WEBVTT 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:07.280 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:11.599 We exist to awaken this generation to new life in Christ. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:13.039 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:16.399 To find out more, go to awakeningchurch.com. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:20.879 I just want to say welcome to Awakening. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:25.199 We're so thrilled that you're joining us online today. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:31.679 And my name's Ryan, and I'm just excited to be together in this online format. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:46.399 One of the things we've said really almost from the day one of when awakening began is we said that we believe the church should lead the way in unleashing extravagant generosity to a hurting and broken world. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:49.359 And boy, do we want to lean into that now. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:56.799 We actually want to say it this way: we're going to err on the side of generosity at Awakening Church in this season. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:02.960 We're not just going to shrink back and somehow like huddle and figure out how do we just make it through. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:07.680 But if we're going to err anyway, we're going to err on the side of generosity. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:10.719 And that's what we've been doing in our partnership with Del Mar. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:20.239 And how do we helping families that are in deep need in this season and providing food for them and gift cards for groceries there? 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:24.239 It's also how we want to help families in need in our own community. 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:32.159 As a leadership council, we set aside$50,000 to help support and connect people in our own church. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:38.319 And so if you're here and you need help and you're signing on, would you fill out that connection card? 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:40.560 And we'd love to figure out how we can help you. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:45.680 Maybe uh you're not really sure how you're going to pay rent or put food on the table. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:47.680 And we want to be a part of that. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.120 And maybe you know someone that's in that space. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:55.760 Uh, would you uh kind of let us know about them? 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:57.599 That would be great as well. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:03.359 And so part of it is as a church, we want to lean in to extravagant generosity. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:05.519 And for some, this is your first time to do that. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:12.479 Maybe you've never given at awakening church ever, and you are gonna say, you know what, in this season, I have a job. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:14.560 In this season, I'm gonna be a first-time giver. 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:17.120 Would you be a first-time giver today? 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:26.000 And for others, for us to be able to continue and plan on extravagant generosity in the future, we actually need you to set up automatic giving. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:31.759 Would you automate your giving so that we can plan on it and know, yeah, we can lean into this season? 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:41.599 Uh, it would be an incredible way that you get a partner with us and how we're gonna unleash extravagant generosity to a hurting and broken world. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:49.360 One of the other ways that we're wanting to do this is in the area of celebrating and supporting our first responders. 00:02:49.599 --> 00:03:00.080 You know, when all of this went down a few weeks ago, uh, as we're talking as a staff, we began to make a list of everyone we knew in our church who's a doctor or a nurse. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:03.680 And if you're a doctor or nurse, uh would you let us know? 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:07.520 Would you fill out a um a connection card? 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:13.840 We want to know because we want to send you a care package package and give you some stuff just to let you know, hey, we're behind you. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:15.360 We're loving you. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:17.759 We want to provide encouragement in this season. 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:20.319 We're so grateful for what you're doing. 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:31.840 And we also, for our policemen and firefighters and EMTs and paramedics, we want to know as well because we really want to come around you and love on you guys as well. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:37.199 And just give you some things of encouragement in this season. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:38.000 All right. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.520 Well, this morning we're kicking off a brand new series. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:44.000 It's called God is Bigger. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:49.680 And I think this is such an important series in the life of our church. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:55.840 And what we're gonna do in our time together is really answer the question all of us are asking. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:04:04.159 Uh, the question is simply this What do you do when you find yourself caught in the middle of a pandemic? 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:07.840 I know we never thought we were gonna be asking that question. 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:13.439 You're like, you know, four weeks ago, even we go, like, that's not even a question I was thinking about. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.720 But all of us are wrestling with that question. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:18.000 What do you do? 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:23.680 When you find yourself caught in the middle of a pandemic. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:27.600 Now, we all know what we have been doing. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:34.319 Uh, in fact, I just was checking on Instagram earlier and someone posted, um, I finished Netflix. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:35.920 It's just like, it's done. 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:38.000 In fact, um, I just saw this as well. 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:41.360 If you don't mind, I'm getting on my phone uh with you here. 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:45.279 Uh, this person wrote, it was a, I don't know if you call these memes or not. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:46.399 No, it's not a picture. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:49.439 Anyways, I I don't worry about it. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:52.319 I'm not as old as I'm sounding right now. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:57.839 Dear Netflix, can you please turn off the are you still watching feature? 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:02.000 We are in quarantine, so yes, we are still watching. 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:06.879 I don't need this kind of judgment in this time of uncertainty. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:11.680 If you could please update it with, are you sure you want to eat that? 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:16.160 Notice that would be helpful, uh, be much more helpful at this time. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.000 Sincerely me. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:21.519 And I love that because isn't it true? 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:23.519 This is what we're doing in quarantine. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:30.959 In fact, instead of the freshman 15, we have the quarantine 15, and I'm experiencing it myself. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:35.279 And I think actually, you know, in the middle of this, what do we do? 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:58.800 Well, yeah, we're we're binging Netflix, we're um eating food out of stress, we're constantly obsessively checking the news, we're just trying to find some semblance of normality and figure out with our kids and school and work, and we're in this season of like just feeling like we're just thrown about completely disoriented. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.040 And so, what do you do? 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:02.560 What do we do? 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:10.639 Maybe better yet, what should we do when we're caught in the middle of a pandemic? 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:31.920 Well, chaotic times and uncertain future is nothing new to the people of God, and so we can actually go to God's word and lean in and find such deep and rich encouragement. 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:43.519 In fact, one of the things I do when I find myself in seasons where I'm completely disoriented or the future's uncertain, is I go back to the basics. 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.800 I want to go back to what I know to be true. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:52.639 I want to reorient my life in a disorienting time to what God says is true. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:55.920 And that's what we're gonna do in our series, God is Bigger. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.759 In fact, uh, there's this quote, my buddy Andre gave it to me years ago. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.800 People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:17.360 And what I wanna do in this season, in this series, is to remind you of some things that's true about God, and as a result, is true about you. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.600 And this morning we're gonna look at Isaiah and his life. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:28.319 In fact, he was caught in the middle of a chaotic, uncertain future. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:38.720 And in his story, we actually learn what do we do when we're caught in the middle of a pandemic together? 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:42.399 How do we or how should we respond? 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:49.680 If you got your Bibles, would you open them up to Isaiah chapter six, Isaiah chapter six, verse one. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:52.240 It begins this way. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:58.959 It says, In the year that King Uzziah died. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:12.079 Now, for us, our tendency can be to re run past that, you know, those seven words, and just be able to go, um, you know what, those are just kind of tell us telling us when this happened. 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:20.319 But those seven words for Isaiah are filled with such deep heartache and pain and uncertainty. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:26.879 And here's one of the things that you just need to know is Isaiah grew up in what was known as the southern kingdom. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.920 See, Israel had a um civil war. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:32.960 I let me get the date right, 930 BC. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:40.879 And so the northern northern kingdom and the southern kingdom were created, and so Isaiah grew up in the southern kingdom. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:43.360 Uh, he actually grew up in the royal court. 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:48.159 His dad, Amaz, was actually a wealthy aristocrat. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:51.759 And so he grew up in the court of the king of Uzziah. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:56.159 And Uzziah was a great and for the most of his life a godly king. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:03.279 He reigned 50 years, and so Israel had experienced such peace and prosperity over the course of that time. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:13.600 And so when Uzziah died, his grandson, who was actually very wicked and evil, stepped in and his influence and impact began to take uh shape. 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:20.960 And at the same time, there's political unrest and uncertainty all around uh the southern kingdom of Judah. 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:29.679 Uh the Assyrian, the super uh the Assyrian Empire, the super party, uh, super party, the super, what is it called? 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:30.320 Help me out. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:31.279 Power. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:32.000 Thank you very much. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:36.639 The superpower at the time um was conquering. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:40.480 So they conquered Galilee, Damascus, Israel. 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:55.039 And so he's, when you read those words, in the year that King Uzziah died, for him, this is in the year of deep heartache and pain as a godly mentor and one who you served under a leader died. 00:09:55.200 --> 00:10:03.360 In the year when when economic uncertainty and the future of your entire nation is being held within the balance. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:07.840 It's just filled with such pain and anguish. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:13.679 And I wonder how you would feel that line out in the year that Blank died. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:24.720 Certainly we're in the year of the whole coronavirus, but I think for many of us, we are experiencing in the year of something dying. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:30.960 In fact, for many relationships, this has created such stress and pain. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:36.960 And, you know, we were able to distract ourselves or be have a lot of different things going on. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:47.759 So some of those issues that you ignored or overlooked now have come to the top, and we're actually seeing uh an incredible increase in divorces in this season. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:53.360 In the year that your marriage or those that key relationship began to crumble. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:11:10.879 In the year, maybe it's where your job and uh your future is uncertain, in in the year where depression began to get its grips around you, or anxiety and panic and worry, in that year. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:12.799 What do you do? 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:14.639 How do you respond? 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:17.200 Notice what Isaiah does next. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:25.039 It says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:33.360 It wasn't on the mountaintop when Isaiah saw the Lord. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:42.000 It was in the valley below, in the midst of the most difficult, painful season of his life. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:44.320 It was in that year, in that moment. 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:47.279 And for some, you're right there in that moment. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:50.639 Collectively, as a world, we're traveling in that moment. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:12:00.960 And what I want you to know is God is more present and more real and wants to meet you in powerful ways in that year in this place right now. 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:03.120 And so, what do you do? 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:05.279 We do what Isaiah did. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:06.720 Look up. 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:13.279 Would you look up and see God for who he really is? 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:18.000 See, we're looking at all sorts of things right now, aren't we? 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:36.159 We're looking at our social media feed, we're looking at the news feed, uh, we're looking uh at all, you know, Netflix binging, we're looking at the stock market, we're looking at so many things that have captured our attention and our uh our affection and our concentration. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:37.679 And he says, No, no, no. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:38.879 What do you do? 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:47.120 Look up from the Netflix binging, look up from the news feed, look up from your social media and look to Jesus. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:50.960 Look up and see God for who he is. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:54.000 Now, let me ask you this question. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.200 What do you think about God? 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:02.879 Uh when you think about what is sorry, I gotta read this better. 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:06.080 When you think about God, what do you think about? 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:11.600 When you think about God, what comes to your mind? 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:25.039 I think a lot of us we don't know what to think about, or we've made God in our own image, and so he's too small to handle the problems. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:32.960 Notice what Isaiah sees when he sees God, when he looks up and sees God. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:38.879 It says this it says, I saw the Lord high and exalted. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:42.879 The first thing he sees is that he's high and exalted. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:14:04.399 This means that that Jesus is the focal point, the center of the universe, that he's above all else, that he's preeminence, that he's high and exalted, that God is actually the center of the universe, not the coronavirus, that God is actually the center of the universe, not our economic reality or the stock market. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:10.080 God is the center of the universe, not the politics and the governments, and that's all going on. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:15.279 He says, by the way, the first thing I see is that God, you are high and exalted. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:16.480 You are above all else. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:17.440 You're above this. 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:21.200 You're not in the middle of this in the way that you're being caught up in it. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:25.360 You're actually high and exalted with full authority. 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:26.559 Notice what else it says. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:32.159 It says, high and exalted, and then it says, seated on a throne. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:39.039 When everything else is so uncertain, life is so chaotic. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:46.000 God is in control, He is sovereign, He is the king of the universe. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:52.399 Nothing is too big for him. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:15:02.960 I I love the image of him seated because it means that he's not writhing his hands, worried or anxious about what's gonna happen next. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:05.279 He's he's actually in control. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:09.440 He's not surprised by the circumstances, he's he's in control. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:19.919 In fact, the only place that we ever see God standing is in the scriptures is actually to welcome one of his martyred ones home. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:23.360 Other than that, he is seated and in control. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:30.639 Isaiah, when he looks up and sees God, he sees he's high and exalted, that he's seated and he's on the throne. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:34.799 He's still reigning and ruling right now in this moment. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:39.279 And then it says that the train of his robe filled the temple. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:48.639 In the ancient day, the length of a train of the robe was the symbolic of the extent of power that a king had. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:54.399 I loved when we're doing our if my people um prayer and fasting on Wednesday. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:16:02.320 Uh Kirsten in our prayer gathering, in our noonday prayer gathering, talked about this and she mentioned that very reality. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.440 And it is true. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:16.080 And it's with the picture that Isaiah is getting in this uncertain time, in that year when the king died, is that the king is still on the throne and he still has all the power. 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:30.960 Even though Uzziah's wicked grandson's, you know, uh impact is starting to be felt, it's like the true king is still on the throne and has all the power and all authority. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:50.879 Like, what would it be if instead of looking at all the stuff around you, instead of worrying, that you began to look up and see God for who he is, that he is high and exalted, that he is seated on the throne and he has full authority and power and dominion. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:53.440 And then it says this, and it's such a beautiful picture. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:57.919 It says, Above him were seraphims, these angels, each with six wings. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:12.400 With two wings, they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying, and they were calling out one to another holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:15.759 The whole earth is full of his glory. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:23.279 At the sound of their voices, the doorpost and the threshold shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:28.880 What Isaiah saw was a holy God. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:34.160 Holy, holy, holy. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:44.720 The holiness of God is that he set apart in brilliant perfection and righteousness, that he's completely other. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:50.640 In the Hebrew, they don't have the ability to say good, better, best. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:54.160 That's just not built into their language, and to do it, they use repetition. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:04.880 Holy, holy, holy is this triplicate to say there is none other like you in any other way. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:13.200 You are completely holy, and you dwell in inapproachable light. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:16.960 You're perfect beyond comprehension. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:22.000 And holiness isn't something he does, it's something he is. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:28.319 See, there's no other attribute of God that's repeated three times other than holiness. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:34.079 And so when you think about God, he doesn't love the way we love, his love is a holy love. 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:44.240 When you think about God, his justice is a holy justice, his righteousness is a holy righteousness, his mercy is a holy mercy. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:57.920 See, would you in this season, when you're being tossed and thrown by all that's getting in the world around us, would you look up and see God for who he is? 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:02.799 I want to give you a picture of what this does for us. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:07.279 Um, I got this from my dad years ago. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:17.680 See, when we're in the middle of a crisis or storm, our circumstances that are just unbearable. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:19.680 I just want you to grab this quarter. 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:22.640 In fact, if you have a quarter at home, go ahead and grab it. 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:33.599 Is what happens is if you pull that quarter all the way up to your eye, um, this is what happens in the middle of storms or crises. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:44.319 That we, if this quarter represents the crisis or the storm, it be we pull it all the way up right close to our eye, and it's the only thing we can see. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:50.480 And we obsess over it and we see it, and it's so huge and it's so big when it's pulled all the way up here. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:54.720 Now I want you to imagine your room being the size of God. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:20:00.480 Now we know he's much bigger than that, he's infinite, but let's just imagine this room is the size of God. 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:12.319 And when we look up to see God for who he is, what it does is it's like extending our arm out, and then we get to see the expanse of who God is. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:23.200 It doesn't diminish the pain or the heartache or that the uncertainty, but what it does is it puts it in perspective in light of who God is. 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:27.200 God, you are big, you're in control, you're sovereign. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:36.559 I don't understand how it's all gonna work out, but I know that you're still in control and that you have a way of bringing beauty from ashes. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:47.119 You have a way like Joseph, where when Joseph was talking to his brothers at the end of his life, he said, You intended it for harm, but God intended it for good. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:49.039 Like God can do that. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:57.119 And when we extend it out, all of a sudden it puts the circumstances in perspective in light of who God is. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:01.599 And what do you do when you find yourself caught in a pandemic? 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:06.319 Would you look up and see God for who he is? 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:08.640 Every day, look up. 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:12.400 The second thing then is to look in. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:18.079 Look in and come to grips with who I really am. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:28.880 Now, here's what happens when you look up and see God for who he is, your only response then is to get really low. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:33.759 Listen to what Isaiah and how he responds after this. 00:21:34.079 --> 00:21:36.000 He says, Woe to me. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:40.960 Like that word woe is like, I'm as good as dead. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:43.519 I'm ruined. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:54.400 For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:59.759 See, the more we are aware of who God is, the more aware we be. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.640 Become of who we really are. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:16.240 See, God's holiness, like we're talking about earlier, when we look up and see God, God's holiness acts like an x-ray machine into our soul and it reveals the broken areas of our lives. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:23.519 And as we look up and see God, we can't help but look in and see ourselves as we really are. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:33.119 And this is painful, and this is hard, and this is so important in this season. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:54.799 There have been so I've watched, uh we were talking with um the Christian counseling center, and they said that addiction, anger, and uh depression, and all these different areas have rose triple in what's going on in their life, uh in their practices there. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:04.000 And what happens is what we do is in our lives, we go, man, it's a pandemic, this is uncertain. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:13.119 And so then we just begin to explain away some of the things that are destructive in our lives, as this is just how I'm gonna cope to get by. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:26.480 And scripture invites us to look in and come to grips with who we really are and get real and experience healing and wholeness. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:27.279 A.W. 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:36.640 Tozer, in his great book, Knowledge of the Holy, in fact, if you got time, which I think some of us do, and you want to look up, that's a great little book to do it. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:52.160 He writes this until we've seen ourselves as God sees us, we are not likely to be much disturbed over conditions around us, as long as they do not get so far out of hand as to threaten our comfortable way of life. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:24:00.880 We have learned to live with unholiness and have come to look upon it as a natural and expected thing. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:08.079 Would you in this season first look up and see God for who he is? 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:16.880 And then as you do that and as you encounter him, you cannot help but then look in and you begin to see yourself the way Isaiah saw himself. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:19.440 Like, whoa, I'm unclean. 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:22.160 Now, here's what he did, and this is so powerful. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:23.599 He confessed. 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:26.400 Confession is powerful. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:30.640 Confession brings healing, confession brings wholeness. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:37.359 See, confession simply is to agree with God about your sin or the state of your life. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:40.880 It's to own up to your own junk. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:43.279 It's to say, you know what? 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:52.079 God, the stuff that I've been streaming on Netflix or the things that I've been taking in on my phone are unholy. 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:59.680 And they're polluting my soul and damaging me and breaking relationships. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:05.359 That anger issue, the substances that I'm going to numb out on. 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:06.559 God, I need help. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:07.279 Confess. 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:10.720 Please, God, would you would you help me with my thought life? 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:14.480 Would you, I confess it is not honoring to you. 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:19.200 See, this is something so powerful. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:24.640 Confession positions you to experience the grace of God in your life. 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:29.200 Like so many of us in this moment need to experience God's grace. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:33.440 Isaiah confesses, like, woe to me, I'm a man of unclean lips. 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:35.519 My eyes have seen the King Almighty. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:39.920 I confess that the words that come out of my mouth are not of you. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:44.079 And then it positions you to experience the grace of God. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:46.400 Notice what happens next. 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:57.359 In verse 8 or 6, it says, The one, then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:06.880 With it he touched my mouth and said, See, this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for. 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:13.359 The minute Isaiah confessed, the angel flew over to the altar, grabbed a coal. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:21.839 And this altar, by the way, was the place where substitute sacrifices were made for the sins of the people. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:30.799 He takes a coal from there and touches the very part that was broken in Isaiah's life to bring healing and wholeness. 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:35.759 And don't miss this, it was the very part that God would then use to as ministry. 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:48.640 And that's going to be true for many of you as you confess, you begin to experience the grace of God, and he'll touch your life in that area, bring healing and wholeness, and then from that broken place use you for ministry. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:27:05.519 Now, this altar, look forward to the sacrificial lamb of God one day being given for every single one of us. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:12.960 See, the reality is, is for us today, we don't have to go to a temple. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:26.559 Jesus went to the cross to be the final sacrifice once and for all, that whoever would confess that Jesus is Lord, they would be saved. 00:27:26.799 --> 00:27:29.279 That you can find healing and wholeness. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:33.359 And in this moment, there's some right now you need to respond to Jesus. 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:35.920 You're realizing I'm broken. 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:36.960 I need Jesus. 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:41.599 I want a relationship with God, with the God who loves me. 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:46.160 God, would you come into my life and make me new? 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:50.000 What do we do when we're caught in a pandemic? 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:53.599 We look up and then we look in. 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:56.640 We come to grips with who we really are. 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:03.200 And I think God is doing some really deep work in many of us through this season. 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:07.359 I remember seeing this scrolling marquee. 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:12.400 It was in a time, one of the harder seasons of our life. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:13.839 We were living in Georgia. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:16.559 I was at a job where they didn't really want me. 00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:18.240 That wasn't going well. 00:28:18.400 --> 00:28:20.559 There was some friction with family. 00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:26.240 Our son was recently born and he was failing to thrive. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:31.519 We're in and out of the doctor, and it was just broken and overwhelmed. 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:33.920 And like, God, what are you doing? 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:37.440 And as we're driving in Atlanta, there was this scrolling marquee. 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:43.119 I remember it so clearly, is pouring down the rain in Buckhead area. 00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:47.359 And this marquee was at like a like a mall or something. 00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:55.039 I don't even know why it was up there, but it says, God doesn't bring a man into deep waters to drown him, but to cleanse him. 00:28:55.599 --> 00:29:16.559 And for many in this moment, this season is a season where God's doing some cleansing work in your life, and you haven't had the time, or you've just kind of excused it away, and where you would confess and get clean before Him, and He wants to provide grace and healing and wholeness in your life. 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:17.839 Would you look up? 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:19.279 Would you look in? 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:23.119 And then, and then finally, look out. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:28.880 Look out and respond to God's call on your life. 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:33.039 See, what do you do when you're caught in the middle of a pandemic? 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:39.519 God doesn't just leave us to cope and hope that something might get better. 00:29:40.079 --> 00:29:42.720 He actually says, I have a calling on you. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:43.680 Would you look out? 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:45.599 Would you begin to ask a different question? 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:48.880 Like, not how can I make it through, but how can I serve? 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:50.960 God, how could you use me? 00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:54.400 Notice uh what uh the text goes on to say. 00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:59.039 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:01.119 And who will go for us? 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:04.960 And I said, Here am I, send me. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:07.599 Here am I, send me. 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:13.680 You see, when you get a glimpse of heaven, God will give you a vision for earth. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:16.799 Would you begin to start looking out? 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:28.319 Would you begin to start looking out and go, God, you've placed us here in this time, at this season, uh, in our country, in our world. 00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:30.799 God, how can I serve? 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:32.799 Here am I, send me. 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:34.480 How can I love my neighbor? 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:36.319 Here am I, send me. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:38.960 How can I encourage people in my family? 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:41.359 Here am I, send me. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:49.519 See, there's something about getting life into its proper perspective in the context of who God is. 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:58.960 And then when you get clean before him, there becomes this holy boldness of like, God, okay, man, I can't believe what you've done in my life. 00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:02.240 I can't wait to be used by you. 00:31:03.119 --> 00:31:05.519 I love what Mother Teresa said. 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:15.680 She said, I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:17.200 And I love that. 00:31:17.680 --> 00:31:21.599 I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God. 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:28.559 Because I think sometimes when we hear that, here am I send me, we think big, grandiose things. 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:31.920 And Mother Teresa's just going, like, I'm just a little pencil. 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:36.559 It's the little things that make a massive difference. 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:41.440 It's being submitted and saying, I'm in the hands of you, God. 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:46.880 However, you want to use me to send a love letter to the world, would you use me? 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:49.440 It's the little things that make a big difference. 00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:55.519 I was talking to a friend earlier this week, and she was telling me about just after fasting and praying. 00:31:55.680 --> 00:32:01.519 And by the way, for our staff, God did such cool things, a vision of like getting life into perspective. 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:09.119 And then all of a sudden, like our team the day after that was way more encouraged than they had been, you know, since then. 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:13.599 And then thinking about other people and how they could serve and love them. 00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:23.680 And she was telling me, like, God put a friend who's going through a really difficult time and has family members who are in a very like struggling with health and on her heart. 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:29.200 And so she went and just dropped off flowers, of course, kept the distance and all those sort of things. 00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:40.240 And then God brought some other families that were in her school that weren't um, you know, knew they were going to be struggling and said, How can I serve them and provide some groceries for them? 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:48.000 I I just think, you know, when I think about my buddy uh Justin Buzzard over at Garden City, and he just started doing this. 00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:59.359 He started doing a happy hour with his neighbors, and they stayed there six feet apart, and but every day afternoon at five o'clock, they gather the neighbors because this is isolating and alone time. 00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:07.599 And it's a very simple thing that he's just like able to begin to lean in and say, I'm gonna love and serve you. 00:33:07.680 --> 00:33:09.519 And it's just presence. 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:11.680 By the way, can we just start saying this? 00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:15.519 Instead of social distancing, can we say physical distancing? 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:19.359 See, social distancing makes us feel even more isolated and alone. 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:30.400 We don't want to socially distance, but we need to physically distance on that side of it, and where we begin to go, okay, I'm gonna be present and social and love you the way Jesus loved me. 00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:38.559 Now, for some, you're wondering, like, Ryan, that sounds great, but I'm just trying to get it, make it through the day. 00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:42.000 I'm crippled by fear and anxiety. 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:46.799 And here's what I want to invite you to do exactly what we've been talking about. 00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:49.759 Would you look up and see God for who he is? 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:53.920 In that, would you bring those fears and anxieties to him? 00:33:54.960 --> 00:34:00.799 And I gotta let you know, there's something so powerful when you begin to ask that question, how can we serve? 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:13.920 And just that little step, not to be a big step, just that little step forward that then begins to just impact that anxiety, impact those fears and those moments. 00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:23.519 So when you begin to get out of yourself and serve others, it is just it's incredible how God made us and how that will begin to fill you up. 00:34:24.639 --> 00:34:26.960 So, what do you do? 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:29.199 What do we do? 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:36.400 When we find ourselves caught in the middle of a pandemic, well, you know what we've done. 00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:42.719 Netflix, social media, news binging this week. 00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:46.960 Would you look out to see God for who he is? 00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:51.360 Would you look in and allow God to do the work in you? 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:56.239 And then would you look out and say, How can I serve? 00:34:56.880 --> 00:34:58.639 How can I love my neighbors? 00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:06.960 And in that, we will see a church rise and be what Jesus intended us to be in this season. 00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:08.559 Let me pray for us. 00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:12.639 Heavenly Father, thank you so much. 00:35:14.480 --> 00:35:21.360 Thank you that you actually speak into these very pressing and weighty hard times. 00:35:21.760 --> 00:35:29.760 That you didn't leave us to just figure it out on our own, but you gave us such wisdom and instruction and direction. 00:35:30.800 --> 00:35:37.440 So, God, I pray for each person that is listening to the sound of my voice right now. 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.320 Would you just meet them powerfully? 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:43.119 May they encounter you afresh. 00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:50.400 May we be a people that look up from our screens and look up to you. 00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:57.199 And would you use us to be your hands and your feet in Jesus' name? 00:35:57.840 --> 00:35:58.480 Amen.