WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:06.639 You know, I was having a conversation with someone this morning about how interesting of a time this is for us as a church. 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:09.439 And it's really interesting, I think, for all of us as Jesus followers. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:15.599 And if you're here this morning and you're not a Jesus follower, you're still kind of figuring that out, maybe you're here with someone as a guest. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:25.039 Um, just know that you're coming into church at a time when when it's very, very different than what we've ever experienced before. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:29.760 You know, it's been interesting because normally we have a lot of other stuff going on on a Sunday morning. 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:36.240 You know, there's kids' areas and there's hundreds of children that are over there, and there's check-in that's happening, and there's a lot of buzz there, and then there's coffee. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:37.359 I know you guys miss the coffee. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:38.719 Like, who misses coffee, by the way? 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:39.759 Can you just make some noise? 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:41.920 Those of you that miss the coffee, it'll be back. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:43.119 It will be back. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:53.280 Um, but you know, normally there's coffee and all that kind of stuff, and there's just a lot of a lot of extra that's going on on a Sunday morning, and all of it's good, but it is it is extra. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:58.000 And I was talking to someone about the fact that, you know, I've been part of this church for about 14 years. 00:00:58.159 --> 00:00:59.520 I was 23 when I came here. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:04.959 I just turned 37 a few weeks ago, and so um it's been a lot of my life has been here. 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:12.480 And there's never been a time in my experience here where I haven't, at the very least, been pretty focused on the extras. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:22.079 And it's actually been pretty powerful these last four weeks to not think about the extras and instead just to be focused 100% on the essentials. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:28.480 Yeah, we don't have a lot of the extra stuff going on right now, but we have worship. 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:34.879 We have the ability to come together, to sing together, to worship our God together. 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:39.359 That's something, by the way, that Jesus followers have been doing since there were Jesus followers. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:49.519 Every time you you open your mouth and you sing out to God, you're stepping into a tradition, into a practice that's been done for thousands of years. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:55.439 They didn't have coffee teams thousands of years ago, but they did worship. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:56.560 It's essential. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:58.159 We take Lord's Supper together. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:03.120 That's something that Jesus followers have been doing since the night before Jesus was was taken. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:05.200 They've broken bread. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.800 They've remembered what Jesus did and use that little mini meal as a time of remembrance. 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:11.680 That's an essential. 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:13.199 We do that together. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:22.400 And then we open up God's word like we're about to do, and we we focus on who he is, and we ask him to shape us and change the way we think by having an encounter with who he is and his truth. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:24.000 That's an essential. 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:27.520 And so I miss all the extra stuff, and we will be adding that back. 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:29.280 We will add back the kids' stuff, no doubt. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:32.159 We will add back the coffee and all those things, yes. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:42.000 But at the same time, I don't want to miss the beautiful opportunity that we have right now to focus on nothing but what's most important. 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:51.840 That's actually an opportunity that doesn't happen that often in life, whether it's in your marriage, your career, or what, where you just get to strip away everything extra and focus on what's most important, on the essentials. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:58.240 In fact, today we're gonna have a conversation about an essential attribute of our God. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.719 Something about who he is that we we always need to remember, especially in times like these. 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:09.439 Next week we're gonna wrap up our But Now God series that we've been in for a while, going through the book of Romans. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:11.039 We're gonna be in Romans for a little while. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:21.520 We'll take little breaks here and there, but this morning, ever since really last Sunday, I knew that this morning needed to be completely focused on who our God actually is. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:34.400 As I began to pray and prepare for the message, I realized that there's this essential truth about God that I need to remember, that I've actually been struggling to remember in the last few months. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:40.800 I don't know about you, but but life has not felt very certain these last few months. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.000 And that's been a personal thing on like a micro level. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:46.960 I I there's there's questions that I can't answer. 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:50.319 And a lot of the questions aren't aren't that that big of a deal. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:51.919 They're not that important, you know what I mean? 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:56.560 But like if I'm meeting with someone and they're like, oh, you're the pastor of his hands, that's like, how many people go to his hands? 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:57.439 I'm like, I don't know. 00:03:57.599 --> 00:03:58.319 I have no idea. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:02.719 I could have answered that question six months ago pretty accurately, but I'm like, I have no idea. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:03.439 Don't know. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:05.039 Everything's different right now. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:09.759 You know, you ask me about school and and you know all the things that my kids are involved in. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:11.840 I can't answer those questions with certainty. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:14.719 There's a lot of uncertainty right now on a personal level. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:20.240 And then when I look at the world around me, when I look at at a macro level, I don't see more certainty. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.279 I don't know if you're someone who watches the news on a regular basis. 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:27.600 If you're not, by the way, I completely understand you, and in some ways, more power to you. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:31.040 But if you are, it's just chaos. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:37.040 And it's chaos that leads to more chaos, and it just seems like this kind of spiral. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:44.079 And so, you know, personally and even outwardly, it just seems like there's so much chaos, there's so much uncertainty. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:50.959 And oftentimes, guys, life feels chaotic and uncertain because life actually is chaotic and uncertain. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:57.199 We're actually far less certain about life than we we like to pretend sometimes. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:01.439 But Jesus is the opposite of chaos. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.040 Hebrews chapter 13, verse 8. 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:08.959 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:11.199 That's not chaos. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:13.439 That is not uncertainty. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:28.959 That's a bold statement that says Jesus Christ, our God, the one we worship, the one who came for us, the one who died for us, Jesus Christ is as certain as anything in this world. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:32.399 He is immovable, he is unchangeable. 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:39.519 And I don't know about you, but but but I need something immovable and unchangeable in my life. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:43.199 I need something that certain to build my life on. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:54.240 And when life feels uncertain, when the world feels uncertain, when I see chaos everywhere, I need to I need to stop paying attention to the chaos, and I need to get my eyes on what I know is certain, and that is Jesus Christ. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:57.439 There's a classic story in the Bible, you've probably heard it. 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:02.160 Even if you're someone who hasn't grown up in church, you've probably heard some version of this, Jesus walking on the water. 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:05.600 And one of his disciples, Peter, calls out to him when he sees them walking on the water. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.399 Lord, if it's really you, call out to me, tell me to come to you. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:11.839 That's a statement that I guarantee you Peter instantly regretted. 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:13.120 Like, why did I say that? 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:17.600 Why didn't I say, hey, Jesus, if it's really you, tell Bartholomew to come out on the water. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:20.959 You know, Bartholomew, he's a disciple that never does anything in the Bible. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:22.639 So it would have been a great moment for him to shine. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:25.759 But Peter, he, he, he, he offered himself. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:27.600 And Jesus says, Yes, Peter, come to me. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:30.240 And Peter walks on water with Jesus. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:32.800 And in that moment, it was chaotic. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:36.000 There's a storm and there's waves and there's wind and it was crazy. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:39.120 But as long as Peter was focused on Jesus, he walked on the water. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:43.519 But the second he took his eyes off of Jesus, started focusing on the chaos around him, he sank. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:45.360 Now, gratefully, Jesus was right there. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:46.319 Jesus rescued him. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:49.600 He was never really in danger because he was with Jesus. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:55.600 But he had to get his eyes focused on what is certain, what is true, and that is Jesus Christ. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:06:58.399 Everything else is chaos. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:07.680 And I believe this morning we need to get our eyes like firmly fixated on Jesus Christ and really focus on who he is, on what he does. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.480 We need to know who our who our God is. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:19.759 There's this essential truth about God that we see actually shown often in Scripture. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:27.680 But it's one specifically today that I believe we need to focus on, that we need to make sure it resonates, that we plant this deep in our heart, that we believe this. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:31.199 We see it in Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 8. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:38.160 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:42.959 He will be with you, he will neither fail you nor abandon you. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:47.920 The Lord will personally go ahead of you. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:51.680 God goes before you. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:00.879 We started going to church when I was in between the fourth and fifth grade. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:07.680 And uh and I loved it because I started reading scripture, and to me, the stories were just incredible and awesome, and I believed them. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:14.160 At the time, I was watching the X-Men cartoon when I was a kid, and so it wasn't that big of a jump to go from you know superheroes to Bible characters. 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:15.199 It was like, cool, yeah. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:16.480 I didn't really have a faith crisis. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:18.639 I just read these being like, whoa, this is amazing. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:21.199 And I remember reading stories in the Old Testament of battles. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:22.879 I loved those stories when I was a kid. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:28.639 You know, stories of giant battles between the army of Israel and the other armies that were against them at the time. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:33.440 And there's some stories where in the battle, the spirit of God actually goes out ahead of time. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:40.320 The spirit of God goes before the army and actually secures the battle before the army even gets there. 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:44.000 I remember reading those stories and just being blown away by that. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:52.879 I remember reading the stories of the Israelites after they escaped from Egypt and they're wandering in the desert, and they have nowhere, no way, no way to know where they're going. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:54.000 They've never been there before. 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:56.080 There is no GPS, they don't have a compass. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:57.919 I don't even think those have been invented yet. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:59.440 And so, so what happens? 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:01.039 God goes before them. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:04.639 Exodus chapter 13. 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:07.440 The Lord went ahead of them. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:13.519 He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:15.759 This allowed them to travel by day or by night. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:20.080 And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or the pillar of fire from its place in front of the people. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:23.039 Everywhere they went, God was before them. 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:28.240 They were just following where he was going, and it was powerful. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:30.960 Sometimes I wish that I had that. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:34.639 You know, I wish I had just like fire in the sky, go as go this way, okay? 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:36.480 That'd make life a lot easier. 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:37.759 Go that way. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:41.440 I think about the disciples who had Jesus himself. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:44.159 And they just went where he went. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:47.120 He was the one determining where they were going, and they just followed. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:54.879 And that that had to have been so powerful and so personal to just know that we're just we're just walking, going where you go, but you go ahead of us. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.080 Jesus went first, and they followed. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:03.039 Our God goes before us. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:10.720 That's something, again, I read about a lot as a kid, and I believed it, but but the reality of that truth didn't really click for me until I was in my 20s. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:18.080 When I was in my 20s, I went to a church in Kansas City, that's where I went to college, and there was a gentleman at our church that had an amazing job, like a really cool job. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:21.919 He was in the Secret Service, like the legit secret service. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:31.039 And so he would be gone deployed for weeks, sometimes months at a time, as he was accompanying the president on a presidential detail, and he'd go wherever the president went. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:35.440 And then when he would get back and he'd be at our church, all us young guys were like, hey, dude, where were you? 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:36.240 Like, what happened? 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:37.200 Like anything cool? 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:45.679 And looking back, I realized that the last thing he probably wanted to talk about when he was back home finally after weeks on deployment was uh was his job. 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:51.600 But we were just so excited about having a friend that was in the secret service that we didn't really care, and he was nice enough to oblige us. 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:52.960 And so we would ask him, hey, what happened? 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:53.360 What happened? 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:55.120 And he couldn't really tell us much. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:11:04.399 But one day I remember having this conversation with him, and I told him, I said, Man, it's so crazy to me that you follow the president everywhere he goes. 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:17.759 And I can't imagine how stressful it would be to have this job where everywhere the president goes, you're right there, and you have to have your guard up and your eyes open, and you're just following the president, making sure that he's safe wherever he goes. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:22.480 And what he said to me, I will never forget because it it changed my perspective on God. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.399 He said, No, no, you you don't understand. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:29.840 He said, Everyone has the Secret Service kind of misunderstood. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:33.600 You think we follow the president everywhere he goes, and that's true. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:40.399 He said, but what you don't realize is that the president doesn't walk into a room that we're not already in. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:45.279 So a lot of the times I'm not following the president around. 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:48.000 A lot of the times I'm ahead of the president. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:55.200 I'm in a place where he isn't, but he's about to be, and I'm making sure that before he steps in that place, it's safe. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:00.399 And when he said that, number one, I was like, I kind of got chills. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:03.440 I was like, whoa, like mind-blown kind of thing. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:05.759 But it clicked for me. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:07.039 That's that's God. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:12.240 That's what it means for God to go before us. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:16.480 That it's not just that God's with us, which by the way, he is, his spirit is with us. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:19.600 If you've given your life to Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit with you. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:21.120 Is that exciting to anybody? 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:25.279 You have the Holy Spirit with you right now, wherever you go, he's with you, he's in you, he works through you. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:26.960 That's a powerful truth, right? 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:34.159 But how how amazing is it to think about the fact that not only do you have God with you, but you have God before you. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:42.000 That God goes ahead of you, and there's no circumstance and there's no situation that you will ever walk in that he's not already in. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:46.320 That he's not already working and preparing and making a way for you. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:56.320 If you were here last Sunday, I laughed because the whole message was about us just giving God our hearts because that's what God really wants. 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:03.120 And I laughed because I almost reached out to Matt, who leads our worship team, and said, Hey, could we sing like Here's Your Heart or one of those songs? 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:09.120 And this was really late in the week, and they'd already practiced and gone through everything, and you know, they planned their stuff out a long time in advance. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:12.960 And I was like, I don't want to create an emergency, and I don't want to do something kind of cheesy. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:17.679 And then I showed up last Sunday and Here's My Heart was on the set list, and I was like, oh, that's awesome. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:23.200 And so this last Thursday evening, I was finishing up the message, and I finished it uh like right about midnight. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:30.960 So it was either Thursday, Friday, early, something around that time, and the worship team had already finished practicing, and I just had this thought, like, oh, I wonder what we're singing this week. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:35.200 And and I open it up and there's Waymaker, and I'm like, man, this is awesome. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:36.399 I'm just gonna start doing this every week. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:40.000 I'm gonna write the message and just trust that there's a song that goes with it. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:45.679 But you know, we just got done singing that we our God is a Waymaker, that He makes a way for us. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:47.440 Do we believe that? 00:13:47.919 --> 00:14:01.279 That our God goes ahead of us, and that even when we're in a circumstance or a situation and it's uncertain to us and we don't exactly know what to do, and we don't know how it's all gonna play out, do we understand that our God, He's already been there? 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:06.000 He's already been working and providing and securing a place for us. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:11.039 That our God is not just with us, but our God goes before us. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.240 There is no place you can be that He isn't. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:22.639 There is no place you can go that He isn't because He goes before you. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.200 Oh Lord, you have examined my heart and you know everything about me. 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:35.200 You know when I sit down or stand up, you know my thoughts, even when I'm far away. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:37.679 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:39.600 You know everything I do. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:43.200 You know what I'm gonna say, even before I say it, Lord. 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:45.440 You go before me and follow me. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:46.559 Think about that. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:50.240 He's in you, he's before you, he's behind you, he's everywhere. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:52.480 You place your hand of blessing on my head. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:56.159 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:58.480 I can never escape from your spirit. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:00.559 I can never get away from your presence. 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:02.080 If I go up to heaven, you're there. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:03.919 If I go down to the grave, you're there. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:11.120 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the furthest ocean, even there, your hand will guide me and your strength will support me. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:16.559 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night, but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:18.559 To you the night shines as bright as day. 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:20.559 Darkness and light are the same to you. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:24.639 In other words, there is nowhere you can go that your God isn't. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:28.159 Because our God goes before us. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:34.080 Jeremiah 23, 23, and 24. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:40.639 These are uh these are these intense conversations we have a lot of times in the Old Testament where God's talking and he's asking tough questions. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:44.159 Am I a God who is only close at hand? 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:45.600 says the Lord. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:46.480 No. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:49.200 I'm far away at the same time. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:51.600 Can anyone hide? 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:54.720 Can anyone hide from me in a in a secret place? 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:59.600 Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and the earth, says the Lord? 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:04.159 Now look, if if God was your enemy, that would be terrifying. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:05.279 Right? 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:10.720 Like, like if God was your enemy and he looked at you and said, Wherever you go, I'll be there. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.519 Like wherever you go, I'm already there. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:15.519 That's I'm gonna make a mental note. 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.559 That's a conversation I'm gonna have the first time Lily brings a boy home. 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:19.519 I'm gonna do that. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:24.639 Hey, young sir, I just want you to know everywhere you go tonight, I'm already gonna be there. 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:25.519 Right? 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:30.320 You guys have reservations for dinner at six, mine's for 545. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:32.240 I'll be sitting in the table right across from you. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:33.120 I should do that. 00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:34.480 I'm gonna do that. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:39.600 Those of you that have had teenage daughters, will will my daughter appreciate that or will that, no? 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:41.039 All right. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:42.559 I'll figure it out when we get there. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:43.200 I'll figure it out. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:43.919 But I like that idea. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:45.279 Wherever you go, I'll be there. 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.960 Like if God was your enemy, that would terrify you, correct? 00:16:50.559 --> 00:17:08.559 But if God is your friend, and if he loves you, and if he cares deeply for you, the idea that there's nowhere you can go where he isn't, because he goes ahead of you, he goes before you, that's that's powerful. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:15.680 The situation you're in right now, whether good or bad, he's already there. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:17.200 He was there before you got there. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.400 He was working, providing a way, making a way for you. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:31.680 The situations that you're gonna be in weeks from now, months from now, years from now, challenging, hardships, whatever it might be, that that you're not gonna be alone. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:33.920 In fact, God has already been there. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:47.680 He went ahead of you, and and even in those moments, he's been working and preparing, preparing for for you to get through it, preparing for you to thrive in the midst of it, that our God is always working to secure us in his love. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.160 Because he goes before us. 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:52.640 That's a powerful truth. 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:55.920 If God is your friend, that's a powerful truth. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:59.599 And in church, if you've given your life to Jesus, God is your friend. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.359 And there's nowhere you can go that he isn't. 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:09.839 There's an amazing promise that Jesus makes in John chapter 14, verses 1 through 3. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:11.680 He says, Don't let your hearts be troubled. 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:13.519 Trust in God and trust also in me. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:15.599 There is more than enough room in my Father's home. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:18.000 If this were not so, I wouldn't have told you so. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.279 I wouldn't have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:26.000 When everything is ready, I will come and get you so that you will always be with me where I am. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:28.960 This scripture tells us what Jesus is actually doing right now. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:33.200 He ascended to heaven before the Holy Spirit came. 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:35.440 Now we have the Holy Spirit with us all the time. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:38.960 But Jesus isn't just hanging out, he's not waiting. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:41.359 He says that he's preparing a place for us. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.920 He's preparing a place for you. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:58.400 So that when that time comes and it's it's no longer life as we know it, but it's eternity, where you're at is a place that Jesus Himself has been personally preparing for you. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:00.799 How crazy of an idea is that? 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:04.720 I have I have an awesome wife. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:09.359 Um and uh this morning, she put something in my in my office. 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:15.119 This little uh little basketball thing, like you, you flick a ball and it goes into a little net on my desk. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:16.559 I'm not gonna get any work done. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:19.119 Um, but I'm gonna be really good at that basketball game. 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:20.079 Give me like a week. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:21.119 I'm gonna own it. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:26.079 Uh but you know, it's just it's it's crazy to me because my wife loves me and she knows me. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:30.960 And so when I walk into my office, I see this little reminder that, oh yeah, she prepared for me. 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:33.759 She she placed this here ahead of time, knowing that it would bless me. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.880 What's it gonna be like when I step into eternity? 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:45.200 And Jesus has been preparing a place for me and for all of you for a couple thousand years, but it's gonna be nice. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:48.559 See, Jesus goes before us. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:54.640 God always goes before you, and that's certain, and you can bank on that. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:06.720 So when when your life feels uncertain, or when the world feels uncertain and everything feels chaotic, and you're like, I don't know what's gonna happen, I don't know what's what's gonna take place, I don't know if I'm gonna be okay, you've got to remember, no, no. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:09.279 God has already been here. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:11.920 My God has gone before me. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:13.440 I can trust him. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:16.000 He's made a way for me. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:18.480 We have to remember that, church. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:19.839 We have to remember that. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:31.119 A few years ago, uh one of my kids woke up from a nap and had a panic attack because he thought he was alone. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:38.960 Megan had taken the other kids on an errand, and I was I was in another room in the house working on something, thinking I had a little bit more time. 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:44.160 I thought he was gonna be asleep for a little longer than he was, and so um I wasn't prepared for him to wake up. 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:46.480 I was in a part of the house that he wouldn't have expected me to be in. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:48.880 And so all of a sudden I hear screams. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:54.880 You know, and you know, as a you know, as a parent, when you hear screams, that that's like that's terrifying. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:55.839 You know? 00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:02.000 Like I it's one of my biggest fears as a father is that Megan's gonna come home one day when I've been put in charge of just one of the children. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:03.519 And uh she can be like, what happened? 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:05.119 I'm like, look, here, there's a story. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:07.039 In fact, that actually happened a few weeks back. 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:17.920 Um, Megan was driving up home, driving to our house on our road, only to see our youngest child in a diaper running down the sidewalk with one of our neighbors chasing our baby. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.599 And then I was behind, and I was like, babe, I know this looks real bad. 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:22.480 You know? 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:24.720 Like, but here's what happened. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:36.799 I was upstairs and I was I was cleaning one of our kids' rooms, and I was with I was with with Liam, my oldest, and then Eli, the youngest, was in there and he was messing everything up, and I was trying to get him to move, and so I said, Eli, just go downstairs because mom's gonna be home soon. 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:37.599 And he went, Mom? 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:38.240 I went, yeah. 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:39.599 And so he went downstairs. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:42.960 And about three minutes later, I came downstairs and I looked at Judah. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:45.200 He's my third, and I said, Hey Judah, where's Eli? 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:47.440 And Judah just went, Oh, he went out the front door. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:49.200 And I was like, What? 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:49.839 No, what? 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:55.839 And so I go outside, and you know, in a normal situation, I wouldn't be able to scoop him up and get him in the house, and Megan would have pulled up and would have been like, How was your dad? 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:59.839 I was like, It was great, nothing happened here, everything was great, but no, no, no, it just happened. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:07.759 In his mind, I guess he thought dad said mom, and that's where I saw mom go, and so he went. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:09.119 Now he thinks that works. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:10.079 So pray for us. 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:10.640 Okay. 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:15.599 So when I'm home with my kids, sometimes I get a little nervous. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:16.960 You never know what they're gonna do. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.839 So I'm home, I'm working in this room, and I hear screams. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:21.680 And I'm like, oh my god, what's going on? 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:22.640 What's happening? 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:26.160 And I run out the door and I find my child who's just a mess. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:31.279 I mean, they are literally like crumpled in the floor crying, and I'm like, hey, hey, buddy, I'm here, I'm here. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:34.640 I'm here, and there's relief. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:42.000 It turns out what happened is he woke up and he came down the stairs and he didn't see anybody. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:46.000 And so he yelled, and I didn't hear him because I was I was far off. 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:50.559 And for a moment, my child thought he was alone. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:55.359 And it hit me all of a sudden that, oh, he's never ever been alone before. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:23:01.759 Like young kids, they may know what it feels like to be alone in a room, but they don't actually know what it feels like to be alone. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:06.240 It hit me like, oh, he's never actually been in this house by himself. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:09.119 And right now, he felt like he was alone. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:13.359 That no one else was here, and he didn't know what to do, and it caused panic and fear. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:17.200 But I had to remind him, I would never leave you. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:20.160 We would never ever leave you alone. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:24.640 And every single time you wake up, we're already here. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:28.640 And guys, that that's our God. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:34.720 You might feel alone, you might feel frustrated, you might feel scared sometimes, you're not alone. 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:47.119 There is never a moment, there's never gonna be a day when you step into any situation, any circumstance where God isn't there. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:50.400 Because our God goes before us. 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:54.640 We are never alone, we are never separated from God. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:56.880 We never ever will be. 00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:11.839 Because our God goes before us, he makes a way for us, he prepares a way for us to get through any situation, any circumstance, knowing full well that we are loved by Him, that He is all powerful, that we can put all of our faith in Him, and it's going to be okay. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:14.559 That's why we have scriptures like Romans chapter 8. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:21.200 I'm convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love, neither death nor life, angels nor demons, fears for today, nor worries about tomorrow. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:22.319 Anyone have any of those? 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:25.200 Anyone have any fears for today or maybe worries about tomorrow? 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:28.799 You don't have to be afraid because you're not separated from God. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:32.799 Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:41.839 No power in the sky above or in the earth below, indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:48.160 Our God is with us, our God's with us all the time. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:51.599 And our God's not just with us because he goes with us. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:57.359 Our God goes ahead of us, our God goes before us, he is never in uncharted territory. 00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:05.920 When you step into a circumstance or a situation, a challenge in your life, God's there, he's been there, and he can look at you and say, Yeah, I knew this was gonna happen. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:10.720 And before you ever got to this place, I showed up and I've been working and preparing and making the way. 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:14.079 I've been working on your heart and preparing you to be ready for this. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:15.599 That's who our God is. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:17.359 He's a way maker. 00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:18.640 And that's certain. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:24.720 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:27.359 Our culture changes. 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:30.559 The circumstances of our world they change. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:32.400 Let's be honest, we change. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:35.359 You are not the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:43.920 In fact, I'm glad I'm not the same as I was before, and I'm really hopeful that I'm not the same ten years from now as I am right now, because I need to change. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:45.279 But Jesus doesn't. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:49.279 He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:50.559 He is certain. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:53.119 And guys, he's the only thing that's certain. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:55.519 He's the only thing. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:57.039 Take a look around. 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:04.720 See if there's anything in this world that truly, truly feels or could claim to be certain and true. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:07.200 There's not, but there's Jesus. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:12.559 He loves you, he's with you, he goes before you, he makes a way. 00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:15.440 And if you don't know him, you got to give your life to him. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:16.799 Like you have to. 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:18.160 I'm not putting pressure on you. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:24.799 I'm not trying to say like you have to do it right now, but but like, is there anything more certain than him? 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:31.759 If you're a Jesus follower, like, answer that question: Is there anything more certain than Jesus Christ? 00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:32.480 No. 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:38.559 In every phase of my life, he's the only one that's been there. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:42.319 He's the only one that in every situation, no matter what, I can rely on. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:43.359 He never lets me down. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:44.400 He'll never let you down. 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:46.079 If you don't know him, you gotta know him. 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:49.440 And if you do know him, you gotta remember who he is. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:50.720 He is the way maker. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:53.119 He never leaves you, he never abandons you. 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:54.079 He goes before you. 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:56.559 You can count on it, you can bank on it. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:26:59.440 Let's pray and let's worship a little bit more this morning. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:02.319 God, thank you so much for being our way maker. 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:05.920 Thank you so much, God, for going ahead of us, for going before us. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:10.240 Lord, we we do live right now in uncertain times. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:14.240 We do live right now, God, in times that feel chaotic. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:21.920 The world that we live in right now, Lord, it is the opposite of certain. 00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:28.799 But Jesus, you are 100% certain. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:32.799 And because you're certain, there's things that we can be certain of. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:42.160 We can be certain of the fact that you're working right now on our behalf, that you're preparing a way, that you're preparing a place for us. 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:58.960