SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: And can we just say Jesus, Jesus, Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
SPEAKER_02: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: We're excited.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, today, just as we're getting wound up, as we are just talking about who Jesus is, we just sing about all the names, just names of God, names of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: I want to celebrate.
SPEAKER_02: I have some pictures here to show.
SPEAKER_02: We had some guys a few uh a few months ago.
SPEAKER_02: We went to El Salvador to work, and here's the first picture.
SPEAKER_02: This is about this picture here was close to where we left this church in El Salvador.
SPEAKER_02: The church that we're going with Pastor Hugo we went, and this is where with the work site we went to, and we helped put uh the masonry block there.
SPEAKER_02: We cleared some dirt, spent uh a lot of hard work there, and um, we're excited.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, there was a picture, I wish I didn't have this picture.
SPEAKER_02: There's a picture we prayed over Pastor Ugo, this this uh his church, and this ground.
SPEAKER_02: And um our church our church was uh in in the process of this.
SPEAKER_02: We also gave some money for this, and so I want to show you these next two pictures.
SPEAKER_02: This was two weeks ago.
SPEAKER_02: This is the building we helped build.
SPEAKER_02: They have the roof on it, and they are having church inside of it today.
SPEAKER_02: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, they're working on the community, getting the community involved.
SPEAKER_02: They are growing now that they have a facility, and they are just uh the Lord is good.
SPEAKER_02: And uh it gives me the chills to think about being a part of this and look what the Lord is doing.
SPEAKER_02: This this picture I don't have last week's, this was two weeks ago, and it is only growing.
SPEAKER_02: And so today I want to stop before we go, before we continue, before we dive into uh our study, I want to stop right here.
SPEAKER_02: I want to cry out to the Lord about what we're about to get into here in our own message.
SPEAKER_02: We want to surrender to him, but I want to pray for the church in El Salvador as they meet today, as they continue, because here's the cool thing is we got over there, and I don't know if you've been around me long, but my English isn't very good, so my Spanish is even worse.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so uh uh my Spanish is really, really bad.
SPEAKER_02: I don't even try.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: Now I did speak louder, but that didn't help.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, that didn't help.
SPEAKER_02: So uh, but I uh here's the thing as as we were in church and as we were singing, I could sing the same songs in English because the tune was exactly the same.
SPEAKER_02: I knew when they prayed, we were praying to the to the God that we were talking about today as they were singing.
SPEAKER_02: And so let's pray today as they worship the same God we worship, and let's just cry out to him as we start.
SPEAKER_02: Dear God, it is so good to know that you're in control.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, it is so good to know that we have brothers and sisters in Christ that we we uh worship with no matter what language.
SPEAKER_02: And Lord, the church in El Salvador, Pastor Hugo that is leading him, and all the men and the women there that are worshiping in this place here that they are also worshiping now because we were able to be a part of that, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: We ask you to fill that place.
SPEAKER_02: Fill that village, make yourself known amongst them and use the church in a mighty way to grow up the next pastor in that village.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, I ask you just today, just to be with Pastor Ugo as he leads them.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, bless their day.
SPEAKER_02: And Lord, I ask you today, here in America, stir our hearts.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, we need you.
SPEAKER_02: And Lord, here in this room today, Lord, we just cry out, we want to pause.
SPEAKER_02: We want to give you this place.
SPEAKER_02: We cry out that you fill this place.
SPEAKER_02: And Lord, I just beg you not to let my words get in your way today.
SPEAKER_02: Let your words speak to us, and Lord, help us leave here different than we came in because of who you are and what you said.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, bless our time together.
SPEAKER_02: In Jesus' name I pray.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: A couple weeks ago, Pastor Greg came and asked me if I would preach.
SPEAKER_02: And um I still, I still, it still fathoms me.
SPEAKER_02: Um, kid that had to take English again, the kid that almost flunked out a speech in college, was asked to come preach.
SPEAKER_02: But here we go.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna get after it.
SPEAKER_02: Um as I uh as I was thinking through what in the world would I want, or what, yeah, what would I want to say?
SPEAKER_02: The Lord convicted me.
SPEAKER_02: Um we started a Sunday school class that I I'm getting, I'm able to teach, and I'm grateful for that.
SPEAKER_02: And I was thinking of what in the world would we start this class teaching?
SPEAKER_02: And I prayed through different things, I studied a few things, and then one day I was up in a resource closet, and there was a curriculum there, and I can't even tell you how I picked it up.
SPEAKER_02: Had so much dust on it you could barely see the title because it had not been used.
SPEAKER_02: I was sitting there and it was dated back a little bit.
SPEAKER_02: It was a curriculum, and it was the minor prophets.
SPEAKER_02: And it started with Amos.
SPEAKER_02: And I said, Whoop, that's not for us.
SPEAKER_02: And there was something about it that kept drawing me to it.
SPEAKER_02: I took it downstairs, I got in my office and I was reading it, and I was convicted.
SPEAKER_02: There was a word as I was reading, awe of God.
SPEAKER_02: And I'll be honest, that word has changed my last six weeks to eight weeks where I'm at in my walk with the Lord, the things that are happening in my life.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, during this time, there has been some stuff that I was just like, God, I don't get it, but all I can rely on is that you're sovereign and you've got this.
SPEAKER_02: And so today I just want to take some time to almost just share with you where I'm at.
SPEAKER_02: That's all I know what to do today.
SPEAKER_02: So as we look at this today, it just takes me to the word ah.
SPEAKER_02: And if you have your Bible, open it with me to Luke 5.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna tell you a little bit of the story, but then I want to read this part.
SPEAKER_02: But if you will, if you'll if you'll take out your Bible, open with me to Luke 5.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna read verse 25 and 26 in just a second.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this is a time in Jesus' life, and this this story is also found in Matthew, but I wanted to use today the one in Luke.
SPEAKER_02: But this is a time in Jesus' life that he is now healing people.
SPEAKER_02: He is doing stuff now that people are sitting around going, How in the world did he do that?
SPEAKER_02: He must be different.
SPEAKER_02: And so this particular day, he's going around, he has he's got a room full of people, and they said here that there is some religious leaders in the room, but this room is packed with people because of all the things that Jesus is doing.
SPEAKER_02: They wanted to get around him, they wanted to see him, they wanted to touch him, they wanted to see what was about to happen.
SPEAKER_02: And they were all in this room, the room was full when there was some men that had a friend that was crippled.
SPEAKER_02: And they thought, you know what?
SPEAKER_02: We need to get our friend in to see Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: It's the only hope this guy has to even have a normal life.
SPEAKER_02: He's been through all this.
SPEAKER_02: We have to get him to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: So obviously they take him, they carry him, they go to the front door, and there's no room.
SPEAKER_02: They cannot get in to see Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: They couldn't even get Jesus' attention because how many people and what was going on.
SPEAKER_02: They didn't quit there though.
SPEAKER_02: They went up on the roof.
SPEAKER_02: Everyone, we know the story.
SPEAKER_02: What?
SPEAKER_02: Remove some tiles from the roof.
SPEAKER_02: You know, I can only imagine they're up on the roof and they got it, they got a, I don't want to say a spy, but they got someone that says, No, go further that way.
SPEAKER_02: Go further that way.
SPEAKER_02: No, no, no, you're not far enough.
SPEAKER_02: Because they didn't want to just drop him in the room.
SPEAKER_02: They wanted to drop him to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: So they take him, they lower him down, and Jesus sees him.
SPEAKER_02: And it's amazing.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus even goes, Wow, what faith.
SPEAKER_02: And then Jesus looks at him and he says, Your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_02: Talk about a stir.
SPEAKER_02: The whole room, all of a sudden, the religious leader's like, What?
SPEAKER_02: He's forgiven sin?
SPEAKER_01: And then Jesus says, What else was I supposed to say?
SPEAKER_02: Don't we forget sometimes why Jesus really came?
SPEAKER_02: Jesus didn't just come to heal people.
SPEAKER_02: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
SPEAKER_02: Careful with what I just said.
SPEAKER_02: He came to heal people because why?
SPEAKER_02: Because we are sinners and we need to be forgiven of our sin.
SPEAKER_02: We don't necessarily need to walk, we don't necessarily need to see, we need our sins forgiven.
SPEAKER_02: And how many times do we forget what we're doing?
SPEAKER_02: And when Jesus says this, or why Jesus really came, when Jesus said your sins are forgiven, it was important because it drew him back into why he really came.
SPEAKER_02: And then there was a stir, and then what did Jesus say?
SPEAKER_02: Take up your mat and walk.
SPEAKER_02: Look at the picture here.
SPEAKER_02: A guy that could not even walk, that had to have been carried there, that was lowered down.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says what to him?
SPEAKER_02: Take up your mat and walk.
SPEAKER_02: So get the picture here.
SPEAKER_02: He's laying down, he gets up, then he gets back on his knees and does what?
SPEAKER_02: Rolls up his mat, throws it over his shoulder, and then walks out.
SPEAKER_02: This is where I want to read.
SPEAKER_02: Read with me in Luke 5, starting in verse 25.
SPEAKER_02: Immediately he got up before them, picked up what he was laying on, and went home glorifying God.
SPEAKER_02: Then everyone was astonished.
SPEAKER_02: Can you imagine the room?
SPEAKER_02: Then everyone was astonished, and they were giving glory to God, and they were filled with awe, and said, We have seen incredible things today.
SPEAKER_02: Amazement overthrew the crowd.
SPEAKER_02: They just saw something remarkable.
SPEAKER_02: Something that just does not happen.
SPEAKER_02: Something that only God could do.
SPEAKER_02: You know, just in my own life, some things going on.
SPEAKER_02: I have a daughter that has a baby that's in the NICU.
SPEAKER_02: And I had someone come up today and say, How's it going?
SPEAKER_02: Do they need any money?
SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
SPEAKER_02: I was able to say no.
SPEAKER_02: And here's why.
SPEAKER_02: I'm sitting there, they're in there in Little Rock right now.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the thing.
SPEAKER_02: It's been the hardest two months of my life.
SPEAKER_02: I can only imagine what my kids are going through.
SPEAKER_02: But listen to this.
SPEAKER_02: The day, it's kind of funny.
SPEAKER_02: I was in the middle of a surgery, just a minor surgery, when they decide we need to air vac our little one casin to Little Rock.
SPEAKER_02: And so they get him, they take him there.
SPEAKER_02: And on the way there, listen to some things that happened.
SPEAKER_02: Tyler was gonna have to, that's my son-in-law, was gonna have to work.
SPEAKER_02: He could not just take time off.
SPEAKER_02: Juan is in the process of all this, his office here has an office in Little Rock.
SPEAKER_02: And they said, why don't you just transfer for now to Little Rock so you can continue to work?
SPEAKER_02: And since we're transferring you, this is what we normally do to someone that's being transferred, we're gonna put you up in a hotel for 30 days.
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't make it any easier, but when you see the things that only God can do, it should give us an awe of who God is.
SPEAKER_02: So my question today for you, today, as you're sitting right there in your seat, as things are going on in your mind, in your life, are you in awe of God?
SPEAKER_02: My first thing is when I was dealing with being uh just being in awe with God as we were looking through in our Sunday school class, the book of Amos, I had to look up what awe even meant.
SPEAKER_02: An overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, or fear.
SPEAKER_02: We see this, we see awe in the scripture in many places, but awe and the fear of God go a lot in hand.
SPEAKER_02: In our Sunday school class, this was a definition we've been kind of working on.
SPEAKER_02: Fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshiping Him in awe.
SPEAKER_02: You know so many times we come in here to worship and we worship the way we want to worship.
SPEAKER_02: Well, I don't like this today, or I do like this.
SPEAKER_02: You see what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_02: And so many times the worship in here becomes about us.
SPEAKER_02: When the worship, if we are in awe, changes from us to who?
SPEAKER_02: Him.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we forget that God is in a place all by himself.
SPEAKER_02: We think so many times that God's here and there's other things, and then just today we're gonna choose God, and we forget that God is not even close to the same row as anything else we're trying to put in his place.
SPEAKER_02: So today I got a few, I got about four points I want to, I want to, I want, as we're thinking of the awe, I want to work through with you.
SPEAKER_02: So here's number one.
SPEAKER_02: Oops, sorry.
SPEAKER_02: The awe of God starts when we see God for who he is.
SPEAKER_02: If you can, flip over to Colossians.
SPEAKER_02: Flip over to Colossians.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna read in Colossians 1.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna kind of bounce around a little bit today.
SPEAKER_02: Uh but Colossians 1, and if you don't, you can write it down.
SPEAKER_02: It'll be on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: I do I do want to ask this today, though.
SPEAKER_02: When we're done today, I hope the the scripture points drive you back to looking at them and looking deeper in the scripture.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: So today, though, I do want to stop right here.
SPEAKER_02: The awe of God starts when we see God for who he is.
SPEAKER_02: So Colossians 1, I'd like to, I have just 16 on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: I'd like to go back and read 15 too.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what it says: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
SPEAKER_02: For everything was created by him in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authority, all things have been created through him.
SPEAKER_02: Now, if we stop right there, we would all agree with that.
SPEAKER_02: Growing up, we've heard about creation.
SPEAKER_02: We've learned that God has created all things.
SPEAKER_02: And so many times we stop right there.
SPEAKER_02: And we forget, and I want to continue to read, all things have been created through him and for him.
SPEAKER_02: Christ is not only the one thing that is central, he's not just the one thing that created all things, but everything continues to exist because of him.
SPEAKER_02: God's rule and God's rules work according to his, listen to this, his eternal purpose.
SPEAKER_02: Everything happens not because Matt Passmore needs it, but because it brings glory to God.
SPEAKER_02: The verse of scripture.
SPEAKER_02: Um that God is has always been here, and he will always be here.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to think about that just for a second.
SPEAKER_02: The idea of the beginning and the end.
SPEAKER_02: Think about.
SPEAKER_02: Just think about that for a second.
SPEAKER_02: You can think back as far as you can think.
SPEAKER_02: God was there.
SPEAKER_02: God was not created, He's been there.
SPEAKER_02: It's kind of hard for our mind to think about.
SPEAKER_02: I remember growing up, my dad would say, you know, eternity in heaven, and we try to think, oh, eternity in heaven, it's hard to think.
SPEAKER_02: Because I've been alive 50 years and it's a long time.
SPEAKER_02: But in the scheme of eternity, it's not very long.
SPEAKER_02: And this is this the thing that I want to point out about God today is the idea of He's always been here.
SPEAKER_02: He will always be here.
SPEAKER_02: And that brings us just the thought of the start of just thinking of how big he is and how in control he really is.
SPEAKER_02: And then the awe of God is the basis for our walking in his ways, serving him, and yes, loving him.
SPEAKER_02: When we're in awe of God, it changes the way we want to fellowship with him.
SPEAKER_02: It drives us to our quiet time.
SPEAKER_02: We were at a uh a prayer conference, and a pastor was sharing with us, and I was convicted that day.
SPEAKER_02: How important is God in your life?
SPEAKER_02: You know, that day I was thinking, man, he's really important.
SPEAKER_02: Like we all would, right?
SPEAKER_02: Then he asked the question is, if he's so important, how's your quiet time?
SPEAKER_02: It's alright.
SPEAKER_02: He said, When was the last time you committed to the Lord to set your alarm every day and have the quiet time at that time every day?
SPEAKER_02: You know, my quiet time, honestly, up to that point was a lot of, I would find time to have it.
SPEAKER_02: And then if I would get a little busy that day, it would be like, well, God, you know that I'm busy.
SPEAKER_02: And then, but who am I this who am I having the quiet time with?
SPEAKER_02: And so ever since that day, my alarm goes off in the morning.
SPEAKER_02: There's some mornings I'm like, woo, that's awful early.
SPEAKER_02: There's some mornings I don't even need my alarm.
SPEAKER_02: I heard someone tell us say this the other day.
SPEAKER_02: And this is a scary place to be in.
SPEAKER_02: They said this.
SPEAKER_02: You know, I have three kids.
SPEAKER_02: I'm so busy.
SPEAKER_02: I'm too busy to have a quiet time.
SPEAKER_02: I don't think we realize who we're having a quiet time with.
SPEAKER_02: This isn't just a good man.
SPEAKER_02: This is the creator of all things.
SPEAKER_02: And then I think sometimes we forget this uh biblical fear of God.
SPEAKER_02: I think sometimes we forget how much God hates sin.
SPEAKER_02: I know in my own life, so many times, I can forget about these little sins over here that no one else knows about.
SPEAKER_02: And I can get focused on what I think God wants for me.
SPEAKER_02: I I'll just be honest.
SPEAKER_02: I had to go to three people this last week and apologize and try to get some things right just so that I could bring this message.
SPEAKER_02: Having an awe for God means having a reverence for Him that greatly impacts the way I live.
SPEAKER_02: To know God is not just knowing the facts about Him, but to stand in awe of Him and have a relationship with Him.
SPEAKER_02: So number one, the awe of God starts when we see God for who He is.
SPEAKER_02: Then that leads us into number two.
SPEAKER_02: The awe of God places God in His rightful place in our lives.
SPEAKER_02: Just yesterday we were in Little Rock and we were driving home, and I was going to study some stuff, and so we were just in a deal.
SPEAKER_02: So Lisa was going to drive, and so she gets over in the driver's seat.
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I'm saying, turn right here, turn right there, here.
SPEAKER_02: We can park right there.
SPEAKER_02: And she finally looks over and says, Listen, I'm driving.
SPEAKER_02: Can you just let me drive?
SPEAKER_02: But the picture of that, too, if we go back to putting God in his rightful place, it's actually the idea of letting God be in control without telling him what we need or what we want.
SPEAKER_02: Now there is a time to cry out to him.
SPEAKER_02: Don't hear me, but so many times we put God, we think, in the throne seat that he belongs in, but we want to give him all the pointers on how to do it.
SPEAKER_02: Listen to what 1 John 5.21 says, and it'll be on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: This is when John was speaking here, and when we say children, it's not just for the little children.
SPEAKER_02: This is the children of God.
SPEAKER_02: He's finishing up 1 John.
SPEAKER_02: Listen to what he says.
SPEAKER_02: Little children, guard yourself from idols.
SPEAKER_02: I think right here he's giving us a point.
SPEAKER_02: He's given us some points that go back to the awe of God pleases God.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the awe of God places God in his rightful place.
SPEAKER_02: He's giving us some warnings right here.
SPEAKER_02: Little children, guard yourself from idols.
SPEAKER_02: The King James Version says this little children, keep yourselves from idols.
SPEAKER_02: Then listen to this translation.
SPEAKER_02: I found this translation.
SPEAKER_02: I like it just because it adds a little more to it.
SPEAKER_02: That goes back to listen to what it says.
SPEAKER_02: Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your heart.
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to look at that just for a second.
SPEAKER_02: Look at this statement here.
SPEAKER_02: Keep away from anything that might take God's place in our heart.
SPEAKER_02: Anything in our lives that might take God from the place he belongs to we replace it.
SPEAKER_02: So when we look at the words, I want to look just a few of these words.
SPEAKER_02: Anything.
SPEAKER_02: When we see anything, it reminds me of anything in our life that is distraction from God who's on his throne should be in our lives that we remove it.
SPEAKER_02: It reminds me, you guys, many of you know for a long, for a while we've had a foster child that was living with us.
SPEAKER_02: And the other day, the Sunday school teacher told us that Deacon was in there with our little foster kid that was in there, and they were making some bad choices, and Deacon says to the little guy, he says, Hey, if you keep sinning, you're going to go to hell.
SPEAKER_02: Now, think about it just for a second.
SPEAKER_02: He got the principle.
SPEAKER_02: He understood that sin separates us from God, and that's the case, we're going to hell.
SPEAKER_02: The thing he forgot was he was doing the same thing.
SPEAKER_02: But how easy is it for us to sit here and do what?
SPEAKER_02: Look into someone else's sin and forget about those other things in our own life that we're dealing with that no one knows about, that we like to do what with?
SPEAKER_02: No one knows about this, so I'm gonna shove it over here, but the problem is we can't shove it over here.
SPEAKER_02: The harder we shove it over here, what?
SPEAKER_02: The harder it fights back and it gets all of our attention.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the thing is, most of us today, when I say this and when I'm talking about this, it comes right to your mind what yours is.
SPEAKER_02: And the idea of God, I've got to get that out, I've got to ask for forgiveness and move on to do what?
SPEAKER_02: To put God in his rightful place.
SPEAKER_02: Then it also takes us to the word might.
SPEAKER_02: That picture there is the idea of um don't even gaze at something that can distract you from God.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's a place in them all that if I'm not careful, I've got to bounce my eyes so I don't gaze and give in to something I shouldn't give into.
SPEAKER_02: Do you see what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_02: How many times is it that we have to don't stop and look a while?
SPEAKER_02: We need to run.
SPEAKER_02: It's like my favorite picture of that is Joseph.
SPEAKER_02: When he was being tempted.
SPEAKER_02: He didn't stand around and try to get his coke back.
SPEAKER_02: What did he do?
SPEAKER_02: He fled.
SPEAKER_02: And so many times we're sitting around, what are we doing?
SPEAKER_02: We're wondering.
SPEAKER_02: Whoa, here's even the best is we know there's a line here.
SPEAKER_02: And we try to see how close we can get to that line and still do what?
SPEAKER_02: Well, still have a relationship with the Lord, right?
SPEAKER_02: So keep away from anything that might take God's place.
SPEAKER_02: What is God's place?
SPEAKER_02: I just said the awe of God play uh the awe of God places God in his rightful place in our life.
SPEAKER_02: But what is God's place?
SPEAKER_02: It's number one.
SPEAKER_02: And not even by a little bit.
SPEAKER_02: By a long shot.
SPEAKER_02: You know how many things I screw up?
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes I got some good ideas.
SPEAKER_02: I think.
SPEAKER_02: Until I say them out loud, and someone goes, that's a dumb idea.
SPEAKER_02: But in my mind, what is it?
SPEAKER_02: Man, it is hard to leave God in his rightful spot.
SPEAKER_02: And I was I was texting, and Adam, Adam Wood a while back, he's in the Sunday school class, and he's been good and just texting me encouragement.
SPEAKER_02: And he told me this when we were talking about putting God in his rightful place and having offering.
SPEAKER_02: He said, This is something that I have to do daily.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, that's it.
SPEAKER_02: This isn't something that today I'm gonna put God in his first place, I'm gonna put God right there.
SPEAKER_02: I'm just gonna tell you that.
SPEAKER_02: If you commit to that today, you're gonna battle it sometime before you go to bed tonight.
SPEAKER_02: So this is an ongoing thing, and that's why it's so important to have an awe of who God is, so that we're constantly realizing how big God is, what he's done for us, and we're constantly battling to keep him where?
SPEAKER_02: Number one.
SPEAKER_02: And listen to this.
SPEAKER_02: The more we're intentional about keeping him number one, the easier it becomes because it starts to become a habit.
SPEAKER_02: The awe of God starts with putting God in his rightful place.
SPEAKER_02: And then number three, a question here is Is your awe of God missing?
SPEAKER_02: As we were in our in our Sunday school, as we were dealing with the book of Amos, actually, all the prophets.
SPEAKER_02: I went through all the prophets here, and almost every prophet, the minor prophet or the major prophet, had some kind of warning for Israel.
SPEAKER_02: And you know what most of the time, all this, you we we can say whatever we want, but it all related to Israel's rejection of the Lord and being led astray by false gods?
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it started back to when they wanted a king.
SPEAKER_02: Oh God, we need a king because everybody else has a king.
SPEAKER_02: When we get to everybody else, we start having problems.
SPEAKER_02: How could God's chosen people that God revealed himself to turn to other gods and worship false gods?
SPEAKER_02: I mean, think about the things the Israelites had been through.
SPEAKER_02: They had witnessed all the plagues, they had witnessed the Passover, the crossing of the Red Sea, many places, provision of water, the man and the quail, just the battle of Jericho alone.
SPEAKER_02: How can they go from God leading them to the idea of worshiping other gods?
SPEAKER_02: Let's even go here.
SPEAKER_02: How could a follower of Christ today veer from the path that the Lord has for them?
SPEAKER_02: I know multiple pastors.
SPEAKER_02: One of them was a dear friend that I looked up to that messed up at his church and had to get out of the ministry.
SPEAKER_02: How can a man of God, how can that happen?
SPEAKER_02: It takes us back that we're missing the awe of who God is.
SPEAKER_02: And then number four, here's one to be careful.
SPEAKER_02: Be careful.
SPEAKER_02: Is your awe of God a routine or temporal?
SPEAKER_02: Are you just going through the motions?
SPEAKER_02: In Hosea 6, it'll be on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: Hosea 6, starting in verse 4, listen to what it says.
SPEAKER_02: What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?
SPEAKER_02: Now, if we if we read in this, this could also be, this is Israel.
SPEAKER_02: There's this biggest tribe, so we could say Israel.
SPEAKER_02: What am I going to do with you, Judah?
SPEAKER_02: Your love is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes.
SPEAKER_02: This is why I have used the prophets to cut them down.
SPEAKER_02: I have killed them with the words from their mouth.
SPEAKER_02: My judgment strikes like lightning.
SPEAKER_02: For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice.
SPEAKER_02: The knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
SPEAKER_02: What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?
SPEAKER_02: And then it says this your love is like the morning mist and like the early dew that vanishes it.
SPEAKER_02: That's a picture of my own life.
SPEAKER_02: The idea of the morning dew, eventually, what's going to happen to it?
SPEAKER_02: It disappears.
SPEAKER_02: Wow, isn't that what most of us do?
SPEAKER_02: We come to church, we get fired up, we're excited about who the Lord is, we love the Lord, and then all of a sudden we go eat, and before the time we get home, our love has done what?
SPEAKER_02: It's vanished.
SPEAKER_02: We get up in the morning to do this.
SPEAKER_02: I've had my quiet time.
SPEAKER_02: By the time I get in my car and go to work, all of a sudden, what's happened to my love of the Lord?
SPEAKER_02: Is that the love the Lord wants us to have for him?
SPEAKER_02: And then it takes me to the last part.
SPEAKER_02: For I desire faithful love and not sacrifices.
SPEAKER_02: What he was telling the Israelites was this I'm not so worried about the rituals, but I'm worried about your heart.
SPEAKER_02: The rituals were put in place so that you could see who I was.
SPEAKER_02: But you're getting it all backwards now.
SPEAKER_02: It's all about the rituals.
SPEAKER_02: It's not about the rituals, it's about the desire of your heart.
SPEAKER_02: It's about the love that you have for me.
SPEAKER_02: It's about putting God in his rightful place and having an awe for who he is.
SPEAKER_02: Today.
SPEAKER_02: Who is God to you?
SPEAKER_02: Is he someone you come to church to talk about?
SPEAKER_02: And here's one.
SPEAKER_02: Is he your lucky charm?
SPEAKER_02: Do you come today hoping that the Lord blesses you this week because you were sitting in the pew today?
SPEAKER_02: Well, let me just tell you, he's sitting up there laughing right now because you're here listening to Matt Passmore.
SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02: He's thinking, ah, you think you're gonna get blessed?
SPEAKER_02: You see the picture of what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_02: So many times we do church things for what?
SPEAKER_02: So hopefully we get something back in return.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe some.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we might even be sitting here, and I see this too, myself included, that we see God as someone that, you know what?
SPEAKER_02: God, you need a little bit of help.
SPEAKER_02: And we're gonna run around helping God when sometimes we need to set back and let God be God.
SPEAKER_02: He took the Israel, Israelites through a lot of stuff for what?
SPEAKER_02: To reveal who he was to them.
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes the hard things we go through that we try to fix is something that God's dealing with us so that we can what?
SPEAKER_02: We can have a greater awe of who he is.
SPEAKER_02: It reminds me of a story when I was uh in um when I was teaching, my first year of teaching.
SPEAKER_02: Um I went to college, I got my degree.
SPEAKER_02: They did not train me for what was about to happen my first day of school, second hour.
SPEAKER_02: The door flung open.
SPEAKER_02: There was a guy that walks in the room that I had to look up to.
SPEAKER_02: I think he had been held back three times.
SPEAKER_02: This is eighth grade math.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, he was already shaving, I was just barely shaving.
SPEAKER_02: His name was Duke.
SPEAKER_02: I don't even know his last name.
SPEAKER_02: No one knew his last name.
SPEAKER_02: They just called him Duke.
SPEAKER_02: And Duke came in, he sat down, he turned sideways and he faced the wall over there.
SPEAKER_02: That was something we didn't do.
SPEAKER_02: I said, hey, Duke, turn around.
SPEAKER_02: He didn't even flinch.
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, uh oh.
SPEAKER_02: They didn't tell me.
SPEAKER_02: I'm looking through my manual.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, they didn't tell me if they don't obey, what are you supposed to do?
SPEAKER_02: And I'm sitting there and I'm panicked.
SPEAKER_02: And I'll just tell you this Duke started driving who I was every day.
SPEAKER_02: I would run to the attendance sheet first hour to see what?
SPEAKER_02: If Duke was in class.
SPEAKER_02: If Duke was in first hour, my day just went bad.
SPEAKER_02: When Duke wasn't in first hour, woo! But there were days he came in late.
SPEAKER_02: But Duke, I tried everything.
SPEAKER_02: I tried to be his buddy.
SPEAKER_02: I tried to be harsh.
SPEAKER_02: I tried to move him to another seat.
SPEAKER_02: I tried everything you can imagine to just get control of the class and control Duke, and nothing happened.
SPEAKER_02: But I'll never forget, one day we were in church, and the pastor said, Is there something in your life that you just haven't given over to him?
SPEAKER_02: Is there something in your life that you're in control of that you are personally trying to do whatever?
SPEAKER_02: And it just drove into me.
SPEAKER_02: Duke.
SPEAKER_02: I had not given Duke to the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: I hadn't even prayed about Duke.
SPEAKER_02: I'd spent all this whole first semester trying to fix Duke, fix my class, and I hadn't even given Duke to the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Duke was a problem.
SPEAKER_02: And I'll never forget that morning.
SPEAKER_02: I said, Lord, I can't handle Duke.
SPEAKER_02: I don't even know what else to do to Duke.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, I guess what?
SPEAKER_02: Monday morning, Duke was there.
SPEAKER_02: He was a problem.
SPEAKER_02: Tuesday, Duke was a problem.
SPEAKER_02: So my point of this is through my prayer, through my turning Duke over, it didn't get easier right away.
SPEAKER_02: I was still having to go through.
SPEAKER_02: But I'll just say this.
SPEAKER_02: Every time I saw Duke from then on, I said a prayer, Lord, help me connect with Duke.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, what am I going to do with Duke?
SPEAKER_02: And my heart changed for Duke.
SPEAKER_02: And then here's the funny thing is two weeks after I started praying for Duke, he moved.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know where he went.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know anything about Duke, but I'll just tell you this the Lord took care of it.
SPEAKER_02: The Lord took care of it.
SPEAKER_02: But my question, as I'm closing today, I want you to think about this with me.
SPEAKER_02: What is something in your life that is distracting you from who God is?
SPEAKER_02: And you need today, you need today to realize that God is in control and you need to say, God, I'm in awe of you.
SPEAKER_02: You've got this.
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to turn this over to you.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't say it was easy, but I'm going to turn this over to you because I'm in awe of who you are.
SPEAKER_02: I think we can all think of something along those lines.
SPEAKER_02: We can all, there is something in our life that we need to turn over to God.
SPEAKER_02: So think about this.
SPEAKER_02: When you're in awe of God, your relationship will change.
SPEAKER_02: Your relationship with Him.
SPEAKER_02: Your time at church will change.
SPEAKER_02: The way you deal with your circumstances will change.
SPEAKER_02: The way you think about God will change.
SPEAKER_02: And your relationship with others will change.
SPEAKER_02: Pray with me.
SPEAKER_02: As we're praying today, I want to just challenge you.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to think through real quick is there something that is distracting you from having an awe for God.
SPEAKER_02: Dear God, we just come before you now.
SPEAKER_02: And Lord, I just know in my own life just how many times I just over and over and over try to fix things or I try to speak into things.
SPEAKER_02: And so many times, Lord, you're just crying out to me to say, Lord, I just love you.
SPEAKER_02: I praise you for who you are.
SPEAKER_02: I praise you for how great you are, and how you created the world, just speaking into being, and how you set my family up and the way you set it up.
SPEAKER_02: And just all the little pieces that I look back and I see that you did in the moment, Lord, I was wrapped up in me.
SPEAKER_02: And Lord, I just today want to cry out to you and put you first in my life.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, help us be a church that puts you first in all that we do, that when we walk out of here, the world sees us different, not because of who was here today, but because of who we met that day, who we got to worship that day, and who we are in awe of.
SPEAKER_02: When I say amen in just a minute, will you stand?
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna sing a time of worship.
SPEAKER_02: And I want you to think about how the Lord has put this all together.
SPEAKER_02: Even before I started preaching today, this is what we sang about.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, hail the power of Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_02: Glory to his name.
SPEAKER_02: All the praise to him alone.
SPEAKER_02: And there is something about that name.
SPEAKER_02: As we sing this last song, cry out to the Lord and put him back on the throne that he belongs in your life.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, we love you.
SPEAKER_02: In Jesus' name I pray.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith First Baptist Church.