Live Sermon | Is God Present Even When I Feel Alone?

Thunder. Lightning. A trumpet blast. A mountain wrapped in smoke. Exodus 20 doesn’t give us a quiet, sanitized picture of God, it shows us a God whose presence is undeniable and whose holiness wakes people up. We walk through that Sinai moment and ask the question it forces on all of us: if God is really here, what changes in the way we live on Monday?

We dig into what it means to know God personally, starting with a simple, grounding truth: God has a name, and we can call on Jesus. From there, we explore how God’s presence shows up in both the dramatic and the ordinary. You’ll hear a gripping 9/11 account from Ron DiFrancesco about sensing God’s nearness and receiving direction that led to escape, plus a surprisingly funny grocery store “eggs” story that turns into a lesson on guidance, generosity, and noticing God instead of dismissing everything as coincidence.

We also get honest about suffering and confusion. When tragedy hits, we often chase explanations, but we argue that what actually sustains faith is the presence of God. Then we talk spiritual formation the way real life delivers it: tests and trials, short stretches and long seasons, and why God sometimes leads us down gravel roads to build endurance. The challenge lands personally: are we treating Christianity like a fun run, or are we running to win?

If you want a Christ-centered sermon on God’s presence, Christian discipleship, and the hope of salvation through the cross and resurrection, press play. Subscribe, share this message with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it.

Transcript

Welcome And Scripture Setting

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Kid Us Out First Podcast, where we're building transformed lives one message at a time. Each week you'll hear Christ-centered sermons from Dr. J. Perry Fowler, rooted in the truth of God's Word. This is where real faith meets real life, because a life built on truth is a life that lasts.

Sinai Terror And Holy Fear

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Book of Exodus, chapter 20. We've now finished reading the Ten Commandments, and we see God's revelation of Himself as He comes to the foot of Mount Sinai and He meets with God's people, and this is what we read. And all the people were watching, and they were hearing the thunder, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they trembled and they stood at a distance. And then they said to Moses, Speak to us for yourself. We're going to listen. But do not have God speak to us, or we will die. Can you imagine anybody saying that to God? Don't talk to me, God. However, Moses said to the people, do not be afraid, for God is come. Say that with me. God has come in order to test you, in order that the fear of him may remain with you, so that you will not sin. So the people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

God Has A Name And Presence

SPEAKER_01 1:52

God has a name. God has a name. God has a name. Do you know how foundational that is to our experience as believers? God has a name. Tell me his name. Jesus. God has a name. But not only that, but God is here in his presence. And when God is present, that is foundational for our life. We can't live without his presence. And the very nature that we know his name means we can call on his name and we can encounter God. We can experience God. You can know God. We can know God for real. And we can experience him in our life because he has come in his presence.

9-11 Story Of Guided Escape

SPEAKER_01 2:57

I was reading this week about a man, his name is Ron DiFrancesco. Maybe you heard of him. He was the last man to make it out of the South Towers in 9-11. All those years ago, what he was doing was this, he was up above where the plane struck the building, and immediately there was an explosion. There was a fire. And he thought in his mind, maybe I should go up because downward are the flames. And so he began to try to make his way up, and he said, suddenly I heard the voice of God. And he said, and I sensed the presence of God. I'm going to read to you his quote. And what he said, God said to him, God said to him simply, get up and push through the flames. In other words, go downward, don't go upward. So in listening to God, he said, the unseen presence stayed near, guiding and directing me until I saw a clear exit to take out of the doomed tower. I was the last person to escape before the tower collapsed. How many of you have ever experienced God in such a way that his presence was so powerful that you said, I was going one way and I turned around and I went a different way? That's exactly what happened to him in a practical way that day on 9-11. But in our spiritual life, when we hear the voice of God and we sense the presence of God, we may be going one way, but we turn around and go another way because that's the presence of God. He leads us. And this morning, I want to challenge you to think about the presence of God in your life. God is with us. Somebody say hallelujah. God is with us, church. God is present in our life, people of God. And because of that, it is so foundational to our everyday experience that without his presence, where can I go from your presence, Lord? See, we call that the omnipresence of God. David since that. The psalmist said, Where can I go from your presence? If I go to the heights of heaven, you're there. If I go to the depths of the earth, you're there. Wherever I go, if I go across the oceans, literally, if I go across the seas, you're going to be there. Aren't you grateful? That God is present in your life. And guess what? He's here right now. Whether you recognize it or not, whether you see it or not, across this room are waves that we call radio waves. And while you cannot see them, that doesn't negate the fact that they are real. You just need to tune in. And this morning, what we're going to do is tune in to our living God. And we're going to celebrate his presence. We're going to worship in his presence. We're going to notice his presence in our life. And as we do that, it will prepare us not only for the rest of our life, but being in his presence forever. You know what makes heaven heaven? God's presence. So this morning you can experience something that everyone in heaven is experiencing. You can experience the presence of God. Now, what do we know about the presence of God? Well, first off, God's presence is undeniable. You can't deny it. He's everywhere. All of the time. Somebody say all the time. He's everywhere.

Theophany Signs Fire Trumpet Smoke

SPEAKER_01 7:37

When we join in this text this morning, this story, what we see is we see God revealing himself in a very, very supernatural way. The Ten Commandments have just been given to Moses, and the people that were hearing and that were seeing what God was doing, they were visually noticing God. And by the way, that's so rare. It's so rare that God would make himself visibly known. But in this experience of Exodus chapter 20, when the Ten Commandments were passed down to Moses and given to the people of God to develop a great nation, an elite nation for himself, what we know happened is God showed up and God showed out. Has he ever done that in your life? Well, listen, when he shows up visibly, that is such a big deal that there is actually a theological word that is used for it. It's called a theophany. And what that means is that that means that God, I saw him in some visible way, or God, I heard his voice in some audible way. That is extremely rare, but yet it did happen, and it has happened in the past. And I want to tell you, it's going to happen in the future because when Jesus comes again, every eye will see him. Praise God. He's coming again. Now, with that said, yeah, it's rare. In our life, we pause and we say, Well, I've never seen God. We're like the Russian cosmonauts that went out into outer space. They've said, We're into outer space, we can't see God. Ruth Graham Bell, she responded. Ruth Graham responded, and she said this. She said, Take your helmets off and you'll meet him real quick. But God reveals himself rarely in physical manifestations. In this case, he did. I mean, he revealed himself, and the amazing thing about God is here when we read this text, he revealed himself to these people that were at the edge of Sinai through several things, several physical things which were very symbolic. God's a very symbolic God. We see that all through scripture. For example, there's a reason why there are streets of gold in heaven. It signifies his purity. There's a reason why the very walls of heaven have the names of the apostles on them. It's because God is a symbolic God. It all has meaning, and that's another sermon. But let me explain. God was revealing himself to them in some physical things that really spoke to them, and this was what we call a theophany. It was a rare occasion, but suddenly he revealed himself through lightning and fire. Now, what would you think if all of a sudden God revealed himself in lightning and fire? Well, symbolically, what it gives a picture of, it gives a picture of God's purity. When God shows up, things are holy. I mean, and what he does is he changes us. See, it's like the fire. The fire burns off the dross. And here God says, Listen, I'm showing up. I want you to see me in this way. He showed up as lightning and fire because he's a pure God and he burns off the dross. The second thing he revealed himself to them as, he revealed himself through trumpets. And the trumpets, of course, remind us of the voice of God. When you have the voice of God, God speaks very vividly, very clearly. It's like a trumpet. And by the way, if you hear a trumpet sound and it goes like this, what's that mean? It means charge. Well, God was revealing to them Himself through a trumpet, and the picture gives to us is God can get his message across no matter where you're at, no matter what battlefield you're on, no matter what your situation is, God is still speaking today to the listening heart. So God was using some symbolism here for them in his theophany. And then smoke that represents the presence of God. It's kind of like smoke. If you have a fire, smoke gets out, and try to contain smoke. It's not easy. It's not easy at all. But that's the picture God wants to give them. I'm everywhere, I'm here all the time. And I want you to know I'm present. That's what he's telling his people in Exodus chapter 20. He doesn't want them to miss knowing that he's there. And God doesn't want you to miss knowing he's there today. And as the psalmist did say, he said, Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you're there. If I make my bed in the depths of the earth, you are there. If I rise on the wings of dawn, if I settle out as far as on the far side of the sea, even if there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. God is consistently present in our life. Thank you, Jesus.

Presence Over Explanations In Pain

SPEAKER_01 12:54

You know, and so often in our life we say, Well, where's God? Rick Warren made mention of this. I love what he said in an incredible statement. He said this. He said, When tragedy strikes, when you hit the skids and when your life falls apart, when everything goes wrong, the typical reaction is to look for an explanation. Listen to this. He said, but sadly, explanations never ever comfort us. Even if you were given an explanation for your pain, it wouldn't take the pain away. It wouldn't shorten or lessen your grief. It wouldn't make you less likely to choose resentment. So don't waste your time trying to ask God why. Why? Why should you not ask God why? Why? First, our brains aren't big enough to understand all that happens in the world. It's like an ant trying to understand the internet. You're just not going to know why a lot of things in your life happen until you get to heaven. It's not going to make sense until you're standing before God, and then you will see clearly. And what then? What you need to know is this. What you need to know is when you're going through a tough time, it's not an explanation you need, it's God's presence that you need.

Grocery Store Eggs And God Moments

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Have you ever noticed God present in your life? I mean, recently my family and I, we went over to St. John's, you know, over the Virgin Islands. Went there on vacation a few weeks ago, and what happened was is uh we got an Airbnb. Now, mind you, that island is only eight miles wide. And so there's, I mean, it's not like you're going to Costco. You know what I'm saying? You go to a little market, we went to the little market, Jan and I went, and while we were there, we started looking around, we thought, we're gonna give some eggs. So we went and got eggs, and the eggs we looked at the sticker on the top, and it said six dollars and thirty-eight cents. I thought, those are some expensive eggs. And I started thinking, my uh she was with me, my son was with me who eats a lot. Uh, my daughter-in-law was there, and they have three kids, and I thought, how can we get away with just getting one carton of eggs? It wasn't gonna happen, folks. So I picked up two cartons of eggs and we bought everything else, and we went up to the checkout line, and while we were there, we were checking out, and I was looking at the lady behind me, and she was standing there with one carton of eggs. And while I was standing there, I was thinking, man, we're keeping her from going ahead and checking out. We've got all this stuff. I mean, and uh everything was expensive, so it was it was like, oh my goodness, this is just something, and we're running up a bill, and my mind was on that. And God, in the middle of that thought in my mind, said to me, That woman, all she has money for is her eggs. I mean, he said that to me. And I said, Okay, God, what do you want me to do about it? God said, You know what I want you to do about it? Buy her eggs. I was fine with it. I mean, I don't care. I'm a pretty generous person anyway, I really am. And so um I turned to her. She didn't speak, if she spoke English, it wasn't much, uh, mainly Spanish. And I looked at her, and I'm a big guy, and I stands, I said, give me your eggs. She gave me her eggs real quick. Like crazy white guy. I don't know what he's gonna do. I handed the eggs to the lady, the lady scanned them, I said, Bag them up, give them to the lady, and I said, God bless you, and she went on. We stood there and it was like chink, chink, chink, chink. We went through everything, we filled up a cart, we were all ready for the week, and at the very end were my eggs. I had two cartons of eggs there, and all of a sudden she scanned and she paused and she looked at it. On the top of it, it said six dollars and thirty-eight cents, but it just scanned for two dollars and something. She kind of looked at it, set it down, got the other one, looked at it, it came at two dollars and something to six dollars, and she looked and she says, I don't know what's going on. I said, I do. God just bought that woman's eggs. Jan looks at me and she says, Should we go get some more eggs? Let's not tempt God here. But have you ever noticed God showing up all the time? If you don't have that happen in your life, listen, practice the presence of God. God doesn't have to have a theophany to show up in your life. Matter of fact, God's showing up all the time. And because he's showing up, and some people say, Oh, that's just coincidence. Well, if you want to live believing a lie, go for it. If you want to live and just say, because I have it happen to me all the time. And the reason why is God's just constantly saying, Listen, I don't want you to miss it, I'm here with you. The Bible steps says the steps of a godly man are ordered by the Lord. I'm like, oh God, help me to be godly. And thank you for my godliness, only being in Christ anyway. But he will walk you through life, and when he walks you through life, you're gonna end up with a story. I just told you a story of a God moment in my life. And you may be back here scratching your head and saying, Oh, coincidence. Whatever you want to think. But I want to tell you, try God on for size and watch out if he doesn't show himself up to you. The children of Israel, they had stories. They had they had stories, and their stories really were kind of like, okay, my story is not necessarily one of those stories where anybody can really say it's a coincidence. How's anybody gonna say the story of the Passover was a coincidence? How's anybody ever gonna say that the story of the Red Sea was ever a coincidence? How's anybody gonna say the story of Sinai is just a coincidence? But every Christian, listen, whether you have a Theophany type story or whether you have just a coincidental story, I want to tell you, you have a story. If God is present in your life, you've got a story. Every Christian has a story. They'll tell you all the time. Listen, look what God did in my life today. Look how God came through for me. Look how God has been graceful to me. And listen, all of us that know Christ have a salvation story. And you say, I don't have any other story to share. I tell you what you have when you can tell the story about how you once were walking one way and the Spirit of God spoke into your life. The word of God came down like a scud missile on your heart. You said, I've got to turn around and walk a different way because I'm not walking alone anymore. I'm walking in the presence in an encounter with a living God. That's what I want. I don't know what you want in your life, but I want God to live in and through me. I must have the presence of God. And this is why Moses said, Lord, don't leave us, lead us up from here. It's in the book of Exodus, chapter 33. It's one of my favorite verses. I have it on my wall in the office. It says, Lord, don't lead us up from here. If your presence is not gonna go with us. I pray that for this church all the time. Oh God, don't lead us up from here. God, so often is a pastor. God, I don't know what to do except just depend on you and look for you and follow you. Oh God, don't lead us up from here unless you're gonna go with us. We wanna go with God. Guess what? He wants to go with us.

Tests Versus Trials On Gravel Roads

SPEAKER_01 21:10

The second thing we see is God's presence is inescapable even when it feels questionable. You ever had times in your life when you're going, God, I know you're here, but I just hadn't seen you lately? Or maybe you're talking about, oh God, I know you're here, but God, I just haven't heard your voice in a really long time. And God, I just don't get it. I don't know what's going on in my life. Listen, that happens to all of us. In verse 20 and 21, the people of God knew the presence of God was with them, but they didn't know what God was up to. I want you to see what happens. Here, God shows up, and there's the fire, and there's the trumpet, and there's the mountain smoking, and they're going, hang on a minute. Let me ask you tonight, if you wake up in the middle of the night and God shows up to Fire smoke and a trumpet sounding, are you gonna get up and run out of your house and say the place is on fire? Probably. Because you're not gonna know what's going on. Matter of fact, tonight, if you see smoke and fire in your house, in a loud sound like an alarm ringing, you probably will probably do what's natural. I gotta get up and get out of here. That's what they were doing. They were like, oh God, I Lord, God, what are you doing? Are you coming down to destroy us? Lord God, I don't know what's up with this. And Moses looks at him, and Moses was a seasoned man who walked in the presence of God. I mean, think about it. He had had 40 years on the backside of the desert, and God shows up, and guess what? He had a little fire and smoke there. It was called a burning bush. And Moses had gotten accustomed to God and God's ways. And so God speaks to Moses. Moses says, listen, do not be afraid. Don't miss this. Don't be afraid, for God has come in order to test you. Now, this is not going to be sell books. This is not going to get the offering bigger. This is not going to make a big old fat church like what we have in Houston where people talk about, oh, God's just blessed, bless, bless, bless, bless. I will tell you what, God is bigger than that. God is bigger than your pocketbook. God is bigger than what you want. God is so big, He's creating there on Sinai a nation, an elite nation to go and to represent him. He's taking the prayer of Abraham and the promise to Abraham. And Abraham, he said, listen, through you all the nations of the world will be blessed. And God was now in the process of doing two things in their life. He'll do it in yours too. If you so want to live in the elite, and that is, he will test you. And not only will he use tests, but he'll use trials in your life. And that's what that's what Moses says to them. He says, Listen, this same God, I know you don't know what he's up to. I know you're scared. I know you're afraid. Don't be afraid. God's up to something in your life. Maybe right now you're going through a trest and you're going through a trial and you're like, I don't know what you're up to, God. Listen, this is normal Christian living. Let me just show you why I know that's the truth. He says they will, he's gonna test you. He's come in order to test you, in order that you that the fear of him may remain in you so that you will not sin. Let me explain to you. God uses two things in our life. A lot of times when he shows up in our life, he does some stuff that we probably would probably not sign up for, but he does it because he is doing something bigger than you. Now follow this. Sometimes he uses tests. What's a test? That is a controlled event that includes temptation, an unexpected trouble, some undesirables that God uses to train you. It's like going to the gym. It doesn't last long. You go for an hour, you go for a day or two, you go for maybe a week, you go through the test, and you pass the test, and you're like, oh, thank God that's over, right? But you know what happened while you were in the test? It's like going to the gym, you got a little stronger. Things started changing, the body composition started changing, you got stronger. The muscle mass has increased. What about your spiritual muscle mass? How's this gonna get there? By tests. But then some people look at this and say, Well, okay, well, he also he also says he's gonna test you in order that you may remain, he may remain you, that you do not sin. In other words, I'm gonna bring some trials in your life too. You know what the difference between a test and a trial is? A test is kind of short-lived, a trial is long-lived, it's extended, it's a practical experience, longer lived, and it often lingers on to teach us to trust and to follow God no matter what. It's like going on a journey, it's like running a marathon. But do you know why God does this? While we stop and we say, Well, God, I want an easy road. I want the easy road. You know what we say? God says, listen, Jesus says, Come to me, I'm gonna narrow road for you. We say, that's great as long as it's, you know, the interstate. As long as it's smooth sailing and I'm riding in my cowboy Cadillac. As long as everything's smooth and there's nothing, oh yeah, I'm living for Jesus, I'm listening to the radio, I'm worshiping God, I've got the windows down and I'm shouting, hallelujah, Jesus saves out the window, and I'm all good with it until all of a sudden the gravel hits. Guess what? God's going to lead you. This is not popular, but God is not gonna lead you on the interstate own. He's gonna take you on some gravel roads if you really want to glorify his name. Say, I don't know if I want that. Not many do. Let me explain to you. God is looking for an elite group of people. He was doing it back in the Old Testament, he's looking for it here. Let me explain this to you. It's kind of like this.

Elite Faith And Running To Win

SPEAKER_01 27:43

Not a lot of people understand that it's not that hard to be in an elite group. For example, are there any of you that run consistently, that's a runner, and you just say uh two or three days a week, I go out for a good, nice walk run. Would anybody raise your hand and say I do that? Let me just try to see across the room. All right, one, two, three, three, three. I think I said there's one right there. Four, five. I see that hand. Five? Well, guess what? Congratulations, y'all are elite. Let's give them a hand. There you are elite. Let me tell you why you're elite. The reason why is because in America, did you know that less than 8% of people, 8 to 10%, actually run regularly? Now, let me just kind of just go on this. Does is anybody, has anybody here ever done a 5K? Raise your hand if you've done a 5K. All right, there's lots of 5Ks in here. You said I don't run regularly, but at least I'll go walk it and get the t-shirt. It's all right, congratulations. Guess what? You are among the elite. Because did you know that 4-6% of Americas have run a 5K? Give them a hand. They did great, all right. Did anybody run the Peachtree Road Race? Anybody here? Peachtree Road Race. There's one back there. God bless you, it's sure hot. Two, anybody else? Three, four, five, what?

unknown 29:33

Not this year.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Not this year. Well, raise your hand. I like you, man. That's good. You're elite. All right. Did you know that if you run a that's a 10K, did you know only one to two percent of Americans will ever run a 10K? You're saying, well, give them a hand, they're elite. All right. All right, here's the biggie. Who's ran a marathon? Yeah, there you go. Flex that muscle there, buddy. All right, very good, very good. One, two, three, how many? Run a marathon? Four, four, five? Why don't y'all run regularly? You said it hurt bad enough the first time, right? I'll build up to the marathon, that's enough. Okay, but did you know that only 0.5% of the people in the world run a marathon? How's it feel to be the elite? How's that feel, Sam? How's that feel? Max, how you feeling about that? You feel great, right? Stand up, give it up for Max, give it up for Max. He did it. There you go. All right. All right, yeah. Max is saying, I'm gonna stand up and stay up all night. This is pretty cool. People are waiting, you know. It's all right. But did you know that Christians, when Paul talked about the Christian life, he compared it to some stuff. And one of those things he compared it to was running a race. Specifically, in the Olympia of the Greek world, he said, run the race to win. He's comparing that to the Christian life. And guess what he's saying? You are elite. How many of you raise your hand today and say, I am a Christian? If you are, raise your hand. I'm a Christian all over the building. I'm a Christian. You are elite. God called you. And you said, I'm stepping up, I'm stepping out. But in the Christian life, I want to challenge you for a second and just ask you, are you a fun run type of Christian or are you an Olympian? Are you a fun run type of Christian? Are you a marathoner? Reason why I say this is because listen to this. When we think about people like Moses, here he is with a bunch of people, and they're encountering God. And God's saying, I'm developing an elite bunch of people, I'm just giving you the Ten Commandments, and I'm gonna take you to the promised land. I'm taking these people, Moses, to the promised land, and through them all the nations of the world will be blessed. I'm creating a nation, I'm creating the elite, I'm creating people that will be people in my own possession. Have you ever read all this? And he says, Listen, they're going to be the example to the world of the goodness of God. They're gonna get to know people in the world are gonna get to know who I am through these people. Listen, that's exactly who we are as well as the church. We are elite. Now the question is, is what kind of Christian are you? Are you a fun-running Christian? Are you a 5K Christian? Are you saying, Am I going to go the distance? I think there's people in this room and online today that will say today, I am sick and tired of the world. I'm sick and tired of sitting on my spiritual laurels. I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna run the race to win. Got quiet in there. You know why? Because the Holy Spirit of God is coming down on us right now and saying, I need people. I'm looking for people. Just like I was looking for people on the edge of Sinai, in the edge of this moment, this Sunday morning, this almost noontime, I'm calling people, I'm calling them out of the world, and I'm calling them into my goodness and grace, and I'm calling them to the elite. We as Christians want to talk about, well, I like the fun run. Yeah, I want to get to heaven. How do I get there? How do I do the fun run with Jesus? I know how to do this, I know how to take my Bible, at least on Sundays, I know how to do a little devotion, but listen, God is saying, I want you to make a difference, students, at KSU this year. I want you to make a difference in your family where your husband or your wife or your kids have turned away from God and said there is no God when it's absolutely obvious they're wrong. I want you, God's plan A has no plan B, and you know what his plan is? People. The people of God that will embrace the presence of God and go with God and change the world by his presence in you. Greater is he that is in me. Say it with me, than he that is in the world. We have a mega power, we have the prince of peace, we have the joy, we have the peace, we have the long suffering, because Jesus has put his presence in us through his spirit. That gets me so excited. Because God has called us to be elite. Oh God, lead us not up from here if your presence doesn't go with us. Would you every day when you get up, oh God, don't lead me up out of this day unless your presence go with me. God, don't lead me back home after lunch. And don't lead me to KSU this year. Don't lead me, don't lead me to my place of employment where there's so much swearing and hatred and there's so much backbiting. And God, don't leave me anywhere without your presence, because I must have you. It is not optional in my life anymore. That's what God wants.

Invitation Into Darkness Worship Altar

SPEAKER_01 36:10

That's it. So that brings us to the third thing, and that is God's presence offers an invitation to you. Now, when we look at this passage, let me just quickly show you this. In this passage, immediately what we find is Moses, he begins to walk with God. And God leads him, notice this, into the darkness. Do you ever notice this? So the people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. In other words, what Moses was saying, listen, I God was saying, I've got an opportunity for you. I'm gonna take you through some trials. I'm gonna take you through some testing, Moses. I'm gonna, you're gonna lead these people through 40 years. But he had already been 40 years on the backside of the desert, y'all. God had trained him. And here he was, one of the elite, and he says, Okay, God, I'm not afraid of the darkness. I'm not afraid of the trial, I'm not afraid of the thing. And he knew where the presence of God was. It was in the dark places. And he listens to God and he comes back and he tells them, Listen, God's offering an invitation to you. And what he does is he tells them, God has said this, you'll have no gods beside me. Don't go after other gods. Go after me. And he's issuing an invitation through his commandments. And then he offers an invitation through an altar. He says, I want you to make an altar for me. I want you to do this. I want worship to be a normal part of your life. I want it to be something every day in your life, not just a Sunday thing. Listen, I want you to come. I want you as the people of God to make me your focus and my presence your focus. Come follow me. The favorite thing that Jesus said. Come. And this morning, God is saying the same to us. Come on. You just studied the Ten Commandments. That was an invitation to you, church. We heard about the altar of God that the people built to a golden calf. God says, No, none of those make an altar to me. And maybe in this prayer altar that we have this morning, there are people that will come and say, I'm gonna come to the altar. I'm gonna come and I'm gonna lay down my life. Today, I'm tired of 5K fun runs. I'm today, I am sick and tired of the world. I'm sick and tired of living without the presence of God in my life. God will make you here. Let me close by saying this.

Heaven’s Big Question And The Cross

SPEAKER_01 38:54

There are three top questions that people have about heaven. Number one question is will I know my loved ones there? That's actually number three. Let me switch that around. It's number three. Number two question is the question, will I be married there? I ask that every day because I love my wife. I don't know if she's in for it, but I am. I'm like, I'm good for eternity. The young guys that want to get married someday, they're like, well, is God is Jesus going to come back before I get married? Oh no, you know. But that's the second question. But you know what the number one question that people have about heaven? You know what it is? How do I get there? How do I get there? People wonder about heaven. It's totally normal, by the way. If today you were gonna go on a trip, let's just say you were going to go to Australia, you would probably do a little study to find out what people are like there, what the climate's like there. So you're gonna have to pack some clothes to go there. You're probably gonna sit and you're gonna say, okay, if I'm going to Australia, am I gonna be, is everybody gonna understand my language there? And you're gonna have all these things. It's totally normal. So if that's normal for traveling to Australia, let me ask you, shouldn't we be getting to know what our future home is going to be like? It's normal to ask those questions. But the number one question is how do I get there? And I have one answer for you: the presence of God. The presence of God has come to us. He is Emmanuel, God, with us. God has said, Listen, I'm coming from heaven to earth, and he went willingly, came willingly for you and me. He went to the cross at Calvary willingly for you and me. He didn't stop and say, I'm down here for a front. He didn't say, okay, what about a 10K spiritually? He said, No, I am going to take up my cross. When's the last time you carried a cross around? I mean, Jesus went up Calvary for us. This is the story of his grace. Jesus, it was planted in the ground. They nailed him to that cross, they beat him to ribbons, and they let him die and they spit upon him, and Jesus took it all because he was the elite. He is the Son of the living God, he is the propitiation for our sins, he is the way of salvation, and he took it for you and me. He went up the hill, and now he calls us to the hill of Calvary and says, Listen, you can come to me. It's all gift. I did it for you. I did it for you. Even if you're gonna just handle Christianity as a fun run. Let me, I just want you to know, if you come to me by your gray, by my grace, I paid it all. I did it for you. But as I look at Calvary, I recognize that's my way to heaven. But do you know that's not all Christian life is about? It's about experience the presence of God the moment you invite him into your heart, and it never, ever goes away. That's the presence of God. As

Prayer Response And Final Charge

SPEAKER_01 42:50

we bow our head and we close our eyes this morning. Listen, I don't know what the Holy Spirit has said to you this morning. I'm sure he said a lot. He said a lot to me in this message. He spoke to my heart and he he challenged my heart to say, uh uh, do you notice me in daily life? And he challenged me to stop and to think and to be more noticeable of his grace and his the beauty of his perfection and the moments of worship that I have in my life. And it it he challenged me, but today he's challenging you too. And maybe today he's challenging you, and you've never opened your heart to Christ. And today he's saying, I want my presence in your life. And today you would say, Yes, I must live in his presence. And I have an encounter with him today so greatly, and he's spoken to my heart so clearly that when I came in here, I was on one path, and when leaving, I'm leaving on another. Because Jesus, I'm going with him. And Jesus, I believe you died, and I believe you rose again. I believe all these things. And today I receive by your grace the salvation that you offered to me and the presence of God that now lives in me. If that's your decision today, what an incredible decision. You your life just changed, your eternity just changed, everything's changed. But this morning, where you're sitting here too, maybe as a Christian, you say, Well, I've kind of slacked off. I forgot that I really am an elite. I really have been called to run this race to win. Listen, we're running with Jesus. We're not running alone. And even when you feel like the tests have come, and it's like God, your your presence feels questionable. Maybe that's where you're at today. And God's just saying to you, listen, I'm with you. And maybe you've gotten a little weary in this trial and this thing that you're going through. But God is saying to you today, you are elite. I'm training you. There's something bigger going on through this trial of your life. You just say, Lord, I don't necessarily like it, but I love you. May your will be done. May your kingdom come in my life. Thy will be done. That's what Jesus said, by the way. And he led him to the cross. And when you say thy will be done, there'll be a cross for you to carry too. But you'll never go it alone. Thank you, Jesus. Others that need to come, and this is your church home. You know what? God has said, listen, this is where I want you to be. And you need to come this morning and just say yes to Jesus. Join up with this team of people, wonderful church. And let's do this thing together. And we will always be saying, Lord, don't lead us up from here. Unless your presence goes with us. And guess what? He'll never leave us. Nor forsake us. Praise God.

SPEAKER_00 46:34

We're glad you joined us for today's segment. We believe a life built on truth is a life that transforms everything. To stay connected, share this message, subscribe, or visit us online at Kinnesoff First.church. We'll see you next time. Keep building your life on truth.