throughout the auditorium, you can do that now. And number two, and you probably already know this, is we have a friend today, Austin French is here to help lead us in worship, there he is. Thank you for being here, sir. Austin is a renowned singer-songwriter from Georgia. He's written a lot of songs about Jesus, some that you may know, we're gonna get to hear one later on, so be ready for that. And he loves Jesus very much, loves to worship him, and we do too, which is a good thing. So would you guys all stand, and scripture says that we can go into God's presence with singing, with prayer, and thanksgiving, so let's do that now. Guys, will you lead us? ♪ All of creation ♪ ♪ We can feel it grow ♪ ♪ Give us the grace of holy sorrow ♪ ♪ We'll sow in tears for a harvest tomorrow ♪ ♪ Do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your Spirit out, do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your Spirit out, do it again, Lord ♪

Sing it out. ♪ Pour your Spirit out, come and awaken ♪ ♪ These dry and dusty bones, do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Shave this holy ground, all of creation ♪ ♪ We can feel it grow, give us the grace of holy sorrow ♪ ♪ We'll sow in tears for a harvest tomorrow ♪ ♪ Do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your Spirit out, do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your Spirit out, do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your Spirit out, do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your Spirit out ♪ ♪ Go in every tribe and tongue to join the endless ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, rich and poor and old and young ♪ ♪ With one voice sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Risen to fight this vile sirens ♪ ♪ Drowned out by a hallelujah ♪ ♪ Justice roaring like a river from the earth ♪ ♪ With hallelujah, do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your Spirit out, do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your Spirit out, do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your Spirit out, do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Pour your Spirit out, do it again, Lord ♪ ♪ Try man's tongue to joy the endless ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, rich and poor and broken ♪ ♪ You're filled with one voice, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ Into fire and ice, I will shine ♪ ♪ Fire is drowned out by our hallelujah ♪ ♪ Justice rolling like a river ♪ ♪ Flood the earth with hallelujah, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, oh yeah ♪

♪ Christ is my firm foundation, let's sing ♪ ♪ He's the rock on which I stand ♪ ♪ When everything around me is shaking ♪ ♪ I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ Cause he's never let me down ♪ ♪ He's faithful through generations ♪ ♪ So why would he fail now? ♪ ♪ He won't, no, no, he won't ♪ ♪ I've still got joy in the chaos, yeah ♪ ♪ I've got peace that makes no sense ♪ ♪ So I won't be going under ♪ ♪ I'm not helped by my own strength ♪ ♪ Cause I've built my life on Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, he's never let me down ♪ ♪ He's faithful in every season ♪ ♪ So why would he fail now? ♪ ♪ He won't, no, no, he won't ♪ ♪ Oh, he won't fail, he won't fail, he won't fail ♪ ♪ Christ is my first foundation ♪ ♪ He's the rock on which I stand ♪ ♪ When everything around me is shaking ♪ ♪ Oh, I've never been more glad ♪ ♪ That I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ Cause he's never let me down ♪ ♪ He's faithful through generations ♪ ♪ So why would he fail now? ♪ ♪ He won't, no, no, he won't fail, he won't fail, he won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail, he won't fail, he won't fail, he won't fail ♪ We believe that Christ is the firm foundation where we plant our feet, where he is our steady,

our safe, our faithful, come on. ♪ Making wind, blue, that my house was built on ♪ ♪ I'm safe with you and I'm gonna make it through ♪ We believe it. ♪ Making wind, blue, that my house was built on ♪ ♪ I'm safe with you and I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Making wind, blue, that my house was built on ♪ ♪ I'm safe with you and I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Making wind, blue, that my house was built on ♪ ♪ I'm safe with you and I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Oh, I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Because I'm standing strong on you ♪ ♪ I'm gonna make it through ♪ ♪ Because my house is built on you ♪ ♪ And Christ is my first foundation ♪ ♪ He's the rock on which I stand ♪ ♪ When everything around me is shaken ♪ ♪ Yeah, oh I've never been more glad ♪ ♪ I put my faith in Jesus ♪ ♪ God, He's never let me down ♪ ♪ Slave for generations ♪ ♪ So I will be failed now, He won't ♪ ♪ He won't, oh no, He won't, I know He won't fail ♪ ♪ He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't. ♪ ♪ He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't. ♪ ♪ He won't fail, He won't fail, He won't. ♪ You guys can be seated. Jesus says in the gospel of Matthew that the person who hears His words and puts them into practice is like a wise man

who built his house on the rock, on a firm foundation. One of the many reasons that we worship Him is because we believe there is a stability, a trustworthiness, a faithfulness, a foundation in Him that is unlike any other. Nothing compares to Him. And so when I sing, I'm filled with gratitude because I know through all the fear, doubt, pain, loss, that He is the one who holds us up through all of it, that we can trust Him through all of it. And I know so many of us in this room have experienced that personally. And so that's why we worship boldly and loudly and honestly. But I also know that's not everybody's story in here. And there are people in this room who would say, my life is chaos right now, unstable. I am desperate for steady ground. And words like that feel like words that are impossible to sing and impossible to even believe. And if that's you, I wanna tell you, that's okay. Church is a place, it should not be a place, shouldn't be a place, where you feel pressured to fit in and make it seem like you're doing just fine on the outside. It's a place where you can actually bring everything that you have going on, bring all the things to God Himself directly and honestly. And He will never look down on you because you're going through a hard season. And so I would just tell you, God is trustworthy. He sees you, He knows you, He loves you,

and you can bring all these things to Him in worship, in prayer, and through communion. It was on that night that Jesus poured new meaning into the bread and cup and gave us a way to remember the lengths He would go to to be in relationship with us. And now through communion, we have this very personal experience with Jesus. And because it's so personal, it needs to be so honest. So if you would identify and say, I don't know if I believe these words, I don't know if I believe any of these things right now, and there's still maybe things that you're holding on to from God that you haven't brought to Him, I would say this is a time to sit, to pray, to reflect, and to get personal with Jesus. But I would say this is also a way to honor Him, to not participate for the wrong reasons. Now, for those of us who are ready, on the night that Jesus was betrayed, He sat with His disciples around a meal, and He grabbed bread. He began to tell them about what was going to happen, what was to come. He grabbed the bread, and He broke it, and He said, this is my body, which is given to you. Do this in remembrance of me. And they took the bread. He then grabbed the cup, and He held it and said, this is my blood, which is a new covenant between God and His people.

It is confirmed with my blood, and it is poured out for you as a sacrifice. And they all took the cup. And in scripture we read, that the disciples would break out in prayer and thanksgiving and worship, being grateful to God that they now have this new relationship with Him. And so, Lord, we worship You, and we're grateful to You for what You've done on that cross. God, don't let it go past our minds. Don't let us move past it. You overcame death. You overcame everything, so we thank You, God, for being so incredibly steadfast on that cross. We thank You, God, for being so incredibly steady and allowing us to be steady in hard times as well. We thank You, Lord, for everything. everything you've done in our life, what you're doing right now, and what you will continue to do. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now, if any one of you would say, that's me, I am someone who is wrestling with God and I have all these questions, I would please encourage you to come down to the front and come talk to us after the service. We really mean it when we say that.

We would love to talk to you about those things. And I would say that is a bold step for you to take. It's an act of worship. It's actually what we're called to do as followers of Jesus, live a lifestyle of worship. Scripture actually says that we're to offer up our complete selves, our bodies, and that is our true and proper worship to God. And so that shows up as taking bold, uncomfortable steps sometimes, but to grow in our faith and our relationship with Jesus. It also looks like serving inside and outside the walls of the church. Summer service is an opportunity for that. It's coming up. It's a chance, a low commitment chance for you to try out and see where God might be nudging you to serve in his church. And then we also worship through the way that we give with our finances. What God has given us, we give right back. And it's our way, all of these ways of worship are ways of saying, Lord, all that I have is yours. I want to be a part of what it is that you're doing. So all of that is making an impact in the kingdom of God. So thank you for partnering alongside with us. This kind of lifestyle is a response to God's faithfulness and love in our life. And so as you can tell, the band is still up here. We're not done worshipping,

so would you guys stand and let's respond and worship our King. Thank you. ♪ This hope as an anchor for my soul ♪ ♪ Through every storm I will fall to You ♪ ♪ I will fall to You with endless love ♪ ♪ All my fears swept away when everything I will trust in You ♪ ♪ There is hope in the promise of the cross ♪ ♪ You gave everything to save the world You love ♪ ♪ And this hope is an anchor for my soul ♪ ♪ Our God will stand unshaken ♪ ♪ Forever more, yeah ♪ ♪ Unchanging One, who was and is to come ♪ ♪ Who was and is to come ♪ ♪ Your promise sure You will not let go ♪ ♪ There is hope in the promise of the cross ♪ ♪ You gave everything to save the world You love ♪ ♪ And this hope is an anchor for my soul ♪ ♪ Our God will stand unshaken, oh yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Cause Your name is high, Your name is great ♪ ♪ Oh my, is in You ♪ ♪ Your word unfailing, Your promise unshaking ♪ ♪ Oh my, is in You ♪ Your Name is High, Your Name is Greater, Oh My, is it You? Your Word unveiled, Your promise unshaken, Oh My, is it You? Your Name is High, Your Name is Greater, Oh My, is it You? Your Word unveiled, Your promise unshaken, Oh My, is it You? Your Name is High, Your Name is Greater, Oh My, is it You? Your Word unveiled, Your promise unshaken, Oh My, is it You?

Your Name is High, Your Name is Greater, Oh My, is it You? Your Word unveiled, Your promise unshaken, Oh My, is it You? God, I pray the words to that song are more than words to many of us, Lord. May we remember, may we rest in the fact that Your promises are true and they are unshaken. God, we trust You and our hope is in You. At least some of us believe that, Lord. Even then we forget, even then we chase after things that cannot deliver. Lord, forgive us. For some of us, we're not even sure that we can trust You here today. I pray that You will begin to speak in powerful and personal ways through Your inspired Word, Lord. Not ours, but through Your Word. God, draw us to You. Show us, even in these unsettling, uncertain times, what is it like to live with hope? We ask this now, in the Name of Jesus. Amen. Alright, so now we're all gathered here. We've got all the sites. We've got everybody. So let's just now, if you would, don't just say hi to somebody. Go on record. Like, look at them and say, you know what? I think I'm here for a reason. Just see if you can just kind of commit yourself to something. Now talk to some folks around you. Go ahead. Go ahead. Thank you, brother. Okay. Let's see if together we can explore maybe what that reason is that the Sovereign God brought us together. There was an article in Relevant Magazine that said that over the past five years,

one of the most searched terms on Google was the word hope. People were searching, curious about the word hope. Now, it probably doesn't surprise us, but it's interesting to start thinking about why. Why would that be the case? Why are people searching for hope? Now, the author of this article, Angie Eisner, kind of is coming up with some of her ideas, and she talks about, she describes like a constant underlying hum of uncertainty in our world. That tracks, doesn't it? Are you uncertain about anything? Are you uncertain about the economy? Are you uncertain about, like, school? Are you uncertain about how things are going to shake out with your friends? Are you uncertain about what happens after you graduate? Are you uncertain about, like, what the next big headline, the next big worry, the next big controversy, the next big conflict is going to be? Sometimes those headlines literally just come out of nowhere, don't they? Did you know that, I know you knew this, but for those of you here in the St. Louis area, yesterday, Saturday, was the one-year anniversary of the tornado that ripped through our city. We're not done. Rebuilding, we're not done encouraging. If you would like to be a part of that, if you'd like for us to point you in the direction of people who are still getting things done in this city, then come on. But sometimes it's not even something specific. Sometimes it is something like you can't even quite put your finger on it. She says it could be like a social media-fueled existential dread. Right?

I mean, you can't even put your finger on it, but it's there. I've been saying all weekend long, maybe your word is doubt. So you doubt that your future's gonna be better. You doubt that this is gonna work out for you. You doubt that God is hearing your prayers. You doubt that he's paying attention. Some of you are at a place right now where you're saying, honestly, I doubt that there is a God. I don't know what to do with this. Now listen, now that I've got us all stirred up, if all I did was say to you, hey, y'all, just don't doubt. Don't worry. Just cheer up, people. That's not very helpful, is it? By the way, it's not biblical. Because all throughout the scriptures, you see people who are pouring their hearts out, who are admitting, I do have questions, I do have struggles, I am worried about things. Moses, when he gets his assignment, man, he backs up. He's got questions. Mary, what does Mary say when she finds out about her pregnancy? How can this be? Thomas, anyone? You remember Thomas? Thomas had all sorts of doubts about the resurrection.

David, psalm after psalm after psalm is pouring his heart out, his worries, his frustrations, his fears, his anger. This is what we see in the scriptures. Jeremiah, Gideon, Sarah, Peter. And no place in those scriptures do you see people coming alongside saying, shh, we don't say those things out loud. What you see is the writers of scripture hitting this head on and they bring us these beautiful truths and powers that we can apply to our life. Sometimes it's a metaphor or an image, like the one that we're gonna look at today. Well, if you get a chance to go to the catacombs in Rome, these tunnels that are underneath Rome where people would worship in the early centuries and then many early Christians were buried, if you go to those, on the tombs, you will end up seeing three prominent symbols carved into various rocks. Now, these are a couple of them. What we don't have here is the dove would be one that you would see. The dove represented the Holy Spirit. But then you will always see fish. Now, fish, ichthus, if you know, that's an acronym, it became an acronym for Jesus, for the name of Jesus. But then the other big one that you see

is what you, like right there, anchors. Anchors were a big deal. They're carved into those catacombs. It was an ancient symbol of if I trust in God, He's rock solid. He's gonna hold me steady in these uncertain waters. Now, where that thought came from is the same place that the song that we just sang was built on. And actually, it's the inspiration for this entire series. And it's in a verse in Hebrews 6. So let's go to Hebrews 6 and let me read this for you. The writer says, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. The writer is saying there is a hope that can be your anchor in uncertain waters. He goes on to make the connection, this hope is Jesus. Now, this is really good news. And you see it all over the book of Hebrews about how Jesus is superior to anything else. These people were facing struggles. They were facing, in some cases, persecution. And some of them were starting to pull away. Some of them were starting to back out of community. Later in this book, you'll see him say things like, don't forsake the gathering together of believers. You need to get together so you can encourage each other. But right here, it's really good news

because he is saying there is one that you can count on. He's the one that doesn't change in this ever-changing world. His name is Jesus. That's what this is about. You see, our hope is secure because our hope is in our rescuer and he's secure. You see, that's how this works. But it would help a little bit if we pursued the metaphor. So let's just start with, how many of you love being on a boat? Just all across. Now, you may not. You may, some of you do, you like being on a boat. You love the wind in your hair, the water in your face. You love the waves when they're making the boat go up and down. And you've got all of God's unseen creatures swimming underneath you in the dark, murky waters. And you start to wonder, ooh, what's going on down there? But you're skimming across the top of it because you're really out where you might not ought to be, but it's an adventure, it's a risk. And then all of a sudden, you see a storm rolling in. Who doesn't love being out on a boat? Are you with me Popeye? Now some of you from the looks of it, like, you prefer an umbrella in your drink on the Lido deck, right? So that's your idea of a boat. Let me just put it this way.

If you ever get out on a boat, an anchor is an important thing for a couple of reasons. I'll give you one. An anchor, if there's a storm, will keep you from banging into the rocks and the reefs and the shore that will rip your boat apart. You need that. But you also drop anchor in a safe, calm harbor because, well, because you could bump into other things that could just cause you all sorts of trouble. Now let's go back to Hebrews chapter 2, because in Hebrews 2, what we read is that we need to pay most careful attention, therefore, to what we've heard, these teachings, so that we do not drift. Here is a fun fact about humanity. Write it down. We drift. Like, we drift. When it comes to our spiritual direction, it's like, okay, okay, this is what I'm supposed to do. I'm committed to, oh, shiny ball. And before you know it, we're off track, right? Sometimes it's because of things that are going on. Sometimes it's because we just can't get off of these things. And it's like, yeah, I got you, God, hang on. And we just keep doing this. We drift. Can the preacher get? No, it's probably too early for that. I'm not going to ask you. Hang on, thank you. It didn't sound like you meant it, but no, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. So we'll come back to that. But here's the point.

Anchors are good because we drift. Sometimes it's in a storm. Sometimes it's when we're in a safe harbor. You see, you need an anchor when trust is easy, and you need an anchor when the doubts and the uncertainties are coming over the side of the boat. But it's good news because we have this anchor that is firm and secure. But look at what else it says. It says right before that, it says, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope that's set before us. Let me tell you how this metaphor works. If you want encouragement, if you want rock solid stability in your life, then according to this verse, you have to hold fast. You have to hold fast. Let me give you one more chance to answer that back. But first, when I was in college, a buddy of mine, one summer, his dad gave him their family ski boat for us to have that summer while we were at college. For the life of me, I don't know why that dad did that. But we had it all summer long. And so after, you know, we're in Texas and after class, sometimes instead of class, we'd be out on this lake and, you know, we'd have some fun. We're out there skiing, all those things. But then there was a day early on, early on, where we pulled into a cove. Everybody was just going to, you know, we're just going to hang out for a while. And so this kid who's, you know, dad's boat, he pulls into this cove. And so I know the routine. I've been on boats. So I hop up. I go to the bow of the boat. I open up the anchor locker. I get the anchor out and I hand it to a guy that's sitting up front there.

And then I get the anchor line because it's a new anchor where it's kind of new season. So I need to attach the anchor line or rope to the anchor. And then I got that and I look back and this guy, when I gave him the anchor, had literally just tossed it into the water. This is a true story. We never let him forget this. But I need you to hear me now. That anchor was doing its job. By the time I turned around, it was firm and secure on the bottom of that lake. But it did me no good. It did us no good. Why? Because we weren't attached to it. If you want encouragement, if you want a refuge, if you want stability in this life, if you want to enjoy the benefits of this firm and secure anchor, then the writer here tells us, you ready? That we have to hold fast. We're right back to making this personal. You see, if we're going to do this, we have to make this personal with Jesus. This hope comes from the finished work of Christ. That's how this works. So for us, it's, I mean, we believe. But when I say believe, that's a tricky word because it's more than what we believe God exists. Like, we believe. We believe that God loved us so much that he stepped into this story as God the Son. And we believe that Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins to make a way for us to have a life that is full and free and rich and there's joy and there's peace and there's hope. Jesus says, truly, I say to you, anyone who believes has eternal life.

This is it. This is the moment Tom Wright says when you hear the story of Jesus you say yes Jesus is Lord. He died for my sins. God raised him from the dead This is the center of everything when you get to that place where you can confess that with your mouth Something begins to shift in your life something changes. You can call it rebirth You can call it new life, whatever you want But this is the moment that everything changes and this is what we celebrate with baptism So lots of questions about that we had a big talk last week about it if you weren't here I would suggest that you watch that But lots of people are saying well, so what do I do I still want to be a part of this Is it too late? So Katie, would you just talk to us for a second? Katie is a part of our residency program. We are so grateful to have you here What do we need to know about baptism is it too late? First of all, the answer is no it's not too late In fact, you know Like you said we talked about it last week and we had hundreds of people sign up for water Baptisms coming up and it's a little over 30 days away So if you are thinking about that or feeling a nudge We have baptism stations set up in all of our lobbies across all four campuses that you can go visit We're there to answer any questions you might have and our pastors love this conversation Yeah, so I love the idea though that we can come with questions because this isn't don't think that if you come up to The the baptism station that you're coming up saying, okay. I've got all my questions answered here. I am No, you get to come up and say I'm not even sure where I am with Jesus. I've got questions about this I've got questions about what happened when I was a baby all those things you guys have those questions. I love it Yes, our pastors love having this conversation. And so please come talk to us So what if you're watching online like and you can't get to a lobby today? What what what do those folks? So we have the website. It's the crossing dot church Backslash baptism and has all the information that they would need a form to fill out and we will contact Anybody with a one-on-one conversation even though there have already been hundreds. It's not too late not too late. Come on, please Let's just have these conversations. So thank you. Thank you. Oh, yeah. Come on. Yeah

So what baptism is though is it's an expression of our trust in Jesus it's our way to say I'm with him This is what he has done for me. And I think trust is a good word Somebody once said that trust is the language of relationship So what I want you to do now when we do this here if you're new I want you to hang out with some people around you and like why is it so hard for us to trust? And if you feel comfortable go a little bit further. Why is it so hard to trust in? God sometimes like what gets in the way of us trusting God go ahead talk to each other. We'll get back together in just a minute You Okay Okay, so I know you guys at the sites are talking about this people online are talking about this Let's just let's just see if we can kind of come up with a few thoughts that are common to all of us anybody in these middle sections like like Like what are some of the things that get in the way of us trusting God anybody have anything? So with my plan doesn't line up with his plan my plans better Got it. Got it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, which really just comes back to somebody said in the previous service, it's a pride thing It's kind of like no, I know better God. Come on. Yeah. Anybody else got anything? Yes, ma'am. Oh You compare God to people can you say just a couple of the things about that? People can break your trust and Then we might then assume and take that experience and put it on top of God And it's like mmm, well if they did maybe he would And I'm going ahead you're not saying this but I'll say that when it's someone who? Maybe is inside the church. Maybe it's someone who says that they belong to Jesus, then all of a sudden, if they're breaking my trust, well then, maybe God's that way. Yeah, somebody over here said something. When some tragic happens, you don't understand it, why so? Yeah, so why did this happen?

Some horrible thing, why did this happen? Why did you do it? Yeah, come on, God. Can I trust you with the world if you let that happen? Those are big, big questions, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anybody over in these sections? Yes, sir? Okay, so God has this long view, we have a short lifetime, and his perspective is way different, but man, it sure looks like what I can see right there sure seems like that's the thing we ought to be focusing on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which kind of gets to this really rich and deep conversation we come back to all the time about how does God allow these certain things to happen, which really isn't where we're going today, but I think it's important to say these things out loud. You'll hear why in just a second. I would just say that, to go back to what you were talking about, that there are experiences that we have inside the church and outside the church that can affect our trust in God. There are things that we see online, things that we see from a distance, and we go, oh man, if that's true, then really, God? I mean, can I trust him, have his people?

Sometimes these things add up, it's not even that, you just get these little things that start to happen, or maybe it's something that God didn't do for you, like you told him, man, this is the way it needs to go, and it didn't happen that way. Things start to stack up, and before you know it, we make these assumptions that God's, like he's uncaring, he's uninterested, he's unloving, and sometimes in the worst of cases, people start to think, well, I wonder if God is unsafe. Now, I want to say this as clearly and as tenderly as I can, those assumptions are false. What I'm not doing is saying, like what we were goofing on earlier, what I'm not doing is saying, oh, you know, just trust him. God's good, just trust him. No, I'm telling you, God is good, and he's so good that he allows us to wrestle through these things with him. He does not shut you down when you begin to express these things. You see, what I want us to do now, first of all, I think some of these things do need to be talked about out loud. Some of the horrible abuses and excesses, they need to be said loudly and to those in power. There are other things that need to be spoken quietly and privately, and in both cases, they break our hearts, but I want you to know that there is a God who says,

I will walk with you through this because I want you to learn what it is like to trust me. In this passage, we learn one specific way that God gives us why we would trust him through this. Now, you guys just opened up a whole bunch of stuff here, but I want to give you just one way, just one way that we can trust God because then if we begin to see this, I'm hoping that your hope will begin to open up again, but we need to go back to Hebrews chapter six. Let me read these verses that are right before the ones that we read. It's gonna kinda come out of the blue because he's gonna now reference an Old Testament story, but we'll explain it. When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he, God, swore by himself. That's really awkward language, isn't it? So let's just stop there for a second so that you understand what's going on. God's gonna make an oath, God's gonna, but he's the greatest authority, so who's he gonna swear by? Like, you know, if you're in court and it's like, I'll tell the truth, you know, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me, God. What the writer here is saying is he's about to make an oath, he's about to make a promise. I will do this, so help me.

Me? That's kinda what he's saying. So what is this promise? He says to Abraham, I will surely bless you and give you many descendants. And so after waiting patiently, whew, Abraham received what was promised. Let me give you the backstory here. All the way back in Genesis 12. We've taught on this several times. God calls a man named Abram. His name was Abram then, and then it becomes Abraham. I'll probably use those names interchangeably. Abram means father, Abraham means father of many. Abram means daddy, Abraham means big daddy. So that's who we're talking about here. Do not be surprised if I just confuse those terms, okay? But he calls Abram, this is way back. He lived in a place called Ur, just so that we can show you where. Ur's about 180 miles southeast of what we would call the city of Baghdad today. So it's in Iraq. So God calls him, he's in a pagan culture, he's in a pagan family, his dad makes idols for a living. His spiritual heritage is sketchy, but he has this experience with the one true God. and he takes a step and he takes many steps because God says in Genesis 12 I want you to follow me I want you to trust me I'm going to show you a new land and so he goes to Haran and then he goes to Canaan

or Canaan if you want to say it the Hebrew way and so he is in this land and God promises him something now this land is the crossroads of the ancient world there are trade routes to Africa to Europe and to Asia it's a it's really a strategic place and God says I'm putting you here I'm going to give you this land so that you can so that you can settle in but your family is eventually going to become an entire nation like you're you're going to become a a clan and then you're becoming you're going to be a nation one day which sounds awesome and we know this is true because God says I'll bless the whole world well how does he do that we can trace the story of Jesus all the way back to Abraham that's where this all begins okay so we know that part but what makes it tricky is he's 75 years old his wife is 65 years old and they have no kids at this point and God says hey your family who you're going to become a nation now there's some really interesting things that happen along the way Abraham is a is a work in progress for the sake of time we're going to skip to chapter 15 it's 25 years later are you with me he still has no kids are you with me you ever had to wait on God you ever just said God please please please and this long view that he has of history it's like God could you just show up a little bit early just once God please you ever had to wait on God Elizabeth Elliot is a there's a story there she's worth looking up her own story of faithfulness and forgiveness but this is a missionary from the 20th century and she once wrote waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty so you're going to feel the uncertainty to carry within oneself the unanswered question

lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes on one's thoughts she's telling you the truth here she's saying you're going to feel the weight of uncertainty and there's going to be some unanswered questions that you're going to feel them in your heart but when they get in the way when they intrude you gotta bring them to God that's exactly what Abraham does here it's been all these years later and he's wondering in some ways did God forget or can God pull this off I mean is this going to happen and so this is a back and forth relationship unique relationship God and Abraham the story tells us that God takes him out of the tent leads him out of this tent and and shows him the sky and says I'm just telling you your descendants will be like the stars in the sky now go ahead look at those you see them yeah why don't you try to count them well there's one two I could never do that God there's so many of them yeah that's the way your descendants are going to be what God is saying here is I'm good for this what he's really saying is you see all that I did that I made those if I did that I promise you old man I can make this happen now it's kind of an interesting thing because the very next verse it's a classic verse that gets quoted in other places in scripture it says and Abraham believed and it was counted to him as righteousness it's a moment when Abraham believed see it always comes back to trust he doesn't have all of his questions answered if you read the rest of his story I'm telling you he makes mistakes he repents he stumbles he falls he makes mistakes he repents he he is a work in progress but he's now going to trust God in this same moment God says oh yeah don't forget about the land because the land's a part of this blessing I'm going to give you a family it's going to be a nation and you're going to have a place that's good it's going to be your place for some reason the land was an important thing I'll give you one

this land is where the son of God would walk this land is where this is the turning point of all eternity this is where Jesus lived this is where Jesus spoke truth that we still go back to this is where he died and this is where he was resurrected somehow some way God wants Abraham to know I'm going to bless you this family's going to grow and it's going to happen here Abraham at that point trusts but he wants a little bit more there's one Judaism scholar that says it's like he's saying to God I trust you but can I get that in writing and God obliges God loves him so much they go through it here we go some of you will find this vaguely familiar but in Genesis 15 he gives him a whole list of things that you need to go get go get a heifer and a and a turtle dove and a pigeon. Go get these things. Abraham knows exactly what's about to happen. They're gonna make a covenant. They're gonna have this solemn vow. This is an ancient custom. It's not even just in scripture. We have, like, in that region, there's over 1,000 stone records of covenants, and so we know what a covenant is. It's a very solemn, binding vow, and there will always be blessings and curses. There will always be benefits and penalties to these things. So what happened is, all of the animals now, and forgive me, this is how it worked. The animals are now cut in two, and they're put, like the halves are put facing each other,

so that the blood is now draining into this path, this soil. It's happening there, just all of those animals like that. And once the terms are agreed upon, once everybody knows, hey, this is what we're agreeing to, then you would both walk the path, and your actions spoke louder than words. What you're essentially saying is, we've agreed to this, and if I break our agreement, may what happened to these animals now happen to me. It was a really solemn vow. Now, it's weird, it's disgusting, it's an ancient cultural thing. If it helps you, in many cases, they would then roast those animals and have a feast to celebrate the agreement. But I'm telling you, God is using something in that ancient, primitive culture to say something to Abraham. Abe is about to make a covenant vow with the God of all things. It's really clear. I'm gonna bless you, I'm gonna give you a son, it's gonna be a nation, you're gonna bless the whole world, I'm gonna give you this land, you're gonna live my way, you're gonna trust me, and then there's the penalty clause. There is a price to be paid if you deviate. Now, here's what's interesting. Abe knows this, he's already failed, he knows he's gonna fail again, so if he walks this bloody, gruesome path,

it's like he's signing his own death warrant because he knows he can't live up to this, so he waits. You read it, it's in the scripture, and then he waits. And then something very strange and mysterious, and you might be tempted to just blow right past it because it doesn't make sense. I'm telling you, it's the heart of the story. What we read is that as the sun sets, he falls into a deep sleep, so this whole thing is now some kind of a vision God gives him, and a thick, dreadful darkness came over him, and God shows him the future. He shows him what's coming for his descendants. He even shows him how long it's gonna take, this long road ahead. It's a lot to take in, but then something extraordinary happens. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. Fire and smoke, if you've been with us in the last series, is a symbol of God's presence in the Old Testament, so what we're seeing here is, in essence, the presence of God is walking this path in front of Abraham. Now, that's shocking in and of itself because God doesn't owe Abraham anything. Why would he make this covenant with him? But that's not the shocker. The shocker is the old man is not required

to walk the path. God does. He never calls Abraham to walk the path, and that's it. Ceremony over, next verse. On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham. This is just not how it's done, like ever. It's not how it's done, so why would God do it this way? A lot of people talk about the symbolism, what all of this stuff means. I'm gonna give you one of the things that this means. Knowing full well that Abraham could never keep his end of the deal, God walked the path for both of them. Do you understand what that means? That means, in that moment, God was saying, if either of us breaks this covenant, and son, you know I'm not going to, but if either of us breaks this covenant, I'll be the one who pays the price to make things right. Now listen to me. What he is saying here, the thing behind the covenant, the thing behind the hope, the thing behind this story, is that there is a God who loves you and knows full well that you and I will rebel, that you and I will sin, that you and I will pull away, and this is one of those moments where God says, I am promising you, I will make things right, even if it costs me everything. Do you see how this points to Jesus? Now, God keeps his promise. Abraham and Sarah, they end up through a lot of drama,

but they end up having a son, and his name is Isaac, and he has two sons, and one of them is named Jacob. Jacob has a whole slew of sons and 12 of them represent the tribes of Israel and one of those sons is named Judah and the Day eventually comes when the Lion of Judah the predicted King of Israel Jesus the Christ is born He is son of God son of man, and I am telling you there is a day where his blood pours out Why because God promised he would make a way and he would pay the price for all of us covenant breakers You know what? That means it means God kept his word Now go back to Hebrews 6 You see that's what this is all referencing He says in that moment, you know God's it's impossible for God to lie So you you want this refuge you want to hold fast to this to this anchor that is firm and secure you want that? Let me let me tell you this if God keeps his promise to Abraham through the story of Jesus God will keep every promise he makes to you through his word He's good for it So in 1st John 1 verse 9 when it says if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and you're in the middle of the night one day and you're going wait I just I did I confess but Oh God Did you really forgive that sin? You quote that verse to yourself and you say it out loud and you memorize it because when God promises you something you can take It to the bank when he says I will never leave you nor forsake you and you're facing something and you're going God It doesn't feel like you're here. You keep talking to him because you know that you know that he is with you He is with you. You can trust his word. Listen. There's all sorts of ways that trust can get unraveled and all twisted up I'm just saying whatever is happening Whatever did happen It doesn't have to have the last word if you hold fast to the one who keeps his word Now there's one of those old-timey preacher quotes I'm gonna give you deal moody a preacher from the 20th century, but he said it really well I just love this God never made a promise that was too good to be true God made some really good promises and they're all true

You see if we can hang on to that then we can wrestle with these things openly I can bring my stuff to him And by the way, I think we should bring our stuff to him Like if you're in the middle of a storm going ahead and confess this to God Hey, this is what I'm this is what I'm worried about. This is what I'm I'm not sure about this. I Promise you he already knows There's nothing that you're gonna go to God with in prayer where he's gonna go. Oh, I did not see that coming God's just saying okay now we can talk now. Let's do this. Listen. I have learned this from so many of you I've watched you navigate things I've learned it from a whole bunch of teenagers throughout the years who are Facing the reality of a world that is not as it should be and they're still navigating it and they're openly Confessing. Hey God, I need help with this I've watched it with school-aged children This has been a few years now but I remember back when when one of our children's pastors sent me just some some answers to a Question that they had asked that week and I've never I've never really ever forgotten it I've never let it go. The question was what would you ask God if you could ask him anything? Now some of the answers were like I would ask him for an everlasting strip of bacon. So, you know He's not wrong But then there were Questions like this. Is it okay to pray the same thing over and over again? Now remember these are elementary aged kids How long will I live? How's my dog doing up there Do you see my grandpa anywhere up there and is he doing better? Will you help and we took the name out get her old self back and get rid of that brain tumor Could You make my dad believe in you Why is there disease? Please bring my grandma back to life Why are my friends acting that way would you pause time so I wouldn't be bullied now listen to me We can learn from spiritual giants like that

Why how by confessing what it is that we're struggling with? Why would we do that because God is that good and he can be trusted so We're gonna start to head for home now, and I'm gonna have a conversation with Austin who's gonna come out here I just know he is I just know he will and There he is there he is yeah, yeah, yeah, come on out man So you guys know and we've we've been saying this here But you know Austin is a is a well-known recording artist and we just love him our church loves him You've been a part of of just a bunch of different things that have happened here including our abundant conference a couple of years ago and just There's a lot to you that speaks to what God is doing in this church. And one of those things is your, overused word, but your authenticity, you're telling us the truth about you and the world. So there's this song that we know well, God is good all the time, all the time, God is good, I love it, it makes me smile, it's a great song. But I've been asking you all weekend long a question because the lyrics in the first verse are things like, I've been wrestling, I forget what the line is, I've been wrestling with all of this, yeah, worry. And then at the end, it's like worry and anxiety are tearing me apart, that's part I remember. So my question is still the same. How can that part of the song be true and the God is good all the time part be true at the same time? Yeah, I mean, so I'll go to where I wrote this song. So I was driving on the interstate and my chest started to get tight.

And I pulled on the side of the road, I called my wife and she walked me through basically letting me know, hey, this is, you're having a panic attack. I never had one of those before. I've always been like the glass half full, overflowing kind of guy, like nothing is ever wrong, right? At least that's the lie I may have told myself for a long time. And in that moment, I felt out of control, felt hard to breathe, but it felt like the only thing I could say, the first thing that I began to say was God is good all the time, all the time, God is good. And I grew up in this little church in Georgia, about 50 people. And we had this guy there named Brother Howe. And he was the first person you saw as you walked in. And he had opened the door and say, God is good, Austin. And I would know I would need to say all the time. And it became more of a saying though, for me in that moment on the side of the interstate, I realized that God is good even when I'm not. And we're not always gonna be okay. We're not always gonna be good, but we do have a foundation and anchor that is always good all the time. So that's how both of those things are true, is the fact that I'm not God. I'm gonna struggle, I'm gonna have pain, I'm gonna have fear, I'm gonna have anxiety.

Praise God, I know God. So again though, you're sitting right on it. I wanna ask you another question, but first, this resonates not just with this church, but like some of you know that through the Pando app, which allows us to get into the US prison systems with these services and with some of our resources, we have folks that across the US in our prison system who are joining us. And I know some of you are joining us today. And if you looked at the numbers, they're kind of staggering, like tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people have tapped into things that we are offering. So I just wanna say, because I know you were at a facility here in Farmington, Missouri, and those guys, just your vulnerability was so important that they'd send somebody up last night to just give you a whole stack of letters just to say thank you. So I first of all wanna say, if you're with us, these promises are for you as well. They're for each of us, okay? So let's remember that, yeah, come on. But whether it's those folks or whether it's these folks, what you're saying is true. Why is it important for us to not pretend? Why is it important for us to admit that we have these wounds or these scars?

Why is that a part of this? Man, I grew up a performer. My parents were in ministry. My dad was a worship pastor, but I was taught to perform in every area of my life. We'd pull up at the church and we'd get out and my dad would turn around and say, put a smile on your face and pull your sleeves down. Hide your bruises, hide your scars. We're going into church today. And I was taught to perform. And that's exhausting, number one, and you will never be able to hide something like that for so long. And everything came crashing down. My parents split up, had a lot of bitterness, a lot of torture, a lot of fear, and all these different things. And it taught me eventually when I met Jesus when I was 13, that I was never meant to perform like I was perfect because I would never be perfect. But praise God, he was perfect. And now I get to travel the world and stand behind a microphone. And I am confident in the fact that I am not perfect. And there's no sense in performing like I am because we are humans and we steal God's glory when we hide the scars of what he's healed us from. That's right. And it's important for us to show our wounds

because when we do that, we don't say, hey, Austin is the hero. We meet Jesus, the hero. the comforter, the healer, the only one who deserves the glory and the praise. And along the way, other people then take that next step, right? I mean, that's what you're seeing. That's, that's the ministry. That's this thing. So we've been saying all weekend long, this hope, this secure hope, this anchor, it's not about us. What you're telling me is it's not about us. It's about Him. He's the one that we trust. Okay. So now that you know, kind of some of the backstory, I'm going to let him just go back, uh, and not go very far and the band's going to come back out and we're going to do this song together, but thank you brother for that. Thank you. Yeah. So Austin just said something though, and I want, I want this to be kind of how we, we end things. We have this hope that is, that is, it's, it's secure because of Jesus. Okay. So we have that, but Austin was saying something about, uh, us admitting these things out loud. I would put it to you this way. I think part of our, our confession, part of our humility, part of our faith is to say out loud, the things that like Abraham did, like the things that we're uncertain about, the things that we struggle with, because it's in those moments that God says, now watch me move in close.

I think something happens in the waiting. There is something that happens there when we will do this. And let's just go on ahead and say that uncertainty, it takes all forms. Doesn't it? Like maybe today you're, you're, you've got this fear of growing old. Or maybe today you're, you're, you're worried about something that's happening with your health or the health of, of, of someone that you love dearly. Or maybe you're, you've got a relationship that is in shambles and it's just, things just keep coming over the side of the boat. Maybe it's the ache of loneliness. Maybe you're exhausted because of something really, really good that happened in your life, right? You've got a new job. You've got school is you're, you're wrapping up school. It could be any number. It could be that you're a young parent and you love what you're doing, but there's this thing in the back of your mind. Oh, I hope I'm doing it right. I hope I'm doing it enough. It could be loneliness. It could be the dreams and the worries of graduation. Now what? It could be a scar of, of, of abuse that quite honestly was never yours to own, but you're the one who has the scars. It could be a longing for, for something more. It could be, you need a new job. You're trying to, the pressure of making ends meet. It could be the free fall of retirement. There's a bunch of different ways that the uncertainties of this world come crashing over the sides of the boat.

Are we there yet? I mean, this is what we feel, but here's the point. Now what? What do we do now? What, how do we find hope in this uncertain world? This hope that we long for, the hope that we still search Google for. We hold fast to the one who doesn't change in this ever changing world. Listen to me. He is the Lord of the universe and he was the Lord of the universe when the storm hit your life, but he is the Lord of the universe. When you are going through your everyday life, he sees you. He cares about the details of your life. He is your champion and he died for you so that you could have a life with him. So what do we do? We have this hope that is secure. It's an anger for our souls. I say, let's keep chasing after him. Let's figure out this Jesus centered life. That's what this series is going to be about. For some of you in just a moment, it's time to accept Jesus. It is time to run to him. For some of you, it is time to say, I'm going to tell the world that I'm with him. For some of you, it's time to ask for help in finding a small group or where to serve or a Christian counselor or any number of other things. For some of you, you're here today and you're going, man, I don't know that I believe any of it, but I got a boatload of questions. Come on, let's go. But for the rest of us, let's keep reminding each other who God is. He is the God who is with us. He is the God who is faithful.

He is the God who keeps his word. He is the God who walks with those who are suffering. He is the God who walks with those who are celebrating. He is the God who is with us in moments of triumph. He is the God who is with us in moments of utter frustration. I am telling you, he is all of that. He is your champion. He is your healer. He is your savior. He is your God. Do you believe that? Because if you do, then he is the anchor for your soul. So now I'm going to try what I almost tried earlier. Would you please stand with me? And I've got one last question for you. Can the preacher get one final amen? Mm. Yes. Oh lady, I'm a wrestle with everything is everything seems. Yeah, I've been caught up in the worry and anxiety, it keeps tearing me apart, yeah. Oh, but I've been down and out before, and every time I cry out to the Lord, He meets me in my need. I've seen it, I believe. Hey! God is good all the time, faithful as the sunrise. Walk with me every day of my life. I'll sing it again. I'll sing it again. Oh, God is good. Yes, He is.

Through it all, I'm sure of this. I'm safe inside my Father's hands. I'll sing it again. Yeah, God is good. God is good all the time. All the time. God is good. I got a peace that passes understanding in my heart, and you can see it on my face. I got a joy that sticks around when the days are hard, tells me I'll be okay. It's through the ups and downs and highs and lows. She's working in the good, I know. Always what I need. Always what I need. Oh, I've seen it, I believe. Oh, God is good all the time, faithful as the sunrise. Walk with me every day of my life. I'll sing it again. I'll sing it again. Oh, God is good. Yes, He is. Through it all, I'm sure of this. I'm safe inside my Father's hands. I'll sing it again. God is good all the time. All the time. God is good. And all the time. All the time. Oh, God is good. God is good.

I trust the plans He has for me, no matter what my eyes can see. I'm peaceful, what is a raging sea. I know God is good. I trust the plans He has for me, no matter what my eyes can see. I'm peaceful, what is a raging sea. I know God is good. Oh, God is good all the time, faithful as the sunrise. Walk with me every day of my life. I'll sing it again. I'll sing it again. God is good. Yes, He is. Through it all, I'm sure of this. I'm safe inside my Father's hands. I'll sing it again. God is good all the time. All the time. God is good. And all the time. All the time. Oh, God is good. God is good. God is good. Yeah. Thank you, God. If you would like to meet Austin, he's going to be right down here in just a second. If you'd like to talk to a pastor, we'll be right down here. If you would like to talk to somebody about baptism, they're out there in the lobby. But would you help me one more time in thanking Austin for being with us today? Thank you, God.

We'll see you next week.