WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.959 I'm so excited about what we're talking about today. 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:06.240 We actually sang about a little bit of it just a few minutes ago. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:09.839 It's amazing when the worship and the content of the message collide like that. 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:10.720 It's really, really cool. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:15.759 For some context, though, if you're new, we're doing something this year that's a little bit different, at least different for us. 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:20.800 We're going through the entire story of the Bible in one year, something that we call the whole story. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:25.600 And it's okay if you're new, this is not like, oh, I'm behind, I'll have no idea what's going on. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:26.960 This isn't like a TV show. 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:32.479 This isn't like lost back in the day, you know, where if you don't, if you missed the last episode, you have no, you're lost. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:33.679 It's not like that at all. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:35.920 Every series is meant to stand on its own. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:37.840 Every single message is meant to stand on its own. 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:43.200 But what we've done is we've taken the whole story of the Bible, we've broken it down into 14 different series. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:47.520 And as we explore these, we we learn a lot about the two main characters of Scripture. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:48.799 That's God and us. 00:00:49.039 --> 00:01:01.280 Scripture tells us the story of God and humanity and the lengths that God is willing to go to know us, to forgive us, to show us his love, to teach us and even challenge us to be the people that we were created to be. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:06.239 And we learn all these really fascinating things about our God and our own hearts through Scripture. 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:16.079 Now we we just finished last Sunday, our third series that we called The Great I Am, where we really learned the character of God and his nature in a really amazing way. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:22.799 Today we're starting a conversation that'll probably be three weeks long called Figuring Out Freedom. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:24.560 Figuring out freedom. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:26.079 The context here is really simple. 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:29.760 The people of Israel in the Old Testament, they're slaves in Egypt for generations. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:30.879 They're not free. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:39.840 And then God takes Moses and he says, Moses, you're gonna lead the people, and Moses is like, No, I'm not, and he's like, No, you are, and Moses goes, No, I'm really not, and he's like, No, you really are. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:45.040 Because you know, God's God, and when God says something's gonna happen, like, it's tough to negotiate with God. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:49.200 If you ever find yourself negotiating with God, you'll probably lose. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:51.200 Um, because he's God, and that's a good thing. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.159 It's a good thing for Moses that God doesn't go, oh, okay, good point. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:55.840 No, he says, Moses, you're gonna do this. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:57.359 I'm gonna be with you. 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:02.079 You're gonna lead the people out of slavery in Egypt, and it happens in dramatic fashion. 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:03.840 There's miracles, God shows his power. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:14.080 It is amazing, and it's so amazing that it's one of those stories that even if you didn't grow up in church, you you've probably seen to some degree the story of Moses and the parting of the Red Sea. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:18.319 There's been a movie, even like a children's movie, that you may have seen that tells that story. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:23.199 But now the people of Israel find themselves in a place they haven't been in for generations. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:28.400 Like no one that's alive, that's part of the people of Israel, remembers what it's like to be free. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:30.879 Because they haven't been free for centuries. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:32.639 And freedom is a funny thing. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:36.159 We all want it, but we don't always know what to do with it. 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:41.840 It's like when I was a youth pastor and I would work with high school students. 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:47.680 Oftentimes they would complain because their teachers would give them very specific things that they wanted out of certain assignments. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:53.599 Like, oh, I have this paper to write, and the teacher said we have to have like 17 sources, and it has to be 20 pages long, and it's so frustrating. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:59.599 And then I'd stay close to those students as they go to college, and college professors don't tend to give you that same amount of direction. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:02.159 It's just like, just do it. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.560 And all the students were like, I'm so frustrated at my professor. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:07.280 They didn't tell me how many sources they want, they didn't tell me how long they want the paper to be. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:08.960 You know, it's like just tell me what to do. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:11.280 And it's like, welcome to freedom. 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:19.039 Freedom is something we all crave and desire, but we don't always know what to do with freedom, and to be honest, we're not always good at it. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:21.039 Freedom is messy. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:23.759 Freedom is something that you have to figure out. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:27.439 And the people of Israel don't know how to be free. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:35.919 They're on their way to this place called the Promised Land, this place that God had promised their ancestor Abraham generations before. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:43.439 And it's only about an 11-day journey from where they end up pretty quickly after they escape Egypt to where they to where the promised land is. 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:47.840 It's an 11-day journey, which in our world would be like, I mean, the ancient world, 11 days is nothing. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:50.080 That's like us taking an eight-hour drive somewhere. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:53.599 Like it's it's a it's a little bit of a drive, but it's not that bad. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:04:02.479 That's what an 11-day journey would have been in the ancient world, but it actually takes them 40 years to take the promised land. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:13.439 It's an 11-day journey for their feet, it's a 40-year journey for their minds and for their hearts to learn how to be a free people. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.079 They've got to figure out freedom. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:17.360 And so do we. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:19.680 So do we. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:28.000 Because, yes, we're free as a nation, but Jesus has set us free from sin, from death, from legalistic religion. 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:31.920 Galatians chapter 5, verse 1 says, Christ has truly set us free. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:38.000 Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:43.279 And we can also say, don't get tied up again in slavery to sin. 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:51.600 Paul wrote later, let us be free of everything that slows us down as we follow Jesus, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:58.480 There's all kinds of things that they can slow us down, they can have us be bound, contained, held back. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:00.160 But Jesus has set us free. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:05.839 He set us free from religion, that we have to earn God's love, that we have to do all the right things in order to be accepted by God. 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:06.480 That's over with. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:07.279 That's done. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:09.439 He set us free from the power of death. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:12.160 Yes, we still die, but death has been redeemed. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:16.319 We said years ago that death used to be a period that ended the sentence. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:17.759 Now it's just a comma. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:23.439 Because Jesus showed us by dying and raising to life that there is life on the other side of death. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:26.959 So we don't live as slaves to the fear of death. 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:28.959 We don't live as slaves to sin. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:43.279 Yes, there are things that we desire and we have urges, and sometimes it's really hard to say no to those urges, but with the spirit inside of you, the Holy Spirit that lives in you when you give your faith to Jesus Christ, there's no sin that you are bound to, even if it feels that way. 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:49.519 We've been set free, but we don't always live in freedom. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:54.720 We're not always good at freedom. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:56.639 We have to figure it out too. 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:03.120 How can we actually experience the freedom that Jesus has won for us? 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:04.319 How can we actually enjoy it? 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:05.600 Freedom is meant to be enjoyed. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.800 How can we live lives where we enjoy the freedom that we have? 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:13.600 The people of Israel and the lessons that they're learning in the wilderness can teach us some of those things for ourselves. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:15.920 How do we figure out freedom? 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:24.399 And we're gonna look at three really simple aspects of freedom, things you have to have to really experience true freedom in life over the next few weeks. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:32.560 We're gonna look today at confidence, we're gonna talk about patience, and then a few weeks from now we're gonna talk about beneficial boundaries. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:35.600 So confidence, patience, and beneficial boundaries. 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:37.680 We're gonna start today by talking about confidence. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:40.160 How many of you are confident in something? 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:42.720 I don't care what it is, something. 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:44.720 It could be that you're gonna eat a good lunch today. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:45.120 I don't know. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:49.600 You're confident, you know, like does anyone have like a Mexican restaurant that's your Mexican restaurant? 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:50.800 Like, I mean, most people have that. 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:52.800 And you're like when you go there, you're confident. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.439 Like you, you're like, I'm I know what to expect. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:57.839 It's it's it's great, it's good. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:01.680 I don't care if what it is, there's gotta be certain things in life that you are confident in. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:06.639 And we all know that confidence is super important because the opposite of confidence is intimidation. 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:09.519 If you're not confident, you're intimidated. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:12.160 And intimidation is a powerful thing. 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:15.360 So on Friday night, my my I don't know if many of you guys know this. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:16.800 I have a son who plays basketball. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:18.399 It's like a big secret. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:20.319 Um, I have two sons who play basketball. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:21.600 Judah is, he's working at it. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.000 Eli, not there yet, but it's coming. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:26.000 I will make them. 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:26.639 Okay. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:28.720 Um, you know. 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:32.319 No, so my son's on this really good team. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:35.759 And they had a game on Friday and they won. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:39.439 And he told me in the car, he said, I knew we were gonna win before the game even started. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:40.800 And I was like, oh, that's interesting. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:41.040 Why? 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:49.600 He said, Because we heard the other boys, the boys on the other team, looking at us and saying things like, there's no way they're in the seventh grade. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:50.560 Okay? 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:54.800 Now, if you saw my son's team, this would make sense to you. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:08:03.680 For example, I'm gonna show a clip in a second, so guys, hold off on that, but I'm gonna show you a nine-second clip of a boy on my son's team named Tyler. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:08.720 And I made this, I made this video really quick for the demonstration purposes of today. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:11.360 I call this video Tyler says no. 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:12.240 Okay? 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:13.360 Tyler says no. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:15.199 Here, watch it with me for nine seconds. 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:18.079 Tyler says no. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:21.040 Tyler says no. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:23.519 Tyler says no. 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:25.040 Okay. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:27.439 That's Tyler. 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:28.720 Yeah. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:31.600 Tyler's a big dude. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:38.080 Tyler's Tyler's a young teenage boy who is six foot two and weighs about 195 pounds. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:40.240 And he's not the biggest kid on our team. 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:41.919 Now that would be Josh. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:42.720 That would be Josh. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:43.759 We have a picture of Josh. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:45.440 I'm gonna go watch Josh play this afternoon. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:46.960 Oh no, actually, hold on, that's Liam. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:48.799 Like, I just want to say he can get off the ground. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:50.159 Like, he's got some bounce, okay? 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:54.000 So he he doesn't say no a whole lot, but he says hi, you know. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:55.679 Let's see him going like, hey, look at me. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:56.399 There you go. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:57.120 There you go. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:08:58.960 Okay, so the next picture's Josh. 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:00.559 So that's Josh. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.639 So Josh is a year younger than everyone on the team. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:08.720 He's 12, and he is six foot five and wears a size 16 shoe. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:09.200 Okay? 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:12.879 So Josh says no a lot. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:16.240 Josh says, Josh actually doesn't even say no half the time. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:17.840 He says, like, don't even think about it. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:20.080 Just turn around and go in the other direction. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:20.559 Okay? 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:27.440 So on Friday, they pull up to this game, and these boys, and you can just tell before the game starts. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.360 They're like, it's it's done. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:32.240 We're not, we don't belong here. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:35.679 And and we won by 40 points, okay? 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:36.799 It was awesome. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:37.840 It was so much fun. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:39.200 It was so much fun. 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:42.879 You know, there's confidence. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:50.000 Like my what my son's team was so confident, but the other team was so intimidated. 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:54.879 And the thing is, maybe, maybe that, I don't think that team was actually 40 points worse. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:55.759 I really don't. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:57.200 I think they were 20 points worse. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.440 But I don't think they were 40 worse. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:04.080 But you add some intimidation, ooh, now you're 40 points worse. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:06.080 Well, it's like that in life. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:12.879 There are so many things in life that if we go into intimidated with zero confidence, it's kind of over before it starts. 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:14.799 Confidence is really, really important. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:20.639 What does it look like to have confidence as a follower of Jesus? 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:36.320 Well, we're told in Romans chapter 15, verse 13, that God, the source of hope, hear that, the source of hope will fill you completely completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:39.759 Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.399 How many of us today are overflowing with confident hope? 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:45.360 You're like, I have so much confident hope, I don't know what to do with all of it. 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:47.360 Like it's falling out of me. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:51.039 That's how much confident hope I'm living with. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:55.279 I doubt many of us are like, oh, that's my daily experience. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:56.639 So much confident hope. 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:58.159 And it's interesting that word hope. 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:01.759 We use the word hope in a very different way than the Bible uses the word hope. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:04.879 When we use the word hope, it usually means probably not, but I hope so. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:06.720 Like if someone says, Do you think this is gonna happen? 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:07.679 Like, man, I hope. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:09.600 And that's almost always like, nope. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:12.080 But there's there's hope. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:16.320 In Scripture, the word hope is always associated with confidence. 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:18.639 It is not, it's a long shot. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:22.000 It is always, no, this will happen, even if it looks like it won't. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:27.200 So we are meant to have confident hope because we follow Jesus. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:29.279 What does that actually look like practically? 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:30.799 How do we live that out? 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:34.399 There's three things we're gonna look at today. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:36.559 It's always like a list of three, I'm sorry. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:40.559 So it's it's this we've got to be confident in God, number one. 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:42.720 We've got to be confident in God. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:46.159 We've got to be confident in you. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:49.279 And there's a reason that's in quotation marks. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:50.960 You need to be confident in you. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:55.120 And we've got to be confident in the future. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:00.720 Confident in God, confident in you, and confident in the future. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:06.879 The people of Israel, when they when they first escaped Egypt, you would think they would have been overwhelmingly confident in God. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:11.440 I mean, God's done all these miracles, crazy stuff to get them out of Egypt. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:17.679 He kind of capped it off with parting an ocean, a sea for them to walk through. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:23.120 And you'd think that on the tail end of that, you're like, yeah, I will never have anything but total faith in God. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:25.360 There will never be a moment where I question again. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:28.559 There will never be a moment where I have doubt because I've seen enough. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:35.919 And it's funny, I've had moments in life where I've seen God do things that are that are just inexplicable, other than miraculous God intervention. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:36.799 I've seen that. 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:38.879 And yet I still struggle with doubt. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:41.919 I still have moments where I'm like, God, are you there? 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:44.159 The people of Israel are no different. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:46.320 But it happens for them really, really quickly. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:50.480 So one of the first things they do after they leave Egypt is they go to this mountain called Sinai. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:54.080 And while they're there, Moses goes up the mountain and he gets the law from God. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:57.039 We're going to talk about that in a couple of weeks as we talk about beneficial boundaries. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:58.000 He gets the law. 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:00.639 And here's what it says in Exodus chapter 32. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:06.720 When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gather around Aaron, who's Moses' brother. 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:08.480 He's like the leader, he's the babysitter. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.720 You know, Moses goes up, he's like, Aaron, don't let this get out of line. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.080 Aaron's like, I got it. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.080 And they say, Aaron, come on, make us some gods who can lead us. 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:19.759 We don't know what happened to this fellow Moses who brought us here from the land of Egypt. 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:23.200 So basically, Moses says, Hey, I'm gonna go meet with God on the mountain. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:24.240 I'll be back. 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:25.759 Just hang tight. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:26.960 You're good. 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:28.799 Aaron's in charge. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:33.279 The people get a little antsy because Moses doesn't come back right away, and they're like, look, we don't know what happened to Moses. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:36.879 Aaron, you need to make us a god that we can worship and follow. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:45.120 And so Aaron, if you know the story, he takes all this gold that they have and he melts it down and he makes it into the image of a cow and they worship the cow. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:50.159 And that's what Moses finds as he comes back down the mountain, and he is not in a good mood when he sees that at all. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.480 It's a crazy intense story. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:57.120 But it's amazing that they apparently have so little confidence. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:11.120 That just just Moses being away, just Moses being gone, throws them into such a state of anxiety and uncertainty that they're like, we need something that we can see, we need something tangible, we need something in front of our eyes. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:13.360 So make us a God, even if we know it's gold. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:14.480 Like we watched you make it. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:20.639 Like, how can you watch someone make something and then they go, it's a God, and you're like, no, it's not. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:28.480 But see, the people, yeah, I think you find in this moment that maybe their faith isn't so much in God, it's in Moses. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:33.600 Because so far, up to this point, every time a big miracle has happened, every time God's done something, Moses was right there. 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:36.480 I mean, Moses was the one who lifted his hands up, and then it happened. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:38.720 Moses is the one who said it it would happen. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:39.759 He's the one who's led us. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:50.399 So even though, yes, there's this invisible God that's behind the scenes, we've always had this visible person that we can associate with that God, and now the visible person's gone, and we don't know what to do. 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:52.960 We need a God we can see. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:58.559 You just find that their confidence isn't in God, it's in something less than God. 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:02.320 We always have a tendency to place our faith in something less than God. 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:04.960 If for no other reason, then we can just see it. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:10.000 Whether that's another person, a job, a plan that we have in life, you name it. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:11.840 That's always a tendency that we fight. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.080 Is my faith really in God? 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:19.200 Or is my faith in the things that I've associated with God? 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:22.879 That's something all of us have to answer for ourselves. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.679 Now, God in this moment, of course, corrects, it's pretty challenging, but this keeps happening. 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:29.360 This keeps happening with the people of Israel. 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:33.679 Every time they find themselves in a tough situation, they're like, that's it, we're ruined. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:35.200 How are we gonna get out of this one? 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:37.759 They don't go, oh, I bet God's gonna do something again. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:39.200 He keeps doing that. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:52.320 So, for example, in Exodus chapter 16, it says, The whole community of Israel set out from Elam and journeyed in the wilderness of sin, which is an interesting thing, between Elam and Mount Sinai. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:56.639 They arrived there on the 15th day of the second month, one month after leaving the land of Egypt. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:00.639 There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:03.919 If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:11.919 There we sat around pots filled with meat, we ate all the bread we wanted, but now you've brought us into the wilderness to starve to death. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:14.720 It's like if only we were back in Egypt. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:17.440 It would have been better to die in Egypt than to be out here. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:18.960 That's what they're saying. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:21.039 That's crazy, right? 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:24.879 To actually look back and think fondly about bondage. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:29.600 But the thing about bondage is that at least it's predictable. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:42.559 You know, there have been times in my life where even though I've experienced freedom from something, whether it be an addiction or an old attitude and mindset that I knew wasn't good, or just some habit that was an unhealthy habit, there's comfort in unhealthy habits. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:53.759 There's comfort in addictions, there's comfort in negative mindsets, which is why we oftentimes find ourselves attracted to other people who share some of those negative mindsets, so we can get together and complain about things for for a while, you know? 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:55.360 Even if it's things you have no control over. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:56.399 Like, I don't know, the government. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:58.559 Like you maybe you have someone you just call and be like, the government. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:02.480 I'm like, I know the government, and you hang up the phone, you're like, all right, well, I'm glad we had that conversation. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:05.440 I'm in a bad mood, you're in a bad mood, I have no hope, you have no hope. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:06.559 Can anything be done about it? 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:07.119 No. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:09.920 But we're miserable together now, right? 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:18.160 There's something about there's a comfort in negative attitudes, there's a comfort in addiction, there's a comfort in bad habits. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:26.079 And so we can actually be very much like the people of Israel, looking back and going, well, at least back then, I knew what to expect. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:29.039 And so they're in the wilderness, they have no food, they're like, we're gonna die. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:34.799 They don't even think that God might rescue them, like he's gotten them all this way, just to let them starve to death. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:49.359 And God does something miraculous, and he actually, it it you may not believe it, but he causes like bread to rain from the sky every morning, and they pick it up and they eat it, and that sounds nuts, but you have about a million people who are surviving in a desert for 40 years, and that's a historical fact. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:52.400 I don't know how, I don't know what you eat in a desert with that many people. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:54.559 I don't know how cactus doesn't go that far. 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:56.480 So they were eating something. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.920 But even then, when God gives them that, they eventually start complaining. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:01.359 They're like, I'm so tired of this stuff. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:02.720 It's like children. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:06.960 Like, again, cookies, again, I'm so tired of cookies on ice cream. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:08.799 It's basically how they are. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:12.799 See, their their faith, it's not in, it's not in God. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:20.160 Their faith is in their circumstances, their faith is in the people around them. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:22.160 They're not confident in God. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:23.759 And I think we find ourselves in that place a lot. 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:25.839 And it can really be one of two things. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:31.519 Sometimes we struggle to be confident about whether or not God can do something. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.440 Great story about that. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:39.759 In Mark chapter 9, there's this boy, and the Bible says he's possessed with an evil spirit, which is a crazy thing to think about. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.000 And it just says that they bring the boy to Jesus. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:49.279 But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:50.799 How long has this been happening? 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:52.000 Jesus asked the boy's father. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:53.519 He replied, since he was a little boy. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:56.720 The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water trying to kill him. 00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:01.440 Please have mercy on us and help us if you can, which is an amazing thing to say to Jesus. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:03.599 What do you mean, if I can? 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:05.279 Jesus replied. 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:07.440 Anything is possible if a person believes. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:14.559 Now, I don't know if this guy is like playing Jesus, and he's really smart, and he's like, I'm gonna throw in an if you can, to kind of dare like Jesus will take the bait. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:17.039 If I can, of course I can, let me show you. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:18.400 That would make this guy a genius. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:19.440 I don't think that's the case. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:21.440 I don't think Jesus can be played. 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:24.480 No, this guy's expressing, I don't know if you can do this or not. 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:26.559 I've heard, maybe it's worth a shot. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:29.119 So Jesus says, anything is possible if a person believes. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:32.960 The father instantly cried out, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:34.319 In other words, I believe kind of. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:35.920 Anyone relate to that? 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:40.160 When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:44.319 Listen, your spirit, you spirit, that makes this boy unable to hear and speak, he said. 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:46.960 I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:50.880 And then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:52.240 The boy appeared to be dead. 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:57.440 A murmur ran through the crowd as people said he's dead, but Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:00.640 So Jesus shows us that there's really nothing he can't do. 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:05.039 And I and I think sometimes we find ourselves in situations that we never thought we'd be in before. 00:20:05.119 --> 00:20:14.319 Maybe it's a tragedy in our family, maybe it's a diagnosis, maybe it's a financial situation that we just have no, we have no knowledge, we have like no guideposts for. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:15.440 We don't know what to do. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:17.039 And we're like, God, can you? 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:18.720 Can you even help me here? 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:22.000 I don't know what to do, and I'm not sure if you can help. 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:25.920 And God has shown me over and over again there's nothing he cannot do. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:31.279 And I do believe, by the way, if you need God to do something to show you that he can, he will. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:32.880 I really do believe that. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:35.119 I've experienced that, I know many other people who have. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:37.440 I think God proves himself to us. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:39.440 I don't have to prove him to you. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:41.680 I really can't. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:43.039 But he can. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:47.839 So if you need God to do something to show you that he is real, ask him. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:52.480 And keep asking him, and I believe it'll happen. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:59.039 But sometimes it's not that we struggle to believe that God can do something, sometimes it's that we struggle to believe that he will. 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:02.319 Like I believe God can. 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:03.200 I believe he can. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:04.799 Yeah, God can do anything. 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:05.599 I believe that. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:07.279 I just don't think he'll do it for me. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:11.839 I'm just not sure if if he if he will. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:17.440 And and look, on one hand, life happens. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:22.000 And and Jesus never promised that life would always go perfectly smooth. 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:26.640 Jesus never promised that. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:30.799 Jesus' life did not go smoothly. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:38.400 Like if what we're looking for is a smooth life, or circumstantially everything is just wonderful, do not follow Jesus. 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:40.960 Because that's not the path he took. 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:48.480 There are people who try to twist the teaching of Scripture into this: God will only allow good things to happen to you. 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:49.440 God blesses us. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:50.799 Oh my goodness, God blesses us. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:54.319 And most of us are more blessed than than almost any human being who's ever lived. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:58.559 But but he never promises us that we'll have no problems. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.359 Sometimes it's not circumstances, sometimes it's deeper issues in our heart. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:09.039 And we wonder if God can, or maybe will, I don't know, forgive us. 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:13.599 Maybe you're someone, I know many people who've been like this. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:20.079 Maybe you're someone, and it's like, look, I know God has mercy, and I know he forgives, and he gives people second chances and third chances and fourth chances. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:22.480 I just feel like maybe I'm the one out of chances. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:27.359 Maybe I'm at the end, I don't know if that's for me. 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:33.599 Because what I've done, how I keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again, I'm just not sure if he will forgive me. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:42.079 1 John 1 9 says, if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to give us exactly what we deserve. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:43.599 No, it's not what he says. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:48.000 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:49.759 That's a promise. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:57.599 So if you're ever wondering whether or not God will, not that he can, but whether or not he will for you. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:02.079 Scripture tells us if we draw near to him, he draws near to us. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:02.720 Period. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:05.359 If we confess to him, we receive forgiveness. 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:09.440 And that that, by the way, doesn't mean you have to confess like constantly. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:12.960 His grace is sufficient. 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:17.039 He forgives sin once and for all, but sometimes we need to remember that for ourselves. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:24.480 So we confess not that like, well, I haven't confessed since yesterday, and I've done a few bad things since yesterday, so I better confess again, otherwise I'm not forgiven. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:25.680 That's not the way it works. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:32.559 But sometimes for our own peace, our own mindset, we need to just say, God, forgive me, even though we know we are forgiven. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:38.160 And just experience that realization of grace. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:45.039 We've got to be confident in God, confident that He can do anything, and confident that He loves us so much that He will. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:46.960 That He will give us what we need. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:49.119 Sometimes we don't know what we need. 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:53.680 Sometimes we think we need delivered out of a situation, and what we really need is the strength to go through it. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:58.079 Sometimes we need delivered out of the situation, but God knows He can and He will. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:00.000 So be confident in God. 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:03.599 Number two, you've got to be confident in you. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:05.839 Confident in you. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:13.119