Cornerstone Christian Center
Cornerstone Christian Center
Decision Over Chaos | Issues
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Chaos rarely starts with one huge mistake. More often, it grows out of drifting, rushing, and making decisions without clarity. We’re talking about “direction over chaos” and the difference it makes when we go to God for guidance before we choose, not after we’re stuck cleaning up the mess. If you’ve been fighting for control, second-guessing everything, or feeling spiritually scattered, this conversation is built to help you find a steadier path.
We open the Bible and lean into the promise that God lights our darkness. We connect the practice of prayer to peace, then peace to wise decision making. Along the way, we wrestle honestly with the temptation to “hand God the controller” and then grab it right back, and we ask what it looks like to recognize God’s voice through consistent time with Him. We also look at Gideon’s story and the idea of seeking confirmation that leads to obedience, not delay.
You’ll hear powerful mission field testimonies from Tobias, including moments of sharing the gospel across language barriers, discipling new believers, and walking with seekers who are counting the real cost of following Jesus. Celeste shares her story of leaving career security for missions, trusting God through sudden redirection, and how our family learned to chase obedience with peace, even when the call felt inconvenient or hard.
We close with a clear invitation to put Jesus at the center, because real direction starts with lordship. If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs clarity, and leave a review that helps more people find the show. What area of your life needs direction over chaos right now?
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Choosing Direction Before Decisions
Jason BrownDeal with your issues. Amen. Today we're talking about this idea of direction over chaos. If you have your Bible, your tablet, your phone, we're starting today looking at Psalm 18, verse 28. And before we get there, we want to talk about this idea of direction. You know, for us, most of our decisions in our lives are built upon the ones that we had before. How many people know what I'm talking about? So our circumstances, and then we have our decisions that we're making to lead us in the direction we want to go. Today we're going to talk about this idea of trusting God with our direction. And not just trusting God with our direction, but more specifically going to God for direction ahead of the decision. How many people know what I'm talking about? Not after the decision has been made, but ahead of the decision. And so as we talk about direction today, it's within that context that we're doing so. And we're going to hear from some different voices talking about their testimony of what God has done in their story and how he led them to go where they're headed to go. The Lord my God lightens my darkness. Someone say amen to that. We know how the Lord lights our path. It talks about how the word is a light unto our path. And so in looking to the word of God and looking to the Lord and how he talks to us and instructs us, we go to him, and that's part of our daily bread. So we talked about last week in peace over anxiety is that we want to be those who have that practice of the time with God, of the peace of God in our lives. And as we do so, we look to him to light our decision making. And so as we look to the scripture, it tells us again and again on this endeavor. It says here in Psalm 25, verse 4, teach me to know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. We know how it says that broad is the way that leads to destruction, narrow is the way that leads to God. And so if we're going to seek God in our direction for our lives, the direction for our family, the direction for our children and our grandchildren, how many people know what I'm talking about? Then we need to be those that seek God first. There are a lot of ideas that we could come up with. Any one of us could, if we had the resource to do so, just make a decision today and change and go and do those things. And that's part of the amazing freedom that we have in this country and the ability to make those decisions that God has given us. But there's something different about letting God have the control of our life and not fighting Him for the direction that we're taking our life. And I could tell you firsthand, as someone who's who's battled through this in different seasons, we're going to talk about it a little bit today. It really is a struggle. Whenever you say, Lord, I give you my life, I give you my soul, right? I give you all these things. We sing these prayers to God. And then as soon as we hand it over and God starts to make moves, then we try to grab the controller back from him. Anybody? Now, most of you guys didn't grow up in the video game era. I did. And so we know that it's now it's different. Anybody can play a multi-user world. This is lame. Everybody gets a chance. I want you to wait and watch me as I dominate everyone else. That's the era in which we grew up. There were quarters that you had to put, it cost you something. We're very used to being in control. And so as we talk about this endeavor of letting the Lord, not just letting the Lord guide us and direct us, but saying, Lord, you are God. You are the Lord of my life. And not only to let you know, God, I need you to direct my path. I need you to show me the way to go. It says in Psalm 37, the steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way. Friends, what we know is without direction from God, then what we end up doing is wandering all over the place. And wandering is chaos. Wandering is chaos. And I've seen it, you know, I'm someone who loves traveling, and there's that obviously the idea of wanderlust, like going and seeing new stuff. And I like that concept. And it says not all those who wander are lost. And I can understand what their meaning is like saying, oh, I want to go and see these things. But friends, those who wander are lost. Why? Because they're not going anywhere with purpose. And so it's that's the very thing. And I've come across this, even good close friends of mine, that I we disagree on this matter because I'm saying, listen, if you want to do something with your life, you need to give your life over to God and stop fighting Him for control. Because your wandering is just bringing about more chaos in your decision making. But we know as we go back to this thing a time and time again, that it's our prayer that provides peace. Say it with me. Prayer provides peace. And so as we talk about issues today, we're gonna hear from a few people talking about how God has got in, has got in their story, how they've
Scripture On God Lighting The Path
Jason Browngiven their heart over to God and how it's changed everything for them. Today, the first person I'm gonna get to chance to talk to you is our friend Tobias. Please welcome as he comes to stage today. Hey man. Welcome. We're glad you're here. You do?
unknownOh, sweet.
Jason BrownSo, yeah, this is Tobias. Tobias is in his last year at GCU. Let's go, lopes up, baby. And uh and it's really amazing, man, what God has been doing in your narrative. Um, you this summer you gave of your life and your time to go and serve overseas. You want to explain where you went and what you did?
TobiasYeah, so this summer um I had the opportunity to spend two months overseas in the Silk Road. I spent a month with Live Dead Iran in the country of Georgia, and then I spent a month in Kazakhstan with a Live Dead team focused on Kazakhs. So in my time in Georgia, most of it was spent either evangelizing to Iranian unbelievers that we like found in the streets, or actually discipling some Iranian believers who lived there and were a part of house churches there. Um one guy I met, he was a 17-year-old Muslim guy. He was super depressed when I met him. He told me all about his story, and he he just like he didn't have any hope in his life. And uh we actually clicked really quick, despite like a complete language barrier. Like he spoke zero English at all. But somehow we clicked really well. And the day after I met him, I got to meet up with him and his friend, who uh is another another Iranian kid who's 18. He had given his life to Christ a month before. Um, and we so the three of us met up, and God opened the door for me to share the gospel with with this kid who had no hope. And he received it with so much joy. Like he literally wept as he heard the gospel story, and I had the opportunity to pray over him, and I witnessed like the Holy Spirit touch his heart, and he gave his life to Jesus in that moment. You say amen to that. Praise God. And then in Kazakhstan, it was a lot different because we were actually living in the context of the people that we're trying to reach. So most of my time was spent either running speaking clubs or um community events for the coffee shop that the missionaries on the ground owned. And then whatever time wasn't spent doing that or other like teen things, we just spent integrating ourselves into the culture. So we we joined different communities, like run clubs and gyms, and we were just trying to meet people as much as we could. And and one kid, I'll try to keep this story short because it's a little longer. But one kid we met at the gym, he's he's our age, me and my friend who who went with me. Uh, we met him at the gym. He's a a Muslim from Syria, he's a student, his dad's an imam, his mom's a Quran teacher, and we we went to dinner with him after we we were at the gym, and we spent five hours talking about Jesus. Like we were there until like like they closed the restaurant. We spent five hours talking about Jesus, and we studied different scriptures, like we literally went through chapters of the Bible with him, and uh at like by the end, we were like, Alright, we totally won that conversation, even though that's not actually the outlook you should have on it in that. That's right, but that's like what we were thinking, and he his name's Riyadh. Riyadh had even said, Okay, I think I want to follow Jesus, and we're like, Alright, that also means that like you can't be a Muslim who who follows Muhammad, and he's still had that stronghold over his mind that like he has to follow the teachings of Muhammad. Um so we went home that night and we prayed and prayed and prayed that he would have a dream of Jesus, and the next day he did not have a dream of Jesus, and we were heartbroken. But we spent the rest of the month meeting up with Riyadh and and like having more conversations about Jesus, studying more scripture, and by the end of the month, there was one thing that was evident about Riyadh, it's that he wants to know the true God of the universe, and he wants a relationship with his father. So we connected him with the missionary on the ground, and they're they're starting to do Bible studies together. And like usually when I leave the field, I get nervous, like, man, if I just had a little more time with this person or a little more time over here, maybe something would have happened. But leaving Riyadh, I've never been so confident that he is in the hands of the Lord and he is gonna find what he's looking for.
Jason BrownPraise the Lord. In context, what he's saying, yeah, what we found as we served in the Middle East and our friends that live across the world is that many people that are seeking God truly are having a dream of Jesus coming to them and revealing himself to them directly, and then they're coming to faith in Jesus Christ.
TobiasYeah, my shirt says in Arabic, have you seen the man in white? Because they all have these testimonies of having dreams of the man in white. So exactly, exactly.
Jason BrownTobias, um, you want to share shortly how did God lead you to serve in missions?
TobiasYeah, so my my testimony of going to the mission field actually starts long before I decided to go this summer. Um, before God gave me the faith to join in his heart for the nations, I was actually uh ignoring him for a while. Because at a very young age, God spoke to me and said, like, I'm gonna use you in my ministry and like to further my kingdom. But when I was 18 and I was making my plan for my future, I completely disregarded him. I made my own plan to like pursue success, and I didn't invite him in, I didn't, I didn't pray at all. Um But my senior year, I had a very humbling
Why Control Creates Chaos
Tobiasencounter with the Lord where he essentially called me out on my avoidance. And uh he told me that I was gonna be a missionary, and I could go into a lot more detail on that, but but the point is that it really challenged my like what I say I believe and like my trust in the Lord. Because it's really easy to say we trust in the Lord when all that means is we get to go to heaven one day. But I believe that true trust is in surrender because for me, the American dream and money and even my family were all things that were really hard for me to surrender when when I experienced this call. Because most of us in this room would say that Jesus is our glorious King, that you know we have a loving Father in heaven, you know, He took the punishment for our sins and all these great things, but we so often think we know better, just like I thought I knew better, to make my plan for my life. And we trust ourselves with our lives and possessions and all these things more than we trust him. But if we really believe the things that we say we believe, then then why don't we we feel the weight of his words in Matthew 16 when he says, Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. And that's not me saying that everyone in this room has to go overseas and be a missionary. But I am saying there's a challenge that we all need to search our hearts for the things that we're holding on to. The things that we're we're tightly grasping and not surrendering and trusting the Lord with. It can be money, it can be family, it can be your future, or even a sin struggle. These are all things we like to micromanage. I've micromanaged all these things in my life. But Jesus says if we surrender these things, if we lose our life, we will find it. Jesus, in the verse before that, he calls us to deny ourselves when we follow him. And these words of Jesus aren't meant to intimidate us or to scare us. They can sound like they have a lot of weight to them, but they actually should bring us joy and the assurance of fulfillment and surrendering it all to him. Because, you know, in Matthew 6, it says, Do not store for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy or where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy them, or thieves do not break in and steal. The things of this world are temporary, and they're definitely better in the hands of Jesus than in our hands. It's not up to me to fulfill myself, seek to gain more and more, but rather to live in submission and trust that his ways are so much higher than mine. So good. Matthew 25 says, if we feed the hungry, if we give drink to the thirsty, if we clothe the naked, if we visit the sick and imprisoned, we have done all these things in unto him. That's why I want to do missions. Because he literally, like I trust the words of Jesus when he literally tells me how I can minister to his heart by doing these things. I trust that he knows what I need so much more than I do because I've tried to go my own way. I know that from experience, I know that if I listen to my flesh, I'm gonna be left empty pursuing the things of the world. As the proverb says, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Trusting the Lord isn't just a cute saying we like to say, but actually a lifestyle of surrender. A lifestyle of trust that he's gonna do more than we can ask, think, or imagine, just like he says he's gonna do. It's not up to fulfill ourselves. No matter how many goals we set for ourselves and achieve, we're never gonna fulfill ourselves. But the only thing that will satisfy our soul is him. And that's my that's my story.
Jason BrownPraise the Lord. So good. We have a hand for Debias today. Thanks, man. Great word. Great work. Thanks, sir. We have a hand for Pastor Celeste, she joins me today as we continue today. Excited to uh to hear what God is doing in his story. Man, what a powerful thing. Amen. You know, as we talk about this idea of issues, we talk about what it means to follow Jesus. And in doing so, it just reminds us that all of us fall short, that none of us are perfect, that all of us, in fact, need him. He is our savior. And so our ambition personally, corporately, is to be more like Jesus. And so that's why we talk about who we are and what we do. It's why Tobias was talking about loving God and making disciples and reaching the world. He's putting those words into action. And I love that because it's that encouragement, it's what we're trying to do together. We want to connect, we want to grow, we want to serve, we want to be those people that do these things as unto God. We want to see those seven C markers be the culture that we are living. And in all these things, we seek first the kingdom of God. And in doing so, we see that we will have, as we talked about last week, peace over anxiety. And in the same way that we will today have direction over chaos. Someone say amen to that. Now, today as we go into this, um, we were looking at Matthew and going back there. Matthew 4.19, as Jesus starts to talk to his disciples, he starts to call them to himself, and it's exactly what we talk about. He says, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. He's talking to professional fishermen. This is how they feed their family. He's saying, Listen, leave what you know to do what I've asked you to do, to follow after where I'm leading you to go. It later, Jesus would say this in John 10: My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. We know that if you know someone's voice, it usually means you've spent time listening to them. Honey people know what I mean. And you know the intonation change as well. Like I could tell you, my father, whenever I would hear him change the vocal tone, that I needed to pay attention. He'd be like, JT? I'd be like, oh, yes, Lord? You know what I mean? Like it was from the heavens. And so I needed to pay attention. But
Tobias On Overseas Mission Stories
Jason Brownwhy? Because I know his voice because I've listened to him. And in the same way as we listen to our heavenly father, we want to know his voice as he's leading us and directing us where to go. Now, Celeste, she uh before we were ever married, before we were ever really dating and connected, um, Celeste actually was leading, was working at a job and helping run that job as the general manager of everything and helping hire and fire people and all sorts of stuff. And then you stepped out of that and headed into missions. Um, can you tell a little bit of that story? How did God call you into missions from your profession?
Celeste BrownUm, yeah, I I had already done a lot of short-term trips and um I spent a little bit of time in Paraguay. And when I came back to Cottonwood, I was working for a company and I quickly elevated all the way to running the entire thing. Um, there was probably about 50 to 60 employees there, and I had two owners of the business who just fully entrusted me to run everything, um, even to the point of adding me to one of their personal bank accounts so that I could take care of things when they weren't there. Um I just had a lot of trust. And I'm the type of person that I've always hung on to the scripture in 1 Samuel 15 that says obedience is better than sacrifice. And so when I started feeling like God was calling me back to the mission field, I had no hesitation to be honest with you. I was like, leave it all, let's go. And I just remember God speaking to me, and I didn't even know exactly where I was gonna go at that point. I was headed to um Hong Kong. And I was just like, I don't know anything about Hong Kong, but I'm going, let's go. And the door had opened for me to go there. And as I'm in the process of saying yes to the Lord and getting ready to tell my my job that I'm gonna leave, God direct was changing that direction from Hong Kong to Bangladesh. And I didn't know anything about Bangladesh. Um, we didn't have all the access that you have now to just look something up and find out statistics and see visuals and find out what it looks like before you land. I was just like, sure, if that's what God wants me to do, I'm in. And it wasn't until I started telling people where I was going that they were like, oh my gosh, your dad is letting you go there. Are you crazy? Um, does he know anything about it? And um, I was just with my whole heart, I was like, I'm in. This is how I feel when God asks me to do something. When he tells me to do something, I don't want to disappoint him. And I always feel like if he asks me to do something and I don't obey, he may not ask me again. I want you to think about that. Because when you begin to think about um people at work, maybe you invite them to go get a coffee and you invite them and you invite them and you invite them, and after they say no so many times, you're like, I'm not gonna ask anymore. And that's how I feel with the Lord is if he's asking me, like, hey, I'm asking you to go, are you gonna go? And I come up with a list of reasons why I can't do it. Oh, I just got this promotion at work and I'm in a really good position financially. I'm running a company, um, I'm I have a lot of favor here. Um, whatever the reasons are, I'm just making excuses to say no to God. But then I want to come to him and ask him to bless me or ask him to provide for something, and he's just looking at me going, Girl, do you not listen? Do you not listen? And so I was always on the other side where I'm like, if he asks and I don't obey, I might not get the question again. So here I go. And I remember going to my bosses, they were both in on the same day. And I told him, Hey, I just want to let you know I'm actually gonna go, um, I'm gonna leave. I'm putting in my notice, I'm gonna give you 30 days, and I'm gonna head to Bangladesh. And they both looked at me, and um it was really funny. The older owner was a Jewish man, and he was a widow, and he just gave me a big hug and he said, Why don't you just stay here and tell me about Jesus? You don't need to go over there. And I just said, I really feel like I'm supposed to go there. And they were honestly my biggest supporters financially. They got behind me a hundred percent. They did things for me that I just couldn't even believe. But it's just in the obedience of saying yes, that God will provide everything along the way.
Jason BrownYou say amen to that. You know, we talk about this idea of direction over chaos. Say that with me. Direction over chaos. In the scripture in 1 Corinthians 11, it says this be imitators of me as I am of Christ. And so this is Paul talking about the very thing that he had learned. It had been modeled to him by the Holy Spirit of how to live for Jesus. He'd interacted with the other apostles, and they understood what it meant to live for God and how to model that to others. So as he's going and teaching other people, he's saying, Listen, I'm not asking you to do something I myself am not willing to do. I am willing to go wherever Jesus tells me to go. I am willing to go and say yes whenever I want to do this other thing, but he wants me to go here. I would rather say yes. And so you. You should in the same way be an imitator of God. Let me show you what it looks like. And friends, that's what our role is as Christ followers showing the example to other people of what it means to say yes to Jesus. Now, fast forward a few years, and I can tell this that Celeste and I, we we got connected, we got married. She was serving, she was back from Bangladesh, was serving as a pastor on
Tobias On Surrendering The American Dream
Jason Brownstaff at a church in Cottonwood. I was serving here, and we got connected, and then over that time we dated and we got engaged. We got married. She moved down here. We had set up life. You were you were working at a good business job. I was working here at the church. We had ministry together throughout the week and a lot of great things. We bought a house. Then we had our son. All these things are going really well. And we had when we got married, this place was packed. There were people standing in the back because we got married in this building. And in doing so, like we got blessed beyond belief by all these people that gave to us from our wedding. And then God started talking to us about missions and about going together as a family and going and serving. So I guess I'll ask you the question today: how did you know God's direction as a family? How do we know?
Celeste BrownUm, when I was, I just had Javen, and he was just a um four weeks old at the time. And Jay was on a missions trip with a youth, and they were in um the Netherlands, and Jay called me. I was on maternity leave, and Jay called me, and I was I remember holding Javen and I had the phone, and he was like, I really feel like God's calling us to Europe. And I'm a mom holding a four-week-old baby. And I'm like, really? That's that's what you're hearing, huh? And um it wasn't that I didn't want to go, it was just honestly, I did not really have a heart for Europe, to be honest with you. I just didn't know much about Europe. It just wasn't like I've I I always tease people that um Europe's kind of wasted on me because it has all these amazing things, and I just go there and I'm like, what? Oh, there's artwork here? Oh, that's great. Um, it just kind of wasted on me. But Jay was telling me, hey, I want you to start praying about it because I really feel like this is something that we need to be listening to because I feel like God's leading us this direction. I'm never afraid to leave. Never. I want to tell you that the best place that you can be is in the center of God's will. The best place.
Jason BrownThat's right.
Celeste BrownNot in the will that you've created, and then you're asking God to bless it, but it's in what God has asked you to do. That's the best place you can be. That's where you'll be the happiest, that's where you'll be the most peaceful, despite anything that comes your way, because things will come your way, whether you're in God's will or not, it's the obedience that will carry you through. Like God asked me to be here, I'm here. And so when he asked our family to go, um Jay teases all the time, but I really am a person that loves to throw everything away. So for me, I'm just looking around the house of all these gifts that we've been given, and I'm like, let's get rid of all of it, let's go. Because as soon as I heard God say yes, you're going, I was all in. I was all in. I was like, let's go. I never had a fear of raising my kids overseas ever. Even when I went into Egypt and I had three young children, no fear. Why? The best place to be is in the center of God's will. So if God asked us to be in Egypt, there's going to be a holy protection. It doesn't mean that nothing's gonna happen. It just means we're in the best place we can be as a family. And so we've always taught our kids wherever we are together, that's home. It's not a it's not the house that we live in, it's not an apartment, it's just wherever we are together, that's home. And so we've always taught that to them. That's how they've lived their life. Egypt was home because we were there together. And so I want to encourage you that if God's asking you to take steps of faith, steps of obedience, not to hesitate, because it's the hesitation where your mind gets in the way going, oh, here's the pros, here's the cons. You just gotta say yes. You just gotta say yes. And where he leads you, he's gonna create a way that no man can stop, no man can block, no one can get in the way because he asked you to be there. And so he's gonna bless it.
Jason BrownAmen. Amen. I'll say from from my side, you know, the Lord kind of dropped this pro this project of Paris and planting a church there. And and I tell you, like the romantic side of going there wasn't really on my radar. I I loved Latin America, I loved Asia, and that was really where if I was gonna pick, that's where we would have been going. But that's not what God talked to us about. And God talked to us about going and planting a church there. And I could tell you, the Lord, his favor rests upon obedience. Today, the Bridge International Church had service this morning in Paris, France, friends, because God is faithful. And it wasn't about any one person, it was about what he wanted to see be put into obedience. And I could tell you, as we started to say yes to God, we put a fleece out before God saying, Lord, we want peace together to know that this is not just a good idea or is something we feel, you know, just conviction about at the moment. We want to know your peace about it. And we started talking about that in praying and fasting and asking the Lord before we did any big moves, before we made it public to anyone else, before we applied, we said, Lord, we want your direction. And we were, we were doing a bunch of things that were, you know, it's obviously it's all there and that we're saying, Lord, a fleece before you that we would feel peace, you know, that we would go and back and talk about this again. And in doing so, uh, we were actually at a water park together. We had we took our students to a water park, it was summer. And we're sitting there and we're like, you know, we just need to really have a clear picture from God so that we can say without a shadow of a doubt that He wants us to go there. And it was hilarious because we're sitting together across, you know, a piece of cardboard uh pizza, you know, whatever they sell at the water park. And we're sitting there talking together like this, and and I'm like, you know, we just need a real understanding, a really clear sign. And I'm not joking that a young woman walked by wearing a Paris-France tank top. And I go, oh, okay. Now obviously it's a very popular place. It's very weird to have it as a tank top because no one in Paris wears a tank top. But you know, it's one of these things that I was like, okay, God, you got my you got my uh you got my attention. Friends, whenever we start talking about this, we're we're referencing this story in the Bible of Gideon. It's in Judges. I want to go to that today. Judges 6, 15. Can you read it for us to listen?
Celeste BrownYeah, it says, and he said to him, Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
Jason BrownAnd so they are hiding. They had they had ignored the Lord. This is after Joshua had been victorious, after they had been established in the season when they had been ruled by judges. And the people of Israel, though they had been obedient to God, though he had brought them out of Egypt and he had crossed the Red Sea, he had brought them through the desert, provided for them all those ways, gave them victory at places like Jericho, and they were in the land, planting
Celeste On Obedience Over Career Security
Jason Brownall that they had, they turned their heart away from God. It's interesting somehow, sometimes how success can turn our hearts away from God. Friends, let's not get caught in that. Let's not get caught in that circuit that suddenly your success and what you put your hands to do means it's you and you get to take the control away from God. All the better to realize it's God whose favor is on me. It's God whose direction I'm being obedient in. And so I continue to follow the way of God. Someone say amen to that. But that's not what the people, the children of Israel in this day did, and so they turned their heart away from God, and they were, God brought his hand away from them, and they were they were uh they were being conquered by the people that were there. And in doing so, Gideon was hiding in order to make food. He was hiding in a wine press. And here the angel of the Lord comes and speaks to him and starts to talk to him about the things that God wanted to do in his story. And he had to say, God, I'm who am I? I'm nobody. I'm the least. Our clan is the smallest one, we're not the biggest number. Of all the clans of all the different tribes of Israel, we're nobody. And I, in my clan, am the least of those people. You have chosen the wrong one. How many people know what I'm saying? But God doesn't choose the wrong one. God sees us how we don't see ourselves. And so he speaks to him and says, it says and instructs him to do these things. And then Gideon, to make sure he heard from God and it wasn't bad pizza, he starts and goes and puts before we a fleece before God. Can you read that for us? Judges 6.37.
Celeste BrownBehold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.
Jason BrownAmen. Friends, what I love about this is that he's saying, Lord, once I know it's you, then I'm being willing to do anything you ask me to do. And that's very much what you hear in Celeste and her testimony is that her willingness to do it was about obedience. She had made that be something in her life early on as a young woman. It was before we ever got married, before we had kids or anything else. So because she had already made the Lord the Lord of her life, she made Jesus the Lord of her life, everything else fell into alignment with it. So whenever he says, go and do this thing, then friends, you're supposed to do something about it. How many people know what I'm saying? And so that's what happened in Gideon's day. It's what happens with us today, is that it's not that he's going to call all of us to be a missionary. That's even what Jobias said, he said, not that every one of us would call to be that, but that we would be obedient to whatever he calls us to do. Some people that means to stay right where they're at and to do those things as unto God with excellence. To others, it's to step out in faith and start their own business and do their own those things that he's asked you to do. In other times, it's to take the new opportunity that he's provided for you or he's prompting your heart to take all of those things. If he's guiding you to do it and the peace of God is upon it, then friends, don't hesitate, you should do it. Because that says unto God. Friends, if not, then what happens is we start to wander in our hearts and it becomes that chaos that we were talking about. And we want to have direction over chaos. Say it with me. Direction over chaos. Matthew 10, 38, it says, and whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whenever Jesus talks about being a follower of him, he's serious. He's saying, Listen, this means that it could cost you your life. It could cost you everything. And so the obedience factor to what Tobias was sharing today, it's not about your things, to what Celeste shared today. It's not about this stuff that we were given all these amazing things. You know what happened is that we a bunch of other people got blessed with a bunch of new stuff, is what happens. You know, it got reallocated to them. And what a blessing. Because it was never about the stuff, it was about obedience to God. It continues here in John 14, 27. So let's could you read that for us?
Celeste BrownPeace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Jason BrownAnd so as we talk about this peace of God over anxiety last week, as
Family Calling And The Paris Sign
Jason Brownwe talk about peace in direction, it is those things. It's the things that we would do as we heard Gideon talk about. He puts these things before the Lord. As we go to the Lord, we say, Lord, we want your clarity. God is speaking to us. We want to clarify our hearts. So many times we would stop and we would fast and pray. So we would fast for a day, two days, a couple days, and then we would pray all that time. And we would come back together and say, okay, what is what do you feel God is saying to us? Is are we supposed to make this move? Are we supposed to literally yard sale everything we have to go across the world? Whenever we left Egypt, when we left Paris, it was the same thing. We felt that God was redirecting us to a new place, place that we didn't know. Whenever we left Egypt to come home, it was the same story. It wasn't that we didn't have options. In fact, we had the opposite. We had almost too many. But the problem was not that. The problem was we were just trying to hear what God wanted us to do. Because it wasn't about this thing. We could have chosen, we would have chosen things that we wanted to do and places that we wanted to go. But that's not what God wanted us to do. And we knew that the harder option, the yes option, was going to be difficult. And so you have to weigh that out. Am I willing to say yes to God again and do the difficult thing? Friends, I can tell you, as a pastor, in over 20 years of ministry, there have been many, many, many times where I just wanted to tell people peace of my mind and kick rocks and the Lord be with you. I'm gonna go do something else. And every time I'd go back to the Lord, he's like, What did I tell you to do? I'd probably just shut my mouth and ask for forgiveness and not have an attitude like that. He's like, bingo. I'm like, okay. So, friends, all of us are in this. I'm not asking you to do anything that we're not trying to do ourselves, which is to be more like Jesus. Proverbs 4, uh 23 and 24, Celeste, read it for us.
Celeste BrownKeep your heart with all viligence, for from it flows the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech and put devious talk far from you.
Jason BrownCan you continue?
Celeste BrownLet your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left. Turn your foot away from evil.
Jason BrownFriends, I think it's pretty direct, telling us not to wander into this other thing that would cause chaos in our life, not to wander away from the path that he has for us, but instead go straight after the things of God. And in doing so, what it starts to do is align our our values and our vision with his. Because he's already leading us the way we should go. So it literally is us following after Jesus, as we talk about so often. I love this. We'll come back to this very thing, for it is you who lights my lamp. The Lord my God lightens my darkness. Friends, we know that wandering is chaos, but we're not supposed to do that. We're supposed to be those that listen to the direction of God. Direction over chaos. Say it with me. Direction over chaos. We're gonna read that last thing again, John 14. We started out with it. I want to read it again, so let's just read it for us.
Celeste BrownIt says, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Jason BrownAnd so we're gonna be those that understand that our time with God, listening to his voice, is what gives us direction. So we're gonna be those that are people of prayer because prayer provides peace. We need to deal with our issues. Today we have this opportunity for you today, and maybe you're here. You've never said yes to Jesus. Every single one of us needs to answer that question of have you embraced Jesus? And see, for us, that's the pivotal question that each of us has to answer is about making Jesus the Lord of our life. For us, the symbol of the cross is one that's so powerful, so profound, because it changes everything for us. Jesus, he lived a sinless life. He came down and lived a sinless life, and in doing so, he made a way for us to reconnect to the Father. We can't earn our way into heaven, we can't live a good enough life, we can't do enough good works or give enough money to buy our way
Gideon’s Fleece And Confirming Direction
Jason Brownin. That's not possible. So, because of it, Jesus, he paid the price for us, he came all the way to us, and he took all of our pain and all of our sin and all of our brokenness and all of our shame. And as he took it upon himself upon the cross, he gave his life for us as the sacrifice for all people. And in doing so, it made a way for us to have a new life. Like those who who followed him in baptism today, friends, we rejoice with you. What an amazing thing, saying, I'm dead to sin, I'm alive in God. And that's what he wants to do in your story today as well. He wants you to embrace him, he wants you to have a relationship with him. Apostle Paul, he writes to the church at Rome, he says, This, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Friends, today is your opportunity to say yes to Jesus. I'm gonna ask everyone in the room to stand to your feet right where you're at and bow your heads as Christians are praying. Friends, wherever you are online, take a moment for what God wants to do in and through your story. Maybe you're here today under the sound of my voice and you hear us sharing this story, this narrative about Jesus, about trusting him with everything we have. Friends, that's the same thing that you can do. You can invite Christ into your heart and life. You can say, Jesus, I believe you are who you say you are. And so, Lord, I place my faith and trust in you. Or maybe you're someone who has made a commitment like that in the past, but you have walked away from God, you've chosen to fight Him for control and direction, and it's taken you into chaos. Today is an opportunity to recommit your heart and life to Jesus. As heads are bowed here in the room, if that's you, you say, Pastor, I just want to be included in that prayer today as you prayed. If that's you, you just raise your hand right where you're at. Say that's me. I just want to pray that prayer with you today. Make a decision to follow Jesus. See the hand that's here and a hand that's there. Others that are making decisions, friends that are reinforcing their heart after Christ. We see hands that are there. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. I'm gonna ask if everyone would if they'd pray this prayer out loud after me. Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Amen. Friends, we rejoice with you. Those who raise their hands today, praise God. Man, we rejoice with you in making a decision to follow Jesus. Hey, take a moment, take a snap at this QR code. If you're here in the room, if you're online, message us. We want to put materials into your hands because no one is called to do this life alone. Amen. Friends, as we open this altar during this song, we do so with intentionality, that each and every one of us would seek God's direction in our lives. I want to challenge every person that's here that you would come and make an altar with God, asking God for direction in your life in the season ahead. We've just gone into this new fall season for many of this a new start of school or a new semester at university or whatever that would look like for your job. And I can tell you that all of us need God's direction in the middle of our story. And so let me encourage you, challenge you even to come and make an altar with God, seeking more of his empowerment, as we've already felt his spirit so richly with us today. Lord, we come to you just saying thank you. Thank you for your word. Thank you how you challenge us. Lord, I thank you for the testimony Tobias shared, the one that's shared, and what you're doing in and through their story. Lord, for each one of us, we want to make that same decision to follow you in obedience. We want your direction over our chaos. Lord, we don't want to be wandering around aimlessly and doing nothing with substance in our life. Lord, we want to follow you in what you've called us to do. So, Lord, today we come to this altar, Lord, seeking more of your empowerment, more of your guidance and direction. Lord, you would speak to us and empower us for what you've called us to do. We pray this in
Peace Through Prayer And Fasting
Jason Brownthe powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen. Can we have a hand of appreciation for all us got baptized today? Praise the Lord.
Celeste BrownAs you head out today, there are life group signups. Life groups start this week. So as you sign up for a group, remember one, two, three, ten, whatever you can handle. Um, as you sign up, the life group leader will be getting a hold of you this week to give you information on location, time, and when you're starting. But I am excited about this season, so I pray that you would join a group or as many as you want. And uh, there's also popcorn outside for you.
Jason BrownPraise the Lord before we go. I'm gonna pray his blessing over us. The Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lord, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, we pray a blessing upon your church, your people. Lord, you'd empower us by your spirit to live your love to those around us. We pray all this in the powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Know this. We love you very much, Eric Cornerstone. God bless you and have a great week.