Left On Read - Sam Kelly (Full Experience)

We're going to begin today's worship experience reading Romans chapter 8. And it says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution know in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Amen. Continues to say, "For I am convinced that neither life nor death, nor angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Come on, aren't you grateful for that promise that we have this morning that nothing can separate us from the love of God? Come on, if you're comfortable this morning, would you lift up your hands with me as a sign of surrender, as a sign of worship? Oh, we're so thankful. We enter your courts with praise and thanksgiving. We're so grateful that nothing can separate us from you. Nothing can separate us from your love. No height. No death. No angel. No demon. Can't separate me from your love. Can't separate me from your love. Can't separate me from your love. Come on, we sing no height. No death. No angel. No demon. Can't separate me from your love. Can't separate me from your love. No height. No depth. No angel. No demon. Can't separate me from your love. Can't separate me from your love. Come on, keep putting your hands together with me this morning that we're so grateful for the freedom, the joy, the foolish of life that we find in you. We thank you for freedom. Come on, we sing. I'm shaking off the headiness. I'm dancing out of my regret. I'm throwing caution to the wind. No, I am not ashamed to phrase like this. Someone say it's foolishness. I say it's worth the risk. Because I kept again what Jesus said. No. I'm never not ashamed to phrase like this. We say, when one of us changed, I want to help me. I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone. How can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. Look at what the world has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'm singing out dance 'cause I believe. I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. I've got friends I've never quit. No one loves as good as this. And I don't care what anyone says. I'll never be ashamed to phrase like this. Where are all those chains I want to help me? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone. How can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. And look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'm singing out dance 'cause I believe. I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. You took the cross and you broke your mind. [MUSIC PLAYING]

I couldn't do it, so you did it for me You took the cross and you broke your body You shed your blood, now the syne, can't see My dead is paid and my record is clean I couldn't do it, so you did it for me You took the cross and you broke your body You shed your blood, now the syne, can't see My dead is paid and my record is clean I couldn't do it, hey I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me I couldn't do it, so you did it for me It's to lay our lives down before Him, to give Him absolutely everything He's worthy of everything, their whole life Sing there is one who's worthy, who stands between God and man He forgives you, He was crucified But now He's raised by to life again Are you grateful that He's given himself the red soul Now all of our sins are told, you're fully forgiven in Jesus And now I'll ask forever to Him, won't be once All for your life, but the living sacrifice still, for Christ alone Sing for Christ, I'll lay down, we lay down our lives And all for His whole life is for Christ alone Give it all, give it all For the last God did to see for me

Son of man, he exulted his non-high King He's given himself the red soul, and all of our sins are told All of our sins are told, now our lives, now our lives forever To Him, give it all, give it all, give it all For Christ alone, we lay down our lives, for His gospel All for your life, but the living sacrifice still, for Christ alone ♪ We'll be late on the last ♪ ♪ For this God for this God ♪ ♪ I still need to live no time ♪ ♪ We'll be back for this God ♪ ♪ For this God for Christ alone ♪ ♪ For Christ alone ♪ ♪ For every hand in the womb ♪ ♪ Every heart in the room ♪ ♪ Lift your hands up to the ceiling ♪ ♪ I'll save You, suffered for You and for me ♪ ♪ Save His life ♪ ♪ What upon His life ♪ ♪ And will You sacrifice Yourself ♪ ♪ As a living offering ♪ ♪ Holy and pure blameless before Him ♪ ♪ Behold the King ♪ ♪ The first one from the day ♪ ♪ He's coming back again ♪ ♪ He's riding it upon the car ♪ ♪ They might as well sing ♪ ♪ Every knee will fall ♪ ♪ Every other God to lie ♪ ♪ Your idols will want to laugh ♪ ♪ But there's one ♪

♪ There's one ♪ ♪ Give your life to the Lord ♪ ♪ The first one from the day ♪ ♪ He's coming back again ♪ ♪ He's riding it upon the glory ♪ ♪ He's dancing it with the strong ♪ ♪ So sing it with the strong ♪ ♪ He's dancing it with the strong ♪ ♪ And will You sacrifice ♪ ♪ And will You sacrifice ♪ ♪ And will You sacrifice ♪ ♪ And will You sacrifice ♪ ♪ Behold the King ♪ ♪ Behold the King ♪ ♪ Behold the land ♪ ♪ And will You sacrifice ♪ ♪ He's dancing it by ♪ ♪ He's dancing it ♪ ♪ When we hear that trumping ♪ ♪ He's turning it high ♪ ♪ He's coming back again ♪ ♪ He's singing it down ♪ ♪ He's singing it down ♪ ♪ Oh, glory to God the same ♪ ♪ He took me to the glory ♪ ♪ He took me to the glory ♪ ♪ And He took me to the glory ♪ ♪ And He took me to the glory ♪ ♪ And He took me to the glory ♪ ♪ And He took me to the glory ♪

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♪♪ Good morning and welcome to Fellowship Church. One church family in many locations and on behalf of our pastors, Ed and Lisa, we want to warmly welcome you two. who Jesus has called us to be and helping others do the same. That's why on Wednesday, November 11th, we're coming together for Encounter Night. If you're carrying a weight, seeking directions, celebrating a victory, or just need to remember that God is still God, pastor Ed, fellowship creative, and special guests, Mielle and Marcos, will be leading us in a special night of worship and prayer. So bring your friends, your family, and the places in your heart that need healing. And also this month, be a part of bringing hope to a child or family this holiday season. Pick up an Operation Christmas Child's Shoe Box today and fill it with toys and gifts that will go out to help share the love of Jesus with children around the world. And to share his love with those right here in our community, be a part of hope for our city. So many families are facing some real challenges and we want them to know they're not alone, and we're going to do that by filling their pantries with groceries and their hearts with love.

So help change a life by signing up to serve or by spreading the word on social media into people in your community. To find out more, tap your seat or visit our website fellowshipchurch.com. You can also fill out our connect card and the seat back in front of you, and we'll follow up with you first thing this week. And always remember, the best is yet to come. And now, let's get back to the experience. - Well, good morning, how are you guys doing today? That's good to hear. My name is Chris, I'm one of the pastors here at Fellowship Church, and Fellowship Church, will you do me a favor? Let's help welcome all of our first-time guests who are sitting with us today. It is great to have you with us, honored to have you here. If you would do me a favor, I would love if you take one of those connect cards, it's in the seat back in front of you. Fill that out, let us know a little bit about you, drop it in the offering when it passes here in just a minute, and here's why we do this. I believe that you're sitting here today because you're looking for something different. You wanna be a part of something new. And I believe that that new is gonna be found in the community that you find here.

And by filling out that card and dropping it in, that gives us a chance early this next week to give you a call and help you find the perfect place for you to get plugged in. We are so glad that you joined us here this morning. As a first-time guest, you may not know this. Last Sunday, we had our trunk retreat event called Super Sweet Sunday. And I wanna give a shout-out to all the volunteers who went over the top and made that thing incredible. The creativity, the passion, it was unbelievable, great job. And the reason we do these events is because we get texts like the ones that we got last week that said, "Hey, Chris, I'm so glad we do these. "I've got a friend or a family member. "They won't ever go to church. "I invite them all the time, they don't go, "but today they came." And that's the reason why we offer Super Sweet Sunday and anything that we do is because we wanna be a part of life change, one story at a time. You know, right now we're gonna continue in worship as we prepare to receive our offering. You know, the Bible tells us that we are to store up treasures not for ourselves here on earth, but in heaven. And that those treasures aren't about the things that we can hold in our hands. As a matter of fact, it's about what we can release. And we are blessed to be a blessing to others. So many of us are held captive by the things

that we think we possess, but really they possess us. And so at Fellowship, we believe in generosity. We bring the tithe and our offering to make sure that we are investing in life change. It's the reason why we have the anchor center project because we believe we're storing up treasures as we reach kids and students, children, families, young adults with the message of Jesus. Thank you Fellowship Church for your generosity. Thank you for investing in the next generation. Right now we're gonna invite our hosts to come out and receive our offering as they do. Can we celebrate all that God's gonna do through the generosity of our church? You know, just a moment we're gonna hear from Pastor Sam Kelly. He is our mixed pastor and I believe he is the leader of the greatest student movement on the planet right now. Can we hear it for the mix through the ministry? Unbelievable. And we're excited to hear what he has to say, but before he comes, I have a question for you today. When you walked in today, was there a part of you that maybe is just a little bit tired? Are some of you overwhelmed? Maybe you've got some things going on at home, at the office that you just have questions about, relationships that aren't working correctly? Are you overwhelmed? Are you dealing with anxiety and stress?

I've got a verses scripture for you this morning. It's found in Psalms 27, verses 13 through 14. I remain confident of this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. We believe that we stand on God's truth, no matter where we are, whatever circumstance that we're in, that His grace and His passion for us, His love for us will find us. And whatever it is that you're holding on to today, our prayer is that you would give it to Him. We're gonna have a moment of prayer. We're gonna actually ask our prayer team to come up now and take their places here at the front of the stage. And we want to invite you to be a part of this moment. Maybe you're holding on to something today. Maybe it's small, maybe it's large, maybe nobody else even knows about it. Our prayer team is here to meet you in these aisles. They're gonna have a yellow lanyard that's just to identify them. But there's nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be embarrassed of to come forward for prayer. It's a family thing, that's what we do. So we invite you, at this time, if you have anything that you would like for us to pray for you about, please, as we sing this next song, we invite you. Fellowship church, let's stand to our feet.

If you need prayer, you come now. Let's continue and worship together. (gentle music) ♪ Jesus, we need you, you're in love ♪ ♪ I remember how you provided ♪ ♪ When you held me through the night ♪ ♪ And I remember how you sustained me ♪ ♪ When you stepped in to save my life ♪ ♪ And if I knew then what I know now ♪ ♪ I would be still and let you work it out ♪ ♪ Jesus, I was tossed in the wall ♪ ♪ But I never went on ♪ ♪ You were always on time ♪ ♪ Jesus, when I went through the fire ♪ ♪ You were right there beside me ♪ ♪ You were always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ I remember how you carried ♪ ♪ When I couldn't take a step ♪ ♪ When I remember how you loved me ♪ ♪ When I couldn't love myself ♪ ♪ Jesus, I was tossed in the water ♪ ♪ But I never went on ♪ ♪ You were always on time ♪ Jesus, when I went through the fire, you were riding beside me, you were always on time. And you were always, always, always on time. And you were always, always, always on time. You were always, always, always on time Lord. You were always, always on time. You were always on time Lord. You've been faithful generation to generation. You've been faithful, there's never been a day. There's never been a day. There's never been a day. There's never been a day. There's never been a day. There's never been a day. There's never been a moment. There's never been a moment that you weren't in it. So I worship you

There's never been a day Never been a day There's never been a moment That you weren't me There's never been a time That you weren't me I'm all that trouble I'm all that trouble Never been a day Never been a minute There's never been a moment That you weren't me There's never been a time So I worship you Jesus I was tossed in the water But I never went under you Always your time Jesus When I went through the fire ♪ You were right there beside me ♪ ♪ You were always, always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always there's never been a day ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a me ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that you were me ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through God ♪ ♪ I wanna share you ♪

♪ There's never been a day, never been a day ♪ ♪ There's never been a morning that you were me ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through God ♪ ♪ I wanna share you ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let, you're never gonna let ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ ♪ You're never gonna let me down, you're never gonna let me down ♪ Amen. There is a feature on the iPhone that I believe has done

for more damage than it's ever done good, and the feature is red receipts for texts. Those of you who are laughing, you know what this is, but for those of you who don't, I'll catch up to speed. There's a setting on your iPhone that you can turn on, and it shows when someone sent you a text that you've read it, like once they've sent it, and so rather than just like delivered, 852, it'll say red, 852. I don't understand why any human being would ever turn this on. I'm not trying to give people hard evidence that I've been ignoring them. And so it's led to this phrase in our culture today, like being left on red. And I know if you're a part of the older generations, you're like, this is why texting is horrible. You just pick up the phone and call somebody, and honestly, valid point. We should do more of that, but for Gen Z and Gen Alpha, we all know 99% of their communication is done on a keyboard, and so being left on red is devastating, and honestly, I can relate. When I was 18 years old, there was a girl that I liked, and she left me on red. Her name was Laurie Young. Her name is now Laurie Kelly, though, so I did something right. Can I get an amen in the house of the Lord? Let's close in prayer. There's this girl that I liked. It's Laura Young. And I wanted to ask her to prom. And so the family's gathering around for this monumental moment. And we're texting back and forth. And it's giggles and grands. She's responding fast. I'm responding fast at small talk. And then it's like, all right, Sam, this is the moment. We've got to do it. And so I'm texting out what I would say to invite her to prom. And nothing feels right. And so I just handed the phone to my older brother.

And I go, you write something. And I'll press send. And he's like, OK, say less. So he writes a text that starts with, I have the opportunity of a lifetime for you. [LAUGHTER] And then gives the details of prom. And then concludes it with, it's totally fine if you say no, because there's a line of girls outside of my house waiting. Yeah. And I was like, OK, I guess this is what you do. All right, send. The 30 seconds goes by. No response. Not even the bubbles. Two minutes, no response. Keep in mind, we were just texting back and forth rather quickly. 30 minutes goes by. My whole family's abandoned me except for my mom. An hour goes by. She pats me on the back and says, it's OK, buddy. You guys can just be friends. I'm like, thanks, mom. Kick him in while he's down. Why don't you? It's one thing to be left on red with someone you like. But the question I'd like to pose to us today is, have you ever felt like you've been left on red with God? Yet you ever felt like you prayed, you've waited,

and then nothing, not even an inkling, not anything. And you just feel like, what's going on here? Like maybe you're a parent, and you've got a son or a daughter that's now older, and they're out of the house, and they're far away from God. And you did everything while they were under the roof of your house to raise them right, to bring them to church, to do the right things. And now it feels like every other day they're making decisions that are breaking your heart. Maybe it's not that. Maybe it's an area in your marriage that you've just been asking God to intervene in this specific area. You've gone to counseling. You've prayed the prayers. You talked with wise counsel. And if anything, it just feels like things are getting worse. Maybe it's not that. Maybe it's a diagnosis. You sat across from a doctor who said words that you thought you'd never hear. Or maybe it's that you used to come in to church and like be moved by God. And every time you read and open up the Word of God, it's as if God was speaking directly to you every time you prayed. It's like, my goodness, God has entered on my prayers. And now you find yourself in a season where it's like, I can't hear God.

I can't see God. I can't sense God. And it's brought you into a position where you're like, man, is he even up there? And if he is, does he really care? Here's what I've found. I've found that unfortunately, this discussion, this topic of conversation is seldom talked about in Christian spaces and places. And it's unfortunate because what it often leads to is many people wrestling through this alone. They just silently suffer with all of these questions going on in their head. And they look around at everybody else, maybe on a Sunday morning and go, is it just me? Like everybody else looks like they've got this whole thing figured out and everything's great all the time. But I'm here like, I don't know, I just, I don't know what's happening. It feels like I can't hear God or see God. And I'm starting to question like, can I trust God? And if you've been there or you are there right now, I wanna encourage you, you're not crazy. Some of the most influential figures in this book, the Bible, have been in that same position. In fact, today, we're gonna take a look at Psalm chapter 13. If you got your Bibles, I'd encourage you to turn there. We're gonna look at that text in just a moment. But some context so we can understand

what's going on around this text. It's written by a man named David. And chances are, even if you're not familiar with the church space, you're familiar with this guy, he's the giant slayer. He's the lion and the bear killer. He's the guy that was anointed to be the king of God's chosen people, the nation of Israel, when he was a teenager. He's the guy that scripture records is a man after God's own heart. So surely this guy doing all that stuff and those things being said about him, surely he never wrestled with moments of like, "Ah, God, where are you?" But as you read through the book of Psalms, you see it reads like just honest prayers, asking God to intervene and show up when it feels like he's distant. Psalm 13 is no exception. We're gonna read the first four verses and there's six total. We'll get to the fifth and sixth verse in just a few moments. How long, Lord, will you forget me forever? How long are you going to hide your face from me in ancient Israel? That language was used to say God's favorable presence. How long are you going to stay away from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts? Because a lot like anxiety and day after day have sorrow in my heart or my soul. How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, Lord, my God. Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death. He's literally like, God, if you don't show up, like I might die here. And my enemy will say, I have overcome him and my foes will rejoice when I fall. I read this text and I'm like, okay, David, tell us how you really feel, my man. He's holding no punches. Four times in the first two verses, he repeats the same phrase, how long? How long, God, are you going to forget me? How long are you going to hide your face from me? How long am I going to have to wrestle with this stuff in my mind? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Have you ever been in how long circumstance? Have you ever thought to yourself, like, God, how long is this going to continue? How long am I going to be in this battle? How long until you do something before we dive too far into the text? I think we have to take a step back and realize one of the most beautiful realities of this passage. It's that God and his infinite kindness, wisdom, and grace allowed this prayer to be a part of his written word. Why is that awesome? He doesn't censor the frustration. He doesn't hide the disappointment. He doesn't take out the questions. This is cluing you and I in on what a real relationship with a real God looks like. And I just think sometimes that we don't even mean to, but we come into places and places like this, and we just play pretend. We think that we've got to button ourselves up and have the perfect prayers and say the perfect things. And David's like, "God, where are you?" He's getting real honest with God.

When's the last time, sincerely, when's the last time, like, you got real with God? Like you laid it all on the line with God because here's the reality I'm here to tell you today, Church, that God would much rather have an honest relationship with the real you than a pretend relationship with someone that you're not. He wants to meet with the real you, and I find it funny in a world today, in fact, that's happened to me, and I've done it multiple times today. When you pass someone in a hallway, like you just see him and you don't know him super like, "Hey, how are you doing?" And they're like, "Good. How are you doing?" You're like, "Good." It's just like, I don't even know what that was for, but yeah, hi. I saw you acknowledge you, and I need to keep walking. But isn't it funny that that's like our go to, like, you could be having the worst day of your entire life, and someone could pass you in the hallway and be like, "Hey, how are you doing?" You're like, "I'm doing so good. Great to see you." And you just keep on strutting along. But there is a difference when you go home, and your spouse sees something's off, and they go, "Hey, how are you doing?" You don't seem like yourself, and you're willing to get vulnerable. Why? Because there's a real relationship there. God doesn't desire a high and by hallway conversation with you. He desires the real you, the honest you, and if you're struggling with stuff, you don't have to hide it from him. You can bring it to him. And somewhere, I don't know why, but somewhere along the way, we started to convince ourselves, like the more spiritual material you are, the less you're supposed to struggle.

No? Look at David. He's like, "Ah, I'm not good." He gets honest. It's not disrespectful. This isn't him abanding his faith. He's just bringing his problems to God, which there's a biblical word for that. It's called lamenting. Like the biblical practice of bringing your sorrows, your questions, and your pain to God. God is not afraid of your honesty. He actually desires it. So David pens his pain and he doesn't just stay there in his pain. He turns his pain into prayer. Verse 3, "Lord, I need you to answer me." Pain has the ability, suffering, difficulty has the ability to do one of two things. The choice is yours. But David is giving us insight on what to do when it feels like God is silent. Don't go silent on God. Bring him the real and honest you. Come to him as you are. Listen to something this week that said there's a difference between groaning and grumbling. Grumbling is talking about God without God. Groaning is bringing your honest self before God and with God. What are you gonna do? The choice is yours. You're gonna groan.

You're gonna grumble and let bitterness and resentment grow in your soul. It'd be like having like a serious pain in your body and like going into an emergency room and the doctor being like, "Hey, what's wrong?" You'd be like, "Nothing." The doctor's like, "Um, what?" Something's definitely wrong. Why don't you just tell me what it is? 'Cause I should be able to help. You're like, "No, I'm good, man." He's like, "I can tell you are not good." And why, here's the question. Why would you conceal the pain when you're in the presence of someone who can help? And yet I have found, I don't know why, I've done it. Just try to like mask the honest pain that's going on in your soul rather than bringing it to God. Do you need peace today? He's known as the Prince of Peace. You need hope today? He's got hope on tap for you. Whatever you need, he's got it. Okay, okay, okay. But Sam, we started this whole thing with like, what about the moments where it feels like you've been going to him and you've been given in the pain,

you've been given in the struggle and he doesn't show up the way that I expected. He doesn't show up and do the things and I prayed and I've asked and I begged and I beckoned. What do I do then? Well, I don't pretend to have like all the answers, but I would certainly draw our attention to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is in this garden that Jesus is moments before the crucifixion and he is begging and beckoning with God the Father. If there's any other way, give me a way out from the cross. If there's any other way to save humanity, offer it to me now and it is in this moment that we see something theologians called the hypostatic union in full display. What is that? It's just a fancy term to say Jesus was fully man and fully God, fully man and fully God. Okay, so because he was fully God in that garden, he knew in painstaking detail what awaited him. The crown of thorns that was gonna be thrown into his skull, the lashings on his back being beaten beyond recognition, the nails in his hands and his feet and as he drives up on the nails, suffocating on his own blood, not to mention the weight of all of humankind's sin and the wrath of God the Father on his shoulders. Oh, oh yeah, he knew it all. And because he's fully man,

he's experiencing all of the tensions and the anxieties that that knowledge is bringing him. So much so that scripture records, he starts sweating blood. He's sitting there in this garden. And three times he asks, if there's any other way, let this cup pass from me. And he always ends the prayer, not by will, but sure will be done. Guess how many answers are recorded to his three questions in scripture? Zero. None. So in a weird way, if you're in the unanswered prayer club, you're in a good company. And you and I know that it is because of that seemingly unanswered prayer. It's the only reason that you and I can sit here today in 2026 and say that we can hang on to hope in hopeless situations because of what Jesus did on that cross for you and for me. Amen. (audience clapping) But here's the struggle. We've got the book on why that tragedy happened. We know why and we know the results of it, the salvation of humankind that is offered freely through the grace of Jesus Christ.

But you don't have the book on why your spouse left you. You don't have the book on why that diagnosis came to your son when he was two years old. You don't have the book on that. But here's what you do have, and I'm not saying it's easy, but it's worth it. Psalm 13, verse 5 and 6. This is wild. But I trust, and you're unfailing love. My heart, it rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord's praise for He has been good to me. Now, I don't know if you read the Bible the way that I do, but I'm looking at the first four verses in the last two verses, and I'm like, how did we get here? Like, how did we go from like, God, I'm dying to like, Lord, I'm singing for you. Like, what are we doing, David? How did we get here? How is that where we ended up? What changed? I can tell you what didn't, his circumstance. I can tell you what did, his focus. He decided to put his eyes, his gaze, his focus on the character of God, even when he couldn't sense the presence of God. I love there's a quote, I don't know who said it. When you can't trace God's hands, trace His heart. Look to His character. Look to who He is, that He who was faithful is faithful and will continue to be faithful.

Does that mean that my circumstance immediately changes to the way I want it to? Absolutely not. But there is an invitation to trust in the in-between. The choice is yours. There's a cross-reference passage to Psalm 13. It's found in Isaiah 49. For time's sake, we're not going to turn there. But it's essentially God's people talking to God and God's response to His people, all coming through the prophet, Isaiah. And the people of God look to God. And they essentially say, God, you have forgotten us. What's going on here? And God's response to His people, I believe, is the same response to you. He looks at His people and says, can a mother of a newborn child forget her child? Even if she were to, I will never forget you. The verse continues, you have been etched and engraved onto my hands. Just let that sink in for a moment, the hands that threw out the stars and created the universe is known and unknown. You, you, you at our campuses, your name has been etched on God Almighty's hands and make no mistake. They're the same hands that nails were hammered through for you. He did what you and I couldn't do, lived a perfect life, died on the cross as a sacrifice for your sin and for my sin.

Three days later, rose again from the grave, proving, this is no mere man, this is God Himself. And He and only He has the power to bring dead things back to life, and that's good news for you, and it's good news for me. So does that solve every question you have? No. But does it answer the most important question you have? Absolutely. Does God care? Yes. Look at the cross. Feel abandoned? Feel like you don't know, look back at the cross and remind your soul what Christ has done for you. Look back and remember what He's done, who He is, that the hands that have your name etched on them were the same ones that were nailed to a cross. Again, does it answer every question, this side of eternity? No, I'm not going to pretend it does. But it answers the most important ones. You can't tell me God doesn't care when you look to the cross. But we celebrate in just a few months, Christmas, the promise of Emmanuel, God with us. Got a broken heart today? Feel like God's nowhere to be found? The promise of Scripture says, the Lord is close to the broken hearted, and He saves the crushing spirit. You don't feel it.

Doesn't change the truth. That's the truth. He's with you. She's the cutest thing on planet Earth last night. She dressed up as a princess and it was awesome. But she is scared of the dark, specifically in her room. She'll play in there all the time, as long as the lights are on, but if the lights are off, it's not happening. And if I can be honest, I love it, because who does she come running to when she's scared? Dad. She's like, "Dad." Usually, it's like that time. "Dad, I can't go in my room. Can you hold my hand and go in with me?" Absolutely, princess. So I'll hold her hand, walk into the room, and sometimes she'll ask for me to turn lights which on. She'll say, "No, you gotta go bed, put her in bed." And I'll look at my little girl and say, "Hey Bowie, you may not see Dad all the time, Dad's always here protecting you. Never forget it." I don't know if you've ever been in life where it feels like the light switch has been turned off, and you're like, "What's going on?" Maybe the best reminder we could have is whose hand we're holding in the dark. But you've got a father who is present, who cares, and is protecting you. I don't feel it, though. It doesn't change the truth. You've got a dad who cares. If you like you've been left on red, look back to the cross and remind yourself that God Himself stepped into suffering on your behalf and mine.

Some questions I won't get answered. The same is true for you, but the most important questions have been answered. Jesus God care, does He love me? You better believe it. Every head boundary I close. If you've never said yes to that love and given the entirety of your life to the person of Jesus Christ, Romans 10 and 9 says, "If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that you will be saved," so I'd love to lead you in a prayer to do exactly that. You don't have to say it out loud, you can just say it in the confines of your heart. I say, "Jesus, today I admit the obvious. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, and I believe that that Savior is you." I believe you died on the cross for my sins, and three days later you rose again from the grave. And today I choose to follow you. Lord, I lift up your church this morning, undoubtedly people in this room and our other rooms, people who just have heavy hearts, felt like you've been distant. God, I pray that we would take a play from David's playbook and get honest with you, that we would turn our pain into prayer, and that ultimately we would take our eyes off of just our circumstances and place them on you and your character. It's your faithful God who was with us in the highs, the lows, and the in-betweens. We thank you for this. It's in your son's name, we pray everybody said, "Amen." In turn, your eyes upon Jesus, and look for it is wonder for faith, and the things of earth will grow strangely tender in the light of His glory and grace. Let's sing that together, say it to your eyes upon Jesus, and look for it is wonderful faith, and the things of earth will grow strangely tender in the light of His glory and grace. It's never been a day, never been a minute, never been a moment that you weren't in it, never been a time that didn't see me through God, so I worship you, it's never been a day, never been a minute, never been a moment that you weren't in it, it's never been a time

that you didn't see me through God, come on, we turn and fix our eyes on Jesus, we remind ourselves It's never been a day, it's never been a minute, it's never been a moment that you weren't in it, it's never been a time that you didn't see me through God, so I worship you, it's never been a day, never been a minute, it's never been a moment that you weren't in it, it's never been a time that you didn't see me through God, you gotta hold on, hold on, it's never been a day, it's never been a minute, it's never been a moment that you weren't in it, it's never been a time that you didn't see me through God, so I worship you, come on, we're never been a day, it's never been a minute, it's never been a moment that you weren't in it, it's never been a time that you didn't see me through God, so I worship you, Jesus, I was lost in the water, You were always on time, Jesus, when I went through the fire, you were there, you were right there beside me, you were always on time. You were always, always on time, you were always, always on time. Yes he is, remain confident of that. He sees you, he's with you, he loves you, he's on time, he's faithful. Are you glad you came to church this morning? Hey, you made that decision to surrender your life to Jesus today. That's the best thing you could ever possibly do when we would love to give you a Bible and a book that Pastor Ed wrote, and we'd love to just connect with you, so when we dismiss, stop by our tables on the sides of the room up at the balcony, we've got our prayer team standing by as well if you'd like somebody to pray with you. But everybody say next weekend, Pastor Ed is in the house and he's beginning a brand new series called, Excuse me, your manners are showing, and we're going to be talking about bringing radical respect into a self-centered world. So come on y'all we're bringing manners back, bring somebody with you, but let's declare this over our week as we go. Jesus thank you that in you, I am loved, forgiven, blessed for you. I will reach up and worship, reach out to share my faith, reach in to become more like you. And because of you, I know the best is yet to come. Believe that, we love you guys, we'll see you next Sunday! [Music]