When Scripture Feels Boring

A 67-verse list of names doesn’t sound like a sermon highlight, but Ezra 2 refuses to be background noise. We read the census in full, then slow down to ask what God is doing through all that detail and why Scripture includes passages that challenge our attention. What comes into focus is surprisingly personal: God cares deeply about holiness, and he cares about how we worship, not just whether we show up.

We trace what makes this census different from other biblical lists. The people aren’t only counted by hometown or family line. They’re also ordered by worship roles: priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants. That structure points to a returning people who remember why exile happened in the first place and who don’t want to repeat the same pattern of comfortable worship, divided hearts, and spiritual shortcuts.

Then we get painfully practical. We talk about the road with two ditches: one side that shrugs at sin because “I’m saved,” and another side that turns faith into rule-keeping and shame. We bring in Romans 6 and Hebrews 10:18 to show why grace isn’t permission and why you don’t have an extra sacrifice left to offer after Jesus. We also talk about doubt, how to ask God “why” without spiraling into accusation, and how community matters when you feel spiritually stuck.

If you’ve ever wondered where you’re drifting, or why the “boring” Bible passages might be exactly what you need, hit play. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review with the ditch you’re most tempted to fall into.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Why A Census Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What? Unless it comes up. Alright. What? Came up last week. Alright, good morning, y'all. I'm not gonna do the my name is Ty thing every time. I don't know why that's where I want to go. Um you know my name, hopefully. He knows my name. Do y'all know that? Sorry. Um, alright. So I was looking through what's coming next in the book of Ezra, and everybody's favorite part of scripture comes up, and it is I'm just gonna get out of the way now. It's 67 verses. Not my choice. 67 verses of a census. And I think a lot of us, when we see, there's certain areas of scripture where let's be honest, like we don't want to read it. I'll say that as somebody who has read the Bible a long time, the hardest part of the Bible for me to get through was uh Leviticus. Leviticus took me, I read my whole Bible in nine months of just locking in, and Leviticus took two and a half of those. Uh I had to restart four times. I just couldn't. It was it was boring to me. Sorry. Um but the reason I read it anyways is because, and I mean you guys hear this all the time. Scripture, all scripture is important, right? And I heard a quote recently that all means all the time, right? All scripture is breathed out. We talked about this last week, 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy Thompson. Um, right? All scripture is profitable, right? Good for teaching. Um, and so part of me was like, man, why can't I just get a normal sermon? You know what I mean? Like, Jonah was my choice. Last week was like, alright, I gotta give you all the history, otherwise, you're not gonna understand it. Especially this chapter, you're not gonna get it if you didn't know about that stuff. But we're gonna go through. Thank you. Um so listen, guys, when it comes to census, you guys have probably all heard like at least one sermon about like one of these areas of scripture, and like the general message is just like, well, everything's important, and so we should care about what it means, or even like, well, God cares a lot about the details, and those things are true. Um, but I think what's happening in this census in the book of Ezra is unique, and so I'm not just going to preach a general sermon on what censuses are, why they're important in scripture. We are going to dive into what this is. Um and honestly, what I think is being showed in this passage is that God cares very deeply about how we worship and how seriously we take the holiness of God. Um with that in mind, I am going to read all of the verses. Um because God's word is important and it deserves to be said. And of everything I say today, even if you don't understand what I'm about to say, this is the most important thing I'm going to say. Not just this morning, but for the rest of my week. Um because this is not just me speaking, this is God speaking. Um I'm not gonna make y'all stand, but if you would like to stand out of reverence, go ahead and do that, just because it's

Reading Ezra’s Long List

SPEAKER_00 3:00

long. Um these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. They came with Zerubabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Sariah, Reliah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvi, Rehum, and Banah. The number of the men of the people of Israel, the sons of Parash, 2,172, the sons of Shepthatiah, 372, the sons of Arah, 775, the sons of Patam Moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812, the sons of Elaam, 1,254, the sons of Zatu, 945, the sons of Zekai, 760, the sons of Bani, 642, the sons of Babai, 623, the sons of Azgad, 122, the sons of Adonakam, 666, the sons of Bigvi, 256, the sons of Aden, 454, the sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98, the sons of Bezai, 323, the sons of Jorah, 112, the sons of Hashim, 223, the sons of Gibbar, 95, the sons of Bethlehem, 123, the men of Nedopah, 56, the men of Anatoth, 128, the sons of Asmarath, 42, the sons of Kiriatharim, Shephirah and Biroth, 743, the sons of Ramah and Giba, 621, the men of Mikmas, 122, the men of Bethel and Ai, 223, the sons of Nebo, 52, the sons of Magbish, 156, the sons of the other Elaam, 1,254, the sons of Harim, 320, the sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725, the sons of Jericho, 345, the sons of Sanah, 3,630. The priest, the son of Jedediah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. So now we're in a section called the priest, not just that was the priest. The sons of Imur, 1052, uh, the sons of Peshur, 1247, the sons of Harim, 1017, now we're into the Levites, the sons of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodoviah, 74, the singers, the sons of Asap, 128, the sons of the gatekeepers, the sons of Shalom, the sons of Adir, the sons of Talmud, the sons of Akub, the sons of Hadatiah, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139, the temple servants, the son of Ziah, the sons of Hapsubah, the sons of Tabaoth, the sons of Kiros, the sons of Siaiah, the sons of Padon, the sons of Lebanon, the sons of Hagaba, the sons of Akub, the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamli, the sons of Hanan, the sons of Gedel, the sons of Gehar, the sons of Reah, the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nakota, the sons of Gazam, the sons of Uzzah, the sons of Pasea, the sons of Bazai, the sons of Asna, the sons of Menuim, the sons of Nephesim, the sons of Babakuk, Bakbuk, the sons of Haphakapah, the sons of Harhur, the sons of Basilith, the sons of Mahita, the sons of Harsha, the sons of Barcos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Tima, the sons of Maziah and the sons of Hatipha, the sons of Solomon's servants, the sons of Sotar, the sons of Has Hasopharith, the sons of Peruda, the sons of Jalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Gedel, the sons of Shep Shephatiah, the sons of Hatil, the sons of Poch holy, Pocharath, Hazabim, and the sons of Ami. All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were three hundred and ninety-two. So that whole last section where I was just saying the sons of three hundred and ninety-two. The following were those who came up from Tel Malah, Tel Hersha, Cherub, Adon, and Emir, though they could not prove their father's house or their descent whether they belonged to Israel. The sons of Deliah, sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nicota, 652. Also of the sons of the priest, the sons of Phabiah, the sons of Hakaz, the sons of Barzali, who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzali the Gileadite, and was called by their name. These sought their registration among the those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. The governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food until there should be a priest to consult Urim and Thumim. The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty, besides their male and female servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. And they had two hundred male and female singers. Their horses were seven hundred and thirty-six, their mules were two hundred and forty-five, their camels were four hundred and thirty-five, and their donkeys were six thousand seven hundred and twenty. God, thank you for your word that even in a bunch of numbers and a bunch of names that I can't pronounce properly, that you do something in our hearts. And God, that your word will accomplish that which it has set forth to do. So I just pray that uh we would be able to lock back in, even though this seems kind of like a boring thing to us, Lord, and just try to get what you have out of it for us. Ask his name, your son, Jesus. Amen.

The Census As Worship Roles

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Alright. If you thought at least half of those were pronounced correctly, um you're a liar. Uh there's no shot. Um that was a lot. And that's why it can be kind of hard. I know, like, even when we read through Genesis, like, depending on the context, I'm like, just skip the genealogies, right? And at most, there's like two or three things in there where you're like, oh, that's cool. Like I know when I was reading, I was like, um, Jericho. I'm like, oh, Jericho. It was in the list of towns. I'm like, Jericho got cooked. And I remember that Josiah had like re-established Jericho. I'm like, oh, that's a cool thing. Guys, middle school.

unknown 8:18

Shh.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Um, and so like there's always parts that kind of stand out to you. But like I said, really what we're trying to get at here um is what is this specific, because this is a kind of unique census. Every other census in scripture is typically taken from an entire nation, or like we talk about like it's a genealogy, like this person from this person from this person from this person, right? Um, and this is kind of unique in that. Um, and so we want to figure out, okay, what is going on here? Um we start in verse 2, right? Uh they returned to Jerusalem, each to his own town. They came with Zerubabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Sariah, Raliah, Mordecai, Boshan, Misbar, Big Vai, Rehum, and Banah. And these are the leaders, right? These are the people who are leading the caravans or bringing people in. Um we really only so a couple of these names might be familiar to you, right? Obviously, Nehemiah is one of the books. This is not that Nehemiah. It's a different Nehemiah. Um, Mordecai, if you know the book of Esther, is like a main character in that book. This is not the same Mordecai. They just happen to have the same names. If you're thinking of regular show, it's not that Mordecai, obviously. Um really the only two people that we kind of know the identity of and their purpose are Zerababel and Jeshua. Um, Jeshua is going to be the priest and Zerubabel. He just talks a lot. Um, and so besides that, after this point, it is just a bunch of numbers, right? And it's very easy to zone out. But really, where I think things start to get unique and start to get important is when we start the categories, right? Because after a certain point, they're not just saying where people are coming from, right? In verse 36, it's like, okay, now we're on the priest, and not just the priest. The priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, um, the temple servants, the sons of Solomon's servants, right? What we see immediately is that they are not just ordering themselves into where they are from and who they are and of what town they're from. They're ordering into their roles in worship. And this is the point of the book of Ezra, right? They were they were exiled because of their improper worship to a degree, right? Not necessarily in the mechanics of it, but mainly in the heart of it. And like you have the prophets who come multiple times, hey, switch up, get it right, do this, and they don't. And so it was very easy for them to say, well, we just weren't doing the right things. So we need to come back and do the right things. But I think what we see that's important here, and it's just general scriptural scripture, every member of the body has an important role within it. Um, and that's not the entire point of this passage, so we're not gonna stick too long on it, but like like 1 Corinthians 12, right? It talks a lot about how the hand is not more important than the eye, is not more important than the foot, right? Me up here saying this is not necessarily more important than what each one of you individually commits and um starts with a C contributes to your church, right? Every person in here is just as important to the body of Christ as I am. Because here's the thing if Mr. Lively comes in on a Sunday and nobody's here, it doesn't matter how well he preaches, right? For some of you guys, your role in the church is just to come, right? But almost everybody in here has been uniquely gifted in some way to contribute something to the church, right? And that doesn't always have to be front and center. Like I know when I first started coming to church, um I was I was very technically gifted, and so I served on the tech team for about a year, um, and just serving in a lot of different areas. And it's like, guys, there are opportunities for you guys to serve um in ways that are unique to you. Every person in here, and we talked about this at some point, or like for dot day, right? Every person in here is uniquely and wonderfully made, right? Every person in here has been gifted by God in the abilities of something. And you can either use that gift for yourself or you can use it to glorify God. Um, and what we see here is right off the bat, these people know what their rules are and they're organizing into that. Um, and like I said, like a big part of this, like a major reason for the exile was their improper worship, right? Um they start to worship on tops of random mountains instead of going to Jerusalem. Um, and then they start to bring idol worship in. And a big theme of first and second kings is worship how it's comfortable, right? And first and second kings is what leads into the exile. A big reason is they would rather be comfortable in their worship than worship the way God has told them to. And we see right off the bat, like, these people are locked in, right? They're like, if we do not get our act together, we're gonna get exiled again, right? And so they set up all these things, they get everybody in their roles, and then even they're like, nah, you cannot be one of the priests because we like we cannot verify that you are of a clean genealogy, right? Basically saying that like you did not marry into a nation that you were not supposed to. Um and so like until we can verify that, you're gone. Uh Urim and Thumim, first off, aura name. I think that's so cool. But also basically what it was is like it was their way of determining think of like obviously a sinful version, but like think of like Torah cards. Like, this is their way of determining God's opinion, right? Determining God's judgment. This was assigned to them um in the Torah, and I think it was used once in 1 Samuel by Saul. Um, but we don't see this a lot. But this is them being like, yo, like, we don't have a prophet right now, and we have not properly established the priesthood, so we're going to go back to what we're supposed to do. So basically, all you need to know about this start is they are taking worship seriously. They are committing to saying we are not just going to come back and rebuild the temple just because and go exactly back to how we were. Because you've got to remember, like we talked about last week, that's the entire pattern of the Old Testament. Is we come back, we do some things right, and then we start tripping. Right? We come back, we'll take down some of the towers, and then in two years, we'll be right back to what we were doing before. Right? And this is they're saying this is not going to happen

The Road Between Two Ditches

SPEAKER_00 14:10

again. Um I have a saying I've been hearing recently, and I've been spamming it, and you're gonna hear it today. Every one mile of road, surrounded by two miles of ditch. I hope I didn't say this last week. Did I say that last week? Okay, whatever. Every one mile of road is surrounded by two miles of ditch. Basically, meaning, like, think of Mario Kart or whatever. Like when you are driving on the road, for every one mile that there is of road, distance-wise, there is a mile on each side as well of not road, right? Of driving improperly. Um, and meaning basically this when you are on the right path, there is a capacity to drive on the wrong path in either direction, right? Um, and we see this in a lot of ways. I think the most clear one in the life of the Christian is you have the path of completely neglecting God's holiness, right? Like that Romans, I like the first verse I ever memorized was Romans 6, 1, which is um there Of course I'm not gonna be able to read it now. Yeah, so uh so what then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means, for how are we who are dead in sin to continue to live in it? First verse I memorized, which it's kind of good I don't have it memorized anymore to a degree, because I had to spam it. Like people at the church I went to at first were constantly just going, Yeah, but I'm saved, yeah, but I'm saved, yeah, but I'm saved, and using that as a justification for their sin. And I had to I had to spam that verse because like, dude, like you just don't get it, right? They were on the side of the road that thinks God doesn't care as long as I'm on the path. As long as I'm somewhat near the road, I'm doing good. But then you have the other path, right? You have the other side of the ditch, which is God only cares about my obedience, and that's it. As long as I'm doing the right things, and when I mess up, I need to continue doing the right things, right? Um, like we talked about this a lot last week, maybe, uh, Psalm 51, right? This idea of like there is no sacrifice left for you, right? You do not need to sacrifice because Christ has been the sacrifice. And you trying to say, well, I'm not gonna do this, like, oh, I've sinned, so I'm not going to listen to music tonight. Oh, I've sinned, so I'm not gonna play video games tonight, because I I want God to see that I feel bad about this. That is not necessary, right? Obviously, your heart should be convicted, but you trying to live that sacrifice is different, right? And in the same way, the people of Israel have just returned from a damaging effects of one ditch, uh one ditch, right? They're neglecting that worship. Right? They're neglecting proper worship. And so they come back, and here's what happens all the time you start to get so afraid of the ditch you were in, you overcorrect, and you go into the other one, right? Um and right now, where they are at, this is the right path. What you see in this book is what it should look like. You care properly about God's holiness, right, and you stay on it. Um but what we're gonna see eventually is that the kingdom of Israel goes into the other ditch, right? And we see that with the Pharisees. These people who basically they devote their entire lives to just following the letter of God's law, right? Just basically saying, I'm going to do everything in this book perfectly, even if it's not written, I'm going to basically set up all these things that make it so that I cannot possibly fall short of this law. Um example of this today. I mean, you have a lot of what we call Orthodox Judaism is what it's called. Like there are examples like there was a fire in, I think, somewhere in Israel. There was a fire in a building, but it was on the Sabbath, and so nobody called the fire department because they were not allowed to use phones, because that was considered work, and so the building burned down. And like, well, what are we gonna do? We can't call people, it's the Sabbath. And it's like, don't think that's God's heart. My favorite example is the city of New York. So, if you ever go to the city of New York, especially on the island of Manhattan, and you look around the outskirts, you'll see like a fishing line hanging above the streets. And basically, there is a rule in the Torah. You guys know the law of the Sabbath, basically, right? Do not work on the Sabbath is the law. Now they had to define, well, what is working, right? And the way that they've come up with it is if you take anything out of your house and bring it out into the street or into a public space, then that is considered working. And so the problem is, on Sabbath, you are supposed to go to the synagogue. Now, here is what happens. An old person needs to bring their walker. They can't. It's bringing something from a private space into a public space. An old person needs to bring their medicine. You can't. It's okay, you cannot bring your baby. If you hold your baby out on the street, you are committing a violation of the Sabbath law. And I think obviously we're all like, come on, that's ridiculous. And they agreed. So what did they do? They said, well, what constitutes a house? Like if you can't take anything out of your house, what constitutes a house? And they're like, well, all it means is that there are boundaries determining the inside of a house and that there are doorways. And they're like, well, what are doorways? Well, technically, according to the Torah, all that constitutes a doorway is two poles and a beam going over top of them. So like, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna hang fishing line around the entire perimeter of New York and through light beams. So basically, they in their eyes, they have turned the entire island of Manhattan into one shared home. So when they walk outside, they are not technically leaving their houses. And this allows them to bring things during the Sabbath. I think all of us in here are kind of like, dude, there's no way God's like, listen, I want you guys to have your medicine, but you've got to figure out a way to make this one house. Like, nobody in here is being like that. And it it it sounds kind of silly, right? But this is what happens when you're voted to legalism, right? Legalism is a it's it's having your belief founded in the law, right? And Romans and Hebrews talks a lot about this, right? But here's the thing everybody in here is like that's kind of foolish, but you guys do the same exact thing. All that they're really doing is asking what is a sin, what is not a sin, and how close can I get to the line? And I'll tell you this. As a youth leader, the biggest question I get all the time, especially with like the younger kids and people who like first start taking their faith like seriously, their question all the time is, is this a sin? Is that a sin? Is blank a sin? Is this really a sin? That's the question all the time. Why? It's never because of like, you know, I'm really worried that I'm doing this thing and I just want to make sure I'm in the heart of God. Almost always it's I do this and I want to continue doing it, so can I argue with you to uh to basically come to this conclusion that it's not a sin? Um I'll tell some, like, and I do like I want you to hear my heart behind this. The goal of me bringing these things up is not that you have a good biblical defense against it. That's okay. I don't have the right answers on these things. But the ones I hear a lot, well, technically, this word was never in the Bible, so it can't really be considered cursing, right? Or the biggest one I hear, like, it's not really gossip if I'd say it to their face. It's not really gossip if it's not bad. I can talk about somebody else's business as long as I'm not being rude to them. And it's like, guys, the point is not whether or not you have a scriptural defense and a right answer for these things, right? Because I guarantee, if you change the question from what does scripture say about this, right, in a way of like I can take one verse out of context and make it say what I want. But if you actually change it to, man, does what I'm doing, does this action reflect the heart of God and show the people around me the glory of God, you're probably gonna change your mind. Right? And listen, I'm not just saying you just blindly go with whatever you feel, right? Jeremiah 17, 9, the heart is deceitfully wicked above all else. Who can all understand it, right? Like, the goal is not to listen to your heart, which I've seen a lot of people do, right? They take that Romans 14 passage, like, well, I'm not personally convicted by this. There are some things that are not personal convictions, some things are black and white in scripture, you should not do it. But there is definitely an aspect of if you have the Holy Spirit, you should be following your convictions, right? And listen, the hard thing with all of this is that from either side of the road, from either side of the ditch, The hardest thing is to get back on the road. Not because getting out of the ditch is hard, but because you get so afraid of the other side. Right? You kind of sit on this side of, on either one. Well, I know I kind of abuse God's grace, but I don't want to become a legalist. I don't want to become somebody that just follows God to do it. And so I'm just going to sit where I'm at. Right? But then on the same side, you say, well, I just don't want to live my life after I sin. I don't want to just be able to go on with my day. Like, how can I share the gospel after I sin? I've sinned against God. Right? I've heard that so many times. Right? But then the problem is you're still not back on the road. Right? And God tells us today that there is a balance. Right? He sends He spends 67 verses talking about how much he cares about his holiness. Right? There is an aspect of you cannot just sit on the, well, God doesn't care as long as I'm trying. Right? Because the problem is what you determine as trying is not what God determines as trying. Right? Now, some of y'all try too hard, right? Because God does care about the heart behind it. It is not like, I'll tell you right now, I most Islamic people are more committed to our God than you guys are. They pray five times a day, they memorize their scripture, they do all the things, and yet they have no relationship with God. They have no heart behind it. Right? But then at the same time, listen, like the challenge for you guys today is to figure out where you are on the road. Right? Are you in a ditch? Are you in the middle? And then what I would challenge you guys with is man, figure out where you think you fall more into. Do you fall more into the not really caring about God, right? Not really keeping your eyes on him and just doing what you want and knowing, well, I'm saved, I'm Christian, it's whatever. Or do you fall more on the side of, I am a soldier for God who does not deserve to have this relationship with him. I just exist to do things for him, right? And how can we fall in the center of keeping your eyes on him? Right? Let me go to my last page. Right. A verse I was thinking about, and I mentioned it earlier, is Hebrews 10.18. Where there is forgiveness of sin, there is no longer an offering for sin. What some of y'all need to understand is that you have no sacrifice to give. Right? It's not just that sacrifices aren't effective or God doesn't want them. You have nothing. If you truly believe in Christ, He has been the sacrifice for you. He has been the thing to forgive you of your sins. You cannot do anything to make you more forgiven of your sins. But really, our sacrifices aren't for God. Our sacrifices are for ourselves. We want to be able to forgive ourselves for sin, and for that we must sacrifice something. Right? But you're already forgiven. Align your eyes with Christ. Right? You're sitting in your shame and guilt does not bring you any closer to God. But in the same way, not caring about him doesn't bring you any closer either. If you need to remember one thing, it's it's keep your eyes on

Keeping Your Eyes On Christ

SPEAKER_00 25:02

him. Right? And ask yourself, like, think about what that means. Because we say that a lot. What does it mean to have my eyes on Christ? I'll tell you right now, like, when people say this all the time, and it's so hard to do in the moment. When you look at Jesus and when you think about the cross and what it means, it is very difficult to be upset about some things. Right? And there are moments where for whatever reason it's hard to look at God. There have been situations recently where I have straight up told God, man, I can't look at you right now. Right? Right? There are moments where I've straight up been like, I can't look at God right now because I just feel too far from him. I feel like he doesn't care. I feel like he's not present. I remember, this is kind of a dumb story, but whatever. There was a girl I liked a few years ago, right when I started being Christian. And for me, like God was sending all the signs of like this is the one. I'm like, yes, God, thank you. And out of nowhere, she's like, by the way, I'm in love with another. Like it's some sort of like Shakespearean tragedy. And obviously my heart is broken, and I'm crying, and I'm like, my God, why would you do this to me? Why would you, why would you rain these thunders upon me and your fury and your wrath and all these things? And it's like, it wasn't that deep. I mean, it is whatever. But it's not that deep, it's not that deep, it's not that deep. But I remember like literally, it was before it was on a Wednesday. Oh sorry. Um, it was on a Wednesday, and I basically went for a walk at uh Gemini Springs. Um, because I used to, Pastor Adam showed me there, and I'd walk there all the time, and I was like, I'm just gonna walk until I'm not mad anymore. And I got from the start of Gemini Springs, and about four miles in, I'm like, alright, I need to listen to music. Because like I don't want to just be walking out here angry, people are gonna think I'm gonna kill them or something. So like I'll put some music on and I go to put on worship music and it starts off with like, open the eyes. I'm like, alright, this is not it. Like I literally I remember straight up being like I I remember straight up saying, like, God, I don't want to hear you right now. I don't want to be near you. I don't want to look at you, I don't want to think of you. Because I'm mad at you. And I remember like I put on like my rap playlist from when I was like all depressed in high school, and it's like juice world. It's like hard uh like rod wave, like uh. But I love Rod Wave. Not anymore. Well, kinda. But like I literally was. Oh wait, no, you can't get it. But I remember basically being like afterwards, like, man, and obviously I walk it off, I get all the way to like the I-4 intersection. Um and then I'm like, alright, well, I'm gonna walk back. I think it was like nine miles there, nine miles back, something like that. Um, it's walking. You could walk for 20 miles and feel nothing. Um but I remember at the end of it, I was like, yeah, that was kind of dumb. And I played worship music on the way back, and I'm like, open the eyes of fire, like clapping and everything. But it was just one of those moments for me where it's like, man, like it is hard to look at Christ sometimes. Either because you just don't want to think about his presence or because you should have don't want to see him, right? And there are going to be difficult moments when you're in your life where you ask God why. Right? And asking God why is not a problem. He is not afraid of your doubts, right? I just read through John chapter 20. And he Thomas is like, yo, if I do not see him and feel him, I'm not gonna believe. And eight days later, Jesus comes, he says, all right, see me, feel me. And like he did not have to do that. He could have been like, brother, a message ain't enough, but he came because he cares about you. More, nah, he cares about you. And he's not afraid of your questions, right? But there is a way to ask those questions healthily. There's a difference in your life between saying, God, I'm going through something tonight, and I don't know why you're doing it, and I would like to know what you are trying to teach me. Or saying, God, why do you hate me? Why are you doing this to me? Why am I the one that has to suffer through this? Why'd you do that to this person, right? And those moments are difficult, and I'm not undermining those. But what I'd encourage you to do is surround yourself with people, right? I think of the paralyzed man. He was not able to go to Jesus himself. But he had friends who were willing to carry him when he could

Community That Carries You

SPEAKER_00 29:17

not walk. And so, two challenges for you guys today. One, do you have friends in your life that know you well enough to say he is spiritually paralyzed? I need to pick him up and carry him to the feet of the cross because he will not be able to make it on his own. And the second challenge today is where are you on the road? Right? Figure out where you're at. Do not let the sun set tonight where you are with God. And guys, look around this room. Like, these are people that you see pretty much every single day. Right? And these are people who love God, right? Or the very least, profess to. And so these these relationships can last a long time. I tell kids all the time though, like, listen, when you graduate high school, like I haven't seen somebody from high school in a year and a half. Um, but that's only because you neglect those relationships. Church relationships have always been the things that lasted the longest. So then find people today, not that you enjoy spending time with, right? That could be part of it. Not that, well, they're funny, but ask yourself, does this, would this person be willing to carry me to the cross? If I was in a such a difficult season in my life where I didn't even want to talk to God, I didn't want to see him, I didn't even want to think about prayer, would this person be willing to sit with me, cry with me, but also tell me, you need to pray. You need to go back to God. And even if you don't, I'll be praying for you. Um, we're gonna go ahead and pray. Dear God, uh, just thank you for your truth today, Lord. Um, and I thank you for this book, God, that even a passage with way too many numbers, Lord, that we can learn something about your character and about who you are and about how we should respond to that, Lord. God, your word demands a response no matter how short the passage, Lord, no matter how long the passage. Your word does not leave void. So, God, I pray that somehow, Lord, not through my words, but through your word, that you've managed to reach a heart today, God, and that somebody acknowledges how close you are, God. Because you can't take a step closer to God, because he's as close as he can be. So, God, I pray that somebody in this room is reminded of that today. And that they're intentional with their community that you've established with them and intentional on their walk with you that's personal, Lord. I ask this in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen.