WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:13.119 So three years ago when we started our church and we were gathering, and um the rest of Ses Robinsons and my wife and I, we were meeting a lot together and talking about what what a church could possibly look like. 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:17.039 And if we were aligned, do we think the same ways? 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:19.120 Would we dream of the same type of church? 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:22.960 I started attending this place called the North Georgia Church Planners Network. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:26.640 It was this church planner's network that a place you can go and they'll help you start a church. 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:28.320 These places exist, these networks. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:34.799 And so this network had come out of a big church uh called Perimeter Church, and and they they just helped churches. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:36.479 And there I met this guy named Jim Moon. 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:41.759 And so Jim Moon was a part of this network, and he had started a church in Smyrna called Cross Point. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:45.439 And so Jim had um he he he'll coach you. 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:48.880 And so when I got there, and then we were starting to form and talk about it. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:54.960 Um I can remember in one evening uh the rest of the Robinsons and us, we met at our house in Atlanta, and Jim came. 00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:03.679 I think it was his first meeting with us as we were talking about what could possibly a church look like in Marietta. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:05.200 What could this possibly be? 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:06.319 And we didn't know what we're doing. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:07.599 See, this is what you have to understand. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:09.439 It's like we don't know what we're doing. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:14.239 We need somebody, and that's somebody for us and for our church. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:15.680 It was Jim. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:24.159 Um there's probably no other person outside of our church who has had more influence on our church than Jim. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:43.040 And that's because, especially that first year, we met every other week for two hours, and I'm asking the most logistical basic questions, I'm asking philosophical questions, and then slowly over time, you know, we've got stuff kind of, we've got some structures, we have stuff worked out, and and and then it just turns into counseling. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:43.599 I'll be honest. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:46.879 Now we meet once a month, and uh Jim just says, How are you doing? 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:48.480 And then just like out it comes. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.120 Like it's it's a counseling session, which I need. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:02:08.159 Um and so then when so two years ago, about two years ago, Jim came and he said, Hey, um, you know, uh I think I want to do what I'm doing here, um, like help pastors start churches and train them and help them. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:10.159 I think I want to do that in Cuba. 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:14.319 And okay, all right, a little bit different than Marietta, but okay. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:15.439 Yeah, that's great. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:20.000 He said, would y'all, would your little church help support me in doing that? 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:22.000 Yes, we will do that. 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:24.000 Like, you know, we totally will do that. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:28.960 And so the last last year and then this year, um, we've been able to support Jim. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:31.599 And so Jim's coming to talk to you guys. 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:33.120 I know what Jim's doing. 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:37.599 Y'all don't know what Jim's doing, and yet we as a church are supporting Jim. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:49.280 And so I want you to know him, and I want you to hear what we as a church are a part of in Cuba, even though we don't think about this on most days, um, what we as a community are a part of in Cuba. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:54.000 So he's gonna come and talk to us for about just 10 minutes or so before the sermon about Cuba. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:54.639 Thanks, Jim. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:02.639 That's uh that's really uh amazing when you say it all in two minutes like that. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:13.039 It's really an honor for me to be a part of helping you guys exist and thank you for supporting us, even though a lot of you don't even know who I am. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:16.400 It's just a real honor to be here with you. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:27.120 Uh I work for now, as of two years ago, I left the church that we started in Smyrna, and uh I worked for church multiplication ministers. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:31.520 And initially I thought I was gonna be helping the church planters just in the U.S. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:32.560 and English speaking world. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:41.280 This whole thing about Cuba caught me by surprise because while we do have a bilingual church, I'm not fluent in Spanish. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:04:04.240 Um y'all are supporting the church that we planted 13 years ago, and Pastor Hector's doing a great job there meeting down South Cobb Drive at the International Academy of Summer again today, and he sends his greetings and his thanks, and um we're getting ready to help start another church that speaks Portuguese and English here in the next couple of years, right here in Marietta, Lord willing. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:10.479 So you guys have been a part of a lot of things that you just didn't know about, and so this is like your missionary report. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:13.039 I don't even know how many missionaries do y'all support. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:14.560 Are we are we in? 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:17.199 Oh, that's gonna be a whole lot. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:27.120 We're honored to be supported by you guys, and I want to I want to help you connect with us because we really do need a lot of prayer. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:40.879 Um I'm really dependent upon Jesus so much more than the more that I do in ministry, the more I realize I don't know enough, and I really need Jesus to come alongside me. 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:46.480 And I some of the stuff that they're asking us to do in Cuba, I'm not even sure how to do in English. 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:56.000 And so the Lord is sending Elizabeth and I um to language school for eight months starting in January, and we're at a pre season in our life where I can do that. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:58.240 All three of our kids are out of the house now. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:04.480 Um so we're we're nervous and excited and terrified and wonder and all at the same time. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:10.639 So if you would, if you have a phone that has a texting on it, I want to give you an electronic connection to us. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:14.720 And if you would, I guess you can use your phone in church, but not just for your Bible. 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:23.360 But if you would open up a message and type in the number 7177, uh this will connect to you electronically. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:26.240 I have a few uh magnets of our family that you can. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:28.879 If some of you want to put these on your fridge, you can pray for us. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:30.079 I've got business cards too. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:34.959 I'll be hanging around in the hallway to talk until uh the last person has any questions. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:48.480 Um if you will text 71777 and then type in the number four in the word Cuba, it will connect you to a page that will give you our website and type in support us. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:50.800 I'm gonna ask you two things. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:52.720 I'm gonna ask you boldly two things. 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:53.839 Would you pray for us? 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:56.480 I really feel like we need more prayer. 00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:58.800 Um I know we need more prayer. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:03.120 And secondly, I'm gonna ask you to ask Jesus if he wants you to support us Cuba. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:11.839 It takes all the pressure off of me and all the pressure off of you, but we just ask Jesus what he wants us to do, and then we obey him. 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:20.399 So it's no pressure, I'm not gonna follow up, or uh, we're trying to get some money raised by giving Tuesday, which is a week from weekend Tuesday. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:23.199 Anyway, all that to say that's kind of the information. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:30.000 But I want to tell you a little bit of the story of how so that you understand what's going on in Cuba and the part that y'all are playing in it. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:38.879 Uh course you know, back in the 60s there was a revolution in Cuba and the church was persecuted for about five years. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:46.959 And then for 25 years or so, it was discriminated against very harshly, like Christian kids couldn't go to college, that sort of thing. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:58.879 Um, and then they lost their trading partner with the USSR, and the government changed it in and said, Well, you you guys can have some more freedom, we're not gonna discriminate against you as much, but you can't have any more church buildings. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:01.279 The ones that you have, that's all you get. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:05.439 And somebody very wisely asked, so can we meet in our homes? 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:08.480 And the government said, Well, sure, you can do whatever you want to in your home. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:24.639 So over the course of since the 90s, God has been infiltrating in a very legal, uh official way, it's all approved, uh, getting the biblical doctrines of grace into the human church. 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:29.759 In the 1990s, there was no there was no denomination that was teaching the biblical doctrines of grace. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:33.920 The very gospel that you guys preach right here, nobody was preaching it. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:38.800 And um, now let me back up and tell you some of the story that ramps up to that. 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:56.319 In the 20s, uh after the after the independence from Spain, uh, a Cuban evangelist and American missionary uh by the last name of Thompson started a Bible school to train pastors uh in the center of the island. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:02.399 And uh over the course of time, um uh that that missionary had three sons. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:07.120 One of those sons is Alan Thompson, and Russ has had the opportunity to meet Alan. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:15.279 Um Alan was the director of the seminary in his 20s when the revolution happened, and his story follows along. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:27.360 He he was kicked out, um, and he started a world team, a mission organization in the 70s and 80s, and he burned out because his faith was in himself and in his own in his own power. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:33.919 And somebody uh shared with him the biblical doctrines of the race and it changed his life. 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:36.000 And he started working with other churches. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:48.879 He developed a church planter assessment that many denominations used, and he got a PhD in adult learning, and he became a part of a denomination and became a multicultural coordinator for that denomination. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:54.080 He then started working with a small organization you may have heard of in New York City called City to City. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:58.240 And he co-authored a book with Tim Keller, The Church Planting Manual. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:07.840 And then he retired about 75 to 76 and moved out to Washington, and then he got an email from Cuba in 2010. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:15.840 One of the people that had heard the gospel of grace in the 90s had become the president of this very now very legalistic denomination. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.879 And he said, Alan, we need to renew this whole denomination. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:22.559 Will you come help me? 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:25.600 He's 78 years old. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:27.120 And he said, Yeah. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:33.120 So he started traveling to Cuba, he started developing church-based training. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:42.159 Uh started proclaiming the gospel, getting the things that were translated from city to city into the hands of the Cuban people, and he started multiplying. 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:57.519 They started with 40 leaders, and over the course of 10 generations of people promising to multiply the gospel into their friends, they have gone from a 40 leader strain to now over 40,000 leaders trained. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:05.279 They don't have any more church buildings, but they have about 40,000 house church leaders. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:14.960 The government there said in the 70s and 80s that there were about less than 1% of Christians and people in claim to work. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:20.320 And now the government reports that there are over a million people who proclaim to be Christian. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:28.000 God is doing a super amazing work, but it's all with brand new Christians, people that haven't even believed in Jesus. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:31.120 They were atheists or doubters five years ago. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:32.799 Now they're leading house churches. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:34.720 It's just rapidly multiplying. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:49.519 And so my role as a coach, what Alan has asked us to do is to come into Cuba and train Cuban house church leaders uh in the gospel so that they can begin to mentor one another and spread coaching and mentoring throughout the island. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:51.120 Because it's it's not normal. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:56.799 They've grown up uh suspicious, they've been spied on, they've been persecuted, they've been trusted. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:00.799 Um it's very different, it's economically still very challenging. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:09.600 But they've asked us to make a three to five year commitment to come in and train their people so they can train uh gospel-focused coaches for the whole thing. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:16.399 So going back to what I said before, I really need your prayers. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:39.279 And if God would so lead you to prompt you to support the initiative, believe it or not, in about a year, it's going to take about$30,000 to train the key leaders, to buy them the data, the minutes that they need on their phones, to buy some of them phones, to buy a couple of them bicycles, to get the training materials in there, to get the people in, and to move them around in the in the in the country. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:46.960 Um would you guys please ask Jesus if he wants you to support us, if he wants you to commit to pray? 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:50.720 It would be a huge blessing for many, many people in Cuba. 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:55.360 It'd be a huge blessing just to know your name and that you're connected with us. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:12:04.960 Uh and um and I'll come back here and give you another missionary report in a little while uh when we get back from language school in August. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:06.799 So thanks for paying attention. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:07.360 Great. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:08.559 Let me pray for you. 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:09.519 Is that your phone ringing? 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:11.360 Yeah, it's a timer. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:12.240 You said 10 minutes. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:13.200 Oh, okay. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:16.399 So it just went off. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:18.399 Let me uh let me let me pray for you. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:27.519 God, we uh we come before you as a community and we pray for Jim as he is a part of our community also, even though his face is not here on a week-to-week basis. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:48.000 His heart is so much a part of our church, and we thank you for what you have called him to and what you have uh the desire and passion you put in his heart for these these pastors and these people in Cuba, and we pray that um can you give them wisdom and discernment as they go and they uh help the church grow and help give hope to people. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:51.039 God, we pray for the right resources and the right timing. 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:52.799 We thank you for them in Jesus' name. 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:53.279 Amen. 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:53.840 Thank you. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:54.879 Thank you. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:56.799 That's all okay. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:58.960 So uh you don't have to worry too much. 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:05.039 I did shave my sermon down knowing that Jim was gonna be here, so you don't have to get all stressed out, that that's like an add-on. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:10.240 So usually I'm four pages, I'm three pages, so uh it's gonna work out for everybody. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:12.480 All right, so back to Exodus. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:14.559 Uh it's been last week I didn't preach. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:19.519 Uh Barry preached, that was fantastic, and that was so great to get to sit there and uh just receive. 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:21.919 So we're back to Exodus this week. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:25.679 Now, this Exodus story is an unfolding story. 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:41.039 It helps us to see what we are like, it helps us to see what God is like, and what we've been seeing is we've been seeing, um, as we've been seeing what happens in Egypt, uh, we're seeing what happens in us. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:44.399 I mean, this story is our story. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:45.759 Do you remember the situation, right? 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:51.120 The Hebrews were in slavery, and this would have produced, uh, this would have produced questions. 00:13:51.679 --> 00:14:02.879 You're enslaved, you're enslaved by the Pharaoh, the ruler, and not only is he kind of the ruler, it's not like he's just the president, he's also sort of like, he's not a deity, but he's like backed by God. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:07.759 And so you have this guy who's backed by God, and you are enslaved by him. 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:12.559 And so the question arises well, whose side is God on? 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:20.799 Like, is God only on the side of the strong and the put together, or could God actually be on my side? 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:27.440 Could God actually be on my side as the enslaved and the worn out and the exhausted? 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:32.159 And then we get this beautiful scene: Moses is out in the desert, the burning bush, right? 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:38.559 We hear he hears the voice of God in the bush, and God says, I've heard their cry. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:40.559 I've heard their cry. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:47.120 I'm I'm you go, and through you, we are going to rescue them out of that situation. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:58.960 And what this is, is it's this great no to the disillusionment that God is on the side of the strong and the put together. 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:03.679 Because what it says to them at the time, what it says to us now, is it says, no, no, no. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:13.120 Like God is on the side of the exhausted and the worn out, because that's who he goes to, and he rescues them and he pulls them out, and we get this great story. 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:16.320 They don't go through uh that easy path through the wilderness. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:21.759 He takes them down through the way of the wilderness, the long route, and their backs are against the Red Sea. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:22.720 You remember the story? 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:27.039 We've been through it, and the backs against the Red Sea, and again the people are freaking out. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:27.840 Just take us back. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:29.039 I can't believe he led us here. 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:32.159 The army's coming up, they're gonna slaughter us, it's all over. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:45.600 And then the sea splits, and they walk through, and they get to the other side, and then the sea closes in, and all their oppressors, all their fears are drowned, and they get on the other side, and then we get the sermon from two weeks ago. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:53.440 Two weeks ago we talked about they get on the other side, so they've had the rescue, and then they have this great celebration. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:55.840 Huge celebration. 00:15:56.240 --> 00:16:02.960 And then we pick up this story and this journey in Exodus 15, verses 22 through 27 this morning. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:07.840 The people leave from there and they head into the wilderness of Shur in three days. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:12.559 They're journeying there for three days, and they found no water. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:15.519 So things are starting to get tough. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:20.799 And they end up in this place called Mara, and they couldn't drink the water because it's bitter. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:25.840 And I love this passage, and here's why I love it: because it's all reality. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:28.639 It's all reality. 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:35.600 The rescue, the celebration, and the difficulty. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:37.279 It's all life. 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:38.559 Right? 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:40.080 Like we love the first two, right? 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:45.039 That we just like just take me back to like the whole like rescue, and then we're singing, and everything's great. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:47.840 But that's not that's not the that's not the whole of life. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:55.039 Like, the whole of life is three days later, you're dying of thirst, and you're like, man, just three to three days ago, everything was great. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:02.639 And we just feel like a lot of times when we're in that place of disappointment, because that's what these people were. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:05.200 They were they were just disappointed. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:15.519 Because they get through the Red Sea and they're singing, and everything's great, and then they get and they're going, well, we're just gonna walk through the wilderness, and surely everything's gonna be provided so easily, and there's gonna be no difficulty. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:22.319 And they get into it and they can't find any water, and they get into this, and it's this feeling like this is not what I signed up for. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:27.039 Have you ever gone online to book a hotel? 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:33.519 And um let's let's talk about like like before there was all like the websites that like rank hotels. 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:35.680 What's that website that ranks hotels? 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:38.240 Hotels.com, good try. 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:43.200 There's there's one, is it like Zaggett's Zaggett's restaurants. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:45.839 TripAdvisor, thank you. 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:46.400 We got there. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:46.960 Good job. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:49.279 First time here, and you nailed the question. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:50.240 Great. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:53.279 I right like pre-trip advisor. 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:56.880 Like, like there's no like you just had to trust like the pictures, right? 00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:58.240 Like you were just going on the pictures. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:00.480 Maybe you went to AAA and you got the little book, right? 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:02.160 And maybe they had a little rating for you. 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:04.960 But you're trusting the pictures, and you look at the picture of the lobby looks great. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:06.000 Fantastic. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:06.559 Right? 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:08.480 The elevator, what lovely elevator. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:10.000 You get one picture of one room. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:13.119 It's probably the one room in the whole hotel that was actually decent. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:15.920 And you get there and you walk up and you're going, eh, it's okay. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.799 It's not quite like that picture, but you know, it's okay, lobby's okay. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:23.759 And then the elevator doors open, you're like, ah, the inside of this elevator does not look like the outside does. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:26.000 And then you get up to your hallway floor. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:31.359 I don't know if this has ever happened to you, and the door's open, you're like, this is not the same as the lobby. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:40.559 And then you open the door to the room, and you're like, this is not, this room is not what I signed up for, like back like three days ago when I booked this thing. 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:42.960 See, this happened to me one time. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:46.480 Literally, the TV is bolted to the dresser. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:48.400 Has anybody been in that hotel? 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:51.680 The remote was bolted to the nightstand. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:54.960 I'd never been in that hotel before. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:02.960 I mean, I'd gone from like wanting a good night's sleep to just just don't get murdered was my goal by the end of this, is just don't get murdered. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:05.839 And there's and there's this feeling, it's not what I signed up for. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:12.319 And I'm like, man, if I could go back just three days ago, I would have never made this decision to come to this place. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:16.000 And that that's this feeling these people are having. 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:17.440 It's not what I signed up for. 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:24.160 I thought it would be one way, and it is it is just completely a different way. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:25.920 And so we get verse 24. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:31.200 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:34.640 And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:40.240 And he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:48.559 Now, commentators on this verse, they they they call this anticipatory providence. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:50.240 Right? 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:52.640 I mean, you'd say even say let's say that together. 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:54.559 Anticipatory providence. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.359 Can't you just feel your IQ going up, just saying it out loud. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:58.559 I am a smart person. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:02.480 I read that, I just kept saying it all week, just to be able to pronounce it correctly. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.759 All right, so anticipatory providence. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:09.119 We're gonna see it this week, and then next week we get the story of manna. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:11.359 We're gonna see the same thing next week. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:21.279 It's the idea that God goes before these people, he goes before us, and he anticipates the care and need that we will need. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:27.759 So uh maybe two months ago, a month ago, we took our little girls hiking. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:31.680 So two-year-old at the time, four-year-old, and seven-year-old. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:33.680 And we we said, let's go for it. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:36.000 So we went for this hike called Raven Cliffs. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:38.400 I don't know if you've been there, four and a half mile hike, okay? 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:40.160 And we're going, I think, I think we can do it. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:40.640 You know what? 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:43.440 If we don't make it always fine, like we can always turn back. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:47.039 But you know how that is, you get out there and you're like, we're gonna make it, like we're not turning back. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:52.559 Like, and so we get there and it's a beautiful fall day, and we're hiking, and everybody's outside. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:21:00.880 Now, my wife, she's very smart, and so she had packed some snacks, some refreshments, some lollipops. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.400 Like, she is ready. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:09.279 And so we hit the trail and we're hiking, and everybody's hiking, even the two-year-old, she's hiking, also, like her little legs, she's just running along. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:16.079 And so we're all hiking, and you know, the first mile's going great, and they want to stop and they want to look at things, and so we kind of entertain that a little bit. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:19.200 But I'm also I also know, like, hey, we got a ways to go. 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:21.279 Like, we come on, come on, let's go. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.200 We did see a snake, kind of a big deal. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:23.920 That was a big deal. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:32.160 There's a big item along the way, and so along the way, you know, it's just like I'm bored, I'm tired, my legs hurt, and you're like, guy, come on, come on, babies. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:33.039 I got you, babies. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:34.559 Come on, keep coming, keep coming. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:38.960 And and and the feeling that they have is like, like, y'all said this was gonna be fun. 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:42.880 Like, like this is supposed to be like the fun Saturday, like in the mountains. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:44.480 Like, this is not fun. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:48.079 Like, I'm on I am just walking, apparently, is what this is. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:50.240 It's just like like just walking. 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:53.119 And like we think it's a blast, and they're just like, I'm not sure. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:55.279 We're just we're just walking in the woods. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.440 But it's just like keep coming, keep coming, keep coming, hanging there, hanging there, hanging there. 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:16.400 So Finally, we make it to the end, and you know, Mama has packed good lunch and snacks, and we take our shoes off and put our stinky feet in the cold creek, and we're all replenished and we're renewed, and then we hit the trail again to go head back. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:21.200 And it's just over and over again, even more on the way back, because they're tired, just complaining. 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:25.359 And it's for them, it's the feeling like this is not what I signed up for. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:29.359 Like they said it was gonna be fun, and it's not, my feet hurt, and I'm bored, and I want this to be over. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:31.279 I'm just not liking this. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:34.720 And for us as the parents, we're like, hang in there, this is great. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:36.400 Like we're training you, we're training you. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:47.920 You don't realize it right now, but we're training you, and we'd push them a little bit further than they could make it, and then we'd stop and we'd give them some water, or give them a lollipop, and we just did that all the way back to the car. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:23:04.559 Now, here's the point: my great wife, right, and her sovereign mothering knowledge, uh, she considered and she cared for those girls before they hit the discomfort which she knew they would hit. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:14.240 She considered and cared for them that morning, knowing they were gonna hit difficulty and discomfort later that afternoon. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:19.200 And even when we got there, as good parents, we're not dishing out the lollipops every five feet. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:23.759 We're still pushing them along as far as they could make it. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:30.079 And here's what we learn out of this: anticipatory providence. 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:32.240 God goes before these people. 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:35.759 The remedy has been in preparation long before the need arose. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:39.920 The remedy has always been waiting. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:43.839 This is what loving parents do. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:52.400 God throws the log and the water through Moses, and the water is made sweet, and there's great dependence here. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:57.920 But we see this great anticipatory providence. 00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:04.799 And in this moment, there's teaching, there's stretching, there's dependence, and there's all this care. 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:07.279 See, God knows what he's doing. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:09.359 He knows these people. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:11.200 He knows people. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:14.720 He knows you, he knows me. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:17.200 He knows that we need to be cared for. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:22.559 He knows that in difficulty and in bitterness we need to be cared for. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.759 And he knows something we don't know, and he knows about timing. 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:33.200 And he knows that people must be broken to cry out for redemption. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:41.519 And he knows we're only fulfilled when we're at a place of crying out for redemption. 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:42.480 And he knows that. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:43.920 That's why we get point number one. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:44.480 I have three points. 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:48.400 Point number one: faith is always tested. 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.920 So we have this covenant relationship with God. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:53.039 We've talked a lot about this. 00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:57.519 And see, this is this gracious relationship of God toward us, not just us toward him. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:03.920 So it's not just like us working into greater and greater favor with God, but it's actually God coming toward us. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:10.799 We see it in the garden where Adam rebels, Adam and Eve rebel, and God comes, hey, where are you at? 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:11.359 Where are you? 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:13.119 It's God pursuing them. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:18.079 With Abraham later in Genesis, we've talked about how he makes the covenant with Abraham. 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:22.160 And it is God pursuing humanity. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:33.119 And how we've said it in the past is like God is saying, I will be what I should be to you, whether you are what you should be or not. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:44.079 Now, what's interesting is that inside of this covenant relationship, the love of God is not averse to testing. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:54.240 Because he loves us, he will teach us, but in order to teach us, he tests us. 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:58.880 Because only the broken cry out for redemption. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:03.039 And this is why faith will always be tested. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:04.480 Always. 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:08.160 Not because he doesn't love, but because he does. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:11.839 Verse 25, the second half of 25 through 27. 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:34.960 There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord your healer. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:44.640 Then they came to Elam, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water. 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:47.759 So point number two is that healing comes by hearing. 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:49.680 So God rescues these doubting people. 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:53.200 He gives water to these complaining people, right? 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:54.240 You know what I'm talking about? 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:56.960 He grants you peace when you only offer him doubt. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:26:58.799 Have you ever been there? 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:06.400 Or he gives you unchanging acceptance, even though all your offering is apathy. 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:08.319 We've been there, right? 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:13.519 So this covenant is deep and it's a secure place. 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:16.240 And then when we read this verse, right? 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:20.079 Like some of this verse, you're kind of going, ah, no, this feels kind of legalistic, right? 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:21.440 Like it does. 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:25.680 Do this and then I will give you healing. 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:26.880 That's what the verse says. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:29.599 Do this and then I will give you healing. 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:38.880 And that word listen, listen to my statutes, it means to keep, keep to my voice, keep to my ways, then I will heal you. 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:46.480 I wrestled with this verse so much this week because I am not legalistic and I want no part of it. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.160 And so I'm just wrestling with this. 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:49.680 Like, how does this fit in? 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:50.079 I don't know. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:52.720 Oh man, I'm just wrestling, I'm reading, I'm reading, I'm reading. 00:27:52.880 --> 00:28:02.319 And so finally I call uh Bill Fodlove, our like resident, literally PhD Hebrew, Old Testament, which he goes to our church, and so good to always have one of those guys in the church. 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:03.759 And so I call him about Wednesday. 00:28:03.839 --> 00:28:08.400 I'm like, let's just have a 30-minute chat about Exodus 15. 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:14.960 And so we talk and we talk it through, and then I started to get some understanding here. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:18.640 And and here's what it is. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:23.200 Um loyalty is demonstrated, life works better. 00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:25.440 Okay, so that's clear. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:31.759 Like for you to be obedient to God's ways, life will work better. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:35.039 That's just how life is. 00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:43.039 Because his ways are good and they're holy and they're pure, and if you're obedient to those ways, your life will work better. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:46.880 And there's one big problem, though. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:49.440 It's you. 00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:54.400 So this is true. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:58.240 It is true that if you do this, life will work better. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:28:59.200 That is true. 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:01.680 The big problem is we're not perfect. 00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:03.440 We are far from perfect. 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:05.519 We don't diligently keep. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:07.519 We don't even keep on some days. 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:08.880 We don't even keep all day. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:14.240 See, this guides us, but then it breaks us. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:40.400 You should be loyal, you should set your heart toward it, but you should also know that when you fail, and as you're failing, because you do, and even now you're failing in some degree, you're just not aware of it, even then, the grace of God, the sufficiency of the blood of Jesus is enough for your righteousness and your standing before Him as a secured, accepted, beloved child of God. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:55.599 See, all the demand, all the law, all the commandments in the Bible, whether they're relevant today or not, they are good, they're pure, and they're holy, and they end up breaking us. 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:03.680 And if you give your life to that, you will be exhausted, worn out, and broken. 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:10.079 What they do for us is they reveal our deep need for an outside savior. 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:11.519 For grace. 00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:14.559 This is when grace means something. 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:21.920 And that's point number three, there at the end where he says, I am the Lord, I am the healer. 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:23.920 Point number three, he is the healer. 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:25.519 You're not the healer. 00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:30.400 You and your great listening and your keeping, it doesn't heal you. 00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:34.640 Not ultimately, not to the right position before God. 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:35.599 It does not heal. 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:37.119 He heals you. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:47.359 See, God knows you need this word of instruction to guide your wandering heart, and he knows you need the relief of recognizing that you aren't perfect to keep it. 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:49.200 He knows you need both. 00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:51.039 And God knew this. 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:54.720 This is anticipatory providence. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:31:25.279 That the law is anticipatory providence, and the law to guide us is anticipatory providence, and the law to break us is anticipatory providence, and when we're broken and we're exhausted and we're wondering like what side is God on, the gospel, the incarnate God who dies on a cross, takes our sin upon himself and gives us his righteousness, the great display of the love of God and the grace of God, that anticipatory providence is where we find our salvation. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:30.160 This is what makes him the healer of our souls. 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:43.519 This is the only place you will find healing from your heart, which continues even now, and my heart which continues even now to use secular and religious means to self-justify itself in this world and before God. 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:50.480 So, my brothers and sisters, may you diligently listen to the voice of the Lord. 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:59.839 And in your failure, may you find immediate relief in the grace of God, in the anticipatory providence that He gives to you. 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:06.240 May you know Jesus as healer in a deeper and more profound way than ever before. 00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:09.519 May his stripes heal you. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:11.039 Amen. 00:32:11.119 --> 00:32:12.240 Let's pray together. 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:26.880 God, we confess that we are hard-hearted, doubting, selfish people that want to know everything. 00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:29.200 We want everything. 00:32:31.519 --> 00:32:34.400 We want to justify ourselves with our own work. 00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:37.599 We want to doubt that your work's enough. 00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:45.039 For position with you, for forgiveness, to climb out of this hold of shame, to make something of ourselves. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:48.880 We confess all of this. 00:32:49.119 --> 00:33:02.160 We confess that we are your people that get tomorrow after a great victory and great celebration, and we get tomorrow and we taste bitter water, and we are so disappointed with you. 00:33:03.119 --> 00:33:05.680 Because we thought it would be a different way. 00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:09.119 And forgive us for this pride. 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:15.519 Thank you that you have provided a way for redemption. 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:23.200 May your law guide us and may it break us. 00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:31.519 And may we see the grace of God bigger and bigger and bigger in our lives. 00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:39.039 And may the fruit of the Spirit inside of us be for great glory. 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:41.359 For your faith. 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:44.720 We pray in the name of Jesus. 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:45.519 Amen.