Palm Sunday: The Would've Been, Should've Been, Could've Been King

But did you know Jesus got angry?

• Jesus’ anger at those who damage children: “If you harm one of these little ones, better for you that a millstone be draped around your neck and you be dropped into the depths of the sea” (Luke 17:2).

• I see Jesus get angry when Lazarus dies...right before raising him from the dead.

• I see Jesus get angry at the Pharisees, and teachers of religious law.

• I see Jesus rebuke Peter and say, “Get behind me Satan!” for misdirected faith...

• I see Jesus get angry in the Temple...twice.

Mark 11:1-25 - Context Notes:

• this is how returning kings from war entered Jerusalem. This is culturally how LEADERS entered Jerusalem, royalty! And this was the type of honor and celebration they received in return.

• They FULLY EXPECTED him to go straight to the palace.  Straight to the place of GOVERNMENT.  They wanted to overthrow the power that had held them captive for so long, and mistreated them, and distorted their religion, and looked down on them, and enslaved them!  

• The hysteria was such at this time of Jesus’ ministry, that everyone would have heard about this. Cesar himself would have heard about this.

• It must have been a very anti-climactic moment.  They all thought a big showdown was going to happen….God would rain down fire, or walls would come crashing down...or something! But nothing happened.

• They had redesigned the temple, see.  In such a way, that you basically HAD to be able to pay for the BIG sacrifices to be able to get into the inner courts…Essentially, to pass to the “next level” of Jewishness, of relationship with God, of “status” in their culture, they had to pay more. 

• They made a very accessible God seem inaccessible to the average person.  They made God seem aloof and distant and angry.  They were spiritually abusing people, in the name of God. Setting standards so high, only the rich and educated could ever reach.

• I now believe that the fig tree was an object lesson here, for the disciples.

Jesus was doing a couple of important things with this object lesson.

1. Jesus was displaying his power and authority over all creation.

2. Jesus was demonstrating the consequence of fruitlessness.

3. Jesus was setting parameters for His church.

4. Jesus is sending a very clear signal of what He cares about…and what He doesn’t.

If you were a tree--what fruit would you be producing?
If Jesus came and inspected you today--is there anything God could use on your tree?

Some of us are choosing greatness, over usefulness. It LOOKS green & leafy & may provide shade to one or two for a time...but it won’t last long.  And it won’t sustain anyone else.  

The amazing thing about fruit on a tree, is that fruit isn’t about the TREE. It really doesn’t do much for the tree itself. The roots, the leaves, they feed the tree.  But the fruit isn’t about the tree…it’s about the next tree…and it’s about humanity. Feeding the life cycle. Tree are producers in the food chain. 

Privileges #4: The To-Don't List

Genesis 2:1-3

Exodus 20:8-11

Leviticus 25:6-7

Leviticus 25:20-22

1. Our Sabbath should look different than the other days of the week.

2. Our Sabbath should honor Him.

3. Our Sabbath isn't an excuse to be selfish.

4. Our Sabbath should point to Jesus.

Privileges #3: Heart for the House

Haggai 1

1. "The time has not yet come"

• “Delayed obedience, is not obedience.” - Pastor Marvin Stanley

• When IS the right time to be obedient?

  • If not immediately, when?

• What are your motives when you do obey?

2. "Your wages disappear"

• Where are you spending your time & energy?

  • Is it in a place that’s ACCUMULATING good things for you?

• Sin takes 100%...God only asks for 10%.

• Too busy not to pray and too broke NOT to tithe.

• When we experience LACK in our lives...we should see it as an opportunity to return to GENUINE worship of God. 2:16-17

• Why would God give you new and better things when you’re not taking care of the little things you have now?

  • “Give freely, and become more wealthy, be stingy and lose everything.” Prov. 11:24

  • Jesus said, ““If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” Luke 16:10

3. "So the Lord sparked enthusiasm"

• Can you really say that you are HIS PEOPLE without having a heart for His House?

John 13:35

We GET to give.  We GET to have an amazing church where we can come and worship freely, vibrantly, passionately!  Look for ways that you can care more deeply about God’s House.  Ways you can serve that go beyond just finances.  Because God’s not after your money...He’s after your heart.

Privileges #2: The Surprise of Sacrifice

1 Samuel 1:10-11, “Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. 11 And she made this vow: ‘O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you.’”

1. If you look upon my sorrow..

Hannah correctly diagnosed the problem.

2. If you look upon my sorrow...AND ANSWER MY PRAYER...

Evangelist Johannes Amritzer says, “I think God prefers an honest cussing, to a hypocritical hallelujah.”

3. If you look upon my sorrow, and answer my prayer...AND GIVE ME A SON...

Your job is not your source. Your spouse is not your source. YOU are not the source. Just like Job, we have to remember that God is so much BIGGER, he orchestrates the UNIVERSE on our behalf. EVERY good and perfect gift comes from Him. AND–the amazing thing is, He WANTS to give to us!! He is a GOOD Father, with GOOD gifts.

4. If you look upon my sorrow, and answer my prayer, and give me a son….I WILL GIVE HIM BACK TO YOU.

She never saw Samuel as her own.

An ownership vs. stewardship concept. 

She understood the principle of sacrifice in God’s Kingdom.  The principle that states that when we give something up to put in God’s hand...it’s not gone, and it’s not wasted.  Nothing is wasted in God’s hand.  When we sacrifice out of obedience, God honors and blesses.  And God’s math is not addition, it’s multiplication. He gives exponentially more--He does not waste a sacrifice. 

NOTHING is wasted in God’s hand.

Privileges #1: The Thief

 If we ACTUALLY believed, what we SAY we believe in the Word...how would our lives change?

It often surprises Christians when they discover just how much the Bible talks about money. In fact there are more than 2300 verses on money, wealth and possessions. Jesus spoke about money roughly 15% of his preaching and 11 out of 39 parables.

During offering-time every week, we say “now is the time we worship God with our giving, we really believe giving is an act of worship.  That we GET to give, we don’t HAVE to give…” right? We consider it a privilege to give to God...He includes us in His plans, and allows us to participate! Isn’t that a privilege?

Some of you might shake your heads at that statement...but the reality is that probably most of you, don’t actually believe it. 

A 2007 Barna Research Group study revealed that only 5% of adults in America tithed. 

Among those that do, evangelicals were among the most generous, but still only 25% of them (us!) tithed. 

Pushpay (the app that we use to process online giving) reported in 2019 that tithers only make up 10-25% of any congregation.

At FV, our church partners--those of us who have committed ourselves to giving here, serving here, attending here, and growing here...only 66% of us tithe.  That number should certainly be 100%, but even that number would only be about 31% of our weekly congregation.

So do we honestly see it as a privilege? Do we even know what that means?

The book of Malachi

“If you say God is your God, but you don’t tithe, is He really?”

Withholding from God puts barriers between you and Him.

• He’s not putting them there…your mistrust is.

We withhold from God out of fear, and fear and faith don't mix.

You take care of the house of the Lord, and He will take care of you.

The Comfort Zone #5: The Cult of Comfort

What if God sees everything that you’re doing...all of the good...all of the serving Him..all the sacrificing and striving and trying to be good and follow Him….and STILL bad things happen??

What we see in this story, is a man who always obeys God, and always gets rewarded for it. He’s a very rich man, lots of kids, success everywhere he goes. He’s a GOOD man, a man of complete integrity.  Job was as close to perfect as humans can get, basically.  And he lived a good life because of it.  (success can put up as many blinders as failure can…)

Job 1
Job 2:3-13

We see Job doing two things incredibly RIGHT here:

• He weeps

• He worships.

Job 3:1-5

Job maintains the entire time that he’s innocent. He’s done nothing so wrong that it would possibly justify this. But he also maintains that God is just.

And so, in the end, he DEMANDS a response from God. He MUST know how God can possibly justify this.

Job 32:2-5

Elihu make some SOLID points…he’s essentially saying:

1. You ASSUME God isn’t answering you.

   1. --maybe He has, and you weren’t listening. 

   2. Job 33:12-18

2. You ASSUME God is going against his own sense of justice.

   1. when really, you’re putting your own justice on Him.

   2. Job 34:33-37

3. You ASSUME you are without sin.

   1. But by doing so, you are committing the sin of pride.

   2. Job 35:1-13

4. You ASSUME that because He hasn’t answered so far, He isn’t going to.

   1. when really, you’re just not being patient.

   2. Job 35:14-16

5. You ASSUME suffering is a punishment.

   1. but what if it’s a warning?

   2. Job 36:13-21

6. You ASSUME you should understand everything about God.

   1. but really, who could? ever?

   2. Job 36:26-29

We’re too busy trying to defend ourselves...that we can’t see the EGREGIOUS assumptions we’re making about God. 

And because of those assumptions, we’re ANGRY AT GOD. 
We’re comfortable in our assumptions..

Job 38:1-11

Job 40:1-14

The Comfort Zone #4: The Opposite Direction

Jonah 1:1-16

Jonah is unique…the book is not about the words of a prophet, it’s a story about a prophet. 

Jonah appears only one other time in the OT, during the reign of Jeroboam II, one of Israel’s worst kings. An evil guy, a bad guy. Jonah prophesied in his favor. Amos also prophesied against Jeroboam because of his awfulness. So, already we’re sort of skeptical of the prophet Jonah. It’s fascinating to me that God uses him anyway.

He ran the opposite direction.

Jonah 1:17-3:10

Jonah 4:1-4

Is it right for you to be angry about this?

Jonah 4:5-11

The book was written for YOU.

The Comfort Zone #3: Where Is God When I Need Him?

Spiritually, sometimes we think we know how we would handle a parenting situation, but we’re not often the parent. Spiritually, we’re the kid throwing a tantrum.

Where is God when I need Him?

It would only have taken one day for Jesus to go see Lazarus.
Every person is either going into a storm, in the middle of the storm, or coming out of a storm.

John 11:1-44 (you don't have to put the scripture up, just the reference)

1. Love waits: We think Love must act immediately, but sometimes delay brings greater blessing.

Every move that God makes is either in response to love, or because of love.

Verse 31 & 32: “Lord, if you had only been here.“

God is not restrained by time like we are, He responds at the RIGHT time

Our faith develops out of the most difficult aspects of our existence; not the easiest

Maybe the waiting is so that I don’t substitute ANYTHING for what Jesus can give. Sometimes we’re so wrapped up in what’s going on that we miss what God is doing God’s delays are not always God’s denials.

2. Love Hears and Responds: God’s love keeps His ears open to our cries (Psalm 116:1-2)

God’s love is always looking out for our good, but also for His glory. And sometimes what we want isn’t the BEST for us.

In Jewish tradition, when someone passed away, your spirit would leave your body, but be tethered to you for about 3 days.

Our God makes the impossible possible.

Jesus is the OPPOSITE of death, He is LIFE.
You want more life? Cling to Jesus and don’t let go.

How long have you been between miracles?

“I can’t WAIT to see how Jesus handles this! I can’t wait to see how Jesus breaks through.”

Some of the things we are trusting God to resurrect are things He has destined to die so that a better thing can be brought to life.

3. Love Sees and Comforts: Troubles are a very real part of our lives – for most of us, they can plague our every day and keep us in fear.

Fear distracts us from the Lord and keeps us in bondage.

It is Christ, not culture, not trouble, that defines our lives. It is the help we experience, not the storms we weather that shape our days.

The difference between His response and our response is that HIS response is always better.

Are you willing to trust God even when the answer to your prayer is not even in your lifetime like Abraham?

4. We just need to move from a “Lord if…” mentality to a “Yes, Lord, I believe.” response.

Some Next Steps:

1. Join a small group.

2. Write down what you’re waiting on from God

3. Spend some time this week listening to God, not just talking at Him

4. Write down Philippians 4:8-12

5. Come back next week and continue to growth through this series.

The Comfort Zone #2: Building Your People with Pastor Gerry Stoltzfoos

Hebrews 10:23-25, “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”

1. Hold to hope

   1. V. 23  Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

   2. No one naturally is hopeful. But some people have learned skills to work at it.

      1. Some of the most hopeful have had to work hard on it. (they try hard)

      2. People who project hope, work hard projecting hope. It doesnt just come.

   3. In relationships, hope is especially needed 1) to believe,  2)to ask for more,  3)to try again after a loss

   4.  But hold tightly to hope! Here issuggestions for  how to hold onto hope…

      1. Write down your hope. Writing down your hope helps solidify it in your heart and you need it to be sound so it can hold up against the attacks that will come – sometimes from people that mean well.

      2. Speak your hope. Read aloud what you write down. Speaking the hope helps it settle into your mind to the point it becomes your default position. Never assume people know what you are hopeful about!

      3. Find other hopeful people to hang around. Not only will their hope reinforce your hope, but you will become more hopeful for having an influx of hopeful attitudes around you.

      4. Repeat hope verbally. When you feel the darkness getting heavier, begin at the beginning of the process to hold tight to hope until hope settles in once again.

2. Motivate somebody

   1.  V. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

   2. In motivating others, your own motivation happens!!

   3. How to motivate:

      1. Encourage them in the little things

      2. Appreciate them personally

      3. Make sure that you give far more positive encouragement than negative reinforcement

      4. Talk up how to do it, opportunities to do it, appreciation to those who do it.

      5. Build heroes pf people who have done it!

   4. How to de-motivate:

      1. Be controlling; take responsibility for their lives, tell them what to do and how to do it.

      2. Be manipulative: try to make them do things for you, without saying it.

      3. Critisize: find things they do wrong and point them out.

3. Encourage your people

   1. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

   2. This is the best way to motivate someone!

   3. Constantly build the skills of encouragement

   4. If you ever like anything, say it!

      1. Spend time with them.

      2. Smile at them

      3. If you feel ANYTHING positive, say it

(make yourself a pledge; “I will never feel positive without appreciating it outloud)

1. Notice the little things
   

The Comfort Zone #1: Take Your Positions

Picture a child, who has grown up never having heard the word “no”.  A child who doesn’t have any limitations on his life, like a lack of money, or time, or struggle of any kind.  No discipline whatsoever, just handed everything he wants in life from the time he is born.  

Is that a child you want to be around?

And YET, most of us, we would rather go through life as that child.

Today, we’re going to learn a play from the book of 2 Chronicles. ACTUALLY–this one is more of a preparation technique.  BECAUSE–if you can learn this one, you may not even have to play. 

2 Chronicles 20

1. Take your positions.

2. He prayed and worshipped

Worship is often just declaring WHO God is!

Provider, Deliverer, Comforter, Healer

1. It’s me quoting the names of God back to him. 

2. Jehovah Jireh - The Lord will provide

3. Jehovah Nissi- The Lord is our banner (deliverer)

4. Jehovah Shalom - The Lord sends peace (comfort)

5. Jehovah Rapha - The God who heals

1. The Way, The Truth, The Light, The Life

   1. Jehovah Ra’ah - The Lord is the Way, my shepherd

   2. Jehovah Tsidkenu (Sid-ken-ew)- The Lord is our righteousness

   3. Jehovah Shammah - The Lord is our light, ever present

2. “Wonderful counselor, mighty god, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” Isaiah 9:6

3. He acknowledged his own limitations

2 Corinthians 12:9-11

Jehoshaphat didn’t have a big enough army and he didn’t need one–he had a big enough God!

Situation:

1. Hard pressed

2. Perplexed

3. Persecuted

4. Struck down

1. Revelation:

   1. Not crushed

   2. Not in despair

   3. Not abandoned

   4. Not destroyed

When we get our eyes OFF the revelation, all we’re left with is the reality. And yeah, that’s scary.  That’s hard. That’s not enough.  But fortunately, God has given us MORE. He sees MORE.

4. He obeyed, and marched.

5. Do not be afraid.

Psalm 108:1-6

6. The Lord is with you

Unqualified #4: 3 Reasons Why

1 Samuel 8:1-9:2

God set it up so that Israel wasn’t actually one “nation” in the political sense. They were much more of a family, than a nation. Tribes, family units, not states. They had religious laws, not legal ones. A GOD, not a king.

1. Mistreating your family will disqualify you. AND/OR them.

It’s why the way we treat our family is SO important to the heart of God.  It’s why there are so many requirements on church leaders in the word about their FAMILIES. And the way they treat them. IT’S IMPORTANT.

The bible says to TRAIN your kids, not just raise them.  TRAIN them up in the way they should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it. 

2. Lack of gratitude will disqualify you.

When you remain ungrateful, you miss A LOT. You become PRIDEFUL.  Begin thinking that everything is owed to you.  Then you start to misuse and abuse others, because after all, they exist to please YOU.  You begin to think your function in life is to BE served, not TO serve. 

3. Shallow thinking will disqualify you.

Unqualified #3: Come and See

John 4:1-18

1. He showed her her own need.

2. He was causing her to wonder.

John 4:19-30

3. He showed her that God still seeks people like her.

4. Through her, he showed the entire town who He was.

Unqualified #2: Do It Afraid

Judges 6-7

1. It doesn't always take the fear away.

2. If you're waiting for a sign, will you even see it when it comes?

3. Faithful people look for signs after obedience.

4. God used Gideon's fear.

5. Do It Afraid

Unqualified #1.5: The Fruit Inspector

The Fruit Inspector

Matthew 21:18-22

Mark 11:1-25

Remember, the beauty of the Bible is in the details. And here’s another hint: The Bible explains the Bible...

Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is described as God’s vineyard, tree, or planting (6 passages: Judges 9:8–15; Isaiah 3:14; 5:1–7; Jeremiah 12:10; Ezekiel 17:2–10; 19:10–14)

The fig tree is a foundational metaphor for Israel!

• And her spiritual health all throughout the OT.

• The prophet Isaiah says the time had come for God’s people to yield fruit that would bless the world (Isaiah 27:6).

• Several times the prophets (Micah, Jeremiah, Hosea) describe God as inspecting Israel for “early figs,” as a sign of spiritual fruitfulness (Micah 7:1; Jeremiah 8:13; Hosea 9:10–17)—but he finds “no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.”

• So in two exiles (Assyrian and Babylonian), God pours out the curse of barrenness (Hosea 9:16), and Israel becomes a rotten fig (Jeremiah 29:17).

• But all is not lost. God promises to one day replant Israel and produce healthy figs from her again (Joel 2:22; Amos 9:14; Micah 4:4; Zechariah 8:12; Ezekiel 36:8).

Jesus was…

1. displaying his power and authority over all creation.

2. demonstrating the consequences of fruitlessness.

3. setting the parameters for his church.

Unqualified #1: Get Fired Up!

Many of our heroes throughout the Bible were “unqualified” for the jobs that God called them to.  They felt unqualified for the task that someone had to step up and do. Are the callings of God just about completing impossible tasks?  Are they always a series of predestined victories? Does failure mean you weren’t called to it? What does being “called” to something even really mean?

I have a long list of Bible heroes that we could talk about during this series.  

People like: 

• Noah…who trusted God even when literally NO ONE else did, and got to live when literally NO ONE else did.

• Abraham…who trusted God with someone absolutely impossible, for an IMPOSSIBLY long time. And got to have a legacy no one else did.

• Jacob…who made decisions that no one else would have. And eventually got to make decision that no one else could have.

• Moses…who was set up for success by other people, and eventually got to set up an entire people for success, when they hadn’t had any of that in a really long time.

• David…who prepared himself unnoticed and unseen, caring only about the opinion of the One who mattered…and got to eventually be the ONLY opinion in the NATION that mattered.

• Woman at the well…who got to be the first one to experience the GRACE and undeserved purpose of God, being called into ministry for the purposes of OTHERS, believed in, when no one else believed. 

There are SO MANY others we could talk about during this series, because God calls the unqualified.  And He can use you too.  But what does it mean to be used by God?  

The first 3 stories of Israel’s judges..Othniel, Ehud, and Deborah, and pretty good judges.  They are loyal to God and bring about victory over the nations around them. 

Gideon falls into the “okay” category. First of all, he’s sort of a coward from the beginning, and his story gets good, and then bad, again.  We often tend to overlook the bad parts of his story, and just focus on the good ones…but we can learn and UNlearn from all the pieces of the Bible, good and bad. 

Judges 6:11-16

Ancient Winepress:

YOU don’t have to have it altogether, because I do. You just have to be willing. Go, with the strength you have.

Sometimes, God just needs someone with the bare minimum amount of faith. The faith of a mustard seed.  Just a LITTLE. Just give me what you have…because God is a multiplying God. He doesn’t add, he MULTIPLIES. He takes whatever is in our hand, whatever we’re willing to give, and he multiplies it! 

I am sending YOU.

In fact, I think that some of us, don’t get angry enough. We don’t get angry enough to fix anything. To see it as OUR problem.  If it’s someone else’s problem, then someone else has to fix it. 
But God said I am sending YOU. Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?  

How can I rescue anyone? I’m the least talented.  I’m the least able. I’m the least qualified. 

But maybe I’m just the right amount of qualified for God to use.

The ONLY difference God promises here is perspective.

If HE is with you–who can be against you?

If HE is with you–do you need to be “qualified”?

In my view:

God saw Gideon not as strong, or powerful, or qualified.

God saw Gideon as hard-working, determined, servant-hearted, and just angry enough to fix a problem.

God saw a person He could use. Not a person who had earned a title.

A person he could teach.  Not a person who knew it all.

A person who had the right heart position.  Not someone angry at all the wrong things. 

And He called Him to fix it. 

In my view, God calls us to BE someone…way more often than he calls us to DO something.

The Lion of Judah #3: How Do You See You?

Luke 2:8-20

1. They ran to Jesus.

2. They worshipped Jesus.

3. They told everyone.

The Lion of Judah #2: How Does He See You?

“Stories make us feel as though we are apart of something bigger” 

God’s story of redemption.

• Jesus 1st Coming- Break satan's authority by Christ’s life, death, and resurrection

• Period of Grace- Jesus Mission continues through the church 

• Jesus 2nd Coming- Christ coming in full glory completely destroy Satan’s kingdom

  JESUS SEES YOU AS A PART OF THE STORY
  

Revelation 7:9-10 esv

Mark 16:15-20 esv

 Acts 1:8-11 esv

JESUS SEES YOU AS A PART OF THE STORY!

CHALLENGE: Step out in faith and be a part of God’s kingdom expanding and this story unfolding. 

Examples: 

• Tell someone about the Gospel

• Pray for someone who is sick

• Tell someone your testimony

• Ask God to open up opportunities to you

Feel like you don’t know how to share the Gospel? Watch this amazing, down-to-earth teaching from MissionSOS founder, Johannes Amritzer.

The Lion Of Judah #1: How Do You See Him?

Here’s just a few more of the ways that Jesus is unique:

1. He’s alive! He rose. No other religion can make this claim about their leaders.

2. He is FULLY divine AND FULLY human.

3. There are over 300 prophecies about Him--fulfilled! The statistical chances of that just happening...OFF THE CHARTS. That doesn’t just HAPPEN. Those prophecies were over hundreds of years by so many different people!

4. He performed many, many miracles. At least 35 specific ones are recorded in the Gospels, there were hundreds more not specifically recorded.  All of the Gospel writers say that.

5. He had power over nature. Walking on water. Commanding the storm. Fish & loaves. No other religious leader could make those claims.

6. His teachings. Not only were they awesome and challenging..I mean, filled the listener with wonder, but they included parables, prophecies, poetry!

7. And they connected Him to people! With leaders, and with common, every day people. He had the ability to speak with both. 

8. His impact. We’ve talked about this many times lately, but the impact of one single, son of carpenter, who only lived to his 30’s, and only ministered publicly for 3 of those years...it’s just been ASTRONOMICAL. Over 2 BILLION people around the world claim to follow Him. He’s changed the WORLD even with things like, hospitals...health care...and caring for the poor. Ancient people didn’t do that. They didn’t see health care as a right like we do today.... JESUS and His followers did that. Hospitals started as additions to CHURCHES. The way we look at children changed because of Him too. Schools and orphanages….you can credit Jesus with EDUCATION! Looking at people with compassion..the fact that we value humility...these things are all easily traceable in HISTORY to one man. Jesus of Nazareth.

JESUS’ STORY ISN’T DONE YET.

Matthew 2:1-12

In Deserts Like These: When Bushes Burn Pt 2

God calls us to PURPOSE in deserts like these.

Until we graduate to heaven, the testing won’t stop...it may change..grow...evolve into new opportunities and challenges, but it’s never going to stop on this side of eternity. 
And if we can’t learn to grow with it, we’re going to get stuck out there in the wilderness.  In the desert--EVEN AFTER GOD HAS ANSWERED OUR PRAYERS.

God calls us to OBEDIENCE in deserts like these.

Exodus 32:1-8

Look, following God isn’t EASIER.  I don’t know who told you following God was EASIER.  In MANY ways, it’s not easier.  But I will tell you--it’s BETTER.  There is promised land on the other side of obedience.  The promises of God are on the other side of obedience!

There is purpose and wholeness and oneness with your maker on the other side of obedience!  Fulfillment and forgiveness.  It’s the difference between living in the light, and living in death.  Depression and joy. Bondage and freedom.  
It’s not easier, but it IS better.

What has He brought you out of?
He’s not done yet.

In Deserts Like These: When Bushes Burn Pt 1

Take notes! Pick a main takeaway.

Moses had his wounds. So do we. They turn into lies when we allow them to fester for too long. Lies that we begin to believe. From that lie, we begin to create a new false belief system. From there, he began to build a stronghold around himself, for protection. He began to vow things to himself.

And we find ourselves out there in the desert. Wasting our potential. Out there in the desert not fully understanding WHO we are, because we’ve lied to ourselves for SO long. Alone, isolated, and doing the bare minimum...out there in the desert.

But...I’ve got good news for you Moses, Bushes burn, in deserts like that.

You are NOT so far gone that God can’t find you.
You are NOT so sinful that Jesus can’t redeem you.
You are NOT so unwanted, unskilled, or unremarkable, that God doesn’t want you on His team.

He has CALLED you.  He has GIFTED you. He has PREPARED you. 

The world is needy. It needs you. We need you.

You don’t have to look very far to see problems in this world. YOU are called to be a solution.

Exodus 3:11, “But Moses protested to God, ‘Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?’”

Exodus 4:1-14