Forrest: Hey, I'm Pastor Forrest, and welcome to the Multiply Church Podcast.
Forrest: Each week we open God's word together to help you meet God and multiply good in your everyday life.
Forrest: We're so glad that you've taken time to join us for this week's sermon.
Forrest: And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe and follow us on social media so you never miss a message.
Forrest: Now, let's dive into this week's sermon.
SPEAKER_01: We're excited to be here, excited to celebrate all that God has done in the series Lost Cause.
SPEAKER_01: Were you blessed by Pastor Forrest's message last week?
SPEAKER_01: Too hurt.
SPEAKER_01: Even though you're too hurt, God still has a plan for your life.
SPEAKER_01: He still has a purpose for your life.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to continue in the flow of this series today.
SPEAKER_01: We have a lot to celebrate.
SPEAKER_01: It's a birthday party, a celebration, and we're going to celebrate what God is going to do in your life.
SPEAKER_01: But let me get into the scripture that God gave me for multiply church.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to go on a journey with Moses.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody say we're going on a journey.
SPEAKER_01: The great Moses.
SPEAKER_01: The great leader.
SPEAKER_01: When we read stories, I have a four-year-old girl and a one-year-old girl.
SPEAKER_01: Pray for me.
SPEAKER_01: Any girl dads in the house?
SPEAKER_01: Alright, I'll pray for you.
SPEAKER_01: You pray for me.
SPEAKER_01: We'll pray for each other.
SPEAKER_01: It's the best, man.
SPEAKER_01: I love being a girl dad.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna love it.
SPEAKER_01: Being a girl dad is the best.
SPEAKER_01: But we read so many stories, and many of them are about the great Moses and the parting of the Red Sea and Moses leading the people and the burning bush.
SPEAKER_01: But there's also another side of Moses, where Moses was too far in his mind from being used by God.
SPEAKER_01: Moses murdered a man 40 years prior to this event that's about to take place.
SPEAKER_01: And Moses ran from God, hid from God for over 40 years of his life.
SPEAKER_01: And now we stand at the famous burning bush.
SPEAKER_01: And I believe this is a burning bush moment for multiply church.
SPEAKER_01: A moment where God is calling multiply higher, where God is calling you into a greater purpose, where God is calling you into something significant.
SPEAKER_01: You guys are awful quiet for multiply anniversary today.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pretend we're sitting at Starbucks right now, we're having a conversation.
SPEAKER_01: It's not me talking at you, but you're talking with me.
SPEAKER_01: I say, God is calling you into something higher.
SPEAKER_01: God is calling you into something significant.
SPEAKER_01: This is a burning bush moment, not just for multiply, but for you.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I'm part of a Brazilian church now, so I'm used to a lot of conversation.
SPEAKER_01: I was part of Elevation Church for 16 years, and uh man, the way God used that church to shape my life, and now I get to help.
SPEAKER_01: I travel all over the world and preach at different churches, and I'm helping to build the English version of a Brazilian church in Orlando, Florida.
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the largest Brazilian churches in the world.
SPEAKER_01: So if you want me to preach in Portuguese, follow Portuguese?
SPEAKER_01: Me neither.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know any Portuguese.
SPEAKER_01: Bongias.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody say Bonsia.
SPEAKER_01: That means good morning.
SPEAKER_01: That's about all I got.
SPEAKER_01: But God uses this fire to show Moses who he is, but he also uses this fire to show Moses who he is not.
SPEAKER_01: The burning bush isn't just where he called Moses, it's where he confronts Moses.
SPEAKER_01: And just like God met Moses in that burning bush, God is going to meet you right now in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: God is going to meet you in what you've been carrying.
SPEAKER_01: God is going to meet you in your mess.
SPEAKER_01: God is going to meet you in this place.
SPEAKER_01: So in Exodus 3, Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.
SPEAKER_01: And he led the flock to the far side.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody said, the far side.
SPEAKER_01: Too far.
SPEAKER_01: Too hurt last week?
SPEAKER_01: Too far.
SPEAKER_01: To the far side of the wilderness he came to Oreb, the mountain of God.
SPEAKER_01: There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.
SPEAKER_01: Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up.
SPEAKER_01: So Moses thought, I will go over and see this strange sight.
SPEAKER_01: Why the bush does not burn up?
SPEAKER_01: When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him.
SPEAKER_01: God is calling to you today from within the bush.
SPEAKER_01: Moses, Moses.
SPEAKER_01: And Moses said, Here I am.
SPEAKER_01: Here I am.
SPEAKER_01: But Moses did not yet know who he was.
SPEAKER_01: He knows his name.
SPEAKER_01: He knows his past.
SPEAKER_01: He knows his experiences.
SPEAKER_01: But Moses does not yet know his identity.
SPEAKER_01: And you walked in today saying, here I am.
SPEAKER_01: And you should celebrate that.
SPEAKER_01: Here you are.
SPEAKER_01: You still have breath in your lungs.
SPEAKER_01: You showed up to serve God, to worship God.
SPEAKER_01: But if we're honest, many of us do not know who we are yet either.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm sent on an assignment to Frankfurt, Kentucky today before that 2.45 p.m.
SPEAKER_01: W, that 2.45 p.m.
SPEAKER_01: success, to tell you that you are made for this.
SPEAKER_01: You are made for such a time as this.
SPEAKER_01: That's the title of today's message.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to pray blessing over you, Father.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for every son and daughter in this house, for every man, woman, for every experience, for every person and where they came from, God.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that you will meet them in this burning bush moment.
SPEAKER_01: Encourage them that they are made for this.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name, everybody said.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna go on a journey with Moses because there were six different things throughout Moses' life that he felt.
SPEAKER_01: Because before Moses could speak, he entered the world under a death sentence.
SPEAKER_01: In Exodus 1.22, Pharaoh had given an order for all the Hebrew boys that were born to be thrown into the Nile River, including Moses as a baby.
SPEAKER_01: Moses comes into a system that is designed to kill him.
SPEAKER_01: And for months his his mother hides him because sometimes the place that should protect you is the place that will wound you.
SPEAKER_01: Moses was in hiding.
SPEAKER_01: Moses was vulnerable since birth.
SPEAKER_01: Any note takers in the house?
unknown: Good.
SPEAKER_01: Leaders or learners.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to write some things down today.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not a note taker, today's the day that the Lord has made.
SPEAKER_01: Let's rejoice and be glad in it.
SPEAKER_01: Let's take some notes.
SPEAKER_01: The first word I want you to write down is vulnerable.
SPEAKER_01: I'm too vulnerable.
SPEAKER_01: See, Moses didn't start his story from strength.
SPEAKER_01: Moses started his story vulnerable.
SPEAKER_01: And so did some of you.
SPEAKER_01: You were not born into stability.
SPEAKER_01: You did not grow up in stability.
SPEAKER_01: You were raised in chaos.
SPEAKER_01: You were raised in conflict.
SPEAKER_01: And you aren't struggling because you're weak.
SPEAKER_01: You're struggling because you've been vulnerable since birth.
SPEAKER_01: But vulnerability doesn't mean abandonment.
SPEAKER_01: Vulnerability doesn't mean abandonment.
SPEAKER_01: In Exodus 2, 5 through 6, Pharaoh's daughter, the same Pharaoh that ordered all of the baby boys to be thrown into the river, she shows up to that river.
SPEAKER_01: Her and her attendants were walking alongside the river, and she saw the basket that baby Moses was in, and she sent for her servants to go and snatch him up.
SPEAKER_01: The very system designed to kill Moses ended up pulling him out of the water.
SPEAKER_01: God did not let Moses drown, and God is not going to let you drown.
SPEAKER_01: Just like God snatched him up out of the water, God is going to snatch you up out of that anxiety.
SPEAKER_01: God is going to snatch you up out of that depression.
SPEAKER_01: You may not see a way out, it may not make sense to you, but God can snatch you up to.
SPEAKER_01: God has a plan for your life.
SPEAKER_01: God has a purpose for your life.
SPEAKER_01: You may feel vulnerable, but heaven says you are too valuable.
SPEAKER_01: Just because you're vulnerable does not mean you are not valuable.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, if that doesn't encourage you today, just because you feel vulnerable does not mean that you are not valuable.
SPEAKER_01: That's the second word I want you to write down is valuable.
SPEAKER_01: Because your survival, the fact that you still have breath in your lungs, the fact that you're still sitting here on this Sunday morning in the month of March in 2026 proves that God is not done with your life yet.
SPEAKER_01: It's proof that you are valuable.
SPEAKER_01: Before I came on staff to be a pastor at Elevation Church, I went through this interview weekend.
SPEAKER_01: This was 15 years ago, 16 years ago.
SPEAKER_01: I don't remember.
SPEAKER_01: Time, you know, inchant into the 40s, everything kind of mixes all together.
SPEAKER_01: But I went through this whole interview weekend and I did a five, they had me do a five-minute teaching.
SPEAKER_01: And the teaching was on confident humility, which those two things are not separate, they can be simultaneous.
SPEAKER_01: When you know who you are and you know where you came from, when you're humble enough to know that you did not create you, that God created you, I did a teaching on confident humility.
SPEAKER_01: Now I never spoke in front of people at that point.
SPEAKER_01: So I stumbled my way through that five minutes, blacked out, don't even know what I said.
SPEAKER_01: At the end of the teaching, one of the pastors he said, he said, Hey Dustin, on a scale of one to ten, how do you how do you think you did?
SPEAKER_01: Like ten being crushed it.
SPEAKER_01: One, you should never hold a microphone again.
SPEAKER_01: And I just remember thinking to myself, big confidence, big confidence.
SPEAKER_01: I said, 12.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Yeah, we thought you might say that.
SPEAKER_01: He says, sit down.
SPEAKER_01: So then I went into a room after this whole interview weekend, and I sat in front of, there were eight pastors in the room.
SPEAKER_01: And they said, uh, do you think like you getting the job, do you think this is a yes or a no?
SPEAKER_01: And I closed my eyes.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, all right, be confident, be confident, be confident.
SPEAKER_01: That's what you're taught.
SPEAKER_01: Like when you interview for jobs, you gotta be confident.
SPEAKER_01: You know, just be confident.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Yes.
SPEAKER_01: They said, Yeah, we thought you might say that too.
SPEAKER_01: Because Dustin loves Dustin.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody say, ouch.
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't married at the time.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't, I didn't have two girls, so I wasn't a big crier at the time.
SPEAKER_01: I cry a lot now.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sensitive.
SPEAKER_01: My daughter says the right thing and just, oh my god, I love you too, baby.
SPEAKER_01: But this day, oh my the floodgates opened.
SPEAKER_01: The ugly cry.
SPEAKER_01: I still have the notebook where I was trying to take notes on the feedback, and there's teardrops all over the you know, the snot everywhere, just the ugly cry.
SPEAKER_01: But what they said next is something I'll remember forever.
SPEAKER_01: They said, uh, but we know who you are.
SPEAKER_01: They didn't just see something on the outside, they saw past what was on the outside to what was on the inside.
SPEAKER_01: Because it's easy to judge someone from the outside without understanding what's happening on the inside.
SPEAKER_01: And really, the arrogance on the outside was me overcompensating for the insecurity on the inside, because I had been vulnerable since birth.
SPEAKER_01: I never felt like I was good enough.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, I felt like I needed to tell people how valuable I was.
SPEAKER_01: But they saw past the vulnerability into how valuable you are because God created you in his image, and if God created you in his image, that means you are valuable.
SPEAKER_01: You may feel vulnerable, but you are valuable.
SPEAKER_01: Hit your neighbor and say, You are valuable.
SPEAKER_01: But the next thing that Moses felt is inadequate.
SPEAKER_01: Say, I'm too inadequate.
SPEAKER_01: Because right after God shows Moses that he's valuable, Moses speaks this the second emotion in Exodus 3.11.
SPEAKER_01: Moses questions God's command, asking, Who am I?
SPEAKER_01: That I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
SPEAKER_01: Moses says, Who am I?
SPEAKER_01: Not God, who are you?
SPEAKER_01: But who am I?
SPEAKER_01: And you know when you don't question God's power, but you question your ability, you know God can do it.
SPEAKER_01: God can do all things.
SPEAKER_01: I don't question.
SPEAKER_01: I know God can do it, but can I?
SPEAKER_01: I'm too inadequate to lead these kids.
SPEAKER_01: I'm too inadequate to be the spouse.
SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't have everything that I need to lead in this workplace.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not spiritual enough, I'm not wise enough, I'm not smart enough, I'm not strong enough, I'm not equipped enough.
SPEAKER_01: But God doesn't answer Moses' insecurity with a pep talk.
SPEAKER_01: He answers it with his presence.
SPEAKER_01: In Exodus 3.12, he says this simple statement.
SPEAKER_01: He said, I will be with you.
SPEAKER_01: Moses didn't need self-esteem.
SPEAKER_01: Moses needed God esteem.
SPEAKER_01: And God tells Moses, you're looking in the wrong direction.
SPEAKER_01: You're looking in the comment section.
SPEAKER_01: You're looking to affirmation from your spouse.
SPEAKER_01: You're looking in the wrong direction.
SPEAKER_01: If you will fix your eyes on who I am, stop asking who you are and start asking who I am, God said.
SPEAKER_01: Because when God is with you, you stop being inadequate and you start becoming instrumental.
SPEAKER_01: When you see that He is the source, but you are the vessel.
SPEAKER_01: Say, I am instrumental.
unknown: I am instrumental.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you need to say it with a little bit more confidence today, with a little more belief.
SPEAKER_01: Say, I am instrumental.
unknown: I am instrumental.
SPEAKER_01: You are not the hero, you are the instrument.
SPEAKER_01: You are not the one who makes it happen.
SPEAKER_01: You're the one that God works through.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not about your qualifications, it's about your availability to God.
SPEAKER_01: God isn't asking you to be impressive.
SPEAKER_01: God is asking you to be usable.
SPEAKER_01: God is asking you to be available.
SPEAKER_01: But then Moses wasn't just, he wasn't just vulnerable.
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't just inadequate.
SPEAKER_01: Moses was also confused.
SPEAKER_01: Moses said to God in Exodus 3, 13, he says, Suppose I do what you said, I should do God.
SPEAKER_01: Suppose I go to the Israelites and I say to them that the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name?
SPEAKER_01: Then what shall I tell them?
SPEAKER_01: Moses is confused about who God is.
SPEAKER_01: He's confused about who he is.
SPEAKER_01: He's confused about what he is supposed to say.
SPEAKER_01: And it's hard to walk in clarity when you feel caught between your past and your purpose.
SPEAKER_01: You love God, but you're confused.
SPEAKER_01: You obey God, but you are overwhelmed.
SPEAKER_01: You feel like, God, I don't even know how to do what you are asking me to do in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: But confusion often shows up right before calling does.
SPEAKER_01: Moses wasn't confused because he was too far from God.
SPEAKER_01: He was confused while standing right in front of God.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes confusion isn't a sign something is wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes confusion is a sign that something is changing.
SPEAKER_01: That God has something different in store for you.
SPEAKER_01: That God has a better plan for you.
SPEAKER_01: I was on the phone with another pastor this week and he said, I feel confused right now.
SPEAKER_01: He said, I know God is a God of clarity.
SPEAKER_01: God is not a God of confusion, but I feel a little bit confused on what step I need to take next and where I'm supposed to go and how I'm supposed to navigate through this season.
SPEAKER_01: He said, I'm standing right in the midst of God and I'm crying out to him and I'm praying, Dustin, and I'm fasting, Dustin.
SPEAKER_01: You know when you're calling on God, but sometimes heaven seems to be silent.
SPEAKER_01: But the fact that he was standing right before God, I said, sometimes confusion doesn't mean that something is wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes that means that something is changing, that God has something that he's preparing you for, that God is developing something inside of you that you can't see because he's about to do something greater through you.
SPEAKER_01: And so God responds to Moses in Exodus 3 14.
SPEAKER_01: He says to Moses, I am who I am.
SPEAKER_01: This is what you are to say to them.
SPEAKER_01: I am has sent me to you.
SPEAKER_01: Talk about confusing.
SPEAKER_01: Who sent you?
SPEAKER_01: I am.
SPEAKER_01: You are what?
SPEAKER_01: No, like who sent you?
SPEAKER_01: I am.
SPEAKER_01: What are you talking about right now?
SPEAKER_01: God says, Moses, you don't need all the answers.
SPEAKER_01: You just need the right assignment.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you are looking for answers.
SPEAKER_01: And it's it's it's good to say, God, please give me clarity, God, please make this.
SPEAKER_01: I want to be in alignment with your will, but you don't need all the answers.
SPEAKER_01: I was sitting here to tell you that you don't need all the answers.
SPEAKER_01: You just need to know that there's a God who called you, and that God is with you, and that God is for you, and that I am the one who created you in his image.
SPEAKER_01: I am is in you, and I am is sending you.
SPEAKER_01: I am is with you, even when you don't know how it's gonna play out.
SPEAKER_01: You are sent, you are assigned, you are appointed.
SPEAKER_01: I am commissioned.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone say commissioned.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need to understand everything when you stand under the one who is everything.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, let that speak to you right now.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need to understand.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you love to just know exactly how things are gonna play out?
SPEAKER_01: Me too.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need to understand everything when you stand under the one who is everything.
SPEAKER_01: I am confused, but God said, No, you are commissioned, you are sent, and I am with you.
SPEAKER_01: Moses didn't need more clarity, he just needed more obedience.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you, you don't need a new word from God.
SPEAKER_01: Like I'm coming to church today, but Pastor Vars, he better give me a new person.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need a new word.
SPEAKER_01: You just need to act on the word that God's already given you.
SPEAKER_01: You just need to obey the last thing that God already told you.
SPEAKER_01: I am commissioned.
SPEAKER_01: But by the time Moses, God calls Moses in Exodus 3, he isn't just feeling inadequate.
SPEAKER_01: He's not just feeling confused.
SPEAKER_01: Moses is tired.
SPEAKER_01: That's the next word I want you to write down.
SPEAKER_01: Tired.
SPEAKER_01: Like some of you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: No, you guys look good.
SPEAKER_01: You guys got your coffee in.
SPEAKER_01: I can tell, I can feel it.
SPEAKER_01: I can feel that birthday energy today.
SPEAKER_01: Before the burning bush, Moses killed a man.
SPEAKER_01: And instead of facing it, Moses ran.
SPEAKER_01: He ran from Egypt, he ran from his calling.
SPEAKER_01: And in Exodus 2, 15, when Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses.
SPEAKER_01: But Moses hid for 40 years.
SPEAKER_01: Moses was tired.
SPEAKER_01: He was tired of running, he was tired of hiding.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it's not that you're resisting God, you're just running on empty.
SPEAKER_01: You just don't feel like you have anything left in you.
SPEAKER_01: You can be in the best season of your life and still feel like you're running on empty.
SPEAKER_01: I told my wife that a few weeks ago.
SPEAKER_01: I said, I'm so grateful.
SPEAKER_01: The ministry in Florida is amazing, and our girls are so sweet and learning and growing.
SPEAKER_01: And my four-year-old two nights ago, she said, she said, Daddy, um, you know, God is in our heart.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Oh my gosh, yes, he is.
SPEAKER_01: She was preaching to me.
SPEAKER_01: Our girls are they're growing, they're learning about Jesus, and ministry's going well.
SPEAKER_01: And I I just traveled to Brazil and preached all over the globe, and then a men's conference in Virginia and Frankfurt.
SPEAKER_01: Marriage is healthy and strong, but I told my wife, I said, I'm tired.
SPEAKER_01: I just I feel like I'm running on empty.
SPEAKER_01: And anybody use Chat GPT?
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: Now ChatGPT is not the Bible, disclaimer.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, I asked Chat GPT the other day who the president of the United States was, and I got that wrong.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, okay, let's be careful with our information here.
SPEAKER_01: But it is interesting to process certain information with ChatGPT.
SPEAKER_01: So I asked The question that I've never asked before.
SPEAKER_01: I said, if you were the enemy, I said, how would you take me out?
SPEAKER_01: And I thought this answer surprised me because it wasn't dramatic, it wasn't catastrophic, it wasn't something something big.
SPEAKER_01: But this is what chat had to say.
SPEAKER_01: We named the Chat GPT chat.
SPEAKER_01: I know creative creative.
SPEAKER_01: It said, if I were the enemy, I would not destroy you with something sudden.
SPEAKER_01: I would wear you down with something subtle.
SPEAKER_01: Chat GPT preaching.
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't break you in a moment.
SPEAKER_01: I would drain you over months.
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't attack your calling.
SPEAKER_01: I would attack your confidence.
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't steal your gift.
SPEAKER_01: I would suffocate your energy.
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't hit you with a giant, I would hit you with a drip.
SPEAKER_01: A drip of discouragement.
SPEAKER_01: A drip of distraction.
SPEAKER_01: A drip of exhaustion.
SPEAKER_01: Because the enemy knows he can't take out a man or woman that God has anointed.
SPEAKER_01: But he can convince that person to take yourself out if you get tired enough.
SPEAKER_01: Where am I most vulnerable to being worn down?
SPEAKER_01: Because being worn down is often more dangerous than being not down.
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly where Moses is in this passage.
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't rebellious, he wasn't faithless, he was worn down.
SPEAKER_01: He was worn down from running, worn down from regret.
SPEAKER_01: Moses wasn't resisting God.
SPEAKER_01: Moses was empty.
SPEAKER_01: But empty is where God can do some of his best work.
SPEAKER_01: Just ask Peter, who had fished all night and was worn out after he caught nothing, didn't have enough money to pay the bills, didn't have enough to take care of his family.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus shows up on the scene and tells him to throw his net back in the same water he had been fishing in all night, he said, Master, I don't think you understand.
SPEAKER_01: We're a bit tired.
SPEAKER_01: We're the professional fisherman, you're a great healer, you're a great physician, you're a great preacher.
SPEAKER_01: Let us do our job, you do your job.
SPEAKER_01: But Peter did it anyway.
SPEAKER_01: Will you trust God even when you're tired?
SPEAKER_01: Will you obey God even when you're exhausted?
SPEAKER_01: Peter was standing in the middle of an empty boat.
SPEAKER_01: And the empty boat represented exhaustion.
SPEAKER_01: But because the boat was empty, there was just enough room for Jesus to step in.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're standing in an empty place right now and you feel like you have nothing left in you, then maybe you are positioned at just the right time and just the right season at just the right place for God to step in and do some of his greatest work.
SPEAKER_01: Transformation can happen in the empty places.
SPEAKER_01: That's the next word I want you to write down is transformed.
SPEAKER_01: Exodus 3:5.
SPEAKER_01: God tells Moses, do not come any closer.
SPEAKER_01: Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.
SPEAKER_01: He does not tell Moses to try harder, he tells Moses to step closer.
SPEAKER_01: Transformation does not start with effort.
SPEAKER_01: Transformation starts with surrender.
SPEAKER_01: It starts with saying, I'm tired, God, but I'm trusting you anyways.
SPEAKER_01: God was not trying to get Moses to a place, he was trying to get Moses to a posture.
SPEAKER_01: To get you to a posture of saying, I don't feel like I have anything left in me.
SPEAKER_01: But that's where God can do some of his greatest work.
SPEAKER_01: Moses entered the bush tired, but Moses left the bush transformed.
SPEAKER_01: Say, I am transformed.
SPEAKER_01: When you stop running on your own strength, you are finally ready for God.
SPEAKER_01: Moses wasn't just tired.
SPEAKER_01: Moses wasn't just inadequate.
SPEAKER_01: But in Exodus 4, Moses, he's no longer questioning his ability, he's questioning himself.
SPEAKER_01: In Exodus 4, 10, Moses, excuse after excuse after excuse, said, But God, I have never been eloquent in speech.
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm I'm slow of speech and tongue and I sound people might make fun of me.
SPEAKER_01: I can't really speak well.
SPEAKER_01: But behind this complaint in verse 13, there's something deeper.
SPEAKER_01: Moses says, please send someone else.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't Moses saying I can't.
SPEAKER_01: This is Moses saying, I'm not.
SPEAKER_01: You got the wrong guy.
SPEAKER_01: I had two small group leaders 2026, 14 years ago.
SPEAKER_01: I never led a small group, I never prayed out loud.
SPEAKER_01: And Noah and Trent, they said, Hey, we see something in you, we want you to lead the Bible study one night.
SPEAKER_01: I said, No, I'm here to learn about the Bible, not teach the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: They said, Yeah, man, but we'll tell you exactly what to do.
SPEAKER_01: The night before, I hit him up and I said, Hey, we need to meet at Panera.
SPEAKER_01: And this was like two months of I had been preparing to lead the Bible study.
SPEAKER_01: The night before we met at Panera, and I said, I'm not leading Bible study tomorrow night.
SPEAKER_01: And Noah Trent said, Yes, you are.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, I am throwing up inside my mouth right now.
SPEAKER_01: I I feel sick to my stomach.
SPEAKER_01: I am not leading that Bible study.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm so thankful that I had people who saw something in me before I saw something in myself.
SPEAKER_01: Aren't you thankful for leaders and pastors and friends and family and a church that sees God's calling on your life and sees something in you even when you don't see it in yourself?
SPEAKER_01: Moses said, I'm not the guy.
SPEAKER_01: But God said, I will teach you how to speak, I will give you everything you need.
SPEAKER_01: And God responds in Exodus 4.12, he said, just go, because I'm gonna tell you exactly what to say.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't calm Moses's insecurity, he reframes his identity.
SPEAKER_01: It's not what you can do, it's who chose you to do it in the first place.
SPEAKER_01: God has ordained you to be the parent of those kids.
SPEAKER_01: God, I don't know if I can do this.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you chose the right guy to lead.
SPEAKER_01: God ordained you to lead that business.
SPEAKER_01: You need to send someone else, God.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I'm the right person for this.
SPEAKER_01: God ordained you.
SPEAKER_01: God chose you.
SPEAKER_01: Hit your neighbor and say, God chose you.
SPEAKER_01: Hit somebody else in your ear and say, God chose you to.
SPEAKER_01: God ordained you for such a time as this.
SPEAKER_01: And ordained doesn't mean confident, it means chosen.
SPEAKER_01: It means covered.
SPEAKER_01: It means set apart.
SPEAKER_01: And you may feel insecure, but your insecurity is not your identity.
SPEAKER_01: You may feel insecure, but your insecurity is not your identity.
SPEAKER_01: But Moses had one last excuse.
SPEAKER_01: One after another.
SPEAKER_01: You ever had these conversations with God?
SPEAKER_01: You have every reason why what God's saying is not valid for you.
SPEAKER_01: You know God can use someone else.
SPEAKER_01: It's like, God, I see how you're using Pastor Forrest and Emily, that's amazing.
SPEAKER_01: But me, my past, like my imperfections, I don't like the way I look, I don't like the way I sound.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about me, God.
SPEAKER_01: Moses in Exodus 4:1 answers God once again.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, okay.
SPEAKER_01: But even though you're gonna help me speak, and even though you're gonna tell me what to say, and that sounds awesome, what if they don't believe me?
SPEAKER_01: What if they don't listen to me?
SPEAKER_01: This isn't Moses doubting his ability or his worth, it's Moses doubting his reception.
SPEAKER_01: He's afraid of being misunderstood.
SPEAKER_01: That's the last thing I want you to write down.
SPEAKER_01: Misunderstood.
SPEAKER_01: Moses is saying, what if they don't trust my voice?
SPEAKER_01: What if they can't see who I've become because they still remember who I was?
SPEAKER_01: And some of you have lived this.
SPEAKER_01: You've been mislabeled, you've been misjudged, you've been misread, and you are stuck in an old version of yourself that other people never updated.
SPEAKER_01: You feel misunderstood.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you aren't quiet because you have nothing to say.
SPEAKER_01: You're quiet because you're tired of being misunderstood.
SPEAKER_01: But Exodus 4, 2, the Lord says to him again, What is that in your hand?
SPEAKER_01: See, God doesn't argue with Moses' fear of people.
SPEAKER_01: He answers it with what Moses already has in his hand.
SPEAKER_01: Moses, what do you have in your hand?
SPEAKER_01: Because it's God who equips you.
SPEAKER_01: It's God who prepares you.
SPEAKER_01: It's God who gives you what you need.
SPEAKER_01: It's God who puts something in your hand.
SPEAKER_01: And it may not seem like much to you, but little is much when it's in the hands of God.
SPEAKER_01: Just ask the woman in 2 Kings who looked in her cabinets and the man of God Elijah said, What do you have?
SPEAKER_01: She said, Nothing.
SPEAKER_01: Except, because God can bless your exception.
SPEAKER_01: Except this small jar of olive oil.
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't look like much.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Bring what you have.
SPEAKER_01: And as long as she kept pouring out what she had, the oil kept flowing.
SPEAKER_01: It may not look like much to you, but God has resourced you with everything you need to accomplish the assignment that He has placed in front of you.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, single mom, God has given you everything you need to raise those kids.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, God has given you everything you need to provide for your family.
SPEAKER_01: God has given you the courage.
SPEAKER_01: God has given you the vision.
SPEAKER_01: It may seem little to you, but in God's hands it is much.
SPEAKER_01: Just like this church started with just a handful of people.
SPEAKER_01: But little is much to God.
SPEAKER_01: And look at how God has multiplied it thus far.
SPEAKER_01: Never despise the day of small beginnings.
SPEAKER_01: You are resourced with everything you need.
SPEAKER_01: Now, notice that the last 40 minutes, we walked through the different feelings that Moses had.
SPEAKER_01: He felt vulnerable.
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna come up on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: That's why I'm staring at the little sheep on the screen.
SPEAKER_01: Moses felt vulnerable.
SPEAKER_01: Keep telling him.
SPEAKER_01: Moses felt inadequate.
SPEAKER_01: Say it with me.
SPEAKER_01: Confused, tired, insecure, and misunderstood.
SPEAKER_01: Moses felt like a victim.
SPEAKER_01: The enemy wants you to feel like all of this is out of your control.
SPEAKER_01: That you you are not going to be able to change your current circumstance.
SPEAKER_01: You are a victim.
SPEAKER_01: This is all you will ever be.
SPEAKER_01: This is all you will ever have.
SPEAKER_01: This is this is the pattern of your father, therefore, it must be your pattern.
SPEAKER_01: You're not going to be able to break that generational curse and that addiction and the alcoholism.
SPEAKER_01: And the way you've seen it happen in your family, you feel like a victim.
SPEAKER_01: But God spoke a different word over Moses.
SPEAKER_01: God said, You are valuable.
SPEAKER_01: God said, You are instrumental.
SPEAKER_01: You are commissioned.
SPEAKER_01: Say, I am transformed.
SPEAKER_01: Make it personal.
SPEAKER_01: Say I am transformed.
SPEAKER_01: You are, I am ordained.
SPEAKER_01: I am resourced.
SPEAKER_01: God said, You are not a victim, but you are a victor.
SPEAKER_01: And that everything the enemy meant for evil, God wants to use for good in your life.
SPEAKER_01: That you are not a victim to your circumstance.
SPEAKER_01: You are not what you feel, but you are who God says you are.
SPEAKER_01: And everything the enemy tried to pin against you, and everything the enemy tried to remind you of, all the insecurities and all the inadequacies and all the doubts and all the fears God wants to flip around and use for good.
SPEAKER_01: God said that you are a victorious people.
SPEAKER_01: God said you will have victory over that depression.
SPEAKER_01: God said you will have victory over that addiction.
SPEAKER_01: God sent you to break those generational curses and start generational blessings for your family.
SPEAKER_01: You are not a victim, you are a victor.
SPEAKER_01: God sent his son Jesus to this world to die and rise again so that you could have the victory that you need, not just once, not just twice, but forever.
SPEAKER_01: Over every pain, over every struggle, over every circumstance, over every sin in your life.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you'll stand to your feet, I want to say a prayer over you.
SPEAKER_01: See, there was a time where Moses was leading the Israelites, and as long as Moses kept his hands lifted, lift your hands right now.
SPEAKER_01: As long as Moses kept his hands lifted, the people had victory.
SPEAKER_01: But after a while, if we stood for another two hours, I mean some of you work out.
SPEAKER_01: Hayden would probably be fine.
SPEAKER_01: He could keep his hands lifted for a long time.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna get tired.
SPEAKER_01: So Moses' hands would start to fall down.
SPEAKER_01: But then Aaron and her would stand on each side of Moses.
SPEAKER_01: Forrest, come here.
SPEAKER_01: Come on stage, real quick.
SPEAKER_01: Hayden.
SPEAKER_01: And as long as Aaron and her kept his hands lifted, they had victory.
SPEAKER_01: And there are going to be days where you don't have what you need in your own strength.
SPEAKER_01: But God will be there to lift your hands in victory when you can't do it yourself.
SPEAKER_01: And there are going to be days you say, I have nothing left in me, God.
SPEAKER_01: But there are people at multiply church who will be there to lift your hands in victory when you can't lift them yourselves.
SPEAKER_01: So grab the person's hand next to you right now.
SPEAKER_01: Lift their hand up, stretch across the aisle.
SPEAKER_01: There should be no one.
SPEAKER_01: Pop over here.
SPEAKER_01: Hold the person's hand up next to you.
SPEAKER_01: This is what victory looks like.
SPEAKER_01: You're not meant to do it by yourself.
SPEAKER_01: God is with you, but you have people in this church who are with you too.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Father, I pray over a victorious people today.
SPEAKER_01: What the enemy meant for evil, God is using for good in your life.
SPEAKER_01: All the tests that you've been through, all the mess that you've been through, God is flipping around to use as a testimony to use you to impact someone else who's going through what you've been through thus far.
SPEAKER_01: And so I claim victory over every son and daughter right now and multiplied church.
SPEAKER_01: Victory over their sin, victory over their mess, victory over their struggle.
SPEAKER_01: They are not victims, God, but they are victors in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world.
SPEAKER_01: And if He is for you, and He is with you, and He is in you, then what can come against you?
SPEAKER_01: It's in your weakness that God's strength is made perfect.
SPEAKER_01: And so we thank you, Lord, that you're fighting these battles for your people.
SPEAKER_01: God is fighting for you right now.
SPEAKER_01: Say, God is fighting for me.
SPEAKER_01: Say, I have victory.
SPEAKER_01: Right where I need it.
SPEAKER_01: I have victory.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: You can lower your hands for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: If you'll bow your head and close your eyes, I want to say another prayer.
SPEAKER_01: For someone who's never experienced that victory in your life that can only come from Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, that you will be saved.
SPEAKER_01: That you will have the ultimate victory over your sin forever.
SPEAKER_01: And so we're gonna say a prayer right now out loud for the benefit of those who are coming to Christ for the first time, or maybe you need to come back to Christ today and declare that He is the Lord of your life.
SPEAKER_01: So repeat this after me.
SPEAKER_01: Say, Heavenly Father, I come to you, a sinner, in need of a Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me.
SPEAKER_01: I believe God raised you from the dead, that I've been set free.
SPEAKER_01: I accept your mercy.
SPEAKER_01: I embrace your grace.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm choosing today to follow you for the rest of my life.
Sallie: We're so grateful you joined us for this week's message.
Sallie: At Multiply, we believe life was never meant to be lived alone.
Sallie: If today you made the decision to follow Jesus, we'd be honored to walk with you on this journey.
Sallie: Visit multiplyky.com to let us know.
Sallie: We love you and we'll see you again soon.